Western PA Local News category, Page 1913
Highlands students rally behind English teacher battling brain cancer
Kurt Landsberg holds a long list of titles: husband, father, longtime soccer coach and beloved English teacher at Highlands High School. He recently added another: cancer patient. Landsberg, 47, of Springdale, was diagnosed in late March with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. After Landsberg began experiencing issues with...
The Stroller, May 17, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Information about Memorial Day events should be sent as soon as possible to: Carol Pinto-Smith, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084; e-mail cpinto-smith@triblive.com or fax 724-226-4677. Help needed to place flags on vets’ graves in Freeport Volunteers are needed Wednesday to place flags on veterans’ graves for...
New York man charged in child sexual trafficking linked to Monroeville, Erie
A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has indicted a New York man on a charge of child trafficking, prosecutors said. Adrian Petty, 26, of Buffalo is the sole defendant in the grand jury’s recently unsealed indictment, Acting U.S. Attorney Stephen Kaufman said. According to the indictment, Petty was charged for...
Police: McKees Rocks man dead, another man hurt in Homewood shooting
A McKees Rocks man was killed and another man was wounded early Sunday in a shooting in Homewood, Pittsburgh police said. Police responded to a Shotspotter alert for 11 rounds that were fired about 3:45 a.m. in the 600 block of North Dallas Avenue. Officers discovered a man with multiple...
Police: Man arrested after fatal shooting at Washington County graduation party
One man was killed at a graduation party in Washington County on Saturday, and the man accused in the killing was arrested, according to police. Richard Lawrence Rollison, 54, of Washington was charged with homicide after a shooting at his home on the 500 block of Pleasant Valley Road in...
Victim of Homewood fatal shooting identified as 17-year-old from Verona
Authorities have identified the victim of a fatal shooting in Homewood on Sunday afternoon. Police responded to a reported shooting at around 3:40 p.m. on the 7900 block of Frankstown Avenue on the border of the city’s Homewood and East Hills neighborhoods, according to a Tweet from Pittsburgh Public Safety....
New bishop presides at first maskless Mass at Saint Vincent Basilica
In yet another sign that the world is beginning to reopen from the covid-19 pandemic, Bishop Larry Kulick of the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg celebrated Mass without a mask Sunday for the first time in more than a year. The occasion was a visit to the Saint Vincent Basilica Parish...
$3 million in stimulus money two months away, North Hutingdon officials told
North Huntingdon will get about $3 million from the federal American Rescue Plan for a variety of public projects, but township officials were told not to expect the check right away. It could be another 60 days before North Huntingdon gets the money under the stimulus relief package that Congress...
Lower Burrell and public works employees reach deal on new contract
Lower Burrell council recently approved a new five-year labor agreement with its 10 public works department employees who are represented by the United Steelworkers. Both sides said they were happy with the contract that provides 1.5% in the first year, then 2.5 %, 2.5% and 3% in successive years and...
Feds assisting North Huntingdon police investigating car explosion
Authorities are investigating a car explosion in North Huntingdon on Saturday night. The vehicle exploded on Clay Pike shortly before midnight, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said. There were no injuries or damage to other property reported. The cause of the explosion is under investigation, according to the 911 dispatcher....
Vandergrift Borough’s website is up and running again
Vandergrift has solved its ongoing website issue. The borough had been without a functioning website since February. Visitors to the site encountered an oversized message stating it was no longer updated or maintained. Jim Rice of ASDM Networking was hired by the borough to get the website back up and...
Burrellton Garden Club to dedicate Blue Star plaque May 29 to honor veterans
The Burrellton Garden Club is sponsoring a Blue Star plaque dedication on Memorial Day weekend. The organization earned approval from a national club to bestow a Blue Star marker honoring all military veterans. The marker is a project of the National Garden Clubs. The event will take place Saturday, May...
Police: Coraopolis man falls to his death on West Carson Street
Pittsburgh police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a man’s fatal fall early Sunday morning on the South Side. Authorities say they responded to a report of a fall about 4:20 a.m. in the 1200 block of West Carson Street. The man was identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office...
