Valley News Dispatch category, Page 496
Fox Chapel Area school taxes climb slightly
Fox Chapel Area residents will pay slightly higher school taxes in 2021-22. The school board on June 14 approved its $104 million budget, seeing the tax rate climb from 19.8 to 20.1 mills. It is a 1.3% increase. The owner of a home assessed at $100,000 will pay $2,010, up...
Fox Chapel Area High School among 2 in state to earn award for strength and conditioning program
Fox Chapel Area High School is being lauded for its strength and conditioning program, one which leaders said is a foundation for lifelong health and wellness. The high school earned the Strength of America Award to recognize its elite program. The honor comes from the National Strength and Conditioning Association...
Water quality testing to continue at Beaver Run Reservoir in Bell Township
Water quality tests at the reservoir that supplies drinking water to about half of all Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers will continue for the next year. Authority board members this week approved a new contract with Indiana University of Pennsylvania to collect samples and analyze the water at Beaver...
Signature Dishes: Pulled pork nachos at Allusion Brewing in VandergriftVideo
This is part of an ongoing series highlighting Signature Dishes at locally-owned restaurants in the region. See Trib Total Media’s new online directory of restaurants, Dine Local, at dinelocal.triblive.com. A pint-sized entrepreneur is cooking up a key ingredient used in a signature dish at Allusion Brewing Co. in Vandergrift. Emilee...
The Stroller, June 17, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Farmers market to open in Lower Burrell The Lower Burrell Farmers Market will open for the season from 9 a.m. to...
Plum’s Summer Fest returns to Larry Mills Park
Plum’s Summer Fest, a three-day celebration of the season packed with carnival rides and games, makes its return to Larry Mills Park this month after being canceled last year due to the covid-19 pandemic. This will be the sixth nonconsecutive year for the event, formerly known as Community Days. More...
Tarentum Bridge closing spurs more foot traffic across the spanVideo
Allison Ohara has been walking across the Tarentum Bridge to work most days since its closure June 9. As a single mother, she said, she has no other choice. “The only way I can get to work is from this bridge,” she said Wednesday while trudging across the bridge past...
New Kensington community to celebrate Juneteenth
The New Kensington community will come together Saturday to celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. An event featuring free food, activities, speakers and music will mark the holiday at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in New Kensington. “Juneteenth is a reminder that...
Tarentum Democrat wins Republican nomination for mayor; 3rd Ward seat also to be contested
Tarentum voters will have a choice for borough mayor in November. Former borough police Officer Robert Lang, who lost the Democratic primary in May to current Councilwoman Carrie Fox, won the Republican nomination as a write-in. Lang, a registered Democrat, said he will accept the Republican nomination but otherwise declined...
Burrell approves anatomy class to ready students for medical careers
The Burrell School Board voted this week to add an anatomy and physiology course to prepare students for various medical fields. Bryan Mike, a Burrell High School science teacher and head of the science department, spoke before the school board last week to present his ideas on the new course....
Tarentum Bridge closure chokes ambulance traffic
The closure of the Tarentum Bridge has made things difficult for ambulances trying to get patients from the New Kensington side of the bridge to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison. Emergency traffic has had to follow detours like all other vehicles, said Addie Birch, emergency medical services director with the...
Westmoreland County Food Bank doubles number of Summer Food Service program sites
The Westmoreland County Food Bank had a ground-level picture of how the covid-19 pandemic affected food security for families in the region. Its staff members worked food distribution centers where people waited hours lined-up in cars to receive a box of food. That is a big part of why the...
Wandering black bear spotted in Lower Burrell
Lower Burrell police and residents reported seeing a black bear at several locations over the past several days. Police said the bear was seen in the Braeburn Heights and Spooky Hollow areas. Residents reported spotting the bear in the last several days along Garvers Ferry, White Cloud and Wildlife Lodge...
New Kensington woman charged with leaving 3 children with convicted sex offender
A New Kensington woman faces child endangerment charges after police say she left three children alone with her husband, a convicted sex offender. Police charged Jaymi Lyn Kenney, 41, on Friday. Police say she left three children, ages 5, 7 and 16, in the care of Earl Eugene Kenney, 40,...
The Stroller, June 16, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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 Pot Love luncheon planned Saturday Cross Roads Community Presbyterian Church will host its free monthly takeout Pot Love Dinner at...
Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame finds home in Tarentum
The Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame has enshrined and celebrated area athletic greats for 50 years, and now the signature plaques and photographs of past inductees have a permanent display in Tarentum. The record of local sports history is housed in a gallery at the renovated G.C. Murphy Building...
Kidspalooza returns to Parks Township this weekend
A Parks Township fire company is giving back with a free children’s festival. The 4th Annual Kidspalooza returns Saturday after being canceled last year because of the covid-19 pandemic. The daylong festival is sponsored by the Parks Township Fire Department. Lead organizer and volunteer firefighter Jaden McCluskey said Kidspalooza was...
New Blawnox salon requires no startup hassles for independent owners
A revolutionary new concept in the beauty business has landed in Blawnox. Sola Salon Studios is part of a growing movement that supports independent beauty professionals by providing upscale, fully-equipped suites with the tools needed to launch and operate. “For the first time in state history, beauty professionals can go...
Fire company’s carnival returns to Lower Burrell
The annual Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 carnival is back. The event serves as a key fundraiser for the VFC and was canceled last year because of the covid-19 pandemic. Guests may purchase individual ride tickets or buy a Ride-All-Night wrist band for $20 each. The carnival opened...
Earth Volunteer Fund will match up to $1,000 in donations for Sycamore Island in Blawnox
In the 13 years since Allegheny Land Trust acquired Sycamore Island near Blawnox, the property has transformed from neglected to nurtured. Plopped in the middle of the Allegheny River between Blawnox and Verona, the land is healthier, life-sustaining and more visitor-friendly than ever, said Lindsay Dill, ALT’s marketing and communications...
Aspinwall Riverfront Park offers busy slate of summer music
Aspinwall Riverfront Park is the place to get your jam on this summer. Whether it’s a festive Friday evening or a lazy Sunday afternoon, the park will host live bands, drum circles and musical theater to appeal to all ages. “A core part of the park’s original mission is to...
The Stroller, June 15, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Allegheny Valley Hospital to participate in Tarentum Night Market The monthly Tarentum Night Market will be Thursday evening in the borough....
Natural gas price drop means less money for towns
Pennsylvania will distribute about $46 million less in natural gas impact fees this year to the state’s counties and municipalities because of the drop in natural gas prices in 2020. That’s bad news, especially for rural townships in Marcellus shale-rich regions of Southwestern Pennsylvania already coping with pandemic-related income losses....
Senior lofts in former elementary school coming to East Vandergrift
A new loft-style residential complex for senior citizens is coming to East Vandergrift. Morning Sun Senior Lofts is billed as an affordable 42-unit housing development for people 62 and older. The $13 million revitalization project involves developing the former East Vandergrift Elementary School on McKinley Avenue. The building, currently abandoned...
Train hits pickup truck carrying watercraft on Cheswick railroad tracks
A pickup towing a Sea-Doo watercraft was struck by a Norfolk Southern freight train at a railroad crossing in Cheswick shortly after 11:30 a.m. Monday. No one was injured, but trains were stalled for about three hours. The truck and the watercraft were totaled. The GMC pickup was parked unoccupied...
