Western PA Local News category, Page 923
Three juveniles charged, security heightened after gun-passing incident at Hempfield high school
Hempfield Area High School students on Tuesday were met by a robust police presence and handheld metal detectors — a response to guns being found at school a day earlier, and three 15-year-old students have been charged in connection with the incident. Lines stretched across the gym and around the...
Record October heat possible in Pittsburgh before temps plummet
Pittsburghers will be dealing with potentially record-breaking heat for much of the week before a dramatic cold shift this weekend. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Moon said Allegheny County might experience patchy fog Tuesday morning, followed by a mostly sunny day with “unseasonably warm” temperatures. The temperature should...
Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra sets opening night of 55th season
The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra will offer a fan-friendly program Oct. 14 to open its 55th season. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, featuring a program of romantic pieces. The concert will open with Khachaturian’s “Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia,” followed by Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and...
Community college presents work of artist in residence in October
Fiona Avocado, artist in residence at Westmoreland County Community College, visted the campus on Monday as part of the public reception for their work at the Science & Innovation Center Gallery. The artist in residence program exposes students to a practicing artist through workshops and discussions. An Art Market will...
Woman dies in Allegheny County’s first West Nile virus case of 2023
Officials have identified the first human case of West Nile virus in 2023 in Allegheny County. The woman, who was in her 80s and lived in Pittsburgh’s Elliott neighborhood, experienced fever and weakness, leading to hospitalization, the Allegheny County Health Department said Monday. She died in late September. The state...
Police say Beechview woman contributed to friend’s fentanyl-related death
A Pittsburgh woman has been criminally charged with contributing to the fentanyl-related death of her best friend. Scott police on Monday charged Mackenzie Bell, 24, of Beechview with criminal conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility in the March 11 death of Allison Schreiner, 24, of Scott Township, according...
Morning roundup: Fire impacts 3 Murrysville businesses; arrest made in robbery of 2 Pitt students
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, Oct. 3: Fire in Murrysville impacts 3 businesses A fire broke out in a business building early Tuesday in Murrysville. The fire was reported at about 2:30 a.m.on the 4000 block of William Penn Highway. The structure houses...
The Stroller, Oct. 3, 2023: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Tickets on sale for Casino Theatre magic show The Casino Theatre...
Greensburg hopes to raze shuttered parking garage by Westmoreland Hospital
Greensburg officials have a plan in place for demolishing the city’s shuttered J. Edward Hutchinson Parking Garage, but the state’s blessing is needed. The garage has been closed for about two years, since the city determined it wasn’t worth the projected cost of more than $2 million to extend the...
4 weekend fires in New Kensington, Arnold — 3 on same street — being treated as suspicious
Investigators are trying to determine whether four fires that erupted over the weekend — including one that sent a firefighter to the hospital with serious injuries — were deliberately set and connected to one another. Three of the four fires were on Leishman Avenue and one was on Fourth Avenue....
Fired Pittsburgh Regional Transit employee sues union over handling of covid-19 vaccine mandate
A former bus driver with Pittsburgh Regional Transit is suing the union that used to represent him, alleging that union officers colluded with the agency and failed to protect the drivers who opposed the covid-19 vaccine mandate. Jon Lutz was terminated as a result of the vaccine mandate imposed by...
Greensburg Salem Education Foundation seeks $50K in donations to match alumnus’ gift
Donations to the Greensburg Salem Education Foundation will have double the impact in the coming months. Each contribution to the endowment fund will be matched by the family of Bill Lendl, a 1980 graduate and entrepreneur who was honored earlier this year as a distinguished alumnus. Up to $50,000 will...
Derry Township man on trial, accused of installing trip wire on stairs to kill wife
The fate of a Derry Township man hinges on whom jurors believe. Prosecutors plan to present evidence during trial this week that William Joseph Dankesreiter Jr., 63, set up a trip wire at the top of his basement steps three years ago in hopes that his wife would fall down...
