Where Pittsburgh Mills Mall stands after another storefront departure
The Pittsburgh Mills is reeling from another national retailer vacating the Frazer mall — the third instance of a major retailer leaving the complex in four months. Bath and Body Works opened its store in the Mills for the last time on Saturday. The company did not respond to requests...
Lower Burrell VFW’s Vietnam-era helicopter restored with help from Forbes Road students
The Vietnam-era helicopter outside VFW Post 92 in Lower Burrell has been restored thanks to the help of students from the Forbes Road Career and Technology Center in Monroeville. Last weekend, students from Forbes’ SkillsUSA chapter partnered with A-K Valley Back the Blue to repaint the helicopter, displayed outside the...
Jury convicts man of 1st-degree murder for gunning down his mom, her friend
A McKeesport man will spend the rest of his life in state prison after a jury on Tuesday found him guilty of killing his mother and her friend last year in Homestead. John Malcolm Smith V, 26, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for killing Antoinette Porterfield, 45,...
New Kensington to increase license fees for skill games
New Kensington anticipates generating about $30,000 in additional revenue under a proposal that would increase the license fee for mechanical skill games. Council this week advanced a plan to increase annual license fees for skill games from $300 to $750, which is an increase of about 150%. “It’s my opinion...
Shady Side Academy senior advocates for nationwide youth financial literacy
Laurence Park grew up in Los Angeles and never thought he’d end up living in Pittsburgh. But when his father was hired as a financial professor at The University of Pittsburgh in 2022, Park traded West Coast living for the hills of Western Pennsylvania. “It’s very different but there’s a...
Walmart plans to demolish Monroeville Mall, according to state grant bid
For the first time since it purchased Monroeville Mall in February, Walmart has declared its intent for the 186-acre property. The mall is expected to be demolished and replaced with retail and public space, according to a state grant application Walmart submitted last month through limited-liability corporation South Saturn Ridge....
For local governments, winter road maintenance is summertime concern
Long before he jumps in his salt truck, Unity Supervisor Mike O’Barto says, the township has to consider winter road maintenance and road salt acquisition. O’Barto is among 21 plowmen, including two other township supervisors, who work to clear the 165 miles of roads in Unity, which is one of...
The Stroller, Oct. 7, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. Halloween cash bash to...
Springdale Planning Commission to reconvene to continue data center review
After a standing-room-only meeting late last month, Springdale’s Planning Commission will come together again Wednesday to consider a massive proposed data center in the borough. The commission postponed a vote on whether to recommend borough council approve or deny a developer’s application at the previous meeting, opting to further analyze...
Public input sessions on tap for paid EMS Authority in Harrison, Tarentum, Brackenridge
A paid EMS Authority served by the consolidation of Eureka Community Ambulance in Tarentum and Citizens Hose EMS in Harrison remains “a ways off,” according to some local officials. The idea, floated last year as a solution for the nationwide EMS funding crisis, would see member municipalities sharing the costs...
Westmoreland County approves ballot curing process for November election
The Westmoreland County commissioners on Tuesday approved a process to allow voters this fall to correct mail-in ballots. Republicans Sean Kertes and Doug Chew, who for the past five years have opposed efforts to allow what is known as ballot curing, said they were required to reverse course and implement...
North Allegheny senior scores silver in international linguistics competition
North Allegheny senior Jason Liu made his mark globally after winning a silver medal at the International Linguistics Olympiad, competing against other linguistic opponents from more than 40 countries. Liu represented Team USA at the competition held in July in Taipei City, Taiwan. A total of 227 contestants from 42...
No students seriously injured in Moon bus crash
Moon Area School District elementary students were safe and accounted for after their bus crashed with another vehicle in Moon Township on Monday afternoon, according to authorities. At 3:48 p.m., first responders were dispatched to the intersection of Montour Run Road and FedEx Drive for the crash, according to the...
Car rams into Pizza Hut in Harrison
A Tarentum woman suffered a medical emergency before her car crashed into the Pizza Hut in Harrison on Monday night. Harrison police were dispatched to the crash at around 6:45 p.m. Monday at the Pizza Hut, 3036 Freeport Road, said Chief Brian Turack. Two people were inside the car when...
‘We’re stretching’: As grocery prices continue to climb, shoppers redefine their staples
The sticker shock is real: Grocery prices’ month-over-month increase in August were the highest they’ve been in three years. And relief doesn’t appear to be on the horizon, according to one food economist. The reasons might sound familiar. “There’s been a convergence of factors: lingering supply-chain issues from covid, the...
McKeesport man charged with killing his mom gives closing argument at trial
Two days before police say a McKeesport man fatally shot his mother and her friend last year in Homestead, he targeted his brother with violence, according to court testimony Monday. DaTwan Smith, the final prosecution witness in John Malcolm Smith V’s double homicide trial, told jurors his brother shot at...
Strip District merchants drag Pittsburgh back to court over bike lane project
Last week, a judge agreed to block Pittsburgh from changing one lane of traffic into a bike lane along part of Penn Avenue in the Strip District. But the injunction never took effect because of a technicality. The plaintiffs — the Strip District Business Association — were supposed to put...
Bus crashes into house in Forward Township
A school bus ran into a house Monday afternoon in Forward Township. At 3:32 pm, the bus rammed into a building at 3206 Rainbow Run Road, according to Allegheny County Emergency Services. When crews from the Gallatin Sunnyside Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene, responders saw that the bus had...
Allegheny Twp. man pleads no contest to fentanyl possession
An Allegheny Township man faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest Monday to fentanyl possession. George Zachary Senko, 40, was charged in May 2023 following a traffic stop on South Leechburg Hill Road after police found four bricks of fentanyl in his vehicle. As jury selection...
Lawnmower explosion suspect used fishing line to rig bomb, police sayVideo
It took more than two hours of interrogation before James M. Sever began to share information about the explosion of a riding lawnmower at a Salem property from which he had been evicted, Trooper Jacob Feryus testified Monday. “He had said that he had rigged up the bomb with fishing...
Allegheny Valley Regional Police make arrest in international fraudulent banking scam
Police in Springdale Township arrested on Friday a Chinese national believed to be connected with a large-scale scam ring that took one local resident for more than $100,000. Zhudi Chen, 40, of New York is charged with felony theft and financial exploitation. Allegheny Valley Regional Police Chief Michael Naviglia said...
Mail-in ballots are on the way to Allegheny County voters
Allegheny County voters who requested mail-in ballots should start receiving them this week, county officials said Monday. Voters will also be able to cast ballots through the over-the-counter voting option at several locations. Oct. 20 is the last day to register to vote — or to update voter registration information...
Orkin ranks Pittsburgh 12th-worst city for bed bugs
Pittsburgh ranked as the 12th-worst city for bed bugs in Orkin’s 2025 Top 50 Bed Bug Cities List — climbing the ranks higher than in previous years. Last year, the Steel City was in 21st place. Orkin said bed bugs can be found clinging to items like luggage, purses and...
Bridge to nowhere no longer, Leechburg bike trail adds extension
Just five months after the Leechburg Towpath Bike Trail was opened to the public, another half-mile has been added to take people into Hyde Park. The trail was created in two sections, with a milelong section built directly into the borough. This section of the project was headed by members...
Pittsburgh forecast: Sunshine Monday, rain and frost ahead
If you’re planning to get outside this week, Monday might be the best day to do it. Pittsburgh is in for a taste of summer sunshine even as rain and cooler temperatures loom in the forecast the next few days. Temperatures are expected to reach into the mid-80s Monday —...
