Valley News Dispatch category, Page 319

The kayak launch along the Allegheny River in Harrison’s Natrona section soon could become an enhanced destination for people seeking shorefront recreation. The Harrison commissioners are hoping to move forward on a project to create a nine-space, paved parking lot at the corner of Sycamore Street and River Avenue, new...

Volunteers from ATI will join the Harrison tree committee Tuesday to make over a cluster of 27 trees planted years ago near the Highlands baseball fields. About four dozen people will tend to the bald cypress, birch, elm and pine trees that were paid for through a $250,000 grant from...

Publicize your community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Arts Festival returns to Saxonburg The annual Saxonburg Festival of the Arts...

Students from the Kiski Area School District and other Alle-Kiski schools, including Burrell, are collecting items to honor local police officers on National Thank a Police Officer Day. The day of giving thanks to officers is a nationwide event and is always held on the third Saturday of September. This...

There was a time when community banks in the Alle-Kiski Valley thrived. For example, there was the Old Freeport Bank and the Avonmore National Bank, both of which served their communities for many years. But, perhaps, the most well-known community bank was Parnassus National Bank. The bank dated to 1872,...

With school beginning for many students across the Alle-Kiski Valley, it’s a good time to look at how the configuration of local school districts today could have been vastly different if initial proposals were followed years ago. For instance, on Dec. 17, 1962, Allegheny County school officials proposed a high...

A 1-year-old boy who fell out of a window Aug. 30 in Plum died four days later, according to a report from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The boy, Henry Witucki, fell from the window around 6:30 p.m. along the 100 block of Winchester Drive. According to the Medical...

Counselors and psychologists were available to Fox Chapel Area students after a district student died Sept. 2 in a fatal shooting in Duquesne. Lajaponis Roberts, 14, had been a passenger in a burgundy-colored Chevy Cruze that was hit by gunfire shortly before 5:15 p.m. in the 700 block of Priscilla...

Looking to clean out your closet and snag a free outfit? Fox Chapel Area High School senior Diya Reddy has organized a public clothing swap scheduled for Sept. 18 in Sharpsburg. Ketchup City Creative owner Nanci Goldberg partnered with Reddy to host the free event scheduled from 6 p.m. to...

Allegheny Township officials have updated the community’s website. The website had not been updated for about a decade, according to township Manager Greg Primm. “It was updated with content, just not as often as it could have been,” Primm said. A new online feature for residents is a link to...

Pastor Fred Neal of Lower Burrell seems to have a penchant for breathing new life into old churches. Early last year, Neal found a home for his fledgling Redemption Church at the former and abandoned Hillcrest Alliance Church in Lower Burrell. Now, he and two other pastors are expanding their...

Publicize your community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Leechburg Mingle on Market event set Thursday The monthly Mingle on Market...

Shannon Santucci served her hometown of Arnold as a police officer for 11 years and made history as the city’s first female police chief. She resigned from the department as a sergeant in 2018, having been chief from June 2015 to January 2016. “I miss patrolling,” Santucci said. “I miss...

Outdoor enthusiasts are invited to take part in two free hikes this month at Harrison Hills Park. Seeds and Spores is scheduled for Sept. 17. Hit the Trail will happen Sept. 25. Hosted by Allegheny County, the hikes are tailored to all skill levels. Park rangers will lead the first,...

Rainy conditions this weekend resulted in lower attendance at the annual Labor United Celebration at Northmoreland Park. The 42nd annual two-day event celebrating the traditions and history of organized labor in Western Pennsylvania typically draws close to 20,000 visitors. This year, crowds were about half of what organizers expected, said...

Bill Godfrey graduated from Tarentum High School in 1969, earned an art degree from Edinboro University and didn’t set foot in the Alle-Kiski Valley for the next several years. “I wanted to see the world,” said Godfrey, 72. “I was nomadic. I saw the pyramids, the Great Wall of China...

Publicize your community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Happy Labor Day! Labor Day is a well-deserved tribute for those who...

A 5K race in New Kensington that grew into a fitness and wellness bonanza became more than what was hoped for, according to organizer Cullen Maag. The inaugural NK 5K FitFEST drew a few hundred people to the Westmoreland County city Sunday. “Pretty good crowd for a first-time formula,” said...

Rain didn’t dampen the spirits of the thousands of people in attendance for the 2022 Labor United Celebration in Northmoreland Park. The recreational site in Allegheny Township was packed with vendors, games, rides, animals and more Sunday. It was the 42nd annual installment of the two-day celebration that traditionally takes...

Walkers and bikers could be exercising along a new Brackenridge path by fall. The borough’s section of the larger 33-mile Three Rivers Heritage Trail is in the final stages of pre-construction, according to officials from the nonprofit Friends of the Riverfront. “We’ll be putting out bids soon for the section...

A foundation working to raise $7 million to open a nonprofit middle school in Arnold has retained a national brand consulting agency. The Teach from DeHart Foundation on Friday announced a partnership with Beck & Stone in New York City. Matt DeHart, a South Carolina educator, founded the academy he...

Publicize your community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Summit Hose Festival planned in Tarentum Riverview Park The Summit Hose Company...

A Vandergrift police officer used a Taser twice to subdue a fleeing suspect last month. Police say Brandon John Krawczyk, 38, of Parks Township was wanted on multiple arrest warrants when an officer spotted him in the 100 block of First Street shortly after 2 p.m. Aug. 21, according to...

A Kiski Area alumna has opened a business right across the street from where she once attended high school. Cassandra “Casey Lynn” Walsh of Vandergrift recently opened her own full-service salon, Casey Lynn: Style for all, in Allegheny Township, a stone’s throw from Kiski Area High School. “I originally wanted...

A New Kensington couple has been given permission to move their wood pallet recycling business into a building in Arnold. The city’s zoning hearing board, following a hearing Wednesday, Aug. 31 approved a special exception and variance for Brennan and Mariah Brooks-Boyd to use the building at 1508-10 Third Ave....