Harry Funk stories, Page 16

Oakmont’s proposed 2023 budget shows the real estate tax remaining at 3.73 mills. Borough council plans to vote Dec. 19 on adopting the final version of the spending plan. In its proposed form, as council authorized for advertisement on Nov. 21, the general fund budget calls for operating expenditures of...

Extreme poverty can lead to extreme measures for many of the world’s mothers. “It’s easier to sell your child for money than it is to raise your child. That’s a heartbreaking reality,” Meredith Hedeen said. “And that happens in the U.S., too.” From her home in Plum, Hedeen seeks to...

Youngsters often take what is given to them for granted. Will Allen was an exception. While growing up in Dayton, Ohio, the future Pittsburgh Steeler would go to his elementary school in the summer for breakfast and lunch, and he’d take part in enrichment programs to supplement his basic education....

Some people find music to be little more than a pleasant auditory diversion. Others take a more active interest. And then there are those for whom music pretty much constitutes a way of life. For Collier resident Robert Paparella, his fascination stretches back about 60 years, to when he was...

A photograph mounted prominently on Luke Erny’s living room wall shows his Bethel Park home at some point in the distant past, with accompanying text relating its history: “Lytle Road was named after the early Lytle family settlers. The Lytle homestead still stands near the corner of Lytle Road and...

’Twas the month before Christmas, and Santa had a good beard going. Dressed in his red-and-white suit and matching cap in mid-November, Al Welle said that he usually just sports a white goatee. But when he was asked to portray St. Nick, he promptly started to grow the rest of...

Anyone who’s composing an email, authoring a book or anything in between can take a cue from Elizabeth Meitzler. “If you’re sitting there falling asleep reading your own writing, everybody else is going to do the same thing,” the Bethel Park resident said. “I wouldn’t want to read that!” So...

Calendars usually have the fourth Thursday of November circled prominently, but this year, Lucy Interthal had her sights set on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. “The last two weeks have been the best she’s been in six months,” her father, Dave, said. “And I’m sure this is the reason why.” He...

Not everyone sleeps in on holidays. Well before the sun rose Thanksgiving morning, volunteers started gathering around the Clifton Road entrance to the Montour Trail in Bethel Park, ready to help prepare for hundreds of fellow early risers. At 7:30, they were off and running. Or walking. Or watching and...

While the Hampton Bands’ Holiday Extravaganza features a day full of students performing music, folks who attend can expect a whole lot more. “We really try to make sure that when a family decides to go to the event, everybody in the family has something that they’re interested in and...

You’ve heard of the three R’s of education, and you probably wonder why only one of them actually begins with an R. Unlike two-thirds of the traditional “reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic,” a field for the 21st century fits the bill: Robotics. At Hampton Middle School, faculty member Gwen Cohen greets...

Students at Divine Mercy Academy in Monroeville and members of their families had the opportunity to vote on a new name for the mascot representing the school’s sports teams, and the winner was revealed during a Nov. 18 pep rally celebrating Sabers athletics. Among them was Fletcher Dagit, who bested...

Beyond diversions like a light-up leg lamp and tongue-retaining metal pole, Bob Clark’s “A Christmas Story” enjoys enduring popularity for portraying the holiday season the way it used to be. Well, maybe it never was exactly like Ralphie Parker’s however many decades ago in Hohman, Ind. But enough of the...

The Wizards from Harlem are heading to Hampton. “They say it’s kind of like a combination of a basketball game with a Broadway show,” Michelle Csajka Coll said. “It’s just a lot of fun.” As president of the Hampton Boys Basketball Booster Club, she joins her colleagues in seeking ways...

Give the gift of immortality. Well, not literally. But starting Nov. 29, Chartiers Valley School District is providing the opportunity to purchase space to display images of sporting Colts, past and present, on an Athletic Legacy Wall. “What we’re asking people to do is, share your pictures with us,” Angela...

With surgery scheduled to repair a torn ligament, baseball player Nick Arnoni knew he’d be in for plenty of pain afterward. He also knew that certain types of prescribed medications were causing major problems across the country because of their strong potential for addiction. So leading up to his operation,...

Just a few years ago, the chances of convincing Craig Hodgkins to talk in front of a room full of people effectively were nil. That may have come as a surprise to those who heard him speak confidently and candidly on Nov. 10 at Collier’s Salute to Veterans Brunch. Attired...

Apparently, dogs can go a step beyond serving as man’s best friend. During what seemed like a typical evening in 2011, U.S. Air Force veteran Ron Papik unknowingly suffered a severe drop in his blood sugar. “He went out to play cards. He came home. He went to bed,” his...

As the sun set on Veterans Day, the land of the red, white and blue turned purple. Starting in Pittsburgh at the Koppers Building and followed by New York’s One World Trade Center, reddish-blue illumination glowed across the United States for Light To Unite, an initiative to honor the 240th...

Plum officials do not anticipate an increase in the real estate tax rate for 2023, according to information presented at borough council’s Nov. 7 work session. For projected revenues to match expenditures, though, borough manager Michael Thomas said it would be necessary to use between $1.2 million and $1.5 million...

For the first time since 2019, Hampton Middle School is able to stage a full-fledged fall musical. Back then, the students who will take part in presenting “Newsies Jr.” were in elementary school. “It’s different, because you have all these kids who aren’t used to the production,” director Greg Shumaker...

Military charity collecting candy Local nonprofit Military Connections will have collection bins for leftover Halloween candy that will be donated to troops stationed overseas. Collection points are located at: • Military Connections, 313 Tionesta Drive, New Kensington • Tomlinson Insurance Agency, 506 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont • Oakmont Realty, 630...

As with most aspects of life, battling a debilitating disease takes money, and quite a bit of it. Thanks to the generosity of more than 230 donors, Mark Christman was able to share some especially good financial news on behalf of the cause he supports. “This is a big shock...

Say you’re a musician who has poured the proverbial heart and soul into a writing a song, one that you’re proud to perform in front of a live audience. But a glance at the crowd shows eyes focused on cellphones and mouths jabbering away, as if you didn’t really exist....

In lieu of “Happy Birthday,” U.S. Marine Corps veteran Andy Burch suggested a more specific celebratory tune: “You all brought your singing pipes with you today, right? We’ve got to sing ‘The Marines’ Hymn.’” With that, the Tarentum resident launched into the familiar “From the Halls of Montezuma to the...