Valley News Dispatch category, Page 668
Police: Oakmont driver says he did shots of Fireball after striking flagger
An Oakmont man told police that he was so distraught after striking a flagger with his car in a construction zone in Highland Park that he downed two shots of Fireball to calm his nerves, authorities said. Pittsburgh police charged Brett Liberto, 29, with aggravated assault while driving drunk, drunken...
Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department to begin operating Monday
The final budget and list of officers has been approved as the final steps for the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department to begin operating Monday. The Allegheny Valley Regional Police Commission unanimously approved the measures in a special meeting Thursday afternoon. Springdale Township and Cheswick held special meetings to approve...
Intense storms bring down trees, damage cars
Severe thunderstorms rolled through the Vandergrift area Thursday evening, knocking down trees and power lines and causing localized flooding. Vandergrift police said weather-related calls flooded the department between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Police said firefighters and public works crews were out most of the evening removing fallen trees and...
Group moves ahead with effort to reopen Leechburg public library
The Leechburg Community Library, when it was open, was a rare bird. The library, housed inside Leechburg High School for 93 years, was one of only 86 public libraries located inside a school from among the 9,234 public libraries nationwide. And, there are fewer than 500 public libraries in Pennsylvania,...
Kittanning Sheetz sells $3M scratch-off lottery ticket
A scratch-off lottery ticket worth $3 million was sold at a Kittanning gas station. The winning $3,000,000 Diamond Dazzler ticket was sold at the Sheetz at 100 Walnut St. The gas station will receive $10,000 for selling the winning ticket. $3,000,000 Diamond Dazzler is a $30 game that offers five...
Lardintown Road bridge work starts Monday in Fawn
Replacement of a bridge in Fawn will begin Monday, weather permitting, according to PennDOT. The bridge on Lardintown Road is over Bull Creek. The almost $1.4 million project will be done between Bulls Creek and Millerstown roads. The bridge will be closed through late November. Traffic will be detoured by...
Westmoreland County judge OKs new voting districts in Upper Burrell
A Westmoreland County judge has approved a new voting redistricting plan for Upper Burrell that more evenly divides the number of voters in the township’s two precincts. Judge Harry F. Smail Jr. on Tuesday approved the new voter precinct plan that had been submitted by residents as well as township...
Fire claims garage, truck, camper in Kiski TownshipVideo
A fire in Kiski Township destroyed a garage, a classic pickup truck and a camper Wednesday afternoon, but no injuries were reported. “It was minutes from the house catching fire,” Kiski Township fire Chief Rich Frain said. Firefighters were able to save two nearby homes, although both had the vinyl...
Allegheny Health Network to start building Harmar hospital next month
The construction of Allegheny Health Network’s neighborhood hospital in Harmar is moving forward after being delayed for more than six months. AHN spokesman Daniel Laurent said construction is expected to start in July but couldn’t immediately provide a specific date. “We can’t wait to get started,” Laurent said. AHN officials...
Greensburg Road restrictions expected until November
The nearly $1 million bridge replacement project along Greensburg Road in Lower Burrell got underway late last week, and will keep a section of the busy road to one lane near Miller’s Lane until Nov. 5. A temporary traffic light is controlling the single lane traffic. Millers Lane will be...
PennDOT reopens one lane of Lovers Leap Road in Gilpin
Since a landslide closed Lover’s Leap Road in Gilpin last week, PennDOT has re-opened one lane, the agency announced Wednesday. The road had been closed in both directions from Mule Hollow Road to Pitt Street. Currently Lover’s Leap is one-lane with a stop sign in both directions. The open lane...
Meetings planned to ensure July 1 start of Allegheny Valley Regional Police
Officials from Cheswick and Springdale Township are expected to vote Thursday on the final items needed for the new Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department to begin operating on Monday. Michael Girardi, vice president of the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Commission overseeing the department, said they will meet at 4:30 p.m....
