Natalie Beneviat stories, Page 10

North Allegheny placed first and second in debate, third in speech and won second place overall in the Pennsylvania High School Speech League State Championships March 17-18 in Bloomsburg. Thirty-five members of the North Allegheny Speech and Debate team from grades nine through 12 qualified to attend the two-day championships....

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a change in the meeting location for the April 15 cleanup. A record-breaking 2,000 bags of trash is the unofficial goal for spring roadside cleanup events in McCandless, a volunteer opportunity happening April 15 and 22. When the town started the...

There was something missing for the Birnbaum family when they moved to North Allegheny from Baltimore in 2020. Aaron Birnbaum, who is on the autism spectrum, was hoping to find performances here in Pittsburgh similar to the Azure family concerts in Baltimore. These concerts provide a relaxed environment for people...

The North Allegheny School District placed its schools in a precautionary secure mode for about 90 minutes on Wednesday , after schools in Pittsburgh and around the state received threats that later turned out to be hoaxes. NA first notified families and student caretakers by an email from NA Superintendent...

The North Allegheny School Board approved purchasing up to $1.25 million worth of Apple and Windows devices for students and staff as part of the district’s annual summer technology refresh. The school board vote on March 15 enables the district to continue to provide an iPad or a Windows laptop...

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the number of calls the ambulance authority responded to in 2022. When Christopher Dell came on board last July as chief of the McCandless- Franklin Park Ambulance Authority, he said, one of its goals was for him to help “right the...

Keeping up training and morale are part of the vibe at McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority. Employees had the idea to convert an unused office space at the authority’s main station on Grubbs Road into what looks like the interior of an ambulance cabin. The office is about the size of...

Editor’s note: This story corrects the number of choral students at North Allegheny Intermediate High School and North Allegheny Senior High School for the current year and removes references to the 2023-24 school year. For TikTokers, the question usually is ‘what’s trending?’ At North Allegheny, it’s the choral department. NA...

The North Allegheny School Board on March 15 approved continuing the Project Lead The Way engineering program at North Allegheny’s middle and high schools, but with the addition of a privacy notice for parents and students to sign. The NASD school board had tabled a decision at its Feb. 15...

The 5K Dyngus Day Dash is returning to North Park on April 15 for its third annual celebration of everything Polish. The fun run/walk will be held at 9 a.m. and registration by March 31 guarantees a race T-shirt, according to Michele Mrozek, race organizer. The family-friendly race for runners,...

A Franklin Park woman dedicated to stopping the stigma attached to addiction and mental illness was honored this month with the Laura Ditka Award for Advocacy and Service. Sherry Jo Matt, founder of Stop the Judgement, received the award at the Cribs for Kids 2023 Women of Achievement event held...

It’s not often a highway construction project can be categorized as an artistic experience. But that’s the case with Penn­DOT’s Highland Park Interchange Project for which locally based, award-winning artist Brian Peters designed unique sound barrier walls. The wavy design is inspired by the waters of the Allegheny River, situated...

Tickets are on sale for the Northland Public Library’s 2023 Garden Gala: An Enchanted Evening, to be held April 22, from 7:30-10 p.m. at the library on 300 Cumberland Road in McCandless. This year’s gala will embrace a new Enchanted Evening theme, said Alexis McKinley, director of the Northland Public...

For students looking for a summer job, the Career Exploration and Opportunity Fair might be just the place to find one. The job fair will be held March 16, from 6-8:30 p.m. at the North Allegheny Intermediate High School, off Cumberland Road. A summer employment, internship, and volunteer opportunities fair...

North Allegheny’s solicitor is reviewing an agreement for a technology and engineering course used by the district to determine whether the program’s outside operator is seeking too much personal data about students. NA School Board Director Marcie Crow said Project Lead The Way, offered by the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of...

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a cake and cookie decorating class on March 16, at the Marshall Township Municipal Building on Pleasant Hill Road. Michelle Maseth of One Sweet Cookie Bakery in Baden, Beaver County, will host two events that day. Participants will decorate a leprechaun and pot-of-gold cookie, as...

A mountain bike skills park, a fly-tying club, and a library program for deaf and hard of hearing students are among the projects funded by eight grants awarded by the North Allegheny Foundation. The foundation, which raises funds to benefit the school district, will provide $22,935 worth of grants, which...

The Northland Public Library in McCandless has been awarded a $750,000 matching grant from the state that will help with needed building upgrades. The Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund is supplying the grant, which is used for the planning, acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of public library facilities. “We’re so...

North Allegheny Women’s Association will have a busy spring hosting an adult-only egg hunt in April and inviting local women to apply for the association’s 2023 academic scholarship. NAWA, a local social and charitable organization uniting women through service and community, will hosting its annual adult egg hunt April 14,...

The nonprofit Bradford Woods Women’s Club is hosting “An Afternoon Tea” on April 15 at 1 p.m. at the Bradford Woods Community Church on Wexford Run Road. Tickets cost $32 and go on sale on March 1 at the Berry Vine Gift Shop at 185 Bradford Road. Space is limited....

Upgrades to the trail system in Marshall Township are expected this summer thanks to a $1.4 million grant from the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County. Marshall will use the funds to help construct missing links to the current trail network, which will increase pedestrian access throughout the township. The township...

An especially large “retirement class” of employees will exit the North Allegheny School District in June, taking with them a combined 518 years of service, according to Marijane Treacy, human resources director for the district. The North Allegheny School Board approved 23 resignations at its Feb. 15 meeting — 19...

A yellow sea sponge and a pink starfish will lead an aquatic crew in song and dance in this year’s North Allegheny High School spring musical, “The SpongeBob Musical,” March 1-5. SpongeBob and his best friend Patrick Star, along with their oceanic friends, are the center of a musical based...

Kevin Cavlovich, the late head custodian at Hosack Elementary, had been such a welcoming presence at the school’s front entrance that one parent once thought he was a principal there. That is just one of the stories Stephanie Waters shared about her brother, who passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 5...

Abandoned, alone and forgotten. Such was the story for one weary traveler until a good-hearted United Airlines pilot rescued him from a lost luggage claim in Newark, N.J. GeoBear No. 44, a traveling stuffed animal from a class of McKnight Elementary fifth-graders in 2014, was off to see the world...