Valley News Dispatch category, Page 716
Pop-up parade starts Burrell High wrestlers on trek to state championships in Hershey
Burrell High School’s wrestlers got a pop-up parade Wednesday afternoon as they left town. The grapplers were starting their bus trip to the state championships in Hershey. The repeat WPIAL champs didn’t leave quietly. It was lights and sirens all the way through town. A brief Facebook announcement at 3:30...
Knoch High School student who made shooting threat ‘as a joke’ released on bond
A Knoch High School student charged with making online threats about shooting classmates has been released from jail. According to court documents, Jason Bowen, 18, of Middlesex, was released from the Butler County jail on Tuesday after Butler County Judge Timothy McCune granted a motion to modify his bail from...
The signs of spring are here if you know where to look
Recent warm temperatures, no matter how pleasant and notwithstanding the prognostications of a groundhog, aren’t signs of spring. But the signs already are here. They’re just a little more subtle. In his book, “Signs of Spring,” Bill Hamilton of Kiski Township, a retired biology professor from Penn State New Kensington...
Woman claims Apollo man threw, sexually assaulted her after she laughed at him
An Apollo man is accused of throwing and sexually assaulting a woman earlier this week. The woman accused James Orlando Oquinn, 29, of attacking her after she laughed when he suggested she was sneaking men through a window. The woman told Apollo police that she had taken Oquinn out for...
Asperger’s can’t stop Highlands middle schooler’s basketball passionVideo
Austin Ciciarelli of Harrison found his happy place — on the basketball court. Ciciarelli, 13, was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, as a toddler. He tried out for the Highlands Middle School Rams basketball team last year while in seventh grade and made the cut. Daily practices...
Tarentum considering public shaming of tax deadbeats
Warning to Tarentum tax deadbeats: your tax debt soon could become public knowledge. Borough council is considering using the threat of public embarrassment to get delinquent property taxpayers to pay up. As tentatively discussed, if those who owe delinquent property taxes don’t pay by April 30, their names would become...
Police investigating crash near Highlands Middle School
A Brackenridge man was taken to a local hospital Wednesday following a two-vehicle collision near Highlands Middle School in Harrison. The collision happened about 9:40 a.m. at the intersection of Freeport Road and Argonne Drive. Harrison police Sgt. Joshua Acre identified the drivers as Shawn Rittman, 57, of Brackenridge and...
Tarentum considering new rules, fees for handicapped parking spaces
It could soon cost money to get, and to keep, a handicapped parking space in Tarentum. A proposal being considered by borough council would set the initial cost at $75. A permit would be good for two years, and renewing it would cost $50. The initial fee is intended “to...
Hearing set for proposed Harmar food pantry, worship site
Harmar officials denied a zoning permit to an organization hoping to offer Bible study classes and food pantry services to the Alle-Kiski Valley. Feeding the Flock Ministries hopes to move into a former Jehovah’s Witness hall at 490 Nixon Road. But township officials denied its application because it isn’t a...
Stephen Yakopec Jr. out as Lower Burrell solicitor
For the first time in 26 years, Stephen Yakopec Jr. won’t be the solicitor for Lower Burrell. City council on Monday voted 4-1 not to renew the city’s contract with Yakopec, according to Mayor Richard Callender. “I’ve been friends with Steve for years,” said Callender, who voted against renewing Yakopec’s...
Tarentum has 5 candidates for empty council seat
The creator of a Tarentum Facebook group, the executive director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and a program coordinator at Tobacco Free Allegheny are among five applicants to fill an empty seat on Tarentum Council. Letters of interest for the seat vacated by 3rd Ward Councilwoman Rhonda Dzugan...
Brackenridge to hold public meeting on riverfront trail project
Brackenridge has hired a Pittsburgh firm to help design a trail along the Allegheny River that would become part of the larger Three Rivers Heritage Trail. The firm, TranSystems, will have to work around a number of obstacles and challenges such as trees, telephone poles and “pinch points” where maintaining...
