Valley News Dispatch category, Page 655
Belvedere Hotel demolition postponed, Orr Avenue remains open
The demolition of the Belvedere Hotel, aka the Tin Hut, in Oklahoma Borough, is postponed, according to PennDOT. Demolition was to begin this week with the closure of Orr Avenue at Route 66 but was called off at the last minute. Demolition was expected to last through the month of...
Gilpin police adding body cameras, computers
Gilpin police officers are updating their on-the-job technology. The department was authorized by supervisors Monday to buy four body cameras for officers. Police Chief Chris Fabec also was authorized to install computers in the two patrol vehicles. He also will buy two desktop computers for use by officers in the...
Arnold man charged with assaulting woman, leaving blood trail to apartment
An Arnold man is accused of beating a woman so severely Sunday she left a puddle of blood on a sidewalk, according to police. Arnold police said they responded to a reported domestic dispute in the 2200 block of Leishman Avenue at about 7:20 p.m. A caller told police she...
Hiring part-time officer sparks debate between Arnold mayor, council
Arnold City Council voted Tuesday to hire two police officers over an objection from Mayor Karen Peconi. Council, including Peconi, voted unanimously to hire Bruce Wigton as a full-time officer. But Peconi cast the lone dissenting vote against hiring Frederick Hockenberry as a part-timer. Both officers will earn a starting...
18 years later, the need to remember the courage, sacrifices of 9/11 still burnsVideo
They came to remember at a time when they fear too many have forgotten. An American flag was suspended 30 feet between ladder trucks from New Kensington and Arnold volunteer fire departments at the American Legion Post 868 in Lower Burrell for a Sept. 11 ceremony Wednesday observing the 18th...
Allegheny Valley School District struggles with future of Colfax Upper Elementary
Allegheny Valley School Board hopes to come to a final decision in October about the future of the now-closed Colfax Upper Elementary School. The board had planned to make a final decision to sell the building in August. Among the possibilities being considered, the board could decide to sell the...
New Kensington woman among inventors honored in Ms. Monopoly game
The first game in the 84-year-old Monopoly franchise to celebrate women trailblazers will hit store shelves soon under the name Ms. Monopoly, Hasbro announced Tuesday. “While Mr. Monopoly is a real-estate mogul, Ms. Monopoly is an advocate whose mission is to invest in female entrepreneurs,” Hasbro said of its latest...
Leechburg aims to break $100K mark with Pink Day this year
Leechburg continues to think pink for breast cancer awareness with a celebration and fundraiser on Sept. 21. Pink Day, in its eighth year, has grown substantially, said organizer Sherry Price. “We are excited about the growth. I’ve had to turn vendors away,” Price said. “Last year, we had about 3,500...
7 face charges in connection with brawls at Harmar hotel
Seven people, including a man who claimed to be a Pittsburgh police officer, are facing charges in connection with what Harmar police described as drunken fights at a Harmar hotel over the weekend. Harmar police said they were called Sunday to the Days Inn about a large fight in the...
Health department says Harrison dust is lime
The Allegheny County Health Department on Tuesday identified as lime the dust coating cars in a Harrison neighborhood and said it’s coming from a nearby company. The department began investigating after getting complaints in August from residents on Opal Court and nearby High Street in the Natrona Heights area of...
Highlands is doing away with school suspensions at 2 schools
Highlands School District is hoping to make out-of-school suspensions a thing of the past on the elementary and middle school levels. Highlands Elementary and Highlands Middle School have created what the district calls a Rams Reflective Room where students spend time with specialists to address problems that led to a...
Lane closure to affect Route 28 south traffic on Wednesday and Thursday
PennDOT will close one lane of Route 28 southbound between the 40th Street and 31st Street bridges from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday for maintenance work. Work crews will remove debris to improve drainage along the roadway, according to a PennDOT release Tuesday....
Freeport woman suffers smoke inhalation at house fire
A Freeport woman was treated for smoke inhalation after a fire late Monday night in her Washington Street home, fire officials said. There were no other injuries. The woman, her husband and child were at home but able to get out, Freeport police Chief Jeff Swiklinski said. The family names...
