Valley News Dispatch category, Page 513

Plum homeowners should not expect to see their real estate tax rates go up next year, but their water and sewage bills will increase slightly. Letters were to be sent out this month to Plum Borough Municipal Authority customers informing them of the rate hike, which will be reflected in...

Is your church or organization going to serve free takeout Christmas dinners? Send information to The Stroller at vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Library announces annual Quilt Show Community Library of Allegheny Valley in Harrison will host its 23rd annual Quilt Show Jan. 1 through Jan. 23 online....

A West Deer preschool teacher who loves Hallmark Christmas movies is hoping to build community spirit and foster generosity with township Christmas trees. The “Our Tree of Light” Christmas tree project will benefit Our Lady of the Lakes Parish and the hopefully soon-to-be implemented Hope Squad – a suicide prevention...

Students at Freeport Area School District won’t return to in-person instruction until at least Monday, Jan. 11, the school board said Thursday. The district had previously decided to limit the amount of time students spent in the classroom around the holidays after a surge of covid-19 cases left more than...

Tarentum has identified nearly $500,000 worth of large projects in its 2021 preliminary budget, but the budget does not include a property tax increase. The proposed $8.8 million spending plan is up by about $468,000, or 5.6%, from the $8.3 million budget for this year. The property tax rate would...

Valley Points Family YMCA announced that its Allegheny Valley branch in Harrison will be closed through Sunday because of a covid-19 case. The organization made the announcement on its Facebook page late Thursday night. In the post, the YMCA said it was notified Thursday evening of a positive covid-19 case,...

Is your church or organization going to host a community holiday event? Send information to The Stroller at vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Santa needs help: You can ‘adopt’ senior for Christmas Concordia Lutheran Ministries has again opened its Adopt-A-Resident Program to the community. Individuals, businesses and congregations...

Plum High School’s sixth annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive will be in a different format this year due to the covid-19 pandemic. The event is still set for 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the high school parking lot at 900 Elicker Road. However, there will be no hot chocolate...

Property owners in Frazer are going to see their township real estate taxes go up by 76% next year. It’s the township’s first property tax hike in at least 25 years, officials said. Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously passed a $1.3 million budget for 2021 that includes a 1.08-mill increase. The...

Leechburg Area School District plans to return to in-person instruction on Monday despite the state deeming there to be a “substantial” risk of covid-19 transmission in Westmoreland and Armstrong counties. The school board approved the move in a 7-1 vote Wednesday following a lengthy discussion. All students in grades pre-k...

Westmoreland County will award a final round of covid-relief grants next week to small businesses, while nonprofit agencies and local volunteer fire departments will receive awards later this month. Commissioners on Thursday increased grants handed out last week to Penn and Washington townships to cover coronavirus-related costs incurred by their...

Deer Lakes School District will not resume in-person instruction until Jan. 11 at the earliest in response to the surge in covid-19 cases. “Our county continues to remain in a substantial level of transmission as we see dramatic increases in positive cases and hospitalizations,” Superintendent Janell Logue-Belden wrote in a...

Is your church or organization going to host a community holiday event? Send information to The Stroller at vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Festival of Trees raffle supports projects Allegheny Valley Hospital Auxiliary is hosting its annual Festival of Trees raffle to benefit patient care projects at the...

Ten residents and 11 staff members have tested positive for covid-19 at Concordia at Cabot in Butler County, which includes both a skilled nursing and an assisted living facility. All 10 residents are in the Lund Personal Care Center (Bachman Hall), an assisted living section of the campus, along with...

ATI said Wednesday it will phase out production of standard stainless steel sheet products and end finishing operations at its Brackenridge plant in Harrison as it shifts its focus to specialty rolled products. While finishing operations will end at the massive Brackenridge works, the $1.1 billion Hot Rolling & Processing...

Development at the former Bell Harbor Yacht Club site in O’Hara might move forward, more than 10 years after an original proposal to township council. Don Housley from River Road Development on Dec. 1 presented the Miramar Landing plan for 38 single-family townhouse units that would include parking, patios or...

A 9-month-old girl overdosed on heroin Tuesday after police said she ingested the drug while the East Deer woman who was supposed to be caring for her slept. Paramedics who responded to the incident injected the baby with 2 milligrams of Narcan before rushing her to UPMC Children’s Hospital in...

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Freeport. The Freeport Renaissance Association — a community organization dedicated to promoting and beautifying Freeport — is hosting a Small Town Christmas celebration to spread holiday cheer around the town. It’s an annual tradition that began in 2005 and has grown...

Organizers of the Tarentum Night Market have canceled the scheduled December event, citing Allegheny County’s advisory for residents to stay home unless going out for essential reasons because of the covid-19 pandemic. Allegheny County Health Department Director Debra Bogen issued the advisory Nov. 18. The last Night Market, for which...

Tarentum Councilwoman Erika Josefoski has announced her resignation. Josefoski, 36, is one of two council members representing the borough’s 1st Ward; the other is Lou Ann Homa. The seven-member council has two members from each of three wards plus one at-large member. Josefoski said she has verbally informed the borough...

Is your church or organization going to host a community holiday event? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Pajama Project seeks pajama donations The Rotary Club of Leechburg and Interact Club of Leechburg Area High School are sponsoring the...

A Tarentum teen who had been reported missing Tuesday has been found, according to his family. Ronald Ratliff, 16, had not been seen since 4 a.m. Tuesday. According to his family, he returned home around 11:30 p.m. Tarentum police had issued a missing person alert on the department’s Facebook page....