Valley News Dispatch category, Page 493

Deer Lakes School Board narrowly approved offering in-person instruction to students five days a week in a move that will eliminate the hybrid model now in place. Following a 5-3 vote to approve to change, Superintendent Janell Logue-Belden said she would meet with administration and staff to determine when the...

If anyone ever called the Saxon Inn looking for Ralph McClain, he was never there. McClain figured anyone who didn’t call him “Fritz” didn’t know him, said his daughter, Michelle Gutonski. “A lot of people never knew my dad’s first name,” Gutonski said. “Everybody called him Fritz.” Ralph L. “Fritz”...

Representatives from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County plan to talk with companies that work around two of its fresh water sources — the Beaver Run Reservoir in Westmoreland County and the Youghiogheny River in Connellsville and McKeesport — about maintaining the integrity of its drinking water. The authority plans...

Publicize your non-profit’s meetings, fundraisers and community events in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Several food and clothing distributions are planned Saturday in the Alle-Kiski Valley: Free Pot Love luncheon planned Saturday Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church...

Students at Riverview High School in Oakmont and their rivals across the Allegheny River at Springdale Junior-Senior High School are competing to collect canned goods for their respective food banks. The “Souper Bowl” kicked off Feb. 16. Riverview’s student council and Students Against Destructive Decisions group have a donation box...

Even Ash Wednesday isn’t immune to a pandemic, but even a pandemic can’t stop Ash Wednesday. One Leechburg church didn’t let covid-19 restrictions stop its annual “Ashes to Go” ministry Wednesday. The Revs. Gary and Lisa Lyon, co-pastors at Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church, started “Ashes to Go” in 2016,...

A 33-year-old Apollo man is accused of sending inappropriate messages to at least two young teenage girls and, in one case, of trying to seduce a girl while his girlfriend and daughter also were in the house. Police in Apollo and Kiski Township filed charges against Nicholas Owen McMunn in...

West Leechburg Borough is seeking a new part-time secretary and treasurer. Pat Grantz, who held the position for 43 years, died earlier this month, leaving what Mayor Jim Gallucci said are “big shoes to fill.” Councilwoman Marcia Cole has volunteered her time to serve as interim secretary until the position...

Allegheny Valley School District students will be able to return to in-person learning four days a week beginning Monday, March 8. The school board voted 7-1 in favor of bringing students in kindergarten through 12th grade back to school four days a week after impassioned arguments supporting the move from...

Without a tax increase, New Kensington-Arnold School District is looking at a $1.5 million budget deficit for next school year that would force it to empty its reserves. The school board’s finance committee met virtually Monday to review the district’s proposed final 2021-22 budget. It would spend $38.7 million on...

Publicize your non-profit’s meetings, fundraisers and community events in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Drive-through food distribution set at Lernerville Speedway Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank will host a drive-through food distribution for anyone in need from...

While many jobless Pennsylvanians have struggled to get unemployment benefits during the covid pandemic, the state has paid out at least $2.5 million in fraudulent claims, state officials said Tuesday. That might be just the tip of the iceberg, the officials said. The $2.5 million was siphoned off by just...

State police say a Penn Borough man assaulted two people during a fight about who was going to use the bathroom at an apartment Monday, according to court documents. Dakota Scheetz, 24, was arraigned Tuesday on two counts each of harassment and simple assault filed by troopers after the 5...

Highlands School District is considering allowing students to return to school four days a week, with reduced social distancing. The district is now using a hybrid schedule that has students separated into two groups, each of which learns in school two days a week and remotely three days a week....

Spring fish fry fundraisers at Aspinwall’s Christ the Divine Teacher Catholic Academy won’t resemble years past, but organizers said the Lenten events will forge on. The school along Brilliant Avenue will host two takeouts, Feb. 26 and March 26. Hungry diners can pick up meals from 11 a.m. to 1...

A song published 120 years ago, “Wade in the Water,” is making waves for a local singer today. Freddye Stover, known in the regional music scene as Miss Freddye, debuted her version of “Wade in the Water” as her latest single. ‘I grew up in church listening to ‘Wade in...

Fox Chapel Area senior Abby Rickin-Marks has emerged as a change-maker in teen mental health advocacy, winning the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Keystone Pennsylvania Youth Award. Given to youth leaders who shift perceptions and spearhead change in mental health education, the NAMI honor comes with a $500 scholarship....

Publicize your non-profit’s meetings, fundraisers and community events in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Blood drive to make monetary contributions to Freeport Food Bank Zion United Methodist Church, Buffalo Township, will host a community blood drive, “Save...

Oakmont officials put this year’s paving project out for bid and plan to award the contract next month. Council unanimously voted Feb. 15 to advertise its street improvement program, which includes eight streets and a boat ramp. Borough officials budgeted about $350,000 for the infrastructure upgrades. Streets to be improved...

Construction plans are being developed for a new pump track and walking/bike trail extension at Creekside Park in Oakmont. The recreation board proposed these projects a couple of years ago. Oakmont officials since acquired a state grant and the necessary permits for the project. Borough Manager Scot Fodi announced Monday...

Armstrong County announced it expects to distribute about $733,000 in grants to county restaurants for relief from pandemic losses under the new state covid-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program. The program recently announced by Gov. Tom Wolf includes $145 million in funding to the state’s 67 counties, based on population, to...

A soft opening is planned this spring for the $1.5 million Babcock Nature Center in Buffalo Township, under construction off Monroe Road next to the Butler-Freeport Community Trail. A collaboration between the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and Buffalo Township, the new 2,500-square-foot center and a 1,200-square-foot pavilion will offer...

A free medical shuttle that transports patients throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley is among services funded by $675,755 in grants recently announced by the St. Margaret Foundation. Money will be distributed with the specific goals of supporting patient access, education and experience, foundation President Mary Lee Gannon said. “This past year...