Tawnya Panizzi stories, Page 8
Community Supermarket in Harrison sets closing date
Harrison has about two months left with a grocery store in the heart of town. George Sears, general manager of Community Supermarket, said the store will tentatively close Oct. 31. It has operated at Heights Plaza since 2002. “It could be a week earlier, depending on how things go,” he...
Tarentum residents can report nonemergency issues online
Tarentum residents have a new way to report nonemergency issues to the borough. Officials are rolling out an online reporting form at tarentumboro.com. People can report things like potholes, broken streetlights, graffiti and downed trees. Property maintenance concerns also can be submitted. The reports will be read directly by borough...
Driver faces DUI, but not homicide charges in Natrona girl’s death; family attorney reacts
Police said a Harrison man drank 12 beers before getting behind the wheel of a Jeep that struck and killed an 11-year-old girl in Natrona last summer. Allegheny County Police on Wednesday charged Jeffrey Glowatski, 65, with three counts of DUI and two counts of careless driving in connection with...
Highlands Elementary students show kindness to HOPE Center in Tarentum
Highlands Elementary School has put kindness into the curriculum. It launched the Be the Kind Kid Club in 2023-24 to promote courtesy, teamwork and friendliness. It has grown 200%, from about 90 students to more than 270 who meet weekly. In an effort to keep the motto front and center,...
O’Hara resident has opened her home to 9 international students, seeks families to do the same
Carol Huff feels like she has seen far-flung parts of the world without ever leaving her O’Hara home. An AFS-USA volunteer, Huff has hosted international students for the past 25 years, including those from Germany, Iceland, Italy, Kuwait and Pakistan. “I’ve learned so much as a person from my students,”...
Great Heinz Caper returns for 3rd year with ‘Ghostbusters’-themed fundraiser
Who you gonna call? A ghost is haunting the streets of Sharpsburg, just in time for the third annual Great Heinz Caper. The live-action community scavenger hunt invites people to canvas the borough, from the James Sharp Landing to the property where the iconic Heinz condiment company was born in...
Charges pending in Harrison crash that killed 11-year-old girl
Roxanne Bonnoni’s family might finally get closure. Authorities are poised to file charges nearly a year after the 11-year-old was struck and killed near her home in the Natrona section of Harrison. “Before charging decisions were made, it was important that the District Attorney had the opportunity to meet with...
Brackenridge hires Manager Chad Edwards to lead borough
For the first time in recent history, Brackenridge has a borough manager. Council hired West Virginia resident Chad Edwards to lead the borough’s day-to-day business. He most recently served as Village Manager of East Palestine, Ohio, coming on board months after the February 2023 Norfolk Southern train derailment. Edwards was...
Sharpsburg Community Garden invites public to enjoy harvest at annual party
The harvest is happening at the Sharpsburg Community Garden and members want to share it. An annual garden party, free to the community, will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 16 with revelers mingling among the crops and the adjacent Sharpsburg Community Library along Main Street. “Gardeners...
Highlands to conduct public interviews for school board vacancy
A new Highlands School Board member is expected to be appointed next week. The school board on Monday night accepted the resignation of board member Justin Kipp, who was not at the meeting. “It is with regret that I make the motion,” board member Gene Witt said. Kipp announced his...
Horizon Market in Tarentum fills void with healthy food options
A small independent grocery store in Tarentum is filling a big void. Horizon Market along Sixth Avenue has only a few aisles, but they’re stocked with locally sourced items like Wholey’s shrimp and Syrian bread from Fazio’s. Specialty sandwiches and gourmet pastries sit alongside milk, chicken, ground meat and produce...
Former music teacher Darlene Ryniec says ‘God called her’ to be pastor at Harrison, Freeport churches
When the United Methodist Council tried to draw Darlene Ryniec out of retirement, the Buffalo Township pastor questioned whether she was up to it. “I didn’t know if I could do it, but I love ministry and I was getting a boost every time they asked me to be a...
Saturday fire in New Kensington considered suspicious
A fire early Saturday in New Kensington is considered suspicious, authorities said. The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that police are investigating the blaze along Sixth Avenue as potentially intentional. “On behalf of the New Kensington police department, we can confirm that police and a Pennsylvania State Police fire...
