Jack Troy stories, Page 10
Bealls to open store in Hyde Park Plaza in May
First of all, it’s pronounced “bells.” Florida-based discount apparel and home goods retailer Bealls is coming May 5 to Allegheny Township, the company announced Monday, marking its first foray into the Alle-Kiski Valley. While the name might spark some confusion, the Bealls business model is familiar to most shoppers. Spokesperson...
U.S. Steel board hopefuls urged to sell non-union assets for Mon Valley upgrades
The United Steelworkers claims an activist investor wants to sell U.S. Steel’s state-of-the-art facilities in Arkansas and funnel the proceeds toward its aging blast furnaces, including the Mon Valley Works in Southwestern Pennsylvania. These legacy operations are union-run, making Ancora Holdings Group’s apparent plan to flip the nonunion Big River...
Pittsburgh college students fear ICE could hit campuses after string of national arrests
After several high-profile arrests of foreign nationals attending college in New York, Alabama and, now, Massachusetts, students at Pittsburgh universities wonder if it’s only a matter of time before federal immigration agents target their campuses. Spokespeople for the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University said Thursday they weren’t aware...
Man accused of killing Mogie’s owner remains in state hospital with no date to resume trial
The man accused of killing the owner of Mogie’s Irish Pub in Lower Burrell remains confined to Torrance State Hospital in Derry and, in the view of a Westmoreland County judge, unable to stand trial. Nathan Salem, 46, of Lower Burrell has been in custody without bond since Dec. 21,...
Pittsburgh Mills pothole patching underway, but legal troubles seem unlikely to disappear
The owner of Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer is taking action to patch the mall’s pockmarked roads, just days after they became the target of a criminal investigation. But the $20,000 Namdar Realty has allocated for repairs represents 0.5% of the more than $4 million the New York-based company and Frazer...
After 46 years as a Buffalo Township supervisor, Albert ‘Ouch’ Roenigk trails off toward the sunset
Albert “Ouch” Roenigk has never pined for power. That’s probably why, in 1979, a judge made him a Buffalo Township supervisor. The previous ones had resigned amid an intra-board dispute over alleged corruption, leaving the township without elected leaders for six months. A steadying presence in township government for 46...
Uncle Charley’s quiet exit from Parks Township leaves behind 1 man and a cache of sausage-making machines
Uncle Charley’s Sausage once had about 60 employees at its Parks Township processing, packing and shipping facility. Now, it has one — an affable, mustached maintenance supervisor named Randy Braden. A veteran of the food manufacturing business, he came on about 2½ years ago after the soup cannery in Pittsburgh’s...
Scaled-back South Buffalo housing plan set to break ground this spring
Armstrong County’s first housing development since the 1980s, planned for South Buffalo’s RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park, has been scaled back from 90 to 60 homes. County Commissioner Pat Fabian told TribLive that Butler County-based developer America First Enterprises has pulled back on the plan it announced last year, which called...
Dobi Catering turning off the fryers after 63 years
Dobi Catering and Food Services will fry its last piece of chicken Sunday, ending a 63-year run in Allegheny Township’s main commercial corridor. Manager Gary Miller was the catalyst for the closure after he, along with his wife, Nikki, decided to call it quits. “I’ve decided to move on to...
‘A funeral for the pandemic’: Shadyside church dedicates Sunday service to mourn and heal, 5 years on
It was fall 2020, covid-19 case counts were about to explode, and Uma Gaffney had just started work as a middle school teacher in Minneapolis. “It was such a hard time to be a teacher,” she recalled. Remote learning was the order of the day, and students and teachers were...
Man shot in waning hours of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in South SideVideo
A man was shot in Pittsburgh’s South Side early Sunday morning just minutes after police began clearing several blocks of St. Patrick’s Day revelers. Video footage captured around 2:40 a.m. and obtained by TribLive shows a police line advancing along East Carson Street from 17th Street toward throngs of partygoers...
Ken Gormley to step down as Duquesne president next year, stay on as chancellor
Duquesne University President Ken Gormley will step down next year and take on the role of chancellor, capping a decade-long run at the helm of the Catholic university where he navigated declining enrollment and the covid-19 pandemic while strengthening several key programs. Gormley’s semi-retirement will start July 1, 2026, he...
