Valley News Dispatch category, Page 399
Man charged with robbery at Harrison BP station
A homeless man is charged with robbery, accused of attacking a clerk Saturday at a Harrison BP station. William Menhart, 54, is being held in Allegheny County Jail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 30. According to the criminal complaint, Menhart entered the BP station on Freeport...
Pro wrestling returns to Springdale with fundraiser for high school marching band
Sounds of wrestling ring bells and body slams will be music to the ears as a local pro wrestling promotion partners with a Springdale Junior-Senior High School booster club to raise money for its marching band. The Keystone State Wrestling Alliance returns to the Donald C. McGhee Fieldhouse for Springdale...
Taco Bell opens in Allegheny Township
Allegheny Township has a Taco Bell. The restaurant at 500 Hyde Park Road in Allegheny Plaza welcomed customers during a drive-thru-only soft opening Saturday and Sunday. Inside dining opens Monday. Customers lined up in their cars in the drive-thru portion of the eatery both days, awaiting the 11 a.m. opening....
New Kensington’s largest building, formerly Citizens Bank, to be sold at online auction
The downtown New Kensington building that until a few months ago housed a Citizens Bank branch is slated to be sold in an online auction in April. A $200,000 starting bid was placed on the six-story building on Ninth Street at Fifth Avenue. The auction through Ten-X will run from...
Vandergrift police return to full staffing with 2 new officers
Vandergrift Borough has two new full-time police officers. Council approved hiring Danny Anthony and Steven Zemba at a starting salary of $59,692 each. Their salaries would increase to $71,075 after three years, Vandergrift police Chief Joe Caporali said. They will begin patrolling this month. The borough normally maintains eight full-time...
Highlands eyes $3.2 million in safety upgrades
The Highlands School Board on Monday will consider $3.2 million in safety upgrades that would impact all four campuses. Dan Engen, from DRAW Collective architectural firm, presented design options to the board during its agenda meeting Tuesday night. Work ranges from HVAC to paving to new water coolers. “There is...
From big to small, local governments expect to feel the pinch of high gas prices
Some local governments are running over budget on their fuel costs as gasoline prices surge and remain volatile. Many are looking to juggle that expense with other items in their budgets. While most say it’s too early to know exactly what the impact of high fuel prices will be on...
Police: Harrison robbery suspect held gun to man’s head because he wanted money for snacks
A 17-year-old from Sheldon Park told police he attacked a man outside a pizza shop in Harrison early Friday because he needed money for snacks. He is charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy, receiving stolen property, drug and gun charges. Bail was denied, and he remains in the Allegheny County Jail...
Tarentum man accused of DUI in Sharpsburg crash that injured 1
A man was driving under the influence of cocaine when Allegheny County Police said he slammed into another vehicle in Sharpsburg, seriously injuring its driver. James Edward Sundberg, 66, was arrested Thursday by the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Fugitive Squad. He has addresses in Tarentum and Salem Township, Westmoreland County. Sundberg...
First Baptist Church in Tarentum eager to rebuild after covid shutdown
The Rev. Felicia Brock moved to the Alle-Kiski Valley in late 2019 to start a new life as pastor of First Baptist Church in Tarentum. Then covid-19 shut everything down. “When you have a calling from God, you follow it,” said Brock, who relocated from Detroit. “God didn’t tell me...
The Stroller, March 19, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your community events 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. Evening of Celtic music planned at Concordia Lutheran Ministries Concordia Lutheran Ministries will host an evening of Celtic folk music by singer...
Allegheny Township police to be issued firearms, ending practice of carrying personal weapons
Since the 1960s, Allegheny Township police have carried their personal guns on the job, like officers at many small municipal police forces. Starting this year, however, the township’s police will be supplied with township-issued guns. At the March 14 township supervisors meeting, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli presented Allegheny...
