Kellen Stepler stories, Page 8

Burrell School District officials say the district is suffering from stagnant property value growth, and taxpayers will foot the bill for it. The district’s final 2024-25 budget of $36.6 million includes a 5.8% property tax hike. The 6.5-mill increase will bring the district’s millage rate to 117.5, the highest of...

Springdale officials are considering two options for changing the way it bills for water service, one of which could raise rates for residential customers. The borough in May decided to undergo the rate study, saying that since the $7 million water plant was completed in 2020, officials have not done...

A man with more than half a century of experience in public education has been tapped to lead the Chartiers Valley School District, at least in the interim. School directors in June hired Joseph Dimperio as interim superintendent, at a rate of $725 per day without benefits or pension withholding....

The idea for a food-focused art show at Carnegie’s Studio Forget-Me-Not! all started with painted ceramic slices of pizza. “Food is one of those things people come together for,” said Laura Stuart, director at Studio Forget-Me-Not!, a venue that provides art services for adults with intellectual disabilities. After some discussion,...

Lower Burrell is looking for a way to curb the algae bloom in Burrell Lake Park after state environmental officials warned the bloom is severe enough to be “harmful.” Lauren Camarda of the Department of Environmental Protection said samplings from the lake taken June 11 indicate concentrations of cyanobacteria are...

State officials recognized the Allegheny River as the River of the Year during a celebration Saturday at Aspinwall’s Allegheny RiverTrail Park. “The Allegheny River is an important part of Pennsylvania’s natural history and beauty, so it is great to celebrate all that the river offers and its impact on the...

The Avonmore community is rallying around those who lost everything after a fire at My Buddy’s Place on Saturday. Crews from nearly 30 surrounding volunteer fire companies responded to the bar at 407 Indiana Ave. to put out a fire that started Saturday afternoon. The scene was cleared early Sunday,...

The DiSanti family Father’s Day golf outing started as a simple thing. In 1985, brothers Richard, Victor and Joseph DiSanti decided to hit the links on Father’s Day weekend as a special tribute to their late father, Richard V. DiSanti. “Everyone has golf events, but yet, this is a Father’s...

A Somerset Township man is behind bars after, state troopers say, he fatally shot his brother with a crossbow. Police charged Travis Scott Shearer, 32, with criminal homicide in connection with the death of his brother, Eric Miller, on Friday night. Shearer is being held in the Somerset County Jail....

Allegheny County has found a new location on Pittsburgh’s North Side to relocate about 100 homeless people who had been staying at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center after a fire closed the Second Avenue Commons homeless shelter. Erin Dalton, the county’s human services director, said Saturday that displaced residents...

Bridgeville is eyeing repairs for another landslide in the borough. The borough is advertising for a landslide repair project on Bower Hill Road, at the end of Bluff Street Extension and behind 799 Bower Hill Road, Manager Joe Kauer said. The landslide is affecting only one property, Kauer said. He...

The Chartiers Valley School District celebrated 238 graduates from the Class of 2024 on June 4 at the high school stadium. Here are the graduates: Halid Adam, Isshak Adam, Xzavyer Adams, Chloe Albitz, Elif Ali, Dominic Allen, Sakesh Andhavarapu, Alaina Ansell, Maria Arab, Nicholas Arnold, Kendal Astor, Danica Balach, Brayden...

A 74-year-old man is accused of dousing his apartment in gasoline and igniting a fire which started a three-alarm fire and subsequent explosion Tuesday afternoon in Etna. Elmer Lewis, of Vilsack Street, faces two counts of aggravated arson, six counts of arson, one count of causing catastrophe and five counts...

Remediation of a nuclear waste dump in Parks Township remains on schedule — to start next summer and have all of the material removed to Utah six years after that, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said. The Army Corps gave the update at a public meeting Tuesday at the...

A man is accused of dousing his rental home in gasoline and setting it on fire following a blaze that damaged two properties Tuesday in Etna. Elmer Lewis, 74, is charged with two counts of aggravated arson, six counts of arson, one count of causing catastrophe and five counts of...

Concerns over algae at Burrell Lake Park have officials researching ways to mitigate the bloom. Michelle Hatbob, Lower Burrell’s director of parks and public works, is attending an online class Wednesday to learn techniques to reduce the algae that has taken over much of the lake’s surface. Hatbob said she...

East Main Street in Carnegie soon will be packed with vendors, musicians and food trucks. The Carnegie Farmers Market returns July 7 and takes place on East Main Street, from Broadway to Mary streets, said Deneen Underwood, an administrator for the borough. The market runs every Sunday. Hours in July...

Jennifer Anderson was proud when her daughter, Caitlyn Dougherty, graduated from Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School last week. But she wasn’t thrilled with how the Allegheny Valley School District reported Caitlyn’s grade-point average on her transcript. Anderson is questioning how the district calculated her daughter’s GPA. “Thankfully, my daughter got into...

When Amy Sarno enrolled her son at Acmetonia Elementary School two years ago, they were disappointed to learn the school had no playground. “I really just assumed all elementary schools had a playground,” said Sarno, who is now a member of the Allegheny Valley School Board. For the first time...

The carousel of businesses leaving and entering the Village at Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer is gaining another store, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet. The store plans to open in September, a company official said. Township Secretary Lori Ziencik verified that the new Ollie’s location will fill the vacant storefront at the former...

Vacant property in Upper Burrell’s Lincoln Beach neighborhood will end up staying with neighbors. The Upper Burrell Supervisors on Wednesday awarded roughly 3 acres of land along Mosaic Boulevard in Lincoln Beach to “members of the Lincoln Beach community.” A $20,000 bid was submitted by the group that, in their...

With police regionalization off the table for now, Upper Burrell is focusing its efforts on bolstering its force. Fifteen months ago, the township supervisors cited staffing issues as it sought interest from Lower Burrell, New Kensington and Allegheny and Washington townships on the possibility of a regionalized police force. Upper...

A motorcyclist and car collided Thursday morning at the intersection of Bull Creek Road and the Route 28 southbound off-ramp in Fawn. The crash occurred about 10:15 a.m. Fawn police were not immediately available for comment. Rich Fry of Shaler said he was driving on Bull Creek Road from Tarentum...

The state of strip malls and shopping centers isn’t all doom and gloom, experts say. “Open-air shopping centers are in a pretty good spot into the future,” said David Caputo, a data scientist with Moody’s Analytics. “There was a lot of concern with the pandemic, but that hasn’t been the...