Valley News Dispatch category, Page 226

• Freeport High School Class of 1955 will have a get-together at 1 p.m. Sept. 6 at River Forest Country Club, Allegheny Township. Classmates and spouses welcome. • Ken Hi Class of 1958 will have a reunion at noon Sept. 21 at Hill Crest Country Club, Lower Burrell. Classmates who...

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. Tickets on sale for wrestling event and craft show Citizens Volunteer...

A slew of administrative resignations in Allegheny Township apparently has resulted from unrest among its three supervisors. Three township administrative employees — administrative assistant Denise Johnston, Director of Public Safety Lee Schumaker and Township Manager Greg Primm — submitted letters of resignation to supervisors. Johnston intends to resign effective Aug....

A few days ago, Erica Kuhn and Melissa Gionta-­Oliver were strangers. Now the two therapists from Plum are spearheading efforts to provide an online database of mental health resources for the Plum Borough School District and community after the tragic house explosion Saturday in the borough’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The...

Gloria Frick says everyone knows the power dogs can have on a person’s well-being. On Thursday, Frick and other members of the Alliance of Therapy Dogs brought some four-legged comfort to Ridge Top Park in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, where six people were killed in a home explosion Saturday. Those...

Plum, Allegheny County and American Red Cross personnel shared resources to help residents in the borough’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood during a meeting Thursday night, in the wake of a house explosion in the neighborhood Saturday that killed six. “We want you to know that there’s a large community here that’s...

A Vandergrift man has been sentenced to serve nearly five years in a federal prison after he was convicted of robbing a North Apollo bank. Bradley Mondi, 36, was ordered by U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV to spend 57 months in prison followed by three years of supervised...

A Murrysville business has stepped forward to help families recovering from Saturday’s deadly explosion and fire in Plum. Murrysville Cleaners is offering free cleaning services to residents of the affected Rustic Ridge neighborhood, including free pickup and delivery of clothing. The offer is good through the end of September. “We...

A felony charge filed against an Arnold woman accused of shooting her dog to death in June has been dropped. Arnold police charged Susan Mullenax, 49, of Alcoa Drive on June 11 with a felony count of aggravated cruelty to animals. She was detained for a day in the Westmoreland...

A gathering to celebrate the life of one of the six people who died in last week’s house explosion in Plum will be held Sunday afternoon. Family and friends of Kevin Sebunia, 55, will gather from 1 to 8 p.m. at Larry Mills Park to share photos, stories and messages...

Officials at Peoples Natural Gas Co. on Thursday would not say whether they had received reports of natural gas odors in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood in the days before a fatal house explosion. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to share any information on that front, because this is all...

Paul Oravitz insisted his friend should come. He had called Andy Zarroli, a neighbor and friend, the night before a St. Patrick’s Day beer crawl that Oravitz and others in their Rustic Ridge neighborhood were attending. Oravitz asked Zarroli if he was coming. “I said, ‘No, I don’t want to...

Stating that he is “extremely concerned” after a house blew up in Plum over the weekend, killing six people and causing catastrophic damage, Gov. Josh Shapiro has broadened the probe into the disaster by ordering the state Department of Environmental Protection to launch an investigation. The governor’s directive was issued...

Students at Burrell School District’s Huston Middle School won’t be learning in air-conditioned classrooms any time soon. The school board Tuesday rejected bids to install air conditioning at the school. That’s because bids for the work, which was projected to cost about $1.2 million, came in at around $1.6 million....

Allegheny County’s top emergency management official confirmed Thursday that investigators have not uncovered any links among five house explosions in Plum since the mid-1990s, including the one Saturday that killed six people and decimated part of a subdivision. Emergency Services Chief Matt Brown, who is also the county fire marshal,...

East Deer’s zoning hearing board found the township’s zoning ordinance is exclusionary regarding billboards and recommended, for now, approval of three of four billboards proposed by America First Enterprises. The board held a public hearing on America First Enterprises’ proposal for four billboards in the township June 29. The company,...

Sharpsburg is seeking $3 million in state funds to develop infrastructure and create access for a proposed riverfront development. The Mosites Co., best known for its redevelopment of the East Liberty commercial corridor, wants to create housing, commercial and retail space along the Allegheny River from Sharpsburg to O’Hara. Sharpsburg...

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. Summer Celebration set Saturday in East Deer The East Deer Summer...

PennDOT’s extended weekendlong single-lane restrictions in both directions on Route 28 will begin Thursday in Harmar, near the structure over Barge Basin. Crews will perform expansion dam replacement work and approach roadway reconstruction according to the following schedule: • Northbound — Starting at 6 p.m. Thursday and running through 3...

Peoples natural gas company officials said Wednesday there does not appear to be a common denominator linking last weekend’s fatal house explosion in Plum with four previous blasts in the borough since the mid-1990s. “At this point, there’s not any indication of any relationship,” said spokesman Nick Paradise, adding that...

The halls of Fox Chapel Area School District schools soon will echo with young voices and the tread of new shoes as students and staff begin the new school year on Aug 29. And for those wondering, the last day of school for students is June 6, 2024. The district’s...

A charity motorcycle ride in memory of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw has grown into the largest of its kind in Western Pennsylvania. The event, scheduled to pull out of the Shrine Center in Harmar at 10 a.m. Saturday, is expected to draw more than 800 riders, organizers said....

Harrison police accused a woman who was babysitting three children under the age of 3 of walking out on them because she was frustrated about the way they were behaving. Charlene Reed, 33, of the 400 block of Park Avenue in Harrison was charged by summons with three felony counts...

For four days, Paul Oravitz fought for his life in the UPMC Mercy burn unit as the Rustic Ridge community prayed. On Wednesday, his fight ended. Oravitz died as a result of injuries suffered in a house explosion Saturday in his home in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood of Plum. He...