New mobile app could help save honeybee hives, protect $20 billion in agriculture
Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% this year, entomologists say. And that could spell economic disaster. According to the American Beekeeping Federation, honeybees contribute about $20 billion to the value of crop production in the country. But master beekeeper Joe Zgurzynski of...
Harrison seeks 1st Ward resident to fill commissioner’s vacancy
Harrison residents who live in the 1st Ward can apply to fill a vacancy on the township’s board of commissioners. Longtime board member Chuck Dizard submitted his resignation Monday, leaving an unexpired term of about 2½ years. Anyone interested in the term must submit a letter of interest and an...
Brackenridge festival making B.I.G. return after covid
Belly dancers and Brazilian drummers will take center stage at the B.I.G. Fair in Brackenridge, which returns this month after a five-year covid-related break. Brackenridge Avenue will close from Morgan Street to Locust Lane while live bands entertain crowds along the quarter-mile stretch. The smell of gyros, hot sausage and...
Summer Sizzler invites people to enjoy the best of Sharpsburg business district
Summer is sizzling in Sharpsburg. The business district has partnered with area nonprofits to show off the best of the borough during a “Spend a Saturday in Sharpsburg” series of events. The next one is scheduled for Aug. 23. “We want to make sure people know about all the wonderful...
Father of fallen Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire opens up in advance of upcoming motorcycle run
There is a hole in Lee McIntire’s heart that doesn’t heal. It’s been more than two years since his son, Justin, began his 2 to 10 p.m. shift as Brackenridge police chief, as he had done so many times before. Shortly after leaving home, he responded to a call to...
Allegheny County seeks input from Tarentum residents on climate action plan
Allegheny County representatives will be in Tarentum on Thursday seeking input on the county’s recently launched climate action plan. “We’re trying to meet folks where they are and get their thoughts on the vision and value of the plan,” said Brittany Prischak, director of the county’s Department of Sustainability. The...
Grocery tenant to fill Community Supermarket in Harrison will be ‘a tough sell’
Local grocery guru Doug Sprankle predicts it will be a tough sell to replace the closing Community Supermarket in Harrison. “It’s probably going to be near impossible,” said Sprankle, whose family owns supermarkets in Saxonburg, Leechburg and Kittanning. “The capital to open a business like that is insane. It’s a...
Shannon Rummel appointed to fill Fawn supervisor vacancy
A new Fawn Supervisor was appointed by the township’s vacancy board following two tie votes by supervisors. Vacancy board member Tom Kuhns cast the deciding vote for Republican Shannon Rummel, saying, “I truly thought that both candidates were qualified to hold the position.” Longtime resident Carrie White, a Democrat, also...
Tarentum history museum premieres documentary on ‘Boarding the Westbound,’ a hobo’s 1932 journey
Joseph Szalanski set off to tour the country in 1932 with 48 cents in his pocket. The 22-year-old from East Vandergrift, who immigrated from Poland to America as an infant, was determined his future wouldn’t be forged in a steel mill. Instead, he traveled as a hobo, hopping freight cars...
Sharpsburg Community Library’s newest staffer says job is a perfect fit
Abby Young feels right at home at the Sharpsburg Community Library. A new job as the patron services assistant is checking all the boxes for Young’s eclectic interests – travel, cryptids, crystals, plants, bones, Dungeons and Dragons, and of course, reading. “It might be cheesy, but I’d say it’s probably...
Another grocer eyed to replace Community Supermarket in Harrison Heights plaza, owner says
Another grocery store is being sought to replace Community Supermarket in the Harrison Heights plaza, a spokesman for the owner of the plaza told TribLive. Benbrooke Development asset manager Richard Lubkin said his company will seek a grocery tenant to fill Community Supermarket’s location in the plaza. It’s the latest...
New mobile app could help save honeybee hives, protect $20 billion in agriculture
Honeybee colonies in the United States are projected to decline by up to 70% this year, entomologists say. And that could spell economic disaster. According to the American Beekeeping Federation, honeybees contribute about $20 billion to the value of crop production in the country. But master beekeeper Joe Zgurzynski of...
