Valley News Dispatch category, Page 683
Valley High School bids farewell to the Class of 2019
Here is the Valley High School Class of 2019: Hayley Ruth Albright, Evan Michael Anderson, Megan Estelle Anthony, Matthew L. Ashbaugh, Joseph Louis Ayala, Jadyn Lee Baker, Sam Patrick Barca, Shaolin Ameris Barr, Tess Elizabeth Bartlett, Tyler Jamar Bassett Seandale Beckom-Barron, Preston Bradley Berecin, Noah Rayshawn Blanchard, Skye Lynn Bonzani,...
Police: Cuffed assault suspect launched himself down Frazer hillside
A New Kensington man who police say attacked his girlfriend and another man last week at a Frazer gas station is accused of trying to get away from officers by launching himself down a steep hillside while handcuffed. Frazer police Sgt. Aaron Scott said officers were called to the Sam’s...
Strawberry festival an annual Cheswick highlight
The threat of rainy weather didn’t keep Cheswick residents away from the borough’s annual Strawberry Festival on Sunday. Hundreds of people turned out for the festival at Rachel Carson Park that featured strawberry shortcakes, Glen’s Custard, strawberry pie, dozens of vendors and live music from Up the River band. The...
Pioneering River Forest owners to host Women’s Golf Day event
Allegheny Township’s River Forest Country Club will participate Tuesday in the fourth annual Women’s Golf Day by holding a scramble and luncheon featuring former LPGA golfer Missie Berteotti. Women’s Golf Day events will be held at more than 900 venues in 52 countries in conjunction with International Women’s Day, according...
Ex-gymnastics coach pleads guilty to Allegheny County sex assault charges
A former gymnastics coach who was granted two new sexual abuse trials last year pleaded guilty to his Allegheny County charges Monday, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Keith Callen, 48, pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault, sex assault by a sports official, unlawful contact and corruption of minors. Callen...
Concrete falls from Tarentum Bridge
Several chunks of concrete fell from the Tarentum Bridge on Monday morning, but no one was hurt and no damage was reported below, according to officials. The pieces appeared to fall shortly before 9 a.m. from the eastern edge of the bridge, which carries about 30,000 vehicles a day across...
Highlands reschedules June school board meeting
Highlands School Board has changed the date of its June voting meeting. It will be held June 25 instead of June 24. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the audion at Highlands High School in Harrison. The board is expected to vote to adopt a proposed $46.2 million...
ABC Transit plans dinner to woo Roenigk bus drivers in Highlands
Highlands School District’s new bus contractor has scheduled a dinner to try to attract drivers away from W.L. Roenigk, the district’s outgoing transportation company. ABC Transit is inviting all of the district’s current bus and van drivers and monitors to the buffet dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. June 12 in...
Tour-Ed Mine in Fawn offers lessons in underground history
Go beyond the typical tour and get really down-to-earth with a trip under Fawn Township. Dubbed the “Coalest” Pittsburgh attraction, Tour-Ed Mine and Museum in Fawn offers educational underground coal mine tours 160 feet below ground. Dating back to the 1850s and formerly the once-active Avenue Mine, its workers provided...
Harrison to focus grass cutting efforts on abandoned properties
They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In Harrison, the tall grass that gets complained about the most may get cut. With a roster of five to six dozen uncared for properties, the township’s five part-time summer workers can only get to so many, commissioners Chairman Bill Heasley said....
Kids help out as environmental group cleans trash out of the Allegheny River
Elliott Covolo, 8, spotted the first piece of litter that was collected out of the Allegheny River in Tarentum during a cleanup event Sunday. He grabbed a net and waited until the boat idled next to the object. “I don’t know what it is,” he exclaimed as he pulled it...
Biking-walking corridor in Harrison gets another financial boost
The biking-walking corridor project in Harrison has received another financial boost. Township Commissioner Robin Bergstrom said the township was notified that the project’s first phase for design and engineering has been awarded a $75,000 grant from the state Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund (CITF). It brings the total money received...
One step at a time, Highlands, Oakmont Relays for Life walk to fund cancer researchVideo
The goal of the Relays for Life throughout the country is that one day they won’t be necessary. That would mean that cancer is cured and there’s no reason to walk around school tracks and in parks to raise money each summer for the American Cancer Society. Until then, they...
Car struck by bullet in New Kensington
At least one bullet struck a four-door sedan sitting on the New Kensington side of North Street on Saturday afternoon. Westmoreland County dispatchers said officers responded to a call for shots fired around 12:40 p.m. near the intersection of North Street and Leishman Avenue at the New Kensington/Arnold border. Nearby...
‘Whitey’ Williams taught scores of firefighters how to perform task safelyVideo
Teaching a kid how to use a firefighter’s oxygen gear was an opportunity for Bratton T. “Whitey” Williams Jr. “He already was a legend,” recalls the kid, Eddie Saliba Jr., who now is the New Kensington Bureau of Fire’s assistant chief. “I was about 10 years old. My dad was...
Armstrong County locks closed on Allegheny River this weekend due to high water
Due to high water, the Allegheny River Development Corp. and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have decided to keep four locks closed in the Armstrong County portion of the Allegheny River. The closed locks are located in South Buffalo, West Kittanning, Boggs, and Madison townships. During the summer,...
Welcome: Here’s the Evangel Heights Christian Academy Class of 2019
Here is the Evangel Heights Christian Academy Class of 2019: Peter Caporali, Evan Clinger, Kayleigh Conaway, Grace Emerson, Kaylee Fink, Heath Hassler, Matthew Heinl, Madison Holcomb, Alexis Jones, Bethany Jones. Katie Kelley, Aneisa Klingensmith, Charis Miller, Matthew Olean, Hyunbin Song, Elijah Thompson, Brock Villella....
Congratulations to the Freeport Area High School Class of 2019
Here is the Freeport Area High School Class of 2019: Zyan Adams, Emily Alvarez, Dylan Arnold, Ainsley Arrington, Hayden Bash, Abigail Bastaja, Cameron Bennick, Cole Bennick, Coleman Bergad, Rebecca Black. Erik Bodily, Trevor Bolte, Marissa Borino, Charles Borromeo, Lydia Bouch, Mara Bowser, Michael Brezinski, Rachel Bricker, Jalen Brown, Gabriel Brunck....
Introducing the St. Joseph High School Class of 2019
Here is the St. Joseph High School Class of 2019: Matthew Arvay, Daniel Keith Babilon II, Grant David Bendis, Abigail Lynn Book, Joseph Emmanuel Ciniello, Samantha Lynn Dennis, Daniel José Fábregas, Hunter Michael Ferdarko, Dominic Anthony Ferrante, Adeline Elizabeth Fuesting. Jacob L. Gigler, Shelby Caroline Gogal, Kayla Golightly, Leah Mei...
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...
