Western PA Local News category, Page 926
Franklin Regional: Mental health survey could ‘gauge the climate’ in school district
Franklin Regional might undertake a student mental health survey that is generating debate about how much a school district should get involved with the issue and to what extent parents should be included in those decisions. School directors recently delved into the issue, with district officials defending a proposed student...
In brief: news from McCandless, Wexford and more
Sweet concert The Greater Harmony Chorus, a local chapter of Sweet Adelines International, is presenting two concerts Oct. 21 at Ingomar Methodist Church, 1501 W. Ingomar Road in McCandless. Show times are 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The chorus is the regional first place champion and will be competing at...
In brief: news from Indiana Township, Sharpsburg, Fox Chapel and more
Girl Scouts Fox Chapel Girl Scouts will host an event Oct. 7 from 9 a.m. to noon to acquaint parents with the Girl Scout program and how their daughters can join. The event will be held at the Middle Road Soccer Complex Pavilion in Indiana Township. More information is available...
Federal jury convicts 2 Las Vegas men of committing wire fraud targeting elderly in Western Pa.
Following a five-day trial in Pittsburgh federal court, a jury convicted two Las Vegas men of defrauding elderly residents in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Roderick Feurtado, 56, and Tarek Bouanane, 47, of Las Vegas and evidence at trial established that they traveled to the Pittsburgh area in September 2021 intending...
Tarentum quilter gives Greensburg audience code to Underground Railroad patterns
Ethel Hayden grew up in West Leechburg seated around a quilting frame with her siblings. They stitched together pieces of cloth, practicing the fabric craft passed down from her mother and grandmother. “That was my mom’s babysitter,” said Hayden, 88, of Tarentum. “She kept a quilting frame up all year...
Gainey’s proposed Pittsburgh 2024 budgets include no tax increases
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s proposed operating and capital budgets for next year, released late Friday afternoon, do not call for any tax increases. The preliminary budgets prioritize “investment in key neighborhood projects, core constituent services, expanded capacity to care for our city-owned bridges and enhanced public safety,” Gainey’s office said...
Blairsville carjacking suspect extradited from Georgia ahead of preliminary hearing
Michael Aaron Whitfield, who was charged with attempted homicide in a July attack on a woman, has been extradited from Georgia, Pennsylvania state police said Friday. Whitfield, 36, of Greensburg, was accused of cutting a woman in the face and neck during a Blairsville carjacking July 12. He was arrested...
Sheriff’s sale of Pittsburgh Mills mall canceled
Ownership at the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer won’t change, after all. A sheriff’s sale on the property was scheduled for Monday, but the delinquent debt on the mall was paid in full Friday. Owner Namdar Realty Group had owed about $11.5 million in special assessment bills. “Our office was...
Pedestrian injured after PRT bus hits her on South Side’s East Carson Street
A woman was hospitalized Friday after a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus hit her in South South Flats. The “roughly college-aged” woman, who Pittsburgh Regional Transit did not name, suffered a head injury, neck pain and scrapes on her elbow after the 83-Bedford Hills bus hit her around 3 p.m., transit...
2 midwives, 3 doulas and no pulse: Fast-acting Mutual Aid crew help save Hempfield baby
Samantha Kindelberger was confident that the two midwives and three doulas she selected for her home birth would bring her new son into the world successfully. She and her husband, Roy, would become parents to a second child to join their 2-year-old daughter, Ivah. She did not expect to be...
Woman sentenced in connection with Loyalhanna meth lab
A former Loyalhanna woman was sentenced Friday to four years of probation in connection with a methamphetamine lab at her home that was shut down by state police. Jennifer Lynn Williams, 55, now of Indiana County, was ordered to spend 18 months on house arrest. She pleaded guilty Friday to...
‘I wasn’t raised this way’ Hempfield man who got involved with drugs tells judge
A Hempfield man who turned to drugs and then began selling them to support his own habit was sentenced to jail and probation Friday. “I wasn’t raised this way and I’m sorry for what I did,” said Chad J. Gilbert, 53. “All my life I worked hard and I ruined...
