Plum Advance Leader category, Page 40
‘A humbling responsibility’: Rustic Ridge’s Greg Renko leads neighbors through tragedyVideo
Greg Renko bounced from one house to the next on Sunday, one neighbor to the next, one phone call to the next. He consoled them. Answered their questions. Offered whatever insight he could provide, both as Rustic Ridge Estates Home Owners Association president and as an Allegheny County Police officer...
‘We’re so lucky’: Family forced from home after Plum explosion grateful to be aliveVideo
Jeremy Rogers arrived back in his Rustic Ridge Estates neighborhood Sunday morning, unsure what he would find. When he left Saturday, his neighbor’s house was still smoldering, having been consumed hours earlier by a fire that quickly spread when a neighboring home exploded. The Rogers family home, at 145 Rustic...
Rustic Ridge explosion sends different kind of shock wave through Plum’s Holiday Park section
A lot on Hialeah Drive in Plum’s Holiday Park neighborhood where a house exploded and burned in April 2022 is just a grassy space between two other homes today. Since the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office released the scene, it’s been cleaned up and sold, with a new house expected...
Cause of Plum house explosion could take months or years to find, authorities say
Five people, four adults and one child, died in a massive house explosion in Plum on Saturday, borough police Chief Lanny Conley said at a news conference Sunday. None of the victims from the incident that destroyed three houses and damaged scores of others on Rustic Ridge Drive have yet...
Outpouring of support for victims of Plum house explosion
A deluge of donations poured into the Plum community to benefit victims of a devastating house explosion Saturday that killed five people. “My daughter gathered her money and wanted to donate,” said Donna Colamarino of Plum as her daughter Sophia, 9, placed money into a marked basket Sunday morning at...
Remembering father and son who died in Plum explosion: Casey and Keegan Clontz ‘loved by so many’
Casey and Keegan Clontz were darn-near inseparable. Keegan, just 12 years old, was known as his dad’s shadow. In particular, they loved the outdoors, especially the times they spent together hunting and fishing. Casey and Keegan Clontz of Plum died Saturday when a house on Rustic Ridge Drive suddenly exploded...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Aug. 17, 2023
Edgewood Suzanne Chybrznski sold property at 223 Chestnut St. to Marcial Saldana and Samantha Shaye for $245,000. Forest Hills Scott Ruffing sold property at 333 Castlegate Road to Ryan Read and Katie Graham for $385,000. Monroeville Estate of Williams Jirak sold property at 250 Azalea Drive to Adriano and Jennifer...
Death toll rises to 4 in Plum house explosion, stuns bedroom community
A house explosion in Plum on Saturday killed at least four people and injured several others, sending shock waves throughout a community that has been stricken by similar explosions in the past. Authorities announced the revised death toll at a press conference late Saturday. Officials did not release the victims’...
Plum has history of house explosions
There have been at least two previous house explosions in Plum since 2008, both in the Holiday Park neighborhood. The most recent was April 22, 2022, at 5021 Hialeah Drive. A couple and their three sons who lived there survived. As of September, the cause of the explosion had not...
North Allegheny taps Plum principal to fill NAI principal’s post
The North Allegheny School Board has moved some administrators into new positions to start the 2023-24 school year and on Aug. 9 selected another Plum School District educator to join NA’s top staff. The North Allegheny School Board unanimously approved hiring Heather Hibner, principal at Plum Senior High School, to...
Export man arrested in fatal Plum hit-and-run with motorcyclist
A 30-year-old man from Export was arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in June in Plum, Allegheny County police announced Thursday. County police charged Towner William Henretty II with a felony count of accidents involving death or personal injury and summary traffic offenses, including failing to stop and...
Plum carries experienced roster into 2nd season in Class 5A Big East Conference
Plum had one of the youngest teams in Class 5A last season with only a handful of seniors, but showed plenty of promise. The Mustangs moved up from Class 4A and challenged Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford and Gateway in the Big East Conference, but ultimately fell short and narrowly missed the...
Young entrepreneurs featured at Plum’s Monday Market
Talk about a gift that keeps on giving, and teaches a life lesson, to boot. “I wanted a bike last year, and instead, my dad bought me a log splitter,” 11-year-old Wyatt Sheaffer said. “And to buy my bike, I just split a lot of wood and make some money.”...
