Western PA Local News category, Page 1238
Pittsburgh police to survey residents in effort to improve community relations
Pittsburgh police in the city’s Zone 3 said they plan to use survey results to improve relations with residents. Starting Monday, police in Zone 3 will launch a trial of AXON My90, a program that uses brief surveys to allow community members to provide feedback on police interactions. “The anonymous...
Army soldier charged with murdering sergeant from Plum
FORT STEWART, Ga. — The Army has charged a 28-year-old soldier with murder in the fatal shooting of a sergeant at a Georgia base. Officials at Fort Stewart identified the suspected gunman Friday as Spc. Shay A. Wilson of Cambria Heights, New York. He has been charged in a military...
Shell issued violation notice for exceeding emission limits during startup of Beaver County cracker plant
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a notice of violation against Shell’s multibillion-dollar ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, which became fully operational last month. Shell was hit with the violation notice on Wednesday after the DEP said it exceeded the emission standards set between the company and...
Zappala to seek 7th term as Allegheny County district attorneyVideo
Surrounded by hundreds of people representing many of Pittsburgh’s labor unions, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. on Friday announced he will seek a seventh term in office. Zappala, a Democrat from Fox Chapel, made the announcement at the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Christmas party in the Champions...
Online fundraiser set up to help 3 young daughters of slain New Kensington man
An online fundraiser has been set up to help the three young daughters of a New Kensington man who was found shot to death in the parking lot of his apartment building. The GoFundMe page was established for the children of James Michael Hayes, 31, who was found shot to...
Vote totals from recounted precincts certified in Westmoreland County
The Westmoreland County Election Board this week issued a final certification of results from five voting precincts subjected to a court-ordered recount. Voters from precincts in Salem, Hempfield, Loyalhanna, Lower Burrell and Ligonier Borough petitioned the courts to recount votes cast as part of the Nov. 8 general election for...
Chartiers Valley Middle School named ‘School to Watch’
Chartiers Valley Middle School has been named a PA Don Eichhorn Schools: “Schools to Watch.” The designation recognizes the level of academic excellence, developmental responsiveness, social equity, and organizational structures and processes at the school. “What an honor to be recognized for our outstanding team and their commitment to helping...
Apollo police accuse convicted felon of pointing gun at woman, felony charges filed
Apollo police accused a man whose criminal history prohibits him from possessing a gun with pointing a pistol at a woman and threatening her. Roberto J. Santiago-Cruz, 35, of the 300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue was charged with a felony count of illegal possession of a firearm along with reckless...
Proposed 2023 Penn Township budget focuses on capital projects
Penn Township commissioners will vote on a proposed 2023 budget Dec. 21 that includes a host of capital improvement construction projects. The $10.3 million spending plan does not raise any taxes or cut any services, according to township finance director Colleen Gain. Most notable in the budget, Gain said, are...
Tarentum trash collection fee unchanged but will be limited to 1 container
Tarentum residents will pay the same for garbage collection in 2023 but will no longer have unlimited service. Council was notified in October that Waste Management was not able to extend the borough’s current contract that provides unlimited service because of a lack of drivers. The borough advertised for bids...
Leet zoning hearing board considering appeal of ruling on proposed Quaker Valley high school
Leet zoning hearing board members have called for a special meeting to consider appealing an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge’s ruling regarding a proposed high school. Senior Judge Joseph James issued his six-page opinion on Nov. 28 overturning the township’s zoning board decision, which in March refused to grant a...
Westmoreland commissioners agree to settle 2 federal lawsuits
Westmoreland commissioners on Thursday approved payments totaling $45,000 to settle two federal lawsuits. One case involved a whistleblower lawsuit brought in 2017 by a deputy sheriff who claimed the department’s drug-sniffing dog was removed from his care as retaliation for speaking with state investigators probing suspected election law violations by...
