Valley News Dispatch category, Page 314

Traffic will be restricted on the northbound Interstate 579 ramp to northbound Route 28 in Pittsburgh on Friday, PennDOT announced. According to PennDOT, the ramp will be narrowed and shifted from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., weather permitting. There will also be a lane and shoulder restriction on northbound I-579...

A long-term closure of the ramp from the northbound Highland Park Bridge to southbound Route 28 in Sharpsburg will start Tuesday, weather permitting, PennDOT has announced. According to PennDOT, the ramp will close at about 7 a.m. Tuesday and remain closed to traffic around-the-clock through mid-December. Crews will be doing...

A Vandergrift man who operates a private youth wrestling club for girls in Shaler has been accused of drunken driving and possession of cocaine. Barry Gregory Bernard, 38, of the 100 block of Lowell Street was charged with misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence and drug possession along with...

Part of River Avenue in Harrison is scheduled to be closed for two weeks beginning Monday, Allegheny County Public Works announced Thursday. The department said it is allowing the Upper Allegheny Joint Sanitary Authority to close River Avenue between Homer Alley and Chestnut Street in the Natrona neighborhood for sewer...

Resurfacing work will restrict traffic on North Warren Avenue in North Apollo and River Road in Kiski Township the week of Oct. 10, PennDOT announced. Milling and resurfacing work is scheduled to start at 6 a.m. Monday, Oct. 10. Drivers should expect traffic pattern changes and lane restrictions between North...

A Freeport native is the new psychologist at Leechburg Area School District. Cortney Chelecki, 32, resides in Harrison and graduated from Freeport Area High School in 2009. But high school life had its challenges for Chelecki, and, as the district psychologist, she is dedicated to helping students navigate school in...

The Armstrong County District Attorney’s Office filed more than a dozen felony charges against a Parks Township man they accused of being a heroin dealer. Jerramie Marlo Brackman, 38, of the 1100 block of Grant Street was charged with nine felony counts of criminal use of a communications facility, four...

After 48 years in business, another Pittsburgh-area Kings Family Restaurant has closed. Kings district manager George Brown confirmed that the Kings in Presque Isle Plaza in Plum’s Holiday Park neighborhood closed its doors Monday. “The plaza has been sold, and the new owner had different plans,” Brown said. “We’re still...

Longtime Natrona resident Conrad Zylinski attended the former St. Ladislaus Elementary School in the 1960s and served as an altar boy at the magnificent domed church on Spruce Street. He no longer attends Mass every week but said he sees the significance of the 118-year-old church to the community. Zylinski...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Let us know about your Halloween happenings The Valley News Dispatch...

The Kerr Memorial Museum in Oakmont has been transformed into a haunted mansion for a Victorian Era Halloween exhibit. Tours are going on now through Nov. 11 at the historic home at 402 Delaware Ave. About a dozen rooms were redecorated with papier-mache, costumes, photos and other items designed to...

Enter if you dare. Dark and dank, the narrow passages that wind deep underground at Tour-Ed Mine and Museum in Fawn have transformed into a frightening Halloween attraction seeking only the bravest souls to wander through. “We play off your natural phobias here, so we’re talking rats, bats and spiders,”...

Hope was on the lunch menu Wednesday at Valley High School. Students were introduced to their school’s new Hope Squad, part of a national youth suicide prevention program, and asked to write positive and inspirational messages on paper hearts that are being placed on a tree in the library hallway....

Plum resident William Sexton will be happy to see the rundown shell of a house that stands practically in his back yard torn down. Sexton said the house, riddled with broken windows, on Siple Street near the turnpike has been an eyesore for several years. “People go in and out...

With the recent announcement by NASA that the United States will resume missions to the moon, it’s a good time to recall the first moon landing in 1969. Apollo was front and center regarding celebrations surrounding the exciting event. The borough is the only municipality in the country that shares...

Volunteer fire companies and EMS organizations across Southwestern Pennsylvania continue to benefit from federal grants targeted at local emergency responders. Since 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Department of Homeland Security has doled out more than 1,800 Assistance to Firefighters Grants across the country, totaling nearly $323 million. The most...

Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Annual Walk for Hunger event seeks participants The Allegheny Valley Association...

Police say a man admitted to having stamp bags filled with heroin in his hands when he answered a knock at the door from police at the Harmar motel where he was staying. Two people wanted on arrest warrants face multiple felony charges after police got a tip they were...

Dawn Marie Dern has been a star for Plum EMS for many years. With two decades of service to the ambulance company, the full-time emergency medical technician and quality assurance program specialist now has the plaque to prove it. Dern was one of 12 people in the state to receive...

Harrison Manager John Pallone has resigned after six months on the job. Pallone, a former five-term state legislator and superintendent of the New Kensington-Arnold School District, was not immediately available for comment. The township commissioners accepted his resignation during their meeting Monday. At least one commissioner said he believes Pallone...

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office has released the scene of an explosion that destroyed a Plum family’s home just over five months ago, which will allow it to be cleaned up. Chief Matt Brown, the county’s fire marshal and chief of emergency services, provided a brief update Tuesday on...

The operators of a Vandergrift preschool center are trying to dispel concerns among some parents that the program is being dismantled. In reality, the West Vandergrift Early Learning Center is in the process of obtaining state licensing, which is required, and there is no disruption in service, said Kelli McIntyre,...

Haiti H2O: Hope to Opportunity will have a pumpkin sale from Oct. 6-9 at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, 384 Fox Chapel Road. Each year, Haiti H2O sells pumpkins to support the communities in Haiti with which it partners. The pumpkin is an important reminder to Haitians of their independence, dating...

A new seasonal monthly event in Vandergrift has proved to be a crowd-pleaser. Gathering on Grant, a community-based food and vendor festival, debuted in May. Lead organizer Eric Mikula said the event has been a great success. “It’s been wonderful. The response from our neighbors has been great. We have...

One of the nation’s largest building suppliers has opened a location in Harmar. ABC Supply Co. opened its doors Aug. 1 at 460 Nixon Road. “We’re a 40,000-plus-square-foot, all-under-roof supplier,” said site manager Mike Mrakovich. “We will be a one-stop shop for the Cheswick community and surrounding areas.” The facility...