Valley News Dispatch category, Page 694
Springdale Township set to vote on regional police force
Springdale Township officials are expected to decide next week if they will move forward with creating a regional police department with Cheswick. Officials will vote on the measure at the supervisors meeting at 7 p.m. April 18 at the township building, 100 Plate Drive. Residents can view the proposed ordinance...
Harmar bridge work put off until July
A planned closure of Jacoby Road in Harmar has been postponed until later this summer. The road originally was expected to close Monday for repairs to the bridge that carries it over Little Deer Creek, but the contractor decided to wait until July 15 to accommodate trout season. State law...
Leechburg food bank thankful for large donations
Those who rely on Leechburg’s food bank are benefiting from two large donations this month. For at least the third time, the Leechburg Elks lodge donated 1,000 pounds of groceries valued at $2,000. The groceries were purchased locally and, to the delight of food bank volunteers, delivered. An anonymous Alle-Kiski...
Plea deal rejected for Arnold woman accused of assaulting autistic son
A Westmoreland County judge rejected a proposed plea bargain for an Arnold woman accused of strangling her 6-year-old autistic son. Police charged Elena Lovorn, 28, with strangulation, child endangerment, reckless endangerment and simple assault in connection with an incident in early January. Authorities said Lovorn took her son into a...
Judge denies plea bargain for Fawn man accused of trying to kidnap New Kensington woman
A Fawn man will go to trial on attempted kidnapping and assault charges in connection with allegations that he brutally attacked his former girlfriend in New Kensington last summer. Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway denied defense motions that sought to dismiss the two most serious charges filed against Jeremy Chambers...
Drone races scheduled at River Forest Country Club in Allegheny Township
Pittsburgh drone racers will get to know part of the Alle-Kiski Valley. On May 17, the Pittsburgh Drone Masters will hold the first of four drone races at River Forest Country Club in Allegheny Township, club officer Dan Calig said. The drones must be flown through gates or flags and...
Plum School District and teachers union formally approve new 6-year contract
The Plum School District and its teachers’ union approved a new, six-year contract. A tentative agreement was reached earlier this year. The teachers union ratified it April 4 and the board approved it via 7-1 vote at a special meeting Tuesday night. School Director Rich Zucco dissented. Jim Rogers was...
Allegheny, Armstrong and Westmoreland school districts recognized for music education
School districts in Allegheny, Armstrong and Westmoreland Counties are among the 623 districts nationwide to be recognized as top communities for music education by the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation. The designation for “Best Communities for Music Education” is awarded to districts that not only have high participation in...
Buffalo Township property owner wants to rezone land for business use
Buffalo Township’s supervisors will hold a hearing Wednesday about a request to rezone more than 2 acres on North Pike Road for business use. The property at 339 North Pike Road is currently zoned for agricultural use, but the property behind it is zoned for business use. The surrounding area...
Trooper says he watched drunken Armstrong County man fall asleep in car wash
State police said an Armstrong County man was drunk when fell asleep at a Buffalo Township car wash — with a trooper waiting in line behind him. A criminal complaint filed against Larry Wayne Hill, 53, of Cowanshannock, said he pulled into the Get-Go along Route 356 around 3 p.m....
Eli Bussotti’s parents meet Freeport man who received the teen’s organsVideo
Eli Bussotti’s parents never imagined their son’s organs would go to someone who lives barely 5 miles away. Joy Krumenacker and David Bussotti lost Eli, 17, in October following a car crash. The still-grieving parents from Brackenridge and Tarentum on Tuesday met Chad Ravotti of Freeport, who received one of...
Next leg of Allegheny Township trail due for completion this summer
Work on the next leg of the Wynn and Clara Tredway Trail could begin by the end of April. Allegheny Township officials plan to meet soon with PennDOT District 12 officials in Uniontown for a pre-construction meeting. The goal is to have the project done by late August. The 10-foot-wide...
