Valley News Dispatch category, Page 198

Property owners in New Kensington and Arnold will see a 1.6% increase in their school district property tax bills. The New Kensington-Arnold School Board approved the district’s $50.42 million budget for the 2023-24 school year Tuesday, along with the tax increase. The property tax rate was increased by 1.5 mills,...

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. Kiski Area Foundation to host golf outing fundraiser The 15th annual...

A New Kensington business owner wants to build housing for college students and others on Fifth Avenue. Jake Lydick, owner of Eye-bot Aerial Solutions and Patriot Technology Holdings, has a plan to build residential units in existing buildings at 713, 715 and 717 Fifth Ave. The addresses are among nine...

Property owners in the Allegheny Valley School District can expect no increase in their property taxes. The district is eyeing a budget of $24.6 million for next school year, which is an increase of 3.5% compared to the school year that just ended. The district’s school board approved the preliminary...

Springdale-area residents impacted by the smokestack implosion last week at the former Cheswick Generating Station have until 5 p.m. Friday to submit claims and concerns to the property owner. Sam Miller of Louisville, Ky.-based Charah Solutions said crews are continuing to address the aftermath of the implosion, where two smokestack...

Chester Elmer Green Jr. of New Kensington is expected to take the stand Thursday in his defense against charges that he sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl almost a decade ago. His accuser, now in her late teens, testified Wednesday in Westmoreland County Court that she wasn’t sure of the date...

A young buck in the Fox Chapel area got itself in a jam a few weeks ago when it somehow got its neck stuck in a plastic animal feeder. It has been spotted by area residents with the container still around its neck. O’Hara resident Melissa Marlo said she has...

Poolgoers hoping to cool off at a popular summer swimming destination in Allegheny Township will have to be patient. The Vandergrift Pool, officially named the Joseph A. Petrarca Memorial Pool, remains empty and closed. The pool at 1639 La Belle Vue Road has not opened for the season because of...

Visitors to First United Presbyterian Church in Tarentum will get a fresh welcome next week. Crews are pouring new concrete steps and a railing after the entrance was damaged in a vehicle crash last fall. “It’s finally the point where the weather is nice enough to get the concrete and...

Parishioners and some staff members from Guardian Angels Parish gathered at the Our Lady of Victory Campus in the Harwick section of Springdale Township on Monday, June 5 to prepare sawdust for making carpets to celebrate the upcoming feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday. Some were veterans of making the...

New female leadership appears to be on the horizon in Leechburg. Councilwoman Doreen Smeal, 69, scored a victory on the Democratic and Republican primary elections in the race for mayor, all but securing a victory in November. The only thing that could stop her from winning is somebody mounting a...

Penn State New Kensington is hosting a party Friday to support the institution’s cultural art initiatives, scholarships and programs. The annual Off the Wall pARTy started in 2017 but was on hiatus during the covid-19 pandemic. It returns from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. in the main lobby of the campus...

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. Car and bike cruise to benefit Vandergrift museum A car and...

Thomas Baczynski was trying to protect his friend when he was fatally stabbed Sunday in Tarentum, according to his sister. Baczynski, 26, died about 6:30 p.m. at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison after an altercation involving three men in the rear of Davidson Street along Companion Way in the West...

Plum’s Monday Market kicked off its season at Plum Creek Park with a plethora of vendors and a variety of offerings. Opening day for the market, near the ball fields along New Texas Road, was Monday, June 5. It was sunny shopping for Cheryl Stezoski of Plum, who picked up...

O’Hara residents who want to raise chickens may soon be able to in their own backyards. Township officials plan to vote June 13 on a zoning ordinance amendment that would make “domestic chicken keeping” a permitted accessory use in residential and certain commercial districts. A $50 permit fee also would...

Prosecutors haven’t decided whether to pursue the death penalty against a Harrison nurse charged by state authorities with allegedly killing two patients and injuring a third while she cared for them. Heather Pressdee, 40, wearing an orange jail-issued jumpsuit and shackles in District Judge Lewis Stoughton’s courtroom, remained silent during...

Volunteers at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church have opened the doors to collections, officially kicking off Harvest Fair season. The fair is a two-day event with thousands of items for sale. Preparations began June 2 and will continue through the first week of September, when volunteers work for days to display...

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. Flag Day event planned at Vandergrift Public Library Vandergrift Public Library...

An Arnold man who previously was convicted for assault and carrying a gun without a license was ordered to stand trial on charges he punched a woman in the face, pushed her to the ground and stomped on her head. Malachi Supreme Hayes, 25, of the 1200 block of Kenneth...

Two vacant houses next to the former Oakmont Auto Body were gutted by a fire Monday evening. Oakmont Fire Chief Joe Flanick said his department was dispatched about 5:50 p.m. for a fire at a house near the intersection of Plum Street and Dark Hollow Road. Before they arrived, firefighters...

The dust has settled in Springdale, but crews and residents continue to clean and address the aftermath of the implosion of the two smokestacks at the Cheswick Generating Station. The stacks, staples of the Springdale and Cheswick skyline for years, went out with a bang Friday morning through a planned...

PennDOT crews will be conducting bridge inspection work Tuesday and Wednesday on Route 28 in O’Hara and East Deer townships, weather permitting. The work will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day in the following locations: • Tuesday: Route 28 at the Blawnox interchange over South Oak Hill...

The father of a man on death row for killing a New Kensington police officer was arrested Sunday after, police said, the 52-year-old made sexual advances toward two 16-year-old girls in Latrobe. Gregory Baucum Jr. was charged with two counts each of unlawful contact with a minor, interference with custody...

Friends of a man stabbed to death Sunday in Tarentum have started a GoFundMe to help his family with burial expenses. Thomas Baczynski, 26, died about 6:30 p.m. at a local hospital after a fight in the rear of Davidson Street along Companion Way. “Thomas was a quiet young man...