Valley News Dispatch category, Page 631
Rahmael Holt joins list of Southwestern Pa. men on death row
On death row There are 136 men on death row in Pennsylvania, including the following from Southwestern Pennsylvania: ALLEGHENY • Richard Scott Baumhammers, 54, sentenced in September 2001, convicted of killing five people in 2000 shooting spree. • Leroy Fears, 57, sentenced February 1995, pleaded guilty to molesting and strangling...
Cop killer Rahmael Holt’s execution could be years away, experts say
Convicted cop killer Rahmael Holt’s appeal of his death sentence to the state Supreme Court could take a year to 18 months to resolve, says a Westmoreland County attorney representing another convicted killer on Pennsylvania’s death row. It may take even longer to be carried out, as there are people...
‘Dynamic’ pastor from Detroit taking over at First Baptist Church in TarentumVideo
Felicia Brock had no intention of leaving Detroit, where she was born and had lived her entire life. That changed when she said “God’s spirit’’ led her to Western Pennsylvania to become pastor of First Baptist Church in Tarentum. She will be officially installed at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The service...
The Stroller, Nov. 17, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Casino Theatre to offer annual Christmas show The Casino Theatre, Vandergrift, will present the 24th annual Hometown Christmas production, “Counting Down to Christmas,” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 and 7 and 2 p.m. Dec. 8. Tickets are $17and $10 and are available at Pomfret’s Paint and Variety, 149 Farragut Ave.,...
Runners ignore cold day to kick off Red Kettle season for Brackenridge Salvation ArmyVideo
Chassity Mays has a goal of racing in every state. On Saturday, Mays of Brownsburg, Ind., turned in the best time for a woman racing in the inaugural Red Kettle Run for a Reason. The 5K race is a fundraiser for the Salvation Army Allegheny Valley Worship and Service Center...
Springdale family’s 50-foot tree ready to be spruced up for Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night
A 50-foot blue spruce that grew in the yard of a Springdale couple was moved to the City County Building in Pittsburgh on Saturday to be decorated for Christmas. Lindsay and Dennis Malinowski donated the tree, which, in 1987 was a 5-foot-tall Christmas tree of the property’s previous owner, who...
Medical examiner: Penn Hills man whose car crashed into Plum pool drowned
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Saturday said a driver whose car crashed into a backyard swimming pool in Plum last August drowned. William Gibson, 49, of Penn Hills was driving along Repp Road at about 7:40 a.m. on Aug. 21 when his car went off the road, crossed...
The Stroller, Nov. 16, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
HOPE Center seeks support for Christmas program The HOPE Center is seeking support for its annual Adopt-A-Family Christmas Program to benefit HOPE Center families. This program is an opportunity for individuals, families, community groups, businesses, churches, schools, or anyone looking to do something for those in need and give back...
High-tech equipment, land leasing, age-old practices keep today’s farmers growingVideo
By looking at a computer screen in his new $500,000 combine, Andrew Kimmel knew his yield was about 225 bushels-per-acre of feed corn for one of the Burrell Township fields he was harvesting Thursday afternoon. It’s harvest time, modern style. On Thursday, Kimmel climbed a six-rung, steel ladder to reach...
Burrell School Board president appears to win reelection with write-in campaign
The Burrell School Board will have the chance to appoint a new school board member at its Dec. 3 reorganization meeting because of the lack of candidates and a win by board President Tricia Shank for a seat she didn’t seek and can’t accept. Shank won two seats — both...
50-foot blue spruce from Springdale to become Allegheny County’s Christmas tree
The 50-foot blue spruce on the corner of Lindsay and Dennis Malinowski’s yard will come full circle this Christmas season. In 1987, the five-foot Christmas tree was displayed in Ron Renaldi’s house. Instead of being discarded, it was planted at his mother’s home on Garfield Street in Springdale. This year,...
Man sentenced to at least 12 years in prison for child rape incident in Arnold
A Washington, D.C., man was sentenced Friday to serve up to 34 years in prison for the rape and sexual assault of an Arnold teenager. Following a jury trial in August, Delonte Haynes, 28, was convicted of four charges, among them rape of a child and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse,...