Lower Burrell police Sgt. Cernava and K-9 partner Dax to retire: ‘It just seems right’
Lower Burrell’s police K-9 Dax is 11. In dog years, that’s a bit over 60. His handler, Sgt. Steve Cernava, turns 57 next month. By Cernava’s calculation, both are old enough to retire. They’ll work their final day together on the Lower Burrell police force at the end of the...
Woman rescued after jumping from New Kensington Bridge
A woman was rescued from the Allegheny River after jumping from the New Kensington Bridge on Friday morning. The incident was reported shortly before 10 a.m., a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said. The woman was sedated when she was taken from the scene by ambulance, according to officials at the...
Man accused of selling fentanyl, cocaine after informant buys drugs during sting, police say
Arnold police arrested a man from Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood on Tuesday after they said he sold narcotics to an informant during a sting operation. William Charles “Shug” King, 34, of the 700 block of South 21st Street, was charged with three felony counts of possession of drugs with the...
New Kensington police say DNA test on discarded beer can helped ID burglary suspect
New Kensington police say they used a DNA test on saliva from a discarded beer can to help identity a man they charged with stealing cash from his neighbor’s apartment. Don Levon Graves, 57, of the 300 block of Main Street in New Kensington, was charged with a felony count...
Community gardens planned near Citizens Hose in Harrison’s Birdville neighborhood
A community garden in the Birdville section of Harrison is expected to be producing crops by summer. The groundbreaking for the one-acre plot adjacent to Citzens Hose Fire-EMS-Rescue is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, March 24. The public is invited. “We are so excited to move forward with this and...
Lower Burrell approves funding to study improvements at city parks
Lower Burrell Council has approved the development of a plan to rethink most of the city’s parks. City parks include Braeview Fireman’s Park, Burrell Lake Park, Kotecki Memorial Park, Kinloch Fireman’s Park and Veteran’s Central Park. The city received a $20,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural...
Pivot to pasta: Inflation turns Lenten fish fry at Bell Township VFD into spaghetti dinner
There’s a new menu for the Friday Lenten fundraiser meals starting March 25 at Bell Township Volunteer Fire Department: The traditional fish fry has been replaced by spaghetti dinners. “The price of everything this year is crazy,” said Bell Township VFD president and organizer Cody Auden. With fish in short...
Arnold girl helps raise money for orphans in parents’ homeland of Ukraine
Shady Side Academy freshman Avery Litwin found a new friend when she began tutoring English online to a 14-year-old Ukranian girl named Daria. Then Russia invaded Ukraine. Litwin was shocked by the reality of Daria’s new living conditions. Litwin said Daria had to hang black curtains over her windows, and...
The Stroller, March 18, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your community events 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. Scholarships available to local students Allegheny-Kiski Health Foundation has several scholarship programs available for area students including: • Helen Rakowski Bole Nursing...
Easter events in the Allegheny-Kiski Valley
To have your Easter event added to this list, send information in writing as soon as possible to Carol Pinto-Smith at Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084; or e-mail cpinto-smith@triblive.com; or fax 724-226-4677. Please note if registrations are required and if the event is open to the...
Restaurant Ramble & Spring Fling to spotlight downtown New Kensington eateries
New Kensington is going to ramble into spring with an all-new fling. Tickets are being sold through Sunday for the first Restaurant Ramble & Spring Fling, scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 26. It will spotlight nearly a dozen restaurants on Fourth and Fifth avenues in downtown New...
Artifacts bring Vietnam War to light for Springdale High School History Club
History classes and movies don’t show a lot of things about the wars the United States has fought. For instance, Ethan Zahner, a senior at Springdale Junior-Senior High School, wasn’t aware of all of the dangers facing soldiers in the Vietnam War. “I did not know that they had to...
State legislative redistricting causes changes in Alle-Kiski Valley communities
With the state Supreme Court affirming the commonwealth’s new legislative district maps this week, state House and Senate representation changed in many communities in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Pennsylvania’s highest court Wednesday rejected final legal challenges to affirm the state’s new legislative district maps. A list of local communities and how...
