Western PA Local News category, Page 2634
Santa Ski Day at Boyce Park raises money for ALS researchVideo
Boyce Park hosted its first Santa Ski Day on Saturday and its organizers hope it continues to grow as word spreads across the area. Skiers and snowboarders who came dressed as Santa could ski at the Four Seasons Lodge after paying a $10 donation to the Boyce Park Ski Patrol....
Staycation: Hikers, hunters, campers can enjoy wild times at Forbes State ForestVideo
Forbes State Forest provides some of the best spots for enjoying the Laurel Highlands’ wild flora, fauna and scenery. Boasting plenty of highlights for visitors, the forest covers roughly 60,000 acres spread across more than a dozen tracts of land in Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties. Forbes State Forest annually...
Vo-tech schools serving Westmoreland, A-K Valley districts get nearly $82K in grants
Three vo-tech schools that serve 11 school districts in Westmoreland County and the Alle-Kiski Valley have received close to $82,000 in grants from the state Education Department. Lenape Technical School received $40,675, Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center received $49,999, and Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center received $16,930. The...
Organ transplants using live donors soar at UPMC
A shortage of organs from deceased donors has prompted UPMC to shift its focus to transplants using live donors, a surgery some experts consider risky but others view as giving patients better survival odds. Deceased-donor transplants — once the bread and butter of UPMC’s internationally known transplant program — have...
Irwin native pushed for early prosecution of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Fallout from the teen sex trafficking scandal of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted pedophile who hanged himself in a New York City jail cell, continues to plow a path of destruction. Manhattan jail guards face federal criminal charges related to Epstein’s death and an alleged subsequent...
2 trucks collide head-on, killing Somerset man
A Somerset man was fatally injured Thursday when the truck he was driving collided head-on with another in Somerset County. Walter E. Herring, 72, was pronounced dead at the scene in Jefferson Township, according to state police. Police said the other driver, Mark A. Furman, 60, of Lavale, Md., was...
Jeannette school closet helps students in need
Rather than being filled with desks, chairs and books, a second-floor room at Jeannette McKee Elementary School has shelves of pants, racks of shirts and skirts, boxes of new tennis shoes, hats, gloves and some toiletries. The former classroom was converted this year into the Jeannette McKee School Closet, where...
Super Saturday brings holiday shoppers out in droves at Westmoreland Mall
The last Saturday before Christmas, typically the biggest shopping day of the year, was expected to attract nearly 148 million consumers online and at brick-and-mortar stores this year. The National Retail Federation projected that increase over last year’s Super Saturday turnout of about 134 million because of this year’s abbreviated...
Hundreds turn out for Pittsburgh fraternity’s 26th annual Christmas toy giveawayVideo
Hundreds of families gathered Saturday in a line outside of the fraternity center of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s annual Christmas party and toy giveaway. The event has been hosted by the Iota Phi (Pittsburgh) chapter of the international fraternity for 26 years. The party in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood included...
Hempfield man suffers burns in fire that destroyed garage
A Hempfield man suffered minor burns to his hands while attempting to remove equipment from his burning garage Saturday morning, firefighters said. The block building, which contained woodworking equipment, was a total loss, according to Midway-St. Clair Fire Chief Rich Kepple. A township fire investigator will look into the cause...
Week in review: Trump impeachment, diocese mergers, Pryor falloutVideo
It was a historic week in national news as Democrats in the U.S. House voted to impeach President Trump on charges of abusing the power of his office and obstructing Congress, prompting protests across the nation and in the Pittsburgh area. Other news included a woman charged with stabbing a...
Officials: Route 30 closed briefly early Saturday after crash
The westbound lanes of Route 30 in Unity Township were closed early Saturday after a vehicle crash, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The crash happened near the Route 982 overpass shortly before midnight Friday. Responding emergency crews found an abandoned pickup truck blocking both of the westbound lanes just...
The Stroller, Dec. 21, 2019: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Knead Community Cafe closed for holidays Knead Community Café in New Kensington will be closed Tuesday through Jan. 1 for the holidays. For upcoming events at the café, visit kneadcommunitycafe.org/events/. Calendar Kittanning Monday: A free family support group for anyone struggling with the addiction of a loved one will meet...
