Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 55
Leave roaming bear alone, officials advise, ‘don’t try to take a selfie with it’
The young black bear spotted Tuesday in Penn Hills along Frankstown Road likely is the same one spotted later that evening in Turtle Creek and Monroeville, according to social media reports and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. It is hoped the young bear, which is looking for safe territory, will find...
It’s lift-off for Pittsburgh Hays bald eaglet No. 9
It’s the season for well-fed eaglets to leave the nest and learn to fly under the tutelage of their parents, and one of two young bald eagles in the Pittsburgh Hays nest apparently cleared for take-off Tuesday. Robert Bevan of Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place captured a photo of one of the...
Pittsburgh’s ‘Amazing Race’ contestant heads to Croatia
Pittsburgh native Becca Droz and her teammate, Floyd Pierce, are back on their worldwide adventure in Croatia at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CBS’ “The Amazing Race.” Droz and Pierce, aka “Team Fun,” are among only six teams left vying for a $1 million prize on a 25,000-plus mile journey around...
Bridge project to reduce Greensburg Road to 1 lane in Lower Burrell
The 13,000 daily motorists who use Route 366, also known as Greensburg Road, should allot more travel time when a nearly $1 million bridge replacement project begins next week and reduces the busy road to one lane near Millers Lane in Lower Burrell. Single-lane traffic will be regulated by a...
Black bear spotted running along Frankstown Road in Penn Hills
The Pennsylvania Game Commission received several reports Tuesday of a black bear running along Frankstown Road near the McDonald’s in Penn Hills. The bear, believed to be about a year-and-a-half old, is on the move and was likely pushed out by his mother as she gets ready to breed, according...
Tarentum Bridge continues to attract peregrine falcons
It’s been said before, but something continues to be mighty attractive about the Tarentum Bridge to the peregrine falcon. The current pair is raising three young falcons in a special nest box under the bridge deck. This is the fourth time that the once endangered raptor has successfully raised young...
Experts: Allegheny Township fracking case highlights importance of local elections
In Pennsylvania, if a local government decides to open up Marcellus shale drilling throughout a community, even a residential area, it might not be challenged in court because of a recent, precedent-setting case in Allegheny Township. The courts didn’t buy the role of local governments as environmental stewards when it...
Rare Andean condor chick hatches at National Aviary
A rare Andean Condor chick, a downy, grey-white baby bird the size of a grapefruit, hatched Friday at the National Aviary. This is the first Andean Condor chick to hatch at the National Aviary since 2007, and is currently the only Andean Condor chick to hatch this year at an...
‘Flannel shirt eagle’ rescued along highway released back into wild
Not all bald eagle rescue stories end so happily. But the bald eagle saved from the middle of a busy Chester County highway in a motorcyclist’s flannel shirt has been successfully rehabbed and released back into wild. Motorcyclist Dandon Miller of Lancaster, who stepped up to help the bird stranded...
Pittsburgh’s Becca Droz survives another cut in CBS’ ‘The Amazing Race’
Pittsburgh native Becca Droz and her teammate, Floyd Pierce, survived more adventures to reach another round on CBS’ “The Amazing Race.” Droz and Pierce, aka “Team Fun,” are now among six teams vying for a $1 million prize on a 25,000-plus mile journey around the world. They competed on the...
Pin your own cicada at Cicadapalooza! at Powdermill Sunday
Powdermill Nature Reserve will present Cicadapalooza! from 2 p.m. to about 4 p.m. Sunday at its Rector, Westmoreland County, facility. The event is free to the public. Staff will discuss the periodical cicada Brood VIII currently resurfacing at Powdermill and elsewhere around the region. The event features a lecture on...
National Weather Service to lift Pittsburgh boating advisory this weekend
Boating season might begin after all. The Allegheny and Kiski rivers are expected to clear and settle down this weekend as the National Weather Service lifts a weeklong recreational boating advisory in Pittsburgh. More than 3 inches of rain soaked the region within three days last week and the significant...
