Valley News Dispatch category, Page 683
Deer Lakes students look for ways to reduce plastic wasteVideo
A group of Deer Lakes fifth-graders wants to make sure their school district produces less plastic waste, and they’re starting in the cafeteria. The six students, known as the Clean Stream Cadets, decided they wanted to do something to reduce plastic waste after learning about how much plastic makes its...
Riverview teacher brings technology, inspiration to lessons
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things they do. Rachelle Dene Poth has dedicated her life to the educational development of youths and other professionals who lead them. “I was just always into learning, even as an adult,” the...
Lower Burrell faces expensive fix for sewer line serving half of city
City officials will have to decide how and when it will fix a high-pressure sewage line serving half of Lower Burrell, potentially costing between $1.25 million and $1.75 million. The milelong, high-pressure line pumps sewage from the Chartiers pump station at the bottom of Edgecliff Road up to Leechburg Road....
Oakmont, Pittsburgh groups help train Chinese teachers to work with autistic students
Five teachers from China are spending the month in Oakmont, where they’re working with autistic children to learn how to better diagnose and teach students with autism in China. Southeast Asia Prayer Center (SEAPC) and Pittsburgh Behavioral Services, both nonprofits, have partnered to make it possible to bring the teachers...
Police: Freeport woman shot dead by ex-boyfriend in Buffalo Twp., he later kills himself
A Pittsburgh man shot and killed a Freeport woman Saturday as she drove home from her Buffalo Township workplace before driving back to Pittsburgh and killing himself in a Greenfield cemetery, according to state police. Mary Jo Kornick, 62, had a protection from abuse order against her killer, who police...
Springdale Cub Scouts replace more than 1,000 American flags ahead of Memorial Day
Dozens of scouts from Springdale Cub Scout Pack 554 spent Saturday morning crisscrossing local cemeteries to make sure veterans’ graves each had an American flag for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. “Part of scouting is embracing traditional American values and morals and paying respect to those who have gone before...
Dive Bar & Grille opening in Indiana Township, Regent Square
Timing is everything. For Clint Kuskie and Gordon Judge, it was double timing. They were searching for a fourth location for the Dive Bar & Grille and found two – one in the former Ryan’s Pub in Regent Square and the other in the current Gators Grille in Indiana Township....
2 Philly men indicted for having $10 million of cocaine
Two Philadelphia men arrested in North Braddock in February for allegedly having about $10 million worth of cocaine are now facing federal drug charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh. Jermaine Kyle Clark, 41, and Terry Suggs, Jr., 34, are named in a three-count indictment handed down Wednesday...
2nd annual Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship Ride & Event set for Aug. 11
The second annual Officer Brian Shaw Memorial Scholarship Ride and Event is scheduled for Aug. 11 at the Pittsburgh Shrine Center in Harmar. Shaw, a Lower Burrell resident and a New Kensington police officer, was 25 years old when he was shot and killed during a traffic stop in 2017...
North Apollo man, 21, dies in motorcycle wreck on Dime Road, Parks Township
Armstrong County Coroner’s Office has identified the man who died in motorcycle crash Friday night on Dime Road in Parks Township. The crash victim was identified as Alec D. Miller, 21, of North Apollo. Miller was killed near Ed’s Tire & Auto Services when his bike, a 2018 Husqvarna, went...
Volunteers put on the glam for Highlands prom-goersVideo
They came in all colors and textures — up ’dos, down ’dos and braids. Welcome to prom prep — free and courtesy of a team of volunteer hairdressers, makeup artists and manicurists Friday at Highlands High School. The special primping event took place hours before Highlands’ prom, “A Night at...
Buffalo Township receiving road work bids
Buffalo Township officials want to improve Beale Road this spring or summer, according to township Road Master John E. Gaydos. “About a mile on Beale will be paved,”Gaydos said. He said 14 roads are on the list to receive seal coating. That list includes Buffalo Trail, Mesa, Bison, Cherokee, Settler’s...
