Valley News Dispatch category, Page 373

The Leechburg High School baseball team will not be able to play games on its home turf for the rest of the season. The announcement came during an April 13 school board meeting as the school’s solicitor Amy Schrempf gave a status update on the condition of the field, which...

A Westmoreland County jury was seated Monday to hear evidence in the retrial of an Allegheny Township man accused of the rape and sexual assault of six women. Prosecutors claim Eric Wright, 50, was a serial rapist who committed crimes for nearly two decades. Originally charged with more than 50...

Two people arrested at an Upper Burrell home face multiple felony drug and weapons charges after police said they found more than 2 ounces of crystal meth, a stolen handgun and other evidence of drug dealing during a search of the home. Djuan “Chiz” Osceola Williams, 42, of the 7000...

Freeport businesses have teamed up to offer a community open-air market with food trucks and live music every month through November, weather permitting. Dubbed “Freeport Days,” the event offers a festival vibe showcasing the products and services of local businesses. To accommodate the festivities, the borough will close down a...

The food truck event that brought throngs of people to downtown New Kensington last year is coming back. “Fridays on Fifth” will make its return this Friday to — you guessed it — Fifth Avenue. It will run from 5 to 9 p.m. between Ninth and 11th streets. This will...

Spring is in full swing at the Art in Bloom Floral and Photography Show at the Focus on the Arts Gallery in the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. The gallery displays and sells work from the New Kensington Camera Club and the Allegheny Valley League of Artists. Nearly 80 pieces...

Foxwall EMS and Aspinwall Volunteer Fire Department are encouraging people to Run for the Hill of It. The new fundraiser to benefit both groups will celebrate its inaugural race on Sunday, April 24. “This is the kind of event that we have thought about for a long time,” said Rob...

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. St. Joseph HS to honor alumni St. Joseph High School, Natrona Heights, Harrison, will honor several alumni with Spirit of St....

Rick Harbaugh concedes that there’s still a lot for him to learn about Natrona Heights Presbyterian Church and its parishioners as he fumbles for the correct switches to turn lights on in the nearly 100-year-old stone church on Broadview Boulevard. “I’m still finding my way around and learning things,” Harbaugh...

The once polluted and blighted Roaring Run Trail area in Kiski Township has greened over much of its past and has become a destination for walking, biking and kayaking. But the history of coal mining still haunts the area. A visitor to Roaring Run a few years ago found a...

Market Street in Leechburg continues to grow, as a new shop has wheeled its way along the street. Allegheny Township resident Tim Carson opened his new bike shop, Spokes, in February. Customers can browse a range of bikes, from trail, mountain, women’s, kid’s and e-bikes. Bike repairs and accessories are...

Harrison Commissioner Jamie Nee already is eyeing larger-than-normal pieces of litter to be collected at the township’s April 23 Earth Day cleanup. Her list includes an inventory of 82 tires, 25 TVs and seven couches that have been tossed in township parks or left on sides of roads as eyesores....

In 2020, the headline about “Newsies” was “Canceled.” The Valley High School Drama Club was two weeks from its first performance of the Disney musical when the covid pandemic shutdown started in March. “It was very crushing,” said Spencer Pastrick, 17, a junior from New Kensington who was a freshman...

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. Springdale students to present ‘Wizard of Oz’ The drama department of Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School will present the musical, “The Wizard...

The Gilpin Township supervisors have awarded a contract to Mackin Engineering to overhaul the township’s decades-old zoning ordinances. The supervisors voted 4-0, with Supervisor Linda Alworth absent, to hire the firm April 12 for just under $39,000 for the project. Gilpin has zoning laws, which only allow certain types in...

There might still be life in Tarentum’s Cycle Diner, just not as a traditional sit-down eatery. The 1949 diner is owned by Gatto Cycle Shop and attached to its Harley-­Davidson showroom along East Sixth Avenue. In January, it was denied a permit by the Allegheny County Health Department to reopen....

A fitness-themed fundraiser offering fun and fellowship returns to Allegheny RiverTrail Park in Aspinwall April 23. Spin Your Wheels was created in 2015 by Aspinwall resident and attorney Jennifer Evashavik. She bills it as the “fitness party of the year” and hundreds attend. The family-friendly event offers classes for everyone,...

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. Golf outing and walk to benefit NAMI Butler County The National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI) Butler County Golf Scramble and...

Kiski Area High School junior Grace Wilferd put her knowledge of welding on display to win big at a competition last weekend in Hershey. Wilferd, 16, of Allegheny Township took first place in the welding demonstration competition at the SkillsUSA State and Leadership Conference, held April 6-8. Additionally, she received...

On the face of Lower Burrell’s new vacant property ordinance, the fines are hefty — $1,000 a day — for property owners who don’t fix unsightly issues on their vacant property. But the fines will be levied in only the most severe cases, according to city officials, such as when...

Hulton Road in Oakmont reopened Friday night to one lane after a large oak tree fell across the road, between Fifth and Seventh streets late Friday morning, pulling down electric lines, causing a power outage and blocking the well-traveled street for at least eight hours. The tree came down on...

The question of what constitutes gender could be front and center at the next Highlands School Board meeting. On Tuesday, board members will consider approval of an education equity policy that at least two members have voiced concern about. The aim of the proposed policy is to remove educational barriers...

An O’Hara business that specializes in first aid, safety and cleaning supplies is expanding to nearly double its size in the township’s industrial park. Cintas will move operations from a 5,000-square-foot facility along Alpha Drive in RIDC Park to one that’s nearly 10,000 square feet and just a few doors...

A Kiski Area High School student started an online petition this month calling for all the school’s bathrooms to be open, all of the time. As the petition gathered more signatures, Principal Chad Roland called in the student this week to explain why the school began rotating bathroom closures, starting...

Deacon Christopher James Pujol stood near the fifth row of pews from the back at Mount St. Peter Roman Catholic Church on Monday morning. He was replaying the memory of him as a 7-year-old making his First Holy Communion. “I was sitting right here,” he said, as he smiled recalling...