Valley News Dispatch category, Page 667
Emergency repair needed for Verona sink hole
Verona officials have to dig deep to make emergency repairs at an intersection. A sink hole 10-feet deep and 20-feet wide opened up at Second Avenue and Church Street. Borough engineer Matthew Pitsch said storms on July 18 caused a manhole to open and stormwater washed away a portion of...
Apollo police chief’s move to Washington Township benefits Kiski Area schools
Apollo’s loss could be the Kiski Area School District’s gain. Apollo police Chief Jarred Kier submitted his resignation this month to take a full-time patrolman’s job in Washington Township. His resignation is effective Aug. 15. Kier will become the ninth full-time officer for Washington Township. He will be paid about...
Harrison takes another step in year-long battle to tear down blighted buildings
Harrison officials took another step in what apparently will be a yearlong process to demolish blighted buildings. The commissioners Monday approved an agreement with the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority regarding a state grant to finance those demolitions. Under the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program for 2018, Harrison was awarded $500,000...
Police: Arnold man smashed window, shot into girlfriend’s house
An Arnold woman was cut by shattered glass last week after, police say, her boyfriend smashed her front window before firing a shot into her house while her three children were inside. Police charged Andrew Damar Ellis-Barnes Sr., 35, of Arnold with firing a gun into an occupied structure and...
National Night Out event planned in Springdale
Springdale residents will have a chance to get to know their police and emergency responders better during the borough’s first National Night Out event next week.Springdale police Chief George Polnar hopes the local event, held in conjunction with the national campaign, will encourage residents to not be afraid of police...
Hyde Park fire department names honorary chief, dedicates new equipmentVideo
John Zanotti Jr. started volunteering with Hyde Park’s fire department when he was 16 years old and went on to become the department’s treasurer in addition to his duties as a firefighter. Now, Zanotti, 90, can add a new title to his list of roles with the department: honorary chief....
Tarentum police seek help identifying assault suspect
Tarentum police are working to identify a man wanted in connection with an assault. The assault happened in the 300 block of East 6th Avenue, police Chief William Vakulick said Tuesday. He did not say when the assault happened. The man was seen driving a black Chevrolet Avalanche. Borough police...
Route 908 Extension work detours traffic in Fawn, Frazer
Route 908 Extension in Fawn and Frazer will be closed weekdays through August, PennDOT announced. The road will be closed between Bull Creek and Bakerstown roads from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 30. PennDOT crews are repairing a slide, replacing cross pipe and inlets, improving shoulders and...
Selling cellphones a family business for the SwackhammersVideo
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. Separating work and family matters, knowing how to communicate...
Armstrong County drug case dismissed after judge says speedy trial rule violated
An Armstrong County judge threw out drug charges against a Ford City man, saying prosecutors took too long to bring the case to trial. Matthew Cani, 44, was facing six felony and four misdemeanor drug charges after police said he sold drugs to a confidential informant in May 2018. The...
Allegheny River lock 2 to close to all boat traffic for repairs
After years of chasing money for repairs, the Army Corps of Engineers is ready to start a $6.6 million project to fix the crumbling land wall of Allegheny River lock 2 near Highland Park. Recreational boaters and commercial traffic will be out of luck as the lock chamber will be...
Brian Shaw memorial fundraiser to be bigger than last year, organizers say
After raising more than $7,100 and offering 93 gift baskets of items for the first Officer Brian Shaw Memorial fundraiser last year, the staff at Mogie’s Irish Pub in Lower Burrell is setting higher goals this year. Already, more than 100 baskets have been accumulated for the silent auction and...
Fall opening eyed for New Kensington O’Reilly Auto Parts store
The steel frame for a new O’Reilly Auto Parts store is up in New Kensington. Work is continuing on the store along Tarentum Bridge Road at Carl Avenue. The store is scheduled to open this fall, said Nathanael Coram, a project administrator at the company’s headquarters in Springfield, Mo. The...
