Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 26
Mass covid-19 vaccination clinic set for former Sears at Pittsburgh Mills in FrazerVideo
The Allegheny Health Network is opening a mass covid-19 vaccination clinic in the former Sears Grand store in the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer on April 20. About 6,000 to 6,500 people are expected to receive the first Pfizer vaccine April 20 and the second one May 11, according to...
Thriving mom and pop shops: Falls Market in Ohiopyle offers new hotel rooms
The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation gave a shout-out Monday to local stores, restaurants and outfitters for National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day. A Penn State study on the economic impact of state parks in 2012 estimated park visitors generated more than $1 billion in sales to the state...
Burrell students collect and bag pandemic safety kits for 260 Knead Café patrons
Patrons received more than grab-and-go free community boxed meals Thursday at the Knead Community Café in New Kensington. They got a dose of pandemic protection with 260 safety kits stuffed with hand sanitizer, gloves and masks, courtesy of Burrell students. Before the pandemic hit, Burrell students were volunteering at the...
Olympus Energy pays $1.2M to extend waterlines near Marcellus well sites in Upper Burrell, Allegheny Township
Olympus Energy is paying $1.2 million to the Municipal Authority of the City of New Kensington to extend about 3 miles of waterlines near three Marcellus well sites in Upper Burrell and Allegheny Township. The energy company is buying water from the municipal authority and paying to pipe the water...
Dollar General development in Upper Burrell faces snag with faulty stormwater drain
Upper Burrell and area environmental officials discovered a faulty PennDOT storm drain that could adversely affect drainage at the proposed Dollar General development at Route 780 and Dewey Drive. The proposed Dollar General is on commercially zoned land. When the store was first proposed, township officials didn’t expect many obstacles...
Food truck sets up semi-permanent location in Lower Burrell
You can get a taste of Southern California in the parking lot of a Lower Burrell car dealership, where a city native has been serving beach-style Mexican food out of a food truck four days a week for the past two months. The Gripz food truck parks at Forza Motorcars...
Audubon’s Babcock Nature Center to open in Buffalo Township June 12
The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania will hold a grand opening June 12 for the Babcock Nature Center in Buffalo Township, along the Butler-Freeport Community Trail. The new 2,500-square-foot center with a 1,200-square-foot pavilion is situated in the six-acre Buffalo Creek Nature Park, located off of Monroe Road next to...
3 candidates receive nominations in special election race to replace state Rep. Jeff Pyle
Three nominees to replace former state Rep. Jeff Pyle have been chosen by their respective parties to run in a special election to represent parts of Armstrong, Indiana and Butler counties. A longtime Republican lawmaker from Ford City, Pyle retired suddenly because of health issues this month. He had just...
2 Pittsburgh eaglets hatch same day; 3rd eaglet a possibilityVideo
The Pittsburgh Hays bald eagle family might be unusually large this season as two eggs hatched successfully Tuesday and a third hatch is possible, said an Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania spokeswoman. Now in their ninth year together, the Hays bald eagle couple has only once before raised three young....
Armstrong County commissioner throws hat in the ring for former state Rep. Pyle’s seat
Armstrong County Commissioners Chairman Don Myers is the second candidate to seek the Republican Party nomination to fill the seat of state Rep. Jeff Pyle. Pyle cited health reasons in announcing his retirement last week. Pyle was in his ninth term representing the 60th District, which includes parts of Armstrong,...
Baby bald eagle hatches at Hays nest in PittsburghVideo
A fuzzy white eaglet hatched from one of three eggs in an eagle nest in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood just after 3 a.m. Tuesday. The eaglet’s arrival was caught by a live webcam operated by PixCams of Murrysville and the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. This is the ninth breeding season...
Special election to replace former state Rep. Jeff Pyle to be May 18
Voters in Pennsylvania’s 60th State House District will choose a replacement for former state Rep. Jeff Pyle in a special election May 18, officials said Monday. That’s the same day as Pennsylvania’s primary. Pyle, a Republican from Ford City, was three months into his ninth term representing a district that...
