Jack Troy stories, Page 13
Court records reveal identity of man targeted, shot in East Vandergrift police raid
Court documents obtained this week by TribLive shed light on details of a police-involved shooting in East Vandergrift that state troopers have thus far declined to reveal. Lyle Cessna, 52, of East Vandergrift was shot by law enforcement on Feb. 14 outside his McKinley Avenue residence. Cessna remains hospitalized in...
Alcoa CEO predicts Trump aluminum tariffs will cost 100,000 jobs
Bill Oplinger, CEO of Pittsburgh-based aluminum producer Alcoa, warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s 25% import tax on aluminum could kill off around 100,000 U.S jobs. “This is bad for the aluminum industry in the U.S. It’s bad for American workers,” Oplinger told a crowd at a metals and mining...
Nippon to meet with federal officials in bid to salvage U.S. Steel deal
Nippon Steel plans to meet with federal officials to work out a solution to the U.S. Steel takeover, and will use the existing merger agreement as a starting point in negotiations. The Japanese steelmaker’s chief operating officer, Tadashi Imai, unveiled the plan to reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday. Imai’s stance...
Giant Eagle on Rodi Road could see remodel after Penn Hills Council approves liquor license transfer
Giant Eagle could be gearing up for a remodel of its Rodi Road store after getting permission to sell alcohol there. The Cranberry-based grocery chain is exploring whether to use a liquor license secured at auction last year to sell beer and wine at its location along Penn Hills’ primary...
Former Vandergrift cop had sex with teenage girl about 100 times after starting job in 1990s, state police say
A former Vandergrift police officer is accused of having sex with a minor about 100 times in the early to mid-1990s, when he worked as a part-time patrolman for the borough. A criminal complaint filed by state police alleges former Sgt. Anthony “Tony” Depanicis invited a 14-year-old girl to his...
Community rallies behind South Buffalo Elementary student after brain tumor diagnosis
South Buffalo Elementary School fourth grader Mya Wienskovich can’t wait to get back to cheerleading. It was among the 10-year-old’s top concerns leading up to her surgery Friday morning at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Surgeons spent five hours removing a brain tumor. One thing is for certain: The Freeport...
Penn Hills police switching to 12-hour shifts
The eight-hour workday soon will be a thing of the past for Penn Hills police. Starting March 31, officers will work 12-hour shifts as Chief Ronald Como and other municipal officials search for any kind of edge in the ultra-competitive realm of police recruitment. “You got to change with the...
Old Apollo High School could come down as soon as next week
The excavators are in place, the asbestos dealt with and anything of value removed from the old Apollo High School. All that’s holding up demolition is the weather. Work was initially planned for this past week, but freezing weather pushed it back, said Jace Myers, president of Ford City-based Myers...
Dilapidated road connecting Penn Hills and Pittsburgh to be paved within the year
East Hills Drive, a pockmarked, trash-strewn corridor between Penn Hills and Pittsburgh, is getting some much-needed attention. A $250,000 state grant will allow Tamion Enterprises, the nonprofit arm of nearby Petra International Ministries, to repair its dilapidated stretch of the otherwise well-kept road. A fence will be added, too, to...
Co-conspirator in New Kensington gun shop smash-and-grab sentenced to 20 months
The first of two men to be sentenced for their roles in a January 2024 smash-and-grab at a New Kensington gun store was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer handed down the sentence Tuesday, calling on repeat felon Michael Guin, 27, of Lower...
West Leechburg getting 24/7 police coverage as part of deal with Allegheny Township
West Leechburg residents will soon go from having a local police officer available only occasionally to 24/7 coverage. Starting in March, Allegheny Township will provide around-the-clock coverage to the 1.2-square-mile borough for roughly the cost of what West Leechburg is paying to keep its three-officer force going on a part-time...
North Bessemer Volunteer Fire Department gets early birthday gift to repair parking lot
For its 100th birthday, the North Bessemer Volunteer Fire Department in Penn Hills was gifted $125,000 toward repaving its parking lot. And while it’s not the flashiest way to celebrate a centennial, John Zacchia, president of the fire department, said fixing the deeply rutted, debris-laden and otherwise uneven pavement will...
