Valley News Dispatch category, Page 689
Don’t spare the blood: Apollo-Ridge looks to realism for mock DUI crashVideo
A mock car crash that included a drunken driver, a dead passenger and other injured parties was the lesson of the day Wednesday at Apollo-Ridge High School. Although mock accident scenes are nothing new, the high school decided to add flair or, rather, blood and make-up for students to look...
Police: Brackenridge man chased man with baseball bat, mooned him
A Brackenridge man is accused of yelling racial slurs at another man before chasing him with a baseball bat and mooning him. The alleged victim told authorities he was walking past the home of Eric Todd Clark, 47, on April 26 when Clark called him a racial slur, Brackenridge police say....
Solo robber hits Vandergrift Dollar General along Franklin Avenue
Vandergrift police are searching for a man who robbed the Dollar General on Franklin Avenue Tuesday night. A clerk was restocking shelves when a tall man walked in. He held his left hand in the pocket of a hooded sweatshirt he was wearing and “acted like he had a gun,”...
Harrison woman suffers minor injuries in 2-vehicle crash in Harrison
A Harrison woman suffered minor injuries Tuesday when the car she was driving collided with a minivan in the township, according to police Chief Mike Klein. The crash happened at about 8:20 a.m. at Freeport Road and Idaho Avenue, between Key Bank and a car wash. Klein said Joanna Williams...
Kittanning man already on Megan’s Law list facing child rape charges
All charges were held to court in a preliminary hearing for a Kittanning man accused of child rape. Dwayne Edward Hawk, 52, is already named on the Megan’s Law list of people convicted of sex offenses. Hawk, a lifetime reporter, is accused of raping a mentally challenged girl. Police allege...
Valley High School grounds to become a plaza dedicated to district’s veterans
The area in front of Valley High School where the Ten Commandments monument once stood is about to become a plaza dedicated to community veterans. John Tamiggi, executive director of the Allegheny Valley Habitat for Humanity, told the New Kensington-Arnold School Board on Thursday night about plans to use the...
Native plants for hummingbirds, butterflies to go on sale at Beechwood Farms
The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania will open its Native Plant Nursery at Beechwood Farms in Fox Chapel with sales and special bundles of plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The nursery will remain open throughout the planting season. For opening day on...
Long ‘to-do’ list remains for Cheswick, Springdale Township police merger
The Allegheny Valley Regional Police Commission still has a lot of work ahead of it after meeting for the first time Tuesday night. The four-member commission is made up of Cheswick Council members Michael Girardi and Kathy Gillard, Springdale Township Commissioner Shirley Redman and township resident Rick Schwartz. They are...
UPMC to offer free skin cancer screenings at Harmar office
The public will have a chance to receive a free skin cancer screening in May at the UPMC St. Margaret Dermatology office in Harmar. The screenings take less than five minutes and, if anything is detected, patients will be given a further exam by the physician. The event will be...
West Deer drainage work to result in traffic restrictions
Traffic in West Deer should be impacted for about 16 days starting tomorrow while PennDOT works to complete a drainage project along Deer Creek Road. When that work begins, weather permitting, traffic will be restricted to a single alternating lane on Deer Creek between Bakerstown Culmerville and Kyle roads from...
Highlands High School program stresses positive attitude during traffic stopsVideo
So, you’ve been pulled over by police. Want the traffic stop to go as quickly as possible and be on your way? Police offer what they say are the two most important tips: Be polite and listen to the officer’s instructions. The goal is to promote safety for those pulled...
2 bears killed by cars in West Deer, Hampton in as many days
Two young black bears, possibly siblings, were hit by cars over the weekend in West Deer and Hampton. There were no reports of injuries to people in either incident, according to Dan Puhala, a Pennsylvania Game Commission warden who covers northern Allegheny County. The first bear was hit early Saturday...
Highlands fails in argument to keep employee’s name secret
Highlands School District should not have kept secret the name of an employee it suspended in February, the state’s Office of Open Records has ruled. The office issued a final determination Tuesday in response to an appeal filed by the Tribune-Review after Highlands refused to release the employee’s name. The...
