Plum Advance Leader category, Page 38
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Aug. 27, 2023
Chalfant Estate of John Tomasic sold property at 229 Greenfield Ave. to 229 Greenfield Ave LLC for $27,000. Edgewood Timothy Palko sold property at 124 Lincoln Ave. to 124 Lincoln LLC for $249,630. David Hayes sold property at 1112 Mifflin Ave. to John Lindsay Wallace III and Patricia Louise Turner...
Rustic Ridge homeowners whose houses were damaged by the house explosion could get tax relief
Plum officials are notifying Rustic Ridge homeowners whose houses were substantially damaged by the house explosion there two weeks ago that they may be eligible for a significant reduction in their property assessment. Plum officials are pointing to those homeowners to a Catastrophic Loss Application that is available from the...
Despite graduation losses, Plum girls soccer aims to continue winning ways
The Plum girls soccer team enjoyed a strong four-year run through last season that included 72 victories in 83 games, four consecutive section championships, three WPIAL title-game appearances and three trips to the PIAA playoffs. Last year’s Mustangs reached the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals and the PIAA quarterfinals and were...
In brief: Plum area happenings, week of Aug. 28, 2023
Rustic Ridge benefit sale The Plum Midget Football Association, Rustic Ridge Homeowners Association, Plum High School girls soccer team and Holiday Park Church of Christ have joined up to host a benefit yard sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 26 at Holiday Park Church of Christ, 1510 Abers...
Plum Kick-Off Classic youth soccer tournament to welcome 309 teams
For a quarter of a century, the Plum Kick-Off Classic youth soccer tournament has hosted competitive matchups involving teams and organizations hoping for a successful start to their seasons. One of the region’s largest youth soccer events is back this weekend. The 26th annual tournament begins Friday and runs through...
Plum holds first council meeting since house explosion killed 6, including 2 borough officials
David Soboslay has been named the interim manager of Plum, replacing Michael Thomas, who was one of the six people killed in the Rustic Ridge house explosion Aug. 12. Plum Council met Wednesday night for the first time since the explosion. Its regular August meeting, scheduled for Aug. 14, was...
Plum, Kiski Area to work out the kinks in Week Zero rivalry matchup
Plum and Kiski Area passed each other last year when the WPIAL realigned its football conferences and classifications. The Mustangs moved up to Class 5A and into the Big East Conference with the likes of Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional and Gateway, while the Cavaliers moved down to the Class 4A Greater...
Wendell August Forge ornament to honor, support Plum community
Wendell August Forge announced Wednesday it is producing an ornament honoring the Plum community following the fatal Aug. 12 house explosion in the borough’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The “Plum Proud” ornaments cost $20 and are available directly from Wendell August Forge through its website. The Grove City company said half...
Like smoke alarms, natural gas alarms can ‘alert you to a potential problem’
Residents of a Plum neighborhood where a house explosion killed six people might soon have natural gas alarms installed in their homes. But these devices are not exclusive to Rustic Ridge. In the wake of explosions from eastern Pennsylvania to New York City and beyond, the use of natural gas...
NTSB will not investigate fatal Plum home explosion for now
The National Transportation Safety Board has opted not to investigate this month’s massive fatal explosion in Plum based on preliminary information that the source of the blast was inside the home that blew up — not in an outside pipeline. That could change, as more details emerge about the disaster...
Resource center event announced for Plum’s Rustic Ridge residents
Multiple services and help will be available for residents of Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood during an event Thursday afternoon at the borough’s municipal center, officials announced Tuesday. The Multi-Agency Resource Center will be offered from noon to 8 p.m. in the municipal center’s gymnasium. Individuals will need to provide identification...
Rustic Ridge families organize 2-day back-to-school event for neighborhood kids
In her 20 years as a resident of Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, Jennifer Corson, a mother of three, had never seen an event like she saw Monday. Another resident, Kristie Keller, organized a two-day back-to-school affair to help the area’s children prepare for their return to the classroom Wednesday while...
