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Valley News Dispatch category, Page 35

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Leaders of community garden hope to nurture young residents with scholarship program
Organizers of the Sharpsburg Community Garden are hoping to grow a new generation of people with a passion for planting. The garden, situated behind the community library along Main Street, is launching a scholarship program for 2025 through which a newbie can get their hands dirty and harvest crops such...
More than just books: Cooper-Siegel Community Library closes in on funding for $2.5M expansion
Tools, 3D printers and musical instruments probably aren’t what most people associate with libraries. But Cooper-Siegel in Fox Chapel is far from ordinary. The $6 million, 24,000-square-foot facility along Fox Chapel Road has grown its lending libraries, programs and classes to meet the demands of patrons who number nearly 30,000...
Christmas story tradition continues at Acmetonia Elementary School in Harmar
Allegheny Valley School District Superintendent Patrick Graczyk read a classic story, “The Night Before Christmas,” to kindergarten students at Acmetonia Elementary School in Harmar on Thursday. Students wore their pajamas as part of the tradition that’s been happening for about a decade. Graczyk and the students shared what they were...
BJ’s Country Store in South Buffalo going out of business
Matt Hughes and Cory Stivanson hardly said a word walking into BJ’s Country Store late Tuesday morning, but cashier Janet Greene knew what was on their minds. “A yes and yes?” she asked from behind the worn wooden countertops. The pair assented, and Greene got to work on an Italian...
Blawnox to see no rise in real estate taxes, garbage fees; water/sewage bills will increase
Blawnox property owners will not have to pay more in borough real estate taxes next year. Council unanimously voted Dec. 11 to pass its 2025 budget and maintain the tax rate at 10.85 mills. Garbage collection fees also remained the same. Council raised taxes by 1 mill for the 2023...
Tarentum real estate tax increase to benefit volunteer fire departments
Tarentum property owners will pay 9% more in real estate taxes next year, ending a 20-year run with no increase. Council approved the borough’s $4.7 million budget, raising the millage from 5.48 to 5.98 mills. The hike is to institute a fire tax, meant specifically to benefit the borough’s three...
Fawn-Frazer Water Authority raises rates
Customers in the Fawn-Frazer Joint Water Authority will see a slight increase to their bills next year. “We are looking at a $2 increase,” said Ed Adams, authority chairman. The rate, effective Jan. 1, will increase from $31 to $33 monthly, Adams said. It was approved by the water authority...
Harp and Hound Jewelry brings Celtic-inspired designs to Blawnox
A professional metalsmith and jeweler with more than 22 years of custom jewelry experience has opened a studio in Blawnox. Dan Jacko of Verona opened Harp and Hound Jewelry on Dec. 7 at 238½ Freeport Road, the former site of Marlene Harris Collection. Jacko designs and creates artisan and handcrafted...
The Stroller, Dec. 19, 2024: 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. Oakmont Elks to host...
Upper Burrell data center to be company’s ‘U.S. flagship,’ founder says
A new data center in Upper Burrell could hold 3 gigawatts of power — about three times more than the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant can generate — and employ hundreds if plans come to fruition at the vacant portion of the Alcoa Technical Center. TECfusions, a Florida-based data...
Pittsburgh interior designer to face judge in business fraud case out of Fox Chapel
An interior designer accused of swindling a Fox Chapel woman out of $170,000 is headed to court, the latest in a flurry of legal cases surrounding the embattled Pittsburgh business owner. Lauren Michelle Piasecki, 44, of Pittsburgh’s Stanton Heights neighborhood waived her preliminary hearing Wednesday in a Sharpsburg district court....
Blawnox officials celebrate their police officers’ next chapters
Blawnox police Chief Patrick Goodman sat at the main desk of the police station talking with his fellow officers on the first floor of the borough building. Some wearing fully-equipped uniforms and a part-timer in plain clothes. It was a familiar scene since 2019 when Goodman took over the small...
O’Hara property taxes going up about 14%
O’Hara property owners will have to pay about 14% more in real estate taxes as part of the township’s 2025 budget. Council voted 5-2 on Dec. 10 to pass its spending plan and raise the millage rate from 2.1 mills to 2.4 mills. Council Vice President Mike Hamill and Councilman...
MAWC opens talks to buy, run Gilpin water and sewer systems
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials will open negotiations to take over operations of a small water system in Gilpin, Armstrong County. Gilpin supervisors this week solicited an offer from the county authority to purchase or operate the township’s water and sewer systems service. On Wednesday, the authority said it...
West Deer foots bill for $203,000 ambulance
While ambulance services across the state struggle to stay afloat, West Deer EMS just got a life-saving lift. The township is footing the bill for the group’s $203,000 ambulance, delivered to the East Union Road station on Tuesday. Chief Bill Humes knows how significant it is. “There’s only so much...
Reconfigured Bon Air Elementary layout finalized for next school year
Burrell School District has a plan to accommodate fourth graders at Bon Air Elementary School next school year. A task force of about 20 staff members and parents reviewed Superintendent Shannon Wagner’s proposed building layout to have the elementary school on Leechburg Road house kindergarten through fourth grades next school...
Springdale property owners to see 18% increase in borough real estate taxes, trash collection up, too
Property owners in Springdale will pay 18% more in real estate taxes. The 2025 spending plan increases the borough’s millage rate by 1.5 mills, to 9.75 mills. Officials have said that assessment appeals on industrial properties led to an $11 million loss in expected revenues, leaving borough property owners to...
2 guns among possessions stolen from New Kensington vehicles in overnight hits
At least two handguns are among items stolen from vehicles recently in New Kensington. The thefts have the city’s police department advising residents to secure their vehicles and their valuables. Residents of the area across Seventh Street from New Kensington’s Mount Vernon neighborhood said they believe three males are involved,...
Plum School Board approves tax increase limit; advances building project, electric bus purchase
Plum School Board members say they will limit any potential tax increase next year while moving forward with a building project and the purchase of electric buses. The board this week voted unanimously to keep a property tax increase for the 2025-26 school year to within its state-imposed inflation limit...
The Stroller, Dec. 18, 2024: 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. Local food shuttle available...
Arnold mother, daughter buy building, open discount store to serve community
As a lifelong resident of Arnold, Heather Irene Houser says she knows what people in the city want and need. She also knows that the stores that met those needs when she was growing up are long gone from the city. And not everyone is able to get to the...
Highlands basketball coach resigns amid hazing allegations
The Highlands High School varsity boys basketball season will continue despite the resignation of its head coach, Bill Flow. Flow, hired this summer, submitted a letter of resignation Monday, citing personal reasons, school officials said. He remains a teacher at the high school. The departure comes on the heels of...
Burrell High School staff gets wet for a good cause
Rain wasn’t in Tuesday’s weather forecast, but it certainly was pouring for some Burrell High School staff. Burrell’s unified bocce team held a “rain rally” Tuesday, where Principal John Boylan and a few teachers got soaked by Lower Burrell Fire Co. 3’s truck hose as a fundraiser for the team....
$3 million winning lottery ticket sold at Waterworks Market District
A $3 million lottery ticket was sold Friday at the Giant Eagle Market District in the Waterworks near Aspinwall. The winner purchased a jackpot-winning Lottery Cash 5 ticket, matching all five balls drawn that evening. The Market District store will get a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. Nearly...
Proposed Huston Middle School realignment separates 5th and 8th grade students
The proposed reconfiguration of Charles A. Huston Middle School in Lower Burrell accommodates an additional grade level and separates younger students from older students without rearranging much of the building. “This is what the administrative team has developed over time and lots of conversations,” said Burrell Superintendent Shannon Wagner. “This...


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