AHN says it’s unsure how LifeCare bankruptcy will impact Harrison patients
A Texas company that operates a long-term skilled nursing unit at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison has filed for bankruptcy, but officials with the hospital’s parent company are unsure how it will affect operations there. New LifeCare Hospitals LLC of Plano, Texas, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday. The...
Brackenridge church to bless firefighters
A Brackenridge church will be blessing firefighters on Saturday. Fire departments are the focus of this year’s “Blessing of the First Responders” at Generations House of Worship, 1160 Parkside Drive. The event will begin at 2 p.m. with a blessing over vehicles and equipment. The event is scheduled to run...
Washington Township awards $206,000 contract for road work
Township supervisors Thursday announced the low bidder for a road work contract: Suit-Kote Corp. of Meadville with $206,000 for seal coating township roads and the Kunkle Park parking lot and road. This year’s township seal coating will cover the following roads: Crestwood Drive, Gilmar Road from Utopia Road to Beamer...
Greensburg man accused of ripping off Upper Burrell employer
A Greensburg man is accused of stealing more than $8,000 worth of industrial metal from his Upper Burrell employer in just one month. A video arraignment was held Friday for Jeffrey Alexander Hart, 31, of Kenneth Street, who was being held in the Westmoreland County jail. In Hart’s arrest report,...
Highlands looking at about $100K for Tarentum clock tower project
Repairs to the clock tower at Highlands Elementary School in Tarentum could cost the district nearly $100,000, based on bids opened Thursday. Highlands received two bids for the project, from Wilson Restoration of Plum and Pullman SST of Kennedy. A third company, Marsa of Castle Shannon, attempted to submit a...
Limited space remains for annual St. Joseph High School golf fundraiser
St. Joseph High School’s biggest annual fundraiser is coming up in June. Limited space remains for the 27th annual “Spartan Scramble,” being held June 10 at Lenape Heights Golf Resort in Manor, Armstrong County. The event includes golf, dinner, auctions and a “super raffle.” More than 100 golfers participate each...
Tarentum forced to buy tons of road salt by start of summer
At this time of year, salt is more likely to be used for french fries or margaritas than for melting snow and ice. But Tarentum will buy nearly 300 tons of road salt by the end of June — because a contract says it has to. And, worse, there’s no...
Tarentum forgives $83K in delinquent property taxes
With a vote Thursday, Tarentum Council wiped its books clean of property taxes that had not been paid for more than 14 years and likely never would be paid. Others who owe but have not gotten on payment plans will find their names posted to the borough’s website Friday, borough...
Anytime Fitness in Oakmont named top club in Pennsylvania
Anytime Fitness in Oakmont was recently named the top club in the state by company officials. There are more than 70 clubs in Pennsylvania and 2,466 in the United States. The 24-hour gym at 111 Allegheny Ave. had ranked in the top 20 nationally since March 2018 and reached No....
Tarentum girl, 2, helps honor first responders who saved her life
In March, Tarentum police and Eureka paramedics responded to a true life-or-death call. Life won. Isabella Nulph, 2, nearly drowned in a pool in the backyard of her family’s Fifth Avenue home March 14. The first responders who helped save her life — two Tarentum police officers and five crew...
2 Westmoreland apartment complexes named in lawsuit over disability access
Ann Sloan was surprised to learn that the owner of the Hempfield apartment complex where she lives is being sued by the federal government for discriminating against disabled renters by building units that have “significant accessibility barriers.” “Everything is fine for me,” said Sloan, who uses a walker to get...
Could it happen? Study into Route 28 expressway expansion to I-80 gets funding
The Armstrong County Commissioners and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission have received funding to conduct a feasibility study for making the Route 28 expressway a limited access highway all the way to Interstate 80. Officials have wanted to expand Route 28 from Kittanning in Armstrong to I-80 in Jefferson County for...
Freeport Area OKs proposed tax hike of about 3%, final vote in June
By a one-vote margin, Freeport Area School Board approved a proposed 2019-2020 budget raising taxes to the state-mandated limit. The result would be a 3% or $62 annual increase in real estate taxes on an Armstrong County property with a median assessed value of $32,465. In Butler County, taxes on...
