Valley News Dispatch category, Page 705
Savings hefty when Arnold officials switch street light bulbs, power supplier
Arnold officials saw the light on saving money by illuminating streets with LED bulbs, but it just got much brighter. That’s because council on Tuesday approved switching its electrical supplier to a four-year contract with Dynegy Inc., which City Clerk Mario Bellavia said will save the city about $176,000 during...
Leechburg police seeking known suspect accused of robbing Market Street Sunoco
Leechburg police are searching for a borough man who is suspected of robbing the Sunoco store on Market Street on Tuesday night. Police are looking for Travis M. Haun, 36. Leechburg Officer in Charge Jason Schaeffer alleges Haun went into the store at 265 Market St. about 11 p.m. “When...
Bank, Penn State affiliate to offer business tips to Vandergrift businesses on Friday
Vandergrift’s VIP program along with First Commonwealth Bank and Penn State Cooperative will explore financial help and education for the borough and local businesses during a public meeting Friday at the borough building. First Commonwealth and Penn State Extensions’ Smart Growth Program will see if Vandergrift Borough and local businesses...
Apollo-Ridge looks to cut costs, maintain quality through early retirements
Apollo-Ridge School District is offering an early retirement package to teachers with five or more years of experience — a package for which about 80 percent of the district’s nearly 100 teachers would be eligible. “The timing of the offer is to continue our desire to creatively find ways to...
West Deer officials left to wonder about status of airport property
West Deer officials are wondering what the status of the Pittsburgh Northeast Airport is as it appears any development has stopped at the site. Township supervisors said they haven’t received an update recently and worry the owners may not be keeping up with required maintenance, including the inspection and maintenance...
North Apollo hires firm to recover $200,000 in delinquent sewage bills
North Apollo recently agreed to hire AAS Debt Recovery Inc. to pursue payments from residents behind on their sewage bills. Councilman Bill Campbell said some accounts are 10 to 15 years behind and the agency hopes to recover about $200,000. Under the plan, AAS would keep 35 percent of the...
Penn Hills man headed to court on charges in Lower Burrell man’s fatal overdose
A Penn Hills man is headed to court on charges he provided the drugs that killed a Lower Burrell man last summer. Christopher Krishawn Napper, 24, of Penn Hills faces a charge of drug delivery resulting in death. He is accused of providing the combination of heroin and fentanyl police...
Burrell students get high-tech homework assignment from electronics maker
Talk about your homework. Burrell High School students took home a robotic arm, a 3D printer and a heavy assignment from a visit to a Harrison circuit board producer. Tuesday’s visit to EPD Electronics by 14 Burrell students wasn’t your typical field trip and, according to school administrators and students,...
‘Disturbing’ James Bond Facebook meme spurs Highlands to ax would-be security firm
Highlands School District officials say “disturbing” Facebook posts were the impetus for the district to rescind its contract with a school security firm. Days after the board approved a contract with Olympia Security Group in mid-February, “various people in the community” alerted substitute Superintendent Monique Mawhinney and other officials to...
Allegheny Township approves money for Tredway Trail expansion
Allegheny Township is set to begin the next leg of the Wynn and Clara Tredway Trail. Supervisors awarded a $249,000 contract to A. Folino Construction of Oakmont to build the 1.5-mile extension from underneath the Freeport Bridge toward the junction of the Kiski and Allegheny rivers. Work is expected to...
Section of Hulton Road on Penn Hills-Plum border to close Wednesday
A section of Hulton Road on the border of Penn Hills and Plum is scheduled to be closed from Wednesday to Friday. Beginning early Wednesday, Hulton Road will close to all traffic between Michael Drive and Iowa Street so crews can locate underground utility lines in advance of a project...
Distinguished Service Cross recipient Stevon Booker ’embodied Army values’Video
Army Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker didn’t have to climb out of his tank on April 5, 2003, but his unit was under heavy fire near Baghdad and he refused to hunker down. Booker, then a 34-year-old commander of the M1A1 tank, climbed up to fire a .50-caliber machine gun mounted...
