Valley News Dispatch category, Page 618
Renovating Vandergrift’s vacant J.C. Penney building takes step forward
The Vandergrift Improvement Program is beginning to make progress on renovating the town’s historic J.C. Penney building at 134 Grant Ave. after years of saving and struggle. The building has sat vacant for more than a decade. The Vandergrift Improvement Project owns the building. VIP recently invited Patton Engineering to...
The Stroller, Dec. 28, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Concordia to offer classes Concordia Institute for Lifelong Learning is offering free classes for those of retirement age. Classes will include Beavers: Behavior and Habitat, Backyard Bird Identification, Importance of Pollinators, Women Suffrage, Creative Journal Writing, Book Crafts and many more. Some classes have a nominal fee. For a catalog,...
Alle-Kiski anglers, golfers take advantage of warm late December weather
With free holiday time on their hands and relatively balmy temperatures, Alle-Kiski Valley residents have been playing golf, catching walleyes in the Allegheny River or simply going outside more. The higher temperatures — 62 degrees Thursday and around 57 degrees Friday — are unusual but not unheard off, according to...
Leechburg police camera fundraiser gets slow startVideo
A fundraiser to help buy surveillance cameras for Leechburg police is starting slow, but its planners are confident food sales will pickup. Last summer, Leechburg businesses donated about $4,000 toward a goal of installing DVR equipment at the police station and then connect it to intersection cameras when money is...
Fire knocks out Comcast service in at least East Deer, Springdale, New Kensington
The fire that quickly consumed a home in East Deer and damaged two others has also burned through Comcast lines in the area, affecting service that was not restored until after 10 p.m. “This fire burned fiber of ours. We just got access to the site 15 minutes ago,” Comcast...
Fire spreads to 3 East Deer homes after pickup crashes into gas meter
An East Deer couple and four children narrowly escaped a roaring, natural gas-fueled blaze that started Friday morning when a pickup crashed into a gas meter in front of their home. Aaron Ciccanti and fiancée Andrea Small got the children, ages 4 to 8, to safety by smashing out a...
The Stroller, Dec. 27, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Valley High School baseball team offers camp for students The 2020 Valley High School Baseball Camp for students in first through ninth grade will be Sundays in January at the high school, New Kensington. Boys and girls in first through fifth grade will meet from 9 to 11 a.m. and...
Hockey game to raise awareness for suicide prevention at Deer Lakes School District
The Deer Lakes Hockey Club wants more people to be more aware of suicide and how it can be prevented. On Sunday, the club will host its inaugural Maura C. Rupprecht Alumni Hockey Game at the Frozen Pond Arena in Middlesex Township. All proceeds will be used to fund additional...
Winfield man accused of threatening magistrate, judge, Buffalo Township supervisor
A Winfield man with a history of drunken driving is accused of threatening a Saxonburg district magistrate, a Butler County judge and a Buffalo Township supervisor in different phone messages because he was angry with the latest charges filed against him. Frederick William Buehler, 61, made six threatening phone calls...
Paws Across Pittsburgh seeks people to adopt handicapped dogs
Diane Raible of White Oak agreed last fall to temporarily foster a small dog that was paralyzed from the waist down after being struck by a car. It didn’t take long for Raible to fall in love with the 20-pound spaniel mix Dolly, who uses a wheeled cart to get...
Demolition project intended to spur sale of former victims shelter in TarentumVideo
A Tarentum domestic violence shelter hopes that tearing down one of its buildings will help it sell another. The dilapidation of a building that once housed the Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center’s offices at 415 E. Sixth Ave. has hindered the center’s efforts to sell its former shelter building next to...
Highlands asks federal court to throw out former principal’s lawsuit
Highlands School District asked a federal court Monday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former principal claiming the district and its superintendent retaliated against her for taking unpaid leave and dating a former teacher. In a 29-page filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania,...
The Stroller, Dec. 26, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Volunteer tax preparers needed Allegheny Valley Association of Churches and United Way of Allegheny County are looking for people to give their time as volunteer tax preparers. Many of our neighbors don’t have access to affordable tax help, fall victim to rapid refund loans or are not aware of state...
