Plum Advance Leader category, Page 30
Plum school renovation projects may be altered after study forecasts declining enrollment
A proposed $1.5 million renovation project at Plum School District’s Pivik Elementary might be off the table after a demographics study projected declining enrollment for the next decade. It is part of an estimated $68.5 million in contemplated renovations and new construction at the K-4 schools, Pivik and O’Block elementary,...
Plum awards $1.12M road paving contract to Derry Construction
Plum will spend more than $1 million to resurface about 10 miles of roads this year. Council awarded a $1.22 million contract to Derry Construction. The work will not start until Aug. 1 at the earliest, to give borough crews time to finish other work on the roads, borough Manager...
3 hires return Plum police force back to full staff
Plum Council has approved filling three vacancies in the borough’s police department and in doing so has offered employment to the department’s second female officer. Council on Monday approved conditional offers of employment to Jason Saunders, Haylee Walak and Luke Skledar. They will replace officers who have retired or resigned,...
Plum grad Phillip McNeal starts college track career by setting pair of marks for Saint Vincent
Phillip “P.J.” McNeal might have taken awhile to find his footing as a track athlete. But it didn’t take the Plum grad long to find his place in the Saint Vincent record books. In his first college indoor meet, Dec. 1 at Youngstown State, McNeal ran the 200-meter dash in...
In brief: Plum, Oakmont area events, week of Feb. 12, 2024
Plum School District looking for bus, van drivers The Plum School District is hiring bus and van drivers. Bus drivers are paid a base rate of $23.45 per hour; van drivers are paid $18. An overtime rate of $33.90 is available beyond 40 hours per week for bus drivers for...
Faces of the Valley: Plum 4th grader excels at investment challenge, writing poetry
Whether it’s crisp cash or fresh grass covered in morning dew, 10-year-old Jett Bittner knows green. The fourth grader at Plum’s O’Block Elementary School recently placed first in Allegheny County and 10th statewide in the elementary division of a stock market game. Then, he was among several of his classmates...
Allegheny Valley Hospital art exhibit showcases tales behind the scrubs
In her nearly 40 years of nursing at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, Becky Podobnik says her scrubs have seen it all. “I’ve watched people recover, and I’ve watched people die,” she said. “I’ve comforted families, and I’ve sat with that person who is scared in the middle of the...
A-K Valley athletes of the week: Knoch’s Derek Lang, Plum’s Alaina Claassen
Alaina Claassen Class: Sophomore School: Plum Sport: Wrestling Report card: Plum sophomore Alaina Claassen won the North Allegheny girls invitational title Feb. 3, scoring a 4-0 decision over Cumberland Valley’s Aja’nai Jumper, the top seed, in the finals. The WPIAL’s top-ranked girls wrestler at 235 pounds, Claassen is 14-2 this...
Plum senior student-athletes set college plans
It was another day to celebrate for Plum seniors set to continue their athletic pursuits at the collegiate level. Last Wednesday marked the first day of the regular signing period for Division I and II football players to make their decisions final, and Mustangs quarterback and punter Sean Franzi put...
State Rep. Joe McAndrew made chair of Public Transportation subcommittee
State Rep. Joe McAndrew was appointed chair of the House subcommittee on Public Transportation, his office announced Feb. 9. The appointment coincides with the release of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposed 2024-25 budget, which calls for $283 million in new state funding for public transportation and nearly $1.5 billion over five...
New Sheetz expected to open on Plum’s Golden Mile Highway in May
A new Sheetz under construction in Plum is tentatively scheduled to open in May, a spokesman for the Altoona-based convenience store chain said. When the new convenience store and gas station on Golden Mile Highway at Presque Isle Drive opens, the existing smaller store nearby at Pine Valley Drive will...
Donations to Plum school lunch debt take small bites out of a big problem
An anonymous member of the Plum School District community recently gave the district $500 to cover student lunch debt at Holiday Park Intermediate School. While generous and appreciated, the donation took only a small bite out of what is routinely a big problem. The district is carrying more than $45,000...
