Valley News Dispatch category, Page 620

There will be at least two new faces on Vandergrift Council when the borough celebrates its 125th anniversary next year. Five people are running for three open seats in Tuesday’s election, and only one of them, Council President Kathy Chvala, is an incumbent. Council members Vern Sciullo and James Rametta...

Marcy Burns said she felt relieved last Friday after learning that Canadian authorities had discovered her husband’s body in Lake Erie. “Closure,” said Marcy Burns of Plum, whose husband had been missing since Aug. 17. Raymond Burns, 58, had been fishing on Lake Erie when his 21-foot recreational fishing boat...

No one was injured in a two-car crash Thursday morning in Harmar that left a car’s rear end propped on the side of another car and its front end smashed against a utility pole. The crash happened at Hite and Russellton roads around 8 a.m., Harmar police Chief Jason Domaratz...

Tarentum voters will fill five seats on the seven- member borough council this year. Voters across the borough will have a choice to make for one at-large representative, between Democrat Carrie Fox and Republican Tiffany Babinsack. There’s also a choice in the 1st Ward, between incumbent Democrat Erika Josefoski and Republican...

Night of comedy to benefit Autism Speaks Monroe’s Pit Crew will host a comedy night fundraiser to benefit Autism Speaks at 8 p.m. Nov. 9 at AK Valley Park, 600 Freeport Road, building 44, New Kensington. Doors open at 7 p.m. Performers will include Gab Bonesso and David Kaye, along...

Freeport’s sewage project won’t cost $11.6 million after all. It will be $15.8 million. That’s what Freeport Council found out Monday night from Kevin M. Creagh, the new project engineer from KLH Engineers Inc. That’s an increase of 36%. According to Creagh, the $11.6 million figure was from a construction...

Fourth-graders swarmed around police officers at the lunch tables in a loud, pizza-scented cafeteria at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School on Wednesday, pointing to their badges and asking to see their handcuffs. The students have never eaten their vegetables so enthusiastically, said JoAnne Stramaski, a food service worker. Officers from...

A Wayne Township woman killed Wednesday morning in an Armstrong County crash has been identified. Lynn Kennedy, 50, died of blunt force trauma sustained in a crash along Route 1018 in Boggs Township, Armstrong County Coroner Brian Myers reported. The crash occurred shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday. Officials said she...

The bridge on Hite Road over Route 28 in Springdale Township and Harmar will be closed this weekend, PennDOT announced Wednesday. The bridge is scheduled to be closed to traffic from 8 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday. The bridge is being rehabilitated. Crews this weekend will be removing traffic...

Seven people are running for six open seats on the New Kensington-Arnold School Board. The only contested race is in the district’s Region I, where incumbent Eric Doutt, a Democrat, is facing two challengers, Republican Deborah Schreckengost and Terry Schrock, who is cross-filed on both party ballots. In Region II,...

An Allegheny County judge has scheduled oral arguments in the case of a company fighting to put up a billboard in Tarentum. Arguments are scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19, in courtroom 7 on the 7th floor of the City-County Building in Downtown Pittsburgh, the order signed by Judge...

Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell has reopened after a crash that sent one person to the hospital. The road was closed in both directions between MacBeth Drive and Schreiber Street around 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to Westmoreland County emergency dispatchers. It was reopened later that afternoon after one person was...

Harrison is seeking bids to tear down two vacant, dilapidated houses in the township. The houses, both two-stories, are located at 1525 Union Ave. and 2602 Monroe St. The township has previously planned to take down a third house, at 1204 Cambridge St. It was removed from the project after...

Five Alle-Kiski Valley communities have changed trick-or-treat plans this Halloween due to a stormy weather forecast. Lower Burrell, Avonmore, Kiski Township, Saxonburg and North Apollo have all rescheduled trick-or-treating for Saturday, Nov. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. Other Alle-Kiski Valley communities have not rescheduled trick-or-treating yet and many are...

Orders being accepted for Highlands AFS citrus fruit sale Orders are being taken for the annual Highlands High School AFS citrus fruit sale. Fruit available includes large and small boxes of California navel oranges and ruby red grapefruit, tangelos, clementines, pears, apples, pineapples and mixed boxes. To order, contact Kathy...

Few municipalities are altering their community Halloween plans despite a worsening weather forecast for Thursday evening. Several boroughs and townships have trick-or-treating scheduled for Halloween with no adjustments in place for thunder and lightning. “If it rains, it rains,” said Barb Jones, office clerk for Brackenridge. Jones said police and...

Veterans Day events are planned throughout the Valley. They include: Apollo Curran-Shaffer Funeral Home will host the 16th annual Apollo Area Veterans program at noon Nov. 11 at the funeral home, 100 Owens View Ave., Apollo. Funeral director Norman E. Connors will celebrate the lives, contributions and impact of each...

Researchers went looking for a salamander not seen on the Kiski River for more than a century. Instead, they happened upon another river resident that has been missing from the Kiski equally as long or maybe longer – the pink heelsplitter mussel. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy recently reported its summer...

A Tarentum man facing felony child endangerment charges won’t be tried until next year. William Richard Nulph, 35, is accused of leaving his toddler outside March 14 while he went into his home to feed his infant. The toddler was found floating in a backyard swimming pool. She required medical...

Leechburg Library to sponsor Star Baker contest Leechburg Public Library will sponsor a Star Baker Contest Nov. 17 as part of a spaghetti dinner fundraiser at the Marconi Club, 135 River Ave., Leechburg. Any type of baked goods may be entered – pies, cookies, cakes, scones, cupcakes, nut rolls or...

A Westmoreland County judge on Monday deferred the start of a jail sentence to be served by the son of a local district judge. Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger ruled that Stephen Yakopec III, 29, of Lower Burrell will have an additional month before he is required to report to...

Traffic restrictions have been lifted on a bridge that crosses Pucketa Creek at the border of Plum and Lower Burrell. A $1.1 million construction project on the Logans Ferry Road bridge began about five months ago. Work included replacing the span over the creek and improving guardrails, sidewalks, barriers and...