Hoagie fundraiser part of Leechburg police surveillance camera plans
Hoagies will play a key role in Leechburg’s police security plans. Businesses and residents have donated about $4,000 since June to the plan to add surveillance cameras at some intersections. Chief Jason Schaeffer said the borough needs an additional $3,000. So Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market and its food fundraiser is stepping...
Judge denies Yakopec’s request for transfer back to Westmoreland prison
A Westmoreland County judge Tuesday rejected a request from the son of a Lower Burrell district judge to be transferred back to the county’s jail to finish serving out a six-month sentence for drug offenses. The attorney for Stephen Yakopec III, 29, of Lower Burrell in court documents filed this...
Brackenridge man accused of taking car on Christmas Eve
Harrison police said they used surveillance camera footage, license plate readers and help from other departments to track down a Brackenridge man suspected of stealing a car on Christmas Eve. Terry Alan Montgomery, 51, is accused of taking a 2008 Hyundai Accent that was parked in the 2000 block of...
Springdale Township man gets ‘Christmas gift’: Police home in on hit-and-run suspect who wrecked his garage
Dave Houston got an unexpected knock at his door the Saturday morning before Christmas. “Did you see your garage?” his neighbor asked. Perplexed, the 55-year-old man walked outside his Springdale Township home thinking, “Maybe I left my garage door open all night.” “Well,” Houston recalled, “The garage door wasn’t even...
Deer Lakes High School students use emoji paintings to encourage frank conversationsVideo
Art students at Deer Lakes High School are hoping students and staffers will stop and see the emoji. Not the cartoon-like images on their cellphones, but ones on the walls. Emoji allow people to express emotion digitally through a variety of faces that display different expressions and picture characters. They...
Increased homestead exemption likely means lower property taxes in Harmar
The average Harmar homeowner could save about $34.50 in real estate taxes in 2020 as supervisors recently passed a $10,000 increase for the homestead tax exemption. The township supervisors last Thursday passed the township’s final 2020 budget of $2.7 million. It does not include a tax increase. The township real...
The Stroller, Dec. 25, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
A joyous and blessed Christmas to our loyal readers and their families! Enjoy a safe and happy holiday season. – Carol Pinto-Smith Hockey game to raise money for Brian Shaw Memorial Fund The Brian Shaw Memorial Hockey Game will be at 8 p.m. Friday at the Pittsburgh Ice Arena, 700...
Tarentum to solicit garbage haulers after Waste Management price increase
Tarentum will be looking for prices from other garbage haulers after Waste Management proposed increasing the rate it charges the borough, according to borough Manager Michael Nestico. “We want to see what options we have here,” he said. “Council was initially hopeful to keep Waste Management. They like the service...
At first, Indiana Township man wasn’t buying that he won ‘Official Steelers Truck’
Dave Lynch had pulled two double shifts when his phone started ringing and texting about a Ford truck while he drove on Route 28 to his Indiana Township home. “I thought it was some solicitation, and I wasn’t interested in buying anything,” said Lynch, 54, who works in law enforcement....
East Deer residents facing higher water bills after Tarentum increases bulk cost
East Deer residents will pay more for water after Tarentum increased what it charges the township for bulk water, but exactly how much more is not yet known. East Deer buys water from Tarentum, then distributes it to its customers. East Deer Commissioner Tony Taliani said the township will not...
Police seek driver who crashed into Springdale Township garage
Springdale Township police are investigating a weekend hit-and-run crash that heavily damaged a garage off Riddle Run Road. Police said an unknown motorist driving a burgundy or brown Buick Lucerne at a high speed crashed through the side of the large garage around 1 a.m. Saturday. A surveillance camera captured...
The Stroller, Dec. 24, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Special visitor set to visit the Alle-Kiski Valley tonight Hopefully the clouds will hold off in the Alle-Kiski Valley tonight. Many children – and adults – will have their eyes focused on the skies looking for a special visitor! HOPE Center seeks donations Throughout the winter months the HOPE Center...