Ward rips Shapiro over handling of sexual harassment complaint against top aide
Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward lashed out at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration Monday over its handling of a sexual harassment allegation made by a female worker against a top aide of the governor. Ward, R-Hempfield, said it was “unacceptable” that Mike Vereb, Shapiro’s secretary of legislative affairs, remained...
President of Trulieve Cannabis retires
The president of Trulieve Cannabis Corp. has stepped down, effective Oct. 1. Steve White will continue to serve as a strategic adviser for the cannabis company until his anticipated retirement at the end of this year. Mr. White co-founded Harvest Health & Recreation in 2011 and served as its CEO...
Viatris to sell several business segments for almost $7 billion
Pharmaceuticals giant Viatris Inc. said Monday it has agreed to sell several business segments in a planned divestiture. The Cecil-based company will sell substantially all of its Over-the-Counter (OTC) business, Women’s Healthcare business, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients business in India. The company is also selling commercialization rights that were acquired when...
Another gun detected at Pittsburgh International; airport on pace for record number of confiscations, TSA says
The Transportation Security Administration confiscated a loaded handgun from a Georgia man at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday, the third gun intercepted at the airport in a week, officials said. “We are on the cusp of setting a new all-time high in the number of guns our team has detected...
Monessen inducts 1st ‘Wall of Fame’ class, will serve as fundraiser
Long before he beat Evander Holyfield to become the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1994, Michael Moorer would cross the Monongahela River from his home in Monessen to his grandfather’s house in neighboring Charleroi, where he would cut the grass and help plant an annual garden. He can still remember...
Foxwall EMS, local civic groups benefit from Rotary Club’s annual golf outing
It wasn’t a hole in one, but for Foxwall EMS, it was something even better. The group landed a grant of at least $15,000 after the Rotary Club of Fox Chapel hit the links for its annual fundraiser in September. The event brought in more than $45,000 — a record...
Man sought in credit card theft from locker at Hempfield LA Fitness
State police are seeking help to identify a man who they said stole credit cards out of a gym-goer’s wallet and used them to buy $2,000 worth of Apple gift cards. The man entered LA Fitness in Hempfield on Sept. 6, went into the locker room and took the cards...
Pittsburgh Speaker Series kicks off this week, without Jane Fonda
The slate for this season’s Pittsburgh Speakers Series at Heinz Hall features an Emmy-winning TV host, a Hollywood legend, and an explorer/filmmaker. Van Jones, CNN host and president of Magic Labs Media, will kick off the Speaker Series this week on Wednesday. The Emmy Award-winning producer and political commentator worked...
Shooting in Arnold sends 1 to hospital; suspect remains at large
All schools in the New Kensington-Arnold School District were on lockdown Monday afternoon as police from multiple agencies canvassed the Arnold-New Kensington area for a suspected shooter. One gunshot victim showed up to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Melanie Jones, spokeswoman for the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s...
Police: 3 Hempfield high school students caught passing handguns, prompting lockdown
Three 15-year-old male students passed two loaded handguns — a .38-caliber and a .22-caliber — on a Hempfield Area High School bus and at the school Monday, state police said. Students who witnessed the exchanges contacted school administrators, who alerted state police about 11:40 a.m. The school was put in...
Charges dismissed against New Kensington landlord accused of strangling tenant
Westmoreland County prosecutors have decided not to proceed with a case against a New Kensington landlord who was accused of strangling and slapping a woman during a dispute over when she would move out of his rental unit. Terrance Joel Martin Jr., 57, of Harrison was charged Aug. 10 with...
Scrap facility fire in Harrison closes road, rail traffic
An outbuilding at the Tomson Scrap Metal facility in Harrison caught fire Monday morning. Crews were dispatched just before noon to the plant at 2100 Karns Road for an active structure fire. Harrison police Chief Brian Turack said four fire departments from three communities responded. Crews quickly got the fire...
