Regional category, Page 343
Kennywood, Idlewild, Sandcastle could get new owner
The Spanish company that owns Kennywood Park in West Mifflin is courting a takeover offer from an international investment company. Piolin Bidco S.A.U. has offered $703 million to buy the remaining interest in Parques Reunidos, owner of Kennywood, West Homestead’s Sandcastle and Ligonier’s Idlewild parks, El Pais newspaper of Madrid...
Pittsburgh area jobless rate falls, lowest since ’76
The Pittsburgh area unemployment rate dipped slightly to 3.9% in March, the lowest level since 1976, when the region’s steel industry still was vibrant. The jobless rate, adjusted for seasonal factors, dropped 0.1 of a percentage point in March, and was down from 4.4% a year ago, according to the...
18 of Pennsylvania’s top 100 ranked high schools are in Pittsburgh region
Southwestern Pennsylvania has 18 of the Top 100 high schools in the state, according to new rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings are based on college readiness, math and reading proficiency, math and reading performance, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation rate. High schools...
Retired Pitt professor honored for lifetime achievement in math education
Margaret “Peg” Smith, a retired University of Pittsburgh professor, was honored Tuesday with a lifetime achievement award for distinguished service to mathematics education from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Officials with the group said Smith dedicated herself to mathematics education and furthering the knowledge of other educators in...
Police chase ends with crash in Beaver County
A woman wanted on multiple warrants was arrested after a police pursuit that ended with a crash into two police cars Tuesday morning in Beaver County. The chase started around 6:30 a.m. in Aliquippa and continued into Center Township, the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, reported. Police told the station the...
Landslide costs add to PennDOT’s funding challenges
In a typical year, PennDOT officials budget about $30 million for flooding and landslide damage. In 2018, they spent $127 million fixing that damage, according to PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards. Richards, along with Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, mentioned the landslides last week while discussing more than $4 billion from the...
State police seek possible witness to fatal Center Township crash
State police out of Troop A in Indiana are seeking the public’s help in identifying a woman who may have witnessed or provided aid during a fatal three-car crash April 19 in Center Township. Authorities said Makenzie Marie Deditch, 17, of Grafton, W. Va., and Williard F. Allshouse Jr., 67,...
Dr. Phil apologizes to Slippery Rock, says didn’t know it was real
Phil McGraw, best known as “Dr. Phil,” apologized to Slippery Rock University after slighting the university in comments he made about the college admissions scandal. McGraw said he didn’t know Slippery Rock University existed and thought he was making up the name. “Please accept my apology for referring to ‘Slippery...
Beaver County firefighters rescue ducklings from storm drainVideo
A brood of ducklings trapped in a Beaver County storm drain were rescued by firefighters, according to a video posted on the Chippewa Township Fire Department’s Facebook page. The video, posted Sunday, shows a firefighter in the drain carefully picking up the ducklings and placing them into a plastic bin...
Gas prices continue climb in Pittsburgh, across the nation
Gasoline prices are continuing to rise in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation. Pittsburgh prices are up 5.8 cents per gallon in the past week, to an average of $3.10, according to GasBuddy. That’s 32.6 cents per gallon more than a month ago, and 4.6 cents per gallon more...
Slippery Rock responds to Dr. Phil’s comments on admissions scandal
Slippery Rock University officials are responding after Dr. Phil McGraw named the institution during an interview with People about the college admissions scandal. Sixteen parents, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, allegedly committed fraud to get their kids into top universities. In an interview Thursday, McGraw said, “They’re not...
Coroner: Man killed in crash on Route 40 in Washington County
A 35-year-old Washington, Pa., man was killed Saturday morning in a crash on Route 40 in Canton Township, according to Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco. At 11:52 a.m., Patrick J. Hughes lost control of his car at Roosevelt Street, went up an embankment and through a tree, Warco said...
Census targets hard-to-reach populations in Western Pennsylvania
Tucked into the folds of Westmoreland County’s landscape, Shawn Walker and Paul Teeters are two of many who are already choosing to not respond to the 2020 Census. Walker of Coyler Avenue in Jeannette and Teeters of Chestnut Street in Jeannette live in a census tract that has an almost...