Fawn church to host event thanking first responders for their actions, sacrifice
Parishioners at Harvest Baptist Church in Fawn see first responders as real life heroes who put their lives on the line for the safety of their communities every day. For the past four years, the church has held an annual event to thank them for their service. This year will...
Highlands School District board OKs 1% tax hike for the coming school year
Property taxes in the Highland School District will climb by 1% for next school year, which is about $25 per $100,000 in assessed property value, district officials said . The tax hike is less than the 3.3% increase in a preliminary budget that school board members approved last month. “I’m...
Weather an expensive wash-out along popular Butler-Freeport, Roaring Run trails
It’s a washout for two nonprofit trail organizations scrambling to cover about $60,000 in repairs to the Roaring Run Trail in Kiski Township and the Butler-Freeport Community Trail. Relentless storms over the past month caused washouts so bad a koi fish was transported from someone’s pond last month onto the...
Leechburg man pleads guilty to forcing boy to watch sex act
A Leechburg man pleaded guilty Tuesday to one felony offense for forcing a teen-aged boy to watch him and an adult woman have sex two years ago. Mark Leone, 50, formerly of Allegheny Township, was sentenced by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to serve up to 23 months...
Surveillance system helps police nab shoplifters at Pittsburgh Mills complex
A state-of-the-art surveillance system at the Pittsburgh Mills mall complex in Frazer is helping police crack down on an increase in shoplifters caused by the opioid epidemic, police Chief Terry Kuhns said. “People who are addicted to opioids are coming up here and stealing items to support their drug habit,”...
Weather smiles on Springdale’s Fireman’s Jubilee after soggy opening
Inclement weather chased people away from the opening night of the annual Fireman’s Jubilee in Springdale, but organizers got a better forecast and extended the family food special to bring people back in droves Tuesday. The 90-year-old Fireman’s Jubilee is the major fundraiser for the Springdale Volunteer Fire Department. The...
Leechburg man accused of shooting woman in face to be released from jail while awaiting trial
A Leechburg man accused of shooting a woman in the face before shooting himself will be released from jail while he awaits trial. Roy Edward Berry Jr., 49, was granted a $10,000 non-monetary bond Tuesday after he waived his preliminary hearing. Berry had been in the Westmoreland County Prison since...
Route 910 reopens after nearly 6 hours closed
Route 910 between Harmar and Indiana Township has reopened after being shut down for nearly six hours Tuesday morning. Motorists who travel nearby Freeport Road tangled with heavy delays from the detoured traffic. The portion of Route 910 was closed after a tractor trailer split and the bottom of the...
2 Harmar juvenile bald eagles test their wings around Route 28
The tree line and rock face along Route 28 in Harmar have become eagle central as two juvenile eagles fresh out of the nest above the busy highway flit about with their parents. The birds officially graduated, flying for the first time on Saturday, according to the Audubon Society of...
Gilpin schedules ATV ordinance for vote
Gilpin Supervisors are advertising a proposed ordinance that would make it legal to drive all-terrain vehicles on township-maintained roads, but not on state roads such as Route 66. If the legislation passes, the township roads would be designated multi-use roads. ATV operators would be required to obtain a permit from...
New Kensington health board eyes 7 more buildings for demolition
The New Kensington Board of Health will meet next week to consider several dilapidated properties for demolition. The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the start of the regular council meeting in the council chambers, 301 11th St. Dennis Scarpiniti, city clerk, said the following properties will...
Allegheny Valley firefighters consider selling former Harmar substation
The Allegheny Valley Volunteer Fire Department is considering selling a former substation along Freeport Road to Harmar. Harmar officials made an offer to buy the building in late January because they want to use it as headquarters for the township’s public works department. Chuck Miller, president of the fire department,...
Holy Martyrs in Tarentum continues tradition of sawdust carpets
Parishioners from Holy Martyrs Church in Tarentum and other area churches have been creating elaborate carpets made of dyed sawdust to celebrate the Christian holy day of Corpus Christi (the body of Christ) for 76 years. This year, the weather cooperated and dozens of volunteers gathered on Sunday, June 23,...
