Valley News Dispatch category, Page 616
Following criticism, Vandergrift Council to post agendas before meetings
Vandergrift Council plans to share agendas publicly in advance of its meetings starting in February. The move comes in response to an outpouring of criticism Monday at council’s first meeting of the year and a critical letter from the board’s newest member. One citizen after another approached the podium during...
Harmar to build $84,000 dek hockey rink in Acme Park
Harmar Township has secured a $42,000 state grant which it will match to install a dek hockey rink and renovate the basketball court at Acme Park along Herron Avenue. The project was prompted by the lack of use of the park’s tennis courts, according to township officials. For more than...
Tarentum stays with Waste Management for at least 1 more year; rates unchanged
Tarentum is sticking with Waste Management as its garbage hauler for 2020 but will keep looking for a new one, borough Manager Michael Nestico said. The one-year contract council accepted with Waste Management keeps the borough’s cost unchanged at about $165 per ton. Tarentum opted not to increase residents’ $22...
Tarentum Council keeps Snyder to fill vacant seat, changes officers, meetings
A Tarentum business owner first appointed to Tarentum Council nearly a year ago has been appointed again. Council chose Brian Snyder to again fill a vacant council seat representing the borough’s 3rd Ward. He replaces Carrie Fox, who resigned the ward seat after winning both it and the one at-large...
Personal approach cements longtime Arnold Furniture store
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact reporter Madasyn Lee at mlee@tribweb.com. Arnold Furniture may have a large selection of furniture...
Hulton Road fully reopens after months of landslide repair in Penn Hills
A section of Hulton Road along the border of Plum and Penn Hills that had been closed since July reopened Monday, PennDOT spokeswoman Yasmeen Manyisha said. Hulton Road had been closed for slide repair between Iowa Street and Michael Drive since July 1. A landslide in that area occurred in...
Freeport man involved in Brackenridge crash dies
A man involved in a two-vehicle crash in Brackenridge on Dec. 20 has died. Shane Conklin, 31, of Freeport died Jan. 1 in UPMC Presbyterian hospital, Pittsburgh, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The car he was driving collided with a van carrying a driver and two passengers...
The Stroller, Jan. 7, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Library announces annual Quilt Show Community Library of Allegheny Valley-Harrison will host its annual Quilt Show Feb. 1 to March 7. Entries will be accepted through Jan. 20 through Jan. 31 at the Harrison library, 1522 Broadview Blvd., Natrona Heights. Quits must be handmade, but the person submitting the quilt...
Harmar eatery offers home-cooked Italian food in an actual homeVideo
It’s out with the old and in with the new at a longtime eatery in Harmar. Garlic Grille opened in June in the former Emilia’s Garden, serving Italian American home-style cuisine. “We just wanted to break away from Emilia’s Garden and start something new and fresh,” says co-owner and executive...
The Stroller, Jan. 6, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Cash bash planned Jan. 18 in Harrison Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament School, Harrison, will sponsor a Cash Bash Jan. 18 at the school Patterson Hall, 800 Montana Ave., Natrona Heights. Doors open at 5 p.m. and drawings for cash prizes will be every 15 minutes beginning at...
Knights of Columbus donate telescope, observatory to O’Hara VA
What started as a simple plan to buy a telescope for patients at the VA PHS Heinz campus in O’Hara has transformed into the first-of-its-kind program to bring astronomy to hospitalized veterans. Spearheaded by James Surman, veteran’s services chairman for the Knights of Columbus in West Mifflin, the plan was...
Remember When: Jan. 6
100 years ago Arnold councilman given jail warden post James M. Keating, elected chairman of Arnold council two days earlier, will resign that post after being elected warden of the Westmoreland county jail. Keating, vying with 11 other applicants, was chosen on the 30th ballot. ^ 75 years ago Redcats...
Plum businessman hooks investor on ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’
He got a deal. Plum’s Joe Altieri appeared on the ABC show “Shark Tank” on Sunday night, seeking an investment for his Murrysville window screen company, FlexScreen. After making his pitch and fielding questions from the show’s five “shark” investors, Altieri, 43, considered offers from Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner and...
