Harry Funk stories, Page 7
North Hills High School students connect with community
The question continues to be asked of youngsters: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Some people on the verge of retirement still don’t know, let alone teenagers who face making life-establishing decisions. But North Hills High School staff members want to make sure their students have...
Bethel Park trainer offers free guide to flexibility after 50
Getting off the couch — or out of the car, or up and down the stairs — used to be a cinch. Once you pass the half-century mark, probably not so much. Although they have a while to go in that regard, Bethel Park residents Jason and Rachel Zawodniak understand....
South Hills Interfaith Movement nears completion of Bethel Park renovation
In 2009, the nonprofit assistance organization then known as South Hills Interfaith Ministries moved into its Bethel Park center on South Park Road. “We knew then there were issues with the building that we wanted to address at some point going forward,” executive director Jim Guffey recalled. Improvements such as...
Allegheny Land Trust preserves green space in Ross
Drumming up support for a land conservation effort in Ross may not be much of a problem, as Lindsay Dill learned while attending a township event. “A 9-year-old boy came up to me and said, ‘So, uh, how much do you need for this thing?,’ very confidently,” Dill recalled. “And...
‘Equal-opportunity offender’: Bethel Park native pulls no punches as ventriloquist
Complete with frosty hair, even whiter teeth and ever-present sunglasses, meet Joe Bidentime. “He came into my life at the end of 2020. And the reason he came into my life was he was president, and I’m an equal-opportunity offender,” Bethel Park native April Brucker said. Four years earlier, she’d...
No Pine-Richland tax increase expected
Pine-Richland School District’s real estate tax rate is expected to remain at 19.5867 mills, as stated in the 2024-25 proposed final general operating fund budget approved by the school board May 6. The board plans to vote June 10 on a final budget that includes total expenditures of just over...
Event in North Park celebrates lives lost to cancer
In November, Paul McDonnell lost his wife of 30 years, Terri, to pancreatic cancer. “We did hospice at home, and I didn’t do any support groups when she was sick,” he recalled. “There was too much care that had to be given.” After Terri’s passing, he took the suggestion of...
District pursues 2nd phase of Hampton High School renovations
The second of three planned phases of Hampton High School renovations could begin next spring. Representatives of construction management firm PJ Dick, which served as project manager for the first phase, presented a tentative timeline at the school board’s May 6 work session. They estimated the total Phase II cost...
Season opens at Depreciation Lands Museum in Hampton
When Kelly Enders told her daughter that she was going to tan her hide, she meant it literally. It seems that Bri Bicker has a Renaissance fair costume in which she portrays a satyr — “So she’s half-goat, half-human,” her mother said — and wanted to change it up with...
Runway RePurposed: Pine-Richland students turn old into new for Salvation Army fundraiser
Here’s an idea: Use something old to create something new. And fashionable. That’s the concept behind Runway RePurposed, the May 22 fundraiser benefiting the Salvation Army Family Caring Center in East Liberty. Plus it’s a pursuit on which Erika Graham, who chairs Pine-Richland’s family and consumer science department, embarked quite...
Birds of prey: Audubon Society presentation highlights Earth Day event in Bradford Woods
Be careful with those apple cores. “If I just throw it out my window, sure, it’s going to degrade. It’s going to decompose,” wildlife habitat educator Nick Stahlman said. “But what’s most likely to happen before that happens is some sort of animal is going to come investigate it and...
Worth the wait: Bonnie Raitt shines in rescheduled Pittsburgh concert
Fans of Bonnie Raitt were disappointed, and probably more than a bit concerned, when the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer canceled her Pittsburgh concert 11 months ago to undergo surgery. The wait was worth it. Raitt’s rescheduled appearance, a sold-out show Monday at Heinz Hall, showed that, at age...
From infants onward, Hampton piano teacher shares joy of music
Beyond the basics of time signatures, sharps and flats, and treble and bass clefs is a whole world of teaching piano. Hampton resident Mary Lynne Bennett started giving lessons before she turned 20, and along with being a wife and mother of three, providing instruction continues as a primary focus....
