Valley News Dispatch category, Page 70
Northern Westmoreland welding program grows, highlighting industry demand
Brandon Stankiewicz will be paying extra-close attention when he sees a semitruck on the road. After all, he and his peers in the welding program at Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center may have made the truck’s battery box. Students there partnered with a Shelocta-based trucking company to weld 15...
Pittsburgh Regional Transit to start public hearings
Pittsburgh Regional Transit on Tuesday will begin hosting public hearings about a proposal that would increase fares and drastically cut services. The first public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. and 3 until 7 p.m. at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center’s Pittsburgh Ballroom. People can sign...
Fox Chapel Area High School senior earns Girl Scout Gold Award
When Devon Grimsby McDonald reads books filled with varying emotions to children sitting in a circle around her, she invites them to share their feelings about what they’ve just heard. “I’ve struggled with mental health and anxiety, especially my freshman year of high school,” said Devon, now a senior at...
The Stroller, April 28, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. Volunteer opportunities available at...
Long-vacant Freeport Road property in Harrison could see new life
A prominent Freeport Road property in Harrison could see new life after sitting vacant for years. The former Grace United Methodist Church education building is at 1329 Freeport Road, across from Highlands Middle School. It was briefly on the market for $160,000 and is under contract through the Compass real...
Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame welcomes 50th class
Sometimes athletes begin their sports climb with humble beginnings. For Leechburg’s Paul Noonan, being part of the high school’s first track team was an experience in itself. The school didn’t have a track, so cinders from the nearby Allegheny Ludlum Steel plant were brought in to give the runners a...
Fire destroys trailer outside Fawn church; cause under investigation
A storage trailer outside of Harvest Baptist Church in Fawn was destroyed by fire Sunday afternoon. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal will investigate the cause of the fire, which was not immediately known, Harrison Hills fire Chief Jules Beer said. No injuries were reported. The fire at the church atop...
Local agencies for domestic-abuse survivors benefit from 5K run and event at Pittsburgh Brewing
When Maria Briney needed help, the Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center was there for her. On Sunday, Briney, a survivor of domestic violence, was there to help the HOPE Center and two other organizations that together serve abuse victims in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and Westmoreland counties. “Working for them actually saved...
Family Promise House in Brackenridge continues mission of preventing homelessness
A transitional housing facility in Brackenridge has helped more than 180 people down on their luck since opening last year. Now, Family Promise House’s parent organization, the nonprofit Allegheny Valley Association of Churches, will use newly awarded funding to try to keep people from needing to use the facility at...
The Stroller, April 27, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. Luncheon to benefit Animal...
Faces of the Valley: Burrell teen to represent Team USA in Junior Roller Derby World Cup
From birth, Pippa Meyer was pretty much destined to thrive in the sport of roller derby. “Raygun is my middle name, and my derby nickname,” said Meyer, 18, of Lower Burrell, who goes by Pippa Raygun in roller derby circles. “My mom gave me a derby name at birth.” It...
Young police supporter Kaley Bastine raises money for firefighters
Dedicated Alle-Kiski Valley police supporter Kaley Bastine branched out to help those on the thin red line Saturday. The 12-year-old behind “Kaley’s Kops & Heroes,” with the help of her family, hosted a fundraiser benefiting Tarentum’s Highland Hose volunteer fire company Saturday at the American Legion in Brackenridge. It was...
After staring at Knoch, Allegheny, Nick Reiser set to join A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame
Nick Reiser credits the success he had on the football field to being a “highly competitive individual.” Reiser has a pretty good idea of where he picked up that inner drive to be the best. “I grew up as the youngest of eight kids in a competitive household,” the 1993...
Leechburg Rotary celebrates 100 years of service to the community
The Leechburg Rotary Club has been serving Leechburg and neighboring communities for 100 years, and it continues to do so. Established in 1925, the club has been serving the community through a slew of volunteer activities and fundraisers since its founding, with more planned. “It’s an organization made up of...
Friends remember Allegheny Township couple killed in Clarion County crash
An Allegheny Township couple are being fondly remembered after the shocking news of their death in a crash in Clarion County Thursday. Rob and Cheryl Zanotto “were always together,” said Edna McCutcheon, of Bell Township. McCutcheon didn’t know Rob Zanotto when they graduated from Kiski Area High School in 1971,...
The Stroller, April 26, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. National Day of Prayer...
Verona police seek public help in finding wanted man
Verona police seek assistance in locating a man who failed to show up for court on drug charges and other crimes. Kristafher Fluharty, 35, was charged with resisting arrest, possession of controlled substances and possession of drug paraphernalia in connection with a trespassing incident at the Giant Eagle along Allegheny...
Verona police searching for burglary suspects
A search is underway for two people who Verona police say attempted burglarize a home along East Railroad Avenue on Friday afternoon. Police said no injuries were reported in connection with the incident shortly after 1:15 p.m. The suspects fled in a dark-colored vehicle that was parked along Diamond Way....
New Kensington’s first Fridays on Fifth opens with large crowd, dozens of vendors
New Kensington’s Fridays on Fifth opened for the season on Friday. The street event will take place on the fourth Friday of the month from 5 to 9 p.m. through September. Food trucks were out in force for opening evening, offering just about any type of food one could think...
New Kensington murder suspect denied new lawyer for pending retrial
A Westmoreland County judge ruled Friday a New Kensington man cannot have a new lawyer ahead of a retrial scheduled in June in connection with a fatal shooting five years ago during what police said was a botched robbery. Latresse Williams, 35, was acquitted of first-degree murder following a weeklong...
Arnold man sentenced to 7 to 14 years for drug, stolen firearm charges
An Arnold man was sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison in connection with a New Kensington traffic stop a year ago that turned up a stolen handgun and drugs. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears handed down that sentence to Jacquet Rusher Woods, 47, on Friday. Woods...
Penn State New Kensington rallygoers say campus closure decisions ‘too fast, too final’
Meredith Carter, a senior at Penn State New Kensington, strongly believes there’s a disconnect between Penn State decision makers in State College and students at its branch campuses. Carter was among roughly 40 students, professors and community members who attended a rally Friday at the Upper Burrell campus advocating against...
Guilty pleas pile up in fentanyl drug ring linked to New Kensington, Mexican cartel
Ten people pleaded guilty this week in Pittsburgh for their roles in a cross-border drug ring that smuggled fentanyl and meth from a Mexican cartel into the United States. The drugs were distributed throughout the country, including in Western Pennsylvania. In all, 19 of the 35 people arrested have pleaded...
Sharpsburg water tower springs leak; resident water service reportedly not impacted
Hampton Shaler Water Authority officials said they are working with a vendor to repair a leak at the authority’s water tower in Sharpsburg. The leak occurred April 19 at the tower along the Allegheny River. The authority released a statement about the incident Wednesday . “HSWA is planning repairs to...
Westmoreland Envirothon puts emphasis on forest stewardship, bird research
Westmoreland Conservation District staff definitely picked the right day this week to study the environment with high school senior Tim Miller and his fellow Derry Area students. While spring in Southwestern Pennsylvania can be a weather Jekyll and Hyde, Thursday, April 24, couldn’t have been nicer, with sunny skies and...
