Michael DiVittorio stories, Page 8
Quaker Valley School District officials, staff prepare for start of 2025-26 school year
Quaker Valley School District officials and staff are eager to welcome nearly 1,830 students at the start of the 2025-26 school year. Students in kindergarten through ninth grade are expected to report Wednesday, Aug. 20, and all students will be in schools the following day. Staffers are to report Thursday,...
Fox Chapel Area School District officials and staff prepare for 2025-26 school year
Fox Chapel Area School District officials and staff are eager to welcome students for the 2025-26 school year. The first day of school is Aug. 21. Officials said there are about 355 teachers ready to educate about 4,330 students, an increase of 52 students from last school year’s 4,278 enrollment....
Aspinwall’s Big Night Out not a small feat
What appeared to be little light blue clouds covering part of Aspinwall’s recreation site along Field Avenue were just bundles of a sweet treat. Cotton candy was cranked out nonstop for several hours as about 1,000 people took to the ball fields for Aspinwall’s Big Night out celebration on Aug....
Sewickley first responders, community celebrate inaugural Night Out
Sewickley police Sgt. Dave Yurkovac said expectations were exceeded with the department’s inaugural National Night Out celebration outside the borough building. About 500 people were estimated to have participated in the two-hour event along Thorn Street on Aug. 5. Festivities included a performance by The Deuces Wild Band, a balloon...
Police: Man in critical condition after being shot in McKeesport
A man has been hospitalized in critical condition after being shot late Wednesday in McKeesport. Allegheny County Police said officers were notified of a shooting around 9:30 p.m. along the 700 block of Sixth Street. First responders found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to local hospital...
Verona to host its likely last pro wrestling fundraising event
Verona officials are hoping to pack Cribbs Field with hundreds of people for what may be the final pro wrestling event in “the spot that’s more than a dot.” Battle in the Borough 7 on Saturday, Aug. 16, is the next event on the farewell tour of Keystone State Wrestling...
Lower Burrell church’s Festival of Friendship continues Saturday
St. Margaret Mary parishioner Linda McAlpine believes the only way her church’s annual Festival of Friendship happens is through the hard work and dedication of many volunteers. The festival, on the church grounds at 3055 Leechburg Road in Lower Burrell, has taken place for several decades with only a year...
Pittsburgh man arrested in connection with bank robbery in Bloomfield
Quick action by city police and a detective on Thursday led to the quick apprehension of a suspected bank robber in Bloomfield, police said. Aaron Roth, 36, is charged with robbery and theft of property for allegedly robbing the First National Bank along the 4700 block of Liberty Avenue. Public...
Officer-involved shooting in Greenfield under investigation
One person was transported to a local hospital from the scene of a shooting along the 4100 block of Murray Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood Wednesday. Allegheny County dispatch said the call for the shooting came in at 10:12 p.m. Allegheny County Police via its Facebook page said they were...
Pittsburgh drug ring leader sentenced to prison
A Pittsburgh man who authorities say was the ringleader of a drug-trafficking organization has been sentenced to nine to 18 years in prison for for distributing controlled substances in Beaver and Allegheny counties. Dennis Alexander, 29, was sentenced after having pleaded guilty to four counts of possession with intent to...
Sewickley Police Department trying again for its 1st Night Out
It is almost unheard of to get a second chance to make a first impression. However, Sewickley police have that opportunity in what is expected to be the department’s inaugural National Night Out celebration. National Night Out began in 1984 as a community-building event designed to promote police-community relationships. It...
Aspinwall inks new 10-year deal for water from Fox Chapel Water Authority
Aspinwall officials recently inked a new 10-year deal with Fox Chapel Water Authority to supply water to the borough. Borough Manager Melissa O’Malley said the authority’s prices have increased from $5.86 per 1,000 gallons to $6.36 per 1,000 gallons. That cost is locked in for the length of the contract....
