Valley News Dispatch category, Page 663
Buffalo Township Christian school closes, citing declining enrollment
Evangel Heights Christian Academy in Buffalo Township has closed its doors for good. Daniel Corfield, pastor and CEO of Evangel Heights, cited a consistently declining enrollment and low finances as primary reasons for closing the Christian school attached to Evangel Heights Church at 120 Beale Road. The school opened in...
Tarentum fires public works laborer facing strangulation charge
Tarentum Council fired a public works laborer who is accused of attacking and threatening to kill a 17-year-old summer worker. At a special meeting Tuesday, council voted 6-1 to fire Timothy Dzugan effective immediately. Councilman Tim Cornuet cast the only vote against firing Dzugan. He declined to comment on his...
Highlands gets no offers for Fawn school property
Highlands School District didn’t get any offers to buy the district’s former elementary school in Fawn. School board President Debbie Beale said the district will try again to find a buyer for the 15-acre property at 5591 Ridge Road. In the meantime, the building could be used for storage, Beale...
Springdale officials say tap water should clear soon
Springdale officials say residents who have been experiencing discolored water during the borough’s water improvement project can expect things to clear up after new filters are installed this week. “We are in the process of installing new filters,” said Springdale Councilman David Spirk, chairman of the water committee. “The filters...
Defense to file new evidence in New Kensington cop-killing case
Defense attorneys for the man awaiting trial for the 2017 shooting death of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw will have four weeks to disclose potential evidence that could be used to convince jurors to save his life, a judge said Tuesday. During a pretrial conference, lawyers for Rahmael Sal...
Police seek pickup driver in Belvedere Hotel fire investigation
State police want to find the driver of a pickup seen in the area of the Belvedere Hotel in Oklahoma Borough before it was destroyed by fire July 23. State police said on Twitter that a Dodge Ram made between 1999 and 2002 was seen in the area shortly before...
Court upholds New Kensington woman’s prison sentence for aiding accused cop killer
A state appellate court upheld the prison sentence for a New Kensington woman who helped a man accused of fatally shooting city police Officer Brian Shaw in 2017. Lakita Caine, 41, pleaded guilty in May 2018 to hindering the apprehension of Rahmael Sol Holt, who is accused of shooting and...
Netflix series ‘Manhunt’ closes Kittanning Citizens Bridge for filming
The Kittanning Citizens Bridge and parts of South Water Street are closed thorough about 8 p.m. so TV production crews can get less than five minutes of video on the bridge. Traffic is being rerouted to the Graff Bridge, PennDOT said Tuesday. Kittanning police Chief Bruce Matthews said the Netflix...
Disaster loans still available for Allegheny County flood victims
The U.S. Small Business Administration has helped dozens of Allegheny County residents seeking flood relief, and applications still are available. The SBA declared the county a disaster area after communities were hit with flooding on July 21 and 22. Rainstorms were reported to have dumped an average of 3 inches...
Grooming a new skill for vet tech at Vandergrift’s Tiny’s Fur Family ShopVideo
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact reporter Madasyn Czebiniak at mczebiniak@tribweb.com. Amber Phillips has seen the good and bad side...
Huntley & Huntley meeting set for Tuesday on Allegheny Township Marcellus well
Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration will hold a public meeting Tuesday to discuss the upcoming construction of the Porter well pad, an unconventional gas well located on private property along Willowbrook Road. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Markle Volunteer Fire Department social hall, 470 Joyce...
2 sent to hospitals after Route 28 crash near Tarentum exitVideo
Two women were taken to a hospital Monday afternoon after the car in which they were riding veered off Route 28. Witnesses told police the car flipped several times in the area of mile marker 19, just past the Tarentum exit, according to state police. The driver and her passenger...
Housing development proposed in Buffalo Township
A Butler home developer is proposing single-story, multifamily homes on a 25-acre parcel on South Pike Road between the GetGo store and Route 28 interchange in Buffalo Township. Weaver Homes, the developer, will go before township supervisors at 7 p.m. Wednesday for a conditional use hearing for the property. The...
