Kellen Stepler stories, Page 5

Chartiers Valley is launching a new program to help prepare students to become career ready. This year, the district will join the RIASEC framework which asks students about their aspirations, skills, and interests in different jobs to help them learn about careers and fields of study. RIASEC includes six characteristics:...

Michelle Peduto, the former superintendent of the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, died Tuesday. Peduto served Catholic schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for more than 21 years, according to the diocese. She became superintendent in 2019 and stepped down in June to spend time with family. A...

Vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance will make a campaign stop in Lower Burrell on Thursday. Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio, will speak at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 92 on Wildlife Lodge Road at 10 a.m., his campaign announced Tuesday. VFW Post 92 posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening...

A wreck closed Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell for nearly 12 hours Monday. Leechburg Road, the main thoroughfare through the city, was closed between MacBeth Drive and Edgecliff Road from 3 a.m. to 2 p.m. after a vehicle struck a utility pole. The vehicle sheered a utility pole, which fell...

No paper note for a student’s absence will be no problem this year in the Allegheny Valley School District. One of the additions in the Springdale-area district will be an electronic excuse form for parents and families to document student absences. “It’s an electronic form that parents can use to...

If it seems like the first day of school is getting earlier each year, you might not be too far off. It just depends on which district you live in. An analysis of the first day of school for students found some have inched up the start date over the...

An epic car cruise is brewing next Saturday in East Deer, Pittsburgh Brewing Co. and MaxMotive officials say. The two landmark businesses have paired up for the Iron City Car Cruise on Aug. 17 at the brewery. The event already has 650 car registrations, said Rachel Semelbauer, brewery spokeswoman. The...

Allegheny County Police say a Blawnox man sexually abused a teenager two years ago, with some of the alleged assaults occurring at hotels in Harmar and Frazer. Blawnox police responded July 9 to a reported domestic dispute on Summit Street. There, a teen told police they were sexually assaulted by...

A 26-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced to 17½ years in prison for armed robberies at pharmacies in the Pittsburgh and Bridgeville areas. Abdulrahman Abdelaziz Jamea, 26, of Columbus, was sentenced July 31 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A Pittsburgh jury in March...

Police have accused an Allegheny Township man of neglecting his three dogs while he was out of state for work. Township police charged Matthew William Brueggeman, 40, with three counts of cruelty to animals, nine misdemeanor counts of mistreating animals and nine summary offenses of neglecting animals. Police started their...

Lower Burrell has officially set rules and regulations for firework displays in the city. The rules, formally approved this week, define guidelines for “consumer fireworks,” or fireworks used by the public, and “display fireworks,” larger fireworks used by professional pyrotechnicians. “It is important that rules are in place preventing people...

School breakfast and lunch will be free to all Carlynton students when classes begin Aug. 21. The district will participate in the National School Lunch Program’s Community Eligibility Provision this school year, said Ryan Racicot, Carlynton’s food service director. It’s the third consecutive year Carlynton is participating in the program....

West Deer’s newest concert venue will see a big-name country music act this week to help raise money for a local cause. Country music star Brian Kelley, formerly of Florida Georgia Line, will perform Friday at No Offseason Sports’ outdoor concert stage. Kelley, now pursuing a successful solo career, had...

Allegheny County officials on Monday confirmed that remains found July 21 inside a submerged vehicle in the Allegheny River in Oakmont are those of Janet Walsh, a Shaler woman who had been missing since 2020. Walsh’s vehicle was pulled out of the river near California Street. The county Medical Examiner’s...

West Deer residents will get to weigh in on a proposed well pad project in the Gibsonia section of the township. Supervisors set a 6 p.m. Tuesday hearing date to take comments on the proposed Caro Brandon deep well project. The deep well would be located at 6075 Rittman Road,...

State funding will assist Scott officials in upgrading traffic signal equipment at a few intersections in the township. PennDOT officials announced the township will receive just under $650,000 for traffic signal improvements to Bower Hill and Painters Run roads, and Bower Hill and Rockhill roads. The money comes from PennDOT’s...

Chartiers Valley is planning to keep things chill this school year. The district approved a contract with Allegheny Health Network for the Chill Project, which teaches school-age children emotional and coping techniques. The total cost of the program is $300,000, or $75,000 allocated to each of the district’s schools. Funding...

Positive feedback from a temporary boat dock at the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. facility in East Deer has brewery officials eyeing a more permanent landing, but this time, with approval from state authorities. Brewery officials are applying for a permanent boat dock permit through the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. “The...

At last year’s Alle-Kiski Inclusion Games in Lower Burrell, event organizer Courtney Kobelenske lined up volunteers to create a “football tunnel” for the athletes, children with special needs, to walk through. While the volunteers lined the field and cheered as the participants marched through, a poignant moment between a child...

Guardian Elder Care, the parent company of skilled nursing facilities including Belair in Lower Burrell and Oak Hill in Greensburg, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Johnstown-based health care company filed the petition for relief this week. Nineteen facilities — including locations in Lower Burrell, Greensburg, Bethel Park and...

Lower Burrell officials have outlined a plan to make Leechburg Road safer for students, pedestrians, bicyclists and people with disabilities. The city soon will start projects geared toward pedestrian safety and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance along the city’s main business artery, Mayor Chris Fabry said. Projects include flashing beacons...

Deeming it unusable and incomplete, Chartiers Valley school directors declared an emergency over the condition of the district’s stadium project and hired new firms to complete the remaining work. An emergency resolution, approved at a meeting Monday and read by Board President Darren Mariano, said the stadium construction project is...

The success of a “Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports” model at Crafton Elementary School has Carlynton officials implementing a similar system at the junior high level. The district received a $3,750 grant from the Highmark Foundation to establish the model for seventh and eighth grade students. “The Foundation supports the...

PennDOT officials announced Tuesday they will begin a traffic study on a stretch of Greensburg Road in Upper Burrell that has drawn ire from community members. Agency spokeswoman Laina Aquiline said PennDOT is reviewing Upper Burrell’s request for a traffic study in the 2200 block of Greensburg Road and anticipates...

A new face will be leading Chartiers Valley High School in the coming years, as Michael Sable was hired as the school’s principal at a salary of $130,000. “I’m extremely honored to be high school principal,” Sable said. “I’m excited to meet everyone, and I’m ready to lead students to...