Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 7
Lower Burrell VFC No. 3 Chief Mark Marmo named as city’s code enforcement officer
One of Lower Burrell’s longtime fire chiefs will be the city’s new code enforcement and ordinance officer, replacing Michael Nedley, who retired after a 32-year tenure. City Council recently approved Mark Marmo, the fire chief of Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3, with a unanimous vote. Marmo will enforce...
Near drought conditions cause watering woes and halt some plantings
Backyard gardeners and nursery workers are watering like crazy, an area nursery halted tree installations and crop experts are on alert — all because of this summer’s unusually hot, dry weather. “We’re praying for rain,” said Justin Brackenrich, a Penn State Extension agronomist based in Butler County. He reports some...
State asks public to count wild turkeys, even a white gobbler in Upper Burrell
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is asking the public to count turkeys this summer for the agency’s Wild Turkey Sighting Survey. The commission needs the public’s participation throughout the state to determine population trends and compare long-term reproductive success, said Travis Lau in a commission news release. The count runs through...
Chattanooga Bakery donates Moon Pies for ‘Race to the Moon’ on Roaring Run Trail
The moon always loomed large in Apollo but even more so for the nighttime Race to the Moon 5K on Roaring Run Trail on Saturday featuring authentic Moon Pies. Walkers and runners might glimpse the moon during the night race when a large segment of the Roaring Run Trail in...
Kiski Township supervisors to vote on hiring 2 police officers
The Kiski Township supervisors will vote on hiring two police officers during their meeting Wednesday. Four of the township’s six officers and the police secretary quit last week over claims of harassment and intimidation, former Sgt. Thomas Dessell said. The township supervisors hired a new police chief, Lee Bartolicius, last...
Underground Railroad presentation set for Apollo’s Drake Log Cabin
The history of the Underground Railroad in the region will come alive today when the Apollo Area Historical Society offers a free presentation about the pathway to freedom at 6:30 p.m. in Apollo’s historic Drake Log Cabin. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established...
‘It’s a shocker.’ Kiski Township residents want local police back
When residents of Kiski Township and North Apollo awoke Friday morning, some were surprised to learn they had lost their 24-hour, seven-days-a-week police department. Four police officers and the police secretary quit Thursday and early Friday, leaving only a newly appointed police chief and the school resource officer. State police...
Kiski Township police cite ‘hostile work environment’ in resignation letters
Kiski Township police officers cited what they describe as a “hostile work environment” in resignation letters to the township. Four of the township’s six officers resigned Thursday or early Friday, as did the township’s police secretary. The resignations came after the department’s former officer-in-charge filed a grievance with the township...
Lower Burrell considers new recycling contract for bigger bins on wheels
With options from two companies providing six bids, Lower Burrell Council is favoring vendor-provided, 65-gallon bins with lids on wheels for residents to store recyclables and tote to the curb. Shank Waste Service Inc. of Lower Burrell and Waste Management of Moon Township submitted bids with city-supplied and contractor-supplied bins...
5 members of Kiski Township Police Department resign, claiming harassment, intimidation
The Kiski Township Police Department is virtually dismantled after four of the township’s six officers, including former Officer in Charge Sgt. Thomas Dessell, and a police secretary resigned. “The walk-off is due to the harassment and intimidation brought on by township supervisors,” Dessell said. State police are handling emergency calls...
Lower Burrell veterans seek missing flags ripped from poles in microburst
Most Lower Burrell residents know all too well the snapped trees, downed power lines and other destruction caused by a June 22 microburst. American flags lining Leechburg Road also took a hit during the storm as high winds, ranging from 58 mph to 65 mph, according to the National Weather...
Dole Whip ice cream featured with 15 food trucks for summer festival in Lower Burrell
It’s all about the Dole Whip food truck and an array of 14 more food trucks for Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3’s Summer Celebration on Saturday. The event, which runs from 1 to 6 p.m., is one of four food truck rallies offered by the fire company this...
Building the Valley: From wooden to fiber barrels, family-owned Plum company recycles for over a century
In an era when recycling wasn’t common, Penn Barrel Inc., established in 1908, built its business reconditioning wooden barrels. Now the company, based in Plum, reconditions and recycles 55-gallon steel, plastic and fiber barrels for use in environmental cleanups and other applications in the region. “We’re a small company, but...
