Valley News Dispatch category, Page 676
Leechburg woman, 84, well known for volunteering, receives honorary high school diploma
The top of her cap and just a sliver of her face were all you could see of 5-foot-2 Violet Stivason at the lectern as he spoke of her life when accepting her honorary high school diploma at Leechburg Area High School auditorium Thursday night. Just an hour earlier, the...
Sandy Hook mom tells Burrell High School audience to ‘Choose Love’
Her anger was still palpable when she woke up the morning of what would have been the seventh birthday of her son Jesse, one of 26 people killed six months earlier by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. That’s when Scarlett Lewis said she began...
Vandergrift’s Cardinal Maida Academy says goodbye to its last studentsVideo
Vandergrift’s sole Catholic school is closing. The Cardinal Maida Academy, formerly St. Gertrude School when it opened in 1922, held its last day of school on Friday. Low student enrollment led to the closure, formally effective June 30, 2019, according to a news release from Greensburg Diocese spokesman Jerry Zufelt....
2 Alle-Kiski seniors awarded $11,000 scholarships to CCAC automotive program
Two Alle-Kiski Valley teens have been awarded $11,000 each in scholarships for taking first place in the Greater Pittsburgh Automobile Dealers Association Foundation and Community College of Allegheny County’s automotive competition. Freeport Area High School senior Leroy Zacherly and Armstrong High School senior Ryan Kuntz attend Lenape Technical School. They...
Springdale High School women step up for military service after graduation
For the first time in Springdale High School’s history, all of the students headed to the military after graduation are female. The three seniors — Skyleanna Skiles, Deserai Duncan and Leann Brannock — were recognized at the school’s annual military reception and ceremony Thursday. School administrators, along with local veterans,...
Harrison adds 3 more houses to demolition list
Harrison commissioners are targeting three more deteriorated and abandoned houses for demolition. Commissioners started the process to tear down the three houses, all in the township’s Natrona Heights neighborhood. They are at 2602 Monroe St., 1204 Cambridge St. and 1525 Union Ave. The Cambridge Street house is near Allegheny Valley...
Burrell High School’s Class of 2019 collects their diplomas
Here is the Burrell High School Class of 2019: Devin Dwayne Lee Baker, Ronald J. Beach, Nia Michelle Beam, Rebecca Beitel, Selena T. Bell, Brandin Ray Best, Andrew Bigler, Logan Bitar, Presley D. Black, Evan James Blose Geneva M. Bowman, Ashley R. Brown, Lauren Brown, Andrew Burkett, Cecilia Catherine Caprino,...
Leechburg Area says farewell to Class of 2019
Here is the Leechburg Area High School Class of 2019: Alyssa Maria Avalos, Samantha Faith Bigenho, Jaden Janay Black, Emilie Elizabeth Boehm, Mallory Elizabeth Busch, Keara Delaney Carnahan, Marcedez Alana Cleveland, Julia Mae Cominos, Caleb Harrison Covey, Zachary John Cravener. Michaela Rose Curfman, Tanner William Dudek, Joshua William Durick, Mariah...
Free summer meals offered at 5 locations in Highlands School District
Summer food programs will be available at five locations in Highlands School District this year. The federal program offers free breakfast, lunch and snacks to children up to age 18 when school is not in session. The Highlands school year ends June 7. Four locations in Highlands will run from...
Lower Burrell police seeking info on missing Penn Hills girl, 14
Lower Burrell police are seeking the public’s help in finding a 14-year-old girl who fled from Allegheny County Children and Youth Services officials on Thursday night. Police said Mykiah Alexander fled the custody of Allegheny County CYS around 8 p.m. near the intersection of Logans Ferry Road and Greensburg Road...
Traffic stoppages to take place along Butler-Logan bridge in Frazer this weekend
Traffic stoppages on the Butler-Logan Road bridge in Frazer are expected to take place this weekend as part of a repair project, weather permitting. Currently, single-lane alternating traffic is being controlled by temporary signals on the bridge over Route 28. PennDOT officials said traffic stoppages of 15 minutes or less...
Norwin, New Kensington-Arnold school board candidates tie, compete for No. 1 ball
What does Westmoreland County do if two candidates in the May primary are tied for the last spot on the ballot? The winner is determined by the candidates who gets the ball with the No. 1 printed on it when selecting from an opaque jar with two balls in it,...
