Teghan Simonton stories, Page 24
North Primary teachers collaborate for Black History Month lessons
It all started with a conversation in the hallway, said Joe Scheller, a music teacher at North Primary School in the Kiski Area School District. Shelley O’Malley and Rochelle Bires, both fourth-grade teachers, were struggling to engage their students in their lessons on the poetry of Langston Hughes, which they...
Richard King Mellon Foundation gives $5.5M for tech lab in New Kensington
The Richard King Mellon Foundation has awarded $5.5 million for a new digital innovation lab in New Kensington. The lab is expected to be located in New Kensington’s Corridor of Innovation, a five-block stretch along Fifth Avenue between Penn State New Kensington’s innovation hub, The Corner entrepreneur center, and Westmoreland...
Bogus threat at Kiski Area High School raises concern about Safe2Say app
Kiski Area School District administrators are concerned about the unintended consequences of Pennsylvania’s anonymous reporting app, Safe2Say Something, after a noncredible threat prompted a lockdown this week. The incident raises concern among administrators, who fear the anonymous nature of Safe2Say leads to more hoax claims and pranks. Kiski Area Superintendent...
Streets Run Road in Baldwin reopens after tractor-trailer overturns
Streets Run Road reopened to traffic about five hours after a tractor-trailer overturned Tuesday morning. The truck spilled its load across the road and nearby railroad tracks. Streets Run Road was closed between Delwar and Prospect roads for about five hours as police, fire and emergency medical services responded. Allegheny...
East Carson Street construction project planned for April
A construction project along East Carson Street aimed at improving safety is scheduled to start in April. Crews are conducting preparatory work this week to get ready for the project, PennDOT announced Monday. The $16.31 million project targets a 2.5-mile stretch of East Carson Street in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood....
Walmart training employees for in-home delivery at empty townhouse in SewickleyVideo
There is an empty townhome in Sewickley. No one lives there, but the fridge is stocked full of food and drinks. The home is one of a few in the country being rented by Walmart for the sole purpose of training employees for the company’s new in-home delivery service. Walmart...
Tunnel Hill Farms near Leechburg home to unusual herd of animalsVideo
Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley residents and the notable things that they do. Few people know about Tunnel Hill Farms, a plot of around 100 acres, tucked away near Leechburg. And probably fewer know it contains a barnyard of unusual farm animals...
Cost of a Western Pa. college has increased 35% over the past decade
Career and guidance counselors have shifted the way they prepare students for college as the cost of attending area colleges and universities continues to climb. Instead of encouraging students to choose a school and field of study where they could explore and find themselves, the focus is now on earning...
Alle-Kiski grocers compete with customer service, community relationships, niche products
On a quiet Thursday afternoon, Brandon Rainelli walks the aisles of Naser Foods. A customer approaches him to ask where he can find apples. A vendor meets him to sell homemade candies. Rainelli engages with everybody. He knows most of their names, and they know his. Rainelli has been manager...
Pittsburgh’s Brother’s Brother Foundation sending 450,000 surgical masks to China
Brother’s Brother Foundation will ship a massive global relief package to China on Thursday to help combat the coronavirus. The shipment of 450,000 surgical face masks and 1,350 coverall protective suits will be distributed to hospitals treating patients with the virus across Wuhan, Huang Gang, Beijing and Chengdu provinces. Sarah...
Welding offers options to Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center studentsVideo
For students at the Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center, welding was an opportunity to learn a trade in a high-paying field with a variety of professional options. “There are so many jobs and opportunities,” said Dylan Eckman, a Burrell High School senior who trains at Northern Westmoreland. “I couldn’t...
Hillside above Route 28 in Harmar deemed ‘stable’ day after landslide
A southbound lane of Route 28 remained closed in Harmar on Wednesday, a day after boulders the size of small cars slid from a hillside onto the busy highway’s shoulder. PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said geotechnical engineers who surveyed the area said two large boulders fell from a height of...
