Local category, Page 973

In Kenya’s capital city is a school named after Monroeville resident John Stanko. “The African way is they do that to honor you,” he explained. “I don’t own it. I don’t have any say in it. But I’ve said, ‘If my name can help you, use it.’” Over the past...

The kids might not have known running could be as much fun as it was on a rainy Saturday morning at Gilpin- Leechburg Park. More than 100 Leechburg elementary school students and adults raised money and made history as they took part in the inaugural David Leech Elementary Color Fun Run....

Rainy weather and cool temperatures didn’t stop Hempfield residents on Earth Day from helping to keep their environment clean and refreshed. According to Marissa Haynes, Hempfield’s interim director of parks and recreation, residents arrived as early as 7:30 a.m. to drop off tires at the township’s Hands On Hempfield event...

A house in Hempfield burned down and three people living there were burned early Saturday morning, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Three residents of the single-family home were taken to UPMC Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh with burns suffered in the fire, which started at 12:45 a.m., the dispatcher...

PennDOT has confirmed that overnight closures of the outbound (westbound) Fort Pitt Bridge are taking place as scheduled Saturday and Sunday night in Pittsburgh, weather permitting. Work scheduled for Friday night was postponed to the weekend . PennDOT says road crews will be working to remove pavement markings and installing...

A Wilkinsburg man accused of violence against women has been taken into custody. Laron Robinson, 33, was wanted on a probation violation involving a 2022 case where he pleaded guilty to strangulation and making terroristic threats, Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus said Saturday. Robinson also is facing an active warrant from...

A Penn Hills man was killed in a motorcycle accident Friday afternoon in the 100 block of Castle Drive. Leslie Bennett, 76, was pronounced dead at the scene at around 4:49 p.m. by Penn Hills police. Bennett was the only person involved in the accident, according to Allegheny County 911...

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. Floral photography and art show hosted by NK Camera Club The...

Westmoreland Cleanways has diverted about 4,000 pounds of plastics from landfills in the couple months since it started collecting them. Executive director Mike Skapura said the new program has been well received by members of the public who are now permitted to drop off plastics marked with a recycling symbol...

Jim and Christine Radeshak are hoping to roll a natural crit when they open their tabletop gaming store in downtown New Kensington. The Arnold couple will take advantage of the crowds drawn to the city’s popular Fridays on Fifth to launch The Feisty Goblin Gamehouse. They are planning a soft...

Voters in Tarentum might need a manual to follow candidates and which council offices they are seeking in the May primary. Residents will have their choice of two residents to represent the borough at-large. Democrat Scott Dadowski, current council president, will face newcomer Margaret “Maggie” Smith, a Republican, for the...

The Rev. James Arter climbed a narrow ladder several stories Wednesday to reach the bell tower at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Leechburg. As he manually rang one of the 28 bells, the melodic tone produced by the nearly 3,500-pound bell brought a smile to his face — and sent...

The Air North DC-3 “Yukon Sourdough” will be added as an attraction in the Shop ’n Save Westmoreland Airshow in June 2023. Produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corp. in 1942, the transport aircraft flew mostly in Canada, merging into instruction and training use until it was sold in 1963. During...

Pittsburgh officials on Friday announced that construction projects at the Swindell Bridge and 30th Street Bridge are slated to begin next week. The city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure will lead the projects. The Swindell Bridge, which connects Perry South and Northview Heights over I-279, is set to see a...

East Suburban Artists League member Cindy Berceli received an award for her pastel piece in the Faces 2023 International Juried Painting Awards. Berceli, of Swissvale, earned a Silver Award for her pieces, “Professor Molly,” a pastel portrait of a dog wearing reading glasses. Hosted by the Camelback Gallery in Scottsdale,...

Four Fox Chapel Area students placed at the annual Westminster College High School Model United Nations Conference. Junior Adhitya Thirumala and sophomore Swati Mylarappa each won Honorable Mention awards for their debate performances. The team of freshman Zachary Rubin and Dorseyville Middle School eighth-grader Ashley Wingard won an Honorable Mention...

The Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s aging fleet of paratransit vehicles is getting an upgrade. Board members approved a $1.4 million purchase of 11 small buses for the system’s Go Westmoreland shared-ride system that provides door-to-door transportation to elderly and handicapped passengers. The purchase comes nearly a year after the authority...

Students milled around the Mt. Pleasant Area High School swimming pool parking lot Friday, watching members of the Hecla Volunteer Fire Department raise the truck hoses to begin spraying the tarps placed on the grass field below. Some of the students shivered as the wind picked up and they were...

As a single mother, Johnetta Higgins said she couldn’t afford to send her three kids to private school without help. She had started her children — James Cross, 13, Janiyah Cross, 10, and Jamel Cross, 7 — in public schools, but said they were “having a hard time” and weren’t...

Best of Blawnox officials have postponed their Earth Day cleanup event due to inclement weather. It has been moved from April 22 to May 13. Volunteers are needed from 9 a.m. to noon to beautify the borough. Registration and supply pickup begins at Blawnox Fire Station at 376 Freeport Road....

District Judge Carolyn Bengel imparted a wise bit of advice to Highlands fifth graders during a school assembly Friday afternoon. “Dance like no one’s watching,” she told the group of preteens at the Harrison middle school. What that means, she said, is don’t seek recognition for being their best selves....

A Murrysville firefighter was taken by ambulance for treatment of heat exhaustion Friday while battling a blaze that caused minor damage to a home along Cole Road in Murrysville. That’s according to Cody Paiano, deputy chief with the neighboring Sardis Volunteer Fire Department. The Murrysville volunteer’s condition wasn’t immediately available....

Motorists who regularly use the outbound Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel have been given somewhat of a reprieve. Work scheduled for tonight has been canceled and the bridge will remain open. Instead work will take place on Saturday and Sunday. PennDOT says road crews will be working to remove pavement...

A $280 billion pot of federal funding was made available last year when the federal CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law, and at least one Westmoreland County manufacturer is ready to expand rapidly if it can gain access to some of those funds. Powerex Inc. said it could...