Valley News Dispatch category, Page 529
Leechburg Area School District’s covid-19 cases continue to decline
Active covid-19 cases continue to decrease in the Leechburg Area School District. Superintendent Tiffany Nix said there have been no active cases reported since Feb. 12. The district added a covid tracker to its website earlier this month that displays the latest, year-to-date and inactive positive covid-19 cases for the...
Need eggs? New delivery service caters to Leechburg-area residentsVideo
A new local egg delivery service is available for Leechburg area residents. Kira Karpinski, 38, of Gilpin recently started a subscription egg home delivery service. She said she has a surplus of eggs from more than 20 varieties of hens on her farm and she was inspired to offer the...
Students design cardboard pig that can eat and more in new robotics class at Apollo-RidgeVideo
Apollo-Ridge student Amber Earnest’s drawing titled “Petting Zoo Pig” on cardboard is no ordinary swine. She devised a way to make its mouth move with the help of grant-supported equipment for the first robotics class at the high school. ABC Create, a regional collaboration of educators devoted to student technological...
Leechburg students learn about their emotions and how to handle themVideo
It’s been an emotional six weeks for some students at David Leech Elementary School in Leechburg. And that’s a good thing, said Erin Hettrich, elementary art teacher and co-organizer of Color Monster, a new collaborative student program spotlighting emotional and mental health. “This has been a difficult school year full...
VALarena rolls on with nearly $5,250 raised by community so it can reopen Friday
After an 11-month closure, the VALarena skating rink in North Apollo will reopen Friday, aided by nearly $5,250 raised by the community. A local institution for 70 years, the VALarena, which stands for Vandergrift, Apollo and Leechburg arena, shut down at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic early last year...
The Stroller, Feb. 21, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. East Vandergrift parish conducting raffle for beef, gift cards, freezer Our Lady, Queen of Peace Parish is selling raffle tickets for a Half...
Kiski Township man charged with stealing ATVs, other off-road vehicles from several locations
A Kiski Township man is charged with stealing multiple all-terrain and recreational vehicles and a truck from his former employer. Dominic Albert Hayward, 24, was arraigned Friday on felony charges including burglary, theft, and receiving stolen property in Kiski Township as well as on Butler, Westmoreland and Armstrong counties and...
West Deer supervisors look to get more young people involved in politics, government
Arlind Karpuzi was elected to the West Deer Board of Supervisors when he was 21 and became its chairman at 23. Karpuzi, now 25, brought a different perspective that, among other things, led the township to create a text-messaging service for residents to receive township updates. The move made the...
More Kiski Area students struggling during pandemic
Kiski Area School District officials continue to be concerned about significant drops in student progress compared to last school year at every educational level. Principals at each school building have been reporting how students are faring during this pandemic school year at recent school board meetings. Students who have not...
The Stroller, Feb. 20, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. New Caring Cabinet opens in Oakmont Oakmont United Methodist Church, 419 Maryland Ave., has a new Caring Cabinet for those in need. The...
Leechburg awards $216K contract for wall reconstruction project
A partial wall reconstruction project in Leechburg is progressing. Portions of the 260-foot-long wall along the borough’s Third Street are collapsing. Plans call for about 150 feet of the wall to be replaced in a project that is expected to cost more than $216,000. Council on Wednesday awarded a contract...
Police: Armstrong County man assaulted 4 officers, stole 3 vehicles
An Armstrong County man is accused of assaulting four police officers Thursday after he was arrested on charges of stealing three vehicles in New Kensington and Lower Burrell. Drew Edward Simmers, 31, of Manor Township, was arraigned in two cases Friday on charges including four counts of aggravated assault, theft,...
Allegheny County eyes April start for Springhill Road project in Harrison
Work on building a path for pedestrians and bicyclists along Springhill Road in Harrison is expected to start in April, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Department of Public Works said. The start date won’t be confirmed until about two weeks before construction begins, spokesman Brent Wasko said. Wasko said...
The Stroller, Feb. 19, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. HOPE Center accepting gift card donations The Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center is accepting donations of gift cards in $10 increments from BP, Community...
Grand jury indicts Butler man on child sex abuse charges
A Butler County man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on child sex abuse charges, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Thomas Romspert, 29, of the city of Butler is the sole defendant in the three-count indictment made public this week, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said. According...
Deer Lakes approves return to full-time, in-person instruction
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...
Harrison restaurant owner remembered for generosity, work ethic
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”...
Westmoreland water authority to meet with contractors, gas well operators
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...
The Stroller, Feb. 18, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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...
Riverview, Springdale high school students collecting canned goods for ‘Souper Bowl’
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...
Leechburg church uses Ash Wednesday stickers to tweak its ‘Ashes to Go’ ministry
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,...
Apollo man accused of sending inappropriate messages to 2 young teen girls
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...
Help wanted: West Leechburg seeks new part-time borough secretary; no takers so far
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 to return to in-person instruction 4 days a week
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...
New Kensington-Arnold facing $1.5M deficit in 2021-22 budget
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...
