Valley News Dispatch category, Page 275

Graffiti artists have left their unwanted mark on a Brackenridge business and other sites in Harrison. Property owner Cameron Yockey said he discovered Feb. 3 that his building along Brackenridge Avenue had been tagged. Vandals scribbled on the storefront, sidewalk and trash can. “Thankfully, we bought this building to renovate...

Plum Council has attached a few conditions to its approval of the first phase of a three-phase, 158-home housing development. Council voted 6-0 to give final approval to the 35-house first phase of Patriot Estates, a development that would cover about 140 acres off Davidson Road. Council’s approval followed a...

Fifth grade teacher Samantha Isaac takes advantage of her classroom being at something of a crossroads inside Roy A. Hunt Elementary School in Arnold. Isaac is often outside her door, extending her influence beyond the students in her room. “She’s out in the hallway talking with students, giving them fist...

Frank J. Pallone Jr. has had many truancy cases come before him during his 24 years as a district judge in New Kensington. In those hearings, Pallone said he takes the time to learn what is going on in homes that caused a child to miss school and rack up...

Until the late 1800s, river crossings were accomplished primarily using ferries throughout much of the Alle-Kiski Valley. They were used to transport not only pedestrians but also animals, carriages and wagons filled with goods going to market. As the population increased in communities along the Allegheny River, the ferry system...

The Lower Burrell Municipal Authority and the city’s leadership are gearing up for a $9.2 million sewage project, likely the most expensive project for the city in the next decade. The municipal authority will replace and upgrade the Big Braeburn pump station at the bottom of Edgecliff Road plus repair...

The Gilpin/Leechburg Park in Gilpin might soon be under new ownership. On Jan. 26, the Armstrong County commissioners sent letters to Gilpin and Leechburg officials to gauge interest on the municipalities taking ownership of the park property. The Gilpin supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday, Feb. 14 to accept the park’s transfer....

The Allegheny Township supervisors will investigate the costs for installing street lights in the Pleasantville neighborhood. That’s in response to an inquiry by Michael Blakeny, a resident of Sunrise Drive. Blakeny said he is concerned about the safety of pedestrians, particularly children, walking the neighborhood after dark. He said it...

Parents, teachers, children, pastors and concerned citizens turned out Saturday afternoon at Valley High School auditorium in New Kensington to consider how the area’s recent spate of violence might be stopped. The event was coordinated by former New Kensington- Arnold School District dean of students Henry “Hank” Commodore, who said he...

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. Tickets available for spaghetti dinner in honor of Brackenridge chief Pioneer...

Like most birding enthusiasts, Jessica Lakari looks forward to every chance to get out in the woods to glimpse the colorful and often complex behavior of winged creatures. So when birders from around the Alle-Kiski Valley gathered at Harrison Hill Park this weekend for the Great Backyard Bird Count, she...

Arnold Council has delayed voting on a roofing company’s request to lease city-owned land for outdoor storage. Liberty Roofing Center wants to lease the vacant lots at 1501-1507 Fourth Ave. As proposed, the rent would be $400 per month, or $4,800 per year, with a five-year minimum. What would be...

A district judge denied bail for a homeless man accused of holding a knife to a Harrison gas station attendant’s throat during a robbery Tuesday night. Nicholas Dupree, 21, was charged with a felony count of robbery along with counts of theft, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault...

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. Children’s bereavement workshop offered online Good Samaritan Hospice, a mission of...

It’s a golden year filled with glitz and glamour for Fox Chapel Area musical theater. A student-driven production of “Guys and Dolls” will hit the stage to mark the district’s 50th year of shows where teens consistently turn in near-professional performances, belting out Broadway-style tunes and sashaying across the stage....

A New Kensington police officer was dragged by a vehicle Thursday when he attempted to arrest a woman he knew had an outstanding warrant against her. The incident began about 5 p.m. at the Sunoco gas station on Tarentum Bridge Road, according to court records. A pursuit — first by...

A homeless man who was barred in 2019 from entering the Central Towers public housing complex in New Kensington was arrested Tuesday, accused of trying to break into an apartment the day after its tenant died, according to authorities. Paul Walter “Charlie” Graves, 54, was charged with felony counts of...

The Social Security Administration office that has been in New Kensington for nearly 40 years will be moving to Harrison, a government spokesman said. The U.S. General Services Administration signed a new lease for the office to be at Heights Plaza in Natrona Heights, spokesman Will Powell said. The office...

A big fundraiser with big flavor is back in Vandergrift. The monthly spaghetti dinner, long held in person at St. Gertrude Roman Catholic Church in Vandergrift, has returned. “I’m glad it’s back,” the Rev. James Loew said. “It’s a fundraiser, but it’s an event that brings the parish and the...

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. Early Childhood Fair planned by Highlands School District Highlands School District...

Bryan Krazel and Mark Williamson have taken control of their destinies. They both started new businesses last year — joining about 5 million other U.S. entrepreneurs who did the same thing, according to the Commerce Institute, a website that curates small-business statistics. Krazel had worked as a veterinarian for 25...

Eight New Kensington residents, including three children, are being helped by the American Red Cross after being displaced by a fire Thursday night. The three-story building in the 400 block of Fifth Avenue housed two apartments. Two people lived in the apartment on the first floor while six lived on...

New Kensington officials said they were doing a Tarentum contractor a favor by not allowing him to buy a long-vacant house in the city from Westmoreland County’s unsold repository. Council voted unanimously last month to not consent to the sale of 304 Charles Ave. to Bryaunt Williams, owner of One...

Changes to the Harrison business district could be coming. There’s space for a new restaurant now that the former Burger King building is officially on the market. The 1,900-square-foot space sits at 1513 Freeport Road, in the heart of the township’s commercial corridor. Listed for lease by CBRE Group Inc.,...

Word that New Kensington plans to fix broken and lifted sidewalks through the heart of the city’s downtown this year is welcome news to residents and property owners. Repairs to the sidewalks on both sides of Fifth Avenue, between Seventh and 11th streets, are expected to be complete in July,...