Volunteers plant future forest at Flight 93 National MemorialVideo
The sun was elusive, but energy and muscle were in abundance Friday as hundreds of volunteers climbed hills above the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County. About 400 people were expected to plant 13,600 seedlings and native shrubs over 20 acres Friday, which was Arbor Day, and Saturday as...
Ohiopyle rafting guides earn Carnegie Medals for heroics in saving women’s lives
Two Ohiopyle whitewater rafting guides received Carnegie Medals on Friday for rescuing two women from the Youghiogheny River in 2017. Eric Martin and Patrick Nolan McCarty, both of Ohiopyle, were awarded medals by the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission at a ceremony at the Ohiopyle State Park office. According to...
A year after DelTondo killing, Beaver DA remains mum on details
Nearly a year after Rachael DelTondo was gunned down in the driveway of her mother’s Aliquippa home, Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier broke his months of silence to say he was “pleased with the progress of the investigation.” Lozier did not indicate what progress has been made, nor did...
Police: Peters youth swim coach believed teen had the soul of his dead girlfriend
A Peters swim instructor told police he sent months worth of explicit text messages to a teen because he believed she was “inhabited by the soul” of a dead, former girlfriend, according to charges filed against the man. Township police began investigating Robert Neal Keller, 44, earlier this month after...
Girl Scouts debut early registration program for preschool girls
Girls in preschool can now join the Girl Scouts as part of a new extended registration program allowing enrollment at a younger age. Any girl entering kindergarten this fall is eligible to take part in the new Daisy Launch initiative. A $35 membership will last until Sept. 30, 2020. When...
IRS says Beaver County owes it $378,000
A hefty tax lien has been filed against a Pennsylvania county after a former payroll supervisor apparently ignored IRS warning letters notifying it of unpaid debt. The IRS filed the lien against Beaver County claiming the government owes it more than $378,000. County officials found several IRS notifications of an...
Campaigns embrace tradition of political yard signs
In a world where Twitter and Facebook often dominate political discourse, 2-by-3-foot yard signs are hardly a sign of the times. But when it comes to local elections, those roadside placards rule. As the primary campaign season heats up in anticipation of May 21 balloting, they are as much an...
Duquesne University to honor the legacy of Fred Rogers at commencement
Duquesne University will honor the legacy of the late Fred Rogers at 2019 undergraduate commencement ceremonies on May 10. University officials said Maxwell King, the author of “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers,” and Joanne Byrd Rogers, the widow of the renowned children’s television pioneer, will...
Former Canon-McMillan wrestler shot by police arrested on assault charges
A former Canon-McMillan wrestler who was shot by police this month was released from a hospital Thursday and arraigned on aggravated assault and related charges, according to court records. Family of Logan B. Macri, 19, posted $100,000 bail for him, said his attorney Casey White. “He is now addressing any...
Coroner identifies teen killed in Washington County crash
The Washington County Coroner has identified the 15-year-old boy killed in a crash on I-70 Thursday night. Robert Gracey, of Wheeling, W. Va., was a passenger in a vehicle travelling west in North Franklin Township around 11:30 p.m. The vehicle hit a tractor-trailer, lost control and flipped over, according to...
DEP awards $1 million to clean energy vehicle projects in Pittsburgh region
The state Department of Environmental Protection has awarded more than $1 million in grants for nine clean energy vehicle projects in southwestern Pennsylvania, DEP said. The funding, which comes from the state’s Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants program, supports the replacement of older shuttles, school buses, waste-hauling trucks and other vehicles...
3 sought in $450K colonoscopy instruments theft at Pennsylvania hospital
Police say two men and a woman broke into a Philadelphia-area hospital and stole nearly a half-million dollars’ worth of colonoscopy instruments. Authorities say the trio had access to a secured area of Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, which is about 8 miles west of Philadelphia. The people walked out...
