Valley News Dispatch category, Page 686
4 Armstrong County drug task force members on leave after money goes missing
Four members of Armstrong County’s Narcotics Enforcement Team (ARMNET) are on administrative leave while the district attorney investigates $300 missing in a drug case. The issue surfaced last week during First Assistant District Attorney Jared Trent’s preparation for the jury trial of a Kittanning man on drug charges. Trent found...
Highlands changes expectations for savings with new bus company
Highlands School District says it will save only about half the money it expected to save by bringing on a new bus company. And its current transportation provider, W.L. Roenigk, insists the district would actually save more than $1 million over five years by sticking with them. The school board...
Fishing teaches lessons, builds bridges at Valley High School in New KensingtonVideo
Something was fishy at Valley High School on Wednesday. The annual fish-for-fun day for fourth-graders was sponsored by Arnold and New Kensington police. The fishing day was established about four years ago by the Arnold and New Kensington police chiefs and New Kensington Patrolman Joe Locke, a previous school resource...
Brackenridge’s Platinum Ridge to celebrate $1.5M faceliftVideo
Matt Tack wants to celebrate, and apologize, on Saturday. Tack is the new administrator at Platinum Ridge Center for Rehabilitation and Healing in Brackenridge. The 97-bed licensed skilled nursing facility had been under renovation for about three years. “It’s been a long time,” Tack said, saying that the center was...
Surveillance cameras capture Vandergrift Dollar General robbery
The search is continuing for a man who robbed the Dollar General store in Vandergrift last week. Vandergrift police have released surveillance photos of the April 30 crime and are seeking tips regarding the case. The photos show the robber entering and leaving the store in the 500 block of...
Learn how to get your Real ID at events in Oakmont, Harrison and New Kensington
State Rep. Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont, and PennDOT are offering free public information sessions locally on the new requirements for residents to obtain Real ID. Although not mandatory, Pennsylvania residents trying to board domestic flights after Oct. 1, 2020, will need to present a Real ID driver’s license or identification card...
Johnstown man accused of leading Lower Burrell police on chase
A Johnstown man is accused of driving into a parked vehicle in Lower Burrell and leading police on a chase through New Kensington before he was pulled over early Saturday, police said. Christopher Jamison, 36, also is accused of driving a vehicle without an ignition interlock device, which he is...
Tarentum considers exonerating up to $70K in unpaid property taxes
Tarentum Council is considering exonerating delinquent property taxes totaling a combined $60,000 to $70,000 that the borough manager says it has little to no hope of collecting. Considering what to do with those accounts was part of the reason the borough held off on posting the names of delinquent property...
League of Women Voters to host meet the candidates forum in Plum
The League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh will host a public forum next week for Plum school board candidates at the Plum Community Center. The event is set for 8 p.m. May 13 at 499 Center New Texas Road. Organizers said all candidates have been invited to participate. Audience...
Residents, communities push Allegheny County for Crawford Run Road fix
Greg Yaworski is tired of waiting for someone to fix Crawford Run Road. “You’ve got to (drive on) the other side of the road or you’re going to blow your car up,” said Yaworksi of East Deer, who lives along the road. And he isn’t alone. Drivers using the road...
Leechburg career breakfast gives students a taste of job optionsVideo
“What are you going to do with your life?” More than 45 Leechburg Area High School 10th-graders pondered that question Wednesday during the 12th annual Career Exploration Breakfast. Professionals on hand included those from the arts, media, the biomedical field, Douglas Education Center, Eichenlaub Landscaping and Penn State University. They...
Police: Penn Hills man endangered other motorists during rush-hour chase
A Penn Hills driver almost hit a Port Authority bus and posed a risk to numerous motorists during Monday’s afternoon rush hour in Plum, according to police. Isaiah Devin Goodwin, 19, of Main Street, is accused of leading police on a chase that started around 6 p.m. as he was...
