Valley News Dispatch category, Page 547

The Highlands School District will use a hybrid approach with students learning both in school and remotely when the upcoming school year starts Aug. 27. Under the plan, approved by the school board this week, students will be divided into two groups, with one attending classes in person on Mondays...

A fundraiser for the family of a 2-year-old New Kensington boy who drowned is planned for this weekend in the city. The event includes a silent auction, Chinese auction and yard sale, said Nicole Contreras, a friend and co-worker of Dominique Kemp, mother of Cassius Alexander Saulsgiver. Saulsgiver died July...

Did your neighbor call and check on you, or bring a face mask or groceries? The Stroller wants to recognize those around us who are performing small acts of kindness for others during this stressful time. Send a short, one-paragraph note highlighting someone and how they helped you, your family...

A West Leechburg man who was the subject of a Kiski River search Tuesday night in Gilpin was taken to a hospital with an apparent unrelated medical condition, according to township police. Police Chief Chris Fabec did not identify the 39-year-old man, citing medical privacy issues. He said the man...

A New Kensington nonprofit store dedicated to helping the less fortunate is still open for business despite being burglarized earlier this week, its executive director said. Habitat for Humanity Allegheny Valley said someone broke into Habitat’s ReStore, which resells donated goods in the city’s Parnassus neighborhood, and made off with...

Allegheny County received more than 100 comments about a project to create a shared pedestrian and bicycle lane on Springhill Road in Harrison. The path would be between North Canal Street and McWilliams Drive. Springhill Road, now four lanes up and down the hill, would be reduced to three lanes,...

A new committee in Fox Chapel will examine the impacts of the word “Squaw” and its use in borough street and trail names. The issue has become hotly debated in recent months, with several residents requesting local governments to replace the word, saying it is a slur against Native American...

Follow @VNDStroller on Twitter for a daily link to The Stroller. Tarentum church to collect used mobility aides Central Presbyterian Church, Tarentum, is collecting mobility equipment to be donated to Global Links, a charity that works to redirect still-useful materials away from landfills to support public health programs in targeted...

A search of the Kiski River in Gilpin ended in less than two hours late Tuesday night as crews discovered a person in need of assistance. The person, whose name and condition weren’t immediately available, was being tended to by medics, according to an Armstrong County 911 dispatch supervisor. Crews...

As Brandon D. “B-Dog” Hawkins lived life full throttle, expect nothing less for his funeral home viewing and services. Hawkins’ family is celebrating the memory of the underwater welder and laborer who died July 20 on the job in Johnstown. Hawkins, of Bell Township, was 26. He was a 2012...

Riverview School District students will spend their first nine weeks of the new school year learning online. It’s part of the reopening plan school board members unanimously approved Monday night. Incoming Superintendent Neil English said the administration has heard from parents, staff and Allegheny County health officials the past two...

New Kensington-Arnold Superintendent John Pallone announced Tuesday that he is resigning from his post with the school district. Pallone said he is stepping down effective at midnight Friday. In a statement, Pallone said he has no “strong desire” to leave but “circumstances have made it clear that this decision is...

Allegheny County Police are investigating after a 2-year-old boy died four days after being found in a swimming pool in Harrison. The boy, Cassius Alexander Saulsgiver of New Kensington, died July 20, less than a month before his third birthday. The incident happened July 16 at a home in the...

A Greensburg-area teenager tearfully testified Tuesday how a stranger grabbed her by the throat, picked her “off the floor” and threw her to the floor at Westmoreland Mall on Dec. 27 after she replied to an offhand comment he made about her appearance. “After he made the comment to me...

The New Kensington-Arnold School District will attempt to bring all students back to school this fall, but nearly half of parents might choose remote learning. The district will require all students and staff to wear face masks or shields in schools and on buses, according to the district’s return plan....

A Fox Chapel man accused of killing another man and leaving his body near the Settlers Ridge Road home he shared with his parents has been deemed “legally incompetent” to stand trial, his attorney said Tuesday. Adam Rosenberg, 22, is charged with homicide and other offenses in connection with the...

Follow @VNDStroller on Twitter for a daily link to The Stroller. Festa Italiana planned at Mount St. Peter Church The annual Mount St. Peter Church Festa Italiana has been changed due to the covid-19 pandemic. Takeout Festa platters will be sold from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in a...

A boat blocked traffic in both directions along Stevenson Boulevard in New Kensington Monday. Firefighters said the incident took place shortly before noon near the Fourth Street intersection. Cameron Yockey of Realty ONE Group Horizon in Murrysville was in the traffic jam. He said he had left an appointment in...

Upper Burrell Supervisors are considering allowing all-terrain vehicles to use locally owned roads. The Gilpin Township Supervisors approved a measure earlier this month to designate certain township roads as “joint use” for motor vehicles and ATVs, and that appeared to inspire Upper Burrell to explore enacting a similar measure. Both...

Springdale Township will hold a free event Sunday in which people can dispose of large household items in a dumpster at the township building on Plate Drive. The special disposal event, scheduled from noon to 3 p.m., is sponsored by the Bear’s Inn on Hite Road. “It’s easier for residents...

Anthony Grillo knew as a boy that he wanted to be a police officer, and that’s what he became. “I’ve been in uniform my whole life,” said Grillo, 49, a native of Lower Burrell. “I just knew what I wanted to do in life.” Grillo is retiring from law enforcement...

A hearing for a Fawn police officer fighting for his job was cut short Monday over concerns a township supervisor participating by telephone could not hear. Complicating matters was that, because of covid-19, the hearing was held outdoors with participants wearing face masks and physically distanced. Keith Lazaron II, 35,...

Follow @VNDStroller on Twitter for a daily link to The Stroller. TryLife Center accepting donations The TryLife Center in Lower Burrell is accepting donations of gently used children’s clothing in sizes newborn through 4T, maternity clothes, highchairs, pack n’ plays, walkers and infant seats. Other items needed include diapers, wipes...

Sgt. Michael Ropelewski has some good stories about his 42-year tenure with the Harrison Township Police Department. Once, he said, a man approached him while he was having dinner with his son at a local pizza shop. The man thanked Ropelewski for arresting him a few years before. He said...