Alle-Kiski CareerLink GED program flourishing
When things didn’t work out for Madison Gourley after she left Kiski Area High School in her senior year to move away with her new husband, she returned home and earned her GED diploma. She is on her way to nursing school at Westmoreland County Community College in the fall....
Apollo Cemetery cleanup set; Scout to finish cleaning almost 100 veteran tombstones
After a rallying cry two years ago, the efforts to restore the Apollo Cemetery in Kiski Township have been bolstered by volunteers, donations and the elbow grease of Boy Scouts. Volunteers and donations are needed for a spring cleanup from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 27. The Apollo...
Upper Burrell supervisors consider proposed Marcellus shale well
The Upper Burrell supervisors will consider a request for a Marcellus natural gas well to be drilled on Alcoa property off White Cloud Road. So-called unconventional wells are used in a controversial natural gas extraction process known as fracking. This would be the second Marcellus shale fracking site in the...
Burrell School District working on plan to help struggling students
Editor’s note: The original version of this story attributed school board President Pam Key’s remarks to a different school director. Burrell School District is working on a plan to help students in academic trouble, including those having problems with virtual learning. Superintendent Shannon Wagner told the school board Tuesday about...
Photographer captures images of river otter in Monongahela RiverVideo
Lisa Kaufman had her camera set to capture some migrating Northern shoveler ducks on the Monongahela River recently, in Pittsburgh’s Duck Hollow neighborhood, when a movement near the bank caught her eye. She pointed her camera and for 19 seconds got to see a rarity: a river otter. “This guy...
State Rep. Jeff Pyle retires for health reasons, says hardest part is ‘I didn’t think I was done yet’
Nine-term state Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Ford City, retired Tuesday because of health issues. Pyle, 56, is in his second round of battling cancer. He first was diagnosed with kidney cancer less than two months into his first term as a state representative in early 2005. Pyle beat the disease then,...
Burrell track not ready for meets until weather allows for painting to be done
One of the final details on Burrell School District’s $1.8 million renovation of Buccaneer Stadium — painting lines on the track — remains on hold until there’s a window of warmer and dry weather. “It’s a great surface,” said Drake D’Angelo, Burrell’s athletic director. “We will be excited to use...
A first: Bald eagles nesting at U.S. Steel plant along Monongahela River in West Mifflin
A pair of bald eagles chose another unlikely urban spot to nest in the once highly industrialized Pittsburgh area — the U.S. Steel Irvin plant in West Mifflin along the Monongahela River, across from Glassport. There are no other known eagle nests in the state at a steel mill, making...
Burrell Lake Park’s Fisher Hall will get much needed face-lift
The décor at Lower Burrell’s Fisher Hall was getting a bit too rustic for the times, so a city councilwoman and the public works department are working on a face-lift for one of the city popular social halls. Located in Burrell Lake Park, Fisher Hall is the go-to venue for...
Kitchen fire caused East Ninth Avenue blaze in Tarentum
The fast-moving blaze that engulfed a three-story home in the 300 block of East Ninth Avenue in Tarentum on Thursday started in the kitchen, according to fire officials. Two firefighters were injured, but discharged from Allegheny Valley Hospital within hours. Residents in the home were able to safely exit. The...
Upper Burrell delays approving Dollar General plan over permitting, drainage issues
Upper Burrell is temporarily shelving Dollar General’s plans to build a store along Route 780 at Dewey Drive until the developer secures permits and other approvals. The township’s planning commission also raised concerns over drainage issues near the store. Although the proposed store is unpopular with many residents who would...
2 firefighters hurt battling blaze on Tarentum’s East Ninth AvenueVideo
Two firefighters were injured battling a fire Thursday morning on Tarentum’s East Ninth Avenue, which left four residents homeless. Highland Hose fire Chief Terry Chambon said two firefighters from Citizens Hose suffered minor burns and were taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison. They were treated and released hours later....
How sweet it is: Ice cream, custard stands opening, including new one in Arnold
The harbingers of spring are here. Glen’s Frozen Custard, with locations in Lower Burrell and Springdale, opens Thursday. Della’s Frozen Custard opens Friday. And early Sunday, clocks will be turned ahead an hour for Daylight Saving Time. Mom-and-pop frozen custard and ice cream shops have been opening this month throughout...
