Western PA Local News category, Page 1987
Turnpike engineer: Next leg of Mon Fayette Expressway likely to start construction next year
The Pennsylvania Turnpike’s chief engineer said roughly $1 billion in funding is in place to continue the Mon-Fayette Expressway from Route 51 to Route 837. It’s a project whose first phase is set to begin next year and last until 2027. The turnpike commission is finishing up work on the...
Western Pa. barbers split over helping President Biden promote covid vaccines
If President Biden wants Greg Henderson to preach the gospel of getting a covid vaccine to his customers who come in for a haircut, he’s going to have to find another barber to deliver that sermon. “I really don’t want to promote it. It’s kind of personal,” said Henderson, who...
Pa. State Police provide glimpse into use-of-force training with demonstration for community membersVideo
Pennsylvania State Police invited community members and stakeholders to a demonstration on police use of force Wednesday at the Monroeville Public Safety Training Center. The three-and-half hour presentation titled, “The Realities of Use of Force Encounters” covered legal and policy considerations, use of force and human performance, and video analysis...
Westmoreland primary results receive preliminary certification
Westmoreland County’s Elections Board on Wednesday voted to pre-certify results of the 2021 primary. That vote opens a five-day window to challenge in court the results in which Republicans and Democrats were nominated to run for county row office jobs as well as magisterial district judge positions, seats on municipal...
North Huntingdon man accused in 2 homicides will stand trial for arson, attempted carjacking and firearms charges
Victor F. Steban, ordered Tuesday to stand trial for the killing of a Penn Township couple, also will be tried on charges related to what police say was the start and finish of his alleged four-day crime spree last month. Steban, 53, of North Huntingdon waived his right to preliminary...
Allegheny County officials see brighter light at the end of the covid tunnel
Allegheny County officials remain pleased with and optimistic about the rates of covid-19 and vaccinations countywide, they said Wednesday. The county is now average fewer than 50 new cases per day, said health director Dr. Debra Bogen. “Just two months ago, we were stuck in a fourth surge and averaging...
Co-defendant says he watched Vandergrift woman’s murder and helped burn her remains
An Export man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday that, just a day after Ronny Cable said she had feelings for him, he watched another man beat her over the head with a hammer and choke her to death. He said he then spent the next 12 hours helping to...
Latrobe will celebrate Fourth of July with fireworks, inaugural car cruise
Latrobe won’t have a Fourth of July parade this year but is planning a number of holiday activities for July 3, including fireworks and a car cruise. The inaugural Fourth of July Celebration car cruise is set for 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Stadium parking lot. The...
The 501 to bring outdoor music, family fun to New Derry
Rachele Morelli spent the past year looking for an outdoor venue that fit her entrepreneurial aspiration: an open-air family entertainment park. She closed on a New Derry property in April. Named The 501 because of its location at 501 Longview Court, the park is intended to provide the community with...
Convicted killer serving life in Florida confesses to 6 Pa. slayings, including 3 in native Beaver County
A convicted killer serving life sentences in Florida has confessed to six slayings in four separate incidents across Pennsylvania in the late 1970s, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Edward A. Surratt, 71, has been serving two life sentences for a series of Florida crimes, and he has also been convicted...
Fire heavily damages 8th-floor apartment at Tarentum high-rise
As she looked on from a nearby parking lot, Maria Gray said the apartment next to hers on the top floor of Rachel Carson Hall in Tarentum looked like “a black void.” A fire Wednesday afternoon caused extensive damage to that apartment, but nobody was hurt, Eureka Deputy Fire Chief...
UPMC reports $6B in 2021 revenue as hospital volumes rebound from covid slowdown
UPMC continues to grow its insurance rolls and investment capacity to record-high levels so far this year as patient demand for services rebounds and covid-19 restrictions ease. “Our hospitals are busy,” UPMC Chief Financial Officer Edward Karlovich said. “We are past the point where we had the significant reduction in...
Fox Chapel Area’s Xavier Perry wins Belle Voci music award
A passion for music — and his ability to bring joy to others through it — has earned Fox Chapel Area senior Xavier Perry the 2021 Jeffrey Dean Memorial Award from Fox Chapel-based women’s choir Belle Voci. “I am so honored,” Perry, 18, said. “It means a great deal to...
