Valley News Dispatch category, Page 425

Like many businesses around the Alle-Kiski Valley, the Allegheny Valley School District needs employees. Specifically, substitute teachers and custodians, a problem the school board discussed at its agenda meeting Tuesday. “We are in a position where we need substitutes,” Superintendent Patrick Graczyk told the board. He said the problem was...

Minor injuries were reported in a crash that closed part of Route 66 in Gilpin Thursday morning, state police said. Crews responded to the highway around 6:30 a.m. for reports of a crash involving a tanker truck, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI reported. The road, which was closed between Schenley and...

They’ve served us. Now it’s time for us to serve them. The Women of Alle-Kiski Engaging spent two months collecting nonperishable food and personal products to be donated to the Veterans Leadership Program, which helps those who served in the military with everything from housing and career development to wellness...

Publicize your club meetings, community events and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Spaghetti dinner to benefit cancer patient A spaghetti dinner to benefit breast cancer patient Cristy Keibler Suppa of Upper Burrell will...

Springdale High School drama club students are eager to perform a production in front of a live audience for the first time since 2019. The school will perform “The Wildman” by J. Omar Hansen. The one-act play is a comedic hillbilly retelling of the ancient folk tale “The Heartless Giant.”...

In a traffic stop Wednesday, Kiski Township police arrested a man wanted for a parole violation on drug charges from 2019, according to authorities. An officer on patrol along Route 56 stopped Damien Kemerer, 32, of Vandergrift after he ran a stop sign at Balsiger Road, according to a criminal...

An elementary school in the Fox Chapel Area School District has a new assistant principal. Benjamin Canan, 34, joined O’Hara Elementary School this month as program principal, the official name for the role. He said he seeks to bring a personalized approach to helping lead the school and promises to...

New Kensington-Arnold School District will cast a wide net as it searches for a new varsity football head coach. The school board Tuesday accepted the resignation of William “Muzzy” Colosimo and will advertise the coaching position. Colosimo did not attend the meeting. Colosimo, 71, previously said he felt it was...

Allegheny Township police Chief Duane Fisher didn’t have to open the box delivered to his station Monday to know there was something wrong with the delivery of ammunition for his department. “As soon as I saw the (United Parcel Service) driver get out of the truck carrying the box rather...

A flag honoring fallen police officers is causing a flap in Aspinwall. Council members fielded comments during last week’s meeting from about 15 residents either supporting or opposing the flag that has flown outside the borough building for 12 years. Aspinwall resident Karen Hart took to social media to express...

West Deer Township is ringing in the holiday cheer with its 25th annual toy drive. Former West Deer Police Chief Jon Lape started the drive to help families experiencing hardship during the holiday season. This year will be first time Lape is not leading it after his retirement in June....

Donations are being sought to stage a spaghetti dinner benefit for a New Kensington volunteer firefighter battling cancer. The city’s fire department and the New Kensington Eagles are jointly sponsoring the benefit dinner for Chris Ploski on Jan. 8, Assistant Fire Chief Bruce Davis said. Ploski, 59, a firefighter with...

All it took was a mention that the locally iconic Cross on the Hill needed repairs, and people across the country responded. “Donations are really rolling in,” said Karen Snair, executive director of the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches in Harrison, which owns the 34-foot landmark. “We’re overwhelmed by the...

The spotted lanternfly — a beautiful but invasive plant hopper from Asia — continues its invasion of the region with a 1,722% increase in reports in Allegheny County, a 351% increase in Westmoreland County and a 177% increase in Butler in the past year. The insect doesn’t harm people, but...

To slow the scourge of the invasive lanternfly, state experts weigh in on the many ways to kill the nectar-loving, honeydew-dropping pests. “The only good spotted lanternfly is a dead one,” said Amy K. Korman, an entomologist for 40 years and a horticulture extension educator with the Penn State Extension...

Publicize your club meetings, community events and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Comedy night to benefit Markle fire chief Markle Volunteer Fire Department, Allegheny Township, will have a comedy night fundraiser at 8...

The Armstrong High School student involved in the attack of a transgender teen late last month will be disciplined by the district and could face criminal prosecution, according to a school board member. The Oct. 27 incident, which was videotaped and circulated on social media, shows 14-year-old Willow Andring being...

A national chain focused on healthy eating is opening Wednesday in Blawnox, the first location in the Pittsburgh area. Clean Eatz is opening at 175 Freeport Road, in a new retail plaza at the corner of Center Avenue. Owner Darryl Duncan, 58, hails from the corporate health care field and...

Allegheny Township officials are warning motorists and residents of major closures along Route 356 next summer. As work on the connector to Freeport and the Allegheny Valley expressway wraps up for this year, the project in 2022 will impact residents along the Route 356 corridor. Work will start on either...

The leaking swimming pool at Highlands High School will be drained this week while district leaders consider long-term fixes that could cost up to $160,000. In the meantime, the swim team will get its laps in at Burrell and Valley school districts, which have offered to open their pools to...

Publicize your club meetings, community events and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Students invited to develop engagement strategy for PennDOT The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection invite high school...

Defense attorney Ralph Karsh told a Westmoreland County judge on Monday that he never considered evidence during a 2017 murder trial that his client’s young age mitigated the decision to shoot and kill a man during a 2015 melee in Arnold between two families. “In retrospect, I wish I had...

Vandergrift police arrested two people on drug possession charges after officers spotted an SUV that was reported stolen in the borough on Saturday. James Daniel Higgins, 41, of Washington Township, was charged with felony counts of receiving stolen property and four drug-related offenses. He is in the Westmoreland County Prison...

A 16-year-old boy is reported in stable condition in a Pittsburgh hospital after being stabbed in his back with a knife during an argument Sunday, according to state police at Kiski. Richard Cain, 58, was arraigned Monday on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, reckless endangerment,...