Valley News Dispatch category, Page 696
Cycle Diner in Tarentum seeks new management
The Cycle Diner in Tarentum is seeking a new family to take over daily operations. The restaurant was temporarily closed Tuesday but was expected to be back up and running Wednesday, according to general manager Tommy Scanga. Scanga referred to a Sunday Facebook post when questioned about the potential change...
Harrison police say limp led them to drugs in suspect’s shoe
A Pittsburgh man is accused of trying to hide a golf ball-sized rock of crack cocaine and several bricks of heroin in his shoe. Harrison police said they found the drugs on Andre Blair, 25, after an officer pulled over a car he was in on Freeport Road near Highlands...
Plans for 2 Harrison stormwater projects to be covered at meeting Wednesday
Harrison residents can learn more about a rain garden being built soon at Highlands Middle School and plans for a future, larger project on Burtner Road at a public meeting next week. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Merritt Chase, a landscape architecture firm, will display plans and designs for the...
Plum EMS subscription drive raises funds, saves money
Plum residents and business owners can help borough medics and save money on emergency transports through a subscription drive. Registration for the annual Plum EMS fundraising effort is underway. EMS Operations Director Brian Maloney said the department usually receives about 4,200 subscribers, which is 30 to 35 percent of all...
Highlands weighs 2 proposals for student busing
Highlands School District, previously chastised by state officials for not seeking bids for busing, is weighing two proposals for transportation services. The district has proposals from its current and longtime provider, WL Roenigk, and ABC Transit, district business Manager Lori Byron said. Byron would not provide costs put forward in...
Deer Lakes singing, dancing to the strains of ABBA in ‘Mamma Mia’
Deer Lakes High School drama students are preparing to transport the audience to Greece with their performance of “Mamma Mia.” The musical takes place in Greece and tells the story of Sophie and Donna. Sophie is getting married and wants her dad to walk her down the aisle, but has...
Plum woman accused of punching, kicking Vandergrift police is Megan’s Law offender
A 41-year-old Plum woman registered as a sex offender under Megan’s Law is accused of assaulting two Vandergrift police officers on Sunday. Candy Yockey of Ivory Avenue is accused of punching one officer and kicking another when they responded to a report of a woman bleeding from her mouth along...
Valley set to put on colorful ‘Dreamcoat’
Valley High School Drama Club junior Adam Richardson will be making his stage debut in the lead role of Joseph, donning the iconic coat of many colors in the musical in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” April 11-14 at Valley High School. “I love the coat. I love how...
Watershed association seeks donations for Kiski River trout stockings
The Kiski River might not be a designated trout water, but the Kiski Watershed Association is seeking donations to stock the river with the popular fish. The association has raised almost enough money from local businesses for one stocking in about mid-May, according to John Linkes, a member of the...
Highlands considers summer program to combat ‘summer slide’
Highlands elementary students who aren’t up to speed in reading and math may be invited to take part in a summer school program. If approved by the school board, the district would be able to take up to 120 students in kindergarten through fourth grade, district curriculum coordinator Cathy Russo...
PennDOT works to fix faulty temporary traffic signal in Frazer
A faulty temporary traffic signal at the Butler-Logan Road bridge in Frazer caused excessive wait times for motorists over the weekend, PennDOT said Monday. Some drivers took to social media to report wait times of up to 10 minutes at the signal at Butler-Logan and Murray Hill roads. Signals have...
Lower Burrell police make second crack-related arrest in 8 days
Lower Burrell police said a traffic stop last Thursday turned up nearly a half-ounce of crack cocaine and resulted in the city’s second crack-related arrest in eight days. “For us, this is unusual. Crack in this amount hasn’t been seen in Lower Burrell for 20 years,” said police Chief Tim...
Plans underway for new gas well pad in Upper Burrell
Plans for a new, unconventional natural gas well pad are underway for the Hephaestus well pad project on Merwin Road near the intersection of Whitten Hollow Road in Upper Burrell. Civil & Environmental Consultants of Murrysville is currently working on the application to the state Department of Environmental Protection from...
