Valley News Dispatch category, Page 193

Jury selection for six defendants charged with homicide in connection with the July 2022 shooting death in New Kensington will begin Dec. 4. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani said all of the men and teens accused in the alleged murder of 39-year-old Jason Raiford at Valley Royal Court...

Two Shady Side Academy students recently took their seats as junior Fox Chapel Council members. Mayor Alex Scott administered the oath of office to Avery Litwin and Ethan Kolek on Sept. 18. The council selected Litwin and Kolek out of four candidates in August. Litwin is a member of the...

Emergency services lost a giant in the field with the death of Foxwall EMS Chief Tony Cuda on Oct. 28, according to friends and peers. Cuda, 54, served with numerous local departments, from Swissvale to Aspinwall to Penn Hills, inspiring countless members with his mentoring and benchmark of excellence. Service...

A Lower Burrell man who is serving probation for selling a fatal dose of drugs in 2018 is accused of stealing nearly $3,000 from a Richland business by altering and cashing a check he stole from its mailbox. Northern Regional Police charged Donald Keith Lewandowski, 39, of the 100 block...

Five candidates are vying for three open supervisor seats in West Deer. The board consists of five members, with four-year terms. Supervisors are limited to two terms, as stated in the township’s home rule charter. Incumbent Republican Vernon Frey will appear on the ballot for voters in District 1 in...

Sharpsburg residents should not expect to pay more in taxes as part of next year’s budget. The borough’s preliminary spending plan for 2024 contains no tax hike or cuts to services. Borough sewer rates are also expected to remain stagnant. The property tax rate for the 2023 tax year spiked...

Valley High School sophomore and welding student Brandon Stankiewicz hoped to sow some career seeds while volunteering at an ATI tree-planting event Wednesday in Harrison. “I’m really hoping to meet up with some other tech students and people from ATI,” said Stankiewicz, 15, who is enrolled at the Northern Westmoreland...

A Monroeville woman who pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge in April for forging a check is accused of doing the same thing to steal from a business in West Deer. Police charged Chelsea Renee Chase, 34, of the 200 block of Holt Lane with felony counts of theft...

Two sisters and one of their boyfriends will stand trial on charges they conspired to stage a robbery at Asay’s newsstand in Tarentum in late August. Investigators say April Baczynski, who worked as a clerk at Asay’s, and Leah Baczynski came up with the idea with Leah’s boyfriend, Connor Whited,...

A Vandergrift man awaiting trial on charges that he assaulted police officers when they tried to arrest him in January for skipping a court hearing has been accused of trying to run over a man and threatening to shoot him because he is black, according to investigators. Thomas Henry Suppers,...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Appointments available for holiday pet photo sessions Vandergrift Museum and Historical...

Five people are seeking three seats on Springdale Council in the Nov. 7 election. Incumbent Republicans Dan Copeland and Shawn Fitzgerald Jr. face challenges from Mark Stanton, a Republican, and Dolly J. Stephens, a Democrat. Joe Kern, a registered Republican, is running as a write-in candidate. Council seats are four-year...

A search for a missing Springdale man is expected to resume Wednesday morning after an extensive search Tuesday was unsuccessful. Sean Dugan, 58, was reported missing by borough police Monday. He is described as a white man with short hair and a goatee. Harmar police Chief Jason Domaratz said Dugan’s...

Voters in the Kiski Township supervisors race will have their choice of four candidates vying for four open seats in the Nov. 7 election, with two seats available for six-year terms and two seats for four-year terms. There are three candidates on each term’s ballot. Mary Long, who is cross-filed,...

Springdale police accused two women of working as prostitutes after they offered to exchange sex for money with a police officer who was working undercover, according to investigators. Alexis Radovitch, 36, of the 500 block of Walnut Street in Springdale was charged with a felony count of promoting prostitution along...

Imagination will get a workout at Fireman’s Memorial Park in Aspinwall now that the borough has installed new playground equipment there. Kids can race to an imaginary fire or play house using two new pieces. Other new equipment includes two spring-based rocking rides and a three-bay swing. Borough Manager Melissa...

An area where people can safely conduct a custody exchange or online sale meetups is open in Lower Burrell. The safe exchange area in the Lower Burrell City Hall parking lot includes cameras and signage. Councilman Chris Fabry first proposed the idea to council in the summer. “Being on council,...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Happy Halloween! Many municipalities will have trick-or-treat tonight. Please watch out...

The Davis boys looked up to Tippy. Growing up in New Kensington’s Parnassus neighborhood in the 1960s, elder brother Larry, twins John and Perry, and Bruce, the youngest of the four, would see their neighbor and volunteer firefighter H.C. “Tippy” Robertson run out of his house when the fire whistle...

Harrison residents who live near Sylvan Park should get some relief from sewer overflows because of a $555,000 township project to upgrade lines in the area. Work is expected to start this week and last through January. The Little Bull Creek sanitary sewer project will impact homes near the park,...

Shoppers and employees had to vacate the newly opened Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Monday afternoon after a reported gas leak, according to a spokesperson from Westmoreland Public Safety. The store held its grand opening on Oct. 25 and is located in Hyde Park Plaza, Allegheny Township. Fire units were called to...

One person was injured when a car went into a creek Monday afternoon off Saxonburg Boulevard in O’Hara. O’Hara police, Parkview EMS, Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Company and crews out of Etna responded. It’s unclear what led to the incident. Township officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Jim...

Three people are accused of stealing more than $5,000 from businesses in Lower Burrell and Allegheny Township by using computers to alter the payout slips from games-of-chance machines to a higher amount. Lower Burrell and Westmoreland County detectives said the suspects had computers and a printer in their vehicle so...

The driver of a vehicle escaped serious injury Monday after he went off the road and down a hillside along Coxcomb Hill Road in Plum. The crash near the intersection of Kerr Road was reported around noon, according to Plum police Detective Joe Little. Initial reports from emergency dispatchers said...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Gingerbread house contest on tap at Leechburg Public Library Leechburg Public...