Valley News Dispatch category, Page 660
New Allusion microbrewery to open in Vandergrift early next year
It took years to perfect a much needed new brew for Vandergrift: Allusion Brewing Company has bought a building at 143 Grant Ave. with plans to open a microbrewery and tap room early next year. Allusion closed on the building last week, buying it for about $15,000 from the Vandergrift...
Fall comes early with Summit Hose festival in Tarentum
The first day of autumn isn’t until later in September, but kids are back in school, the Steelers are on the field again, and the days are getting shorter — close enough for Summit Hose to hold its annual Fall Festival in Tarentum. Until last year, the festival was held...
Residents use hands, feet to decorate new sign for Tarentum community garden
From making ears of corn with their hands and pea pods with their thumbs, members of Abundant Joy Fellowship and the Alle-Kiski community came together Sunday to make their mark on the new sign for Tarentum’s Greg Blythe Friendship Garden. The effort was led by Blythe’s niece, Emily Whitco, who...
First Highlands High School class gathering for 50th reunion this month
The first graduating class of Highlands High School has gathered for a reunion every five years. This year marks a milestone, as the members of that charter class from 1969 come together for their 50th reunion. “We have a lot of surprises planned,” said Debbie Cordera, a member of the...
Cats rescued from New Kensington home could be ready for adoption soonVideo
Most of the cats rescued from a New Kensington house last month where their owner died will be ready for adoption in a couple of weeks, a manager at Frankie’s Friends Cat Rescue said. New Kensington police are investigating what happened to the woman found dead Aug. 8 in her...
Wrestlers take down drainage problems at Lower Burrell’s Kotecki Park
Sometimes there are not-so-glamorous aspects of beauty that make ethereal places such as parks special. But mud and drainage issues can dash anyone’s dreams for a public space. Such was the case in planning for a dog park at Kotecki Park in Lower Burrell, where planning and the brawn of...
Man wounded in Brackenridge shooting
A man was shot and wounded in Brackenridge on Saturday afternoon, police said. The shooting was reported at 5:13 p.m. at a home on Third Avenue. A neighbor who lives two houses down and declined to give her name said she heard a gunshot, ran to her door and heard...
Saxonburg arts festival brings out tens of thousands to quaint townVideo
Spotty clouds and a few drops of rain did little to deter the crowds at the Saxonburg Festival of Arts on Saturday. The weekend event, in its 34th year, usually draws between 20,000 and 30,000 people over two days, according to Hannah Shannon, volunteer coordinator. The festival continues Sunday from...
Music of West Deer’s John Vento inspires play
The music inspired the play. Songs written by John Vento, a Penn Hills native who lives in West Deer, for the album “Love. Lust. And Other Wreckage,” became the foundation for a stage production written by Pittsburgh playwright Amy Hartman. Hartman’s previous plays have been nominated for the American Critic’s...
Burrell High graduates rode out Dorian, ‘made the best of it’
An Alle-Kiski Valley family that relocated to the North Carolina coast weathered Hurricane Dorian without much trouble. Erika Fitch said there wasn’t any damage to her parents’ home in Topsail, about 30 miles north of Wilmington. Fitch, from Upper Burrell, and her fiance, Patrick, from Lower Burrell, both 25, moved...
No injuries in Lower Burrell basement fire
Officials said no one was injured in a basement fire that broke out in a Lower Burrell home Friday afternoon. The fire at 155 Craigdell Road was reported around 12:30 p.m. Firefighters rescued two dogs and two exotic birds. Officials said no one was home when smoke filled the residence...
Arnold police find 2 bodies in Fifth Avenue home
Arnold police and Westmoreland County detectives are investigating the discovery Friday afternoon of two bodies inside a home on the city’s Fifth Avenue. The bodies of two men were found inside 1531 Fifth Ave. around 1 p.m., according to officials at the scene. Police did not immediately comment on the...