Revelers pack Pittsburgh Brewing Co. in East Deer for St. Patrick’s Day celebration
Around 2,500 people spent their Saturday enjoying live music, food trucks and countless cups of green beer at the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. complex in East Deer, making it far and away the largest St. Patrick’s Day festival in the Alle-Kiski Valley. The event, dubbed the Irish City Celebration, lasted from...
Pittsburgh police arrest suspect in Middle Hill shooting that critically wounded woman
Pittsburgh police have charged a city woman in connection with a shooting Saturday morning that critically injured another woman in the city’s Middle Hill neighborhood. Police arrested Lina Scott, 32, of Pittsburgh. Police said they received a ShotSpotter alert in the 2600 block of Centre Avenue around 9:45 a.m. Officers...
Lower Burrell goes green for 5th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade
This year’s Lower Burrell St. Patrick’s Day Parade had more participants, more candy and, toward the tail end, more rain than ever before. But gloomy skies didn’t keep hundreds of spectators clad in green from lining Leechburg Road for the city’s fifth annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The parade kicked...
Penn Hills schedules public hearing on how to spend federal community development funds
Penn Hills will hold the first of two public hearings at 7:30 p.m. March 27 to guide its 2025 Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships spending. These monies come from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to benefit low- and moderate-income residents, combat blight and address other...
Historic Hotel Saxonburg could be purchased within weeks, borough manager says
The Hotel Saxonburg’s unceremonious goodbye is looking more like a “see you soon.” Saxonburg Borough Manager Steven May told TribLive he expects Butler County’s oldest operating hotel, bar and restaurant to be on the market in a matter of weeks — “if it makes it that long.” He said at...
Police signal all clear after grenade donation forces evacuation of Goodwill store in Penn Hills
The Goodwill store and donation center in the Penn Hills Shopping Center briefly shut down Tuesday afternoon after somebody donated a grenade. “One of our employees at this location was going through a gaylord (box) when she noticed what appeared to look like really large bullets,” said Brian Minefield, an...
Stormwater fee tabled, but stark fiscal challenges stand for Allegheny Township
A plan to provide dedicated funding for Allegheny Township’s stormwater system is on hold. On Monday, supervisors tabled a proposed ordinance that would charge most homeowners an $8 monthly stormwater fee after hearing some disapproval, but mostly confusion, from a packed room of residents. “I’m not sure if I’m for...
Morning Roundup: Seasonal skiing at Boyce Park ending; McKeesport bar shut down after deadly shooting
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, March 7: Seasonal skiing at Boyce Park ending Skiers, snowboarders and tubers: Time is running out to hit the Boyce Park slopes. Allegheny County announced Thursday the roughly three-month regular season at the slopes in Plum will come...
Penguins invest $500K in Hill District recreation center, but community frustration lingers
The Pittsburgh Penguins will donate $500,000 to help modernize the Ammon Recreation Center in the Hill District as part of an agreement meant to mitigate decades of neighborhood disinvestment dating back to the development of the Civic Arena. Teddy Werner, the Penguins’ alternate governor, called the 85-year-old recreation center just...
7 students, driver injured in Adams Township bus crash
Seven Mars Area Elementary School students and a driver were injured Thursday morning when their bus crashed in Adams Township. Butler County 911 dispatch said a bus carrying 30 to 40 students hit a tree head-on around 8:30 a.m. on the 1600 block of Three Degree Road. A UPMC spokesperson...
Cracker plant in Beaver County could be sold as Shell looks to offload chemical assets
Shell is considering a sale of its chemical assets in the U.S. and Europe, including the cracker plant in Beaver County. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, has reported one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies could offload its less-profitable chemicals division as part...
Attempted homicide suspect back in custody after accidental release from Washington County Jail
An attempted homicide suspect is back in custody after being mistakenly released from the Washington County Jail. Samuel Valle, 20, of Monessen, missed a court appearance last week, alerting the district attorney’s office he was no longer behind bars, TribLive news partner WTAE reported. District Attorney Jason Walsh told WTAE...
Hotel Saxonburg closes after 193 years in business
Saxonburg’s longest continually operating hotel, restaurant and bar is closed. Ownership for the Hotel Saxonburg broke the news in a social media post on Wednesday. “After much consideration, the decision has been made to cease operations due to health issues, rising costs of food and the growing expenses associated with...