Still no deal between New Kensington-Arnold School District, teachers union
Seven hours of negotiations Monday night didn’t produce an agreement between New Kensington-Arnold School District and its teachers union. The district’s 167 teachers have been working without a contract since Aug. 31, 2017. The session Monday was the first since April 11. Phil Cope, a spokesman for the teachers’ union,...
Vandergrift man charged in death of infant son headed to court
A Vandergrift man whose 1-month-old son suffocated and died in September told detectives he shouldn’t have fallen asleep with the infant on his chest, a detective with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office testified Tuesday. “He had agreed with us that he probably shouldn’t have done that,” Detective John Clark...
Voodoo Brewery to open in New KensingtonVideo
New Kensington officials are excited to use a little voodoo brew to help revitalize the city’s downtown corridor. Meadville-based Voodoo Brewery will open a brew pub by fall on Fifth Avenue in the city, according to a joint announcement Tuesday by Mayor Tom Guzzo and one of Voodoo’s owners, Jake...
Highlands solicitor: Public can’t comment at upcoming bus meeting
Following a failed vote to hire a new school bus company, Highlands School Board wants to question the two companies vying for the district’s transportation contract, district Solicitor Ira Weiss said. The board called a rare public committee meeting for next week to pose questions to representatives of W.L. Roenigk,...
Paramedics respond to Harrison car crash
At least one woman appeared to be hurt when a car and a minivan collided in Harrison on Tuesday morning. The crash happened at about 8:20 a.m. at the intersection of Freeport Road and Idaho Avenue, between Key Bank and a car wash. A white Chevy Cavalier had extensive front-end...
Woman ‘searching for ghosts’ struck by car in Armstrong County
A woman was recovering Tuesday from extensive injuries to her neck, head and brain suffered last weekend after she was hit and dragged by a car in Armstrong County, state police said. State police Lt. Eric Simko said the woman, who was not identified, had been outside a car with...
Harrison Earth Day cleanup nets 118 bags of trash, tires, TVs, mattresses
Volunteers filled more than 100 bags with trash in Harrison’s Earth Day cleanup on Saturday. A total of 64 volunteers turned out, including 34 in Natrona Heights and 30 in Natrona, Commissioner Chuck Dizard said. That included people from Fawn and Tarentum. “Amazingly, a few of the nasty areas were...
Crowded Tarentum Council race includes candidates seeking multiple seats
Half of the candidates for Tarentum Council in next month’s primary are running for multiple seats even though, in the end, they will be able to hold only one. “It’s a weird system,” said Democrat Jim Bonner, who is vying for his party’s nomination in three races, more than any...
Pennsylvania motorists urged to use caution around farm vehicles
Slow-moving farm vehicles are a sign of spring along Pennsylvania’s rural roads, and state officials are urging motorists to exercise caution. Preliminary crash data from PennDOT shows eight people died in crashes involving farm equipment in 2018, while 693 people were killed in nonfarm-related crashes on rural roads. “Frankly, we...
Gilpin paving project list developing
Sections of four roads are on Gilpin Township’s improvement projects planned for this spring and summer. The list also includes sealing parts of three other roads, supervisors said. Included is about a half-mile section of Godfrey Road from Stullville Road to Stonegate Drive. Work also is planned along Old Schenley...
Leechburg namesake David Leech to receive Pennsylvania historic marker
David Leech’s innovative network of freight forwarders in the 1800s will be honored with a state historic marker that will be dedicated next month at the Leechburg Area Museum and Historical Society. What is now Leechburg was home to fewer than a dozen families in the 1820s. Most of their...
Newly formed Allegheny Valley Regional Police Commission to begin meeting
The newly formed Allegheny Valley Regional Police Commission will meet Tuesday for the first time since elected officials in Cheswick and Springdale Township approved merging the communities’ police departments. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Springdale Township municipal building, 100 Plate Dr. The four-member commission is...
