Michael DiVittorio stories
Sewickley Light Up Night draws a festive crowdVideo
Justin Bollman found delight in watching his children play in the snow outside the Cochran Hose fire station in Sewickley. Braelyn, 9, and Brent, 5, threw snowballs, chased each other around a tree decorated in Christmas lights, and occasionally pelted Bollman and their mother, Kenzie, during the borough’s Light Up...
Aspinwall lights up for the holiday season
Aspinwall’s annual Light Up the Wall celebration took place Dec. 6. Commercial and Brilliant avenues were packed with people and activities. There were ice sculptures, face painting, cookie decorating, carolers, food trucks, balloon artists, a magic show, flame eaters from Sirkus Days and more. Santa and his helpers were inside...
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials approve 2026 budget with 2% tax hike
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board Wednesday evening passed a 2026 budget that includes a 2% tax hike. The $731.3 million budget passed unanimously. However, the board voted 6-3 on the tax rate, with School Directors Dwayne Barker, Tawana Cook Purnell and board Vice President Tracey Reed dissenting. The district’s tax...
Fox Chapel councilman stepping down to become next mayor; vacancy pending
Fox Chapel Council soon will have a vacancy as one of its members is stepping down to become the borough’s next mayor. In the spirit of passing the torch, Mayor Alex Scott III passed a green hat with a fox on it to Councilman Jonathan Colton on Nov. 17. Colton,...
Fox Chapel officials hold the line on borough real estate taxes for 2026
Fox Chapel property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes in order to maintain borough services. Council voted 6-0 Dec. 15 to pass its 2026 budget and maintain the tax rate at 2.95 mills. Council President Andrew Bennett was absent. There are no cuts to borough...
CeaseFirePA hosts vigil against gun violence at Sewickley United Methodist Church
Donna Hyatt remembered her grandson’s 2022 killing like it was yesterday. Jorden Lee Puskar, 21, of Coraopolis, was fatally shot the early morning of Jan. 22 that year along the 100 block of Prospect Street. Hyatt shared the story of her grandson’s murder during a vigil at Sewickley United Methodist...
Legislation to rename Sewickley post office in honor of late African-American historian, author passes House
The Sewickley post office is one step closer to being renamed in honor of a late Black borough historian and author. U.S. House of Representatives unanimously voted Dec. 10 to name the facility at 521 Thorn St. the Mary Elizabeth “Bettie” Cole Post Office Building. The proposed legislation, H.R. 1461,...
Blawnox officials hold line on real estate taxes, garbage fees; water/sewage bills will increase
Blawnox property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes next year. However, sewer and water rates are going up in 2026. Council voted 6-0 Dec. 10 to pass the budget and maintain the tax rate at 10.85 mills. Councilman Mark Lombardi was absent. Council last raised...
Leetsdale hikes property taxes 5.5% next year
Leetsdale property owners will have to pay about 5.5% more in real estate taxes next year. Council voted 6-0 on Thursday to approve its 2026 budget. Councilman Roger Nanni was absent. A separate motion to set the millage rate at 9.5 mills, a 0.5-mill jump, passed 5-1. One mill equals...
Leet commissioners maintain tax rate, programs and services in 2026 budget
Leet property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes as part of the township’s 2026 budget. Commissioners unanimously voted Dec. 8 to pass next year’s spending plan and maintain the millage rate at 9.1 mills. Township officials raised taxes in the 2025 budget by 1.4 mills,...
Bell Acres approves 5.8% tax increase with 2026 budget
Bell Acres property owners will see a 5.8% real estate tax increase next year. Council voted 6-0 on Dec. 8 to approve its 2026 budget and bump the millage rate from 4.82 mills to 5.07 mills. Council vice president Brock Meanor was absent. It is the first tax hike in...
New Quaker Valley High School opening pushed back
The projected opening of a new Quaker Valley High School has been pushed back for the second time this year while school district officials continue to seek federal and state permits related to its construction. Administrators initially had hoped to open the doors of the proposed 167,000-square-foot facility in June...
