Jack Troy stories, Page 27
Penn Hills mayoral candidates sound off
Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese faces a challenge this November from Deputy Mayor Frank Pecora in her bid for reelection, according to the Allegheny County Office of Elections unofficial candidate list. Both are registered Democrats, but Pecora received the Republican endorsement and will appear on the ballot for the party....
Penn Hills residents oppose proposed electronic billboard in Churchill
Penn Hills residents turned out in force to an Aug. 28 Churchill zoning hearing board to weigh in on a proposed double-sided electronic billboard along Rodi Road that some say will detract from recent beautification efforts — but a decision will have to wait. After three hours that included tense...
Chickens OK in Penn Hills if residents go through permitting process
Penn Hills residents are flocking to chicken keeping as a way to connect with nature and insulate themselves from egg price fluctuations. The municipality carved out a special exception for backyard chicken coops in 2016, allowing people to keep up to four hens — and no noisy roosters — on...
Penn Hills police hits staffing target with 5 new officers and 1 canine
Five Penn Hills police officers raised their right hands for a swearing-in ceremony at the July 17 council meeting — and another raised its paw. Michael Barnes, 25; Jarrod Chiaramonte, 24; Daniel Lore, 28; David Twidwell, 31; and Joseph Grieco, 24, bring the total number of full-time officers to 57....
Franklin Park, a community in transition, celebrates bicentennial
Franklin Park Manager Rege Ebner admits that the borough’s 200-year history as a sleepy outcropping of Pittsburgh doesn’t include many claims to fame. “The only thing we do know is it was named after Ben Franklin, though we’re not sure why,” Ebner said. Nonetheless, the borough of about 15,000 people...
Adzema Pharmacy offers doses of charm, modern care in McCandless
You’d be out of luck searching for an egg sandwich or plate of lasagna at a typical pharmacy, save for the frozen food aisle. Adzema Pharmacy in McCandless is different, with a lunch counter just a few steps away from a fully stocked drug store, all under one roof. It’s...
Pittsburgh area baristas strike as part of Starbucks union national bus tour
Starbucks workers from across the country joined local baristas at the company’s Bloomfield and Eastside locations on Thursday in a strike against stalled contract negotiations and alleged union busting tactics. The pickets are part of a 13-city Starbucks Workers United bus tour that kicked off in Louisville on July 16....
Car crashes into Longhorn Steakhouse in McCandless
A car crashed into the vestibule of the McCandless Longhorn Steakhouse on Tuesday around 1 p.m., pinning a 17-year-old female employee underneath the vehicle. First responders rescued the employee using the Jaws of Life. The driver, an 81-year-old woman, and the employee were taken to a nearby hospital with moderate...
New IC Light sign hovers over Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh’s closest thing to the Hollywood sign has a new look. The “Iron City Beer” sign atop Mount Washington was replaced with an IC Light billboard Thursday morning. The new sign has a message for fans: “Cheer Pittsburgh. Drink Pittsburgh.” Pittsburgh Brewing Co. said the former red-and-white sign had become...
Jeopardy! winner donates $15,000 for North Allegheny boathouse to honor late brother
Six-hundred-dollars in the hole, Beaver oral and facial surgeon Chris Ban felt like he was “blowing” his appearance in the June 27 episode of “Jeopardy!”. During an intermission, he looked to his late younger brother, Michael, for a little help. “After that, things started to turn,” Chris said. He’d go...
WWII bomber pilot celebrates 100th birthday in McCandless
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the number of Tom Wiley’s great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. After anti-aircraft shells began exploding outside of his cockpit window during his first mission, Army pilot Tom Wiley didn’t expect to survive World War II, let alone live to be 100 years old....
NLRB orders reinstatement of 4 Pittsburgh Starbucks baristas fired for union organizing
Starbucks illegally fired four baristas in Pittsburgh who supported unionization according to a National Labor Relations Board decision that ordered their reinstatement. In a June 30 ruling, NLRB administrative law judge Robert Ringler found that Starbucks management had repeatedly engaged in anti-union activity at four of the company’s Pittsburgh locations...
