Western PA Local News category, Page 901
Getting your goat: Oakmont event celebrates everyone’s favorite ruminant
If anyone can get your goat, she’s Monica Shields. She can get you a goat — or for better effect, at least half a dozen — from her Beaver County farm to take care of unwanted vegetation. And she can get your goat knowledge up to a point where you’ll...
West Nile virus found in Allegheny County mosquitoes
Mosquitoes collected by the Allegheny Health Department in Mt. Oliver Borough and in the nearby Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Beltzhoover and South Side Slopes have tested positive for West Nile virus. The infected mosquitoes were collected on July 11 as part of the department’s Vector Control Program. County health officials said...
MAWC buys Westmoreland Fayette sewer authority
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members Wednesday approved a $17.5 million deal to purchase a small sewer system that serves Scottdale, a part of East Huntingdon as well as two communities in Fayette County. MAWC will pay $2.25 million in cash for the Westmoreland Fayette Municipal Sewage Authority and...
Pittsburgh International to get additional flights to California, Florida
The expansion of flights at Pittsburgh International Airport continues as the airport announced two sets of expanded service this week. United Airlines is adding another daily round-trip flight from Pittsburgh to San Francisco International Airport starting Aug. 1, according to a release. The flight will provide daytime flight service between...
Acting labor secretary explains Pittsburgh’s ‘workforce hub’ designation
Pittsburgh was designated a “workforce hub” by the White House in May because of its success in innovation, growth in advanced manufacturing like robotics and increase in the clean energy sector. The designation was recently touted by First Lady Jill Biden, who visited the Pittsburgh International Airport on Tuesday. Five...
3 dogs die in Monessen house fire
Three dogs died in a house fire Wednesday afternoon in Monessen, authorities said. No people were in the home on Summit Avenue during the fire, and no other homes were damaged because of how far back the home is on the property, Monessen fire Chief Delmar Hepple said. “There was...
Bank forecloses on Jeannette EMS building as state health department plans talks with agency
A bank wants to take possession of the Jeannette EMS station to cover a $340,000 debt. KeyBank filed the mortgage foreclosure action Wednesday in Westmoreland County court claiming the ambulance station on South Sixth Street defaulted on repayments of a $275,000 line of credit issued in 2008. The agency used...
Parts of Route 356, La Belle Vue Road scheduled to close in Allegheny Township
Parts of Route 356 and La Belle Vue Road in Allegheny Township are scheduled to close beginning Monday, PennDOT announced Wednesday. Route 356, from Park Road to Melwood/Hyde Park Road, and La Belle Vue Road from Ashland Way to Route 356 are expected to be closed through the end of...
Traffic-calming projects starting in Homewood this week
Pittsburgh officials on Tuesday announced construction will start this week on several traffic-calming projects in the Homewood area. Traffic-calming efforts are slated for Frankstown Avenue between North Dallas Avenue and North Murtland Street in the city’s Homewood West neighborhood and at Oakwood Avenue between Batavia Street and Mulford Street in...
Allegheny County sheriff makes traffic stop, confiscates drugs
You can’t say he’s not a hands-on boss. Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus saw a gray Nissan Sentra traveling erratically in Pittsburgh’s North Hills Tuesday afternoon, after he left his job at the county courthouse for the day. The driver ran a red light at the intersection of Lowries Run...
No bright future for Back to the Foodture restaurants
After months of emails with lawyers representing Universal Studios, owners of Back to the Foodture have decided the financial stress is just too much. “We have been going back and forth with them since February paying lawyer fees and filing paperwork,” said chef Angel Magwood, co-owner of Back to the...
Report: Rising gambling revenue for June closes out record haul for fiscal year
June proved to be another lucrative month for Pennsylvania’s gambling joints. Last month, the combined total revenue generated from all forms of gaming clocked in at nearly $440.5 million, a 13% increase compared to June 2022, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Still, it was a drop compared to...
