Carnegie Farmers Market ready for another season
One of the bigger farmer’s markets in the southwestern Allegheny County area returns this summer. The Carnegie Farmer’s Market kicks off July 6 and runs every Sunday until Sept. 21, with the exception of Labor Day Weekend, said coordinator Sam Bigham. In July and August, hours will be from noon...
Perking up: How the arrival of a coffee shop can get a small town buzzing
Avonmore has long chased an economic renaissance that never quite arrived. If anything, the dream of a bustling business community slipped further out of reach when the town’s rolling mill closed in 2019, taking more than 100 jobs with it. But the borough has a coffee shop among its small...
HVAC workers power through heat wave
Alyssa Seibel isn’t the technician one expects to see if their AC unit buckles under this week’s intense summer heat. Under 5 feet tall, blonde and 19 years old, Seibel, an HVAC tech apprentice with MW Mechanical Services in New Kensington, is just one of a battalion of HVAC workers...
OnlyFans performer pleads guilty to extorting $24K from North Huntington man in online scheme
A North Carolina woman was paroled from the Westmoreland County Prison on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to operating an online theft and extortion plot last year against a North Huntingdon man. Prosecutors said the scheme had the victim paying nearly $24,000 over several months to a woman who investigators...
Monroeville updates convention center, prepares for summer road program
Monroeville officials are updating the Monroeville Convention Center, after purchasing it in 2024, and most of the work is being paid for with grant funding. “We recently installed five new rooftop air conditioning units for about $485,000, and that’s the only thing we’ve paid for as far as improvements,” Councilman...
Gateway technology coach: AI can support learning, streamline teaching tasks
If artificial intelligence is the future, Gateway technology coach Troy Ulewicz wants to ensure the district is bringing it to students in a responsible way. Ulewicz furthered that goal by taking part in a monthslong fellowship focused on how AI can be used in school districts. “It does streamline a...
Local veterans inducted into Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s ‘In Memory’ program
Several local veterans were inducted into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s “In Memory” program during a mid-June ceremony in Virginia. Thirty soldiers from Pennsylvania were part of a group of 770 inducted during a ceremony held June 14 at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Va. The ceremony...
Friends by chance, they’re steady fixtures at Sandcastle — even amid the heat wave
More than an hour before Sandcastle Water Park opens in West Homestead, a tight-knit group of friends can be found waiting to claim lawn chairs by the pool. Chuck George became friends with Roseanne Fowler and Roseann Hill more than eight years ago after meeting them at the water park....
Gambling regulators approve bans for 15 scofflaws who join 1,390 others who can’t bet in Pa.
Three people who left children unattended while they gambled at Philadelphia-area casinos were among those banned from gambling at casinos, using online betting sites or video gaming terminals in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday placed a total of 15 people on its involuntary exclusion lists. There are...
Aquinas Academy teams win 1st place in diocesan LitFest competition
Middle school students at Aquinas Academy shared first place and a love of reading at LitFest. LitFest encourages students in grades four through eight to engage with literature in a way that goes beyond typical classroom reading. Coordinated by the Diocese of Pittsburgh, it was held May 1 at Ave...
Full steam ahead: Whiskey Throttle Fair on tap for Westmoreland Fairgrounds this weekend
Westmoreland County natives Mike Morelli and Justin Lilienthal are throwing the biggest party of their lives this weekend. They are planners of the first-ever Whiskey Throttle Fair — featuring bands, car and bike shows, tattoo artists and food vendors — at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township this Friday...
Pine-Richland approves purchase of new computers, auditorium updates
Some Pine-Richland School District students and teachers will have new computers when they return to classes in the fall. The school board at its June 23 meeting approved spending about $561,200 to buy Chromebooks for students, laptops for teachers and classroom computers from Bluum and MacBooks from Apple. Money for...
Ross police issue warning over ‘check washing’ tied to McKnight Road post office
Police in Ross are warning people against leaving checks in the mail boxes outside the McKnight Road post office. In a social media post Wednesday, Ross police said they have taken several reports from residents who had personal checks they had written to various debtors cashed by other parties for...
Housing for foreign high school students could be coming to Oakmont
The former site of the Oakmont Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation could become a student housing center for private school students from Europe and Asia. A petition to obtain a special exemption to use the property as dormitory-style housing for high school students was passed in a 2-0 vote by...
Pittsburgh Zoo receives $10 million donation
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium received a $10 million donation Wednesday that will pay for new zoo facilities and programs. The donors have decided to remain anonymous, according to a statement from the zoo. “This tremendous gift really serves as a catalyst for other gifts and growth at the Zoo,”...
Man dies after falling down open stairwell in Downtown Pittsburgh apartment building
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the man who died Wednesday after police say he apparently fell multiple stories in an open stairwell of a Downtown apartment building. The victim was Michael Mongelluzzo, 52, of Pittsburgh, according to the medical examiner’s office. Pittsburgh police responded around noon to...
Riverview School District introduces robotics initiative for 2025-26
Cathy Favo wants her students to be equipped to explore any job they might want to pursue when they get older. In her sixth grade STEAM classes at Riverview School District, Favo teaches her students about topics such as coding, engineering and design. “(The class) is meant to give the...
‘Your choice destroyed this family’: Man gets life for killing ex-girlfriend
The defendant spent 13 minutes telling the court how much he loved the victim, how much he loved her family, how grateful he was to have been a part of it. And how he never intended to kill her. But that statement, read from handwritten notes that went on for...
Freeport sports card shop headed to Buffalo Township
After three years in Freeport, G&T Sports Cards Plus will soon have a new home a few miles north. Specializing in sports trading cards and collectibles, the shop is set to relocate to 309 South Pike Road (Route 356) in Buffalo Township, according to owner Tyler Huth. The reason for...
Giant Eagle buys prescription files from another 15 Rite Aid stores, completing buying spree
Giant Eagle has purchased prescription files from another 15 Rite Aid stores as part of a fourth and final wave of transfers from the bankrupt pharmacy chain to the Cranberry-based grocer. Altogether, Giant Eagle has bought files from 83 Rite Aid stores across Pennsylvania and Ohio since late May. The...
Pittsburgh Diocese to welcome 2 new priests
Deacons Alec Scheuer and Daniel Roberts didn’t imagine they’d end up dedicating their lives to the Catholic church. Though he was raised Catholic, Roberts, a 1997 graduate of North Hills Senior High School, said he started out as a “freelance actor” in Los Angeles and thought his path would lead...
Buffalo Supervisors mull limits to public comment at meetings
At an early morning special meeting on Wednesday, Buffalo Township Supervisors tabled a resolution that would place limits on public comment at meetings amid recent community objections to proposed solar farms. A public hearing for the farms earlier this month took several hours as around 35 residents voiced opposition to...
Westmoreland happenings: History program about electricity, flea market, more
Fundraisers • The used bookstore at the YWCA of Westmoreland County, 424 N. Main St., Greensburg, has added evening hours on Mondays. Hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and the first Saturday of each month. Proceeds benefit YWCA programs. •...
O’Hara book-lover turns the page on a new job post-retirement
Karen Fornari grew up walking herself to the public library in her hometown of Indiana, Pa. “From childhood, I was a reader. Nancy Drew was my favorite,” Fornari said. “I always looked for the brand new books and it was exciting.” Her love of books continues post-retirement with a part-time...
1.7 million window AC units recalled nationwide
With extreme heat plaguing Western Pennsylvania, window air conditioners are working overtime across the region. But residents should double check their model. Midea recently recalled about 1.7 million U and U+ window air conditioners nationwide for risk of mold exposure, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Included in...