Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 102

The smell of freshly baked pizza wafted across the campus of Shady Side Academy Senior School on a Wednesday afternoon while the sounds of jazz played in the background. Dozens of people strolled between vendors at the Fox Chapel Farmers Market, in its ninth season, near the school’s McIlroy Center...

In the wake of a deadly weekend during which 32 people were killed in mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, a local preacher is stretching out his arms and inviting people of all denominations to his Fox Chapel church. “We need to build community,” said the Rev....

The countdown is on. In just about a week, Fox Chapel Area students will head back to class. District officials have been busy readying new courses, programs and building upgrades for the Aug. 22 start. Kerr Elementary students will start the year in the new $21 million building that was...

A pop-up event in O’Hara will give residents a chance to discard glass items which will be recycled into mayonnaise jars, beer bottles and other consumer products. The collection will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 14 in the municipal lot, 325 Fox Chapel Road. Presented by the Pennsylvania...

Blawnox code enforcement will have extra teeth thanks to an ordinance recently approved by council. The Quality of Life law is meant to enable Code Enforcement Officer Mallori McDowell to crack down on time-sensitive issue like high grass, trash and snow removal. “The biggest problem we had was that the...

Music, disco lights and messy games are all part of a “radical” end-of-summer kids crusade this week in Sharpsburg. Children 12 and younger are invited to Sharpsburg Family Worship Center from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 14-16 for a vacation bible camp like no other, said youth minister Jamie Horne....

Motorists who access the Highland Park Bridge from Butler Street near the Pittsburgh Zoo should allow themselves extra time this weekend. The ramp to the Highland Park Bridge will close Thursday at 8 p.m. and reopen around midnight on Sunday, PennDOT announced. Crews from the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority...

Blawnox manager John Stinner has resigned, just after celebrating his second year with the borough. It was an abrupt departure which necessitated an emergency council meeting for members to decide how to move forward. “John accepted a position as manager at Jefferson Hills that is a closer commute to his...

Those interested in helping to steer the future of Sharpsburg have a chance — there is an open seat on council effective July 31. Council member Matt Brudnok is resigning because he’s moving out of the borough. He was elected in November 2017 and was sworn into office in January...

Thousands of local residents are expected to mark National Night Out on Aug. 6 with an annual celebration in Aspinwall and a first-ever event hosted by Sharpsburg and Etna. Revelers will gather to celebrate community connections, organizers said. Hailed as a night of appreciation for first responders, the event is...

The Sharpsburg Fireman’s Relief Association got the ‘all clear’ from audits released by state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. Finances from Jan. 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2018, were reviewed. The goal is to determine whether the group complied with laws pertaining to state aid and expenses paid by relief funds....

A Sharpsburg-based addiction recovery program will offer several events in August and September that are free and open to the public. Addiction Recovery Ministry, based out of St. Juan Diego Parish, will have the following programs: - A reflection at 7 p.m. Aug. 8 at Adat Shalom, 368 Guys Run...

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things that they do. When Floyd “Bucky” Taraszew­ski retired after nearly 50 years from the Harrison Township Police Department in 2016, his wife jokingly scolded him. “She told me I wasn’t just...

Here are some of the news highlights from around the Lower Valley for the week of July 21: • Fox Chapel Rotary raises $34,000 for Camp Guyasuta. • State grants pay to expand Sharpsburg docks. • Shady Side Academy video earns student Emmy nod. • Expect delays near Harts Run...

Children who attended a four-day camp at Sharpsburg Community Library got an up-close look at how the human body works. GSK Science in the Summer, sponsored by Carnegie Science Center, was aimed at giving students a glimpse at biological systems that make humans alike and those elements that interact to...

To mark the 50th anniversary of the awe-inspiring first steps on the moon, Cooper-Siegel Community Library will host a celebration with untold stories of the Apollo 11 landing mission. The space-themed event will mark Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin taking the first-ever steps on the moon. The library invites people...

It’s almost that time of year to start thinking about backpacks, school supplies and fresh haircuts. Volunteers of America and Sharpsburg Family Worship Center hope to ease the expense for families with the annual Operation Backpack, an event where school-aged children can shop for back-to-school needs — all for free....

A project to realign Brilliant Avenue in Aspinwall has been put on hold while additional funding is sought, officials said. Work to reconfigure the intersection is aimed at creating a safer entrance to Aspinwall Riverfront Park and the borough’s public works complex. It was initially proposed in 2013 at an...

It’s a big year for Stage Right Performing Arts & Education. The group marked 55 years of community theater with a move to a new home at Aspinwall Riverfront Park and announced this week that there will be a name change as well. The new moniker — Riverfront Theater Company...

Sharpsburg residents can make a low-cost pet adoption this weekend, thanks to the borough’s designation through Animal Friends as a Compassionate Community. The group along Camp Horne Road in Ohio Township will host a dog, cat and rabbit adoption event for Sharpsburg residents only on July 27. The event is...

O’Hara and Etna residents can expand their property and fight blight at the same time, with help from an Allegheny County program. The 2019 Side Yard and Blighted Structure Program runs through Sept. 30. It assists residents in purchasing and transforming vacant or dilapidated properties into usable space. O’Hara and...

Hampered by soggy field conditions, Fox Chapel Area Youth Soccer is launching a plan to upgrade the Middle Road complex that accommodates more than 700 athletes each season. “The soaking rains over the years have made field conditions difficult to maintain,” club President Jake Williams said. The fields sit on...

Landslide repairs along Saxonburg Boulevard in Indiana Township will necessitate a detour for motorists through the first week of August. Work near Harts Run Road was expected to begin today, PennDOT announced. Specifically, Saxonburg Boulevard will close from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays between Harts Run and Klein Road....