Google tools help enhance learning at Kiski Area schools
Social studies teachers in Kiski Area School District no longer rely solely upon textbooks and newspaper articles to talk about current events. Now they can tell students to pull up CNN on their Chromebooks. Dave Williamson, chairman of the district’s social studies department, said that’s been one benefit of becoming...
Allegheny River lock reopens after $6.6M fix
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday reopened the Allegheny River’s Lock 2, which has been closed most days for three months because of a $6.6 million renovation project. The land wall in the 87-year-old lock chamber near the Highland Park Bridge had been deteriorating for years at what...
Arguments in Tarentum billboard case rescheduled
An Allegheny County judge has rescheduled oral arguments in the case of a company fighting to put up a billboard in Tarentum. Arguments are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 21 in Courtroom 7 on the 7th floor of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh, according to an order signed by...
Leechburg students raise awareness for disaster relief by camping out in coldVideo
Freezing overnight temperatures didn’t stop students from Leechburg Area School District’s Interact Club from pitching tents outside two borough churches on Nov. 1. The students braved the chilly weather and spent the night in family-size tents to raise awareness for ShelterBox, an international disaster relief charity that gives temporary shelters...
Free Thanksgiving dinners planned in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Churches and organizations are serving free Thanksgiving dinners throughout the Valley. There are Thanksgiving dinners for the less fortunate, and those who are alone or lonely, as well as community dinners offering a time to share a meal and fellowship with your friends and neighbors. Not all dinners are on...
West Deer police launching annual Christmas toy drive
When a West Deer couple heard about a neighbor’s financial needs during the Christmas season more than 20 years ago, they donated $500 to a police gift program, police Chief Jon Lape said. That program, and the family’s annual gift, have become a tradition in West Deer, Lape said. Toys...
The Stroller, Nov. 15, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Concert to benefit local food bank A concert featuring mezzo soprano Marianne Cornetti and pianist Bryan Sable will be at 4 p.m. Sunday at Trinity United Methodist Church, 847 10th Ave., Brackenridge. Donations will be accepted to benefit the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches food bank. Leechburg Library to host...
Frazer to consider changing zoning ordinance to allow horses in certain large residential properties
A couple is interested in putting horses on a 24-acre property in Frazer and is asking the supervisors to amend the township’s zoning ordinance so they can. Frazer doesn’t allow agricultural operations on properties within its two residential moderate density (RM) zoning districts. Keeping horses is considered as an agricultural...
Official: Repairs to vandalized West Deer sports fields could cost thousands
Someone drove a pickup truck in circles on several West Deer sports fields, causing significant damage, officials said. Township Manager Dan Mator said Thursday he estimates repairs for the damaged fields at Nike Site Park and Bairdford Park will cost thousands of dollars. The township has been working to improve...
New Kensington native Anthony Breznican recounts panic after California school shooting
New Kensington native and Santa Clarita writer Anthony Breznican had just dropped off his children at elementary school Thursday morning when he swung around and went back. There’d been a shooting. Not at his children’s school, but a high school nearby. When police officers who live in the neighborhood began...
No tax increase planned in Buffalo Township
Buffalo Township residents would not pay more in township real estate taxes next year under a preliminary budget approved Wednesday. Supervisors approved a preliminary $2.5 million budget that would keep the tax rate at 5.5 mills. Spending would increase by about $196,000, according to the budget. A homeowner with the...
Convicted cop killer Rahmael Holt sentenced to deathVideo
A Westmoreland County jury sentenced convicted cop killer Rahmael Holt to death after deliberating for less than three hours Thursday afternoon. The same jury on Tuesday convicted Holt, 31, of shooting and killing New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw after an attempted traffic stop two years ago. “One year, 11...
Texas man accused of gun violations after arrest in Washington Township parking lot
A Texas man was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail on gun violations after he was spotted in the parking lot of a Washington Township concrete supplier in the middle of the night, according to police. Bayron Ivan Lopez, 27, of Houston, was arrested at 12:35 a.m....