DA: Pittsburgh police justified in using deadly force in Allentown incident
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said Friday that Pittsburgh police were justified in using deadly force against a woman in February incident. Responding officers shot Adrienne Arrington, 39, of Homestead, five times on Feb. 24 in Allentown. Zappala said she fired multiple shots at the officers from...
Westmoreland judges to fill Norwin school board vacancy
The Westmoreland County judges are expected to fill a vacancy on Norwin school board during a hearing on Oct. 16, a decision that will determine which faction will control the board for at least one month. The county judges are meeting to select someone to fill the remainder of the...
Riders protest Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s plan to shorten 4 routes
A group of bus riders on Friday protested Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s plan to shorten four bus routes starting Sunday, saying the changes will adversely affect city residents, particularly in Uptown and Downtown. The transit agency said the routes are being shortened because of the University Line bus-rapid transit construction project...
$136 check to Tree of Life altered to $6K payment to Wilkinsburg woman, Penn Township police say
A Wilkinsburg woman was arrested this week after Penn Township police say she altered a check that was intended to be a donation to the Tree of Life synagogue. Employees at a township bank grew suspicious of the check when Anna M. Krause, 30, opened a checking account and tried...
Coroner identifies 1 of 2 people killed in I-79 tractor-trailer crash
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Friday afternoon identified one of the two people killed in Thursday’s tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 79 as Butler County resident Frank L. Tupper, Jr. Tupper, 54, of Butler City, died at 12:50 a.m. Thursday at the scene of the crash, I-79’s northbound lanes...
2-year-old fatally struck by vehicle in Penn Hills identified
A 2-year-old girl died after being hit by a vehicle in Penn Hills on Thursday morning, Allegheny County police said. The incident on the 100 block of Lynnwood Drive was reported shortly before 8 a.m., police said. “The preliminary investigation determined a parent was leaving the residence and struck the...
East Liberty man accused of raping girl he met at East Busway station
A Pittsburgh man is accused of raping a teenager who police said he met this spring at an East Busway station. Thomas Cocco, 30, of East Liberty, who had a preliminary hearing Friday, encountered the 17-year-old girl at the Homewood Avenue busway stop in Point Breeze shortly after midnight May...
How a government shutdown would impact Western Pa.
Time is running out for the federal government to avert a shutdown. The Republican-controlled House had been unable through Friday afternoon to pass funding bills that accommodate the demands of the party’s far-right faction, and a Saturday deadline looms. If a funding bill package is not reached and approved by...
24-hour spinning competition at Petersen Events Center aims to connect service dogs with veterans
For 24 hours — 10 a.m. Saturday until 10 a.m. Sunday — the Petersen Events Center in the Oakland will be a cyclist’s dream, as Team Foster, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit dedicated to connecting veterans with service dogs, hosts its third Ruff Ride in Pittsburgh. Part festival, part competition, Ruff Ride...
Children’s mental health event at Latrobe Hospital focuses on caring for youth in time of need
Amidst rising mental health concerns for Pennsylvania youths, Independence Health System is bringing back an annual children’s mental health education event for therapists and other care providers for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The Children’s Mental Health Symposium, scheduled at Latrobe Hospital on Oct. 5, will...
Duquesne Light, union reach agreement on eve of potential strike
A day before hundreds of workers were scheduled to walk off the job, Pittsburgh’s largest electricity provider and a labor union reached a tentative agreement to likely avert a strike. Members of IBEW Local 29 voted 711-14 to authorize a strike for Saturday, but an agreement was reached between IBEW...
Punxsutawney man wanted for shooting in Indiana County
State police are seeking a Punxsutawney man in connection with a shooting Thursday in Indiana County. Storm Michael Armagost, 27, is charged with possession of a firearm without a license, reckless endangerment of another person, assault and harassment. An arrest warrant was issued Friday before District Judge Guy Haberl. Troopers...
Allegheny Valley School Board eyes upgrades at Springdale High School
Allegheny Valley School District officials went straight to the scene Thursday — Springdale High School’s auditorium lobby — as they reviewed possible renovation projects at the building. The renovations are still in the planning phases, and Thursday’s meeting addressed possible work to be done in the auditorium and gymnasium areas,...