Water main break affects 20 in Tarentum
Tarentum crews were responding to a water main break on Park Street Tuesday afternoon. About 20 customers were affected by the break in the 1100 block of Park Street, according to the borough. No roads were closed as of about 3:30 p.m. Brian Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You...
Springdale man accused of dealing heroin headed to court
A Springdale man accused of dealing heroin last month is headed to court. William Kelly, 49, faces felony charges of drug delivery and possession and related misdemeanor drug charges. He waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the charges before Magisterial District Judge David J. Sosovicka in Harmar on...
Freeport, Leechburg and Fox Chapel high schools notch wins with anti-drug videos
Three Alle-Kiski area high schools continued their winning streaks for their work promoting awareness about opioid abuse. Freeport, Fox Chapel and Leechburg all placed again during the annual 2018-2019 FBI Pittsburgh Division’s HOPE (Heroin Outreach Prevention and Education) PSA contest. The contest, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, aims to...
Vandergrift couple injured when SUV drives backwards into wooded area
An elderly Vandergrift couple was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital Monday after their SUV drove backwards off a road and through a wooded area in the borough, according to police. The incident happened about 12:10 p.m. at Pennsylvania and Maryland avenues. Vandergrift police Sgt. Anthony DePanicis identified the couple as...
Work to fix water line closes Tarentum’s Fourth Avenue
A block of Tarentum’s Fourth Avenue closed Monday morning because of a water line break. A service line to the building housing Wesley Family Services broke on Saturday, said Ted Bajack, the borough’s water distribution coordinator. Crews dug into the road and shut off the water that day. They were...
After $12,000 reward, leads are scant for missing elderly man in South Buffalo
There are few leads after a $12,000 reward was offered two weeks ago for information leading to the whereabouts of a missing elderly man last seen at a family member’s house in South Buffalo Township. Kenneth Himes, 70, of Pittsburgh, who is autistic and has early-onset dementia, was last seen...
South Buffalo looks for ways to bring public sewage to township
South Buffalo officials are looking for ways to bring public sewage service to the township, and believe doing so could help spur growth there. “When you drive up Route 28, we are the first township you enter (in Armstrong County). If Armstrong County has a chance to grow, it will...
Freeport Area High School senior makes volunteering big part of life
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley people and the notable things that they do. About 100 children being treated at area hospitals will soon feel more comfortable courtesy of Kaitlyn Ritter. The Freeport Area High School senior organized a blanket project with the...
Man shot friend, then self during argument after party in Apollo home, police say
A small party Friday night devolved into an argument early Saturday that ended with two men shot dead inside an Apollo home, police said Sunday. David Lee, 33, allegedly shot and killed David Gaydos, 25, both of Apollo, during an argument inside Lee’s home early Saturday, according to the Armstrong...
Review finds Harrison chemical dump at Alsco Park remains contained
At least one Harrison resident would like a place to play pickleball. That was about the extent of the public’s comment when federal environmental authorities conducted their once- every-five years review of the Lindane Dump Superfund Site located off Springhill Road — part of which is home to Alsco Community Park....
Springdale Township to review ordinances written in 1958, last updated in ’69
After 61 years, Springdale Township will be updating and modernizing its subdivision and land development ordinances. Many of the proposals would replace those passed in 1958, some of which were updated in 1969. A hearing on the new development proposals will take place Feb. 18. Some of the issues to...
Vandergrift resident working as concierge for former Steeler Hines Ward at Super Bowl
Casey Allen is a junior at the University of Tennessee at Martin majoring in marketing with a minor in sports business. But this week, sports business is the major. Allen is in Atlanta for the week for Super Bowl LIII, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Sunday between the New...
Police: 2 men dead in Apollo in murder/suicide
An unidentified Apollo man shot another man dead early Saturday and then committed suicide, state police said. Police did not identify either man by name. They said the suspect was a 33-year-old resident of the home in the 500 block of Terrace Avenue. The victim, who was shot twice, was...
