Tom Davidson stories, Page 46

It started as a gag gift in the 1960s. The Catanzano brothers, Joseph and John, were at the family’s Swissvale bar, the Triangle Bar and Grill, and made a special sandwich for their friend Tony Villiotti. They bowled in a league together, and the night of the bowling banquet was...

A New Kensington nonprofit that aims to help families furnish their home needs a new home of its own. “We lose the building” on Feb. 21, said Leslie McLaughlin, founder and director of Helping Families, One Family at a Time. She started the group about four years ago and it...

Allegheny County Democrats are holding a petition kickoff next week to gather support in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala, Controller Chelsa Wagner, Treasurer John Weinstein, Councilman Nick Futules and county Labor Council President Darrin Kelly are hosting the event, which will be held from 6 p.m....

A federal receiver controlling the finances of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh is nearly out of cash to manage the entities he’s tasked to oversee. Mark Dottore, the Cleveland-based receiver in the case, wrote in a Feb. 7 letter to the Department of Education that he has $3.8 million on...

As is tradition, the Pittsburgh Banjo Club will practice Wednesday night at the Allegheny Elks Lodge on the city’s North Side. The group will attract a crowd of people of all ages and walks of life who come for the camaraderie, cheap drinks and, of course, the banjos. But absent...

More than 18 months after their last teachers’ contract expired, negotiators in New Kensington-Arnold School District may be closing in on a new labor pact. Officials from both the teachers’ union and the district say they are making progress in resolving their differences. “We’ve been working without a contract for...

Owners of West Mifflin’s struggling Century III Mall have been granted a $5 million line of credit by a bankruptcy court to keep operating during its case even as it remains closed by order of the borough code enforcement office. West Mifflin ordered the mall’s closure on Feb. 6 and...

Sarah Lenhart has been a Boy Scout in all but name for a long time. She started participating about eight years ago, when her older brother joined Boy Scout Troop 372 in Ligonier. She’s been part of the troop ever since. “I honestly did more, I think, than my brother,”...

The Art Institute of Pittsburgh will close March 31, according to a filing from the school’s parent company to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The plan, submitted to the state Jan. 28, will allow 286 of the 2,154 students enrolled in the school to complete their programs before it closes....

My latest son could be born at any time. That’s what my wife and I have been saying for the last two weeks. Any time will likely mean Tuesday, but that’s a guesstimate at best. It’s made work and life interesting as I continually pelt her with “Are you OKs?”...

Most Pat Catan’s Arts and Craft stores will be closing soon, the company that owns the regional chain announced Wednesday. The Michaels Cos. Inc. will rebrand up to 12 of the Pat Catan’s locations as Michaels stores and close the remaining stores. There are 36 Pat Catan’s stores in the...

Black Friday would become Buck Eve under a proposed change to Pennsylvania’s firearms deer season given preliminary approval this week by the state Game Commission. The start of the season would be the Saturday after Thanksgiving instead of the following Monday, which has been opening day for more than 50...

A baby who wasn’t breathing prompted quick action by two Pittsburgh police officers and is recovering, according to a post on Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Zone 5 Facebook page. The officers, Jena Bednarowicz and Bryce Valencic, were on patrol Sunday in the city’s Larimer neighborhood when they were dispatched to...

Bank of America has started its push into the Pittsburgh market. A few years ago, the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank had only one ATM in Downtown. There are now 17 ATMs, including one along Hulton Road in Oakmont. The bank, which serves about 66 million clients nationwide, opened its first brick-and-mortar...

A jury spent about two and a half hours deliberating Friday before returning a guilty verdict in Mercer County District Attorney Miles K. Karson’s trial on charges of obstruction, official oppression and hindering prosecution of someone with whom he was romantically linked. “District Attorney Karson used the power of his...

Mercer County District Attorney Miles K. Karson has been practicing law in this western Pennsylvania county for more than four decades. In that time, he’s prosecuted and defended clients in a wide variety of matters. On Wednesday morning, Karson, a 73-year-old McKees­port native who lives in Sharon, was sworn under...

New Kensington council Monday hired three new police officers to fill vacancies created by retirements, city Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said. Michael A. McSherry of Leechburg, Jerry Hobeck of New Kensington and Jeffrey Vertullo of Export were selected from a list approved last week by the city’s Civil Service Commission. They...

Water and sewer bills are going up this year for people who live in Arnold, Lower Burrell, New Kensington and portions of Plum. The 15,000 water customers of the Municipal Authority of New Kensington, which also serves Upper Burrell and parts of Allegheny and Washington townships, will see a 12...

Global pharmaceutical giant Bayer Corp. announced Tuesday it is closing its Robinson campus within the next two years. It will mean the loss of 569 jobs and 96 contractors, the company said in a statement. The news shocked Robinson officials, but the Airport Area Chamber of Commerce believed Bayer employees...

New Kensington is on the way to becoming the latest municipality in the region to require new or newly-renovated commercial buildings to install a lock box to help first-responders gain access in emergencies. City council laid the groundwork this week to enable it to pass an ordinance Feb. 4 that...

New Kensington council will be hiring three new police officers to fill vacancies created by retirements, city Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said. Council is scheduled to vote on the hires at a special meeting at 4 p.m. Monday, once members receive an approved list from the city’s Civil Service Commission. That...

New year, new airline. That was the message officials had Wednesday when they announced a new carrier would be adding three new nonstop flights from Pittsburgh International Airport in the coming months. “It’s a perfect match,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Via Airlines will be adding direct flights to...

Police arrested Tuesday a man suspected of robbing a Pleasant Hills bank this week. Richard D. Parrish, 40, of Jefferson Hills, allegedly confessed to robbing the bank once police tracked him down in Monongahela. Parrish is accused of robbing the Dollar Bank branch at 500 Clairton Boulevard at about 1...

A yellow steel structure has been looming 45 feet above Lawrence­ville for about three months. You can see it from the 40th Street Bridge and from Polish Hill. Sometimes secretive about its projects, Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center isn’t exactly hiding its tallest robot. The 45-foot robot has...