Work begins on new home for Animal Protectors in New KensingtonVideo
A New Kensington-based animal shelter has just more than half of the money necessary to pay for all the renovations needed at its future home. Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley raised about $700,000 of its $1.3 million fundraising goal for the project. Now located on Linden Avenue, the shelter bought...
Cycle Diner in Tarentum seeks new management
The Cycle Diner in Tarentum is seeking a new family to take over daily operations. The restaurant was temporarily closed Tuesday but was expected to be back up and running Wednesday, according to general manager Tommy Scanga. Scanga referred to a Sunday Facebook post when questioned about the potential change...
Harrison police say limp led them to drugs in suspect’s shoe
A Pittsburgh man is accused of trying to hide a golf ball-sized rock of crack cocaine and several bricks of heroin in his shoe. Harrison police said they found the drugs on Andre Blair, 25, after an officer pulled over a car he was in on Freeport Road near Highlands...
Plans for 2 Harrison stormwater projects to be covered at meeting Wednesday
Harrison residents can learn more about a rain garden being built soon at Highlands Middle School and plans for a future, larger project on Burtner Road at a public meeting next week. The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Merritt Chase, a landscape architecture firm, will display plans and designs for the...
Plum EMS subscription drive raises funds, saves money
Plum residents and business owners can help borough medics and save money on emergency transports through a subscription drive. Registration for the annual Plum EMS fundraising effort is underway. EMS Operations Director Brian Maloney said the department usually receives about 4,200 subscribers, which is 30 to 35 percent of all...
Highlands weighs 2 proposals for student busing
Highlands School District, previously chastised by state officials for not seeking bids for busing, is weighing two proposals for transportation services. The district has proposals from its current and longtime provider, WL Roenigk, and ABC Transit, district business Manager Lori Byron said. Byron would not provide costs put forward in...
Deer Lakes singing, dancing to the strains of ABBA in ‘Mamma Mia’
Deer Lakes High School drama students are preparing to transport the audience to Greece with their performance of “Mamma Mia.” The musical takes place in Greece and tells the story of Sophie and Donna. Sophie is getting married and wants her dad to walk her down the aisle, but has...
Plum woman accused of punching, kicking Vandergrift police is Megan’s Law offender
A 41-year-old Plum woman registered as a sex offender under Megan’s Law is accused of assaulting two Vandergrift police officers on Sunday. Candy Yockey of Ivory Avenue is accused of punching one officer and kicking another when they responded to a report of a woman bleeding from her mouth along...
Valley set to put on colorful ‘Dreamcoat’
Valley High School Drama Club junior Adam Richardson will be making his stage debut in the lead role of Joseph, donning the iconic coat of many colors in the musical in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” April 11-14 at Valley High School. “I love the coat. I love how...
Watershed association seeks donations for Kiski River trout stockings
The Kiski River might not be a designated trout water, but the Kiski Watershed Association is seeking donations to stock the river with the popular fish. The association has raised almost enough money from local businesses for one stocking in about mid-May, according to John Linkes, a member of the...
Highlands considers summer program to combat ‘summer slide’
Highlands elementary students who aren’t up to speed in reading and math may be invited to take part in a summer school program. If approved by the school board, the district would be able to take up to 120 students in kindergarten through fourth grade, district curriculum coordinator Cathy Russo...
PennDOT works to fix faulty temporary traffic signal in Frazer
A faulty temporary traffic signal at the Butler-Logan Road bridge in Frazer caused excessive wait times for motorists over the weekend, PennDOT said Monday. Some drivers took to social media to report wait times of up to 10 minutes at the signal at Butler-Logan and Murray Hill roads. Signals have...
Lower Burrell police make second crack-related arrest in 8 days
Lower Burrell police said a traffic stop last Thursday turned up nearly a half-ounce of crack cocaine and resulted in the city’s second crack-related arrest in eight days. “For us, this is unusual. Crack in this amount hasn’t been seen in Lower Burrell for 20 years,” said police Chief Tim...
