Western PA Local News category, Page 2100
Burrell School District working on plan to help struggling students
Editor’s note: The original version of this story attributed school board President Pam Key’s remarks to a different school director. Burrell School District is working on a plan to help students in academic trouble, including those having problems with virtual learning. Superintendent Shannon Wagner told the school board Tuesday about...
Man, boy injured in shooting in Stowe Township
A man and a boy were shot Friday afternoon in Stowe Township, according to police. First responders were called to the 800 block of Eighth Street around 3:15 p.m. and found the man shot in the leg and the juvenile with a minor arm injury, the result of an apparent...
Springdale father and son safe, sheltered after fire damages home
Kendall Collier was at work when he received an emergency call from his father Friday afternoon. “ ’Our house is on fire. Come home quick’ were his exact words,” Collier said, standing outside their three-story Springdale home. Firefighters from multiple departments responded to the two-alarm blaze around 2:30 p.m. along...
Butler County man charged with homicide, assault in death of girlfriend’s unborn infant
Police say a Butler County man became so enraged when his pregnant girlfriend could not find him a cigarette that he choked and beat the woman, causing her to miscarry and ultimately killing the child. Damien Large, 19, was charged earlier this week with the Christmas Day assault on the...
Penguins’ Lower Hill redevelopment minority workforce plan approved
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ plan to create more jobs for minorities and women as part of the Lower Hill redevelopment project finally appears to be a reality. The Penguins and their development partner Buccini Pollin on Thursday announced their minority and women business enterprise participation plan was unanimously approved by the...
Small pharmacies ‘beyond frustrated’ as Pennsylvania locks them out of vaccine process
As Pennsylvania officials work to roll back the number of covid-19 vaccine providers in an effort to streamline the process, several businesses across the region have learned they are slated to no longer receive first doses. Efforts to curtail the number of providers began in February, when Acting Secretary of...
No injuries in Greensburg apartment fire on Grant StreetVideo
Multiple fire departments from central Westmoreland County responded to a fire that damaged four apartments Friday afternoon in Greensburg, according to 911 dispatchers. “We had a lot of damage,” Greensburg Fire Chief Tom Bell said. “The homeowners are both alive and we got two cats out as well.” The call...
Pittsburgh Zoo begins accreditation process, will be back in line with city lease
The Pittsburgh Zoo is working toward accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a process that will bring it back in line with the terms of its lease agreement with the city of Pittsburgh, according to a letter sent Friday to Mayor Bill Peduto. It came to light last...
Gilpin Supervisor Susan Brown was ‘able to turn any situation to good’
Gilpin Supervisor Susan Brown died unexpectedly at home Wednesday morning at age 61. Family members and friends remembered her for her steadfast dedication to the community, her church and her career. “I’m overwhelmed with how many people truly cared for Sue,” said her mother, Shirley Camp. “I never realized how...
12 Westmoreland polling places moving, including longtime one in Wyano home
Editor’s note: This story was amended March 20, 2021 to reflect the correct municipality where the one remaining residential polling place is located. Twelve polling places are being moved to new locations in Westmoreland County for the May primary, including one that has been in a Wyano home since the...
Western Pa. districts welcome new student social distancing guidelines
News of updated student social distancing guidelines was met with enthusiasm Friday at Burrell School District, where Superintendent Shannon Wagner said about 70% of students have chosen in-person learning throughout the school year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines will allow schools to relax social distancing measures in...
Ross commissioner acknowledges rift in police department, says effort underway to address problems
A Ross commissioner is calling for the township’s rank-and-file police officers and the police department’s administration to call a truce and start repairing their fractured relationship. A series of incidents during the past several years — and the way they were handled by the department — have created deep animosity...
Ruffs Dale bassoonist, 17, earns Friday Evening Music Club’s Gardner Scholarship
Until Walter Vinoski was 11, he couldn’t have told you what a bassoon even was. Now the 17-year-old Yough senior is the Friday Evening Music Club’s 2021 Mildred Gardner Scholarship Competition winner, earning $1,000 through this year’s virtual competition. He is a member of the Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra and...
