Shaler police identify man found dead in Allegheny River
Shaler police said the man they found dead Thursday morning in the Allegheny River was a missing township resident suffering from dementia. Mark Massimiani, 60, was found in the river near the 31st Street Bridge by a rowing group, Shaler police Chief J. Sean Frank said. Massimiani, who was last...
Remembering soccer/hockey dad who died in Plum explosion: Paul Oravitz’s heart ‘was always in the right place’
Paul Oravitz insisted his friend should come. He had called Andy Zarroli, a neighbor and friend, the night before a St. Patrick’s Day beer crawl that Oravitz and others in their Rustic Ridge neighborhood were attending. Oravitz asked Zarroli if he was coming. “I said, ‘No, I don’t want to...
Norvelt VFD encourages local community to ‘spend the day’ at 4th annual Parking Lot Bash, Car Cruise
Norvelt Volunteer Fire Department’s Parking Lot Bash and Car Cruise is set to return for its fourth consecutive year — offering a day of food, prizes, music and more. Located in the parking lot of the VFD at 2325 Mt. Pleasant Road in Mt. Pleasant Township, the event will run...
Gov. Shapiro orders DEP probe of Plum house explosion
Stating that he is “extremely concerned” after a house blew up in Plum over the weekend, killing six people and causing catastrophic damage, Gov. Josh Shapiro has broadened the probe into the disaster by ordering the state Department of Environmental Protection to launch an investigation. The governor’s directive was issued...
New restaurant planned for Westmoreland courthouse
The chow line at the Westmoreland County Courthouse is expected to reopen this fall. Commissioners on Thursday approved a contract with the owners of Caffe Barista in Greensburg to operate the cafeteria space on the Upper Park level of the courthouse that since 2016 has been a Subway restaurant. Subway...
In brief: News from Fox Chapel, Indiana Township and more
Girls Volleyball Boosters car wash The Fox Chapel Girls Volleyball Boosters will host a fundraiser car wash on Saturday, Aug. 26 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Jiffy Lube, 201 Freeport Road in Aspinwall. Donations will be accepted. Proceeds from the event will benefit the varsity and junior varsity girls volleyball...
DA Zappala video briefing draws criticism, raises ethical questionsVideo
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. is under fire for posting a video to YouTube that some have called “puzzling” and “irresponsible.” The 13-minute video — which Zappala refers to as a briefing — recounts the May 2022 killing of an 18-month-old boy in Downtown Pittsburgh, for which...
Rotary donates recycled-plastic bench in Export
Thanks to a bunch of shrink wrap and grocery bags, Export has a new bench near Giuseppe’s Pizzeria on Kennedy Avenue. It was created through the use of local recycled plastics, part of Rotary International’s “End Plastic Soup” initiative, which aims to keep plastic out of the world’s oceans. The...
Woman charged in connection with theft of $250K from Fort Pitt Block House fund
A Pine woman who served as treasurer for the organization overseeing the historic Fort Pitt Block House is accused of embezzling more than half of the $500,000 the nonprofit organization had in its coffers to preserve Pittsburgh’s oldest building. An Allegheny County Police detective on Thursday charged Rebecca Catherine Stein,...
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in McCandless hosts food festival Aug. 31-Sept. 3
Souvlaki, soutzoukakia, or spanakopita may be hard to say, but certainly are good to eat. These and other traditional Greek foods will be at the 2023 Taste of Greece Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox church in McCandless, Aug. 31 to Sept. 3. The annual Greek food festival is open...
Lemonade sales help fund Delmont Food Pantry
Roscoe James knows the value of a good, cold cup of lemonade. The 7-year-old Delmont resident hosted a lemonade stand the weekend of July 28-30, raising more than $200 which he donated to the Delmont Food Pantry. The miniature pantry is a box open the community at the borough’s Rose...
Personalities of Pittsburgh
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Murrysville area: Rotary Oktoberfest, Delmont electric bike raffle, car show and more
Email news briefs and event information to pvarine@triblive.com. Rotary Oktoberfest set for Sept. 30 The Murrysville-Export Rotary will host its annual Oktoberfest celebration from 4-8 p.m. Sept. 30. The cost is $10 for adults, and includes a $2 food/drink coupon. Families and children are welcome. Proceeds will benefit local Rotary...