Suspected cop killer Rahmael Holt set to go on trial in November
The Harrison man accused of shooting and killing New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw in November 2017 is scheduled to go on trial Nov. 4, a Westmoreland County judge said Thursday. President Judge Rita Hathaway set aside the entire week of Nov. 4 for the murder trial of Rahmael Sal...
New Kensington police: Gun, heroin seized from felon’s home
A convicted felon recently released from state prison was arrested Thursday after police said they found more than 700 stamp bags of heroin and a handgun in his New Kensington home. New Kensington police arrested Charles Jones, 40, after serving a search warrant around 6 a.m. at his residence in...
Community shocked to hear Leechburg Public Library closed for good
The Leechburg Public Library closed abruptly Thursday, apparently for good. After serving the needs of the Leechburg area for 93 years, the library announced Thursday on its Facebook page that it was closing permanently that day. The post cited “many circumstances” but didn’t provide specifics. Pam Broglio, president of the...
Tree blocks both lanes of Freeport Road in East Deer, later, 1 lane cleared
A portion of Freeport Road in East Deer was blocked by a downed utility pole and a tree Thursday afternoon. The road was blocked about 3:45 p.m. near the New Kensington (Ninth Street) Bridge. By 6 p.m., one lane farthest from the hillside had opened. An Allegheny County 911 dispatcher...
Allegheny River shore cleanings set for Harrison, Tarentum
Cleanups of the Allegheny River shoreline in Harrison and Tarentum are scheduled for this weekend. Allegheny CleanWays, a nonprofit environmental group fighting illegal dumping in Allegheny County, scheduled cleanups in Harrison on Saturday and in Tarentum on Sunday. Morning sessions will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and afternoon...
Highlands Relay for Life includes car cruise, food trucks
JoAnn Monteleone hopes she has helped at least one person. Chances are, in 17 years leading the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Harrison, she’s helped and touched many more. She has survived cancer, while it has taken loved ones all around her, including her husband, Tony, in 2016....
Handling complaints, scheduling all in day’s work for Vandergrift police chiefVideo
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley police chiefs and highlights the work they do and the challenges they face. Just as it does everywhere, opiate addiction spawns crime in Vandergrift. Police Chief Joe Caporali said there are fewer overdoses in recent months, but...
Power outage planned for parts of Alle-Kiski Valley for upgrades
Roughly 2,800 West Penn Power customers will lose power for four hours on Saturday because of a planned power outage. The planned outage will take place from 8 a.m. to noon, according to a post on the Upper Burrell Police Department’s Facebook page. It is needed to upgrade facilities. The...
Pittsburgh’s Amateur Astronomers to throw free public star gazing party at Kunkle Park
The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh will throw a free public star gazing party at Kunkle Park in Washington Township on June 15. If conditions are right, the public will be treated to views of the moon’s craters, rays, plains and mountains as well as brightly colored double stars, star...
Highlands first-graders enjoy ‘Camp Day’ at school
The campfires were virtual, but the fun was real. First-graders at Highlands Elementary School in Tarentum celebrated the approaching end of the school year Thursday with some fun and games that were part of the school’s annual “Camp Day.” “They worked really, really hard this year and we wanted to...
Construction of $21 million Kerr Elementary on track for start of 2019 school year
Construction at the new $21 million Kerr Elementary School in the Fox Chapel Area School District continues, with the project on track to open for the first day of school on Aug. 22. As the building takes shape along Kittanning Pike in O’Hara, district officials said the roof is installed,...
New Kensington-Arnold holds the line on taxes
The New Kensington-Arnold School Board has approved a nearly $38 million preliminary budget that includes no increase in real estate taxes for the fifth consecutive year. School directors voted 7-0 on Wednesday to approve the spending plan, which would keep the tax rate at 85.27 mills. The preliminary budget has...
Newborn brings hope after Pittsburgh mom dies during childbirth
April Martinez spent the last nine months meticulously planning for the arrival of her first child, a baby boy named Luca. “She had allergies and she wouldn’t take any allergy medicine,” said her mother, Elaine Sheatz of Cranberry. “She just wanted him to be perfect.” Despite her attention to detail,...
