Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 22

Visitors to First United Presbyterian Church in Tarentum will get a fresh welcome next week. Crews are pouring new concrete steps and a railing after the entrance was damaged in a vehicle crash last fall. “It’s finally the point where the weather is nice enough to get the concrete and...

Prosecutors haven’t decided whether to pursue the death penalty against a Harrison nurse charged by state authorities with allegedly killing two patients and injuring a third while she cared for them. Heather Pressdee, 40, wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit and shackles in District Judge Lewis Stoughton’s courtroom, remained silent during...

Volunteers at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church have opened the doors to collections, officially kicking off Harvest Fair season. The fair is a two-day event with thousands of items for sale. Preparations began June 2 and will continue through the first week of September, when volunteers work for days to display...

Friends of a man stabbed to death Sunday in Tarentum have started a GoFundMe to help his family with burial expenses. Thomas Baczynski, 26, died about 6:30 p.m. at a local hospital after a fight in the rear of Davidson Street along Companion Way. “Thomas was a quiet young man...

Harrison Cub Scouts gave up a couple of hours of free time on Memorial Day to honor veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in war. Cub Scout Pack 186, sponsored by Guardian Angels Parish, dressed up the gravesites at the historic Prospect Cemetery in Brackenridge that spans 13 acres off...

Visitors to the Burtner House in Harrison can learn to churn butter, weave wool and cook over an open fire — all while eating shortcake and ice cream — during the annual Strawberry Festival. None of this would be possible, however, without a sturdy stock of volunteers. ”There’s so much...

Highlands School District residents likely will pay the same in real estate taxes next school year after the board approved its $51.9 million budget. The plan maintains a tax rate of 25.13 mills. If approved, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 again will pay $2,513. The total budget...

A threat made against Highlands High School on Friday morning was determined to be unfounded, according to district officials. An alert was sent to families about 11:20 a.m., informing them of a threat made earlier in the day. Principal Mike Toole said on a recorded message that the threat was...

Legal and financial details are being ironed out for Tarentum to absorb the Brackenridge Police Department and provide coverage to both boroughs by the end of the year. “We’ve met with the state several times and had a few formal conversations among everyone involved,” Tarentum Borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said....

The parking lot at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church is bound to turn a few heads on Father’ Day. Vintage vehicles will fill the lot during the annual “Cool Cars, Cool Dads” event from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. “I originated the idea as a fellowship event following worship, though now...

Dorm room trash at Point Park University has turned into treasure for the Poppin’ Tags Free Store in West Deer. College police, tasked with clearing rooms after students leave for the summer, had a choice whether to toss leftover food, bedding and clothes into dumpsters or put the items to...

Political newcomers prevailed in all three races for Kiski supervisors, ousting incumbents and all but securing victories in November, according to results certified Tuesday by the Armstrong County Elections Bureau. Republican Brittany Hilliard, the woman embroiled in a social media scandal before the May primary, easily secured one of the...

Walkers and bikers who use Broadview Boulevard in Harrison soon will have a safer pathway in the area near the Harrison Hi-Rise. Crews have begun installation of upgraded sidewalks near the apartment building, just past the Heights Plaza shopping center. The cost of the work will be paid by a...

A West Deer free store and an Arnold food pantry have teamed up to foster overdose awareness in the communities. Up to 76 doses of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal spray, will be distributed June 11 during food pantry hours at the Speed Family Blessing Box along Fifth Avenue in...

Spring Sanity was unleashed Thursday at Highlands High School, and students got to take their best shot at teachers — by dunking them in a 5-foot water tank. The teens took a break from Keystone testing and final exams for a two-day, fun-filled outdoor event in the courtyard. Spring Sanity...

Ten Fox Chapel Area seniors have been honored by the Rotary for outstanding achievement and embodiment of good citizenship and service to others. Rotary Club of Fox Chapel Area gave the students a monetary award and a certificate from youth committee Chair Bill McConnel during a mid-May luncheon at the...

A Sharpsburg gallery will host a mixed media exhibition that explores sensation and perception through work by 18 neurodivergent artists. “Sensational: Observations on Sensory Processing Through a Neurodivergent Lens,” will run through June 4 at Atithi Studios along North Canal Street. The event is a collaboration between Evolve Coaching and...

When renowned Stanford economist John Taylor takes the stage at Shady Side Academy’s commencement June 2, he’ll urge students to continue to pursue education and maintain a mix of work and pleasure throughout their lives. “Don’t be discouraged by the occasional let-down after a change,” Taylor plans to tell the...

The Harrison Commissioners didn’t break the law but they appear to have violated the intent of the state’s Open Meetings law when they voted during last week’s agenda meeting to hire the township’s new police chief, according to an attorney for the PA NewsMedia Association. “Residents and taxpayers expect and...

Wexford resident Jeff Rixie was crowned King of the Hill after making his way to the top of Center Avenue in Aspinwall in record time. The winner of the second annual footrace fundraiser, “Run for the Hill of It,” finished in just under six minutes. He was one of nearly...

O’Hara musician Craig Cannon is moving into his next, possibly best, chapter. The man synonymous with music across the Lower Allegheny Valley is hanging up his vocal hat, or at least the daily grind of it all. Cannon, who retired as choral director in 2013 from the Fox Chapel Area...

Harrison resident Cindy Fantuzzo has a date Thursday with her goldendoodle puppy, Willow. The pair will celebrate the opening of the long-awaited dog park at Harrison Hills, the 500-acre Allegheny County-owned park off Freeport Road in Harrison. “So many people have been anxiously waiting for it to open,” said Fantuzzo,...

Harrison has a new police chief for the first time in nearly three decades. Sgt. Brian Turack, a member of the department for about 12 years, was hired by township commissioners during their agenda meeting May 16, Commissioner Jim Erb said. Turack starts in the new role July 1, replacing...

Tarentum native Megan Grevas moved away from home several years ago but always circles a weekend in June to visit. Grevas and her family plan the short drive from Pittsburgh’s Ingram neighborhood to spend the Feast of Corpus Christi “coloring” one of the church parking lots of Guardian Angels Parish....

Sometimes you get an email that you just can’t believe. For Highlands Middle School teacher Jennifer Kosior, it was an announcement from the happiest place on Earth, naming her a winner in the Disney 100 Teachers Celebration. “I don’t think I can put it into words,” said Kosior, the school’s...