Kellen Stepler stories, Page 45
In brief: Bridgeville, Carnegie area news and events, week of Feb. 26, 2024 and beyond
Collier appoints new commissioner, finance director Kari Suter was appointed to Collier Township’s board of commissioners, filling a vacancy left by Tim Young’s recent resignation. Commissioners also hired Jennifer Foster as finance director. Foster’s previous experience includes being a finance officer in the Army. “It sounds like this is a...
Penn State New Kensington rallies against proposed cuts to branch campuses
Anthony Palyszeski can speak firsthand about the impact his time as a student at Penn State New Kensington has had on his life. “My years at Penn State New Kensington turned me into a professional, to enter the workforce with pride,” said Palyszeski, 27, of Harrison, a network coordinator at...
Carnegie, family to restore historic stone pavilion
A local family and Carnegie Borough are working to restore a historic pavilion at Carnegie Park. Borough officials, and descendants of Domenico Masciantonio, are in the midst of a project to restore the Stone Pavilion at Carnegie Park to its original look and feel. “It’s a legacy,” said Masciantonio’s grandson,...
Lower Burrell aims to improve communication, collaboration among community groups
More than three dozen community groups in Lower Burrell gathered last week to share information and determine how they might pool resources. The event, organized by city officials, drew representatives from 38 organizations, including youth sports boosters, civic groups, parade organizers, businesses, schools, police, firefighters and Lower Burrell’s parks commission....
Cheswick, Springdale, Springdale Township to pursue 3-way garbage collection bid
Three communities in the Lower Valley are hoping to limit trash collection costs by joining together to advertise for garbage collection bids. Cheswick, Springdale and Springdale Township officials this week approved advertising a three-way bid. Springdale Township and Cheswick did a dual bid for refuse collection six years ago, and...
Councilmen say there’s not much Springdale can do with railroad intersection
There’s not much that Springdale Borough can do with an apparently complicated railroad crossing near Colfax Street. About 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, a tractor-trailer’s dolly legs got stuck under the rail at the Colfax Street crossing, police said. The driver, unable to get the rig off the tracks, evacuated the truck...
Riverview students to have virtual learning after 2nd reported gas leak this week
An odor of gas, the second in four days, was reported late Thursday morning at Riverview Junior-Senior High School in Oakmont, forcing the evacuation of students and staff. A smell of natural gas was reported about 10:45 a.m. in one of the school’s science rooms. Superintendent Neil English said students...
Springdale, Riverview enter into junior high baseball club co-op
School rivals in the Lower Valley are teaming up in yet another sport. The Allegheny Valley and Riverview school boards approved a cooperative sponsorship agreement that would allow seventh through ninth grade baseball players at Springdale to participate on the Riverview junior high club team. Springdale and Riverview already operate...
Chartiers Valley senior with drive for engineering named to 18 under Eighteen
Gabriella Ballock first met Chartiers Valley teacher Chuck Barber when she was a new student and couldn’t get inside the high school building. Barber, an applied engineering and technology teacher, opened the door to let her inside the school. And as Ballock entered the engineering and shop facility, she knew...
Train, truck collide at the same Springdale crossing as 3 previous wrecks
A tractor-trailer and a train collided Wednesday morning near the Colfax Street crossing in Springdale — the third such wreck in less than three years, and fourth since 2018. Springdale police Chief Derek Dayoub said his department was notified of the crash at 9:25 a.m. “The truck’s dolly legs got...
Postal service changes course on mailbox move on Lower Burrell’s Michigan Avenue
The U.S. Postal Service is rescinding a recent notice sent to residents of Lower Burrell’s Michigan Avenue that required them to move their mailboxes to the street by May 15. Michigan Avenue residents received letters earlier this month from the New Kensington Post Office informing them that their mailboxes must...
Carnegie theater company ‘Stage 62’ celebrates its 62nd anniversary
Stephanie Ottey acknowledges that most organizations wouldn’t celebrate their 62nd anniversary. But the newly-named president knows that the 62nd anniversary holds a different meaning for Stage 62, a Carnegie nonprofit theater company. Stage 62 started in Bethel Park in 1962 as an adult education theater project, and has since evolved...
