Western PA Local News category, Page 411
Natrona trailhead to provide town gateway, safe access to kayak launch
A trailhead project in the Natrona section of Harrison could begin moving forward if all goes smoothly with design and permit approvals. The township commissioners awarded a $30,000 contract to GAI Consultants in January to begin work on the project, which will create designated parking with safer access to the...
Charleroi glass plant operators extend operation 3 months, through the end of July
Workers at a Charleroi glass plant learned this week the Pyrex cookware factory would remain open for at least three months, extending its operation through the end of July, a union official said. Some union workers at the Corelle Brands LLC who were anticipating a layoff learned on Thursday that...
Party at The Palace gala celebrates Broadway’s Golden Age
The Golden Age of Broadway is the theme of the Westmoreland Cultural Trust’s “Party at The Palace” with live music on Feb. 22 at The Palace Theatre in downtown Greensburg. “It is the most exclusive gala in Westmoreland County,” said Daniel Stainer, a spokesman for the Westmoreland Cultural Trust, a...
Americans freed from Russia and Venezuela describe challenges likely facing Fogel
Matthew Heath, who was imprisoned in Venezuela for two years, has an idea of what Marc Fogel went through during his captivity in Russia. But Trevor Reed lived it. Heath and Reed, both arrested on sham charges and held for years by a foreign government, spoke with TribLive this week...
1 shot in East Vandergrift police raid
Officials declined to identify the suspect shot by police during a raid at an apartment Friday morning in East Vandergrift. The man was shot during a police raid led by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force around 7 a.m. Friday, according to state police. Residents say the raid targeted an...
Diesel from Route 28 tanker accident leaves sheen throughout Allegheny and Ohio rivers
Groups are monitoring the region’s waterways and wildlife after a tanker accident on Route 28 spilled 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel. While authorities are working to mitigate the impact of Tuesday’s accident, which sent large amounts of fuel into Pine Creek and later the Allegheny River, sheens of diesel can...
Plum awards road paving contract, seeking slide repair bids
Plum plans to resurface seven roads and six alleys in the borough this year, while also repairing a slide on another. Council on Monday accepted a bid of just over $680,000 from Tresco for the resurfacing work covering about 4 miles of road. Councilwoman Vicky Roessler was absent. The company...
Judge dismisses Pittsburgh Public Schools lawsuit aimed at forcing countywide reassessment
A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit that Pittsburgh Public Schools had brought against Allegheny County in hopes of forcing a countywide property reassessment. The district filed the suit in April 2024 seeking to have the court retain jurisdiction throughout a reassessment process and to set a realistic timetable for...
Morning Roundup: Firefighters called to blaze in Jefferson Hills
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, Feb. 14: Firefighters respond to Jefferson Hills blaze Firefighters were called to a home fire early Friday morning in Jefferson Hills. The blaze was reported juts before 1 a.m. along Village Green Drive, according to TribLive news partner...
O’Connor audit details how caseloads overwhelm Allegheny County public defenders
In an audit released Thursday, Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor raised concerns that public defenders’ heavy caseloads may make it difficult to provide effective representation. His audit recommended the county improve the way it analyzes and manages attorneys’ caseloads in the Allegheny County Office of the Public Defender. According to...
Daunting equipment costs eased for Allegheny Township, Murrysville VFDs after $250K infusion from energy company
The Markle Volunteer Fire Department needs to make major repairs to its two trucks, but, like most of its peers in Western Pennsylvania, money is scarce. Spare cash will still be hard to come by for the foreseeable future, but a $100,000 grant from Olympus Energy is expected to at...
The Stroller, Feb. 14, 2025: 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. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. Happy Valentine’s Day! Don’t...
At fire academy, high school students earn class credit while training to be firefighters
Desiree Schramm wasn’t looking to become a firefighter when she was choosing electives during her junior year at North Hills High School. “I was scheduling for classes and, ‘What’s this?’ ” said Schramm, of Ross, now 18 and a senior. “This is actually pretty cool.” What Schramm stumbled across was the...
