Western PA Local News category, Page 2545
Carnegie Carnegie Corner by Maggie Forbes: A Centennial Worth Celebrating
The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall takes pride in celebrating milestones that are important to the Library & Music Hall, its community, the country — indeed the world itself. Readers of the Signal Item and the Library & Music Hall’s newsletter are correct if they think that I...
Drug ringleaders admit to moving 300 pounds of cocaine from L.A. to Penn Hills
A Georgia man admitted Friday to running a cross-country drug ring that moved as much as 300 pounds of cocaine from Los Angeles to Penn Hills in either an RV or a Mercedes-Benz van emblazoned with a promotional photo of “Sno Cold,” his rapper wife, officials said. Don Juan Mendoza,...
Duquesne University to bring Rome campus students back to U.S.
Duquesne University is making plans for students at its Rome campus to return to the United States after the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention on Friday evening raised the caution level against travel to Italy because of the growing coronavirus threat there. None of the 59 American students at...
Police look for suspects in $1K purchase using stolen Home Depot gift card
State police are asking for help in identifying a man and a woman who are suspected of using a stolen gift card to buy $1,000 worth of items at the West Mifflin Home Depot . Police say the pair was caught on surveillance cameras making the purchase on Sunday. According...
Springdale water project nears completion, concerns persist
Springdale’s water plant renovation project is nearly completed, but when the project will be finished remains unknown. Kevin Szakelyhidi of Bankson Engineering told council members during a lengthy special meeting on the project Tuesday that work is “99% complete.” The state Department of Environmental Protection will do an inspection when...
CommonWealth Press workers form union in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh screen printing company CommonWealth Press has unionized. The company announced its workers are now AFL/CIO members of The Printing, Publishing, and Media Workers Sector of the Communication Workers of America and the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters local 412. View this post on Instagram CommonWealth...
High school dancers from around the world visit Point Park for national dance festivalVideo
Driven by the dream of a college scholarship, high school dancers from around the world have traveled to Point Park University in Downtown Pittsburgh to perform for the country’s top dance schools during the National High School Dance Festival. “It is an amazing way to get my name out to...
Ken Hi’s Dick Tamburo excelled as major-college football player, coach, athletic director
It can be difficult for athletes to successfully make the transition from player to coach to athletic administrator, but New Kensington native Dick Tamburo stood out in all three endeavors. Tamburo was an all-state lineman for the former New Kensington High School’s WPIAL championship football teams who went on to...
Project will temporarily relocate North Huntingdon park-and-ride lot
A nearly $1.7 million construction and resurfacing project at Westmoreland County Transit’s park-and-ride lot in North Huntingdon will begin in mid-March, temporarily forcing hundreds of daily commuters to catch the bus about a mile away at a vacant Allegheny County store lot. Transit authority board members last week approved a...
Party swaps change face of Rostraver politics
The balance of political power in Rostraver shifted recently when two of the township’s commissioners changed their political affiliations from Democrat to Republican. In January, board Chairman John Lorenzo, who was elected in November as a Democrat, and Henry Boldyzar Jr., whose current four-year term started last year, switched parties...
Westmoreland Co. looking for new director of juvenile detention center; former head quit after altercation
The director of Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center resigned this week — a month after he was injured during an altercation between two teens at the facility. Controller Jeff Balzer, who serves as chairman of the county’s juvenile detention board of directors, confirmed Friday that Carlos Alejandre, who has served...
17-year-old boy charged with attempted homicide in connection to Duquesne shooting
Police arrested a 17-year-old boy Friday in connection to a Duquesne shooting that sent a man to the hospital in critical condition two weeks ago, officials said. Terril Leverett was taken into custody at Allegheny County Jail after officials served an arrest warrant at his home, Allegheny County Police Lt....
Harrison steelworkers rally ahead of contract’s end with Allegheny TechnologiesVideo
About 75 United Steelworkers union members held a rally Friday afternoon outside of Gate 6 at Allegheny Technologies Inc. in Harrison, calling for a better labor pact than the one that expires at midnight Saturday. The contract affects about 1,300 workers at nine locations. Negotiations started in January. The agreement...
