Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 72
Weather cancels in-person learning at Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools students will learn from home Friday because of snow- and ice-covered roads, officials announced. Students can access their lessons in the online platform Schoology. The day will follow the regular bell schedule of each school. Earlier this week, the district closed several schools because of covid-related staffing...
1 resident dead, another injured in Beechview house fire
One person died and another was injured early Friday in a fire in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety officials. Emergency crews responded at about 2 a.m. to the house fire in the 700 block of Sebring Avenue. Authorities said the crews found a woman, 79, and man,...
Geyer Road in Shaler to close through January
Motorists who travel along Geyer Road in Shaler will need to find a detour. The road is expected to be closed through late-January, beginning Thursday, PennDOT announced. The shutdown impacts the section from Mt. Troy Road to Babcock Boulevard. Contractors will be on site for drainage repairs which will close...
Bus driver shortage causing ’emergency’ in Woodland Hills School District
A covid-related bus driver shortage in Woodland Hills School District is creating an emergency for student transportation, officials said. The district is without at least 10 drivers, a situation that creates a hardship for about 665 students in district communities, district spokesman Andrew Chiappazzi said. “We provide transportation not just...
Pittsburgh Public Schools adds more buildings to weeklong remote learning
Five more Pittsburgh Public Schools will move to remote learning through the end of the week, bringing the number of schools to 14 that will be closed for in-person learning because of staffing shortages. The district added Arsenal 6-8, Liberty PreK-5, Manchester PreK-8, South Hills 6-8 and Whittier PreK-5, saying...
UPMC Children’s adds covid unit as precautionary step as hospitalizations rise
A second covid-19 unit has opened at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to prepare for the potential of rising cases. It is a precautionary step, hospital officials said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a 114% increase in admissions for covid-positive children — from...
Pittsburgh police issue warrant for driver in deadly Strip District crash
Pittsburgh police have issued an arrest warrant in connection with a fatal 2021 crash in the Strip District, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. Leonard Saus is wanted on charges of vehicular homicide stemming from the crash on April 24. Police said Saus was driving an SUV that sped through...
Port Authority services impacted by covid cases as 7th transit driver dies from virus
A seventh Port Authority employee has died, officials announced, as covid-19 and its omicron variant continue to take a toll on the transit service in Allegheny County. The employee, a five-year bus driver, died Jan. 3, according to Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph. Nearly 30 employees of the transit service...
GoFundMe set up for Tarentum hit-and-run victims
A Tarentum woman is fighting for her life after being left in critical condition from a Dec. 30 hit-and-run crash, according to her family. Lyric Manley Jackson and her 9-year-old daughter Symia Jackson were struck by a vehicle while walking along East Seventh Avenue, near the Tarentum Bridge. The driver...
District Association’s Follies raises money for projects from Harmar to Aspinwall and beyond
Fresh off the success of the Follies fundraiser, filled with jokes and jabs, the District Association of the Fox Chapel Area is eyeing ways it can use proceeds from the event to enhance life across the Lower Valley. The Follies, a light-hearted, self-deprecating musical, raised more than $85,000. “For a...
NASA: Exploding meteor had same energy as 30 tons of TNT
NASA is weighing in on the New Year’s Day boom heard across the Pittsburgh region. Researchers confirmed an exploding meteor was the “likely culprit” and estimated the size of the object at about one-yard wide, with energy the equivalent of 30 tons of TNT, according to the NASA Meteor Watch...
Pittsburgh police seek man in connection with Downtown shooting
Pittsburgh police said they are seeking a man in connection with a Dec. 9 shooting in Downtown that left another man in critical condition, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. Andre Douglas Davis, 34, of Pittsburgh, was charged Sunday with aggravated assault and gun charges in connection with the shooting...
Covid causes weeklong closure of St. Gregory Catholic School in Zelienople
Covid-related staffing shortages will close a school in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh this week. St. Gregory Catholic Elementary School in Zelienople will switch to remote learning after seven staffers tested positive for covid-19, Principal Erin Rice said. “Although we seemed to have conquered the odds and provided in-person learning...