Christmas already? Harrison residents prepare wreaths for holiday seasonVideo
It’s not quite Christmas in July, but a handful of Harrison residents are already looking ahead to that most wonderful time of the year. On Monday, under hot sun and in muggy air, members of the township’s Recreation Board and others cleaned up Christmas wreaths that will be hung on...
Former Harrison cop ‘Bucky’ Taraszewski just can’t seem to retire
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things that they do. When Floyd “Bucky” Taraszewski retired after nearly 50 years from the Harrison Township Police Department in 2016, his wife jokingly scolded him. “She told me I wasn’t just...
Oversized fun for all ages at Harmar’s Zone 28
Oversized patio games, a fire pit and more than 100 different beers are just some of the options being offered at the new beer park at Zone 28 in Harmar. The beer park is the latest in Zone 28’s entertainment evolution over the past few years. In that time they’ve...
Tri-City Historical Society hopes to learn more about area’s past
The Tri-City Historical Society may be relatively new, but its members already have high aspirations for what it will be able to offer the Alle-Kiski Valley in the future. The nonprofit group was founded this year to collect, preserve and make available materials related to the histories of Arnold, New...
Autistic musicians rock at Pittsburgh Blues and Roots FestivalVideo
There was nothing not funky about the Spectrum’s version of “Play that Funky Music White Boy” at the Syria Shrine Center in Harmar on Sunday for the Pittsburgh Blues and Roots Festival. But there was an aura — something almost supernatural and powerful — that wowed the crowd. Maybe it...
Annual Pittsburgh Blues and Roots Festival heating up the summer
The Pittsburgh Blues and Roots Festival, scheduled for July 27-28 at the Syria Shrine Center in Cheswick, delivers again with a lineup of blistering blues talent. Those on the bill include national marquee acts Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, “Across the Universe” fame and Joplin-esque vocalist Dana Fuchs, Joe Grushecky...
Plans for 162-acre development off Route 28 a ‘go,’ developer says
Plans to develop 162 acres near the Tarentum interchange along Route 28 are moving forward, according to a consultant on the project. Nothing has been built on the Harrison site known as Jobe’s Hole since trees were cleared from it more than two years ago to protect an endangered species...
South Buffalo police actively patrolling 30 square-milesVideo
South Buffalo is regularly patrolled by police officers who know the township’s 30 square miles and the neighboring community of Cadogan Township. That comes as a surprise to some residents, said police Chief Jeffrey Kuntz. Maybe that’s because, the chief says, the most dangerous thing in the quiet community might...
At Vandergrift’s Artfest, thousands showed they could be an artist for the dayVideo
Several thousand visitors attended Vandergrift’s Artsfest on Saturday, where anyone was an artist, with children freestyle painting and adults throwing some clay on a potter’s wheel. Sponsored by the Vandergrift Improvement Program (VIP), Artsfest featured 37 artists, crafters and vendors selling paintings, jewelry, prints, leather work, home decor items, photography...
Recent flooding forces Plum’s Monday Market to change location
The location of this week’s Monday Market has been changed to the Plum Municipal Building parking lot, 4575 New Texas Road. The change comes as the result of flooding at Plum Creek Park and activity scheduled at its fields. The market will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m....
Brackenridge woman, 28, dies in Washington Township crash
A 28-year-old woman was killed Saturday morning in a two-vehicle accident in Washington Township. Washington Township police identified the fatality victim as Haley D. Montgomery, of Brackenridge. Montgomery was driving northbound on Route 66 and attempted to turn left onto Greensburg Road (Route 366) at about 7:40 a.m. Saturday. She...
Police: Drums, guns, alcohol played role in Washington Township arrest
A Washington Township man is accused of threatening to shoot police officers who responded to a noise complaint at his home and then resisting arrest. Police say it took multiple attempts to subdue Robin Mitchell Saula, 61, with a Taser. Police said they received calls after 11 p.m. Tuesday about...
