Valley News Dispatch category, Page 365

The buyer of the former JCPenney building in Lower Burrell plans to bring some jobs with them after they renovate and settle in to the site, which has sat empty for 17 years. Earlier this week, Schaedler Yesco, an electrical distribution and supply company in O’Hara’s RIDC Park, announced it...

Arnold police charged a woman with felony counts of endangering the welfare of children after, they said, she drove carelessly with her young children in the vehicle. Mariah Chanta Gordon, 27, of the 1200 block of Constitution Avenue in New Kensington, faces two felony counts of endangering the welfare of...

A political newcomer is looking to earn his first elective office as a state senator. Jake Roberts, 31, of Ross will be facing state Rep. Lori Mizgorski, 55, of Shaler for the Republican nomination in the state 38th Senatorial District race. Both candidates have similar views on abortion following the...

A Penn Hills man faces a felony firearm charge after a woman accused him of striking her with a handgun during an argument at her New Kensington apartment. Rashaad Kahill Blair, 26, of the 1000 block of Olympic Heights Drive, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and defiant...

Two people who were patients at Allegheny Valley Hospital face multiple felony charges after police charged them with attacking medical staff during separate incidents. Lea Ashley Slusar, 28, of the 1400 block of Fifth Avenue in Arnold, was charged May 6 by Highmark Health Police with three felony counts of...

A Penn Hills woman is working to honor her late mother and raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, an illness she said is widely misunderstood. “It’s not an old person’s thing,” Amy Davidson said. “My mother passed away at 69, but she battled it for more than 10 years.” Davidson will...

A smoke alarm might have saved a New Kensington home Wednesday morning, fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said. Something caught fire on a couple’s stovetop about 8:30 a.m. on Beamer Avenue. The wife was at work. The husband was outside working in the yard but heard a smoke detector go...

An Allegheny County woman is accused of taking $12,300 from Westmoreland County’s emergency rental assistance program after, authorities said, she forged an application for a vacant New Kensington property, according to court papers. Melissa D. Brandt, 36, of Franklin Park is charged with theft, forgery, identity theft and receiving stolen...

The New Kensington-­Arnold School Board is considering another multimillion-­dollar bond issue for work on the district’s schools. The board is entertaining borrowing $5 million. That money would be added to $8 million in federal covid relief funds to pay for the work. Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said the money would be used...

Gilpin supervisors gave a presentation showing what a regional police force would look like with Gilpin and Freeport combined. The presentation Tuesday evening was led by Chris Fabec, who serves as police chief for both municipalities. Fabec said a survey was sent out to Gilpin officers to get an idea...

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. Please include a daytime telephone number. Bingo fundraiser to benefit Lower Valley food bank Lower Valley Community Food Bank will host a spring fling bingo at 7...

PPG Industries’ safety department is investigating the cause of a fire Wednesday at its Springdale plant along Colfax Street. Firefighters from the borough as well as Arnold and East Deer responded to the call for smoke and fire in the vents at the industrial coating and resin facility around 3...

The heart of Tarentum’s Corbet Street business district will undergo a transformation to create parking spaces in a park-like setting in the middle of town. Borough officials voted to buy a two-story brick building at 215 Corbet, most recently home to J&G Corner Store. The property will be demolished to...

State police accused a woman of being a drug dealer after police say an informant bought methamphetamine from her in Leechburg two years ago. Debbie Ann Russo, 44, of the 1000 block of Johnston Avenue in Kittanning, was charged with a felony count of possession of drugs with the intent...

A New Kensington man is accused of stripping a woman naked, pouring cold water all over her and forcing her to sit in front of an open window with fans blowing on her on a cold night. That was just one of several ways New Kensington police allege that Zachery...

It was about the time Gabriella Girardi turned 4 that the questions started. “Research shows that age 4 is the age when we ask the most questions. No other age on the planet asks more questions than a 4-year-old,” said her mother, Tamara Girardi of Lower Burrell. But what made...

Leechburg Area Middle School students were in a different classroom environment Tuesday afternoon — for a good cause. Students and staff donned bright Hi-Liter green safety vests and heavy duty gloves, grabbed trash bags and picked up trash around the downtown Leechburg business district and other areas for an hour...

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. Please include a daytime telephone number. Harrison library discontinues fines for overdue materials Community Library of Allegheny Valley in Harrison has announced that it will no longer...

State police arrested a New Castle man they say was wanted in connection with a homicide after an early-morning chase along Route 28 in Frazer, officials said. Shane McDevitt, 36, was taken into custody Wednesday after the high-speed police pursuit on Route 28 that ended when the Nissan Sentra he...

A Tarentum man faces felony child endangerment and other charges after police accused him of leaving two loaded guns within reach of his 5-year-old son after threatening to shoot his landlord during a dispute. Anthony Ponzetti, 33, of the 300 block of Seventh Avenue, was charged with a felony count...

Retail shopping took a dramatic turn in the 1950s, and the Alle-Kiski Valley was part of it. The Heights Plaza Shopping Center opened Nov. 10, 1955, and changed shopping habits. The plaza was built by brothers John P. and Alex Marino, who saw similar facilities going up elsewhere. The first...

John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor and a leading Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat, made his ultimate goal clear when he spoke to an informal gathering of about 130 people Tuesday evening in Greensburg. During a meet-and-greet campaign stop on the patio of El Diablo Brewing Co. & Wood-Fired...

A man from East Deer was ordered to stand trial on felony drug charges after police accused him of selling heroin to an informant. Travis Black, 46, whose last known address was in the 300 block of Crawford Run Road, was charged by Tarentum police with three felony drug charges...

A popular al fresco dining destination is reopening in Allegheny Township. Lily’s, the restaurant at River Forest Country Club overlooking the golf course, is back in business for dinner at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The scenic dining spot closed last summer, at the season’s peak, citing staffing shortages. While located at...

Fox Chapel Area Senior High School was touted as a dream school by the media when it opened in 1961. Sixty years later, members of the very first graduating class, the Class of 1962, are planning their 60th reunion on June 9 at the Fox Chapel Yacht Club. “We’re looking...