Valley News Dispatch category, Page 641

Sylvan Park Pool in Harrison seemed the perfect spot for folks looking to beat the scorching summer heat that overtook the Alle-Kiski Valley this weekend. About 200 people attended Friday’s night family swim — which normally sees an average of 75 to 150 people — due to the soaring temperatures,...

Apollo was moonstruck Saturday — in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Braving brutally hot temperatures under clear skies Saturday, hundreds gathered at Owens Grove and the surrounding grounds to eat, play, learn and reminisce about the day two American astronauts stepped onto the...

Like many American baby boomers, Randa Relich Milliron has vivid memories of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. The Belle Vernon native was in her early teens as she sat glued to a television set throughout the day and well into the night that culminated in the...

Like their neighbors in Cheswick, Springdale Township officials are happy with the early weeks of the merger of their police departments. On July 1, Cheswick and Springdale Township consolidated police services into the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department. A steering committee made up of representatives from both municipalities manages the...

Stanford Home Center in Allegheny Township ran out of air conditioners early Friday, but only momentarily, as other stores stocked up on water and beverages and braced for the rush as residents cope with uncharacteristic searing temperatures. “We’ve been selling air conditioners like crazy,” said Stewart Claypool, one of the...

A Natrona Heights woman is accusing Sheetz of enriching itself by improperly charging a sales tax on bottled water. Jennifer Montgomery filed a class-action complaint against Sheetz in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging she was illegally charged a sales tax on nonflavored mineral water that she bought from two...

Herb Gearhard of Murrysville may use a drone nowadays to get a top-down look at his annual corn maze, but in nearly all other aspects, he’s old-school. “We don’t use GPS,” he said, pulling out a large sheet of taped-together graph paper. “We start with a sheet of paper and...

The kind, hardworking approach of a Harrison man will live on through his children and family. Richard “Dick” Calligan, a pharmacist, owned and operated Calligan Pharmacy on Corbet Street in Tarentum until 2007, when it was sold to Blackburn’s Physician Pharmacy. He died Wednesday. He was 88. “What I learned...

The 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing will be celebrated Saturday in the borough of Apollo with a flurry of activities from a traditional ice cream eating contest to a virtual jet engine display from the Air Force. Most events will be held at Owens Grove along Apollo’s North...

Roaches crawling up and down the walls. Roaches on the ceiling light fixtures. Dead roaches in the hallway. These are just a few of the problems residents of Westmoreland Public Housing Authority’s Parnassus Manor in New Kensington have encountered over the past few months as roaches have infested their apartments....

The Brownshill Road Bridge in O’Hara is scheduled to reopen next week with a new look and a new name. The span, closed for five months during reconstruction, will be called the Judith B. Spray Bridge in honor of a late township employee. A dedication ceremony will be hosted at...

Allegheny Health Network has appointed two new chief nursing officers at its hospitals in Harrison and Monroeville. Marcia Cook will serve as chief nursing officer at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, while Lynn C. Kosar will assume the same role at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville. “We are thrilled to welcome...

They came festooned in tiny parachutes and swaddled in bubble wrap. So protected were the 90-some raw eggs that most were expected to remain unbroken and pristine after a 60-foot drop from a fire ladder truck. The egg drop has been a tradition for at least 25 years for the...

Bids to buy Highlands School District’s former elementary school in Fawn are due by noon July 29, according to an announcement from the district. The district is selling the Highlands Support Center, which the school board voted in May to permanently close. It had previously been a primary center and...

It’s been almost two months since newspaper delivery driver Gregory Lee Smith was shot and killed while on the job. His family and New Kensington police are still looking for answers regarding Smith’s slaying May 23. “They haven’t gotten anybody yet,” Mary Spekis of Lower Burrell, Smith’s sister, told the...

Two men face sex charges after police said they made unwanted advances to a woman at a Leechburg bar and then forced their way into her car and refused to leave until she performed sex acts on them. Leechburg police said the two men — identified in a criminal complaint...

Still in his wet clothes, Gary Lyon left his home Saturday afternoon after rescuing three people and a dog on the Kiski River for another rescue involving three more people, this time on an inflatable tube shaped like a unicorn. Three adults boarded the 12-foot unicorn in Vandergrift, planning to...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Kiski Area East Primary School in the Kiski Area School District a $26,700 grant to provide students with fresh fruits and vegetables for the 2019-20 school year. The program provides students with a fresh fruit or vegetable snack during the school day to increase...

Bill Seles had a love for his community and pride in his heritage that radiated in all he did. Seles, who grew up in Pittsburgh and most recently lived in Tarentum, spent his life promoting polka, the traditional music of his Slovenian ancestors, and fundraising for various causes to help...

A Lower Burrell man was charged with drug offenses after police said they found cocaine, crack and marijuana in his apartment. Police said they arrested Terrell Leonard, 27, of Craigdell Road on Sunday night following an investigation into complaints of suspected drug trafficking by Leonard. Police executed a search warrant...

A portion of Jacoby Road in Harmar will close Wednesday and remain closed for about three months, Allegheny County announced Tuesday. The road will be closed between Rosedale Road and Ecker Lane. The closure is part of a $1.1 million bridge replacement project that also includes improvements to the pavement,...

A power outage affected West Tarentum residents and businesses on Tuesday. The power went out around 8 a.m., according to Councilwoman Lou Ann Homa. The borough expected electrical service to be restored by noon, she said. The borough said on its Facebook page that West Penn Power was doing line...