‘True to the spirit of the times’: Plum native set to release 3rd historical novel
If it ever comes up during Trivia Night, the 58th doge of Venice died on July 18, 1365. OK. So, what’s a doge? And who cares? The first answer is the ceremonial leader of the canal-laden city-state in what now is Italy. The second is Kevin Butler. For his soon-to-be-published...
In brief: Plum area happenings, week of Aug. 7, 2023
Plum Class of ’73 reunion Plum High School Class of 1973 will hold its 50-year reunion starting at 4 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Lighthouse Marina, 799 Industrial Blvd., New Kensington. Price is $30 per person. RSVP by Aug. 19. For more information, contact Debbie Rittmeyer Martin at 412-798-4422 or...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Aug. 6, 2023
Forest Hills John Rutkoski sold property at 139 Fairfax Road to Michael Hughes for $205,000. Adam Michael Vincent Zelenko sold property at 222 Sheryl Ln to Matthew Stephen Zelenko for $225,000. Edward Boenigk sold property at 529 Windsor Ave. to Pink Boots LLC for $80,000. Monroeville Estate of Rudolph Bailey...
Plum marching band prepares for school year
If it seems as if the 2022-23 school year just wrapped up, consider that a new one is right around the corner. The first day of Plum School District classes is Aug. 23, but even before the start of the month, students already were preparing for activities to come. Among...
Plum grad excited to take over alma mater’s hockey program
Jon Gratton’s first foray into ice hockey coaching came three seasons ago when the 2009 Plum graduate accepted a varsity assistant coaching position on college teammate Cam Raidna’s staff at Fox Chapel. “I can’t say right off the bat that coaching was a goal of mine,” said Gratton, a four-year...
Plum homeowner said to be making progress on fixing home borough sought to demolish
A Plum resident has been making “good progress” toward repairing his home that borough officials previously declared dangerous and sought to tear down, according to the borough manager. Council is scheduled to hold a follow-up hearing on the property at 247 Francis Road at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the...
Lady Mustangs lead Plum soccer camp
They may be knee-high to the proverbial grasshopper, but they know how to shoot and score. And they’re learning how to get better. Girls as young as kindergarten, 56 strong, signed up for a soccer camp conducted by members of the Plum High School Lady Mustangs, perennial participants in the...
Rock Talks: Plum enthusiast presents on Led Zeppelin, myriad other topics
In an unprecedented violation of marketing orthodoxy, the British band Led Zeppelin released its fourth album in 1971 with nothing on the front cover but a painting of an old man carrying a bundle of sticks. A turn of the gatefold jacket reveals a similarly wizened, wizardlike figure standing atop...
Plum grad Josh George makes a name for himself — or not — as Slippery Rock’s long snapper
Among football’s most common axioms is the anonymous nature of offensive linemen. While the quarterbacks and skill position players get all the headlines and highlights, the guys who toil in the trenches often are seen as just big, faceless bodies, if they are acknowledged at all. If offensive linemen are...
In brief: benefit, reunion, other Plum-Oakmont area events, week of July 31, 2023
Raffle baskets benefit causes John Anthony’s Restaurant will host a fundraising event aimed at supporting two charitable causes, the Remember Me Rose Garden, a living tribute to the heroes of 9/11 Flight 93, and the Beach Dog Rescue of Costa Maya. The event, featuring baskets to be raffled, is scheduled...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of July 30, 2023
Chalfant Tri Cog Land Bank sold property at 211 Wilkins Ave. to Fortunae LLC for $25,000. Churchill Wayne Casey trustee sold property at 1624 Branning Road to Glen and Charity Beveridge for $399,900. Barbara Fagnelli sold property at 101 Merrie Woode Drive to Bob and Pamela Hansen for $410,000. Edgewood...
4th Plum road to close for slide repair
Another road in Plum is closing for slide repair. PennDOT announced Thursday that Milltown Road between Shearer and Barnes roads will close at 7 a.m. Monday and remain closed through late September. Crews from A. Liberoni will be fixing three separate slides within the roughly mile stretch of Milltown, said...
