Western PA Local News category, Page 1695
Fox Chapel Area schools break fundraising record for charity
The Fox Chapel Area School District has set an all-time annual fundraising record for a local charity. Students helped raise more than $107,000 during a monthlong districtwide campaign that culminated in a livestreamed telethon Dec. 23. Over the past 32 years, the district has raised more than $1 million for...
Hempfield home destroyed in blaze; 2 firefighters hurt
A Hempfield home was destroyed in a fire Sunday night and two firefighters were hurt, according to Township Fire Chief Anthony Kovacic. The blaze was reported on Farmington Place just before 8 p.m. When firefighters got there, flames were shooting through the roof and attempts to get inside with a...
Police: Allegheny Township woman charged with felony for breaking into home after being evicted
A woman from Allegheny Township and her accomplice are charged with breaking into a house after she was evicted from the residence, police said. Vandergrift police charged Lauren Renee Decapite, 35, of Rebecca Avenue with one felony count of criminal trespass in connection with the Dec. 30 incident. She is...
Gateway school board appoints former member to fill vacancy
Scott Williams was appointed to a vacant seat on the Gateway School Board of Directors during a special meeting Dec. 22. The seat was left open after James Lomeo decided against joining after being elected Nov. 2. In a Nov. 29 letter, Lomeo informed the board he was recovering from...
Vandergrift woman accused of stabbing man with kitchen knives during argument
Kiski Township police charged a Vandergrift woman with felony aggravated assault because a man told them she stabbed him multiple times with kitchen knives during an argument last month, authorities say. Amy Lee Hepler, 38, of Longfellow Street also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault, as well...
Gas prices stabilize on rising oil prices, easing omicron fears
After a run of declines, gasoline prices are largely unchanged in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation, according to price tracking service GasBuddy. In Pittsburgh, prices are down less than 1 cent per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.51 on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations....
Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show founder John DeSantis dies at age 69
John DeSantis gave the best advice. “Growing up, my friends would always ask my dad for advice and my sons always asked him for advice. They felt comfortable around him – and he gave great advice. They would talk to him in confidence and know he wouldn’t tell anyone what...
Pittsburgh council members sworn in, promise collaboration with new mayor
Pittsburgh City Council members Theresa Kail-Smith, R. Daniel Lavelle, Erika Strassburger and Anthony Coghill were sworn in Monday after winning reelection in November. Coghill handily defeated Green Party challenger Connor Mulvaney to earn his second term. Kail-Smith, Lavelle and Strassburger ran unopposed. Council members unanimously voted to elect Kail-Smith to...
NASA: Exploding meteor had same energy as 30 tons of TNT
NASA is weighing in on the New Year’s Day boom heard across the Pittsburgh region. Researchers confirmed an exploding meteor was the “likely culprit” and estimated the size of the object at about one-yard wide, with energy the equivalent of 30 tons of TNT, according to the NASA Meteor Watch...
Hampton Community Library sets January schedule
There’s a full slate of programing for January at the Hampton Community Library. Children’s programming mask policy: Tuesdays masks are required; Thursdays masks are optional. It’s a Wonderful World Drop-in Storytime. Tuesdays and Thursdays starting Jan. 11. 10 a.m. “Stories & Songs”; 10:15 a.m. “Investigate and Create”; 10:45 a.m. “Stories...
Community cooperation helps police identify suspect in Rostraver fatal New Year’s shooting
Holly B. Vadella of Rostraver spent New Year’s Eve at her mother’s house watching television before insisting not long after midnight that she needed to head home and take care of her cat, said township police Chief John Christner. “Her mom did try to convince her to stay,” Christner said....
Pittsburgh police seek man in connection with Downtown shooting
Pittsburgh police said they are seeking a man in connection with a Dec. 9 shooting in Downtown that left another man in critical condition, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. Andre Douglas Davis, 34, of Pittsburgh, was charged Sunday with aggravated assault and gun charges in connection with the shooting...
Eastern area real estate transactions for the weeks of Dec. 19, Dec. 26, 2021
Week of Dec. 19 Chalfant Us Bank Na Trust sold property at 312 Elizabeth Ave. to VB One LLC for $108,500. Churchill George Franklin Jackson Jr. sold property at 14 Holland Road to Abdesalam Soudi and Anna Binney McCague for $550,000. Edgewood Cynthia Roemele sold property at 202 Lincoln Ave....
