Valley News Dispatch category, Page 690

Workers from Shurina Brothers Landscaping used cutting torches, a front loader and some old-fashioned elbow grease to remove the sign Friday afternoon at Schreiber Industrial Park. The New Kensington Redevelopment Authority bought the park last year. The aluminum giant Alcoa employed 7,000 people at the site in its heyday. Public...

A Vandergrift man will serve up to 10 years in prison for raping a child. Brian Redmond, 33, pleaded guilty Friday in Westmoreland County to charges of rape and two other counts in connection with sexual assaults prosecutors said occurred in late 2016 and early 2017. Police also charged Redmond...

New mothers, pregnant women and guardians of children age 5 and younger soon can access free benefits such as baby formula and monthly food vouchers at a new location in Tarentum. The county Health Department announced Friday that it has partnered with Highlands Family Center on Fourth Avenue to expand...

Feeding the Flock Ministries will have to wait at least another few weeks to get a decision from Harmar’s zoning hearing board on whether it can move into a building along Nixon Road. The board held a hearing Thursday night that lasted two hours. The non-profit organization hopes to move...

About 700 West Penn Power customers remained without electricity late Thursday, four days after high winds left hundreds of thousands in the dark and cold. As of 11:40 p.m Thursday., just eight Duquesne Light customers were in a similar situation. Duquesne Light was reporting four customers were without power on...

A Tarentum man was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of bank fraud. U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said David Linder, 40, participated in a scheme to defraud S&T Bank by opening accounts with a false Social Security number, depositing fraudulent checks into those accounts, and then...

A New Kensington native now living in Colorado will receive an award Saturday honoring her career as a teacher. Jamie D. Johnson will receive The Education Center’s Lifetime Educator of the Year 30 Year’s award during a banquet Saturday. Johnson, who still has relatives in the area, was born in...

A pop-up cat cafe is planned Saturday at the New Kensington Arts Center to help raise funds for the center and the charitable New Kensington-based pet foundation Frankie’s Friends. Arts Center board member Autumn Walker said the event will feature some of Frankie’s Friends more personable cats inside the center,...

Tarentum police are asking residents in one part of the borough to check their cars. On Facebook, the police department said it has received several reports of vehicles that had been entered in the area behind Duster Funeral Home, which is at 347 E. 10th Ave. Police were asking residents...

Apollo-Ridge High School received an Amazon grant for instructional materials for two computer classes. Amy Guido, Apollo-Ridge’s business and computer teacher, applied to the Amazon Future Engineers program in 2018 for curriculum and class materials for a computer class. Guido had been using a curriculum supplied by Amazon and students...

A woman whose appeal was accepted for review by the state Supreme Court on Wednesday has changed her mind and asked her attorney to drop the appeal of her paying restitution to three Armstrong County charities. Beverly Kaye Steffey, 65, of Kittanning, has “decided that she does not want the...

Sixteen years to the day after he died defending fellow soldiers in Iraq, Army Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker will posthumously be presented the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest military award for bravery. A special Army ceremony will be held starting at 10 a.m. April 5 in Soldiers &...

The capital murder trial of a Harrison man charged with the November 2017 shooting death of a New Kensington police officer has been postponed until August. The attorney for Rahmael Sal Holt, 30, said in court Wednesday that he needed more time to prepare for trial, which had been scheduled...

Egg-ticipation is in full swing at the Harmar bald eagle nest, although there is no webcam to confirm the details. The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is expected to confirm any day that the eagles have at least one egg based upon their behavior at the nest. This is the...

Westmoreland County prosecutors want defense lawyers for a former Harrison man accused of a brutal rape in New Kensington nearly three decades ago to turn over evidence that could be used during a retrial. Assistant District Attorneys Barbara Jollie and James Hopson filed court documents Wednesday seeking reports and mental...

A feral cat found in Frazer has become the fifth animal to test positive for rabies in Allegheny County this year, the Allegheny County Health Department said. The cat was captured near the 2300 block of Dellenbaugh Road and brought to one of the health department’s facilities. In addition to...

A section of Freeport Road in Springdale Township reopened Wednesday morning after a landslide shut down the road Friday. The road had been closed between the New Kensington Bridge and Riddle Run Road. About 11,000 vehicles use that section of road daily. Motorists had to use detours while the road...

A vacant modular home owned by Westmoreland County will be auctioned off next month. The building previously housed the offices of District Judge Jason Buczak next to the Washington Township Fire Department. A new $1.25 million district court office opened in January on Beaver Run Road. The auction will take...

Host families are being sought for foreign exchange students in the Highlands School District. Families are needed to host visiting AFS foreign exchange students the nights of April 3 and 4 for “International Days” at the district’s schools on April 4 and 5, district spokeswoman Jennifer Goldberg said . “This...

St. Joseph High School is honoring seven people this year with its Spirit of St. Joseph Award. Those being recognized are the Rev. Paul G. Henne; Thomas Octave; John W. Regoli Jr; Jane Thimons; and the Scott sisters, Eileen, Jeanne and Rosaleen. Three of the seven — Henne, Regoli and...

The state Supreme Court will consider an appeal by an Armstrong County woman who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $200,000 from three nonprofits but is fighting an order to pay restitution because the victims were organizations, not people. Beverly Kaye Steffey’s attorney, Chuck Pascal of Leechburg, said a 2016...