Hamlet: Pittsburgh Public Schools will return for 5 days in person this fall
Pittsburgh Public School leaders said Friday that the district intends to reopen for full in-person learning next school year. “As the number of vaccinated individuals increases and covid-19 restrictions decrease, we are looking forward to the safe return of students for five days a week in-person instruction this fall,” Superintendent...
Fire destroys landmark Murrysville restaurant
Spaghetti & Steakhouse, a landmark on Route 22 in Murrysville for more than 50 years, was destroyed Sunday in an early morning fire. The restaurant that has fed generations of local families and survived the pandemic was a total loss. A dispatcher for Westmoreland 911 said a caller reported the...
South Hills real estate transactions for the week of May 16, 2021
Baldwin Borough Briar Cliff Financial Services LLC sold property at 952 Angelo Drive to Paul Chalmers for $68,000. Brian Pollitt sold property at 5274 Becky Drive to Nathan Bostedo and Crystak Pollitt for $160,000. Patrick Swindell sold property at 264 Cedar St. to Citylife South 2 LLC for $142,000. Estate...
Carnegie, South Fayette real estate transactions for the week of May 16, 2021
Bridgeville Matthew George sold property at 638 Chestnut St. to Christopher and Leslie Mosesso for $362,000. Dennis Bott sold property at 115 Greenwood Pl to Matthew and Lindsey George for $435,000. Carnegie Lorraine Barker sold property at 843 Charles St. to Alicia Mixter for $90,000. Northstar Chevrolet Inc. sold property...
Help wanted: Western Pa. businesses hurting from lack of worker interest to fill open jobs
Dino’s Sports Lounge is in the same boat as so many other employers — competing to attract workers in a market made all the harder by covid-19 and an extra $300 a week in benefits being pocketed by eligible jobless workers. “I can’t get people to apply,” said Dino DeCario,...
Is extra $300 in federal unemployment assistance stopping people from applying for jobs?
With about 56,000 people in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties reporting they are without a job, businesses still find themselves scrambling to fill vacancies. One reason cited for the challenge is the extra $300 a week in federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Assistance that people have collected since the end of December....
The Stroller, May 16, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Information about Memorial Day events should be sent as soon as possible to: Carol Pinto-Smith, Valley News Dispatch, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084; e-mail cpinto-smith@triblive.com or fax 724-226-4677. Play to highlight history of Vandergrift The Casino Theater in Vandergrift is seeking adults to audition for a two-act plan, “Vandergrift,”...
Trib Total Media names Luis Fabregas as next executive editor
A veteran, award-winning journalist and longtime Trib Total Media editor has been named the company’s next executive editor. Luis Fabregas will assume the role Sept. 16, succeeding Executive Editor Susan McFarland, who announced she will retire in the fall. “I am so pleased that we have someone with Luis’ talent,...
Hempfield opens long-awaited dog park
Hempfield Township is going to the dogs — literally. The Hempfield Parks and Recreation Department cut the ribbon on its first dog park on Saturday. The long-awaited facility got high marks from dog owners who showed up for an inaugural run. It includes two fenced-in off-leash runs for dogs 35...
Greensburg honors Hometown Heroes in ceremony that marks the reawakening of civic lifeVideo
Civic life in Greensburg inched open Saturday morning as local officials and families from across the region gathered at St. Clair Park on a sunny, maskless May morning to honor 66 Hometown Heroes featured on banners throughout Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg. The ceremony that featured music by the Westmoreland Symphony...
Mural project in New Kensington meant to inspire community, invite participation
Organizers of Murals on a Mission were expecting as many as 100 people to turn out Saturday for the first of several events promoting the painting of six murals in New Kensington over the next few months. Held at the Voodoo Brewing Co. on Fifth Avenue, Saturday’s event offered a...
Murrysville sidewalk artists ‘Chalk the Walk’ to benefit Community Park
A “Chalk the Walk” fundraiser was held at Murrysville Community Park on Saturday. For $10, people could reserve a 4-foot square space along the walking trail to create their chalk masterpieces. Proceeds from the event benefited the Murrysville Parks and Recreation Foundation’s trail painting project at the park....