Downtown Pittsburgh steam heat system ‘beyond repair,’ says mayor
A failing steam factory that has provided heat for more than a century to buildings in Downtown Pittsburgh is “beyond repair,” but plans are afoot for a national energy company to replace it with a new system that would provide heat and electricity through renewable energy, Mayor Bill Peduto said....
Hempfield school bus involved in New Stanton crashVideo
Nineteen students were on a Hempfield school bus involved in a crash Friday afternoon that sent the drivers of the bus and a Penske box truck to the hospital, according to New Stanton fire Chief Rob Cammarata. Officials responded to Pine Drive in New Stanton near the Timber Ridge Apartments...
Concert, vendor show in Jeannette will benefit cancer charity
When Rocco Monteleone of Penn Township was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in December 2018, the outpouring of support was immediate. Friends, neighbors and community members quickly formed Rocco’s Warriors to raise money for the 2-year-old’s treatment, and were devastated when he succumbed to the disease a few months later...
Obituary: William L. ‘Bill’ Smith of Upper St. Clair worked 42 years at U.S. Steel
Martin J. Smith once reached into the pocket of a tuxedo jacket his father William L. “Bill” Smith had given him and pulled out a special pin. The Civitan International pin had been passed down from Martin Smith’s grandfather. To the Smith family, it represented a life well lived. Smith...
Winter heating grants available to low-income households
As winter temperatures sweep the region, homeowners are reminded that crisis grants are available to income eligible households without heat or in danger of being without heat. Through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), those who qualify can receive cash grants ranging from $200 to $1,000 to assist...
Deer Lakes Bocce promotes inclusion, acceptanceVideo
Red, green, yellow and blue balls promote acceptance and inclusion at Deer Lakes High School and others across Western Pennsylvania. Deer Lakes is one of the latest school districts to implement the Unified Sports Program through Special Olympics Pennsylvania, which pairs students with special needs students to play bocce. “It...
Pitt commits to being carbon neutral by 2037
By 2037, University of Pittsburgh intends to be completely “carbon neutral,” just in time for its 250th anniversary. Pitt’s Board of Trustees voted Friday to support Chancellor Patrick Gallagher’s signing of the “Second Nature Climate Leadership Statement and Carbon Commitment,” a resolution to improve energy efficiency and sustainability. The commitment...
Pitt-Greensburg to hold mock primary on Super Tuesday
Pennsylvania’s primary isn’t until April 28, but students at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg will have the chance to cast a ballot next week during a mock primary on Super Tuesday. The mock primary has been a campus tradition since the 2008 presidential election. It’s hosted by the Pitt-Greensburg...
Students hit the pool to raise funds for Special Olympics PennsylvaniaVideo
On a freezing morning outside Heinz Field, students and teachers from across the Pittsburgh region took turns plunging into a pool to help raise money for Special Olympics Pennsylvania. Twenty schools and nearly 500 students participated in the Cool Schools Plunge. The high Friday was 31 degrees. The 10th Annual...
Greensburg police chief announces retirement
Greensburg police Chief Chad Zucco will resign at the end of March after 22 years on the force. “It was a very hard decision,” Zucco said. “This is all I’ve known since I was 21 years old, being a police officer.” He’s accepted a job as chief operating officer of...
Gateway, other education admins call for public charter school funding reform
The Gateway Board of School Directors has joined a chorus of education administrators across the state calling for public charter school funding reform. The board unanimously approved a resolution Feb. 18 that called on legislators to reform the “flawed” and “unfair” formulas used to determine how charter schools are funded....
Goodwill purchases Pittsburgh campus, launches $10 million capital campaign
Pittsburgh-based Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania has purchased its Lawrenceville campus for $4 million and is in the midst of a $10 million fundraising campaign aimed at generating funds to expand and enhance programming, officials said. Goodwill and public officials gathered Friday to celebrate the charity’s 100th anniversary and announce the...
