Jack Troy stories, Page 11
Proposed stormwater fee draws concerns from Allegheny Township residents, business owners
Allegheny Township’s plan to fund compliance with the state-mandated stormwater management program motivated around 50 residents and business representatives to attend Monday’s supervisors meeting, mostly in opposition. The ordinance has been unpopular among a vocal faction since its introduction this year. “We do our best to collect as much water...
Buffalo Township supervisor gives reopening date for Sheetz
The Sheetz location in Buffalo Township is set to reopen April 23, according to township Supervisor Michael Oehling Jr. The gas station and convenience store where Route 356 and Monroe Road meet closed in October to be torn down and rebuilt. Sheetz did not return requests for comment. Company spokesperson...
Parks Township nuclear waste cleanup now set to start in fall
The Army Corps of Engineers is targeting this fall to start cleanup of the Parks Township nuclear waste dump, which marks a slight delay caused by harsh winter weather from previously announced dates. “From the beginning, we have emphasized that safety will dictate the pace of the project,” said Lt....
Contract doesn’t need ‘the moon and the stars,’ just better pay, ATI workers say
A few dozen ATI workers rallied outside the company’s Vandergrift plant Thursday as the deadline nears to reach a union contract, arguing the specialty metal manufacturer’s recent success should trickle down to the rank-and-file. “We’re not asking for the moon and the stars,” said Keith Beavers, a maintenance technician and...
Police shooting in East Vandergrift justified, says DA
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli has found police were justified in fatally shooting a suspect during a February raid in East Vandergrift. Ziccarelli announced her ruling Tuesday, marking the first official public account of why authorities opened fire on Lyle Cessna, 52. TribLive previously obtained court documents detailing the...
Scrapping $200 fee, Vandergrift instead hopes to enforce existing $50 charge on landlords
Vandergrift backed off a fourfold increase to its rental licensing fee on Monday but pushed ahead with the rest of a proposal to rein in unscrupulous landlords. The draft ordinance calls for annual inspections on rental properties and a $50-per-unit fee for their owners. Only after a code enforcement officer...
Trump orders new review of Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel
President Donald Trump is seeking a new review of Nippon Steel’s proposed purchase of U.S. Steel. A memo issued Monday by the White House gives the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States 45 days to review the nearly $15 billion deal and say “whether any measures proposed by...
Buffalo Township mega-development on hold as builder, municipal authority hammer out water, sewage deal
A planned 627-unit subdivision in Buffalo Township is on hold until the developer and the local water and sewage authority agree on how quickly to hook up homes. For the third time in as many months, the township’s planning commission Wednesday withheld approval for Charter Homes & Neighborhoods to break...
Mayors with merged police forces find freedom, frustration in altered roles
Zack Gent’s final council meetings as mayor of Freeport were tense. The energetic young Republican took office in September 2022 with the aims of supporting local businesses, promoting recreational assets and improving government transparency. He would hold the post during crucial years for the quiet river town as it hired...
Golf season almost in full swing for region’s few, but thriving traditional driving ranges
It will only be a matter of weeks before a polyester polo becomes weather-appropriate attire and golfers across Southwestern Pennsylvania hit the links. Golf season is likewise fast approaching for the humble driving range, where players can finally dial in that pesky 3-wood (just a few tweaks should do it)...
Cherrie Mahan’s mom feels closer than ever to finding her daughter’s abductor, remains
Cherrie Mahan’s mother and a team of friends are preparing to search a largely unexamined plot of land where they suspect the girl, who disappeared Feb. 22, 1985, from a school bus stop in Winfield, may be buried. The area is part of a 26-acre parcel across from where Cherrie’s...
TinyCause in Vandergrift now able to hold stray dogs
TinyCause in Vandergrift has received a state certification to hold stray dogs, allowing more lost or abandoned pooches to avoid euthanasia by the borough’s animal control service. The nonprofit along Columbia Avenue can hold up to three at-large dogs, according to longtime volunteer Cindy Richard. Strays will initially be held...
Redeemer Lutheran High School adding gym as it settles in at former St. Gerard church
Redeemer Lutheran High School plans to break ground in June on a roughly $4 million gymnasium. It’s sorely needed, said Eureka Van Wyk, business manager and athletic director at Redeemer Lutheran School. Two years ago, the parochial school system moved its high school students to the former St. Gerard Majella...
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...
