Regional category, Page 332
Western Pa., Ohio fireworks companies play big role in nation’s Fourth celebrations
Thousands of boxes filled with consumer fireworks filtered one day this month through Phantom Fireworks’ main warehouse in Warren, Ohio, where hundreds of workers prepared for Fourth of July sales. More than 20 miles east across the Pennsylvania border, Jason Farell, scripting coordinator and designer at Pyrotecnico in New Castle,...
Pennsylvania lowers sales tax on taproom craft beers, pushes start to Oct. 1
Some craft beer brewers will adjust prices. Others are considering options to offset any additional cost associated with a state requirement that they must collect sales tax starting Oct. 1 — after a July 1 start date was delayed — on beers sold at their taprooms and to-go purchases. John...
Here’s where to watch July Fourth holiday fireworks in Western Pa.
Here’s where you can watch fireworks around Western Pennsylvania this Fourth of July holiday. July 3 • Findlay Township Independence Day Celebration, begins at 7:30 p.m., fireworks at 9:45 p.m., Recreation and Sports Complex, Route 30. No parking permitted on Route 30. • Hampton Township Community Day Celebration, fireworks at...
Much like the insect, cicada cookie emerges from Beaver County man’s freezer after 17 years
Even Cookie Monster might pass on munching the treat Beaver County lawyer Robert Banks has kept in his freezer since 2002. That’s the last time Kretchmar’s Bakery sold cookies that are decorated to look like the cicadas that have taken the region by swarm since early May. Like the insect,...
Pennsylvania grants to fund programs that educate on environmental issues
A one-acre pollinator garden. Climate change workshops. Riparian buffer planting. Field trips for fourth- and sixth-graders. Those are some of the programs being funded by the latest round of Environmental Education Grants announced Friday by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The grants, most of them in the range of...
Pitt names Thomas E. Richards board chair-elect
The University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees named a new chair-elect Friday, who will take over next year after the fifth and final term of incumbent Chair Eva Tansky Blum, who board members reelected Friday. A Pitt spokesman said Thomas E. Richards, a long-serving Pitt trustee and executive chair of...
‘Zombie cicadas’ try to mate after losing body parts, WVU researchers say
West Virginia University researchers discovered traces of amphetamines and hallucinogens fueling the hyperactive sexual behavior of cicadas that were infected with a deadly fungus and trying to mate even after their abdomens had fallen off. The cicadas with their impaired bodies spread the disease to others, hence, the researcher dubbed...
Father sues West Virginia frat over son’s brain damage
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A lawsuit says a former West Virginia University student from Fayette County has permanent brain damage because his fraternity brothers didn’t help him after he fell down the stairs at a party, instead ridiculing his unconscious body for hours before calling 911. The filing from the father...
Police: Johnstown drug user assaults EMT who saved his life
A Johnstown man will appear in Cambria County court, accused of assaulting a 7th Ward Ambulance worker after she saved his life using Narcan, authorities said. Troy Darin Kendall, Jr., 34, who has addresses of the 500 block of Vine Street and the 800 block of Oak Street, waived his...
East Pittsburgh man arrested, accused of 2017 rape at Indiana University of Pennsylvania
An East Pittsburgh man wanted for a 2017 rape at Indiana University of Pennsylvania was arrested Thursday in East Pittsburgh. Donte Robinson-Vearnon, 20, was apprehended at an apartment in the 500 block of Grandview Avenue in East Pittsburgh shortly after 6 p.m. Allegheny County sheriff’s deputies forced their way into...
Western Pennsylvania to see first stretch of prolonged heat
If you’ve been lamenting the lack of hot weather in Western Pennsylvania, you’re in luck. The next week features the warmest stretch of weather so far this year, with high temperatures well into the 80s each day, according to the National Weather Service. There have been only 15 days so...
70-year-old box turtle reappears on Pennsylvania farmVideo
An old turtle has been hanging around a Dauphin County farm for about 50 years. The eastern box turtle was probably about 20 years old, based on shell size at the time, when it was found on the farm in 1967 by a brother and sister, reports PennLive. That makes...
