Valley News Dispatch category, Page 507

Bars and restaurants may be closed to indoor dining, but a Freeport-based nonprofit is still tipping local restaurant workers. Dynamic Community Foundation, a foundation linked to local real estate firm NextHome Dynamic Realty, announced a program called Serve the Server and Tip the ‘Tender. Its goal is to help food...

Five students and staff members at Allegheny Valley School District have tested positive for covid in the past week, the district said. Spokeswoman Jan Zastawniak said those infected were last in a school building more than a week ago, and the cases are unrelated and do not suggest school community...

A grassroots activist group will host a public Zoom forum with Westmoreland County commissioners Wednesday evening to air local concerns and urge them to take an active role in battling the region’s growing public health crisis. Although the county does not have an independent public health department, a spokesman for...

New Kensington Council has approved a preliminary budget for next year that includes no increase in property taxes. Council voted 4-1 Monday to approve the first reading of next year’s $8.16 million budget, up from $8.12 million this year. The property tax rate would remain unchanged at 32.03 mills. After...

As populations across Pennsylvania increased over the past 10 years, Westmoreland and Allegheny counties have seen the opposite effect. New data from the American Community Survey shows that from 2010-19, Westmoreland County lost more than 16,000 people with the population of Allegheny County dropping by about 7,500. Those numbers aren’t...

East Deer residents and businesses will pay 35% more for water next year because Tarentum increased what it charges the township for bulk water. The new rates, approved by township commissioners, will take effect Jan. 1. The average East Deer homeowner will pay $13.50 for the first 1,500 gallons, an...

Blawnox residents will pay the same real estate taxes to the borough in 2021 but revenue loss related to covid-19 will suspend road improvements in the new year. Council approved the borough’s $2.6 million budget on Dec. 10, keeping the property tax rate at 9.85 mills. The owner of a...

Is your non-profit organization going to have a fundraiser? Send information to The Stroller at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Grab-and-go dinners to be passed out at Knead Community Cafe Knead Community Café in New Kensington will hand out free grab-and-go dinners...

A Freeport catering business is distancing itself from a similarly named Brentwood restaurant that is flouting the state’s covid safety regulations. On its Facebook page, Cracked Egg Catering Co. said it has no affiliation with the Crack’d Egg, a diner defying state shutdown orders. “Cracked Egg Catering Co. is a...

A 72-year-old Harrison man will not be charged in the death of his wife, who died after he hit her with a vehicle in August, according to Allegheny County Police. Shirley Anne Jump, 65, died after she was hit in the driveway of the couple’s Village Green Road home on...

Excela Health officials plan to administer their first doses of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine to staff in Westmore­land County on Friday, officials said. “We have requested 6,000 doses,” Excela spokesperson Robin Jennings said. Excela officials have conducted an internal survey among staff about the vaccine. Employees will not be required to...

Pennsylvanians can vote online for the state’s River of the Year, and Susan Huba would like to see a Westmoreland County waterway win the award. “This is a great opportunity,” said Huba, executive director of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association. The association helps manage Loyalhanna Creek, one of the Department of...

Students at the Catholic elementary school in Aspinwall have been in full-time in-person learning since the beginning of the school year, bucking a trend across the region which has so many districts switching between remote and classroom instruction. Christ the Divine Teacher Catholic Academy, which houses about 190 students in...

Is your non-profit organization going to have a fundraiser? Send information to The Stroller at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Send a gift to a senior at Presbyterian SeniorCare Network Presbyterian Senior Care Network is encouraging the public to send a gift...

An Allegheny Township photographer is doing her part to help Alle-Kiski Valley restaurants affected by coronavirus-related restrictions. Amy Capiross-Watterson is offering to take free professional photos of a restaurant’s popular takeout menu items to encourage people to order takeout amid the latest round of covid-19 restrictions, which went into effect...

Several things breaking in Arnold’s favor are helping the city avoid increasing property taxes next year. Council is scheduled to vote on the city’s $4.4 million 2021 budget during a meeting on Tuesday. The meeting will be held remotely on Zoom, beginning at 7 p.m. As proposed, the city’s property...

South Buffalo Township Police Department has installed secure boxes for dropping off unwanted medication. There are two boxes — one located at the South Buffalo Township Municipal Building and the other at the Cadogan Township building, where the police department has a substation. “It’s a no-questions-asked means for people to...

West Deer’s preliminary budget for 2021 includes no increase in property taxes despite a proposed increase in spending across numerous departments. Supervisors will vote to adopt next year’s $7.2 million budget at their Dec. 16 meeting. The tax rate remains 2.99 mills in the preliminary budget. Township Manager Dan Mator...

An upcoming waterline project in Upper Burrell along Bethesda Drive and a small portion of White Cloud Road won’t inconvenience residents, but will improve the water quality and flow, according to a water authority official. The Municipal Authority of New Kensington is planning the $250,000 project this spring to provide...

East Deer’s proposed $1.5 million budget for 2021 calls for no property tax increase despite a 23% increase in spending. Commissioners approved the proposed budget at their Thursday meeting, and will vote to approve the final budget on Dec. 31. The tax rate will remain at 4.9 mills. Commissioners Chairman...

PennDOT plans to make $10 million in upgrades along Route 356 in Buffalo Township to improve the flow of traffic through the township’s central business district. The project will widen Route 356 to five lanes — consisting of four travel lanes and one center turning lane — from north of...

Tyler McCandless is a teen shutterbug. Photography is his go-to hobby, trekking solo locally and regionally — hiking and photographing small historic towns and natural landscapes. McCandless, 18, lives in the Markle section of Allegheny Township and is a freshman studying environmental engineering at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He was...

Is your non-profit organization going to have a fundraiser? Send information to The Stroller at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Children’s charity conducting calendar fundraiser Superheroes Believe in Miracles, a charity that serves children facing illness, disability or limitations is selling 2021...