2019 winter solstice arrives, bringing shortest day, longest night of the year
Shortest day. Longest night. Regardless of how you look at it, Saturday marks the 2019 winter solstice — the official beginning of winter (astronomically, at least) and the day the sun makes its briefest appearance of the year. 4:56 p.m. Official time of sunset in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Varies depending...
Theft of payroll documents left 1,800 Excela employees’ data at risk
A stolen briefcase containing payroll documents from an Excela Health employee this fall left the personal data of 1,800 workers at risk, hospital system officials confirmed. Authorities said they were notified around 6 a.m. Oct. 8 of the theft of a briefcase from an unlocked car parked outside a home...
Paynter elementary students make blankets for Wrapped in Love FoundationVideo
Students at Paynter Elementary School learned a lesson in giving this holiday season. For the fourth year in a row, students in first and third grade at the Baldwin-Whitehall School District site participated in a Christmas service project, donating money and making blankets for the Pittsburgh-based Wrapped in Love Foundation....
More than 10,000 Christmas lights on display at Bob’s Garage in O’HaraVideo
At Bob’s Garage, Christmas decorations stay up until February to accommodate the masses still crowding the small bar renowned for the outrageous number of Christmas lights enveloping the inside and outside. “It’s like walking on the inside of a Christmas tree,” said Bob Paganico, 72, of Penn Hills. Paganico started...
‘Make Yourself at Home Bandit’ suspected of robbing Harmar betting parlor linked to 12 robberies in 7 states
The masked man who forced an employee to empty the safe of a Harmar off-track betting parlor last month may be wanted in connection to at least dozen robberies across seven states, police said Friday. Lloyd Eugene Rhodes, 57, who has warrants out for his arrests from the FBI and...
Unity Township road reopens after car crash
A car crash closed Union Cemetery Road in Unity Township Friday night, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The road, which closed between McCullough Road and Auction Barn Road before 10 p.m., was reopened before 12 a.m. One person was freed from a vehicle and was in the care of...
Police: Rollover crash into creek in Lincoln under investigation
Two people were evaluated for possible injuries sustained after their vehicle rolled over into a creek in Lincoln. Allegheny County dispatchers said the incident took place around 9:15 p.m. Friday along the 1500 block of Lovedale Road. The people were treated at the scene and did not require hospitalization, dispatchers...
Officials: Driver flees after crashing into Hempfield parts storeVideo
A driver fled the scene after crashing into an AutoZone along Route 30 on Friday evening, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. Officers responded shortly before 5:45 p.m. to the parts store, at 6499 Route 30 in Hempfield, where they found a white pickup that had crashed into the corner...
New Ken-Arnold student left on W.L. Roenigk bus, 2nd pupil in 10 days
A New Kensington-Arnold School District special needs student was left alone on a W.L. Roenigk school bus at the Clairview School in Greensburg on Friday, school and bus company officials said. The driver was immediately fired, a Roenigk official said. It was the second time in 10 days that a...
Woman, children injured in Brackenridge head-on collision, other driver’s condition unknownVideo
A woman and two elementary-age children were taken to a hospital for treatment after a car and a minivan collided head-on Friday in Brackenridge, police said. It’s unclear if the other driver was also taken for treatment of his injuries. The wreck happened about 1 p.m. on Freeport Road near...
At least 1 hurt in 2-car wreck along Freeport Road in New KensingtonVideo
A two-car crash along Freeport Road in New Kensington sent one woman to an area hospital Tuesday. City police said her infant accompanied her in the ambulance. The wreck appears to have happened when a white rental car hit the rear of a black Ford Taurus at about 10:30 a.m.,...
Deadlines loom for getting holiday packages, cards in the mail
Neither snow nor rain nor the annual crush of holiday packages and cards slows the U.S. Postal Service from making the rounds. “We’ve had carriers out since 6 a.m. delivering packages just to keep up with the volume, and we’ve been out seven days a week,” said Tad Kelley, the...