Safety tips for setting off Fourth of July fireworks
The Fourth of July is right around the corner, but before the oohs and aahs are in order, here’s a list of safety tips to make sure your fireworks go off with a bang. Compiled by Phantom Fireworks, a consumer fireworks company based in Youngstown, Ohio, the list suggests reading...
W.Va man charged as 15-foot pet python remains at large
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia man is facing criminal charges after his 15-foot python escaped into a wooded area and has been missing for about a month. Police in Morgantown announced Thursday that 19-year-old Shane Stevens has been arrested and charged with allowing an animal to run at large....
Blairsville woman escorting son to gate caught with gun at Pittsburgh airport
A Blairsville woman had a loaded handgun in her purse Wednesday when she was escorting her son to a flight at Pittsburgh International Airport, authorities said. The woman was stopped by Transportation Security Administration officers and was questioned by Allegheny County Police. She was carrying a loaded 9 mm pistol...
National Weather Service detects mayfly swarm off Lake Erie
The National Weather Service posted a radar shot late Wednesday of a mayfly swarm moving from Lake Erie inland to Cleveland, Sandusky and other Ohio cities. The swarm is a several-day mating frenzy for the insects, which don’t bite but can create hazards for motorists, sometimes closing bridges. Attracted by...
Army, community bands join forces for Blairsville concert
The U.S. Army 28th Infantry Division Band based in Torrance will share the bill with the Blairsville Community Concert Band for a joint concert Thursday in Blairsville. The bands will perform separately and in combination, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Park amphitheater at West Market and Water...
Accused traffic scofflaw’s luck runs out in New Stanton sting, police report
An Irwin man’s luck avoiding bench warrants for numerous traffic offenses in three Western Pennsylvania counties ran out Wednesday when he was ordered held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $1,500 bail after unsuccessfully attempting to escape police this month. Walter P. Hanns Jr. , 38, was arraigned on two...
Police: Dog found dead in Belle Vernon backyard had ‘obvious signs’ of starvation
A Belle Vernon man and woman are facing animal cruelty charges after a dog was found dead in their backyard Tuesday, according to court papers. Troopers said the dog had obvious signs of starvation and abuse. Christopher Michael Foreman, 35, and Rachel Marie Bonacci, 36, allegedly left the dog locked...
Motorcyclist taunts cop with wheelie; wrecks into fenceVideo
A motorcycle rider’s police-taunting stunt ends with a trip over the handlebars. Three dirt bike riders reportedly had been riding through an Allentown neighborhood Sunday when police were called, reports LehighValley.com. Witnesses said the riders used T-shirts to cover their faces as they sped past and flipped their middle fingers...
Military charity collects ‘surf-and-turf’ donations for troops overseas
Pittsburgh-area charity Military Connections is looking to serve a little surf-and-turf to troops overseas. But it’s not the kind you might think. Because lobster and steak are a bit pricey to ship internationally, the nonprofit is collecting donations of Swedish Fish and beef jerky. “We receive a lot of requests...
Free online resume help offered from Indeed and Goodwill
The Goodwill Industries Workforce Development Center in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood is offering career assessments and helping job seekers with a better presence online. The free service is part of a partnership announced last month between Goodwill and the Indeed.com job website, both of which committed to help find jobs for...
2 troopers, prisoner released from hospital after incident outside Indiana County state prison
Two state troopers based in Indiana County were placed on administrative duties while authorities investigate how they and a state prison inmate got hurt Monday in an unmarked patrol car, according to state police. The troopers and the 20-year-old male prisoner were treated for minor injuries at Indiana Regional Medical...
Family of 5 hospitalized after fire at Burgettstown home
Five members of a Burgettstown family were hospitalized after an overnight fire at their home, WPXI reported. Firefighters responded to a call at about 10:30 p.m. to a home along Center Avenue. Here’s a look at the response from fire crews. When they arrived to a house along Center in...
What the UPMC-Highmark truce does and doesn’t mean for patients
A day after UPMC and Highmark reached a 10-year pact, patients across Western Pennsylvania are awaiting answers on precisely what the unexpected deal between the nonprofit health giants means for them. Patients who severed ties with longtime doctors are hopeful they can return to the physician teams who know them...