Braeburn Alloy Steel sold; United Steelworkers charges unfair labor practices
G.O. Carlson Inc. of Oil City has bought Braeburn Alloy Steel in Lower Burrell. Commonly referred to as Braeburn Steel, Braeburn processes metal alloys, including titanium, refractory metals, high-end nickel alloys, steel alloys, stainless steel, tool steel and carbon steel. It’s 125 years old and employs about 41 workers. The...
Better Than Ezra to headline Arts on the Allegheny concert
The alternative rock band Better Than Ezra will headline a free Arts on the Allegheny concert July 23 at the John P. Murtha Amphitheater in Kittanning’s Riverfront Park. The nonprofit offers free arts and entertainment events at the park and other venues. Last year, Blues Traveler drew upward of 7,000...
Burrell passes budget with 2.9% real estate tax increase
The property tax in the Burrell School District will be increasing by 2.9% for next school year. The Burrell School Board recently passed its $34.7 million budget 7-0 that includes the real estate tax hike. The owner of a home with an average assessed value of $22,900 will see a...
Lower Burrell fire department looks to upgrade command center after last week’s microburst
Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 is exploring upgrading its command center after responding to 120 calls in 3.5 hours during the June 22 microburst. Councilwoman Brandy Grieff, who heads up the city’s Public Safety Department, is meeting with the city’s firefighters, police and public works department to review...
VALarena owners say goodbye as new owners continue roller skating rink tradition in North Apollo
After more than two decades of operating the successful VAL- arena in North Apollo, Fred and Debra Knepshield get to finally hang up their roller skates. The skating rink, named after the first letters of Vandergrift, Apollo and Leechburg, has been an entertainment institution in the Alle-Kiski Valley for 73 years....
Police sergeant alleges Kiski Township supervisor asked him to arrest resident suing the township
A Kiski Township police officer says a township supervisor asked him to arrest a resident who hadn’t committed a crime. The allegation was included in a deposition given by Sgt. Thomas Dessell in connection with a lawsuit the resident filed against the township. Dessell gave the deposition March 10 in...
Game warden, U.S. Steel employees rescue bald eagle; bird’s sibling helped rescuers find itVideo
Employees of U.S. Steel Irvin Works and the Pennsylvania Game Commission rescued a juvenile bald eagle in the vicinity of its nest on the steel plant’s grounds in West Mifflin. One of two young bald eagles raised at the aerie below the U.S. Steel plant along the Monongahela River took...
After 40 years of plowing snow and maintaining Lower Burrell, driver Edmund Homa retires
Lower Burrell decked out its public works garage with balloons and a large lunch spread earlier this month to celebrate the retirement of longtime driver Edmund Homa. For 40 years, Homa, 66, of Lower Burrell has answered calls in the middle of the night to jump into a snowplow or...
$332,000 Olmsted Commons park planned for Vandergrift’s historic district
Vandergrift is working with the Westmoreland County Land Bank on plans for Olmsted Commons, a $332,000 half-acre park in the borough’s historic district. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources awarded $151,000 for the project. The borough will provide in-kind services to match the grant award. The site is...
Freeport Area School Board passes tax increase after close vote
In a 5-4 vote, the Freeport Area School Board narrowly passed its 2022-23 budget calling for a real estate tax increase of 6.7% for Butler County residents and a 1.68% increase for Armstrong County residents. Three of the four board members who voted against the budget said they didn’t want...
New Derek Kotecki-Brian Shaw T-shirt for Back the Blue on sale in Lower Burrell Saturday
Live music and a new T-shirt commemorating police Officers Derek Kotecki and Brian Shaw will highlight Back the Blue III Saturday at Mogie’s Irish Pub and Magill’s Grill in Lower Burrell. About 400 to 500 people are expected for the fundraiser from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. that benefits police...
Tickets to get $2.38-per-gallon gas in Lower Burrell were gone in 45 minutes
Margie Shutack of Tarentum got to Lower Burrell three hours early to buy gas at a BP station Wednesday for a special event featuring $2.38 a gallon for regular unleaded. “It pays to be first,” said Shutack, who needed to fill up three-quarters of her tank. It pays to be...