Old Oakmont Bakery location could become yoga studio, juice bar
A yoga studio and juice bar may be coming into the old Oakmont Bakery location along Allegheny Avenue. Bakery owner Marc Serrao confirmed there have been discussions to lease the former retail building next to Chelsea Grille, and another nearby property. “I have somebody looking at the warehouse and two...
A Taste of Two Towns to serve up the best of Oakmont, Verona
Oakmont Carnegie Library’s largest annual fundraiser promises to offer a variety of food and drink from Verona and Oakmont establishments. The eighth annual A Taste of Two Towns is set for 5:30 p.m. May 19 at the library, 700 Allegheny River Blvd. “This event is great because it’s a community...
Springdale senior citizens fair to highlight available resources
Alle-Kiski senior citizens will have a chance to learn more about services available to them during a spring resource fair this Friday. The fair is hosted by state Sen. Lindsey Williams and will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Springdale Veterans Association banquet hall, 1151 Pittsburgh...
Kiski Area High School open to the public for first Night of the Arts
Kiski Area High School will showcase hundreds of pieces of student artwork for the first Night of the Arts, a free public art show with live music and more from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., May 13, in the high school atrium. The art event will feature student projects, food...
First Commonwealth plans groundbreaking ceremony for new Harrison bank
First Commonwealth Bank has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for its new bank under construction at Highlands Mall in Harrison. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to noon on Thursday, May 9 at the new location at 4015 Freeport Road, in front of Walmart. Light refreshments will be served...
Meeting Wednesday on vandalism, bad behavior and improvements at Vandergrift’s Franklin Park
A community group, the Vandergrift Parent Project, has raised about $500 to pay for a children’s vegetable garden and mural at Franklin Park. The group will discuss the Franklin Park improvements as well as vandalism and bad behavior by unsupervised kids at borough parks during their regular monthly meeting on...
Cheswick man accused of injuring 9-day-old girl
A Cheswick man is accused of assaulting a baby after the 9-day-old girl was brought to a hospital in February with traumatic injuries. Joshua Lee Sandusky, 24, of Beech Street, was arraigned Tuesday and accused of causing injury to the girl’s face and legs while the two were in a...
Photo of final 2 Pittsburgh marathon finishers goes viralVideo
Two strangers found strength in each other about halfway through Sunday’s Pittsburgh Marathon when they realized they would be the last to finish. Coming in at 7 hours, 22 minutes and 56 seconds, Jessica Robertson of Braddock and Laura Mazur of Ohio, who grew up in the Alle-Kiski Valley and...
Alle-Kiski Valley schools, students receive Gene Kelly Award nominations
Three Alle-Kiski Valley schools have received nominations for the Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater. The nominations, announced Tuesday by the Pittsburgh CLO, include the following schools and students: • Deer Lakes’ “Mama Mia!” was nominated for best scenic design. • St. Joseph High School’s “In...
Proposal for Harrison golf course development not up to par
A proposal for a holistic wellness and recovery center on the grounds of a Harrison golf course likely won’t be getting off the first tee, but the course’s owner said the property will remain on the market. Township zoning rules appear to be standing in the way of the proposed...
2 polling places moved in Gilpin, Kiski townships
Armstrong County Elections officials said two polling places have been changed in Gilpin and Kiski townships for the May 21 primary election. The Number 2 polling place in Gilpin will move from the American Legion on Schenley Road to the Gilpin Fire Hall at 113 Fire Hall Road, where voters...
Brackenridge police ‘desperate for applicants,’ councilman says
Back in September, Brackenridge officials issued a desperate call for part-time police applicants. Eight months later, that situation hasn’t changed. The borough continues to find itself as part of an alarming trend plaguing small municipalities throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley. “We’re desperate for applicants,” Councilman John Stanzione said Thursday. “We will...
Get back to nature on the Butler-Freeport Community Trail
At times, the Butler- Freeport Community Trail seems to be a mere ribbon of pathway cutting through a landscape so large. Steep, rocky hillsides loom within a matter of miles of calmer and drier terrain of rolling farm fields, accounting for the trail’s variety and charm. Then there’s the lack...