Sewickley officials maintain real estate tax rate in 2026 budget
Sewickley property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes to balance next year’s borough budget. Council unanimously voted Dec. 9 to pass its 2026 spending plan and maintain the millage rate at 6.25 mills. The borough has not raised taxes for at least eight years. Borough...
Police: Man shot during burglary attempt at his Wilkinsburg home
A man was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in Wilkinsburg on Tuesday night. Allegheny County Police said officers were notified of a shooting shortly before 8 p.m. along the 2200 block of McNary Boulevard. First responders found a man shot in the torso. Police said preliminary information shows...
Sharpsburg officials hold the line on taxes with 2026 budget
Sharpsburg property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes to balance the borough’s budget next year. Council unanimously voted to pass its 2026 spending plan on Nov. 20. It maintains the tax rate at 9.75 mills, including the 0.5-mill emergency services tax. General fund proposed revenues...
Without closures, Pittsburgh Public Schools projects $6M deficit with 4% tax hike
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials plan to move into the new year with a more than $6 million projected budget deficit despite a proposed 4% tax hike. In a budget hearing Monday night, multiple district residents implored school board members and administrators to find creative ways of raising revenue beyond the...
Quaker Valley School Board reorganizes, welcomes new leadership
The Quaker Valley School Board is under new management. Daniela Helkowski and Geoff Barnes were appointed president and vice president, respectively, at a reorganization meeting on Dec. 3. School Director Missy Walls was also named new board treasurer as part of a shift in leadership following an election year and...
Aleppo’s proposed 2026 budget has no tax increase, paving and park projects postponed
Aleppo property owners should not expect to pay more in real estate taxes next year as part of the township’s proposed budget. Residents should also not expect to see any major paving or park upgrades as township officials plan to use 2026 as a savings year for future projects. Budget...
Glen Osborne officials seek to maintain real estate tax rate in 2026 budget
Glen Osborne officials plan to hold the line on real estate taxes in 2026. Council recently authorized advertising next year’s proposed spending plan, which maintains the tax rate at 4.9 mills. It would be the fifth consecutive year without a tax hike if the budget is passed as-is on Dec....
Blawnox officials approve new 5-year deal with public works department
Blawnox officials have approved a new five-year deal with their public works department, solidifying future operations and financial planning. It is one of the longest contracts in recent history and runs Jan. 1 through the end of 2030. The previous contract was three years and set to expire at the...
Pittsburgh police seek help to ID robbery suspect
Pittsburgh police seek help identifying a robbery suspect. A man wearing a black tossle cap, white mask, black peacoat and a yellow safety vest reportedly broke into a home around 1:30 p.m. Nov. 29 in the 1600 block of Beechwood Boulevard. Public Safety spokeswoman Emily Bourne said two youths were...
Philadelphia man guilty of threatening a political party employee seeking to recruit poll watchers
A Philadelphia man is facing up to five years in federal prison after admitting to sending threatening messages to a Pennsylvania political party employee. John Courtney Pollard, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon to a one-count indictment charging him with making interstate threats, federal authorities announced Thursday....
Blawnox to welcome new borough manager
Blawnox officials have tapped a former West Virginia city project manager and nonprofit leader as their next borough manager. Cory Dennison is set to take the reins from outgoing manager Kathy Ulanowicz on Dec. 5. He has been shadowing the longtime administrator and borough resident since Nov. 3. “I like...
Leetsdale officials to use eminent domain to acquire VFW Post’s parking lot for public Henle Park spaces
Leetsdale officials plan to use eminent domain to acquire the borough’s Veterans of Foreign Wars’ parking lot. Council recently approved advertising an ordinance declaring its intentions to take the 36 off-street parking spots at 515 Beaver St., also known as Leetsdale VFW Post 3372. The plan is to use those...
Bell Acres officials plan to raise taxes by about 5.8% next year
Bell Acres property owners should expect to pay about 5.8% more in real estate taxes next year. Council recently approved advertising its 2026 budget that contains a 0.25-mill hike. That raises the millage rate from 4.82 mills to 5.07 mills. The total millage includes a 0.5-mill fire tax. The budget...
