Valley News Dispatch category, Page 179
Freeport Area must decide if renovation or relocation works for aging high school
Freeport Area School District officials agree that the district’s aging high school, at a minimum, needs renovations. The challenge ahead is figuring out how far the district can afford to go. The school board recently released the results of a feasibility study by HHSDR Architects and Engineers offering ways to...
Leechburg police officer is issued citations stemming from alleged traffic incident
A Leechburg police officer has been issued two citations stemming from a traffic incident in Parks Township. Clarence Lee Schumaker was charged April 9 by state police for careless driving, obedience to a traffic control device warning of hazardous conditions and disorderly conduct. According to Leechburg police Chief Jason Schaeffer,...
New Kensington preparing for city’s 4th business-boosting Fridays on Fifth season
No matter how much baklava Amy Johnson makes, it’s never enough for some warm-weather Fridays in New Kensington. Johnson opened her specialty bakery, Sweet Tillies, in December 2020. It has been open for each of the city’s annual Fridays on Fifth events, which began in 2021 and launches its fourth...
Springdale to undergo water rate study
Springdale Council is taking a closer look at its water rates in the wake of the borough increasing rates by $1.25 per 1,000 gallons for all customers in this year’s budget. Council on Tuesday authorized a study into the rates at a cost not to exceed $18,500. Valuation and Rate,...
Mock crash teaches Valley High students dangers of distracted driving
A mock crash Friday morning outside Valley High School in New Kensington was meant to teach students about the dangers of distracted driving. The district staged the crash for juniors and seniors with New Kensington police and several emergency service providers. A Life Flight helicopter was among the emergency vehicles...
Springdale students capture 1st place, valuable skills in stock market game
Before entering Nick Spehar’s economics class at Springdale High School, Casey Sprinkle wasn’t sure what the difference was between the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Now, at the end of the year, he and two of his peers, Shane Parsons Jr. and Owen Scheuring, are budding stock market experts....
The Stroller, April 19, 2024: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Local food shuttle expands hours, service areas The Fresh Food Shuttle...
Plum mobile home park owner argues expansion denial deprives residents of flood protection
Plum’s rejection of a mobile home park’s expansion plan, in part because of flooding concerns, denies the people already living there protection from flooding that the expansion would provide, the owner argues in court filings. Following a hearing last September, Plum’s zoning hearing board in November rejected a proposal to...
O’Hara officials warn residents and others about potential scam calls and emails
O’Hara officials want to remind residents to be extra cautious of calls or emails seeking personal information in order to avoid possible scams. Police Superintendent Jay Davis said his department fields at a few calls a week from residents concerned about people claiming to be from credit card companies, banks...
Preteen girl testifies during preliminary hearing for New Kensington man accused of raping her
A New Kensington man will remain in jail as he awaits trial on charges of sexually assaulting and raping a preteen girl two years ago. District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. held for trial Thomas Lee Burruss, 48, after a preliminary hearing Thursday that featured the testimony of the alleged...
Kiski Area School District hires familiar face as new superintendent
Kiski Area’s school directors didn’t look far to find their choice as the best qualified person to be superintendent. That turned out to be Assistant Superintendent Jason Lohr, whom they unanimously voted to succeed Misty Slavic. Board President Todd Sterlitz said after the news about Slavic’s sudden resignation broke in...
Plum hires Ashley DeVito as middle school assistant principal
The Plum School Board hired a new assistant principal for the district’s middle school. Ashley DeVito is coming to Plum from Propel Braddock Hills High School, where she was an assistant principal. DeVito, 31, of Penn Hills will start at Plum upon release from her position there. Her salary was...
Washington & Jefferson freshman Grace Vensel provides personal hygiene stations at Highlands
Highlands parent Liz Myers was beside herself when she learned that the efforts of an out-of-town teen will help protect the privacy of her teenage daughter at the middle school. Washington & Jefferson freshman Grace Vensel will provide Menstruation Stations at the district’s middle and high schools through her nonprofit...
The Stroller, April 18, 2024: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Recycling event to celebrate Earth Day An Earth Day celebration will...
Westmoreland County OKs $244K for demolition projects in Arnold, Jeannette, Derry, Monessen
Westmoreland County is taking bites out of blight in five communities. The county commissioners this month approved spending up to $244,000 from Westmoreland’s Act 152 Demolition Fund to raze rundown buildings on four properties in Arnold, three in Jeannette, two in Derry Township and one each in Derry Borough and...
Plum School Board advances budget, tax hike with board member absent
The Plum School District’s proposed $74.3 million budget for next school year carrying a 6.2% property tax increase is a step closer to approval. The school board voted 8-0 Tuesday to approve the district’s proposed budget for 2024-25. Board member Ronald Sakolsky was present at the start of the meeting,...
Armstrong County group plans lobbying trip to push for Allegheny River lock funding
As the Allegheny River Development Corp. prepares to head to the nation’s capital to lobby lawmakers for money to keep locks open along the river, they’re looking for as much support as they can get. The ARDC, a grassroots organization based in Armstrong County, works with the Army Corps of...
Annual Spin Your Wheels fundraiser moves to new location with same charitable goal
Jennifer Evashavik hopes more people answer the call of the late Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and Queen front man Freddie Mercury: “Get on your bikes and ride.” The ninth annual Spin Your Wheels fundraiser is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 27 at the Lauri Ann...
Artists needed for 240-square-foot community mural project in Sharpsburg
Artists are being sought for a major mural project in Sharpsburg. Artspiraton, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting Sharpsburg, Etna and Millvale through the arts, has put out a request for qualifications for a 240-square-foot art piece on the side of Conicella Family Dentistry, 701 Main St. The project is through...
Country star Cole Swindell to headline Pittsburgh Brewing Co.’s summer concert series
“You Should Be Here” is what the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. might be saying to country music fans as it announces its third concert for the summer. Country music star Cole Swindell will take the stage Sept. 1 at the brewery’s amphitheater in the Creighton neighborhood of East Deer. Brewery spokeswoman...
Lower Burrell, Pittsburgh men charged in state probe of child sex abuse among Jehovah’s Witnesses
Two Western Pennsylvania men are the latest accused of raping or sexually abusing girls stemming from a statewide grand jury investigation of child sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses community. Ronald W. Mangone, 69, of Lower Burrell and Roger E. Zellars, 68, of Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood are separately accused of...
Greensburg man dies in crash with tractor-trailer in Washington Township
A Greensburg man was killed in a two-vehicle crash Wednesday morning along Greensburg Road (Route 366) in Washington Township. Andrew Allen Malarkey, 37, was driving a Kia Forte eastbound when his car crossed the center line and collided with a tractor-trailer rig, according to the Westmorland County Coroner’s Office. He...
New Kensington woman, 95, is oldest descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings
April 13 was the 281st anniversary of the birth of Mary Lee Brady-Atkins’ great-great-great-grandfather. The same could be said for lots of people, but Brady-Atkins’ ancestor was Thomas Jefferson. Yes, that Thomas Jefferson — third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence. It’s quite the...
The Stroller, April 17, 2024: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Brooms available for spring cleaning Tarentum Area Lions Club has a...
Living, domino donors possibilities for Indiana Township boy in need of 2nd liver transplant
Lucas Goeller is getting another shot. The 11-year-old from Indiana Township needs a new liver because the transplanted liver he received nine years ago is failing. Normally, that could mean a lengthy wait on the donation list before a suitable organ is found. Lucas already is on that list. But...