Vandergrift council candidates to hold meet-and-greet
Three Vandergrift council candidates will hold meet-and-greet at 6:30 p.m., March 15, at the Center on Franklin Avenue, 262 Franklin Avenue. Three council seats are up for election this year. They are four-year terms currently held by Kathy Chvala, Vernon E. Sciullo and James Rametta, according to the Westmoreland County...
Crime trends presentation to highlight Vandergrift Community Watch meeting
A presentation at the new Center on Franklin Avenue will highlight the Vandergrift Community Watch meeting at 7 p.m., Thursday, in the borough building. The meeting will include a presentation on crime trends by Vandergrift Police Officer Joseph Gray. The meeting is a time for the community to air any...
Freeport Borough to fill council vacancy
Freeport Borough’s vacancy board will meet Mondayto replace a council member who has resigned. Melanie Zembrzuski resigned at the start of February, borough clerk Carol Crytzer said Monday. Zembrzuski had been the chairwoman of the public safety committee and a member of the personnel and parks and recreation committees. She...
Tarentum’s community garden renamed to honor the Rev. Greg Blythe
Tarentum’s community garden has been renamed to honor a late pastor who helped create it five years ago. Formerly called Tarentum Friendship Garden, it has been renamed as Tarentum’s Greg Blythe Friendship Garden. Blythe, former pastor of Abundant Joy Fellowship, was one of the founders of the garden along First...
Police: Vandergrift man robs, beats up man for $600, iPhone
A Vandergrift man is accused of taking $600 and an iPhone from another man he allegedly beat up and threatened with a handgun early Saturday. Police said Javon Michael Thom Lambert, 19, then ran from officers who went to his house to arrest him later Saturday. He remained in the...
Natrona resident Bill Godfrey creates art, community
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley people and the notable things that they do. A sunny day is best to visit artist Bill Godfrey, as the golden rays pour into his studio to illuminate the lavender and canary walls, and a palette of...
The Academy Chamber Ensemble to perform at Central Presbyterian Church
A church is the perfect setting for this performance. Central Presbyterian Church in Tarentum presents its third concert for this season — “A Bassoon Runs Through It.” It’s set for 4 p.m. March 17 with the Academy Chamber Ensemble. The event will feature the music of Mozart, Beethoven and the...
O’Hara’s Brownshill Road to close on Wednesday, Thursday
Part of Brownshill Road in O’Hara will be closed Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., township engineer Chuck Steinert said. Brownshill Road will be closed between Dorseyville Road and Saxonburg Boulevard. The 2-day closure will allow installation of about 50-feet of sewer line, Steinert said. It’s part...
Tarentum to mark unstable, vacant buildings with a red X
X marks the rot. Tarentum Council recently adopted a program to mark about a dozen unstable, vacant buildings in the borough with a red X to warn emergency personnel who might respond to a fire or other incident at the properties that they are structurally dangerous. “This isn’t the same...
Lower Burrell man offering to sell a custom-built tiny houseVideo
If you give him a call, Gary Ross will show you around a house he’s selling. It won’t take long. Ross, 67, of Lower Burrell is selling his custom-built tiny house on wheels. The new home has 224 square feet of interior space. It’s built on a B-V trailer and...
Antonio Brown T-shirts go for $1 at Pittsburgh Mills Walmart
Call it a coincidence or fate, but Walmart at the Pittsburgh Mills shopping complex has put what’s left of their Antonio Brown T-shirts in the clearance bin. The women’s T-shirts are going for just $1, but it seems that may still be too much for shoppers. A few passing by...
New Brighton CPA will do Tarentum Borough audits
Tarentum Borough’s new auditor submitted a bid that is well below one filed by the long-time auditor and another CPA, officials say. Borough Manager Michael Nestico said Mark C. Turnley CPA’s bid was $10,500 to perform all of the the borough’s audits. That was more than $9,000 less than the...
Study shows Penn State New Kensington contributes about $28.7 million to A-K Valley’s economy
In terms of dollars and cents, Penn State New Kensington contributed $28.7 million to the Pennsylvania economy and supported just under 400 jobs during the 2017 fiscal year, according to a study. But those numbers don’t begin to reflect the campus’ role in the Alle-Kiski Valley, according to Chancellor Kevin...
