Western PA Local News category, Page 2011
Franklin Regional eyes more-traditional commencement following relaxation of covid restrictions
For Franklin Regional Senior High School Principal Ron Suvak, the past 365 days mean he’s just a year older. “But our kids only get to be kids one time,” he said. “There are certain things endemic to the high school experience that we weren’t able to recreate last year.” That...
Primary election underway in Sewickley
Voting has begun in the May 18 primary election. Polls in Sewickley opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Anyone in line at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote, and masks are required. The Sewickley Herald will update readers on election results throughout the day and...
Hempfield Area teachers get 6-year contract, almost 2% annual raises
After more than a year of negotiations that were upended because of the covid-19 pandemic, Hempfield Area School District teachers reached a contract agreement with the district. School board members on Monday ratified the contract, giving union members an average raise of 1.8% per year over the course of the...
Primary election underway across the Lower Valley
A small crowd of people was constant near the Sharpsburg municipal building mid-morning on Tuesday. Political candidates and voters mingled on the front steps of the building as the primary election got underway across the Lower Valley. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Anyone in...
Find out how Latrobe shaped Fred Rogers
Lessons from everybody’s favorite neighbor will return to the forefront with “Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Again?,” a new community programming series based on the life and legacy of Fred Rogers. Saint Vincent College, the college’s Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media and Latrobe Art Center are...
Hempfield Area passes preliminary budget with no tax increase
Hempfield Area School District officials avoided a projected $1.2 million deficit in the 2021-22 budget, passing a preliminary budget that does not include a tax hike. School board members on Monday unanimously approved a preliminary budget that includes $98.8 million in revenues and $99.5 million in expenditures. Money will be...
50 students participated in Chartiers Valley School District vaccine clinic
Chartiers Valley School District held a covid-19 vaccine clinic for students 16 and older on May 13 at the high school. Fifty students received their first shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine. Mikaela Duckstein, director of communications and strategic partnerships for the district, said that while an initial survey indicated...
Primary election underway in Hampton
Voting is well underway in Hampton. Residents in Districts 6 and 12 were able to cast their ballots at Parkwood Presbyterian Church along Mt. Royal Boulevard. Lines were minimal at about 11 a.m. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Anyone in line at 8 p.m....
River Art Works seeks artists, volunteers for Ligonier summer paint-outs
Professional artists and volunteers are needed for a monthly series of summer paint-outs planned in Ligonier by River Art Works. The first of the second-Saturday sessions will be held from 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. June 12 at Ligonier Diamond Park. Other dates are July 10, Aug. 14 and Sept. 11. Interested...
Filmed version of Pine-Richland’s spring musical being livestreamed; show receives 3 Kelly nominations
Working through the pandemic restrictions to rehearse for their spring musical was no cakewalk across the stage for the theater students at Pine-Richland High School. But as the saying goes, the show must go on. Following strict covid-19 pandemic safety protocols, the actors and crew spent the past three months...
Investigator testifies Pirates pitcher Vazquez knew Scottdale girl was ‘too young’
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez, during a police interrogation at his Strip District apartment in September 2019, initially claimed he knew his teen accuser was young and told investigators her age was why he refused to communicate with her over the previous two years. Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Michael Thompson,...
‘Technical error’ omits discussion of judge’s recusal from Commonwealth Court livestreamVideo
During oral arguments last week before the state’s Commonwealth Court, attorney John Smith, representing the Murrysville Watch Committee and its appeal challenging Murrysville’s unconventional gas drilling ordinance, requested that Judge J. Andrew Crompton recuse himself. Moments afterward, the livestream feed of the public court proceeding cut to a hold screen,...
Primary election underway in Pine, Richland
Pine-Richland elections appeared to be drawing much interest early in the day Tuesday. A steady stream of people arrived before 11 a.m. at the Pine-Richland Youth Center in Gibsonia to cast their ballot in the primary election. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Anyone in...
