Valley News Dispatch category, Page 586

Given the increase of food trucks and people soliciting in the city, Lower Burrell council is in the process of updating its solicitation permit ordinance. The permits will be used for food trucks and people soliciting door-to-door. But a sticky question with city council is when door-to-door solicitations are allowed....

The Stroller is your go-to place for local charitable events and volunteer opportunities. Information for The Stroller may be dropped off or mailed at least a week in advance to: The Stroller, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084, email vndnews@tribweb.com or fax 724-226-4677. Lenten fish fries listings...

When your child is sick, your world stops. Ronald Esser knows that. His son James was born at 2 pounds, 10 ounces, spent 77 days in the hospital and underwent five surgeries before he turned 5. So when Esser, owner of Moondog’s in Blawnox for the past 31 years, was...

Cat rescue seeking food donations Frankie’s Friends Cat Rescue, New Kensington, is in need of donations of Purina Cat Chow Complete in the blue bag. Items can be dropped off from 9 to 10 a.m. or 5 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays or shipped to the rescue at 730...

Two New Kensington churches are changing the locations of some services in the wake of an incident where city police officers were shot at near one of the churches. The changes affect St. Joseph and St. Mary of Czestochowa. It also affects the Community Clothes Closet run by Mount St....

Elected officials and others were encouraged by the discussion that took place at a recent grassroots meeting organized online to talk about how to make three Alle-Kiski Valley communities better places to live. The gathering to talk about improving Tarentum, Brackenridge and Harrison was held Saturday at Dry Bones, a...

Gov. Tom Wolf wants to charge Pennsylvania communities a fee for state police coverage, regardless of whether the municipality has its own police force, according to his 2020-21 state budget proposal. A number of local police departments in the Alle-Kiski valley rely on state police for coverage of major crimes...

The state Senate’s newest head of Urban Affairs and Housing Committee comes from a district that isn’t urban at all. Even state Sen. Joe Pittman, who was named the new chair of the committee last week even though he represents mostly rural parts of Westmoreland, Armstrong and Indiana counties, admitted...

A New Kensington man was acquitted Thursday by a Westmoreland County jury of allegations that he sexually assaulted a girl. Jurors deliberated for an hour before finding Joshua John Holtman, 34, not guilty of aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault at the end of a two-day trial. Holtman had been...

A Washington Township man is accused of having more than a brick of heroin, eight grams of cocaine and a handgun in a house where three young children live. Keith B. Banichar, 29, was arraigned Thursday on multiple drug delivery and possession charges and three counts of child endangerment and...

The Tarentum branch of Community Library of Allegheny Valley will be closed by the end of the month. The library, on Lock Street, will close to the public at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, library Director Kathy Firestone said. Books and furnishings will be sold at the library March 19-21....

The Stroller is your go-to place for local charitable events and volunteer opportunities. Information for The Stroller may be dropped off or mailed at least a week in advance to: The Stroller, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084, email vndnews@tribweb.com or fax 724-226-4677. Banners available to honor...

A Plum drug dealer, who ran a drug trafficking operation through the Heinz Lofts apartments in Pittsburgh’s North Shore, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison. Brandon Winters, 43, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in September. Senior U.S. District Judge Nora Barry...

Lower Burrell Council is considering about $13,600 in additional charges for city hall’s $3.2 million renovation. The renovation project started last May. It includes a new public works building, more space for police and moving the tax office back to city hall. Council will vote on the additional charges at...

More than just a few Highlands High School alumni are collaborating for a musical cause. Each year, the Alumni Cabaret concert unites dozens of musical alumni with current Highlands musical students for an evening of entertainment filled with song and dance. This season, 38 alumni are scheduled to perform. “This...

Neighbors of the former Vi’s Bar in Vandergrift expressed relief that the abandoned building might finally be demolished after years of deterioration. Its glowing sign hasn’t been lit in more than a decade. The building at 127 Grant Ave. is falling in on itself. Its roof is caving in, so...

The band is about more than creating beautiful music, and the musicians say they are rooted in a spiritual calling. The Lower Burrell contemporary christian group Risen to Save doesn’t refer to their performances as concerts. They prefer to call them worship services. “We bring together a group of believers...

Highlands High School to present Alumni Cabaret Concert The eighth annual Highlands High School Musical Alumni Cabaret Concert will be at 7 p.m. Saturday in the high school auditorium, Natrona Heights, Harrison. Performances saluting the past 10 years of Highlands musicals will be by alumni, and the high school Honors...

At least one person in a group of five or six people opened fire on undercover police officers Tuesday night in New Kensington, just a couple of blocks from where a city officer was shot and killed more than two years ago, according to Westmoreland County detectives. County detectives said...

A New Kensington man charged with four counts of attempted homicide in connection with shots that were fired at an occupied car in December in New Kensington has been arrested. Letresse Tareke Williams, 29, was arrested late Tuesday night or early Wednesday by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Warrant Team and...

Musical fundraiser to benefit New Kensington K-9 officer A fundraiser to benefit K-9 Officer Deuce of the New Kensington Police Department and his handler Patrolman Joe Martino will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Bird Dogs Sports Bar and Grill, 2615 Freeport Road, Natrona Heights, Harrison. Guest CMA...

Tarentum Council unanimously approved a new contract with Borough Manager Michael Nestico. The agreement council accepted Tuesday will keep Nestico for two more years, until Dec. 31, 2021. For 2020, Nestico’s salary was increased by 3.5%, from $82,000 to $84,870. That increase is in line with that of other borough...