Homicide charges filed in 2017 slaying of Parks Township couple
New charges were filed Wednesday in a 2017 double homicide in Parks Township. Charges were filed against Kevin Lamont Ware, who is from the Washington, D.C., area, in connection with the deaths of Dawayne Klingensmith and Heather Swiklinski. In November 2017, Klingensmith, 29, and Swiklinski, 22, were found dead on...
Kiski Area High School to implement Air Force JROTC program next school year
As a 15-year-old 10th-grader at Kiski Area High School, Alexei Cramer was already interested in the military. He started combing the internet and doing personal research into programs for high school students. That’s when he discovered Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), a federal program where high school cadets wear...
Volunteers needed for massive free dental clinic in July at PPG Paints Arena
Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh is seeking 1,500 volunteers to help with an annual free dental clinic at PPG Paints Arena in July. The clinic on July 24-25 will bring together dentists, hygienists, nurses and general volunteers to provide people with free services. Procedures and treatments that will be provided will...
Body of missing kayaker formerly from Armstrong County recovered in West Virginia
The body of kayaker Jamie Lynn Gray was recovered Monday afternoon from a West Virginia river where she went missing on Feb. 9, authorities said. Gray, 41, went missing while kayaking with nine other people on a remote section of Middle Fork River in Barbour County, according to the West...
Washington Township scraps planning commission, hires administrator
Washington Township officials are dissolving the township’s planning commission in favor of a planning administrator. The township supervisors last week approved an agreement with the Municipal Authority of Washington Township that effectively takes that action. Supervisors Chairman Rich Gardner said the authority must still approve the agreement under which both...
West Deer police officer sues utility after witnessing electrocution
A West Deer police officer who witnessed a man being electrocuted by a live wire is suing West Penn Power and Asplundh Tree Experts LLC, contending their negligence left him traumatized. Edward Newman, a K-9 officer and volunteer with the West Deer Fire Department, watched as Terry Colton was electrocuted...
Construction delays push opening of Allusion Brewing in Vandergrift to spring
Cold weather and a lack of electricity and heat delayed construction of the Allusion Brewing Co. in Vandergrift by several weeks. But work is back on track, and the owners plan to open the microbrewery and tap room in the spring. Co-owners Robert Buchanan and John Bieranoski, both Western Pennsylvania...
Experts wonder if proposed scholarship requirements are realistic for recent grads
Gov. Tom Wolf has said his proposed Nellie Bly Scholarship could rescue schools in the State System and build the state’s workforce, but some experts doubt it is realistic — or even fair to students. For students to be eligible for a slice of the proposed $204 million scholarship fund...
Carnegie Science Center names new director
Jason Brown was named director of the Carnegie Science Center on Thursday. Brown has served as the interim director of the Science Center since December 2018. He took the position following the retirement of former co-directors Ann Metzger and Ron Baillie. Before then, he was senior director of science education....
Armstrong County 911 centers back in service
Armstrong County 911 call centers are back online, after being down for about two hours Thursday. The call centers were not available to take any calls from around noon to 2 p.m., a county dispatcher said. A dispatcher wasn’t able to identify the cause of the problem, but said it...
Pittsburgh drug trafficking gang members plead guilty in federal case
Three men pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in connection with a large-scale investigation into the Pittsburgh street gang, Darccide/Smash 44 (DS44), U.S. Attorney Scott Brady announced Tuesday. Keevan Jackson, 21, of Pittsburgh, Michael Broglie, 51, of West Virginia and Jesse Tedrow, 27, of West Virginia each pleaded guilty to...
‘No Place for Hate’ program for schools receives $100K from American EagleVideo
The Anti-Defamation League hopes to double the number of schools in Western Pennsylvania using its “No Place for Hate” program to expand anti-bias education. American Eagle Outfitters donated $100,000 to the program Tuesday to help it grow across Allegheny County schools. Twenty-four schools use the program now. With this most...
A-K Valley SWAT team operational after delays last year
A new special response team made up of officers from several police departments in the Alle-Kiski Valley is up and running and has been deployed twice this year. The team’s first dispatch was a high-risk search warrant in New Kensington in early January, said Thomas Seefeld, chief of the Murrysville...
