Valley News Dispatch category, Page 598

A dozen free and low-cost spay and neuter clinics will be held for feral and pet cats in Tarentum from now through June. The Homeless Cat Management Team holds the clinics at 207 Allegheny St. Pre-registration is required and walk-ins are not permitted. Free clinics for feral cats only are...

A Vandergrift man awaiting trial on charges that he killed his 5-week-old baby last year claims he broke no laws and that his case should be dismissed. Owen LaBrenn Copney, 27, was charged last March with felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with the death of...

The man identified as the victim in Wednesday’s deadly shooting in New Kensington was pistol-whipped in an Arnold home invasion last month, according to police. Anthone Williams, 31, of Arnold’s Kenneth Avenue was shot multiple times as he sat in his vehicle in a closed section of New Kensington’s East...

Allegheny Valley Hospital auxiliary sponsors vacation raffle Allegheny Valley Hospital Auxiliary is sponsoring a raffle for a seven night Hilton Head Hideaway vacation. The prize includes seven nights in a condo at Shelter Cove Harbor in Hilton Head, S.C. The winner will choose one of three available weeks to vacation....

A man was shot and killed at East Ken Manor in New Kensington on Wednesday, authorities said. The shooting was reported just before 5:30 p.m. on Dent Drive, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Police Chief Bob Deringer confirmed a man was found inside a car with multiple gunshot...

Arnold is bringing back the position of city administrator two years after it eliminated the post to have a clerk oversee day-to-day operations, and the state will pick up some of the costs for at least three years. “We need to have someone who can be more focused and given...

Potential concepts for the newly acquired parkland in Fox Chapel will be unveiled during a public meeting today. The Hardie property, a 17-acre parcel off Old Mill Road, was purchased by the borough last summer and officials tout the land as the missing link in the municipality’s 345-acre park system....

Standing 5 feet 7 inches tall, Larry Jock had such a big personality that he proved he didn’t need to be the tallest one in the room to command its attention, his former colleagues, friends and family recalled. “He was a smaller guy, bulky and short, but he was a...

A 48-year-old man already accused of raping two Alle-Kiski Valley girls faces new charges after another alleged victim has said she was assaulted as a child and as an adult. Eric A. Wright, who had been living in Allegheny Township, is accused of exposing himself to the third girl, watching...

Meetings to discuss bus routes planned Community meetings are scheduled this month to learn more about bringing bus lines to local communities in the Allegheny Valley. Meeting dates and locations include: • 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Central Presbyterian Church, 305 Allegheny St., Tarentum. • 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22, at the...

Lower Burrell is applying for a state grant to help pay for repairs to drainage pipes along and under Craigdell Road in the Kay Street area. Matt Pitsch of Senate Engineering, the city’s engineer, said the aging pipes need to be repaired before their condition worsens. The city is seeking...

Scarlett Lewis, whose son Jesse was one of 26 people killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, has rescheduled a free presentation at Burrell High School on her “Choose Love” educational program for April 1. She canceled a presentation scheduled for last month because she was ill....

Filling a vacancy on Arnold Council created another opening in the city. Council chose Adam Zweig to fill an empty council seat created when former Councilman Joseph Bia was elected mayor in November. After being chosen, Zweig resigned as chairman of the city’s Redevelopment Authority. Solicitor David Regoli said Zweig...

Three people were injured Tuesday night in a two-vehicle crash that uprooted the center guardrail on Route 380 in Washington Township and snarled traffic on a stretch of the highway for more than an hour. None of the injuries appeared life-threatening, but all three victims were flown by medical helicopters...

Two brothers helped raise roughly $1,000 for charity by camping out inside their grocery stores in Leechburg and Kittanning last week. Doug and Ryan Sprankle, owners of Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market stores in Leechburg and Kittanning, hosted “Camp Out For Community” events for 24 hours at both locations to raise money...

The head of the nonprofit Building Block of Natrona is lobbying for increased transit service that she said would provide residents of several Highlands communities with greater access to fresh food. “Along the Allegheny River it’s mostly economically disadvantaged families with no access to transportation and no access to fresh...

A Vandergrift Council meeting quickly became a shouting match Monday — complete with insults and banging fists — and left several residents frustrated with their elected officials. Council held a special meeting to redo its reorganization meeting of Jan. 6, after it came to light that five members and the...

Allegheny Township Supervisors tabled a decision Monday on the request by Verizon Wireless to install a communications tower near the Blair Farm barn on property owned by Edwin and Jill Morrison on Route 356. Residents spoke for 90 minutes in opposition to the tower. The cell tower location is permissible,...

Suspected serious injuries resulted from a Monday afternoon collision just south of the Harrison exit on northbound Route 28, state police said. Two Armstrong County people were inside a Chevrolet Camaro that veered into the right lane, hit a guardrail and then was driven back into the left lane at...

A key Tarentum intersection that had been dark since a crash in November is again illuminated at night. Borough crews Monday replaced the streetlight at Lock Street and East 10th Avenue, Borough Manager Michael Nestico said. A light that had been there was knocked out Nov. 25 when a tractor-trailer...

Memorial service planned to honor fallen Apollo police officer A memorial service in honor of Apollo Police Officer Leonard C. Miller who was killed in the line of duty will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at First Lutheran Church of Apollo, 214 N. Pennsylvania Ave. The Rev. Philip Ramstad will...

Highlands School District will use one grant to improve computer science education, while another grant-funded program is aimed at improving students’ eyesight. The district has been awarded a $35,000 Smart Grant from the state to improve its elementary and middle school computer science programs, with a focus on increasing participation...

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things they do. Anna Betti plans to start this year the same way she closed out the last one: making meals for fellow Plum residents. “I’m going to keep going up until I...

A proposed artificial turf field at Leechburg’s Veterans Memorial Stadium would reduce water runoff to neighboring streets, according to an architect and the company that makes the turf. Drainage from the field was a concern of at least one Veterans Avenue resident, who said runoff from the current grass field...