Personalities of Pittsburgh: Everyday people who make our region what it isVideo
Pittsburgh is a melting pot of personalities and possibilities. Politicians and professional athletes might often be front and center, but it’s the everyday citizen who makes the region what it is. From the North Shore to the South Side, from an operating room to an operating budget, myriad individuals converge...
Police identify 2 drivers killed in head-on crash in Butler County
State police have released the names of two drivers killed in a Butler County head-on crash Wednesday morning. Hayden Ernest, 19, was driving northbound on Oneida Valley Road in Oakland Township around 6:15 a.m. when he crossed into oncoming traffic and crashed head-on into a car driven by Jacqueline Rock,...
Monroeville scholarship recipient plans to keep giving back
Monroeville resident Enysah Roberts is all about giving back, and she plans to study subjects that will help her continue to do so. “I’m really interested in medicine and science and just helping people out, and I feel like medicine is the best way to do that,” she said. “I...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County this weekend: Aug. 18-20
Double bill Two exhibits debut Friday at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley, off Route 711 south of the borough. “An Appreciation for the Familiar” features works by artist J.D. Titzel of Greenville, Mercer County. Titzel paints in watercolor and oil and also does graphite drawings. He...
Study to focus on Norwin stadium, options for repairing or replacing home-side grandstand
With the handrails of the home-side grandstand at the Norwin Knights Stadium starting to detach from the structure and concrete and masonry showing signs of deterioration, a study will help school officials determine whether repairs or replacement are needed. The Norwin School Board this week approved the proposal from DRAW...
Burrell’s Huston Middle School isn’t getting air conditioning after bids came in too high
Students at Burrell School District’s Huston Middle School won’t be learning in air-conditioned classrooms any time soon. The school board Tuesday rejected bids to install air conditioning at the school. That’s because bids for the work, which was projected to cost about $1.2 million, came in at around $1.6 million....
Seton Hill, Westmoreland County Community College form nursing partnership
Westmoreland County Community College nursing students receiving registered-nurse degrees can pursue a bachelor’s degree at Seton Hill University, as part of a newly announced partnership. The transfer agreement will allow students a chance to pre-plan their admissions and transfer options for a more seamless transition to Seton Hill’s bachelor’s degree...
Pa. Turnpike bridge in North Huntingdon safe for traffic after strike by truck, official says
A truck that hit a Pennsylvania Turnpike overpass bridge Thursday morning on Route 30 caused no structural damage to the span near the Irwin interchange, according to turnpike spokesperson Renee Vid Colburn. “We have a contractor that is working on the bridge and making a minor repair to it,” Colburn...
Fire marshal finds no signs to link 5 Plum house explosions
Allegheny County’s top emergency management official confirmed Thursday that investigators have not uncovered any links among five house explosions in Plum since the mid-1990s, including the one Saturday that killed six people and decimated part of a subdivision. Emergency Services Chief Matt Brown, who is also the county fire marshal,...
‘Rock for Recovery’ aims to destigmatize addiction with day of music, local resources
Joey Pagano of Monongahela is a recovering drug addict who has been clean and sober since June 1, 2013. And while he knows how hard things used to be, it’s difficult to look back at the past decade with anything but gratitude. In that time, Pagano has maintained his sobriety,...
Animal rescue groups save pets from Penn Township ‘house of horrors’
A pair of Westmoreland County animal rescue groups Monday said they rescued pets from what one group described as “a house of horrors” in Penn Township. Greensburg-based Ninth Life Rescue Center and North Huntington-based All But Furgotten said they combined efforts to save the animals from an undisclosed location in...
Penn Township votes against construction of new golf facility in Blackthorne Estates
Penn Township commissioners voted 4-1 this week to deny construction of a new golf operations facility in the Blackthorne Estates community near Harrison City-Export Road. The new facility for the unfinished 18-hole Blackthorne golf course was discussed at a township meeting last month. After a 30-minute executive session, commissioners held...