Second full-time officer working in Gilpin
Gilpin Supervisors on Monday hired a second fulltime police officer and two part-time officers. It may be the first time in more than a decade for the township to have two full-time officers, Supervisor Chairman Charles Stull said. Police Chief Chris Fabec said Patrolman Chad Shoupe is now a full-time...
New Kensington cleanup planned ahead of Wine & Beer Fest
Volunteers are needed to “redd up” New Kensington in advance of a wine and beer festival. The Alle Kiski Strong Chamber is holding its second annual Wine & Beer Fest on Fifth Avenue, between Eighth and 10th streets, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20. The chamber has organized...
Lower Burrell man solves mystery surrounding great uncle’s 1925 death
Jason Devlin’s family never really got over the death of his great uncle nearly a century ago. And, making matters worse, no one in the family seemed to know any details about how Hugh Devlin died at the age of 18. “A hunting accident” is all his family seemed to...
New Kensington front yard tabbed best in the nationVideo
Living in a downtown Pittsburgh high-rise gave Colorado native Kevin Prall a feel for life in the Steel City. While life 25 floors above Stanwix Street afforded him spectacular views, it put Prall, 56, a professed plant lover and professional landscaper, out of touch with the earth. “I need to...
Shredding investigation clears Fox Chapel Area School District
An independent audit of document disposal by Fox Chapel Area School District found no wrongdoing by staff or administration, an attorney said at the Sept. 9 board meeting. Thomas Breth, a Butler-based attorney, spearheaded an investigation into record shredding by the school district that was presumed to avoid disclosure of...
More than a farm: Blackberry Meadows in Fawn works with, engages communityVideo
Before Jen Montgomery and Greg Boulos bought Blackberry Meadows Farm in Fawn in 2008, customers rarely ventured up to the fields. They instead got all their produce from a barn along Ridge Road. About three years ago, the couple decided to change that by inviting people up to the farm....
Pittsburgh group to visit for moonlight hike on Roaring Run and history tour
The Pittsburgh group Venture Outdoors is planning a full moon hike on the Roaring Run Trail in Kiski Township and an Apollo history lesson on Saturday. John Linkes, a director with the both the Roaring Run Watershed Association and the Kiski Watershed Association, was pleased that a Pittsburgh group of...
Police: Vandergrift man traded $100 of crack cocaine for $15K Rolex, other jewelry
A Vandergrift man is accused of trading $100 in crack cocaine for stolen jewelry, including a $15,000 Rolex watch. A criminal complaint filed in the case against Levern Baccus, 38, said a Vandergrift couple reported the missing jewelry to borough police on Sunday. The missing items included the Rolex, two...
Vandergrift couple owe property taxes even after fire ravaged home
A former volunteer firefighter watched helplessly last year as his Vandergrift home and everything in it burned. In the six months following the Nov. 7 blaze, Rich Hooks and his wife, Catherine, had to find and furnish a new home while tearing down and removing the one destroyed by an...
Double your elk-watching: Murrysville company sets up live webcam in Benezette
The Murrysville man who set up the Pittsburgh eagle webcam now has a live webcam with two cameras in Benezette capturing all of the excitement of the bull elk in rut. Elk in Pennsylvania were wiped out by the late 1870s. But the Pennsylvania Game Commission re-introduced elk from the...
Health department investigates complaints about white dust in Harrison
The Allegheny County Health Department is investigating complaints about a white dust in parts of Harrison. The department has received at least five complaints since the beginning of August, according to Jim Kelly, deputy director of environmental health. Opal Court residents have complained about white dust being found on cars...
Brackenridge tries more ways to go after delinquent taxes, blight
Brackenridge Council has compiled a list of properties to keep track of tax delinquents and deteriorated structures. Council decided in the spring to survey borough and Allegheny County records to catalog properties that are vacant and dilapidated in response to residents’ complaints about blight. The list will serve as a...