Covid causes weeklong closure of St. Gregory Catholic School in Zelienople
Covid-related staffing shortages will close a school in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh this week. St. Gregory Catholic Elementary School in Zelienople will switch to remote learning after seven staffers tested positive for covid-19, Principal Erin Rice said. “Although we seemed to have conquered the odds and provided in-person learning...
Taco Bell to open this year in Allegheny Plaza, but target date not announced
Construction on a new fast-food dining option is progressing in Allegheny Township. A new Taco Bell restaurant is expected to open as early as next month at 500 Hyde Park Road in Allegheny Plaza, but project officials are keeping mum on an opening date. On Tuesday, a spokesman from PBI...
Pennsylvania casinos not ready to cut smoking from gambling experience
Like flashing lights, dings and coins splashing into a slot machine tray, an equally familiar — even stereotypical — casino experience involves plumes of smoke wafting skyward from patrons puffing on ash-tipped cigarettes. Casinos, and the states that host them, have permitted smoking for decades, with the industry bypassing a...
Highlands kindergartner feels unstoppable with new prosthetic
Highlands kindergartner Annabel Grant received a rousing round of applause when she walked into school recently. Teachers and students lined the hallways of the district’s Early Childhood Center, hooting and hollering while the 5-year-old made her way to class. It was Annabel’s first day back in school with her new...
North Catholic, Holy Family Seville closed Monday
Two Catholic schools in the North Hills were closed Monday. North Catholic High School in Cranberry is closed because of a power outage, according to the school’s website. Holy Family Seville, along Bonvue Street in Pittsburgh, is also closed Monday but will make the transition to remote learning on Tuesday...
The Stroller, Jan. 3, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your events, club meetings and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Free advice available for those with financial troubles Allegheny Valley Association of Churches has free support services available for anyone who is...
Some Pittsburgh Public Schools buildings go remote because of staffing shortages
Students in 12 Pittsburgh Public Schools buildings learned remotely Monday because of covid-related staffing shortages. An alert posted to the district’s website said students would have livestreamed lessons at the following schools:Allegheny PreK-5.Carrick High School.Crescent Early Childhood Center.Greenfield PreK-8.Liberty PreK-5.Lincoln PreK-5.Montessori PreK-5.Morrow PreK-8.Perry High School.Phillips PreK-5.Weil PreK-5.Whittier PreK-5. A covid-19...
Del Vecchio’s owner runs business in the same Vandergrift house where he grew up
From an early age, Tommy Scanga felt at home in a kitchen. “I cook. That’s what I do,” said Scanga, 62, a lifelong Vandergrift resident. Cooking alongside his mother, Mary Ann Scanga, Tommy Scanga learned at an early age how to make Italian staples such as homemade sauce with meatballs,...
Steelers fans sound off on the apparent end of the Big Ben era
Angela Birch of Kiski Township has a message for Ben Roethlisberger. “You’ll be missed,” said Birch, 48. “I hate to see you go. Enjoy the life with your kids and thank you so much for everything you’ve done.” Tonight’s game against the Cleveland Browns likely will be the final home...
North Hills area real estate transactions for the weeks of Dec. 19, Dec. 26, 2021
Week of Dec. 19 Bellevue Joseph Easton sold property at 14 E Roseridge Ave. to Yi Hua and Lu Xiao for $114,500. Brian Campbell sold property at 601 Highland Place to John Conor Forrester and Cara Lee Brack for $250,000. Christopher Klein sold property at 633 Monroe Ave. to Cipreste...
1st New Year’s baby in Westmoreland makes late appearance
The first baby born in Westmoreland County in the new year made a late appearance on New Year’s Day at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg, but it was earlier than her mother’s doctors had predicted. Rosalind Grace Weimer, the daughter of Katlyn, 25, and Michael Weimer, 27, of Hempfield...
New Year’s Day dodgeball tournament draws small, but enthusiastic turnout in first year
The Dodgefathers arrived dressed to impress. The five-member dodgeball team, made up of middle school-age boys from Wheeling, W.Va., journeyed Saturday to West Deer to compete in the inaugural New Year Smash Em Dodgeball Tournament. Sporting matching custom T-shirts with a sporty play on the classic Italian mafia film, the...