Texas truck driver granted bail in Hempfield hit-and-run case
A Texas man was granted bail Thursday after spending two weeks behind bars in connection with a Hempfield hit and run that left a man seriously injured. District Judge Joseph DeMarchis set $100,000 bail for Quantae Beavers, 25, of Dallas. DeMarchis previously denied bail after Beavers’ Nov. 30 arrest in...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Dec. 16-18
‘Tis the season for holiday music, theater and partying and, from the classics to prog rock to on-screen hilarity, Pittsburgh is filled with it this weekend. Trans-Siberian Orchestra The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is back in Pittsburgh for 2022 with the return of “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County this weekend: Dec. 16-18
Christmas classics Westmoreland Performing Arts will stage these holiday shows on Friday in Science Hall Theater at Westmoreland County Community College, 145 Pavilion Lane, Hempfield: • “A Christmas Carol,” 6 p.m. WPA’s Home and Cyber School Theatre Troupe will present an adaptation of the Charles Dickens’ classic through a series...
Some Pine-Richland parents upset about mindfulness lessons
Some Pine-Richland parents say the district violated the First Amendment’s religious provisions and side-stepped parental medical decisions after eighth-grade students participated in a week of “mindfulness” lessons created by Allegheny Health Network. In November, the district hosted the “Chill Mobile” — a mobile mental health clinic launched by AHN and...
Pine-Richland School Board approves administrative staff changes
Pine-Richland School District will welcome some new faces and say farewell to a familiar one in the next few months. The district’s director of student services and special education, Noel Hustwit, who has been with the district since 2012, is retiring in March. Initially hired as the director of special...
Advent services, Torah yoga and more at Sewickley area places of worship
Beth Samuel Jewish Center Shabbat Morning Services are held every Saturday at 10 a.m. in person and on Zoom. Kabbalat Shabbat Services (via Zoom), 7 p.m. Dec. 16. Torah Yoga, 8:45 a.m. Dec. 17. Join Jennifer Ferris-Glick via Zoom for mindful yoga and meditation. Free for all ages. Annual Chanukah Party...
Corporate exec pleads guilty to forging fake divorce papers to keep up affair
A North Huntingdon corporate executive pleaded guilty Thursday to forging a judge’s name on a fake court record as part of a plot police said was designed to convince his lover to continue an extramarital affair. Dennis George Durmis Jr., 50, was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and perform...
PPG to drop naming rights to Pittsburgh aquarium
The Pittsburgh Zoo will start the new year with a new, but not unfamiliar, name. PPG and the PPG Foundation will relinquish their naming rights to the aquarium at the zoo, the Zoological Society of Pittsburgh and PPG announced. Beginning Jan. 1, the name will return to Pittsburgh Zoo &...
Westmoreland Mall seeing strong holiday turnout
It seems as if — at least this holiday season — what was old is new again at Westmoreland Mall. On a December afternoon, the mall is buzzing with happy shoppers, hungry food court patrons and cheerful Christmas tunes. Children wave to their parents from the Christmas train, a kiosk...
Police: Apollo man who served prison time for hitting 5-year-old faces felony charges for similar incident
An Apollo man who served four years in state prison for strangling a 5-year-old has been accused of hitting a 10-year-old in the face so hard that bruises were still visible two days later. Leland Joseph Latscha, 31, of Thorn Street was charged with felony counts of endangering the welfare...
Greensburg OKs budget with no tax hike, expands role and salary of rec superintendent
Greensburg Council this week finalized a 2023 city budget of about $13 million without increasing taxes. City property owners will continue to pay real estate taxes totaling 27.05 mills. That amount includes 1 mill each to help support the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library and to cover public safety expenses that...
The Stroller, Dec. 16, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Lower Burrell American Legion to host free Christmas Day dinner Members...
Holiday carols, characters featured at Hutchinson Elementary Light-Up
More than 250 vehicles lined up Thursday evening for a spin around Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary during the school’s second annual Light-Up Night. In addition to festive lights and inflatable figures, visitors to the Southwest Greensburg school were greeted by holiday characters, Christmas music performed by school and community groups...