Highlands kindergartner feels unstoppable with new prosthetic
Highlands kindergartner Annabel Grant received a rousing round of applause when she walked into school recently. Teachers and students lined the hallways of the district’s Early Childhood Center, hooting and hollering while the 5-year-old made her way to class. It was Annabel’s first day back in school with her new...
North Catholic, Holy Family Seville closed Monday
Two Catholic schools in the North Hills were closed Monday. North Catholic High School in Cranberry is closed because of a power outage, according to the school’s website. Holy Family Seville, along Bonvue Street in Pittsburgh, is also closed Monday but will make the transition to remote learning on Tuesday...
Some Pittsburgh Public Schools buildings go remote because of staffing shortages
Students in 12 Pittsburgh Public Schools buildings learned remotely Monday because of covid-related staffing shortages. An alert posted to the district’s website said students would have livestreamed lessons at the following schools:Allegheny PreK-5.Carrick High School.Crescent Early Childhood Center.Greenfield PreK-8.Liberty PreK-5.Lincoln PreK-5.Montessori PreK-5.Morrow PreK-8.Perry High School.Phillips PreK-5.Weil PreK-5.Whittier PreK-5. A covid-19...
Revitalization tops municipal leaders’ 2022 wish lists
Wish lists abound this time of year, but not all gifts come in neatly wrapped packages. Local community leaders know what they’d most like to see under their municipal trees — if cost and tax dollars were no object. From trails to safe sidewalks to green space, officials appear to...
Tarentum names top decorators in borough contest
Tom Tyborowski begins decorating his Tarentum house for Christmas at the same time the Halloween pumpkins go out — but the lights, reindeer and nutcrackers remain at least until February. “We enjoy it and sometimes after the rush of the holidays, when everything seems blah, we enjoy the lights just...
Faces of the Valley: Youngsters with illnesses transformed into Superheroes for calendar
Seven-year-old Giuliana Taylor isn’t famous — yet — but she’s already getting the star treatment thanks to a local nonprofit called Superheroes Believe in Miracles. The group rolled out the red carpet at Giuliana’s home in New Kensington to unveil her glammed-up photos that will appear in a 2022 calendar....
Harrison taxes expected to remain steady in 2022
Harrison residents likely won’t pay higher real estate taxes next year, pending a final vote by commissioners on the township’s 2022 budget. The board is considering a $5 million budget proposal that maintains the property tax rate at 5.1 mills. If approved, owners of a home assessed at $100,000 would...
Pitt Panthers players encourage Burrell students to end mental health stigma
Pitt wide receiver Tre Tipton suffered a collapsed lung in 2016 and laid in the intensive care unit at a Miami hospital for four days. It was the turning point in his young life, despite years of suffering from depression, experiencing gun violence firsthand and dealing with multiple family hardships,...
Indiana Township neuroscientist turns her passion to art
Paintings by an Indiana Township neuroscientist-turned-artist are on exhibit at Cooper-Siegel Community Library in Fox Chapel. YeePing Lucia Wong Yip, born in China and raised in Hong Kong, worked as a cancer researcher for nearly four decades before reigniting her childhood passion for art. As an artist, she uses the...
Drive-up food distribution to remain at Pittsburgh Mills through March
A free drive-thru food distribution for Alle-Kiski Valley families will remain at Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer through March. The giveaway is hosted by Harrison-based Allegheny Valley Association of Churches (AVAC) and the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. It’s a shift away from plans to return to the empty Rite Aid...
Tarentum taxes remain steady; water and garbage rates increase
Tarentum residents will pay the same in taxes next year but costs for water use and garbage collection will increase. Council approved the borough’s $11 million budget with a vote of 5-0. Members Lou Ann Homa and Adam Blythe were absent. The property tax rate will remain at 5.48 mills,...
Faces of the Valley: AVH president named among Top 100 Women Leaders in Medicine
The head of Allegheny Valley Hospital has been named to the Top 100 Women Leaders in Medicine by online group Women We Admire. Dr. Vicenta Gaspar-Yoo, president of the Harrison facility, was noted for her acute direction of health care delivery and for spearheading changes that impact patient outcomes. “I...
