Valley News Dispatch category, Page 655
New Kensington man freed after murder sentence to serve 2 years for heroin
A New Kensington man, paroled earlier this year after serving more than two decades in prison for murder, pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug charges that stemmed from his arrest in May. Charles Edward Jones, 40, pleaded guilty to one felony count of drug possession with an intent to deliver and...
Body of 24-year-old homeless man found in Bull Creek in Tarentum
Emergency crews removed a man’s body that was found floating in Bull Creek on Wednesday afternoon in Tarentum. Allegheny County police said the victim is a 24-year-old homeless man reported missing by a friend Aug. 19. His name has not yet been released. According to police at the scene, the...
Longtime Blawnox police chief George Bucha retires at 81
Blawnox police Chief George Bucha signed off for the final time with his 2501 code on July 31. But the lifelong borough resident guaranteed he’ll still be a familiar sight in the community. “I consider everyone in town family,” said Bucha, 81. “That’s what’s nice about a small town. You...
Photos: Final touches put on Kerr Elementary
Palumbo Construction is making the final upgrades to the new Kerr Elementary School on Kittanning Pike in O’Hara. Students will be welcomed Aug. 22 for the start of the school year at Fox Chapel Area School District. The $21 million building includes all new designs with a SMALLab learning space...
Committee to present plan to save decaying Harrison World War II memorialVideo
A memorial to Harrison’s greatest generation is in such bad condition it may not survive the winter unless action is taken to save it. A volunteer committee has come up with an $80,000 plan to restore the 74-year-old Honor Roll memorial at Freeport and Springhill roads and will present it...
Petland moving out of Pittsburgh Mills mall
A lack of foot traffic and business is driving Petland out of the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. Store owner Alan Caplan said they will be leaving the mall by the end of August. The last day for business will be Monday. “Unfortunately, we’d love to stay with the mall,...
Cause of Harrison house fire ‘undetermined,’ fire marshal says
The cause of a fire that destroyed an empty house on Spruce Street in Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood last week remains undetermined, according to the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office. The fire at 51 Spruce St. was reported around 1 a.m. Aug. 16. No one was hurt, and firefighters prevented it...
Parents, teachers from shuttered Evangel Heights still waiting for reimbursements
The closing of Evangel Heights Christian Academy in Buffalo Township has parents and teachers wondering when — or whether — they will get back money owed to them by the school. Most of the academy’s staff of about 15 still are awaiting paychecks, and staff and parents alike have complained...
Arnold moves closer to finalizing use of grant money
Arnold is another step closer to telling the state how it would like to spend nearly $300,000 in grant money. City council held a second public hearing Tuesday to get comments and suggestions from citizens on how it should spend the federal Community Development Block Grant money it will receive...
Police: Penn Hills man dead in Plum swimming pool car crash
A Penn Hills man died Wednesday morning after his car smashed through a fence and plunged into a backyard swimming pool in Plum. The Allegheny County medical examiner identified the man as William Gibson, 49. Police said they pulled Gibson from inside the Chevrolet Cobalt in the deep end of...
Deer Lakes taps VanderSchaaff for acting East Union Intermediate principal
Deer Lakes School District has a new acting principal at East Union Intermediate Center. Jodi VanderSchaaff, a 1999 Deer Lakes graduate, takes over for Jamie Schweinberg, who is taking a school board-approved medical leave. VanderSchaaff holds degrees from Slippery Rock University and California University of Pennsylvania and has taught at...
Wife of Plum boater missing in Lake Erie waits for search crews ‘to bring him home’
Ray Burns relished the chance to unwind by fishing ever since learning to cast a rod as a young child alongside his brother and dad. “He always just loved to be able to throw out a rod and relax and wait for a bite,” recalled Marcy Burns, his wife of...
Lawmakers step in to keep Allegheny River locks open next summer in Armstrong County
A state lawmaker from Armstrong County said Tuesday that $160,000 in grant money has been secured to help a Kittanning nonprofit pay to keep locks open next year in the county’s portion of the Allegheny River. The announcement from state Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Ford City, came a day after the...
Cheswick, Harmar, Springdale Township team up for Low Grade Road improvements
Officials from Harmar, Cheswick and Springdale Township are teaming up to apply for grant money to improve a road that goes through the three municipalities. Officials are applying for a nearly $550,000 Gaming and Economic Development Fund grant to pave the entire length of Low Grade Road. Harmar Engineer Matt...
Highlands School Board approves new hires, resignations
Highlands School Board has approved several personnel moves ahead of the start of the new school year. The board hired three people: • Drew Karpen has been approved as the district’s new athletic and transportation director, retroactive to July 22. His salary was set at $65,000. • Theresa Bargh was...
VFW hall damaged by fire in Armstrong County
A VFW hall in Manor Township, Armstrong County, was damaged by fire early Tuesday, according to emergency dispatchers. The fire at VFW Post 4843 on Bailey Avenue was reported shortly before 4 a.m. Nobody was hurt. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within two hours. The cause of the fire and the...
The hazards of ‘Running While Female’
The thrill of hitting the trail at full stride and the exhilaration of the fabled “runner’s high” is often replaced by fear and trepidation for female runners in the area, across the country and around the world. Aug. 21 marks one year since the discovery of the body of 20-year-old...
Highlands awards contracts for Tarentum elementary school work
Highlands School Board awarded three contracts for work at the district’s elementary school in Tarentum. Two of the contracts, totaling about $92,100, are for repairs to Highlands Elementary’s deteriorated clock tower. The district will pay Marsa Inc. $60,800 for restoration work on the clock tower’s masonry and BurMac Roofing $31,282...
Got unwanted ink? Elimination Station, laser removal business in Tarentum, aims to fade tattoo woes
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 Czebiniak at mczebiniak@tribweb.com Amber Halliwell regrets not eating more the day she...
Allegheny River group concerned it was victim of alleged scam
Boaters who can’t use locks on the upper reaches of the Allegheny River can count themselves among the alleged victims of what state prosecutors say was a scam. The Allegheny River Development Corp. (ARDC), a Kittanning-based nonprofit, canceled the opening of locks 6 through 9 in Armstrong County this past...
Harmar property rezoning looks to boost access to Twelve-Mile Island
Harmar supervisors approved the rezoning of three undeveloped properties along the Allegheny River from industrial to residential to pave the way for a private group to build a parking lot so they can access Twelve-Mile Island. Supervisors unanimously approved the change as the first step for Maple Island Campers Association,...
Missing Lake Erie boater identified as Plum man
A man missing in Lake Erie since Saturday morning is from Plum, according to information provided by Ohio authorities. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources identified the missing man as Raymond Burns, 58. The agency said Burns was in a recreational fishing boat that was swamped by a squall around...
Tractor-trailer overturns on Tarentum Bridge, sending scrap onto tracks belowVideo
A tractor-trailer that overturned on the Tarentum Bridge early Monday afternoon dropped part of its load off the bridge onto Norfolk Southern railroad tracks below. The crash happened just before 1 p.m., according to an Allegheny County emergency dispatcher. It was just before the First Avenue exit ramp off the...
Man charged in Arnold shooting accused of asking victim not to testify
A Somerset man accused of shooting an Arnold man during a robbery last year tried to ask him in May not to testify, according to court papers. Nicholas J. Haynes, 23, was charged last week with witness intimidation after authorities said he tried to get a note to the man...
She came to the Alle-Kiski Valley to report on it. Now she devotes her life to helping it.Video
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things they do. Community activist Tricia Ritchie is set to celebrate her nonprofit’s one-year anniversary. “I feel we started something that can only get better and better,” Ritchie said. “I am amazed at...
