Tom Yerace stories

Arnold City Manager Mario Bellavia told council this week that the city is slowly but steadily climbing out of a budget hole. Bellavia said the city was looking at a major financial shortfall after the previous administration erred in creating this year’s budget. The budget overestimated the city’s 2024 revenue...

If and when Airbnb-type rentals start popping up in Freeport, borough officials say they will be ready. Council unanimously approved an ordinance governing short-term rentals offered by businesses such as Airbnb. The ordinance defines short-term rentals as a dwelling unit or part of one, that is available to rent for...

Christmas decorations once again will brighten Brackenridge Avenue this holiday season. Councilman Dino Lopreiato, chairman of parks and recreation, told Brackenridge Council he has ordered decorations to adorn utility poles along the business district’s main street. “Brackenridge Avenue will light up again like it used to,” Lopreiato said. He said...

The Buffalo Township supervisors have set up a busy night for themselves on Sept. 11. In addition to their normally scheduled meeting at 7:30 p.m., the supervisors will conduct three hearings. Two have been set for 7 p.m. and deal with the adoption of ordinances. One of those ordinance addresses...

The rat infestation in Arnold is so bad now that it could result in your car getting towed. City officials have been trying get the problem under control by cutting down on garbage that litters properties, streets and alleys. They say that rats are attracted to garbage that’s left out...

Springdale Township officials say they are getting an anticipated budget deficit under control. When the 2024 budget was approved in December, township commissioners projected $2.3 million in expenditures but only $1.7 million in revenue, leaving roughly $600,000 to be covered by the township’s financial reserves. Commissioner Tim Basilone said the...

Upper Burrell supervisors on Thursday rejected a request to rezone part of the former Oak Lake Golf Course for industrial use. In a 2-1 vote, the supervisors turned down the request by Gary Schoepke, owner of the property at 1151 Oak Lake Road, which is zoned for residential/agricultural use. He...

The ongoing battle over the West Deer zoning ordinance regarding gas and oil drilling will rage into September. On Wednesday, the township supervisors voted to hold yet another public hearing on proposed changes to Ordinance 454 at 6 p.m. Sept. 18. The action came after another lengthy discussion of the...

Springdale Township commissioners continue their push to modernize the township’s water distribution system with a recent software purchase. The township bought software from Diversified Technologies of Bloomsburg that will run numerous functions in the water system. It will be integrated with the remote-read water meters the township is in the...

Repair and renovation work on Springdale Junior-Senior High School apparently will not start any time soon. Pre-cast concrete panels on the back of the building’s ‘D’ wing have been shifting, according to Superintendent Patrick Graczyk. The panels were part of the high school expansion and renovation completed in 2012, according...

School taxes will rise in one of Freeport Area School District’s communities but drop in the two others, and school directors emphasized it’s not their idea. The school board approved the 2024-25 budget that lowers real estate taxes in the district’s Armstrong County communities by 10.42% but raises them 3.56%...

Brackenridge will address state Department of Environmental Protection concerns about water turbidity in its treatment operation through a consent agreement. Council unanimously approved the consent order and agreement from the DEP last week. Turbidity refers to cloudiness or a deficiency in purity in water usually caused by sediment, borough engineer...

Arnold officials want the leverage of being able to shut off water service to residents who don’t pay their sewage bills. They just don’t want to pay quite so much for that power. Under an agreement with the Municipal Authority of the City of New Kensington, the water supplier to...

The Allegheny Valley School Board has approved a 2024-25 proposed budget that raises real estate taxes by 2.65%. If the budget gains final approval at the June board meeting, a taxpayer who owns a property with the average assessed value of $85,900 will pay $1,837 in school taxes, an increase...

Westmoreland County property owners in Kiski Area School District could see a tax hike next year, but those in Armstrong County could get a tax cut. A preliminary budget approved this week would raise the tax rate 6.8% in the district’s eight Westmoreland County communities while decreasing the rate 7.7%...

Refuse-hauling contractors got an extra week to submit proposals for a joint contract covering Cheswick, Springdale and Springdale Township. Contractors have until 3 p.m. Thursday to submit bids, according to Springdale Township Solicitor Craig Alexander. Bids will be opened Monday. The communities have contracts that expire at the end of...

Kiski Area School District will be operating under a new administrative structure beginning July 1. It has some similarities to the one former Superintendent Misty Slavic proposed, but the school board rejected, in February. That proposal gave more responsibilities to certain administrators but also included salary increases ranging from 7.2%...

Burrell School District will lose nearly $20,000 in tax revenue following an assessment appeal settlement with the owner of Hillcrest Shopping Center. A settlement between the school district and the owners of the shopping center nestled between the Route 56 Bypass and Leechburg and Wildlife Lodge roads was approved by...

A new contract awards pay raises to Kiski Area School District educational support staff in each of the next five years. The school board unanimously ratified the five-year agreement with the Kiski Area Educational Support Professionals that runs from July 1 through June 30, 2029. It provides an 8% raise...

Kiski Area’s school directors didn’t look far to find their choice as the best qualified person to be superintendent. That turned out to be Assistant Superintendent Jason Lohr, whom they unanimously voted to succeed Misty Slavic. Board President Todd Sterlitz said after the news about Slavic’s sudden resignation broke in...

Regional ambulance service officials say they’ll try to grab a piece of increased state funding for emergency medical services, but repeated their plea for a new funding model. “In a nutshell, the system has been collapsing for a good while,” said Brad James of Eureka Hose EMS in Tarentum. The...

West Deer will be spending $68,700 to replace body cameras for its police officers, but without seeking competitive contract bids. The township supervisors approved the purchase of 20 new cameras from Digital Ally, the current supplier, upon the recommendation of police Chief Robert Loper. Township Manager Daniel Mator said the...

Arnold Council will vote at its April 9 meeting on several measures involving the police department, including contract revisions. Five actions were listed on council’s March agenda when it met this week, but all were tabled. Those items included: • A four-year contract for newly hired police Chief Josh Stanga;...

Fresh off the completion of Route 356 construction, Allegheny Township residents are looking at yet another big PennDOT project. A bridge on White Cloud Road tentatively will be rehabilitated or replaced starting in early 2027, according to PennDOT project manager Sean Sepe. Work will take about 2½ years at a...

Harrison intends to pave all or parts of 12 township streets this year, but a 13th will have to wait until its status is clarified. The Harrison commissioners awarded a $352,000 contract this week that calls for repaving Broadview Boulevard, from Alabama Avenue to Argonne Drive and from Dallas to...