Valley News Dispatch category, Page 440

Two more women told a Westmoreland County jury on Wednesday they were raped by an Allegheny Township man. Their testimony came during the third day in the trial of Eric Wright, 49, who prosecutors claim sexually assaulted and raped three juveniles and three adult women, dating back to the early...

Fox Chapel on Monday became one of the first municipalities in the state that will power its borough buildings with solar energy, officials said. Council voted unanimously on the proposal, which begins with the installation of solar panels in the borough’s new public works buildings. Project costs are expected to...

A woman accused of leading police on a chase from Springdale until she crossed the New Kensington Bridge and wrecked has been charged with multiple felonies. Rachel M. Mautino, 43, of New Kensington was charged by Springdale police with felony counts of fleeing to avoid apprehension, fleeing from police and...

Police used a Taser on an East Vandergrift man charged with stealing a motorcycle after he tried to wrestle the weapon away from an officer, according to authorities. Vandergrift officers went to John William Ebner’s McKinley Avenue home around 8 p.m. on Sept. 16 to execute a warrant for his...

Plans for a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen are moving forward in New Kensington. The city’s planning commission on Tuesday approved the land development plan for Popeyes without conditions, City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said. The restaurant specializing in fried chicken and shrimp is proposed to be built in the Giant Eagle...

A Sharpsburg festival planned for Oct. 2 is pegged to be larger than the borough’s annual Open Streets Celebration that draws thousands. “To put it mildly, the event has exploded,” said Greg Domian, chair of the borough’s special events committee. “We have three football fields of vendors signed up.” The...

Burrell School District and Penn State New Kensington each will receive $25,000 from Arconic Foundation’s $1.1 million in donations in Western Pennsylvania this year. The grants to 21 nonprofits will support education, social equity, environmental sustainability and human needs programs throughout the region. Arconic Foundation invests in communities where Arconic...

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. Happy first day of Autumn! The Valley News Dispatch is compiling a list of autumn events and Halloween parades, parties and...

A pediatrician testified Tuesday that no signs of physical abuse were discovered during an examination of a pre-teen girl who claimed she was raped multiple times by an Allegheny Township man in 2019. Dr. Jennifer Wolford, a child abuse specialist at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, told jurors that lack...

An Arnold woman will stand trial on charges of selling heroin last spring to a Lower Burrell woman who overdosed and died. Sentrilla A. McDonald, 41, of Victoria Avenue, waived her right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec in connection with the May 4, 2020,...

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. Free concert planned at Shrine Center The Pittsburgh Shrine Center will present a free outdoor concert featuring Bobby Thompson and the...

No one was hurt in a house fire late Monday night in North Apollo, an Armstrong County emergency dispatcher said. The fire at 1233 Wysocki Ave. was reported shortly before 11 p.m. Firefighters were at the scene until about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday, the dispatcher said. A family of three, including...

When Sara Latronica told her son, Noah, he had brain cancer, he didn’t understand it was not a common disease. She remembers him asking every person he encountered if they had cancer. “We had to tell him that he had something rare,” she said. The 5-year-old was diagnosed with brain...

An Allegheny Township man charged with the sexual assaults of three children and three adults over two decades showed no emotion Monday as the first of his accusers struggled to testify about the alleged abuses she claims she suffered in 2019. The now 14-year-old girl from New Kensington, who prosecutors...

Lower Burrell’s No. 3 volunteer fire company canceled its free movie night Saturday after the shootings of three people at another city firehall. Three guests were shot at a baby shower at Lower Burrell No. 1 Volunteer Fire Department in the city’s Kinloch section. That was about two hours before...

A national social media trend to plunder school restrooms has made its way to at least two more Western Pennsylvania school districts, officials at Hempfield Area and Highlands school districts reported. The “Devious Licks” TikTok challenge dares children to vandalize schools — in most cases, bathrooms — and nab items...

Teddy Hare has lived most of his his life in a home along Pittsburgh Street in Lower Burrell that’s in eyesight of the Kinloch fire hall. When he spotted police lights in the club’s parking lot on Saturday evening, he assumed it was just another speeding driver who got pulled...

The main office of the Tarentum municipal building will be closed this week after its only scheduled employee is in quarantine for covid-19-related protocol. Manager Michael Nestico said the office will reopen at 10 a.m. Sept. 27. “We only have one employee scheduled to be in the office this week...

Sharpsburg has been awarded a $162,000 no-match grant to research how to thwart flooding near Seitz Run. Residents, particularly in the lower section of Kittanning Pike, are routinely flooded after heavy rains. The money will target ways to alleviate the impact, authorities said. Mayor Matt Rudzki thanked “everyone who made...

New Kensington will seek money from Westmoreland County to tear down a building across from the Pioneer Apartments on Fourth Avenue. Council recently approved having City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti apply for funding from the Westmoreland County Demo Fund to demolish the building at 1026 Fourth Ave. The city owns the...

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. Free vaccine, NARCAN distribution scheduled The Allegheny County Health Department will distribute free Narcan, flu shots and covid-19 vaccines from 5...

Harmar residents are urging officials to find a solution to the ongoing sanitary sewage overflows happening in their homes. The issue was raised during the township supervisors meeting Thursday night. Many residents from the Chapel Downs housing plan said they face issues of water flooding their basement or raw sewage...

Fans of comfort food are happy one of their favorite eateries has reopened its doors. Ladles, on Pittsburgh Street in Springdale, is back serving homemade dishes to the delight of loyal customers, some of whom have frequented the restaurant for years. “I was bummed when they closed,” said Guy Walker,...

Lower Burrell and its police officers have ratified a new labor agreement that includes a 12.5% wage increase over the five-year term of the contract. City council approved the contract, 4-0. The contract covers Lower Burrell’s 17 full-time police officers. Under the state’s Third Class City Code, part-time officers are...

A 69-year-old woman was killed after fire swept through her Armstrong County home on Sunday, authorities said. Beverly Rummel, 69, of Dayton was pronounced dead at the scene, Coroner Brian Myers said. Emergency crews responded mid-morning to Rummel’s home along Rabbit Hollow Road and found her inside the residence. “The...