Tarentum police charge man they say had knife at Praha Hotel
Tarentum police arrested a man Sunday who is accused of pulling a knife on another customer at the Praha Hotel who, police said, responded by drawing a gun. The incident happened shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday at the bar at Corbet Street and East Fourth Avenue. In a criminal complaint,...
Allegheny Valley Hospital raises flag to raise organ-donation awareness
Officials from Allegheny Valley Hospital celebrated Donate Life Month on Monday with a flag-raising ceremony. National Donate Life Month is celebrated every April to encourage people to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to honor those whose organ donations have saved or extended other people’s lives. Across the...
Lower Burrell urges caution with door-to-door salespeople, vendors
Lower Burrell officials are asking residents to be cautious when approached by door-to-door salespeople and vendors. The city’s Facebook account said some companies are going door-to-door without a permit and being overly aggressive with residents. Residents are advised to make sure door-to-door salespeople and vendors have proper, city-issued permits. A...
Pick your spot at The Lot in Oakmont for upscale modern industrial diningVideo
There’s a lot to choose from at The Lot. The Lot at Edgewater in Oakmont celebrated its first anniversary in February. Patrons can lounge in a upscale cigar bar located upstairs, relax on the 1,200-square-foot outdoor patio, complete with a large gas fire pit, dine inside, mingle at the modern...
2 men hurt in 1-car crash in West Deer, power restored to more than 300 customers
Two men were hurt Sunday in a one-vehicle crash on Little Deer Creek Road in West Deer that knocked out power in the area. Power had been restored to the more than 300 affected customers in West Deer, Frazer and Fawn, according to West Penn Power. According to West Deer...
Longtime Oakmont manager Adeline Brown remembered for service to community, family
Adeline Brown spent her life dedicated to serving the only place she ever called home — Oakmont. As a first-generation American, she took pride in the town her parents emigrated to from Italy in the early 1900s. She served as Oakmont’s secretary beginning in 1947 at only 18 years old...
Take a ‘walk on the wildflower side’ now in Harrison Hills and Roaring Run
A bounty of wildflowers in April is a good reason to get out there and find those lush patches of spring beauties. Now through May is the time to see wildflowers in the Alle-Kiski Valley. “The show is spectacular with trillium and the bluebells when they are concentrated,” said Deborah...
Pittsburgh Mills mall’s uncertain future worries shoppers, Frazer officials
It’s been nearly a year since a new owner bought the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer, touting plans to redevelop the struggling, 14-year-old facility. Despite the owner’s hopeful nature in May, township officials say they still haven’t met or had any communication with Long Island-based Mason Asset Management and are...
Simple Gifts brings musical message to Tarentum church
When Linda Littleton and Karen Hirshon are on stage, no words need to be spoken. “We understand each other so well, all we need to do is give each other a look during a concert, and we just know what it means,” says Littleton. “Our personalities clicked the minute we...
West Deer priest removed after he admits to inappropriate contact while a seminarian
A West Deer priest has been placed on administrative leave after he admitted to inappropriate behavior with a minor that didn’t involved sexual contact, according to the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik placed the Rev. Thomas Wilson, 74, on leave, according to a diocesan news release sent...
Volunteers turn out to get Tarentum’s community garden ready for spring
A Boy Scout pointed out a big worm in the freshly placed compost, and Widgie Carson picked it up. “They’re not like a snake,” she said to a few Scouts she was giving tiny red beets to plant. “They won’t hurt you.” The Scouts, members of Troop 180, and Carson,...
‘Lean on Me’ cane project helps students to SkillsUSA competitionVideo
The canes Highlands High School students Sara Dawson and Daneasha Berry carry into Manor Care Health Services in Monroeville are eye- catching conversation starters. And heads turn in a therapy room as they enter, the canes glittery, wrapped in a blue camouflage design and a woodsy leaf pattern. It was their...
