Western PA Local News category, Page 1121
Earth Day April 22 in Bradford Woods
Slimy toads and newts will be part of the Earth Day Celebration April 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, at the Bradford Woods Reserve. The free event is hosted by the Bradford Woods Conservancy, which holds an annual Earth Day event there every year featuring a variety of nature-related...
Power slowly restored after severe storms strike Western Pa.
Power is being restored for several thousand households affected by Wednesday night’s severe storms that rolled through the Western Pennsylvania. Duquesne Light said it has no outages to report as of 5:20 a.m. Thursday. Late Wednesday night, Duquesne Light reported about 2,500 customers were without power, with Ross and O’Hara...
Riding for the Handicapped of Western PA benefit set in Aspinwall
Outdoor exercise is great for general fitness and well-being, working on that summer body and getting some sun. Add to that another reason: supporting a local charity. The eighth annual Spin Your Wheels fundraiser is scheduled for April 29 at Allegheny RiverTrail Park in Aspinwall. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m....
U.S. Steel Tower reopens after caustic leak reported
Hazmat crews continued to clean up a caustic liquid leak at the U.S. Steel Tower early Thursday morning. Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said Pittsburgh fire, EMS and police all responded to the 600 block of Grant Street after the leak was first reported around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday. Several area roads...
Anonymous report of active shooter temporarily locks down Mt. Pleasant Area school
Mt. Pleasant Area Junior-Senior High School was locked down for more than an hour Wednesday morning as authorities responded to a report of an active shooter at the school. Superintendent Timothy Gabauer said school administrators received a Safe2Say message shortly after 10 a.m. indicating there was “an active shooting in...
Pittsburgh’s Caliente earns gold at International Pizza Expo
At the three-day International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, Caliente Pizza & Draft House took home its fourth World Championship award plus several other award titles across various competition categories. Matt Hickey, general manager of Caliente’s commissary location, earned the team’s gold medal World Championship title in the Expo’s triathlon...
Monroeville musician selected for All-State Jazz Ensemble
Four Shady Side Academy Senior School students have reached the highest level a high school musician can achieve by earning places in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association All-State Festival ensembles. Among them is Monroeville resident Hari Viswanathan, a Shady Side Academy junior who will play piano in the PMEA All-State...
Owners vow to honor reservations as Ferrante’s Lakeview goes up for sale
The owners of Ferrante’s Lakeview don’t want clients to panic when they hear that the longstanding wedding and banquet facility in Hempfield is for sale. “We do want to retire, but it might take a year or two to sell,” said Susan Domasky of Greensburg, president of the family-owned business....
Allegheny County judge disallows death-penalty jury in homicide case
An Allegheny County judge on Wednesday said he will not allow the district attorney’s office to seat a death-penalty qualified jury because of the ongoing moratorium on capital punishment in Pennsylvania. Judge Anthony M. Mariani wrote in a 10-page opinion that compelling prospective jurors to sit through the “grueling and...
Route 28 short-term ramp closures set for Thursday
PennDOT is alerting motorists of closures Thursday of the off-ramp from northbound Route 28 to Waterworks Drive/Freeport Road (Exit 8) in the City of Pittsburgh and the off-ramp from southbound Route 28 to Fox Chapel Road (Exit 8) in O’Hara. Crews from Swank Construction Co. will be installing new guardrail...
Westmoreland DA vehicle usage declines as a result of crash
Westmoreland District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli has been driving a county-owned vehicle less frequently since she was involved in a December crash in Murrysville, according to records obtained by the Tribune-Review. Ziccarelli, a first-term Republican from Lower Burrell, drove her county vehicle nine days and 533 miles in February, according to...
Freeport tries to soften the blow of sewage rate hikes by phasing them in
Sewage rate increases for Freeport residents to pay for the new $18.6 million sewage treatment plant will be levied incrementally. Council President Clint Warnick laid out how the increases would be added to residents’ bills. The increases tentatively would total $47, which is a 95% boost in the current $49.41...