New Kensington parishes celebrate Epiphany with live animals inside churchVideo
Parishioners and community members weren’t the only ones celebrating the Epiphany on Sunday at St. Joseph Parish in New Kensington. A donkey, miniature horse, two lambs and two goats were, too. Filomena Palumbo, 6, of New Kensington had some fun playing with the miniature horse. “I think it’s lovely. I...
For Orthodox Christians, Tuesday is Christmas Day
While traditional Christmas celebrations have come and gone for most in the Alle-Kiski Valley, Orthodox Christians are preparing for their Christmas Day celebration Tuesday. The celebrations come 13 days after the traditional Christmas celebrations of Dec. 25. It will include Mass and a special dinner tonight on Christmas Eve and...
The Stroller, Jan. 5, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
HED HERE Highlands Family Center is partnering with the Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank to provide free diapers to local families. Free diapers will be distributed from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of each month at the center, 415 E. Fourth Ave., Tarentum. Bring your child or...
Neighbors rally around Allegheny Township couple after house fire
An online fundraising effort to help an Allegheny Township couple whose home was destroyed by fire Friday was approaching a $10,000 goal. By Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe campaign to benefit Jason and Marissa Femc had raised $9,500 from more than 180 donors. The Femcs, who are newlyweds, lost all their...
Police: Summit Academy student suffers injuries in 6-on-1 assault
Six students at a Butler County rehabilitation school were arrested after allegedly assaulting another student, according to state police. State police said the incident happened around 2:45 p.m. Thursday at Summit Academy on Herman Road in Summit Township. Summit Academy is a private residential school for at-risk youths between the...
The Stroller, Jan. 4, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
United Way seeking volunteer tax preparers United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania is looking for people to give their time as volunteer tax preparers. Many of our neighbors don’t have access to affordable tax help, fall victim to rapid refund loans or are not aware of state and federal tax credits....
Gilpin adopts $752K budget with no tax increase
Gilpin supervisors adopted a $752,000 budget for 2020 that includes no increase in property taxes. The tax rate will remain at 7 mills. More money is budgeted for police coverage than last year, according to Chairman Charles Stull, who serves as co-police commissioner. The township now has two full-time officers,...
Cleveland Keys hope to hit the high notes at Oakmont’s Oaks Theater
Ask and you will receive. The Cleveland Keys – a dueling piano company – takes requests from the audience and then performs the tune. Known for doing weddings, corporate functions and nonprofit events, these musicians also do several other appearances, such as the upcoming Dueling Pianos Night at the Oaks...
PNC to close its Hillcrest Shopping Center branch in Lower Burrell
PNC is closing its branch in the Hillcrest Shopping Center in Lower Burrell. A bank spokeswoman confirmed that the Hillcrest location will close March 20. “The way that customers are using branches has been changing,” said Marcey Zwiebel, PNC’s director of corporate public relations. “We have been making adjustments to...
Owners of Fawn’s Blackberry Meadows preserve farmland from future development
Blackberry Meadows Farm in Fawn cannot be redeveloped for residential or other commercial uses under an easement that has been placed on more than 90% of the 85-acre property. The permanent agricultural conservation easement preserves Blackberry Meadows as farmland. To get the easement, owners Jen Montgomery and Greg Boulos sold...
3 hurt near Route 28 Exit 14 off-ramp near Tarentum
Three people were injured Friday afternoon in a two-vehicle crash on Bull Creek Road at Route 28’s Exit 14 southbound ramp near the Tarentum-Fawn line. The crash happened around 2 p.m. and involved a pickup and sport utility vehicle. State police did not identify those injured, but said they were...
Fire destroys couple’s Allegheny Township home, kills family dogVideo
Fire tore through a newlywed couple’s Allegheny Township home Friday morning, destroying all of their wedding gifts and other belongings and killing their beloved 1-year-old dog. “All of our wedding presents, everything, was inside the house,” Jason Femc, 38, said as he stood outside the South Glosser Hill Road home...