Plum mayoral candidate Shawn Marcellino dies after collapsing at a softball game
Plum resident Shawn Marcellino was a selfless, caring man and a calming voice in times of trouble. That is how fellow Plum alum and school board president Mike Devine described his best friend of nearly 30 years. “He was the best guy,” Devine said. “He would literally do anything for...
Pine-Richland votes to hire veteran coach to heal fractured football programVideo
The Pine-Richland School Board has hired a veteran coach it hopes can close the book on a tumultuous chapter in the district’s football program. Steve Campos, an assistant football coach at Seneca Valley with nearly 30 years of experience, was the only candidate for the head coaching position considered during...
Allegheny County judge halts plea deals amid questions surrounding DA Zappala
Criminal justice advocates and elected officials are calling for the resignation of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. after an email he sent banning plea offers to a Black attorney who called his office “systematically racist” became public. Additionally, an Allegheny County judge is now refusing to accept...
Country concert in Irwin Park to benefit military personnel, veterans
The sixth annual Country Sounds for Soldiers Concert promises music by “home-grown country artists with a party-down-South attitude.” Music will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday in the amphitheater at Irwin Park in downtown Irwin. The concert will benefit Operation Troop Appreciation, a West Mifflin-based nonprofit that provides support for members...
Part of former Troutman store sold; apartments planned
An Arizona-based real estate investment firm bought part of the vacant seven-story building in downtown Greensburg that formerly housed A.E. Troutman Co. department store with plans to convert it into 57 apartments. Urban Communities Steel Valley LLC of Phoenix told city officials it wants to create “multi-family workforce apartments” in...
Pittsburgh region adds 15,200 jobs in April, but 80K short of pre-pandemic level
The seven-county Pittsburgh region added 15,200 jobs in April, raising the total to about 1.11 million — which is almost 142,000 more than the pandemic-restricted economy of a year ago, according to new state labor-force figures. The region saw nonfarm jobs rise to 1,111,700 as 6,500 more construction jobs were...
Weekly food truck event raising money for Restore Freeport Community Park
Freeport Community Park will welcome food trucks throughout the summer for weekly events raising money for the park’s upkeep. Jackie Gaughan, who operates a semi-permanent food truck in Freeport, is organizing the weekly event, which she calls Freeport’s Food Truckin’ Thursdays. Every Thursday — beginning June 3 and continuing through...
Pittsburgh Opera announces its 2021-22 season
The Pittsburgh Opera returns to larger venues with a mix of contemporary and traditional operas for its 2021-22 season. Included in the schedule released Wednesday are favorites such as “The Magic Flute,” originally scheduled for November 2020, and “Carmen,” which was in rehearsals when the pandemic shut down production in...
South Side’s Boom Boom Room raided by state police, shut down by health department
State police raided a South Side club and seized gallons of alcohol over the weekend, while the county health department shut down the bar for operating without a license, records show. State troopers with the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement along with Pittsburgh police served a search warrant on the...
Fight over loud music ends with New Alexandria man jailed in Indiana County, troopers say
Police say an argument over loud music in Indiana County resulted in $5,000 damage to a woman’s car and a New Alexandria man facing multiple charges. Ryan Lee Reynolds, 30, was arraigned on charges of criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, harassment and simple assault after his arrest by state troopers in...
ATM kiosk approved for vacant lot along Route 8
An ATM kiosk was approved for construction along Route 8. Hampton council approved the conditional use during a recent meeting for the vacant lot at 4640 Route 8, Manager Chris Lochner said. The property sits at the Talley Cavey intersection, just north of the BP station near Alpine Pools. Developers...
Purchase of SWAT bots questioned by Pittsburgh council
Pittsburgh City Council members gave preliminary approval Wednesday for the police department to buy two small robots equipped with cameras. But they did so only after discussion among members and asking the police department’s Special Deployment Cmdr. Ed Trapp about how the robots will be used. “It’s just distressing to...
