Valley News Dispatch category, Page 659

A longtime aide to former state Sen. Don White will replace his former boss in Harrisburg, according to unofficial election results. Republican Joe Pittman collected nearly two-thirds of the votes cast in Tuesday’s primary to defeat Indiana University of Pennsylvania professor Susan Boser in a special election race in the...

The Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded a $25,000 Safe Schools Targeted Grant to the Apollo-Ridge School District and nearly $25,000 to the Burrell School District for security equipment. Apollo-Ridge was among 39 school districts that did not receive other competitive grants from the Department of Education last fall. Information on...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cutting service at lock and dam No. 4 in Harrison by nearly a full work shift per day because of dwindling barge traffic and federal dollars to operate the locks and dams on the Allegheny River. Beginning Friday, the lock in Harrison’s Natrona...

On Tuesday, nearly a year to the day after they secured an order overturning John Kunco’s 1991 rape conviction and ordering a new trial, lawyers from the Innocence Project were back in Westmoreland County. And Kunco, 53, who had been released from prison amid a celebration May 23, 2018, was...

With spring firmly in place and the first day of summer just a month away, life is returning to Tarentum’s Riverview Memorial Park. The spray park in the First Avenue park has reopened, and a free monthly movie series will start Thursday. The first showing for “Movies by the River”...

Allegheny Valley School Board unanimously gave the go-ahead Monday for the district to create a pre-kindergarten program that will begin next school year. The decision came after lengthy discussions about the number of students the program will serve and what students will be eligible. The district’s plan calls for two...

A Vandergrift man is accused of beating up a woman and kidnapping her baby Saturday in Arnold. Police arrested Jusu Jeovainni Kanneh Jr., 30, of Grant Street at his home after the woman accused him of assaulting her and taking her 4-month-old son from her when she arrived at her...

The special education director at Highlands School District is resigning. Debra Lehew’s resignation was among a number of personnel actions the school board approved Monday. Lehew’s resignation is effective June 30. The board approved an agreement along with accepting Lehew’s resignation; the agreement was not immediately released. Lehew could not...

People who live, work and do business in Tarentum, Brackenridge and Harrison have a chance to tell local officials how they’d like to see the communities improved over the next decade. The two boroughs and township are working together on a new comprehensive plan. Part of the more than yearlong...

Westmoreland County authorities are investigating an overnight shooting in Arnold that ended with a bullet-riddled SUV in New Kensington. The shooting occurred in the 1600 block of Woodbine Alley in Arnold, according to John W. Clark, a detective with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office. The office is investigating the...

The Highlands School District wants a court to decide whether school districts can keep private the names of employees facing disciplinary actions. The school board voted 8-0 Monday to appeal an April 30 decision by the state’s Office of Open Records in a case brought by the Tribune-Review. Board member...

Allegheny Valley School Board approved the district’s proposed $23 million preliminary budget for next school year. The spending plan includes no increase in property taxes. District officials said expenses increased by about 1%, mostly because of pension contributions. The budget will be on review for the public before final approval...

The Highlands School District would increase property taxes by the maximum allowed by the state, and spend $1.6 million from its reserves, under the district’s proposed final budget for the 2019-20 school year. Unless it is changed before the final vote in June, property taxes would go up by 3.3%,...

A race car stolen from Fawn has been found, but police still are looking for the trailer it was on. “It was recovered in West Mifflin,” Fawn police Chief Tim Mayberry said Monday. The customized Dodge Neon was reported stolen from a lot along Lumber Drive, off Bull Creek Road,...

A 16-year-old is accused of starting an April 22 fire at a Sheldon Park apartment building in Harrison that displaced four people and caused at least $500,000 in damage, according to investigators. Authorities did not identify the suspected fire-starter on Monday, but said the teen lives in Harrison and is...

During the festivities this Saturday honoring the late Sgt. Jason M. McClary at the Allegheny Township War Memorial, Kiski Area students will be signing up area veterans and the families of late veterans for inclusion on the Kiski Area Veterans Website. Kiski Area School District students have amassed the histories...

Kevin F. Remaley lived for his daughter Saydi. A longtime employee of Arnold Furniture in Arnold, the Lower Burrell man raised her on his own and even started a disc jockey business for her, his mom said. “Everything he did, he did for her,” his mother, Tammy Remaley Tallerico, said....

What to do with the now-empty Colfax Elementary School is on the minds of the seven candidates vying for five seats on the Allegheny Valley School Board. Candidates include three incumbents — James Gaschler, Steve Puskar and Glenna Renaldi — and four challengers. Challengers Salvatore Conte and Kathleen “Jeanne” Haas...

The PA Hero Walk will hold a memorial ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday for Army Sgt. Jason McClary at 21 Towne Center Drive in Allegheny Township. McClary, 24, a native of the Export area, died in late 2018 at an Army base in Germany from injuries he suffered five days...

Washington Township supervisors expanded the powers of the Municipal Authority of Washington Township to handle stormwater projects. While the authority has jurisdiction over sewage issues, supervisors voted unanimously last week to allow the authority to also deal with stormwater projects. The township is making the change as part of an...

A change in the makeup of the New Kensington-Arnold School Board is inevitable next year, as three incumbents are not seeking another term. There’s also a movement afoot where five newcomers are running together on a Change4NKASD ticket that’s promising an overhaul in the way the school board operates. Change4NKASD...