Jack Troy stories, Page 20
Aging truck forces Vandergrift to can curbside recycling
Budget restrictions forced Vandergrift to end curbside recycling pick up earlier this month. Instead, residents will have to take their glass and metals — plastics remain a no-go — to the borough garage at 600 Oak St. and deposit them in the appropriate bin. These containers will be ready by...
North Apollo issues ultimatum to Kiski Township ahead of possible Armstrong County police shake-up
North Apollo officials say they need proof that Kiski Township is holding up its end of a $58,000 contract to provide police coverage to the borough after two officer departures and an anecdotal decline in patrols. Council will draft a letter giving Kiski Township 15 days to produce police schedules...
Sprankle’s Octoberfest on tap Friday through Sunday at Lernerville Speedway
For the first and possibly only time, Lernerville Speedway in Buffalo Township has transformed into a miniature Munich ahead of the sixth annual Sprankle’s Octoberfest. Organizers expect this iteration of the German-themed festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to be bigger and better than ever. “The whole aim of this...
Backyard Nature finds wonder in the wild world of Penn Hills
A sparse, high-ceiling room at the Penn Hills Library is where Maria Wheeler-Dubas often finds herself explaining nature’s most captivating quirks and mysteries, such as dolphins’ apparent ability to pass information from one generation to the next. “Do dolphins have culture?” Wheeler-Dubas wondered last month at a presentation on animal...
Fire destroys maintenance building at River Forest Country Club
Gary Miller spent Thursday morning tallying losses — expected to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — caused by a fire that ravaged River Forest Country Club’s maintenance building before dawn. Items lost included 24 golf carts, at least two lawn mowers and an array of handheld maintenance...
U.S. Steel rallies for sale to Nippon Steel as Biden threatens to block deal
Standing before a sea of workers in orange jackets and hard hats, U.S. Steel executive Scott Buckiso argued for a $14.9 billion sale to Nippon Steel at a rally in downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Buckiso, senior vice president and chief manufacturing officer of U.S. Steel’s North American Flat-Rolled segment, zeroed...
Short on space, Simply Sisters prepares for move to downtown Vandergrift
Simply Sisters Bakery is on the move to a bigger and more convenient location in downtown Vandergrift. Five months ago, sisters Karen Johnston and Paula Cunningham started serving doughnuts, cookies, soups and more out of an old beauty shop on Emerson Street. As soon as Oct 1., the sisters will...
SUV burns in Harrison neighborhood
The quiet of Harrison’s Pacific Avenue neighborhood was interrupted Tuesday when a Kia SUV caught fire around 11 a.m. and quickly became engulfed in flames. Harrison police briefly shut down the 1400 block of Pacific as crews from Citizens Hose Fire-Rescue-EMS and other companies doused the fire. A Citizens Hose...
3 firefighters suffer minor injuries in New Kensington attic fire
Three firefighters were hurt in an attic fire that started around 2 p.m. Friday at 1309 Kenneth Ave. in New Kensington. They were taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison for minor injuries, according to New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. Two had electrical burns from a wire and...
48 units of affordable senior housing proposed at former William Penn Elementary School site
Another senior housing development is winding through the approval process in Penn Hills. Lancaster-based Social Enterprise Properties got preliminary approval Aug. 22 to raze the old William Penn Elementary School near Verona Road and build a three-story, 48-unit complex in its place. All units would be reserved for tenants 62...
Kiski Area prepping for ‘school within a school’ when classes start
The Kiski Area School District is banking on a few well-placed partitions, abundant signage and flexible attitudes to fit six grade levels into its high school when classes start next week. Calling it a “school within a school,” the district will place seventh and eighth graders in the high school...
Build day planned for South Buffalo’s first public playground
South Buffalo is set to get its first public playground as the township tries to turn the RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park into a hub for government, housing and recreation. “We would like that to be a community center,” said township Supervisor Paul Bergad. In 2022, South Buffalo moved its administrative...
Buffalo Township police searching for man who fled crash scene
Buffalo Township police are searching for a man who caused a hit-and-run crash Saturday at the intersection of Freeport Road and Route 356. Shortly before 10 p.m, a vehicle coming down Freeport Road from Harrison collided with a passenger vehicle making a legal left turn onto the Freeport Bridge from...
