Valley News Dispatch category, Page 9

A former Knoch Primary School teacher has been accused of slapping an 8-year-old autistic student in the face. State police charged Carly Miller, 35, of Hampton with simple assault and harassment in relation to a Nov. 26, 2024 incident. According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, the student...

Missing links that will enable expansion of the 33-mile Three Rivers Heritage Trail are starting to fall into place like dominoes, organizers said. Work at Brackenridge Memorial Park will begin this spring on a quarter-mile path that will provide connections to planned trails in Harrison and Tarentum. “These connections are...

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. Lower Valley Food Bank...

A little more than a decade ago, hospice nurse Lori Hank grew more and more frustrated with the direction the health care industry was headed. She told her friend, Richard Seifert, that she felt the industry was not focusing on patients over profit. Seifert gave her the push to open...

Highlands School District residents in Region 3 will see a choice of two people seeking a four-year term on the school board. Newcomers Clint Crowell and Aasta Deth, both cross-filed, are vying to fill the seat of Ashley Javier, who is stepping down. Crowell, 43, is a teacher at Freeport...

Route 28 has earned a dangerous reputation after dozens of wrong-way crashes that claimed lives and racked up damage. PennDOT will usher in new technology this month to turn that around. A $4.8 million safety detection project will target 21 ramps along the expressway — a stretch where 30 wrong-way...

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. Saxonburg seminar to discuss...

The Sheetz location in Buffalo Township is set to reopen April 23, according to township Supervisor Michael Oehling Jr. The gas station and convenience store where Route 356 and Monroe Road meet closed in October to be torn down and rebuilt. Sheetz did not return requests for comment. Company spokesperson...

Drivers could be crossing the Kiski River on the new Salina Bridge as soon as the winter. PennDOT assistant construction engineer Mark Kmetz said crews are finishing an abutment on the Kiski Township side of the river before the rest of the bridge can take shape. The span carries Bridge...

The Army Corps of Engineers is targeting this fall to start cleanup of the Parks Township nuclear waste dump, which marks a slight delay caused by harsh winter weather from previously announced dates. “From the beginning, we have emphasized that safety will dictate the pace of the project,” said Lt....

The Leechburg Area School Board welcomed a new member Wednesday night. Jimmy Feudale, of West Leechburg, was appointed in a 5-3 vote to fill an empty seat. His swearing in comes after the death of James Dunmire, whose term was set to end in December. Feudale, Danielle Reinke and Neil...

There was no doubt in senior Dustin O’Hara’s mind that a school year’s worth of effort operating a coffee cart at Valley High School paid off. The coffee cart, coordinated by Valley life skills students and offered weekly to the school, paid for a prom Friday morning at the Wildlife...

A specialized truck at Pioneer Hose in Brackenridge is critical for keeping firefighters throughout the region on the job. Although, the department’s Pierce Rehab Squad, a climate-controlled box truck where volunteers can rest and rehydrate, provides little to no medical intervention, it is essential to firefighter health and safety, Chief...

The Black Canary Coffee & Ice Cream coffeehouse takes its name from a DC Comics character of the same name and it continues to promote community camaraderie in Blawnox. Look for the heroine’s image on Black Canary T-shirts sold inside the independent java joint at 276 Freeport Road. Owner Rodney...

Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, April 11: Knoch teacher accused of hitting student Pennsylvania State Police have accused an elementary school teacher in the Knoch School District of striking an 8-year-old student in the face in November. Troopers plan to charge Knoch Primary...

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. Card party to benefit...

A few dozen ATI workers rallied outside the company’s Vandergrift plant Thursday as the deadline nears to reach a union contract, arguing the specialty metal manufacturer’s recent success should trickle down to the rank-and-file. “We’re not asking for the moon and the stars,” said Keith Beavers, a maintenance technician and...

Closing out his celebrity-packed variety show at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday, ex-NFL player and sports commentator Pat McAfee picked up a bright orange sweatshirt that had been thrown onstage, to shout out an Arnold institution. Sweatshirt in hand, McAfee, a Plum native, sang some free advertising for Fazio’s Pizza...

Harrisyn Schilpp is a senior at Knoch High School, and this week was the first time he’d ever spoken at a school board meeting. “As a student, as a performer and as a member of this community, I am deeply disappointed and honestly heartbroken that our school district would choose...

New Kensington is seeking bids to fix a sewage-flooded hole that has been declared a public nuisance. “We are actively trying to fix this problem,” said City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti. “We’re aware of it, and we’re doing our due diligence.” The hole is in Moss Alley in the Parnassus area...

Verona residents will be seeing a lot more activity if Thomas Dessell has anything to say about it. The Verona police officer now wears a second hat as the newly elected president of the borough’s Chamber of Commerce. His goal as the new leader is to revamp the organization. “We’re...

For Matt Murslack, the start of every meet for his fledgling unified video gaming club is like stepping onto the field for a real-life big game. The eighth grade teacher at Fox Chapel Area’s Dorseyville Middle School delivers a fiery motivational speech and lessons in sportsmanship. Then the competition starts,...

Tarentum officials are remembering the borough’s longtime public works director for his staunch commitment to town. Mark Anuszek, 55, died Tuesday following a brief illness. “For 35 years, Mark was an unwavering pillar of our community,” the borough posted to social media. “He was not just a dedicated public servant...

A former Indiana Township resident was sentenced Wednesday to two decades in prison for receiving material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, according to federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh. Cam John Zmenkowski, 28, persuaded a minor to send him nude and sexually explicit images and videos from August to September...

Some parents want Deer Lakes School Board meetings to be video recorded for the public to see. The topic caused some tension in an otherwise routine board meeting Tuesday. Leonard Verdetto III, a West Deer resident elected to the board almost two years ago, said that his priority is transparency....