South Hills pools prep for opening
As covid restrictions are lifted and the weather heats up, South Hills residents will have a few options to cool off. After being closed for two years for renovations, the Brentwood Pool will be open this year. Located at Brentwood Park, it will open at 11 a.m. on May 29...
Allegheny County covid case average lowest since Halloween
Both the state and Allegheny County on Tuesday saw covid-19 statistics drop to levels not seen since the fall. Locally and at the commonwealth level, case averages are back to where they were late last year. Cases Allegheny County saw its seven-day average of covid-19 cases drop to lows not...
PennDOT prepares for Coxcomb Hill Road closure in Plum
PennDOT officials are preparing for a drainage improvement and shoulder reconstruction project in Plum that will close a 1-mile stretch of Coxcomb Hill Road beginning Monday, May 24. Work between Kerr Road and Logans Ferry Road is anticipated to begin next week, according to PennDOT District 11 spokesman Steve Cowan....
Primary election underway throughout Penn Hills
Voting has begun in the May 18 primary election. Polls in Penn Hills opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Anyone in line at 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote. Masks are required. The Penn Hills Progress will update readers on election results throughout the day...
Murrysville man charged with arson in restaurant fire
A Murrysville man was arrested Tuesday on arson charges in connection with a weekend fire that destroyed a landmark restaurant along Route 22. Murrysville police Chief Tom Seefeld said Brian Paul Lucas, 43, confessed to starting the fire at Spaghetti & Steakhouse and Hot Rod Lounge early Saturday after authorities...
North Huntingdon man charged with double homicide in Penn Township killingsVideo
A North Huntingdon man is accused of killing a Penn Township man at his home as well as his girlfriend as she tried to escape early Monday, fulfilling what police say was “a grudge reconciliation weekend.” Before District Judge Helen Kistler on Tuesday night, Victor Steban, 53, of North Thompson...
Penn State to ditch ‘male-specific’ student titles like freshmen
Students at Penn State may soon be saying goodbye to the term “sophomore slump” and hello to “second-year slump.” According to a report in Penn State’s student newspaper The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s Faculty Senate voted to remove gendered and binary terms from Penn State course and program descriptions. As...
Gateway Education Association calls for a strike as contract negotiations linger for more than a year
Gateway School District’s teachers’ union has threatened to go on strike beginning May 24, according to union officials. The Gateway Education Association notified Superintendent William Short on Tuesday morning that a strike will begin next Monday if a tentative agreement has not been reached. The district and association have been...
Police log: Multiple charges filed in Monroeville court April 30 – May 7, 2021
The following charges were filed April 30 through May 7, 2021, with Monroeville District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst. All charges were filed by Monroeville police unless otherwise noted: • Darrell Carr, 31, of Pitcairn with burglary, criminal trespass, stalking, criminal mischief and loitering, and prowling at night. Pitcairn police filed...
Burglary, drugs among charges handled by Monroeville Judge Jeffrey Herbst on May 10, 2021
Monroeville District Judge Jeffrey L. Herbst handled these cases May 10. Defendants will have court dates set in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. All charges were filed by Monroeville police unless otherwise noted. Held for court • Anthony Watkins, 43, of Pittsburgh on charges of retail theft and...
DUI, drug charges among those handled in Judge DeLuca’s Penn Hills court May 10, 2021
Penn Hills District Judge Anthony L. DeLuca handled the following cases May 10. Defendants will have court dates set in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Charges were filed by Penn Hills police unless otherwise noted. Held for court • Diorr Grier-Phillips, 22, of Penn Hills on charges of firearms not...
Belle Vernon area teen accused by troopers in 2020 brick-throwing incident on I-70
A 16-year-old is charged in Westmoreland County juvenile court in connection with a brick-throwing incident along Interstate 70 in North Belle Vernon last year, state police said. Trooper Brian McKee said evidence against the teen from the Belle Vernon area culminated with charges of criminal mischief, propulsion of missiles and...