Pine-Richland using summer break to focus on improvement projects
Work on an ambitious list of projects is underway in the Pine-Richland School District. More than three dozen projects totaling $12 million are being done, including major upgrades at the high school, the stadium and the middle school along with smaller improvements in all other buildings. Dana Kirk, the district’s...
Taylor Swift’s shows in Pittsburgh generated $46M, agency says
Taylor Swift’s two Pittsburgh concerts generated $46 million in direct spending, according to tourism agency Visit Pittsburgh. The megastar singer brought record-setting crowds to Acrisure Stadium for her Eras Tour in June. About 83% of ticketholders came from outside of Allegheny County and packed the region’s hotels. According to Visit...
Point Park launches Citizen Reporting Academy online certificate program to boost community journalism
The face of American journalism is changing as more communities find themselves without local media coverage. Point Park University’s Citizen Reporting Academy, a fully online certificate program, aims to give citizens the chance to fill in those gaps. “A lot of people are already doing the work of journalism without...
Lower Burrell subdivides former Blockbuster property in hopes for a future sale
It’s yet to be seen what will become of the former Blockbuster store at Burrell Plaza, but officials believe they have made it easier for the landowner to sell the land to prospective buyers. The Lower Burrell Zoning Hearing Board on Monday granted a variance to Widewaters of Syracuse, N.Y.,...
Pittsburgh pool reopens after fatal shooting
Jack Stack Pool in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood reopened Wednesday with new safety measures in place after a fatal shooting nearby last week. Mayor Ed Gainey and public safety officials said they met with lifeguards and pool management to offer trauma support care, listen to concerns and begin crafting a...
‘It’s always there’: Families of synagogue shooting victims reflect on what’s lost
There’s a weed growing in a bucket on Pittsburgh police SWAT Officer Tim Matson’s porch. It saved his life. Months after he was shot multiple times responding to an active shooter at the Tree of Life synagogue building in Squirrel Hill, Matson said Wednesday, he remained in a dark place....
Date set for inaugural Tour de Sharpsburg
Sharpsburg Community Library has planned a new family activity designed to get people looking at the borough from a different angle. The inaugural Tour de Sharpsburg is set for July 29. Named after the annual multiple-stage bike race, Tour de France, it is a bike ride through town starting at...
Highlands hopes to name 3 new administrators in August
Highlands could have three new administrators when school starts in August. Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said the district is finalizing interviews for the high school assistant principal, the athletic director/transportation director and the elementary associate principal. “Hopefully, we will have the candidates to recommend for approval at the August board meeting,”...
2 sought in beating of Jeannette man
A Jeannette man was left with several facial fractures stemming from an assault last week and police are looking for two suspects. Andrew J. Eberhardt, 22, of Greensburg, and Cassie Ann Sorice, 20, of Pitcairn, are charged with conspiracy in connection with the beating at a North Seventh Street apartment...
Plum graduate Rick Walsh named district superintendent
Rick Walsh is the new superintendent of the Plum School District. Walsh, previously assistant and deputy superintendent and briefly interim superintendent, replaces Brendan Hyland, who resigned effective June 30 to become superintendent of the North Allegheny School District. At its meeting Tuesday, the Plum School Board unanimously approved a five-year...
Lower Burrell man accused of exchanging nicotine vape cartridge for sex with 15-year-old faces felony charge
Lower Burrell police accused a man of having sex with a 15-year-old in exchange for a nicotine vape cartridge last year and trying to do the same thing with a 14-year-old a month earlier. Dylan Michael Jacobs, 20, of the 100 block of Reed Street in Lower Burrell was charged...
Pittsburgh police chief says staffing ‘not in crisis’ despite officer shortage
Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto said the police bureau’s staffing levels are “not in crisis,” as officials on Wednesday released the bureau’s first staffing study in more than a decade. According to the study, conducted by California-based Matrix Consulting Group, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has an “exceptional” response time...
North Huntingdon to consider property rental registration
Owners of rental properties in North Huntingdon could be required to register their buildings if the township approves an ordinance that would create a list of those rental units and contact information for the tenants. North Huntingdon commissioners on Wednesday are expected to consider drafting an ordinance that would detail...