Cheswick teen’s passion for giving back earns Junior Achievement’s 18 Under Eighteen distinction
Emma Winkler’s goal is to make the world a better place, and she’s starting in her own backyard to make that happen. Winkler, 16, of Cheswick has led a senior prom and winter formal dance at Longwood at Oakmont in Plum, where she also works as a part-time server. She...
Plum girls pull away from Kiski Area to keep pace in section
The Plum girls basketball team took care of business Monday in a 61-49 Section 1-5A victory over Kiski Area on senior night at Plum High School. The Mustangs didn’t let the Cavaliers play spoiler as they kept pace with Indiana for a shot at the section title Thursday evening. Plum...
Plum’s combined water-sewer bills increase about $14 per month
Monthly bills increased about $14 for Plum residents with municipal water and sewage service, starting in February. Residents were informed about the 17% increase on their January bills. It’s the latest bill to increase for borough residents. Council in December approved a nearly 40% increase in property taxes with the...
In brief: Plum, Oakmont area events, week of Feb. 5, 2024
Plum AARP meeting to showcase Zoomobile Plum AARP will have its monthly meeting at noon Feb. 13 in Unity Community Church. The program will feature the Zoomobile, which will bring four or five small animals for the group to meet and learn about. Plum AARP, a social and service group, features...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Feb. 4, 2024
ALLEGHENY COUNTY Chalfant Lucas Spieler sold property at 230 Fairview Ave. to Starry Night 88 LLC for $72,500. Churchill Jeanette Blackston sold property at 2525 Greensburg Pike Unit 401 to Sanatkumar Kutumbaka for $200,000. Edgewood Western PA School For The Deaf sold property at Unknown Address to Lucas Rious Maldague...
Plum girls wrestlers having strong seasons ahead of postseason tournaments
Alaina Claassen waited nearly nine months to get back into wrestling competition. A knee injury suffered last year slowed her progress as a freshman. But when given the OK, she put on a knee brace and wrestled 17 matches, going 14-3 and finishing her season at the state tournament. Surgery...
Plum adds girls flag football team for this spring
Seventeen schools throughout the Pittsburgh region were part of a high school girls flag football league last spring. The success of the league, entering its third season in 2024, has spurred other schools to get involved. That energy and interest has grown at Plum for several years, and now a...
Plum School District expands police force, hires retired borough officer
Plum School District is expanding its police force by adding a longtime borough officer who retired last year. The school board approved hiring Mike DeMarco, 51, of Monroeville. He will be paid $28 per hour. His start date had not been determined as of Thursday. His hiring increases the district’s...
Multimillion-dollar power line project needed to make up for closure of Springdale power plant
The shutdown of the coal-fired power plant in Springdale is forcing Duquesne Light to spend between $12 million and $17 million to reconfigure a transmission line in Plum. When GenOn’s Cheswick Generating Station stopped producing electricity in 2022, it reduced the amount of power being generated locally and created a...
Appeals court sends Plum injection well plan back to zoning board for review
Plans to add another injection well in Plum will go back to the borough’s zoning hearing board. The zoning board in January of 2022 voted to approve the addition of a second injection well at Penneco Environmental Solutions’ existing facility on 69 acres on Old Leechburg Road because, the board...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Jan. 28, 2024
Oakmont Richard Clements sold property at 733 Fir Way to Jeana and Jericho Hilling for $99,075. Penn Hills Emily Duda sold property at 238 Hazel Road to SFR Workforce Owner LLC for $135,000. Richard Terrien sold property at 625 Idaho Ave. to Marsha Jean and Michael Francis Santucci for $205,000....
Gerald McGinnis, Respironics founder who invented CPAP machine, dies at 89
Thanks to Gerald McGinnis, millions of people across the world can breathe easier. The international businessman and founder of Respironics, which created the first machine to treat sleep apnea, died Thursday. He was 89. McGinnis was born in 1934 in Ottawa, Ill. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering...
Plum notebook: Mustangs hockey team chasing Class A playoff berth
The Plum hockey team continues its fight for a spot in the PIHL Class A playoffs. The Mustangs won three of four games through a 4-3 shootout victory over Richland on Jan. 18 to propel them above .500 at 8-6-0-1. The 17 points put them in sixth in the Varsity...
