Valley News Dispatch category, Page 669
Man dies after crash on Route 380 in Washington Township
A man’s car hydroplaned on a stream of water crossing Route 380 moments before it hit a utility pole early Tuesday, Washington Township police said. Richard P. Harrie Jr., 30, of Monroeville died at AHN Forbes Hospital, police Chief Scott Slagle said. Officials said it took more than an hour...
Lower Burrell veteran overwhelmed by Taco Bell teen worker’s generous offer
Army veteran Chris Archer will never forget the experience he had Saturday at the Taco Bell in Harrison. As he was ordering his lunch — four tacos and a water — he asked the employee serving him if the restaurant offered a military discount. The crew member, Liam Samples, said...
Police say they’ve identified the motorcyclist wanted in Allegheny Township road rage incident
Allegheny Township police said that, with the public’s help, they identified a man allegedly involved in a road rage assault. Police said the incident took place around 5:45 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Route 56 and Hyde Park Road. A male motorcyclist allegedly followed another vehicle from the Vandergrift...
Options for trail from Oakmont to Boyce Park to be unveiled
Details of a proposed 10- to 15-mile trail from Oakmont to Boyce Park will be unveiled at a meeting Tuesday. Officials from four municipalities have been working to develop a recreational trail from the Allegheny riverfront in Verona, through Oakmont and Penn Hills along Plum Creek, to Boyce Park in...
Oaks Theater to host discovery session on bald and golden eagles
Wishful Wednesday Productions will present an evening of live music, local eagle photography and a discussion on the presence and differences between bald and golden eagles in Pennsylvania on Wednesday at the Oaks Theater, starting at 6 p.m. in Oakmont. The featured guest lecturer Chris Kubiak, education director for the...
Hyde Park man charged in wife’s 2017 deathVideo
State police filed homicide and aggravated assault charges Monday against a Hyde Park man who they say killed his wife two years ago after years of abuse. Jeffrey Mark Fondrk, 57, told investigators in January that he pushed his wife, Patricia Ann Fondrk, over a dog gate during an argument...
Store owner burned out of New Kensington relaunches in Tarentum
Tim Brown’s convenience store in Tarentum was going to be his second. It’s now his only one, after his first in downtown New Kensington was destroyed in the massive Ninth Street fire in September. He’s still planning on opening more. “I would like to start a little chain of convenience...
Both lanes of Freeport Road in East Deer reopen after yearlong bridge project
A yearlong bridge project in East Deer that caused Freeport Road to be reduced to one lane is completed. The road reopened to traffic Monday, according to a news release by Plenary Walsh Keystone Partners. The project to replace the bridge over Baileys Run began last summer. The bridge, located...
Rain garden begins to take shape by Highlands Middle School in HarrisonVideo
They wore gloves, knee pads and boots as they worked in the mud and the rain. Volunteers, numbering between 15 and 20, turned out Monday morning to help populate Harrison’s new rain garden, built on the grounds of Highlands Middle School at Broadview Boulevard and California Avenue. “Everyone here loves...
Soccer club eyes upgrades to Middle Road fields in Indiana Township
Hampered by soggy field conditions, Fox Chapel Area Youth Soccer is launching a plan to upgrade the Middle Road complex that accommodates more than 700 athletes each season. “The soaking rains over the years have made field conditions difficult to maintain,” club President Jake Williams said. The fields sit on...
Vandergrift man uses family knowledge to connect with Kiski Area youthsVideo
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things that they do. Joshua Westurn of Vandergrift is following in his father’s footsteps by helping local youths. He credits his upbringing with being able to lead the Kiski Area Youth Network the...
Springdale public works employees get annual 2% raises in new pact
Wages for Springdale Borough’s public works employees will increase by about 2% per year over five years under a new labor agreement. The wage increase is part of the five-year contract approved Tuesday by council and the five-man public works crew, members of Utility Workers Union Local 509. Public works...
Police searching for man suspected of robbing Lower Burrell pharmacy
Lower Burrell police are looking for a man they say robbed a local pharmacy store on Friday afternoon. The robbery occurred just before 3:45 p.m. at the Walgreens at 108 Greensburg Road, according to a post on the police department’s Facebook page. Police said the man was armed, but did...
