Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 104

With more than one million birds killed each year from debris like discarded fishing line, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is seeking people to help combat those numbers. The group, headquartered at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve in Fox Chapel, is looking for stewards to maintain fishing line recycling bins....

Recent Fox Chapel Area graduate Gina Wang spent the final two years of high school volunteering at UPMC St. Margaret, escorting patients to physical therapy appointments. For her efforts, she earned the 2019 UPMC St. Margaret student volunteer scholarship worth $1,000. Officials at the hospital, near Aspinwall, said Wang was...

Sharpsburg Mayor Matt Rudzki chuckled at the surveillance video of a bear cub wandering Sunday night through the borough. “It likely lost it bearings,” he joked. In all seriousness, the mayor said he could barely believe it when police Officer Dan Sciulli called to report the sighting, captured on video...

Motorists traveling through Ross Township are reminded that a portion of Reis Run Road remains closed while crews correct a landslide. The road is shut down in both directions between Rochester and Arndt roads to everyone except local residents. Other traffic will be detoured to Rochester Road where they can...

Etna and Sharpsburg will join municipalities across the region in hosting a National Night Out this summer. The inaugural celebration will be 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 6 at the Gateway Portal, along Bridge and North Main streets. Hailed as a night of appreciation for first responders, the event is...

Strong storms moved through the region Thursday night, packing a wallop and leaving trees down, roads blocked and activities canceled — even delivering a wallop to a Washington County golf course. “It was a strong microburst,” Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist the National Weather Service in Moon, said of the cell...

Bell Acres residents should be on the lookout for an unwanted visitor. Police have issued two warnings this week about black bear sightings in the borough. On June 26, police posted on Facebook about a black bear in the area of Witherow Road. The animal stopped for a snack at...

Police are investigating an overnight shooting in McKees Rocks that sent one person to the hospital, borough officials said. Officers were called at about 11 p.m. to Woodward Avenue. The police chief was not immediately available to discuss details. BREAKING: police in McKees Rocks investigating overnight incident that sent someone...

An 18-year-old man who police believe was not the shooter was arrested in connection with Wednesday’s shooting at the Charlie Batch Playground in Homestead. Allegheny County police claim Demon Ross provided a gun to the shooter suspected in the incident. Ross was charged with carrying a firearm without a license,...

Members of a Homewood family are safe after Pittsburgh SWAT officers were able to negotiate with an armed man who barricaded himself inside his home with two small children, police said. Officers from Zone 5 were called at 10:15 p.m. Wednesday to a home in the 7100 block of Everton...

The annual Etna carnival is drawing hundreds of people to the borough for rides, games, food and music. The festivities begin at 6 p.m. through June 29. Sponsored by the Etna Economic Development Corporation, the carnival is a long-standing tradition....

A teenage girl from West Newton reported missing Tuesday was found in New Jersey on Wednesday in the company of a 23-year-old man. Donna Long, 16, wasn’t harmed and was in the custody of police in Middlesex County, N.J., Wednesday afternoon, according to Officer Michael Stefko of the West Newton...

Pittsburgh SWAT officers surrounded a home along Baytree Street on Tuesday night, after reports that a man barricaded himself inside, police said. Zone 1 officers were called for reports of shots fired in the 3600 block of the Perry North neighborhood, with a potentially armed man inside a home. Investigators...

Five members of a Burgettstown family were hospitalized after an overnight fire at their home, WPXI reported. Firefighters responded to a call at about 10:30 p.m. to a home along Center Avenue. Here’s a look at the response from fire crews. When they arrived to a house along Center in...

Route 910 between Harmar and Indiana Township has reopened after being shut down for nearly six hours Tuesday morning. Motorists who travel nearby Freeport Road tangled with heavy delays from the detoured traffic. The portion of Route 910 was closed after a tractor trailer split and the bottom of the...

A Crescent Township resident shot and killed a man who forced his way into a home overnight, Allegheny County police said. The victim is Corey Laguardia, 22, of Hopewell, according to the medical examiner’s office. Homicide detectives responded to the call just after midnight from a home in the 1000...

Anyone interested in producing homemade compost from kitchen or yard scraps can learn more at a class offered at Cooper-Siegel Community Library. “Backyard Composting” will be 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. July 13. Cost is $70 and includes a take-home Garden EARTH bin with an 82-gallon capacity. The library is...

Six families were forced out of their apartment building after a fire late Sunday in McKees Rocks, WPXI reported. Firefighters responded to the blaze along Wayne Avenue around 10:30 p.m. No injuries were reported. Crews were able to rescue a dog and other pets. Flames appear to have broken out...

After three days of sunny — and dry — weather, thunderstorms are expected to return Monday with potentially damaging winds and hail, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is expected late in the afternoon, just in time for rush hour, with stronger storms coming through after midnight. Temperatures will...

Northern Regional Police are investigating an overnight gas station robbery in Marshall Township, WPXI reported. Officers responded at about 1 a.m. to the BP near T-Bones Plaza, just off I-79. A K9 unit assisted in the search along VIP Drive, which then extended to a nearby parking lot at Econo...

Etna residents - mark your calendars. The borough’s garbage collector, Waste Management, is making a change to the hauling schedule. Beginning June 26, garbage and recycling will be picked up on Wednesdays. This is a change from the traditional Friday collection. “While we understand this may be an inconvenience initially,...

Meredith Troyan is appealing to teens to spend a week with her getting their hands dirty, doing odd jobs and visiting patients at the Veterans Administration hospital in O’Hara. She admits it’s not a day at the beach. But Troyan said teens who participate in Camp Helping Hand, run by...

The newly constructed Brownshill Road Bridge in O’Hara is on track to open by the end of July. Township Manager Julie Jakubec said crews are about 90 percent complete. The bridge, which sits off Saxonburg Boulevard, closed April 1 for an expected 130 days so the structurally deficient span could...