Valley News Dispatch category, Page 515

Is your church or organization going to host a community holiday event? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Volunteers needed to prepare income tax returns Allegheny Valley Association of Churches and United Way of Southwest Pennsylvania are looking for...

Plum High School will be closed and students will learn online until the start of December after three more students tested positive for covid-19. All sports and activities at the school are also canceled through Tuesday, Dec. 1, according to a letter to district families Wednesday. The district spoke with...

Lacie and Eric Hooks became emotional when their foster son’s first-grade teacher at Bon Air Elementary mentioned something peculiar about Jayden. “His teacher told us he wouldn’t write his last name,” Eric Hooks said. “He was writing our last name.” The shy little boy with the contagious smile can now...

Leechburg Area School District will reinstate fully remote learning over the next two weeks in response to rising covid-19 cases, Superintendent Tiffany Nix said Wednesday in an email to district parents. Students have been attending school in person every day except Wednesdays, when they attend virtually. Leechburg Area students live...

Students at Westmoreland County Community College who plan to complete a four-year degree after finishing work on an associate degree can tap a new dual admissions program with Indiana University of Pennsylvania. An agreement the two institutions inked Wednesday outlines terms of the new program, designed to streamline the transfer...

New Kensington-Arnold School Board awarded contracts totaling just over $1.9 million to replace roofs at three of the district’s four schools. The board voted 7-0 on Tuesday to accept a $1.4 million bid from David M. Maines Associates for the work at H.D. Berkey and Martin elementary schools and at...

An Allegheny County judge on Wednesday denied two petitions by Republican state Senate candidate Nicole Ziccarelli to throw out provisional and faulty mail-in ballots in her challenge against Democratic incumbent Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport. But the state Commonwealth Court on Wednesday night later ordered Allegheny County’s Board of Elections to...

Highlands School District has collected about $1.1 million more in property taxes over the first four months of the fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago, despite projections that Pennsylvania districts would see such collections plummet because of the covid-19 pandemic. Highlands Business Manager Lori Byron said...

With its wooded trails and countless twinkling lights, Camp Guyasuta is welcoming guests to kick off the holiday season in the ultimate winter wonderland setting. The second annual “Christmas in Guyasuta” event will be Nov. 28 at the O’Hara campus, accessed off 23rd Street in Sharpsburg. The family event is...

Is your church or organization going to host a community holiday event? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. St. Margaret Foundation to present gift bags to holiday patients St. Margaret Foundation is raising money to deliver gift bags to...

Orange organza bags with turkey-shaped candle holders will be delivered to each patient at UPMC St. Margaret on Thanksgiving, in an effort to comfort people spending the holiday away from family. The effort is spearheaded by St. Margaret Foundation, with President Mary Lee Gannon saying “We want our patients to...

A Leechburg Area School District student in grades 7-12 has tested positive for covid-19, Leechburg Superintendent Tiffany Nix said Monday in an email to district parents. It is the district’s first positive case. The district did not identify the infected or say what grade he or she is in. “Leechburg...

Burrell School District will move to fully virtual learning for two weeks after Thanksgiving, and again for two weeks after Christmas, the school board decided Tuesday. The move comes as coronavirus cases in the community continue to climb, including four cases within the district in the last two weeks. The...

Schools across the region are shutting their doors, but Kiski Area School District is increasing face-to-face instruction time. The district began offering a hybrid option this week that allows for four days of in-person instruction with one day of remote learning. This option is available in addition to the district’s...

An Allegheny County judge said that he’ll make a decision on Wednesday whether to count undated mail-in ballots that could impact the race for the 45th state Senate District race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Jim Brewster and Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli. Ziccarelli filed a petition against the county Election Board...

Freeport Area School District has moved middle and high school students to online-only learning this week after a spike in covid-19 cases, both in the district and Armstrong County. Freeport Area said it has 116 students in quarantine, including 103 from the middle school and high school, according to information...

Is your church or organization going to host a community holiday event? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Christmas shop open at Freeport Area Library Freeport Area Library is hosting a Christmas shop during regular operating hours at the...

Plum School District officials are asking students who participated in a non-district homecoming dance to stay home from school Tuesday after it was learned one of the students at the dance tested positive for coronavirus. A high school student with the virus attended a Class of 2021 Senior Parent Committee’s...

Fox Chapel council voted to eliminate the word Squaw from two borough roads and a trail, bringing an end to a divisive months-long debate and following a national trend to remove the slur from place names. Council voted 6-0, with member Jay Troutman abstaining, to change the name of Squaw...

Penn State University will close all of its schools to in-person instruction after Friday, and students at its Upper Burrell campus are rolling with those changes. Penn State has been offering in-person and virtual classes since the beginning of the fall semester. However, the rising number of coronavirus cases caused...

An Arnold man is accused of assaulting an unborn child this month. Arnold police said in a criminal complaint that Aaron Michael McFadden, 28, knew a woman was five months’ pregnant with his child when he punched her three times in the stomach Nov. 3. Police said McFadden went to...

An Arnold man claims his 20-year prison sentence for the sale of drugs connected to the 2014 fatal overdose of a Lower Burrell woman is excessive. In an appeal filed Monday, the lawyer for Demetrius Houser claims prosecutors agreed to more disproportionate and lenient sentences against two co-defendants who served...

Is your church or organization going to host a community holiday event? Send information to The Stroller as soon as possible to vndnews@tribweb.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Toys for Tots sign-ups scheduled Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots served by the Allegheny Valley Detachment will have sign-ups from...