Chartiers Valley dance troupe reaches new heights
The Chartiers Valley High School dance troupe knows how to choreograph the right moves for success, even at the national level. The 11-member dance team at Chartiers Valley High School earned second place with its hip-hop routine at the national competition in Orlando, Fla.. It also advanced straight to the...
Faces of the Valley: Prevention specialist improving school climate at Bon Air
Just a few years after he graduated from the Burrell School District, Jordan Perry already is making a difference in the school system. Perry, 25, of Lower Burrell is in his second year working as a prevention specialist at Bon Air Elementary School. So far, Perry has implemented several programs...
Acmetonia students build sense of belonging, community with new program
Students at Acmetonia Elementary School not only have homework, they also have house work. Under the “House System,” students are assigned to one of five groups, or houses. House meetings are held each month, and students collaborate with their peers to work on various community-building activities, said Rebecca Garbisch, school...
Springdale Township trailer home gutted by fire
Fire gutted a trailer home Thursday morning along Spring Street in Springdale Township. Crews were dispatched to the fire about 11:15 a.m., said Allegheny Valley Assistant Fire Chief Jay Zangrille. It took about 25 minutes for firefighters to knock down the fire. No one was in the trailer at the...
Allegheny Township man dies in crash near Lower Burrell-Allegheny Twp. line
An Allegheny Township man died Wednesday afternoon when the truck he was driving went off Melwood Road near the Lower Burrell-Allegheny Township line. Lower Burrell police officer Aaron Rodgers said Nicholas A. Ganter, 29, was driving alone when his pickup went off the right side of the road. The vehicle...
Southwestern Pennsylvania Municipal Project Hub launches in Brackenridge to help towns access federal funding
Brackenridge Mayor Lindsay Fraser was surprised when her small town was approached to host a news conference to launch the SWPA Municipal Project Hub. But she also found it fitting. “There is a generationally historic amount of federal infrastructure money available to towns just like Brackenridge, to communities in Allegheny...
Possible motive revealed in Mogie’s killingVideo
The man suspected of fatally shooting Lower Burrell restaurant owner David “Mogie” Magill told investigators he pulled the trigger because he thought Magill was a “drug-dealing pedophile,” a witness in the case testified Wednesday. Lower Burrell police Officer Zachary Beam testified in district court that suspect Nathan Salem offered no...
New director Erin Weaver takes the helm at Bridgeville Library
Erin Weaver will be writing the Bridgeville Public Library’s next chapter. Weaver, 38, of South Fayette became the library’s director at the start of the year. “It was a chance to run the library and continue on with the mission and the things we’re doing, and leave a positive impact...
Upper Burrell again floats police regionalization idea
Upper Burrell officials are once again gauging the interest of surrounding municipalities in forming a regional police department. Township supervisors mailed letters to Lower Burrell, New Kensington and Allegheny and Washington townships to gauge their interest in forming a “fact-finding body” to examine the feasibility of a regionalized police force...
PLCB opens lotteries to purchase nearly 1,900 bottles of rare whiskeys
Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board, through its limited-release lottery, is awarding those who register the opportunity to buy 1,896 bottles of rare whiskeys. The LCB on Monday announced that state residents and licensees have until 5 p.m. Friday to opt in to the lotteries or drawings for whiskeys from the Pappy...
Construction on Freeport’s new $18.6M sewage treatment facility to start Monday
Freeport taxpayers soon will see progress on a project they’ve helped to pay for over the past year — and into the future. The borough will break ground Monday on its $18.6 million sewage treatment plant. “Freeport Borough is finally upgrading its wastewater treatment plant,” said Zachary Filous, borough manager....
Too warm: Plants, insects, people likely to pay the price for warm winters
The active milkweed bug Chris Kubiak found this week is not a good sign. The harmless-to-humans bug was out and about at Beechwood Farms Nature Preserve in Fox Chapel, where Kubiak is director of education. It, like most other insects native to the region, should be inactive, waiting out winter...
Lower Burrell looks to revamp old tax office into community space
Courtney Kobelenske is excited about the possibilities a new community center in Lower Burrell can provide. “I think it would work well for people that need it. We could use it, other individuals could use it,” said Kobelenske, who organizes the AK Inclusion Games and helps to coordinate work opportunities...