Indiana Township’s Emmerling Park to double in size with recent property purchase
Emmerling Park in Indiana Township is growing about twice its size after a recent property purchase. Supervisors recently authorized the purchase of nearly 60 acres of undeveloped commercially zoned land to effectively double the parkland off Cove Run Road. The new land encompasses Deer Creek near the pedestrian bridge on...
O’Hara Touch-a-Truck showcases township trucks, staff
Henry Reinecke sat pretty comfortably inside one of the large O’Hara public service trucks on a sunny afternoon. Wearing a plastic firefighter helmet, the 7-year-old Fox Chapel boy leaned back in the passenger seat and stretched his legs toward the dashboard. Henry was accompanied by his younger sister, Allison, 3,...
Aspinwall launches new borough website
Aspinwall officials have recently launched a new borough website designed to make it easier for residents and others to access departments, documents and other important information. Aspinwallpa.gov went live on July 14. It features substantial changes both in layout and domain name from its previous incarnation, aspinwallpa.com. “Many boroughs and...
New ADA parking spaces reignite property line disputes in Leetsdale
Ongoing disputes between Leetsdale VFW Post 3372 and the borough have gone to a new level as a result of recently installed Americans with Disabilities compliant parking spaces at Henle Park. The borough had received grant funding through the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development and Quaker Valley Council of...
Ligonier woman killed by falling tree branch at softball event in McKeesport
A Ligonier woman was killed Wednesday after tree branches fell on her at a youth softball event in McKeesport. Gendie Miller, 49, was attending the event to watch her teenage daughter participate. USA Softball of Western Pennsylvania officials said the incident took place prior to game play during the Western...
Blawnox Community Park mural highlights nature, spring colors
A pair of Pittsburgh area artists have brought some nature and seasonal colors to Blawnox Community Park as part of a mural project commissioned by a borough nonprofit. Monica Cervone McElwain of Glenshaw and Lynn Ratkovich of Brighton Heights spent several weeks this summer putting brush to the wall of...
Exterior renovation project underway at Sewickley Public Library
Bob Lavery has been coming to the Sewickley Public Library for nearly 30 years. The borough resident has witnessed many of its renovations and rehabilitations from the expansion in the late 1990s and the replacement of its Spanish tile roof of the reference department (also known as the original entrance...
Indiana Township paving project to begin soon
Paving will soon be underway in Indiana Township. Supervisors recently awarded this year’s road repair project to Bakerstown-based Shields Asphalt Paving. They were the lowest of six bidders seeking to repave 12 streets in the township’s Indianola neighborhood. Public works crews were doing asphalt prep work along multiple roads this...
diVino Wine Bar a step closer to opening in Leetsdale
A push to turn a former Leetsdale church into a wine bar has led to a change in the borough’s zoning ordinance that could make it easier for future building use changes. Nate and Valeriya Harsch of Harmony Township plan to open diVino Wine Bar & Retail at 126 Broad...
Sewickley Chamber Night Marts continue July 25
Sewickley Valley Chamber of Commerce officials are counting on repeat success as they plan for this summer’s next Night Mart. The first of three major summer gatherings of food vendors and crafters took place on June 27. Organizers estimate more than 2,000 people packed the Sewickley business district from 6-9...
Blawnox borough manager retiring at the end of the year
The search is on for a new Blawnox borough manager as Kathly Ulanowicz plans to call it a career at the end of this year. Council voted 6-0 on July 9 to post the top administrative position. Councilman Mark Lombardi was absent. Borough officials plan to advertise it through the...
Leetsdale mayor receives state service award
Leetsdale Mayor Sandra Ford is known in her community as someone to bring concerns to and who cares deeply about people. She has organized various senior luncheons and holiday events, is in her fourth year as head of the borough’s food pantry and oversees the police department, among other duties....
O’Hara welcomes new social worker to the township
Kayla Somerville has found herself in a new community with the same goal of helping people. The Butler resident and University of Pittsburgh grad was recently hired as O’Hara’s human services coordinator and leads the township’s social worker program. She works closely with the police department to help residents with...
