Valley News Dispatch category, Page 602

Chamber ensemble to perform in Tarentum Central Presbyterian Church, Tarentum, will present a concert, “Russian Holiday,” at 4 p.m. Sunday at the church, 305 Allegheny St. The Academy Chamber Ensemble will perform works by Tchaikovsky and Hayden, as well as holiday favorites. For details, call 724-224-9220. HOPE Center seeks donations...

River Forest Country Club’s first Holiday Festival of Trees begins Friday, part of the Freeport area’s Small Town Christmas celebration. The festival kicks off at 6 p.m. with a tree-lighting at the Allegheny Township golf club. Businesses, golf leagues, families and others sponsored 20 small firs at the club, earning...

A program that provides fresh produce to people in need will be one of the first community services operating out of the former Rite Aid building in Tarentum. “Produce to People,” a program of the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches, will distribute food from the building at 411 Corbet St....

A Harrison man on Thursday was charged with homicide in connection with the beating death of a New Kensington man last month. Harrison police said Lamont Wilford, 48, got into a fight with Eric D. Henderson, 50, and continued to assault him after Henderson had fallen to the ground. Police...

Miscalculated sewage project costs and a perceived lack of service have spurred Freeport Council to shop for a new engineering firm. Councilman Clinton Warnick said at a council meeting last week that he wants to hire Latrobe-based Gibson-Thomas Engineering to replace KLH Engineers for Phase II of its sewage treatment...

Free rides for seniors and a medical shuttle to UPMC facilities in the Alle-Kiski Valley area are among the services being funded with nearly $625,000 in grants from the St. Margaret Foundation. Of that amount, nearly $260,000 is going to shuttle services. “The stress of hearing bad news regarding your...

Pearl Harbor service planned Saturday Brackenridge American Legion will host a Pearl Harbor remembrance service at noon Saturday at the post, 845 E. First Ave. The public is welcome. New Kensington to celebrate the season on Saturday Several holiday activities are planned Saturday in New Kensington: • Santa will be...

All of this amazing art is in one place. It’s the East Suburban Artists League’s annual holiday season art show running through Dec. 27 in the Penn State New Kensington Art Gallery. Visitors can meet the artists from 6-8 p.m. Dec. 6. Tina Booth, art gallery coordinator, says the variety...

The witness intimidation trial of the father of the Harrison man convicted of the murder of New Kensington police officer Brian Shaw has been delayed until February to allow the defense to investigate claims of new evidence. Just before a jury was to be selected to hear his case on...

Tarentum Council is considering a $9.6 million preliminary budget for next year that maintains the current tax rate despite a nearly $1 million reduction in spending. Council reviewed the preliminary budget Tuesday and plans to vote on it Thursday. The final budget is scheduled to be adopted on Thursday, Dec....

A Plum woman who was a postal worker is accused of stealing gift cards from the mail. Dorothy Petrick, 56, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh this week on a charge of theft of mail by a postal employee, prosecutors said. Prosecutors say that last December, Petrick...

Excerpts from the Pearl Harbor edition of “Duty, Courage, Honor: Southwestern Pennsylvania Goes to War” will be shown at the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Museum in Tarentum on Saturday. Saturday — Dec. 7 — is the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 that propelled the United...

A new ATM in New Kensington is part of JPMorgan Chase’s expansion in the Pittsburgh area. The standalone machine in Riverview Plaza along Tarentum Bridge Road, next to Donut Connection, is scheduled to be operating before the end of the year, said Ashlei Bobo, vice president of regional communications for...

A popular restaurant in the Fox Chapel area is closing and will reopen as Brick & Barrel, a new wood-fired pizza and bourbon-themed casual eatery. Andora Restaurant, located in the former Cross Keys Inn at 599 Dorseyville Road, will remain open until the end of December after seven years in...

The projected cost to repair the clock tower at Highlands Elementary School in Tarentum has gone up. The school board has approved paying the masonry contractor, Marsa, about $5,150 more on top of the district’s original $60,800 contract. Marsa was hired in August to restore the masonry of the tower,...

The family of a man who has been missing since mid-November has taken to social media and law enforcement to find out if he is safe. David Ellefson, 37, was last seen Nov. 14, said his wife, Heidi Ellefson. She said he had met their children and his grandmother at...

Allegheny County Police are seeking the public’s help identifying a person of interest in the Nov. 25 robbery of the Meadows Off Track Betting parlor in Harmar. Investigators said a man claiming to have a gun forced an employee to open the cash room at the betting facility about an...

Graze Party to benefit Knead Community Cafe A Holiday Graze Party will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Dec. 14 at Knead Community Café, 1011 Barnes St., New Kensington. The menu will include cured domestic and imported meats, hard and soft cheeses, spreads, vegetables and dips, hummus, roasted and grilled...

Debbie Beale has been a member of the Highlands School Board for nearly a quarter of a century, with half of that spent as its president. But the new school board that was seated on Tuesday ousted Beale from her post as president, and any other leadership position. The board...

Lower Burrell will use several grants to pay for new playground equipment at Veterans Park, develop a city parks plan and make other improvements. Outgoing Councilman Chris Koziarski, who oversaw the city’s parks department, and City Administrator Amy Rockwell announced Monday that the city secured two state grants totaling $69,900...

An ambitious program to eliminate blight in New Kensington is one factor behind a proposal to raise real estate taxes in the city by 11%. Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve an $8.1 million preliminary budget that would increase property taxes for the general fund from 27 mills to...

A holiday musical tradition continues as the Kiski Valley Community Band prepares to present its “The Sounds of Christmas” concert fundraiser series. Four performances are scheduled, starting with a concert Saturday at Christ Lutheran Church in Murrysville. Concerts also are scheduled in Buffalo Township, Leechburg and Apollo. All shows benefit...

A company denied permission to place a billboard next to the Tarentum Bridge scored a victory Tuesday with an Allegheny County judge ruling that Tarentum’s Zoning Hearing Board must determine whether the borough’s zoning bans billboards. Common Pleas Judge Joseph James issued the single-sentence order in America First Enterprises’ appeal...

Two men suffered non-life-threatening injuries when their cars collided Monday in Springdale Township, Allegheny Valley Regional police Chief Mike Naviglia said. The crash involving a gray Ford and a white Volkswagen occurred about 5:10 p.m. in the 2800 block of Freeport Road near John & Gerry’s Fruit Market. Both men...