North Park expansion: Hampton poised to help Allegheny Land Trust with acquisitions
To continue working toward an expansion of North Park, Allegheny Land Trust is seeking help from Hampton. “They’ve been working the past few years to acquire parcels for an uncompleted phase of the Hemlocks plan, off Big Rock Road,” municipal manager Ryan Jeroski said about land adjoining a townhouse development...
412 Gives Back on ‘412 Day’: Pine-based nonprofit helps feed people in need
Since the advent of area codes, “412” has a special meaning for Pittsburgh. As such, April 12 does, too. Given the name of the Pine-based philanthropic group 412 Gives Back, planning an event for 4/12 was a natural. So on “412 Day,” 60 or so volunteers gathered to mark the...
Hampton School Board fields requests for facility improvements
The van used by Hampton Township School District to address heating, ventilation and air-conditioning needs is a 2009 model. “It’s definitely past its useful time,” Jeff Kline, director of administrative services/transportation, said. “We don’t feel it will pass inspection this year.” During the April 15 school board meeting, he presented...
Children’s book author sparks Bethel Park students’ creativity
When she was young, Jean Reidy wrote stories and stapled the pages together to make books. She continues to do so, minus the stapler. The native of suburban Chicago recently visited two Bethel Park elementary schools to talk in part about her experience as an award-winning children’s author. Her main...
Upper St. Clair graduate’s cabaret show celebrates friendship with Elizabeth Taylor
In 1981, Ann Talman placed a call from New York City to her hometown Upper St. Clair, announcing: “Dad! I got the Broadway show. And guess what? Guess who’s playing my mother? Elizabeth Taylor!” What followed was 18 months of touring with a cast that also included Maureen Stapleton and...
‘I like Ike’: Bethel Park historian details life of 34th president
One of the catchiest campaign slogans in American history is “I like Ike.” It turned out to be effective, too: Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president twice, both times by relative landslide. And the statement apparently reflects Eisenhower’s personality to a tee. “He was a genuine, authentic person,” historian Dick...
‘I know you’ve got my back’: Ross business owner focuses on quality of life
The prevailing employer attitude toward workers seems to focus on squeezing blood from the proverbial turnip, with regard to little but the bottom line. Franklin Park resident Stephanie Kirby offers quite the change of pace with her business, the Blue Daisy Floral Design in Ross. “It’s very much quality of...
Exceptional Citizens Expo offers ‘very inclusive’ experience in Ross
When it comes to vehicles, size can matter. “Everyone loves the big trucks,” Ross police Chief Cristyn Zett said. “So you can’t go wrong with excavators and giant dump trucks and huge fire engines to climb in and climb around.” Plenty of suitably large emergency and maintenance vehicles were on...
Plan for new homes in Hampton receives mixed reaction
A proposal for a residential development featuring mostly duplexes received mixed reactions from two Hampton advisory boards. The planning commission recommended April 8 that township council vote to grant preliminary approval with the meeting of conditions that include removing and replacing a section of private storm sewer that would serve...
Hampton Middle School student wins state chess championship, again
A tiebreaker determined the winner of the state Scholastic Chess Championship’s K-8 Open Section. “It all came down to the very last game, and I was very nervous,” Benjamin Lin said, recalling that everything rode on a particular player’s performance. “If he drew or lost, I would get second. But...
Year of firsts for Hampton Odyssey of the Mind
This year represents several firsts for Hampton Township School District’s Odyssey of the Mind students. At the April 9 school board meeting, co-coordinator Colleen Turcsanyi presented an overview of successes by participants in the international problem-solving program. “This is the first time Hampton has been represented in every problem category...
Pine supervisors discuss options for indoor athletic space
Additional space for indoor athletics in Pine could come with an inflatable dome. That was the consensus among township supervisors during their April 3 meeting, when they discussed various options to provide facilities for year-round recreational activity, and their preferred location would be within the 105 acre of Pine Community...
