Valley News Dispatch category, Page 495
California (Pa.) University dance ensemble more than takes the stage to help Tarentum’s HOPE CenterVideo
The dance is about more than choreographed steps on a stage. It’s a performance created to encourage people to take action. The Dance Ensemble from California University of Pennsylvania in Washington County creates dances that focus on the art of movement and advocacy for topics such as autism awareness, suicide...
The Stroller, April 24, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, events and fundraisers in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. TryLife Center to sponsor Walking for Babies fundraiser The annual Walking for Babies event that benefits the TryLife Center in Lower Burrell will be...
Kiski Area hires firm to conduct search for new superintendent
Editor’s note: The original version of this story attributed board member Ron Coleman to a different person. A Kiski Area School Board member who opposed hiring a search agency to help the district find a new superintendent said he thinks the district’s top administrative job should go to an internal...
Sprankle’s Community Market event raised $17,700 for Salvation Army
A 16-hour fundraiser hosted by Sprankle’s Neighborhood Markets last week raised $17,700 for Salvation Army Food Pantries of Leechburg, Kittanning and Saxonburg. “It was unbelievable,” said Ryan Sprankle, owner of the Kittanning store and one of the event’s organizers and hosts. During the Campout for Community fundraiser last Friday, 10%...
During drug bust, suspect rams into task force car in Lower Burrell, police say
A Pittsburgh man is facing drug delivery and aggravated assault charges after almost backing his car into a police officer during a drug bust Tuesday in Lower Burrell. Corey Steven Prunty, 31, of Pittsburgh, is charged with aggravated assault, criminal use of a communication facility (a cell phone), and a...
TV Talk: Natrona Heights woman appears on ‘Let’s Make a Deal’
Sharon Cushey of Natrona Heights appeared on the April 23 edition of CBS’s “Let’s Make a Deal,” winning $800 and a designer purse valued at $1,700, but it was an eight-month journey from when she applied. During the pandemic, “Let’s Make a Deal” has welcomed a mix of an in-studio...
Dr. William Balash’s half-century of medicine reflected deep concern for patients
A former colleague of Dr. William Balash will never forget the snowy night in January several years ago when he received a phone call at 2 a.m. One of Balash’s patients was in the intensive care unit of Allegheny Valley Hospital. He wasn’t doing well. “Dr. Balash cared about his...
UPMC St. Margaret names East Deer resident Marianna Stoneburner as Chief Nursing Officer
East Deer resident Marianna Stoneburner is the new Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) at UPMC St. Margaret, the same hospital where she spent more than a decade working in the intensive care unit. Stoneburner returns to St. Margaret after serving the past six years as CNO at UPMC Horizon in Mercer...
Former Vandergrift resident Tim Geary vows to return to Appalachian TrailVideo
An unexpected injury while hiking has temporarily derailed a former longtime Vandergrift resident from walking the Appalachian Trail. Tim Geary, 77, formerly of Vandergrift and now of Aspinwall, returned home this week from his solo hike on the 2,200-mile trail that he began March 17. He said his 30-pound backpack...
AHN, UPMC change dates for closing, opening New Kensington facilities
Allegheny Health Network and UPMC have each updated plans for their facilities in New Kensington. AHN is delaying closing its outpatient center in the former Citizens General Hospital, spokeswoman JoAnne Clobus said Friday. The center, offering laboratory, medical imaging and cardiology services, was originally slated to close on May 11....
Kiski Area makes online student registration permanent, kindergarten open house sign-up scrapped
Kiski Area School District is offering an easier option for registering new students. Online student registration was added last month to the district website in response to covid-19 restrictions. That allows a parent or guardian the option of registering a student digitally instead of requiring a traditional in-person campus visit....
The Stroller, April 23, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, events and fundraisers in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Auditions set for July production of ‘The Addams Family’ musical Armstrong Community Theater will conduct auditions for the upcoming production of the musical, “The...
