Kellen Stepler stories, Page 9

It was a children’s paradise Friday at Stewart Elementary School in Lower Burrell. You name it, the roughly 260 fourth and fifth grade students had it — from fidget toys, stickers and drawings to bracelets and keychains. As in the past five years, students created or brought in items to...

With surveying and soil testing underway at Springdale High School’s soccer field, Springdale Borough officials continue to look for money to improve Veterans Memorial Field. The school board in November hired FieldTurf USA, a Georgia-based firm, to complete surveying, infiltration and soils testing at the soccer field at a cost...

New Kensington soon will have a new place for wings. Mayor Tom Guzzo confirmed that a Wingstop will be coming to the city’s Riverview Plaza, 100 Tarentum Bridge Road. Signs for the business went up Wednesday. Wingstop officials did not respond to TribLive requests for comment. “We’re excited that Wingstop...

A nearly 100-year-old institution in Springdale is coming down. Crews with Kane Specialty Group of Pine will begin demolishing the former Colfax Upper Elementary School either Friday or Monday , said Jim Kane, company president. “We’re ready to go,” Kane said Thursday at the site. Crews began preparing the site...

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...

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...

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...

Amanda Shirk’s favorite part of the fourth annual Best of Blawnox cookie tour was visiting new borough businesses she didn’t otherwise know about. Complemented by cookies and camaraderie, it wasn’t too shabby of a Saturday afternoon. “I’ve enjoyed finding new business,” said Shirk of Cheswick, while visiting the newly opened...

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...

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...

Groceries and other essentials will be donated to the Bethany Church Food Pantry thanks to Chartiers Valley High School life skills students and local police working together. Life skills students partnered with local police for the annual Shop with a Cop event on Dec. 11 at the Raceway Plaza Shop...

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....

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...

One by one, first grade students at Acmetonia Elementary School grabbed their “passport” and “suitcase” — a manilla envelope and folders — as they prepared to globe trot to learn how Christmas and other holidays are celebrated around the world. While they won’t leave their school, they get a look...

Recently plagued by static business growth resulting in tax increases, the news of a data center coming to Upper Burrell is welcomed by Burrell School District officials. “The district faces increasing costs annually, so all property development and growth that results in increased tax revenue helps to offset these costs,”...

Springdale Township property owners will pay 46% more in real estate taxes next year under the township’s $1.14 million budget approved by commissioners. The 2025 spending plan, which increases the millage rate from 6.5 to 9.5 mills, passed 3-0 during a commissioners’ meeting, with Commissioners Tim Basilone, Rick Schwartz and...

When complete, a new data center facility in Upper Burrell will have the potential to hold a digital cloud like Meta or other technology household names, its developers said. TECfusions, a data center owner and operator, closed on property at a vacant portion of the Arconic property in Upper Burrell...

Logan Schutzman loves Dr. Seuss books. When he was younger, he was glued to the stories with whimsical rhymes and silly animations. So it made sense for the 11-year-old at Acmetonia Elementary School to spread that joy through a school project that donates blankets and book recordings to the Lower...

Engineers will study how officials can improve a crosswalk along Bower Hill Road in Bridgeville’s business district. Bridgeville Council in December authorized the borough’s engineer, John Heyl, to prepare a formal construction plan to improve the crosswalk across Bower Hill Road at Commercial Street, in front of Dari Delite. “This...

Northwestern Westmoreland County might be fairly new territory for state Sen. Joe Pittman, but the Senate majority leader from Indiana County said it was easy to recognize the area’s potential when he began representing it after Pennsylvania’s latest redistricting. “The opportunities here are for the taking,” said Pittman, R-White Township....

The Chartiers Valley High School choir and orchestra performed in the 56th annual Holiday Music Program on Dec. 5 at the the Allegheny County Courthouse. The choir is directed by Noah Woodward. The orchestra is led by Erika Pierce. “I love participating in this event each year. The students love...

Bon Air Elementary School can accommodate Burrell School District’s fourth grade students without any additional classrooms when Stewart Elementary closes next year. And, according to Superintendent Shannon Wagner’s proposal, all six kindergarten classes could be located on the basement floor of Bon Air, as well as a speech classroom, for...

Steve Fazekas and Eddie Misiewicz are self-proclaimed weather geeks and have the stories to prove it. In 1977, Misiewicz, then a volunteer firefighter in Dawson, Fayette County, went to Johnstown to respond to the devastation from a flood. He remembered picking bodies out of trees. Fazekas, of Winfield, recalled the...

Money, schedules, busing and the student experience are top of minds of Burrell’s Huston Middle School focus group as the school will shift to accommodating fifth graders next school year once Stewart Elementary closes. District administration has been working on schedules and building organizations for the review of the focus...

A family-friendly, free Christmas event is coming to Lower Burrell for the first time in decades. The city’s Parks and Recreation Commission is hosting Christmas in the Woods Saturday at K-9 Officer Derek Kotecki Park in Lower Burrell. “We wanted to create an enchanting, immersive experience in the woods that...