Valley News Dispatch category, Page 670
Allegheny River advisory continues, locks to remain closed
A recreational boating advisory will remain in effect for the Pittsburgh Point because of swift water until 8 p.m. Friday, while lock No. 5 in Gilpin on the Allegheny River will remain closed until at least Saturday because of high water. Also because of high and swift water, the Allegheny...
Frazer police hire 5 new officers
Frazer hired four recent police academy graduates and a soon-to-be graduate to replace five part-timers who resigned to take jobs elsewhere over the past several months. With the new hires, Frazer now has 10 part-time officers. Chief Terry Kuhns and Sgt. Aaron Scott are the only full-timers. Police departments across...
West Deer native heeds calling to priesthood
Brendan Dawson first thought about becoming a priest as an altar boy in third grade. The idea would come up from time to time over his life, but he thought his future lay along another path. “I decided I was going to go to Pitt and study political science and...
Lower Burrell man moving closer to priesthood after spending year at Murrysville parish
Mark Dunmire didn’t always want to be a priest, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about it. Now that he’s about to be ordained a deacon, he’s well past the point of accepting a calling that began years ago with a suggestion from his parish priest. Dunmire, 35, of...
Ed Saliba Sr. remembered as icon of New Kensington firefighting
“Chief 56” has acknowledged his last call. An icon of New Kensington firefighting, J. Edward Saliba Sr. died Wednesday afternoon. “He was 89 and a half,” said his son Edward Saliba Jr., who followed his father’s footsteps and now is the city’s fire chief. “It’s a sad day for New...
Burrell School District extends contract with Lower Burrell police
Burrell School District students will continue to have a familiar face as their school resource officer for at least another three years. School board members agreed Tuesday to keep Lower Burrell Detective John Marhefka as the resource officer, extending the district’s contract with Lower Burrell through June 30, 2022. The...
Springdale summer camp teaches fun, community service
Nearly 140 Alle-Kiski Valley kids are learning how to have fun while also giving back to their community this week at the annual Fun and Freedom summer camp in Springdale. The camp is run by the faith-based nonprofit Fun and Freedom, which holds several events for area children throughout the...
Marine Corps League holding annual state meeting in Westmoreland CountyVideo
More than 200 members of the Marine Corps League are expected to gather for the group’s 74th annual state convention this week in Westmoreland County. Opening ceremonies will be Friday morning after two days of organizational meetings at Hempfield’s Ramada Hotel & Conference Center by Wyndham, said Fred Neilen, vice...
Police say Arnold shooting was robbery setup
Police now believe an Arnold shooting wasn’t just a drug deal gone bad; it was a robbery setup from the start. Police believe three people were involved in the plot, including a woman who initially met the victim and two men who tried to rob him, Arnold police Sgt. Joe...
Vehicle rollover shuts down Route 28 south near Tarentum
A pickup truck rolled over while trying to get onto Route 28 at Exit 14 Tuesday night, causing traffic to be rerouted. Fawn Township police responded to the incident around 10:30 p.m. Officials said the pickup truck was attempting to get on the ramp heading southbound when it rolled over....
Lower Burrell man, friends chronicle bad parking in Alle-Kiski Valley
If you’ve done a poor job of parking in the Alle-Kiski Valley, odds are good that Tom Moses or one of his followers on Facebook has photographed your handiwork. “For years, I’ve been posting pictures of bad park jobs,” Moses said. “I tend to notice it. Nobody escapes me taking...
River Road in Gilpin Township re-opened after landslides closed it
River Road reopened Wednesday after landslides had closed the road Tuesday, according to PennDOT. The road was open before 2:30 p.m., a PennDOT spokeswoman said. The road had been closed at the Leechburg and Parks Township borders, from the the intersection of Main Street in Leechburg and to Airport Road...