Westmoreland high school students pursue first responder certifications
Students in 10 of Westmoreland County’s school districts don’t have to wait until after graduation to pursue a career as a first responder. Through the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center’s Protective Services class, students in grades 10-12 at select Westmoreland schools can earn certifications in firefighting, policing, EMS and...
Westmoreland leaders look to workforce, housing, internet projects for improving ‘State of County’
Westmoreland County’s manufacturers generate $1.3 billion in annual wages and account for 22% of that sector in the seven-county Pittsburgh metropolitan area. While those attending Thursday’s annual State of the County luncheon heard those encouraging statistics, county leaders pointed to the need to attract more people to live and work...
Former Everson secretary-treasurer to fill revamped fiscal director slot for Latrobe
An Everson native who recently served as secretary-treasurer of that Fayette County borough is set to take on a new role: overseeing Latrobe’s city budget. Timothy Pisula is set to start work as Latrobe’s fiscal director March 10 after city council this week unanimously hired him for the revamped position....
Under cover: Game commission releases bonus stock of pheasants in Pa.Video
Pheasant hunters aren’t just good at flushing out the birds they’re hunting. They’re pretty adept at figuring out where the Pennsylvania Game Commission is likely to stock them. As Warden Zebulun Campbell and his crew pulled into a small parking lot near Loyalhanna Lake on Thursday morning, a half-dozen hunters...
Weapons, drug charges against former Pagans member dismissed in New Kensington
Weapons and drug charges against a former member of the Pagans motorcycle gang have been dismissed. The charges, including prohibited possession of a firearm, against Bill Robert Rana, 44, of Sharpsburg were dismissed after a preliminary hearing Thursday before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. Rana and three...
Woman dies after being found shot in crashed car in Sheraden
A 26-year-old woman has died after being shot Thursday morning in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. The victim, Taylor Hall, was pronounced dead at an area hospital Thursday morning after the shooting in the 3100 block of Kelvin Street, the medical examiner said. Pittsburgh police...
Allegheny County property tax bills lack new payment deadlines
Allegheny County residents will begin receiving 2025 real estate tax bills this week, but deadline information in the enclosed bulletins is wrong because of last-minute changes, according to County Treasurer Erica Rocchi Brusselars. On Tuesday night, Allegheny County Council voted to extend property tax deadlines by about a month, including...
Closing of Salem’s Market in the Hill District leaves residents shocked, disappointed
Salem’s Market and Grill is temporarily pausing its operations in the Hill District location. The grocery store at 1850 Centre Ave. has been open for a little over a year and came as a great relief for the predominantly Black neighborhood, which had been without a grocery store since the...
Mon View Heights owner from New York, charged in $580K theft, surrenders in West Mifflin
One of three men from New York accused of stealing $580,000 related to the Mon View Heights housing complex in West Mifflin surrendered to authorities on Thursday. Jonathan Liani, 39,was arraigned and is free on $250,000 unsecured bail, according to court records. Allegheny County detectives said in court papers filed...
Murrysville area: FR students excel in music competition and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. FR students dominate Young Artists Competition Franklin Regional music students again dominated the winners’ list in the annual Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists Competition. FR students swept the Level I (through ninth grade) instrumental category, with eighth grader Ava Zannikos (flute) taking...
FBI tries new tack to thwart crypto crimes
The thousands of investors had different goals for growing their money last year, from paying for cancer treatments to helping loved ones, to just making a good return. But all had one thing in common: they were victims of cryptocurrency scams that totaled an estimated $5 billion in potential losses....
Heroin or litter box: Arnold stabbing suspects don’t agree on cause of fight
Two men who police say stabbed each other in an Arnold apartment Sunday morning were fighting over either heroin or a dirty kitty litter box, according to a criminal complaint. Police charged Michael James Holliday, 43, of Arnold and William Johnson, 54, of Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood each with felony aggravated...