Benefit concert to honor New Kensington Officer Brian Shaw
A dozen bands will play Friday and Saturday for the Back the Blue benefit concert honoring fallen New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw at the Quality Inn ballroom in New Kensington. Tickets are $10 at door, which opens at 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The first band plays at 6...
Guilty conscience? 8 ways to reduce your plastic waste
Plastic bags, straws, food containers — it all adds up for just one person in just one day. Plastics pollution is the latest buzz, with numerous reports of wildlife dying after eating or becoming entangled in various plastic trash. Laws are being changed over the situation. According to an Associated...
‘Absolutely amazing’ $3.5M renovation complete at Butler County’s Succop Nature ParkVideo
It’s now more than a place to get married and take a walk. About $3.5 million worth of renovations at the Succop Nature Park along West Airport Road in Penn Township, Butler County — a longtime park most recently known for its elegant country weddings — has turned an old...
UPS to host recruiting event in Youngwood
UPS will hold a recruiting event on June 13 from noon until 2 p.m. at the PA CareerLink at 151 Pavilion Lane, Youngwood. According to the UPS website, there are at least 14 jobs currently within a 15-mile radius of Youngwood. In a Facebook announcement, UPS is promising advancement opportunities...
‘By Land Cleanup’ along Kiski River set for June 15
The Kiski Watershed Association will hold a “By Land Cleanup” on June 15 from 8 a.m. to noon, starting at the River’s Edge Canoe & Kayak, 3158 River Road in Gilpin. The cleanup along the river will be coordinated with the larger River Sweep, a region-wide cleanup along the banks...
Armstrong County locks closed on Allegheny River this weekend due to high water
Due to high water, the Allegheny River Development Corp. and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have decided to keep four locks closed in the Armstrong County portion of the Allegheny River. The closed locks are located in South Buffalo, West Kittanning, Boggs, and Madison townships. During the summer,...
Leechburg woman, 84, well known for volunteering, receives honorary high school diploma
The top of her cap and just a sliver of her face were all you could see of 5-foot-2 Violet Stivason at the lectern as he spoke of her life when accepting her honorary high school diploma at Leechburg Area High School auditorium Thursday night. Just an hour earlier, the...
Sandy Hook mom tells Burrell High School audience to ‘Choose Love’
Her anger was still palpable when she woke up the morning of what would have been the seventh birthday of her son Jesse, one of 26 people killed six months earlier by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. That’s when Scarlett Lewis said she began...
Pittsburgh’s Amateur Astronomers to throw free public star gazing party at Kunkle Park
The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh will throw a free public star gazing party at Kunkle Park in Washington Township on June 15. If conditions are right, the public will be treated to views of the moon’s craters, rays, plains and mountains as well as brightly colored double stars, star...
Pittsburgh’s ‘Amazing Race’ contestant still in hunt for $1M prize
During Wednesday night’s episode of CBS’ “The Amazing Race,” Pittsburgh native Becca Droz and her teammate Floyd Pierce ranked third, keeping them in the running for next week’s primetime reality TV show, according to the GoldDerby website. Droz and Pierce, known as “Team Fun,” are among seven teams currently vying...
Motorcyclist uses flannel shirt to save bald eagle on Chester County highway
A Lancaster man used his flannel shirt to rescue an injured bald eagle that had plopped down in the middle of a Route 30 bypass, stopping traffic, in Downingtown, Chester County, on Saturday, according to media reports. Dandon Miller was on his motorcycle when he encountered the traffic jam and...
Pittsburgh’s Becca Droz continues ‘Amazing Race’ in Switzerland
After flying on the world’s longest zip line in Dubai and winning first place in one of two episodes of CBS’s “Amazing Race” last week, Pittsburgh native Becca Droz again will be featured on the prime time adventure reality show tonight at 8 p.m. The excitement continues with Droz and...
Roofers union looking for apprentices due to retirements, workload
The United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers Local 37 in Bellevue need to fill 40 open apprentice positions, according to a representative at the union’s Joint Apprenticeship Committee on Monday. The Union has jurisdiction in a number of counties in Western Pennsylvania including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Indiana, Somerset,...
