Valley News Dispatch category, Page 414

Angela Veri was on her way to work after dropping off her daughter at school Thursday when a neighbor called to tell her she saw smoke coming from her home on Fairview Drive in Lower Burrell. She knew, because nobody was at home, her family was safe as firefighters from...

Political newcomer John Mrvan remained the top vote-getter in the Leechburg Council election, while all three incumbents won reelection, according to official returns from the Armstrong County Election Bureau. Mrvan, a Republican and pharmaceutical technician for Leechburg HealthMart Pharmacy, received 247 votes. Two Democratic incumbents were right behind: Alan Tarr...

Small Business Saturday is going to be big in New Kensington. More than 40 businesses, from downtown to Parnassus, are expected to participate in the first New Ken Shop Small Crawl on Nov. 27, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. “We want...

Publicize your club meetings, community events and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Burrell High School to present fall play The Burrell High School Drama Club will present its fall play, “Artist Retreat,” at...

More than 100 people gathered Wednesday evening outside New Kensington City Hall to honor the life of fallen New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw. New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo led a memorial service near the Brian Shaw Memorial outside City Hall on the fourth anniversary of Shaw’s death. Shaw was...

West Deer residents have differing opinions on whether the township should approve proposed natural gas well pads at two locations in the township. Residents and taxpayers spoke Tuesday during the ninth and final public hearing regarding the proposal presented by Olympus Energy LLC. The hearing took place at West Deer...

A man and woman each were charged with four felony counts in connection with the theft of about 150 pounds of copper wire on Tuesday from the idled Allegheny Technologies Inc. plant in Gilpin, according to police. Township police arrested John Diehl, 37, of Clinton Township and Casey Finley, 35,...

A Westmoreland County prosecutor argued Wednesday that Pennsylvania’s Castle Doctrine is not an applicable defense in the murder trial of a Churchill man charged in connection with a fatal shooting last year in Arnold. Assistant District Attorney Pete Caravello said jurors should not receive legal instructions about the statute that...

Burrell School District’s finance manager was bracing for declining tax revenues and higher expenses in the 2020-21 school year from the economic distress of the pandemic. But, it turns out, Burrell did better than anticipated, according to the district’s financial statements for 2020-21. Burrell ended the school year with about...

The Oscar Meyer Wienermobile will be parked under the Tarentum Bridge on Saturday morning for anyone who wants to snap selfies with the quirky hot dog-shaped bus. The orange and yellow vehicle is a fan favorite at the Tarentum-Brackenridge holiday parade, scheduled to step off at 1 p.m. In its...

Publicize your club meetings, community events and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Operation Christmas Child shoe box collection underway Grace Community Presbyterian Church, Lower Burrell, is conducting an Operation Christmas Child shoe box...

A Brackenridge woman is accused of hitting a man with a car on the side of Route 28, then fleeing with her 1-year-old son in her car. State police charged Shakeira Ladaisa Hardin, 25, with felony counts of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child and misdemeanor charges...

Detectives who searched the Arnold home where police said a man was gunned down last year testified Tuesday the suspected murder weapon was found hidden inside of a shoe left behind at the home. Statepolice Detective Nick Iera said he initially didn’t see the weapon as he walked through the...

Citizens Bank is making good on its previously announced intention to close its branch in downtown New Kensington on Wednesday, a bank spokesman said. Citizens said in August it would close the office at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street on Wednesday. “The branch is still slated to...

Mask-wearing will remain mandatory the remainder of the year for students and staff in the Kiski Area School District. The board voted 7-1 Monday to keep the mandated mask policy requiring all students and staff to wear a face covering on campus and district school buses. Michelle Schmidt was the...

Kiski Township police arrested a man on Monday for squatting in a vacant house where they also found stolen items and evidence of drug use. Officers responding to a call for a suspicious man along Hickory Nut Road in North Apollo shortly after 8:30 p.m. searched the neighborhood and found...

A pair of ventilation fans blowing out the aroma of chocolate used to draw people into a storefront on New Kensington’s Fifth Avenue. That’s when Herman’s Nuts and Chocolates was located there. Today, it’s women’s clothing from brands known in Los Angeles and New York that are bringing people through...

South Buffalo officials plan to hold the line on taxes with next year’s budget. Supervisors approved a 2022 preliminary spending plan and its public posting Monday night. Its formal adoption is scheduled for Dec. 20. The real estate tax rate is expected to remain at 5.7 mills. There has not...

A former Arnold man arrested in 2019 after leading police on a high-speed chase and crashing with a toddler in his car was convicted of drug violations in federal court. Kevin Watson, 32, was found guilty of one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of...

Passersby at Heights Plaza in Harrison likely will notice the 28 oversized pine wreaths hung Saturday by Harrison Commissioner Chuck Dizard and a group of fellow holiday elves. The 4-foot wreaths are illuminated with tiny white lights and appointed with a large red bow. Dizard said the sight might evoke...

Publicize your club meetings, community events and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Toys for Children campaign underway in West Deer West Deer Police Department is sponsoring its 25th annual Toys for Children drive...

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man suspected of committing multiple burglaries in the East Deer and Frazer area Sunday morning. According to Frazer police, the suspect stole multiple items from unlocked vehicles beginning around 4:30 a.m. He started on Bailies Run Road in East Deer...

The lawyer for the man charged in the fatal shooting of a man in Arnold last year told a Westmoreland County jury that his client acted in self defense. Devon Askew, 28, of Churchill feared for his life and fired two shots to protect himself, a woman and her young...

A Kiski Area High School graduate studying to become a welder died Sunday in a wrong-way crash in Washington Township. Zeth Reber, 22, of Washington Township died when his 2014 Honda Civic was hit head-on by a 2012 Dodge Caravan traveling the wrong direction on Route 380 in Washington Township....

One of four candidates who ran unopposed for the New Kensington-Arnold School Board will not be able to take the seat, according to the interim director of Westmoreland County Elections. Peter Nkemakolam ran for a school board seat in the district’s Region 3. However, Nkemakolam lives in Region 2, interim...