Alle-Kiski SWAT team on hold to comply with recent state Supreme Court ruling
Police officials say a recent state Supreme Court ruling that postponed the finalization of a multi-municipal SWAT team in the Alle-Kiski Valley by several months is probably a good thing. The court ruled May 31 that municipalities must enact ordinances under the state’s Intergovernmental Cooperation Act to allow police to...
Bond denied for man accused in Vandergrift shooting
A Leechburg man was arraigned Monday on charges that he shot a woman in the face before shooting himself in the head at a Vandergrift residence in May. Police said Roy Edward Berry Jr., 49, was in a bedroom with a woman on May 5 when he fired a shot...
Authorities ID body found near Fox Chapel Yacht Club as Kenneth Himes
DNA testing helped authorities identify a man whose body was found in the Allegheny River in late March as 70-year-old Kenneth Himes, state police said Tuesday. Himes was reported missing from his brother’s home along Cadogan-Slate Lick Road in South Buffalo at about 2 a.m. Dec. 26. Police said he...
No tax increase for Fox Chapel Area School District residents
Fox Chapel Area School District residents will pay the same property taxes in 2019-20 after the board approved its final budget on June 10. The $103 million spending plan retains a tax rate of 19.57 mills, the same as last year. The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will...
No program or staffing cuts, slight tax increase in Riverview School District budget
Oakmont and Verona property owners will pay a little more in real estate taxes next year to help keep Riverview School District programs status quo. Board members voted 5-3 Monday night to adopt their 2019-20 budget and tax ordinance. Next school year’s millage rate was set at 23.2719 mills, a...
Turn Key Clean Outs and Estate Sales owners are modern-day treasure huntersVideo
Jeff Harshman was digging through the garbage one day at a Mt. Washington home when he came across a pair of ticket stubs and a program for a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Harshman was liquidating someone’s estate in the Pittsburgh neighborhood and checked the...
Allegheny Valley passes 2019-20 budget with no tax increase
The Allegheny Valley School Board on Monday approved the district’s $23 million final budget for next school year without a tax increase. The tax rate will remain the same at 20.8377 mills. The average homeowner will continue to pay about $1,530 in Springdale Township, $1,682 in Springdale Borough, $1,905 in...
National Weather Service confirms tornado touched down near Butler, Armstrong border
The National Weather Service in Moon Township has confirmed a tornado touched down Sunday in the area of Parker near the border of Butler and Armstrong counties. The weather service said it was an EF-1 tornado with winds up to 105 miles per hour. An EF-1 tornado is classified as...
Two accused of taking broken Leechburg parking meter
Two Leechburg residents are charged with taking a borough parking meter because, as one said, it would be “cool to have.” Lynzi Wolfe, 31, and John Edward Johnston Jr., 27, sre accused of taking the meter on May 7. According to court papers, the meter is worth about $140. It’s...
Driver gets probation, house arrest for crash that killed Washington Township fireman
An East Huntingdon man will serve five years on probation for causing a fatal three-vehicle crash two years ago that killed a Washington Township firefighter. Andrew Davidovich Jr., 21, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of involuntary manslaughter and other related offenses for the June 9, 2017, crash on Route 66...
Former ITT Tech students eligible for loan forgiveness in new settlement
Nearly 600 former ITT Tech students in Pennsylvania are eligible for $5.3 million in debt relief as part of a new settlement announced Monday by state Attorney General Josh Shapiro. A coalition of 44 state attorneys general reached a settlement with loan company Student CU Connect CUSO that includes more...
Police: Pants, shoes, $200 taken during New Kensington robbery
A New Kensington man is accused of robbing another man Friday of $200, his pants and his shoes, according to police. Lorenzo M. Pearson, 22, remained in the Westmoreland County Prison on Monday after failing to post a combined $150,000 bond. An attorney isn’t listed for him. Police said they...
Burrell School Board weighs options on school police
Burrell School District officials are faced with a difficult choice when it comes to having police officers in their schools. They can keep the status quo, which includes keeping the district’s long-time school resource officer, a well-known and popular-with-students Lower Burrell officer, or the district could opt to save some...