New Kensington Bridge to close for 6 weeks starting in July
A scheduled closure to the New Kensington Bridge will happen a year sooner than expected. The six-week closure is tentatively scheduled for July 17, with July 24 as a backup date, according to PennDOT spokesperson Steve Cowan. Motorists also can expect the section of Freeport Road passing under the bridge...
Community spruces up Rodi Road in Penn Hills
Motorists coming into Penn Hills from I-376 are now greeted by garden beds where a vacant gas station once stood, one of many recent efforts to beautify Rodi Road. Located between Maple Lane and Rodi Plaza, the garden includes one bed of annuals and three with native perennials for pollinators,...
Saints of the Valley vacation Bible school teaches kids about namesakes for local churches
Most churches base their vacation Bible schools on cookie-cutter programming from national suppliers, but, at Saints of the Valley, campers will get an experience specific to the Alle-Kiski Valley. Each day of the program focuses on a different patron saint for one of five Catholic churches in the region —...
Hays eaglets take flight, could settle anywhere
They grow up so fast. Another bald eagle fledgling left the nest in Hays last Thursday, Jim Bonner of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania confirmed. The eaglet joined its older sibling, which took flight four days before. The Hays eagles are in their 11th breeding season and have raised...
Plum Food Pantry, after years of depressed demand, sees rise in clients
The number of families relying on the Plum Food Pantry is nearing pre-pandemic levels, though not in the way you might expect. Food banks across the country reported crushing demand at the height of covid-19, and again as pandemic-era federal benefits expired starting in mid-2021. To the contrary, the Plum...
Overgrown Herr Chapel Cemetery full of hidden history
There’s no telling how many Union soldiers and prominent local figures are buried beneath the dense overgrowth at Herr Chapel Cemetery. Many monuments are sunken, caked in moss or eroded beyond legibility. Others appear to simply be half-buried rocks, and may or may not indicate a grave. Without the worn,...
Taylor Swift fans seeing red over Eras Tour ticket prices
Forget a blank space. You darn near need a blank check to work your way into either of this week’s Taylor Swift concerts at Acrisure Stadium. Ticket prices are soaring days before the most-anticipated concert stop of the year. Swift’s Eras Tour hits the stadium Friday and Saturday. On Wednesday,...
2nd mini-golf venue putting for dough in Strip District
A two-block radius in the Strip District is now home to not one, but two indoor mini-golf venues that promise a fresh take on the game paired with upscale fare. Puttshack officially opened its location at the Strip District Terminal on Wednesday morning, around a quarter mile from Puttery Pittsburgh,...
Egg prices coming down, but high costs persist for local farmers
Egg prices and production levels are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, despite lingering impacts from bird flu and ongoing concerns from some local farmers about high feed costs. According to the latest Northeastern chicken and egg report from the USDA, Pennsylvania’s egg production was down 8% in April compared to...
Penn Hills CDC project aims to collect community census data
Penn Hills residents will have the chance this summer to voice their needs and vision for the future of the municipality through a community-wide census. The project, known as Penn Hills Rising, is led by the Penn Hills Community Development Corporation in collaboration with more than 65 community groups, regional...
Primary election results for Penn Hills races
As of press time on May 18, 96% of Penn Hills precincts have fully reported vote counts for the primary election. Here are the unofficial results, according to the Allegheny County Office of Elections. Mayor Three Democrats sought their party’s nomination for mayor. Incumbent Pauline Calabrese received 2,778 votes, Qiana...
Penn Hills council meeting canceled due to lack of quorum
Penn Hills Deputy Mayor and candidate in the Democratic mayoral primary Frank Pecora said “political obligations” prevented him from attending the May 15 council meeting, which was canceled due to a lack of a quorum. Pecora said he got a “late start” placing his campaign signs by the polls in...
Penn Hills officials approve Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships
Penn Hills will spend $839,599 in federal grants to fund community groups, pave roads and provide programs for seniors and homeowners, among other initiatives. On April 17, council approved the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Program Annual Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2023. The Department of Housing...