Allegheny Township officials blame traffic light timing for backups into Route 356 roundabout
The roundabout where Route 356 meets La Belle Vue Road in Allegheny Township, completed in 2023, was meant to reduce crashes and congestion. And while police say the safety gains are real, traffic improvements from the $7.7 million project haven’t quite met expectations. Township officials have raised concerns to PennDOT...
1 shot in East Vandergrift police raid
Officials declined to identify the suspect shot by police during a raid at an apartment Friday morning in East Vandergrift. The man was shot during a police raid led by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force around 7 a.m. Friday, according to state police. Residents say the raid targeted an...
Daunting equipment costs eased for Allegheny Township, Murrysville VFDs after $250K infusion from energy company
The Markle Volunteer Fire Department needs to make major repairs to its two trucks, but, like most of its peers in Western Pennsylvania, money is scarce. Spare cash will still be hard to come by for the foreseeable future, but a $100,000 grant from Olympus Energy is expected to at...
Expert, business opinions split over Trump tariffs on steel, aluminum
If the stock market is any indication, domestic steel and aluminum manufacturers can expect a boost from the 25% import tax on these materials imposed by President Donald Trump. U.S. Steel, Alcoa and a slew of other companies that stand to benefit from Monday’s executive order have seen their stock...
Route 28 reopens near Etna following tanker crash, spill
The southbound lanes of Route 28 near Etna reopened early Wednesday morning after a tanker crashed in the area and started leaking fuel Tuesday evening. An Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said emergency units were alerted of a single-vehicle crash by the exit around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday. One person was taken...
Vandergrift’s 2 fire departments, short on money and manpower, explore merging
When called upon, Vandergrift No. 2 firefighters almost always arrive at an emergency scene in short order. But, in just a couple of years, by Chief Albert Wells’ estimation, the dwindling department could have trouble getting its sole engine out the door. That’s part of why it’s exploring a merger...
Fetterman doesn’t waver on openness to work with Trump, despite backlash from some Democrats
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, the Braddock Democrat who was once a darling of the progressive movement, has drawn the ire of some on the left for his stances on Israel and immigration and, more recently, for his openness to working with President Donald Trump. Just last week, protesters who gathered...
2 men face charges in chaotic Vandergrift bar fight in which 3 people were shot
Vandergrift police have charged two men in connection with a December shooting at Anthony’s Bar on Longfellow Street, in which three people were shot. John Booker, 35, of Vandergrift and Brydon Williams-Chambers, 23, of Arnold face two counts each of aggravated assault as well as one count each of discharging...
Trump opposition to U.S. Steel-Nippon deal may be softening
President Donald Trump reportedly is reconsidering his stance on a U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel merger, possibly permitting the $14.9 billion deal to go through. Citing anonymous sources, CBS News reported Friday the president has softened his stance on the deal after firmly opposing it for more than a year. Late last...
Vandergrift counting on volunteers and donations to get park project over the finish line by year’s end
Grass is just starting to sprout in thin turfs across Olmsted Commons, a half-acre plot in the heart of Vandergrift with winding sidewalks and carefully contoured soil. Calling it a park at this stage would be an overstatement. North Huntingdon-based contractor 3DMurin Construction finished pouring concrete, paving an event area...
Vandergrift weighing $150 increase to rental licensing fee to bolster code enforcement
Vandergrift officials are in near-unanimous agreement that it’s time for a fourfold increase in the local rental licensing fee. Council voted Monday to advertise an ordinance raising the fee, unchanged since its introduction at least a decade ago, from $50 to $200. Landlords are charged for each unit they own....
Keeping the electric grid humming is costing consumers more
Pennsylvanians, along with a lot of other people, will see higher electric bills this summer. But don’t blame your local power company just yet. Soaring “capacity costs” are the culprit, and they’re largely out of the control of entities like West Penn Power and Duquesne Light. Not even the state’s...
Penn Hills Library, less spry than it once was, could see renovations
The Penn Hills Library might get a refresh as it nears the end of its second decade along Stotler Road. Organization leaders recently met with several design firms that specialize in libraries and plan to meet with several more in the coming weeks to hash out the basics of a...
