Valley News Dispatch category, Page 550
Deer Lakes High School graduate hopes to win big in online baking competition
Julia Cresta has what it takes to be “The Greatest Baker of 2020.” She just needs a little help getting there. The 24-year-old Richland resident is a contestant in “The Greatest Baker” online competition, which pits bakers from around the world against one another for a chance to win $10,000...
Deer Lakes High School student tests positive for covid-19
Deer Lakes School District still plans to reinstate full-time in-person learning beginning next week even though another person in the district has tested positive for covid-19. Superintendent Janell Logue-Belden said a student at Deer Lakes High School informed the district they had tested positive for covid-19 on Saturday, Oct. 31....
New Kensington native gives up life in U.S. to help Guatemalan orphansVideo
New Kensington native Stan Nelson was setting up a home in Guatemala to help orphaned young women in the Central American nation when he was told someone with the government wanted to talk with him. They wanted to know what he was doing. It was not a request, and he...
The Stroller, Nov. 1, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Is your church or organization going to host a food drive or free Thanksgiving Dinner? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Food drive to benefit Rosedale Food Pantry Lori Hummel of Howard Hanna Real Estate, Oakmont, will host a...
Freeport Area School District student recognized in national science competition
For one Freeport Area School District student, science fairs are about more than academic competition — they’re also about making an impact. Anne Lindsay, a 14-year-old freshman at Freeport Area High School, was recognized as one of the top 300 Broadcom MASTERS for a science project she completed during her...
The Stroller, Oct. 31, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Is your church or organization going to host a free Thanksgiving Dinner? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Happy Halloween! Children in many of our towns and townships will participate in trick-or-treat events today. Be careful as you drive...
Burrell gets training to better teach autistic students
Burrell School District has qualified for training from a state Department of Education program to bolster the effectiveness of its program for autistic students. Burrell will receive the free training and consulting from the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network’s Autism Initiative, the training arm of the state Department of...
Penn Hills man pleads guilty to selling drugs that killed Lower Burrell man
A Penn Hills man will serve up to nine years in prison for selling fentanyl-laced heroin to a Lower Burrell man who died of an overdose in 2018. Christopher Krishawn Napper, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony count of drug delivery resulting in death and another drug offense in...
Fox Chapel lands $442,000 grant for Hardie Valley Park development
On the heels of the new 17-acre Hardie Valley Park opening in Fox Chapel, officials announced the borough was awarded a nearly $450,000 grant to help with development. Money will help pay a six-year, three-phase improvement plan for the space off Old Mill Road. In all, work is expected to...
The Stroller, Oct. 30, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Is your church or organization going to host a free Thanksgiving Dinner? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Contributions needed for homeless veterans’ project Local veterans’ charity Five Forces is collecting personal items for the Homeless Heroes Stocking Project....
Oakmont Chamber Halloween event brings out costumed crowdVideo
Della Harbadin put her right hand in, took her right hand out, then put her right hand back in and shook it all about. The 10-year-old Oakmont resident dressed as Disney’s Mulan did the socially distanced hokey pokey as she and hundreds of other trick-or-treaters made for a great turnout...
Leechburg Area to hold classes online for next 2 Wednesdays
Leechburg Area School District students will receive instruction remotely for the next two Wednesdays so custodians can thoroughly clean the district’s buildings on those days. The district has been holding classes in person all five days each week. The move, approved by the school board on Wednesday, was prompted by...
New Kensington woman gets probation for pirating TV shows
A 62-year-old New Kensington woman has been sentenced to two years of probation following her conviction for copyright infringement, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said Thursday. Sherry Collingwood, 62, of Campbell Avenue, was charged in 2018 with bootlegging and selling digital copies of popular serial dramas like “Blue Bloods,” “Vikings,” “Dexter,”...
Man who assaulted New Kensington hockey referee gets probation, anger managementVideo
A Buffalo Township doctor who attacked a hockey referee during a recreational game in New Kensington earlier this month has accepted an agreement calling for two years’ probation and requiring that he attend anger management counseling sessions. New Kensington police charged the player, Dr. Jeremy Gregory Gilbert, 43, with assault...
Demo work on 8 blighted East Deer buildings could start in December
Eight blighted buildings in East Deer will soon be torn down. The township hired Lutterman Excavating of Salem Township for $93,100 to do the job. The houses to be razed are at 911 Bellview St., 329 Crawford Run Road, 607-609 Edna St., 915 Freeport Road, 445 Marion St., 531 Marion...
3rd Deer Lakes staff member tests positive for covid-19
Another Deer Lakes School District staff member has tested positive for covid-19, but the district as of now still plans to return to in-person instruction five days a week starting next month. A staff member at Deer Lakes Middle School tested positive for covid-19, according to Superintendent Janell Logue-Belden. This...
West Deer approves expanding Oakwood Heights housing plan by 77 houses
The West Deer Supervisors have approved a plan that will allow a developer to build 77 single-family homes in the township. The homes will be built in the already existing Oakwood Heights development off Bairdford Road, where there are now 47 single-family homes. The planned additions will bring the total...
Virtual groundbreaking held for ‘Digital Foundry’ to be built in New Kensington
Leaders from New Kensington, Westmoreland County and Penn State participated in a virtual groundbreaking Wednesday for an innovation and manufacturing lab that will support education and manufacturing in downtown New Kensington. Called “The Digital Foundry at New Kensington,” it will be built over the next year at the site of...
Gilpin police apprehend Texas man accused of assaulting child
A Texas man accused of various crimes against a child has been apprehended, Gilpin police said Thursday night. Gilpin police were looking for Michael Henry Brucker, 31, of Montgomery, Texas. He is accused of sexually assaulting a child younger than 13. Charges against Brucker include aggravated indecent assault of a...
The Stroller, Oct. 29, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Is your church or organization going to host a free Thanksgiving Dinner? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Prospect Cemetery offers tour booklets Because the annual Prospect Cemetery Ghost Tours were canceled this year, the cemetery is selling a...
Coronavirus surge forces Westmoreland schools to decide on in-person, fully remote learning
Under guidelines from the state departments of education and health, school districts in counties with a “substantial” rate of community coronavirus spread are advised to revert to fully remote classes. The decision, however, rests with school districts. The county on Friday marked a second week of “substantial” coronavirus transmission levels...
New Kensington man accused of taking more than $150K in VA benefits
A federal grand jury has indicted a New Kensington man accused of taking money intended for a Veterans Administration beneficiary and using it to buy a diamond ring and a truck and make payments on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said Wednesday. Andrew Ziacik, 57, of Earl Avenue,...
Highlands High School closes because of covid-19 case with ‘significant’ quarantines
All Highlands High School students will learn remotely through next Friday, Nov. 6, because officials said a covid-19 case resulted in a “significant” number of required quarantines. The move to all remote learning took effect Thursday. “The high school building will be closed and all after-school activities that are scheduled...
Shady Side Academy students to livestream a production of ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Take a ride down the rabbit hole with Shady Side Academy students as they present “Alice In Wonderland – A Radio Play,” streamed live to accommodate covid-19 restrictions. “I have loved this story since I was a child and am grateful for an opportunity to perform,” said junior Ava Kronman,...
Kiski Area School District will remain open, citing low transmission locally
Kiski Area School District will remain open for hybrid in-person instruction, breaking with some other districts in Westmoreland County. The state Department of Education has recommended that Westmoreland County districts move to fully remote instruction to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. For the last two weeks, the county has experienced...