Bullet casing found at Freeport Area Middle School tied to track equipment
A bullet casing found Monday in a Freeport Area Middle School parking lot came from a track starting pistol, according to Buffalo Township police. Chief Tim Derringer said his department was notified of the false alarm Tuesday morning. Multiple officers had been stationed on campus as the district’s investigation unfolded....
Hiking and biking routes leave a trail of short-term rentals across Western Pa.
Between the plain cedar furnishings, olive carpeting and antique phonograph, the interior of John Blinkhorn’s Airbnb appears frozen in various points of the 20th century. But its existence speaks mostly to the future of Export and similar communities along the region’s growing trail network. Blinkhorn bought the triplex in his...
Faces of the Valley: Long-lost photos bring family history to life for Buffalo Township woman
Charles and Catherine Waggoner were quite the amateur photographers on their homestead in rural Ohio, capturing not only the stiffly posed portraits typical of early 1900s, but somewhat candid moments, too. Using a wooden, boxy Kodak camera that took cartridges about the size of a postcard, the couple produced dozens...
Domenico Schiano di Cola, co-owner of J&S Pizza in Natrona Heights, remembered for infectious positivity
Domenico “Domen” Schiano di Cola made a name for himself running his family’s restaurant, J&S Pizza, in Natrona Heights, Harrison, but his first love was Italy. It’s where he was born, visited each year with family and, on Aug. 6, 2024 died unexpectedly. Schiano di Cola, 29, of Natrona Heights...
Kiski Area School District adds dating violence policy as part of ongoing handbook review
The Kiski Area School Board is doing a comprehensive review of the district handbook, starting with a new dating violence policy and tweaks to the bullying, hazing and nondiscrimination rules. The policies were formally introduced on Monday, with a vote expected next month. The dating violence policy would require principals...
Phase 1 of Kiski Area Intermediate School renovation to be ready for students’ arrival
Parking lots at Kiski Area Intermediate School should be ready to use in time for the district’s first home football game on Aug. 30. “Things are on time,” said Russell Del Re, a superintendent with PJ Dick, the firm managing the $25 million renovation of the school. “(Contractors) are doing...
Vacancies continue to plague Penn Hills Library Board
Less than a year after filling four vacancies on the Penn Hills Library Board, council has to fill four more. Between March and May, Mary Mannella, Julia Madera, Danielle Ciniello and Brittany Fettis left their new roles for reasons unknown to Larry Choby, interim president of the board. Choby is...
Danger below: Divers detail perils of scouring Western Pa.’s rivers for remains
Darrick Gerano says scuba diving in the Allegheny River ranges from unpleasant to downright harrowing. The water is cold and murky. Vision often is limited to just a few feet. Tree branches and junk dumped into the river pose a constant threat of entanglement. And then there are the dead...
South Buffalo appoints 1st female supervisor
For the first time in its 177-year history, South Buffalo has a female supervisor. Karen Babilon was appointed to the board Monday after an unexpectedly competitive process that saw four candidates come forth, including another woman. “Normally, when there’s an opening, no one wants to do it,” Supervisor Paul Bergad...
At least 1 injured in 2-vehicle crash in New Kensington
At least one person was taken by helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital Friday afternoon after a two-vehicle crash in New Kensington. The crash happened around noon. A Westmoreland County 911 supervisor said emergency crews responded to the area of Industrial Boulevard and Eighth Street. A road closure was in effect...
Allegheny Township enacts information policy after alleged removal of newspaper article from bulletin board
Township Manager Daniel Miller is now the arbiter of information in Allegheny Township. Supervisors agreed to put Miller in charge of what goes on the township’s bulletin board, outdoor electronic sign, website and other means of communication as one official, Supervisor Mike Korns, awaits his day in court. Korns is...
Award keeps paddle fleet afloat at Steel City Rowing in Verona
A boat has one job: to float. Every kayak, canoe and paddleboard at Steel City Rowing in Verona handles that fundamental task just fine, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t sustained a few dings and tape jobs. Some of these vessels get daily use during the summer between the club’s...
