Michael DiVittorio stories, Page 20
Quaker Valley joins Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month program to provide students special meals with local produce
Quaker Valley School District students this school year are getting a special meal made from scratch each month as part of a program designed to promote local agriculture and educate young folks about what they eat. The district has joined in the Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month program. It was...
Fox Chapel officials plan no tax increase with next year’s budget
Fox Chapel property owners should not expect to pay more in borough real estate taxes next year. Council unanimously voted Nov. 18 to advertise its proposed 2025 spending plan. Budget documents indicate the millage rate will remain at 2.95 mills. The borough has not raised taxes since 2019. Projected revenues...
O’Hara property taxes could spike by 14% as part of township 2025 budget
O’Hara property owners could see their real estate tax bills go up by about 14% as part of the township’s 2025 budget. Township officials mulled over next year’s budget at a special workshop meeting Nov. 19. Financial documents indicate the millage rate would increase from 2.1 mills to 2.4 mills....
Light Up Fox Chapel set for Dec. 4
Fox Chapel officials, hoping to build on a resurging holiday tradition, have added more activities to the borough’s upcoming celebration. The second annual Light Up Fox Chapel is set for 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 4 outside the borough building, 401 Fox Chapel Road. New things this year include performances...
Leet property owners could pay 18% more in real estate taxes next year
Leet property owners may see their township real estate tax bills jump by 18% as part of next year’s budget. Township commissioners unanimously voted Nov. 11 to advertise the proposed 2025 spending plan with a 1.4-mill tax hike. The current tax rate is 7.7 mills. The rate would go up...
Quaker Valley inks new pact with food service, buildings and grounds workers that includes 4.5% yearly raises through 2030
Quaker Valley School District recently approved a new contract with its buildings and grounds and food service workers that will cover employees into the next decade. The collective bargaining agreement with the district’s Unit 2 impacts 47 professionals. School board members unanimously voted Nov. 16 to approve the six-year contract....
Ribbon cut on Walnut Green, new parklet outside Sewickley theater
The Lindsay Theater & Cultural Center in Sewickley holds a special place in Mayor George Shannon’s heart. It was a fond place during development for him and his wife, Carol, years ago. “She had been sick for seven years and I took care of her,” said Shannon. “When they announced...
Sewickley officials plan to hold the line on real estate taxes
Sewickley officials plan to hold the line on real estate taxes as part of next year’s budget. Council unanimously voted Nov. 12 to advertise the 2025 spending plan, which maintains the millage rate at 6.25 mills. The borough has not raised taxes for at least the past seven years. Proposed...
Quaker Valley School Board accepts Leet conditions on proposed high school
Quaker Valley School District officials have cleared another procedural hurdle with the proposed high school project. The school board unanimously voted at a special meeting Nov. 12 to accept conditions imposed by Leet commissioners on the district’s land development plan. All five commissioners voted in favor of the proposed 167,000-square-foot...
Sewickley Hills plans for 2025 include $300K expansion of borough building
Sewickley Hills officials are planning an expansion of the municipal offices and reconstruction of two roads in the borough next year. The projects are part of a $1.1 million budget council introduced Nov. 12. The 1,000-square-foot expansion of the borough building could cost $300,000. Councilman Hunter Hopkins said the expansion...
Drone operators need certifications, license from FAA for public safety and commercial uses
People who want to operate a drone for public safety and commercial purposes are required to get a license or certificate through the Federal Aviation Administration. Some of the regulations state that an operator cannot fly more than one drone at a time and cannot fly one near manned aircraft...
Eyes in the sky: O’Hara police drone, operator serve multiple communities, purposes
O’Hara police Officer Maria Sciacca had a bird’s-eye view over the land where former President Donald Trump was shot and former Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company Chief Corey Comperatore was killed. Two others also were wounded in the July 13 assassination attempt of the Republican presidential nominee July 13 at...
Blawnox officials plan to hold the line on real estate taxes, restore paving program
Blawnox officials plan to hold the line on real estate taxes next year while restoring the borough’s paving program. Council voted 4-0 to advertise its preliminary 2025 spending plan of about $1.65 million. Council President Deborah Laskey and members Mark Lombardi and Elaine Palmer were absent. Budget documents suggest the...