DEP examining ‘pinhole leak’ in gas line as part of Rustic Ridge house explosion probe
Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection gave an update Monday on the agency’s investigation in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood following a fatal house explosion Aug. 12. It came a week after Gov. Josh Shapiro directed the agency to start a stray gas investigation. DEP Secretary Rich Negrin dispatched...
Plum quarterback Franzi will benefit from having most of last season’s offense back
Plum coach Matt Morgan called Sean Franzi one of most underrated players in the WPIAL. A combination of athletic ability and intangibles is what Morgan believes sets his senior quarterback apart, and he is looking forward to seeing him showcase those traits. For Franzi, the belief from his coach is...
Busy Fox Chapel intersection gets $205,000 in state grant to upgrade traffic signals
A traffic signal more than 50 years old that controls vehicles at a major Fox Chapel intersection will be modernized in the coming years. The borough was named Aug. 11 as part of PennDOT’s Green Light-Go program, designed to improve efficiency and operation of traffic signals across the state. Gov....
Plum School District fills 2nd administrative role from within its ranks
Following the naming of a new superintendent in July, the Plum School District named a new assistant superintendent, again from within the district. The school board approved hiring Ashley Boyers, principal of Plum Middle School for the past four years, as the district’s new assistant superintendent. Boyers was given a...
Funeral arrangements set for Keegan and Casey Clontz
A father and son devoted to one another in life will be mourned together this week as Plum residents grapple with the loss from a devastating house explosion nine days ago. Funeral arrangements have been released for Keegan William Clontz, 12, and for his father, Casey Thomas Clontz, 38. They...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Aug. 24, 2023
Chalfant Estate of Robert Richard Fox sold property at 240 Highland Ave. to Christopher Leasher for $123,000. Churchill Jeffrey Vella sold property at 2394 Collins Road to Marco Longo for $221,000. Peter Yannopoulos sold property at 165 Thornberry Drive to Rebecca Ann Bennett for $303,900. Edgewood Jonathan Raney sold property...
A week after fatal house explosion, Plum community seeks the will to push forward
The idyllic innocence of Rustic Ridge shattered a week ago. Tragedy struck this close-knit community in Plum, a neighborhood of more than 200 homes, about 10:23 a.m. last Saturday. An explosion leveled a home on Rustic Ridge Drive and resulted in an inferno that destroyed two neighboring homes. The shock...
10 houses near site of Plum explosion being examined for structural integrity
Ten homes near a massive explosion that leveled three other houses in Plum last Saturday and killed six people will have to be examined by building experts to determine whether people can live in them again. Allegheny County released a statement Saturday that included for the first time the exact...
Plum District to host community back-to-school movie event
Plum Borough School District’s previously scheduled Back-to-School Movie Night will go on as planned Saturday evening. In its second year, the event will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and include games, food trucks and tables featuring school resources and information. It is open to the public. Assistant Superintendent Denise...
Clontz family thanks first responders, others who helped during Plum house explosion
Jen and Addie Clontz on Friday thanked everyone who responded to the Plum house explosion and those people who are helping them process the enormity of it. Jen’s husband, Casey, 38, and son, Keegan, 12, died in the explosion Saturday in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood in Plum. Jen and Casey...
Plum’s boys and girls golf teams organize outing to benefit Rustic Ridge victims
Plum Senior High School’s girls and boys golf teams are uniting to raise funds for the victims of the house explosion in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The Rustic Ridge “Plum Strong” Plum Boys & Girls Golf Teams Charity Outing is scheduled for Sept. 17 at Willowbrook Country Club in Allegheny...
Plum School District partners with therapists to serve those impacted by explosion tragedy
A few days ago, Erica Kuhn and Melissa Gionta-Oliver were strangers. Now the two therapists from Plum are spearheading efforts to provide an online database of mental health resources for the Plum Borough School District and community after the tragic house explosion Saturday in the borough’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The...
Therapy dogs provide comfort in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood
Gloria Frick says everyone knows the power dogs can have on a person’s well-being. On Thursday, Frick and other members of the Alliance of Therapy Dogs brought some four-legged comfort to Ridge Top Park in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, where six people were killed in a home explosion Saturday. Those...