Westmoreland discount tire recycling event meant to help curb West Nile virus
Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling is teaming with the Westmoreland Conservation District’s West Nile virus program to offer a discount on tire recycling. The program is meant to help clear away scrap tires before they collect water and become a potential warm-weather breeding ground for mosquitoes that can transmit the virus....
Ex-Greensburg attorney disbarred by Pennsylvania Supreme Court
A Greensburg attorney who admitted in 2019 to stealing nearly $50,000 from a fraternal organization has been disbarred by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The state’s highest court this week issued a two-sentence order barring Donald Blake Moreman, 60, who lives in Bullskin, Fayette County, from practicing law in the state....
McKees Rocks business owners charged with storming Capitol, stealing police gear
A couple who owns a McKees Rocks contracting company was arrested on Friday with rioting in the U.S. Capitol in January — including kicking a door and stealing protective masks from a police bag. Debra Maimone, 27, and Philip Vogel II, 33, who operate Vera General Contracting and Cleaning Services,...
More colleges signal fall reopening as stimulus begins to flow
Two more Pittsburgh-based universities — Carlow and Point Park — plan to return to full in-person operations this fall. Friday’s announcements, the most recent in a series at local universities, came as the U.S. Department of Education announced an expanded list of areas new federal stimulus money can underwrite. Those...
2 people escape Southwest Greensburg house fire
Two Southwest Greensburg residents escaped injury early Friday after a smoke detector alerted them to a fire in a bedroom and they fled their house, according to firefighters. Multiple area departments responded to the fire on the 400 block of Oakland Avenue at 3:35 a.m., according to Southwest Greensburg fire...
New Penn Hills business suffers setback after early morning fire
A new business setting up shop in a space between Aldi and the movie theater in the Penn Hills Shopping Center had a setback Friday morning when the building’s roof caught fire. Penn Hills Fire Marshal Chuck Miller said he suspects an electric sign belonging to Joy Joy Beauty and...
Shaler detective urged wife charged in Capitol riot not to go to Washington, chief says
Mike Heinl repeatedly asked his wife not to go to Washington, D.C., in early January, according to his boss. The Shaler police detective — who is attached to the FBI Pittsburgh Violent Crimes Task Force — didn’t condone Jennifer Marie Heinl’s participation in the events at the Capitol, Shaler police...
Sewickley Parking Authority offers free parking on upcoming holidays
The Sewickley Parking Authority will suspend parking fees in the borough for upcoming holiday weekends. The board unanimously passed the offering of free parking Memorial Day weekend. The suspension will be in effect from 1 p.m. May 28 through May 31, with regular parking fees resuming Tuesday. The board also...
Leet man co-authors book about Anne Warburton, UK’s first female ambassador
When siblings Richard and Elizabeth Warburton attended their aunt’s funeral in 2015, they had an idea to write a book chronicling their beloved relative’s life as the UK’s first female ambassador. Six years and 288 pages later, “Women of the Foreign Office” published by England’s History Press on March 1...
Pittsburgh police looking for missing woman with dementia
Pittsburgh police are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing senior citizen. According to police, Maxine Gillis, 79, suffers from dementia. She was dropped off at a family member’s home by taxi around 1 a.m. Friday but did not show up in the 2100 block of Park Hill...
Fawn supervisor not eligible for reelection because he lives in Florida, objection claims
A Fawn supervisor seeking reelection should be removed from the Democratic primary ballot in May because he does not live in the township, an objection to his nominating petition claims. The objection filed by resident Tracy Volk, a registered Democrat, claims Supervisor David A. Norris, 79, has lived in DeLand,...
Community cleanup planned in New Kensington
It’s been nearly a year since a tornado tore through New Kensington, and Kim Louis is still finding bits of roofing insulation stuck in weeds when she goes out for walks. “It’s just gross,” she said. So when Louis, director of Sonward Youth Programs, saw a Girl Scout troop looking...
