Valley News Dispatch category, Page 508
Neighbor Spotlight: Energetic leader of Second Harvest Community Thrift Store sees opportunity to grow prideVideo
Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would...
UPMC St. Margaret Harmar Outpatient Center opens covid-19 vaccine clinic, doles out 600 doses a day
Retired nurse Audrey Wagner didn’t pay much attention when her husband dismissed the idea of getting a covid-19 vaccine. “I knew we were getting it, there were no ifs about it,” said Wagner, 77, who spent more than three decades as a cardiac nurse at St. Francis, St. Margaret and...
Signature Dishes: The ‘Yak Mak’ burger at Yak Diner in North ApolloVideo
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. An old-school diner in North Apollo serves up its own version of a popular chain burger. Yak Diner sells a...
Money saved on repaving Fifth Avenue to help Arnold pay for fixing Richmond Street
Money left over from resurfacing one road is going to help fix another in Arnold. Arnold spent about $50,000 less than expected when it resurfaced Fifth Avenue from 16th Street to the city line last year, community development Director Rick Rayburg said. That money will be combined with nearly $150,000...
Apollo couple accused of repeatedly abusing child, sometimes with Taser shocks
A couple is accused by Apollo police of abusing a young teen with a Taser. On Monday, Apollo police charged suspects Dawn Marie Callender, 33, of Chicora, and Joshua Michael Hetrick, 41, of Bethel Township, with felony charges including aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and use of...
The Stroller, April 1, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, events and fundraisers in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. New book group to discuss mental illness and health The Butler County National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will host a new book discussion...
Plum School District summer programs designed to help students’ grades, mental health impacted by pandemic
Plum School District officials understand the covid pandemic has impacted families greatly the past year and plan to offer a summer program to help students’ mental health and grades. “One of the big shifts going into this summer is: We’ve been hearing from our teachers and administrators and families that...
Brackenridge couple without insurance lose home, pets to fire
Regina Strobel stood outside what was left of her Brackenridge home in a misty rain Wednesday, a day after it was destroyed by fire. She had been inside looking for anything she could salvage. She found a few pieces of much-needed clothing and a couple mementos. She wasn’t able to...
Leechburg Area High School students start candle-making business
Leechburg Area School District teachers are still finding new ways to alter their curricula a full year into the covid-19 pandemic, adjusting lessons so students miss out on as little as possible. When Leechburg Area High School art teacher Shayle Prorok wrote a new course curriculum for art marketing, the...
Air Force JROTC program taking off at Kiski Area High SchoolVideo
Kiski Area High School senior Alexei Cramer is a young man on a mission. Cramer of Avonmore began pushing for the district to create a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, or JROTC, program when he was a freshman. The district formally approved creating an Air Force JROTC program last year,...
Tarentum Bridge, Route 28 projects could cause headaches for motorists
Motorists using the Tarentum Bridge can expect 15-minute rolling closures later this spring and a 16-day closure of the bridge in the summer as part of a $3.2 million project to improve the intersection with Freeport Road, PennDOT officials said Wednesday. PennDOT is working with local officials to ease the...
Hempfield man sentenced in car sales scheme
A Hempfield man will spend a year on house arrest for claiming to be a licensed car dealer when selling vehicles on Facebook and forging a family member’s name on some of the transactions, according to court papers. Christopher Alan Post, 39, previously of Lower Burrell, was sentenced this week...
The Stroller, March 31, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, events and fundraisers in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Westmoreland Master Gardeners offer free hotline The free advice hotline sponsored by the Westmoreland Penn State Extension Master Gardeners will open Thursday to help...
2 families displaced by Brackenridge fireVideo
Two families were displaced by a Tuesday evening fire that left a Brackenridge residence heavily damaged. Fire crews were called to the intersection of Stieren Avenue and Hathaway Lane around 6 p.m. Pioneer Hose Company Assistant Chief Corey Jones said the rear of the building was already engulfed by the...
Fire damages West Deer funeral home
Authorities are investigating what caused a fire Tuesday afternoon at Siemianowski Funeral Home in West Deer. The fire was reported around 12:50 p.m. Volunteer fire departments including ones from West Deer and Rural Ridge responded. “We’re not sure how it started or where the origin of ignition is,” said West...
Ellwood City man dies in 2-vehicle crash in West Deer
An Ellwood City man died in a two-vehicle crash in West Deer on Monday morning. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man on Tuesday as Mark Tedrow, 35. The crash happened shortly after 10 a.m. in the 300 block of Deer Creek Valley Road. According to West Deer...
Greensburg bishop announces restoration of New Kensington church damaged by tornadoVideo
Restoration of a New Kensington church hit by a tornado nearly a year ago is about to begin, the Diocese of Greensburg announced Tuesday. St. Mary of Czestochowa sustained about $2.6 million in damage when an EF-1 tornado with winds of up to 100 mph traveled about 4 miles, from...
Aspinwall seeking volunteers to make borough greener, cleaner
Greener and cleaner is the aim of Aspinwall’s spring litter collection, scheduled from April 23 to 25 to celebrate Earth Day. “Green Streets” is a decade-long effort that relies on volunteers to make the trash pickup a success. “This is a family-friendly volunteer opportunity that allows Aspinwall residents to take...
United Steelworkers begin strike at Allegheny Technologies, Inc.; reject’s ATI’s last-minute counter offerVideo
The United Steelworkers began a strike against Allegheny Technologies Inc. on Tuesday, marking the first such action against the company in nearly three decades. Some workers have been with the company long enough to remember the last strike 27 years ago, but Harrison’s Jeff Allenberg, 41, was hired at ATI’s...
United Steelworkers set strike date at ATI facilities
The United Steelworkers union announced Friday it will start a strike at Allegheny Technologies Inc. next week. The union said it informed ATI it will strike over what it calls unfair labor practices beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday. “We have provided the notice to ATI to ensure an orderly and...
Rising lumber prices a pain in the pocketbook, push new house prices up $24,000
In 40 years of building homes in Westmoreland, Allegheny and southern Butler counties, Ray Snoznik, owner of R.A. Snoznik Construction Inc. of Murrysville, never has seen such a jump in lumber prices in one year. “It’s up 188% from last year. We’re trying to adjust (to the price hike), but...
Relief on soaring lumber prices unlikely until at least fall
The demand for lumber is outstripping supply, pushing lumber prices up and, in turn, raising the the price of a typical new home by $24,000. This “perfect storm” of factors will not let up in the short term, according to a chief economist for a national building association. “Lumber prices...
The Stroller, March 30, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, events and fundraisers in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Lower Burrell to host Easter Bunny drive-thru An Easter Bunny Drive-Thru for children in prekindergarten through third grade will be by appointment from 10...
Harrison World War II veteran Howard Traenkner dies at 100
Howard Traenkner of Harrison was born at the end of one pandemic and died in the midst of another one. A World War II Navy veteran, he was born as the Spanish flu pandemic was trailing off. He died Saturday, at 100, of natural causes, his family said. “I think...
Man who police said fled Harmar traffic stop remains at large
It’s been over a month now and state police said they still have seen no sign of Anthony Dwayne Smith Jr. Smith, 28, from the Pittsburgh area, fled from state troopers after they pulled him over on Route 28 in Harmar on Feb. 26. They said they haven’t seen him...