EV charging station prices set in Sewickley, service to start in the coming weeks
EV charging stations in Sewickley are one step closer to being put in service. Council unanimously passed an ordinance on Nov. 12 setting charging rates and regulations for the recently installed devices in the Division Street parking lot. The charging fee is $3 per hour, billed to the user in...
Edgeworth Elementary fifth graders gain TV production experience
The next Walter Cronkite or Barbara Walters could be sitting today in a fifth-grade chair at Edgeworth Elementary School. Quaker Valley School District has helped give its young learners a chance to experience what it is like to be TV reporters with a recently upgraded student studio. Several students each...
Aspinwall property owners likely won’t see a borough real estate tax hike in 2025
Aspinwall officials plan to hold the line on real estate taxes with next year’s budget. Council unanimously approved advertising its 2025 spending plan Nov. 13. Budget documents show the millage rate remains 8.36 mills, including 0.5 mills for public safety. One mill generates about $150,000 in revenue. Projected revenue and...
Sewickley Heights police chief gets new contract, terms reluctantly released
Sewickley Heights officials reluctantly released terms of a new employment contract with police Chief James Harrison. Council unanimously approved the new three-year deal Oct. 21. Mayor George Magovern and council president John Means recommended the contract approval. Borough manager Nathan Briggs said council and the chief “refreshed” the employment contract...
Savory fundraiser results in delicious support for Sewickley library
Sewickley resident Leslie Liebscher could hardly believe an idea more than two decades ago to bring local restaurants together to support the borough would grow into its booster group’s largest annual fundraiser. “I love the library, and it’s so fantastic that our community supports it so well,” said Liebscher, former...
Aspinwall hosts Pittsburgh Regional Transit meeting about proposed bus line redesign
Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus riders in Aspinwall may lose access to the South Side and the Strip District, but gain stops in Lawrenceville, Bloomfield and Downtown Pittsburgh as part of a bus line redesign project. Riders would also see 20- to 30-mile trips shortened and increased direct connections to neighborhoods...
Sharpsburg adds greenery with help from volunteers at tree planting
Sharpsburg looks a little greener thanks to multiple volunteers planting trees in the borough earlier this month. More than 30 people came out to plant 25 trees on Nov. 2. The event was part of a partnership with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the borough and Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization. People gathered at...
Proposed Sharpsburg budget has no real estate tax hike, maintains sewer rates
Sharpsburg officials plan to hold the line on real estate taxes and sewage fees as part of next year’s budget. Council is expected to delineate its proposed 2025 spending plan during a workshop meeting Nov. 14 with possible adoption slated for Nov. 21. Municipalities must adopt a balanced budget by...
Quaker Valley School District to enact new social media policy
A new policy will soon have Quaker Valley School District officials taking a closer look at their social media pages. Designed to establish a process and standards for approval and operation of district-owned accounts, the proposed guidelines also address school directors’ and school employees’ personal social media. The new policy...
Sewickley’s ‘Spider-Man’ laid to rest
Sewickley area residents and visitors are mourning the loss of their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Elmer Cletus Borh, affectionately nicknamed after the Marvel superhero, died at Heritage Valley Sewickley hospital on Sept. 30. He was 68. Born in Butler, he was the youngest of Cletus Harry and Janet Florence Bohr’s five...
2 Quaker Valley school board members honored for years of service
Two Quaker Valley School Board members were recognized by a state organization for their years of service to the district. Pennsylvania School Boards Association member outreach manager-west Lena Hannah honored Geoff Barnes for his five years of service and Gianni Floro for his 24 years. Board members are placed on...
Tarentum man faces multiple charges in connection with Halloween dog attacks
A Tarentum man is facing multiple charges for allegedly allowing his dogs to run loose and attack people on Halloween. Brandon Jerome Baynes, 36, is charged with three counts each of several charges, including animal neglect, and most of which are summary offenses. One of the charges, recklessly endangering another...