Pittsburgh woman charged in luring incident accused in 4 similar robberies
A Beechview woman charged Wednesday in connection with an attempted robbery and shooting is accused of staging at least four other robberies in two municipalities in the past month, court records show. Pittsburgh police charged Nyzjayah Majors, 20, with aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit robbery, both felonies. She also...
Fire guts McCali Manor in Mt. Pleasant
Firefighters battled a blaze Wednesday afternoon that extensively damaged an apartment building and former restaurant in downtown Mt. Pleasant. All seven of the occupants of the McCali Manor at 462 W. Main St. were accounted for after fire broke out shortly before 3 p.m., causing extensive damage. No one was...
May 29 a ‘beautiful day’ for inaugural charity 5K honoring late Greensburg Salem coach
Longtime Greensburg Salem track and cross country coach Steve Snider was known for his inspirational approach and positive outlook, viewing, in his own words, every day as “a beautiful day.” The beloved coach, who also taught physical education and health in the district for 36 years, will be remembered on...
Irwin, Export bars challenge covid fines, license suspensions
Two local restaurant owners are asking a Westmoreland County judge to overturn fines and liquor license suspensions they incurred after they were accused of failing to follow covid-19 mandates. Brandy’s on Main in Irwin and Jiggers Pub in Export claim health and safety orders instituted by former Gov. Tom Wolf...
Music, mayhem mix in upcoming Saint Vincent Summer Theatre shows
The upcoming Saint Vincent Summer Theatre season is feeling like “a return to normalcy” for producing artistic director Greggory Brandt. For its 53rd season, the theater will present three productions and welcome back its popular after-performance cabaret. Following a two-year pandemic shutdown, SVST presented two productions in 2022. This year’s...
Routes 30, 130 improvements needed, Norwin town hall participants say
Norwin-area residents told local and county officials improvements are needed to routes 30 and 130 to ease traffic congestion and improve safety. About 20 residents attended a meeting this week organized by Irwin Councilman Tyler Baum, who said he views the communities as being connected through the transportation routes. “Our...
Medical examiner IDs victims of Homewood shooting
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified two Pittsburghers who were fatally shot in Homewood last month. Damion Nance, 46, and Janell Ross, 47, were found dead on Frankstown Avenue late March 24, according to the medical examiner. Police said they responded to the area around 11:50 p.m. after...
New Kensington police seek suspect in cellphone store burglary
New Kensington police are looking for a person they say burglarized a cellphone store early Tuesday. According to Detective Sgt. Paul Manke Jr., the burglary happened about 1:15 a.m. at Boost Mobile on Ninth Street. Police said the person forced their way into the store and stole numerous cellphones. Store...
Meet new Verona Chamber of Commerce president
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the newly elected Verona Chamber of Commerce president, Stefani Garibay. I’ll preface these answers with this: It is the first year we have a new president, executive board and board members. While we have some remaining original members, I believe with our new...
Annual Jack Sedlak Community Clean-Up set for April 29 in Monroeville
Last year, Joe Sedlak said he couldn’t remember when the roadside litter in Monroeville was so bad. And while winter in the Pittsburgh area has been mild in temperature and precipitation, the wind has been another story. “A lot of people seem to think the wind we’ve had the last...
Monroeville addresses proposed zoning ordinance
While the draft form of a revised and updated zoning ordinance in Monroeville contains more than 400 pages, parts of the document addressing a particular topic are drawing practically all the public’s attention. Residents and property owners in Monroeville and nearby communities oppose provisions that would allow for extraction of...
Pittsburgh police’s tentative deal includes pay increases, new system for discipline
Pittsburgh City Council has reached a tentative contract agreement with city police that includes pay increases and a new system for disciplining officers. The union representing Pittsburgh’s police officers ratified the proposed contract last month, with 572 votes in favor of the deal and only 13 against it. The contract...
Allegheny County combats opioid abuse through ‘harm reduction’ campaign
Stacie Brown remembers the date her life came crashing down — and when she started to take it back. “June 1, 2012, is the day I overdosed and stopped using,” said Brown, 51, of Pittsburgh’s Spring Hill, an overdose outreach coordinator for Allegheny County Health Department. “I remember I was...
