Valley News Dispatch category, Page 659

Construction of a rain garden is underway on the grounds of Highlands Middle School in Harrison. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy project, at the corner of Broadview Boulevard and California Avenue, is intended to help capture and control stormwater. The garden is part of a $125,000 project funded by a grant...

For the first time in roughly 60 years, the Pittsburgh Syria Shriners won’t host its annual circus. The Shriners, based in a facility in Harmar, serve Western Pennsylvania. They often are seen with their signature clowns and miniature cars in local parades. The group has to find new ideas for...

New Kensington is moving ahead with the installation of new LED streetlights downtown. City council on Monday authorized City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti and City Engineer Tony Males to enter into negotiations for the new lights. They will be negotiating with representatives from Connected Energ Group and Tudi Mechanical Systems. Scarpiniti...

Athletes in all sports at all levels are told to play hard and not give up. In 1969, the Minnesota Vikings football team had a famous rallying cry of “40 for 60” which meant 40 men playing together for 60 minutes. It got the Vikings to the Super Bowl that...

Officials overseeing a comprehensive plan involving the communities of Brackenridge, Harrison and Tarentum are taking to the streets to get feedback from residents. A number of “pop-up” feedback sessions will be done over the next month, said Harrison Commissioner Robin Bergstrom, a member of the effort’s 16-member steering committee. The...

New Kensington officials are steering the city on a course that not only will bring growth, they say, but do it in an intelligent manner. That was the message Brian Clark, a consultant working with city council and the city’s redevelopment authority, had for city residents this week. Clark gave...

The 13,000 daily motorists who use Route 366, also known as Greensburg Road, should allot more travel time when a nearly $1 million bridge replacement project begins next week and reduces the busy road to one lane near Millers Lane in Lower Burrell. Single-lane traffic will be regulated by a...

Bridge work will again restrict traffic on Logans Ferry Road in Plum, near New Kensington. In 2017, the two-lane road was closed and traffic detoured for almost three months while a bridge over a defunct railroad was removed and filled in near Entrance Drive. This year, traffic in the same...

A private meeting between officials from local municipalities, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the oil and gas industry was made public after a protest. Members of Citizens 4 Plum and Protect PT (Penn-Trafford) rallied for a short time outside the Plum municipal building along New Texas Road Tuesday...

Students who graduate with an associate’s degree in nursing from the Community College of Allegheny County will have a new online option to pursue a bachelor of science degree in the future. CCAC officials and administrators from Ohio University are scheduled to sign an articulation agreement Thursday that would formalize...

Brackenridge will try to pave three streets this summer with one being done in-house by borough workers. Paving projects for Sixth Avenue and Ohio Street will be advertised for bids using the borough’s liquid fuels money, according to a decision by council Thursday. Councilman John Stanzione, a member of the...

Allegheny Township is ready to start improving and updating its municipal and public works buildings. A $2.4 million bond issue will be obtained, but the township can get the project started with up to $60,000 from its general fund. The money will be returned to the general fund once the...

Motorists ran into a rush-hour nightmare on Tarentum Bridge, Leechburg and Freeport roads Tuesday afternoon after a tractor-trailer knocked down power lines and a utility pole at the busy intersection of the roads in New Kensington. Police and emergency responders were redirecting traffic as far away as the Tarentum side...

Outgoing Arnold Mayor Karen Peconi has been fined $10,000 by the State Ethics Commission for violations of ethics laws during her time as a city official. The Ethics Commission ruled that Peconi violated state ethics laws when she intervened in her son’s application to the city’s police department and failed...

Those needing medical care that doesn’t require a trip to a hospital emergency room will have a new option come July 1 in New Kensington. Allegheny Health Network will open an Express Care clinic at the United Physicians practice at 305 7th St., just across the street from the main...

The good news: Someone who played the Pennsylvania Lottery Cash 5 at a New Kensington gas station matched all five balls drawn Monday. The bad news: Someone else did too. Two winners will split a $1.4 million jackpot after two tickets matched all five balls — 3-10-18-34-39. Each winner will...

Two crashes Tuesday along Route 28 slowed traffic in and out of Pittsburgh during the morning commute. Three vehicles crashed on Route 28 northbound in the area of the Highland Park Bridge about 8:45 a.m., according to officials. That crash caused some traffic delays. No one was injured, and the...

Fans of flea markets have yet another reason to get up early in Tarentum. A new community yard sale is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 22 in Riverview Memorial Park. The first-time event is being sponsored by the borough’s Special Events Committee, according to council President Erika...

It’s been said before, but something continues to be mighty attractive about the Tarentum Bridge to the peregrine falcon. The current pair is raising three young falcons in a special nest box under the bridge deck. This is the fourth time that the once endangered raptor has successfully raised young...

Jury selection in the capital murder trial of Rahmael Sal Holt will begin in Westmoreland County, but could be moved to another county if finding impartial jurors proves to be too difficult, a judge ruled Monday. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway rejected a defense request to move...

A large section of relatively new sewer line in Vandergrift sank, leaving the borough to pay for an unexpected and costly repair. Borough Engineer Lucien Bove told council last week the sewer line along Whittier Street in the Heights section of the borough apparently sank. Borough Manager Steve DelleDonne said...

Hundreds of people have weighed in so far with ideas for a shared plan to improve neighboring Brackenridge, Tarentum and Harrison, according to municipal officials. The three communities in February began an anticipated $90,000 project to develop a joint comprehensive plan that spells out long-term goals and strategies for improving...