Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 62

With record-breaking rain in 2018, the Army Corps of Engineers claimed its dams, reservoirs and other projects prevented $1.1 billion in flood damage in Upper Ohio River Basin. The $1.1 billion in damage prevented substantially exceeded the Pittsburgh District’s 10-year average of $310.3 million a year, according to data released...

Hate to throw those used, household batteries in the trash? The Frick Environmental Center offers free household alkaline battery recycling and is one of the few such recycling sites in Pittsburgh. Batteries can be dropped in the center’s blue recycling tube just inside the main entrance near the front desk....

The bald eagles in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhoods became “snowbirds” Wednesday morning. Not missing a beat, even when covered in the snow, the birds continued to incubate their three eggs, with the female covered in snow early in the morning. The mother eagle was mostly buried in snow, but she stood...

The Pittsburgh Hays eagles now have three eggs. The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and CSE of Murrysville confirmed the egg was visible Monday around 5:15 p.m. The first egg was laid Feb. 12 and the second on Friday. After 35 days of incubation, the eggs are expected to hatch...

The dilapidated Belvedere Hotel along Route 66 in Oklahoma Borough could collapse anytime, spilling debris onto the road and perhaps beyond, local officials are warning. The front wall of the Swiss chalet-inspired, four-story hotel is leaning toward Route 66, Orr Avenue and active Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, according to Lee...

The bald eagles in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood laid their second egg of the season at their nest Friday. The Hays eagles, in their seventh season, generally lay two to three eggs in their nest overlooking the Monongahela River and the Pittsburgh skyline. The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, which operates...

Gilpin resident Jean Stull has thrown her hat into the ring for Armstrong County treasurer. Stull, a Democrat, announced she will run in the primary election on May 21 for the four-year position. Would-be candidates cannot start collecting signatures on their nomination petitions until Tuesday, Feb. 19, according to Jennifer...

The family and personal care home of a missing elderly man have more than doubled a reward, now $27,000, for information leading to his whereabouts. Kenneth “Kenny” Himes, 70, of Pittsburgh, who is autistic and has early-onset dementia, was last seen at his brother’s home along Cadogan-Slate Lick Road in...

Lower Burrell is seeking applications for the newly created position of director of public works and parks. Mayor Richard Callender said a consultant recommended the new position after evaluating the city’s public works department. “The recommendation was that the foreman was overloaded with too much responsibility and separate positions should...

The Pittsburgh Hays bald eagles have delivered for the seventh year, laying their first egg of the season Tuesday. The egg first was spotted via a live webcam at about 6:45 p.m., according to a release from the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. The Hays birds are the first pair...

The ice jams have cleared on the Allegheny River in Armstrong County, however, rain has triggered flood warnings and watches in the region. The Army Corps of Engineers reported Monday that ice jam on the Allegheny River in the upper reaches of Armstrong County late last week has melted. The...

The new Dollar General in Vandergrift, located in the former Sprankle’s building, opened this weekend with a grand reopening set for Saturday. Sprankle’s, with stores in Leechburg and Kittanning, sold their Vandergrift site to Dollar General last year after they learned the national low-priced market was interested in locating there....

Watching his father, former New Kensington Councilman John W. Regoli Jr., fight for 14 months and then lose his life at the age of 54 to brain cancer “still hurts a lot,” said Nico Regoli, a Penn State New Kensington student. But Regoli has taken his grief and applied it...

A clogged sewage pipe in the McMurtry Towers in Vandergrift forced one resident out of her apartment and a cleanup of raw sewage, some of which was reported in the lobby of the Westmoreland County-owned high rise. Late Friday evening, McMurtry Towers resident Tammy Trentin, 45, heard gurgling coming from...

A horror film that is shooting a scene in Leechburg and featuring singer Mia Zanotti is seeking extras to play bar patrons. The scene is slated to be shot sometime in April. The website for the movie, “Occurrence at Mills Creek,” describes the film’s premise as: “Cassandra awakens to a...

Allegheny County Parks announced public viewing areas, restrictions and a $1,500 fine for disturbing a pair of bald eagles that recently built a nest on a wooded hillside near the park’s ice skating rink. The North Park nest is among only a handful of bald eagle nests in heavily populated...

What can be better than a hike with historical reenactors? One with cherry pie. A slice of pie will be the reward for walkers and visitors to a “Cherry Pie Hike” and the “Washington’s Trail Hike” on Feb. 23 for a history tour commemorating George Washington’s Birthday at Jennings Environmental...

Allowing hunting on Sundays garnered some support in the past before fizzling and dying in the state Legislature. With a Senate committee’s recent passage of another Sunday hunting bill, the battle is on again, pitting hunting groups against farmers and even other outdoors enthusiasts. The state Senate Game and Fisheries...

An almost 9-mile-long ice jam in Armstrong County is slowly breaking up between the Mosgrove and Rimer locks and dams on the Allegheny River. Flooding is a threat in areas with tributaries north of Kittanning in the Allegheny River area, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the...

Recent warm temperatures, no matter how pleasant and notwithstanding the prognostications of a groundhog, aren’t signs of spring. But the signs already are here. They’re just a little more subtle. In his book, “Signs of Spring,” Bill Hamilton of Kiski Township, a retired biology professor from Penn State New Kensington...

The State Senate Game and Fisheries Committee Tuesday approved legislation for the Pennsylvania Game Commission to allow Sunday hunting. The bill still has to go to the Senate floor for a vote and then to the state House for approval before being sent to Gov. Tom Wolf. Efforts over the...

For the first time in 26 years, Stephen Yakopec Jr. won’t be the solicitor for Lower Burrell. City council on Monday voted 4-1 not to renew the city’s contract with Yakopec, according to Mayor Richard Callender. “I’ve been friends with Steve for years,” said Callender, who voted against renewing Yakopec’s...

There are few leads after a $12,000 reward was offered two weeks ago for information leading to the whereabouts of a missing elderly man last seen at a family member’s house in South Buffalo Township. Kenneth Himes, 70, of Pittsburgh, who is autistic and has early-onset dementia, was last seen...

Runners and walkers packed the Three Rivers Heritage Trail in Pittsburgh and disc golfers at Deer Lakes Parks were ready to break out their shorts Sunday. Even morning temperatures of 36 degrees were warm enough for Tom Gillespie and Kristin Agona to enjoy their run through downtown Greensburg. “This is...

A small party Friday night devolved into an argument early Saturday that ended with two men shot dead inside an Apollo home, police said Sunday. David Lee, 33, allegedly shot and killed David Gaydos, 25, both of Apollo, during an argument inside Lee’s home early Saturday, according to the Armstrong...