United Steelworkers reject ATI’s ultimatum, accuse metals company of bullying striking employees
United Steelworkers negotiators on Thursday rejected Allegheny Technologies Inc.’s ultimatum to compel striking employees to accept the metals company’s contract proposal within the next four days or face a costlier alternative. “They are again escalating their bully tactics and ignoring the employees, their most valuable asset,” the United Steelworkers union’s...
New Kensington, Arnold get $575K for transportation projects
New Kensington will have to scale back plans for transportation projects in the city’s downtown after getting a fraction of the money it requested from the state, a city official said Thursday. The Commonwealth Financing Authority announced Wednesday that New Kensington will receive $375,000. The authority approved more than $48...
ScareHouse opens for special event this weekend at Pittsburgh Mills
Call it an early Halloween present. Anyone who missed out on their fill of Halloween frights at the ScareHouse at the Pittsburgh Mills mall last fall will have an opportunity to make up for it this weekend. The ScareHouse said it is holding an encore presentation of its Halloween experience...
New Jersey company to expand its presence at Westmoreland business park
Directors for the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. have approved an option agreement for a lot at the Westmoreland Business & Research Park that will add a new manufacturing facility and office building, along with potentially 50 new jobs. The agreement gives WAB Associates six months to finalize the $218,050...
Signature Dishes: Linguine Pescatore at Villa Ballanca in Lower Burrell
This is part of an ongoing series highlighting Signature Dishes at locally owned restaurants in the region. See Trib Total Media’s new online directory of restaurants, Dine Local, at dinelocal.triblive.com. A combination of four different fish is incorporated into a single, housemade seafood linguine dish at Villa Ballanca in Lower...
Leechburg students to perform ‘Lucky Stiff’ this weekend
Leechburg Area School District’s spring musical, the farce comedy “Lucky Stiff,” opens Friday for a three-day run in front of limited audiences. Each of the roughly 35 cast and crew members will receive vouchers for two tickets, but tickets won’t be on sale to the public. Alyssa Bruno Walls, drama...
The Stroller, April 22, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, events and fundraisers in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Leechburg Hall of Fame induction slated The 17th annual Leechburg Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony will be May 16 at Gilpin Fire...
Vandergrift’s AJ’s Restaurant and Lounge on the market
A Vandergrift eatery in a historic building is on the market. AJ’s Restaurant and Lounge at 123 Washington Ave. is listed for $495,900 with Berkshire Hathaway. The asking price includes a Pennsylvania state liquor license. Proprietors Andrew and JoAnn Batiz, both 66, made the decision to buy a restaurant on...
Kiski Area Upper Elementary students have a new club, with one requirement: Be kindVideo
There’s a new club for students at Kiski Area Upper Elementary on a mission to rule the school with kindness. The Kiski Kindness Club hosted its inaugural Kindness Day on campus Tuesday. Singing their newly penned song, The Kiski Kindness Club, in the hallway, about 20 giggling girls decked out...
Burrell teachers get 5-year contract with annual raises of nearly 3%
Burrell School Board on Tuesday ratified a five-year contract with the district’s teachers union, the Burrell Education Association, agreeing to an average annual wage increase of almost 3%. Burrell teachers earn an average of $72,635, according to the state Department of Education. The collective bargaining agreement covers 136 employees and...
State greenlights $48 million in transportation infrastructure projects
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority on Wednesday approved more than $48 million for 116 new multi-modal transportation infrastructure projects in 45 counties, including a dozen in Allegheny, Armstrong and Westmoreland counties. The authority approved two Alle-Kiski Valley projects, including a $200,000 Rankin Street revitalization project in Arnold and $375,000 for...
Shady Side Academy to host appointment-only vaccine clinic
Shady Side Academy is partnering with Rite Aid to offer a free, appointment-only coronavirus vaccine clinic Saturday on its Fox Chapel campus. The clinic is open to the public. Anyone 16 years or older may register online here. The deadline to register is noon Thursday. “We’re just trying to do...
The Stroller, April 21, 2021: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your club meetings, events and fundraisers in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Cleanup planned Saturday by students Seniors from the New Kensington-Arnold School District will conduct a community cleanup from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday in...
