Valley News Dispatch category, Page 709
St. Joseph history teacher nominated for national award
A history teacher at St. Joseph High School in Harrison is one of two nominees in Pennsylvania for a national teaching award. Rosanne Pucciarelli is nominated for the Hannah E. (Liz) MacGregor Teacher of the Year History Teacher Award. The award is sponsored by James F. Harris, past president of...
Summer work day planned at Tarentum community garden
On the good side, mixed greens, arugula, spinach and radishes are among the crops ready to pick at Tarentum’s Greg Blythe Friendship Garden. “They’re doing very well,” said the Rev. Phil Beck of First United Presbyterian Church, an organizer of the group that oversees the garden. On the not-so-good, there’s...
Trees slide into Kittanning Pike homes in O’Hara
Trees slid down a hillside and struck two homes Tuesday morning along Kittanning Pike in O’Hara, officials said. Emergency crews responded to the scene just before 6 a.m., according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor. No one was injured. The trees hit two homes on Kittanning Pike, Township Supervisor Julie...
Highlands budget proposal raises property tax to state limit
A property tax increase up to the state limit is possible in Highlands School District for the upcoming school year. But even with a 3.3% increase, the district would still need to spend about $1.7 million from its reserves to cover all of its spending, according to a presentation Monday...
Highlands hires new bus company; longtime provider threatens to sue
W.L. Roenigk didn’t take kindly to Highlands School District’s decision Monday to hire a new transit company as its school bus contractor. “We’re not done,” company President Sue Roenigk said after the board voted 7-1 Monday to award a five-year contract to ABC Transit. Pat Roenigk, an attorney and shareholder...
Slain Freeport woman had PFA against ex-boyfriend, faced threats
Shortly after Mary Jo Kornick kicked Nicholas Domek III out of their Freeport apartment, Domek told a neighbor that Kornick “was going to get hers.” That neighbor, Donna Dreyer, told the Tribune-Review on Monday she never expected him to do anything drastic. “I just thought it was going to blow...
Stranger storms into Apollo home, grabs knife, police say
A woman charged into an Apollo home during a Mother’s Day dinner and grabbed a knife before an occupant wrested it away, police said. Eric Cheierici, 41, a chef from North Apollo, and his 62-year-old father had just made a spaghetti dinner for Cheierici’s 87-year-old grandmother in her Apollo house...
Vandergrift woman arrested with drugs in stolen car, police say
A Vandergrift woman suspected of burglarizing a Parks Township home was arrested over the weekend after police said they found her with drugs in a stolen car in Harrison. Harrison police said they found several stamp bags of heroin on Heather Stefanik, 24, after they were called to Walnut Street...
2 Harrison commissioners face challengers in Democratic primary
Two of three Harrison commissioners whose terms expire this year are seeking re-election, and both face challengers in the Democratic primary. In the township’s 1st Ward, the May 21 primary features a rematch between incumbent Commissioner Charles Dizard and former commissioner William Mitchell Sr. In the 3rd Ward, Eric Bengel...
Police: Woman ran stop sign before 2-car crash in Frazer
One person was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital in connection with a two-vehicle crash early Monday afternoon at Murray Hill and Riddle Run roads in Frazer. Frazer police Chief Terry Kuhns said a woman traveling on Riddle Run ran a stop sign about 1:40 p.m. and her vehicle crashed into...
Congressman Lamb learns about issues affecting medical supply companies
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb received a crash course in issues affecting medical supply companies and people who need equipment they provide during a meeting Monday at Tarentum-based Blackburn’s. The 83-year-old medical supply company hosted Lamb for a roundtable discussion with company executives, University of Pittsburgh researchers and other industry professionals....
Fox Chapel Plaza’s Alta Via offers a food tour of northern ItalyVideo
Traditional Italian food step aside. The newest addition to Pittsburgh’s impressive Big Burrito Restaurant Group whisks one off to the Dolomite region in northern Italy. Alta Via is a globally recognized walking trail through the Italian Dolomites, hence the name. “The food is simple, clean, fresh and ingredient driven,” says...
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...