Arnold homicide suspect to stand trial
A Braddock man accused of killing an Armstrong County man during a June robbery in Arnold waived his right to a preliminary hearing in district court on Monday. The criminal case against Allen Duwayne Herring, 32, now proceeds to Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court. Police said Herring killed Gregory Ray...
Winning $800K ticket sold at Exxon in Lower Burrell
A Pennsylvania Lottery Cash 5 ticket worth $800,000 was sold Friday in Lower Burrell. The winning ticket matched all five balls drawn, 08-35-36-42-43, according to Lottery officials. PNP Exxon, 2700 Leechburg Road, will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. “It’s super exciting,” said store owner Mike Dhakkar....
Mercurio’s offers a little taste of Italy by the slice or in a coneVideo
Authentic Neapolitan pizza and award-winning gelato has landed in O’Hara. Mercurio’s, a family owned and operated Italian eatery in Shadyside since 2012, opened a second location in June at 1335 Freeport Road. Three sibling co-owners, Anna Crucitt and Michael and Joe Mercurio, were raised around the original family gelato business...
Wanted: Buyers for vacant Leechburg propertiesVideo
Two vacant lots on Siberian Avenue in Leechburg are up for auction. Leechburg Council is accepting sealed bids for the residential parcels located at 127 and 137 Siberian Ave. A blighted and unoccupied home was demolished from each lot last December. Money from the lot sales will be put to...
Festival to showcase rejuvenated Alcoa property in New Kensington
A one-day festival featuring art, music and food is growing into a three-day affair for its second go ’round. The first Arts, Beats and Treats was held on one day last year at AK Valley Park, the former Alcoa research center on Freeport Road in New Kensington. This year, the...
Brackenridge Improvement Group does big things year ’round, but Sunday was just for funVideo
Throughout the year, the Brackenridge Improvement Group puts a lot of energy into projects that make the community a better place to live. And while the nonprofit community development organization is all about riverfront beautification efforts, community cleanups, placing historical markers and welcome signs around town, sometimes it’s just time...
You didn’t have to be Italian to enjoy Festa Italiana di VandergriftVideo
Italian music played through the speakers, Italian flags waved in the winds and the smell of meatballs and pizza wafted through the air Sunday in Vandergrift for the 16th annual Festa Italiana di Vandergrift. The event was in Kennedy Park, where nearly 20 vendors served food, drinks and other treats....
700 motorcycles tour Alle-Kiski Valley to remember Officer Brian ShawVideo
They rode in remembrance. The second annual Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship Ride and Event welcomed more than 700 motorcycles under a brilliant blue sky Sunday. The 41-mile charity ride kicked off at 10 a.m. at the Pittsburgh Shrine Center in Harmar, with an almost two-hour route that led bikers...
Allegheny County violence shelters team up for program to promote independent living
For survivors of domestic violence, starting their lives over can be a daunting task. Some never had the opportunity to have their own money. Others don’t know how to look for an apartment. Even more still feel fearful of their abuser. Four domestic violence centers in Allegheny County started a...
Family saved by Jet-Skier after their stalled boat took on water near Tarentum
A family on a stalled boat in the Allegheny River near the Tarentum Bridge was pulled ashore by a Jet Skier when their vessel took on water Saturday afternoon. First responders were dispatched to the marina about 2:20 p.m. One of the passengers, who declined to give a name, said...
Western Pennsylvania Firemens Association convention underway in ArnoldVideo
Arnold firefighter Willie Weber believes his late father, Walter, would have enjoyed the return of a convention he helped organize for years. “My dad and I were chairmen of Tent City,” Weber said. “Technically, I’ve not missed a convention since 1960. When he stepped down, I took over. My dad...
2 injured in Washington Township motorcycle crash
Two people were airlifted to hospitals Saturday after a motorcycle rear-ended a pickup truck in Washington Township, according to police. The pickup truck was headed south on Route 66 at 1:30 p.m. when a helmet fell off a motorcycle traveling in front of him near Crestview Drive, police said. The...