Gilpin looks for ways to reduce police costs
A Gilpin committee is looking for ways to reduce police costs, with options including sharing services or hiring a neighboring department to patrol the township. “This is very, very early. A baby step,” said Gilpin Supervisors President Charlie Stull, who is on the exploratory with township Supervisor Susan Brown. He...
At Gino’s Petit Dejeuner in Harmar, a not so little breakfast with a French infusionVideo
An international trifecta of culinary flavors unite at Gino’s Petit Dejeuner in Harmar. The cozy French-inspired bistro, located in Harmar Shopping Plaza, blends American and Turkish influences on an extensive breakfast and lunch menu. In French, “petit dejeuner” translates literally as “little lunch” but means “breakfast” — which is the...
Tarentum skateboard shop that likens itself to community center celebrates 1st yearVideo
Skateboarding is for everyone. That’s the message Dry Bones skateboard shop in Tarentum, which celebrated its one-year anniversary with a block party Saturday, is trying to convey. “There’s no gender. There’s no age limit,” said Brian Snyder, who owns the shop with his wife, Wendy Thimons. “Grab a skateboard and...
Alle-Kiski Valley folks finds ways to beat the heat, humidity
Sylvan Park Pool in Harrison seemed the perfect spot for folks looking to beat the scorching summer heat that overtook the Alle-Kiski Valley this weekend. About 200 people attended Friday’s night family swim — which normally sees an average of 75 to 150 people — due to the soaring temperatures,...
Apollo celebrates moon landing 50 years ago with town party
Apollo was moonstruck Saturday — in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing. Braving brutally hot temperatures under clear skies Saturday, hundreds gathered at Owens Grove and the surrounding grounds to eat, play, learn and reminisce about the day two American astronauts stepped onto the...
50 years after moon landing, Western Pennsylvania sets sight on return to space
Like many American baby boomers, Randa Relich Milliron has vivid memories of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. The Belle Vernon native was in her early teens as she sat glued to a television set throughout the day and well into the night that culminated in the...
Springdale Township officials satisfied with fledgling police merger
Like their neighbors in Cheswick, Springdale Township officials are happy with the early weeks of the merger of their police departments. On July 1, Cheswick and Springdale Township consolidated police services into the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department. A steering committee made up of representatives from both municipalities manages the...
Alle-Kiski Valley businesses ready for onslaught of folks trying to beat the heat
Stanford Home Center in Allegheny Township ran out of air conditioners early Friday, but only momentarily, as other stores stocked up on water and beverages and braced for the rush as residents cope with uncharacteristic searing temperatures. “We’ve been selling air conditioners like crazy,” said Stewart Claypool, one of the...
Police: Armstrong County man seeking drugs killed in Arnold robberyVideo
A Braddock man is accused of killing an Armstrong County man seeking drugs in a deadly robbery in Arnold, according to court paperwork unsealed Friday. Allen Duwayne Herring, 32, faces charges of homicide, robbery, conspiracy and illegal gun possession in connection with the June 28 slaying of Gregory Ray Wynkoop,...
Lawsuit: Sheetz charged sales tax for bottled water
A Natrona Heights woman is accusing Sheetz of enriching itself by improperly charging a sales tax on bottled water. Jennifer Montgomery filed a class-action complaint against Sheetz in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging she was illegally charged a sales tax on nonflavored mineral water that she bought from two...
Murrysville farmer gears up for annual themed corn maze
Herb Gearhard of Murrysville may use a drone nowadays to get a top-down look at his annual corn maze, but in nearly all other aspects, he’s old-school. “We don’t use GPS,” he said, pulling out a large sheet of taped-together graph paper. “We start with a sheet of paper and...
Calligan Pharmacy owner remembered for treating everyone warmly
The kind, hardworking approach of a Harrison man will live on through his children and family. Richard “Dick” Calligan, a pharmacist, owned and operated Calligan Pharmacy on Corbet Street in Tarentum until 2007, when it was sold to Blackburn’s Physician Pharmacy. He died Wednesday. He was 88. “What I learned...