Hyde Park man sentenced to 8-20 years in sex assault of teenage girl
A Hyde Park man was sentenced Friday to 8 to 20 years in state prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. Larry Lee Redmond, 40, must register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. Redmond was convicted in June of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault,...
5 things to do in Westmoreland this weekend: Sept. 6-8Video
TGIF! You’ve felt it, too. It’s that slight chill in the morning, the rustle of the leaves … fall is in the air. The nights are cooler, but the days still spectacular. Soak it all in and get out and enjoy this weekend. Rockin` in the park Jocelyn and Chris...
Leechburg Area, teachers have tentative contract agreement
Leechburg Area School District and its teachers union have a new, tentative contract. Both the district and the union still have to formally approve the proposed five-year deal for the district’s 63 teachers, but Superintendent Tiffany Nix said negotiators for both sides OK’d it. If approved, the so-called “early bird”...
Question of turf at Allegheny Valley soccer field draws residents’ ire
Some Allegheny Valley School District residents say the district’s soccer field is in bad shape and should be converted to artificial turf. But they don’t want to do it just so a private soccer club can play there. The comments came during a special school board meeting Thursday afternoon, during...
3 men arrested in $20K drug bust in New Kensington
Three men are behind bars on drug charges after police said they found about $20,000 worth of ecstasy, cocaine and methamphetamine hidden inside a home in the Mt. Vernon section of New Kensington. Andre Butler, 34, and Shawn Taylor, 47, both of Pittsburgh, and Dennis Corbett, 33, of New Kensington,...
Police: DNA evidence helped ID man who tunneled into Leechburg bank
DNA evidence helped police identify a man who they said made off with nearly $1,400 last year after tunneling into a Leechburg bank, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday. Carlin Mitchell Quinn, 27, of West Leechburg, is accused of stealing $1,371 from First Commonwealth Bank at 152 Main St....
Police: Allegheny Valley officer makes arrest after landing in swimming pool
An Allegheny Valley Regional Police officer made a splash while chasing a suspected drunken driver last month, falling into a swimming pool before making the arrest, according to court records. Police said they pulled over a car driven by David G. Hoover, 34, of Springdale at Riddle Run and Freeport...
Freeport life-skills students to join cheerleaders for Friday’s football game
Fans at Freeport Area High School’s football game Friday might notice a few extra cheerleaders on the sidelines. Students from the school’s life-skills class have been invited to be cheerleaders for the night. One of the cheer captains, Megan Rossey, 17, wanted to include them in an activity they otherwise...
Harrison to start hydrant flushing Monday
The Harrison Township Water Authority announced that it will start flushing fire hydrants on Monday. The project, which involves flushing 280 hydrants, is expected to take about six weeks to finish, authority general Manager Charles Craig said. Craig said crews will start in the Natrona area and work their way...
Hospice workers grant Harrison man’s wish to visit his wife’s grave
When Carmen Amelio’s wife died in 2001, he wanted to give her the grave site he thought she deserved. So Amelio set out on a labor of love. He invested nearly $30,000 in his wife’s memory. He paid for a mausoleum so he could be buried with her. He installed...
Ten Commandments monument dedicated at new home in New KensingtonVideo
A Ten Commandments monument stood outside New Kensington’s Valley High School when Adele Jablonski was a student there decades ago. On Thursday, Jablonski, 64, joined students from Mary Queen of Apostles School, including her 9-year-old granddaughter, Liliana Hadley, at a ceremony dedicating and blessing the monument in front of its...
Forecast brighter for Touch A Truck II in North Apollo
Last year, rain dampened attendance at the Kiski Township Police Department’s Touch A Truck event. This year, the forecast is for much brighter skies for Touch A Truck II on Saturday. It will again be held at the River Road Auto Sales at 2118 River Ave. in North Apollo. Various...
Familiar faces will staff new First Commonwealth Bank in HarrisonVideo
First Commonwealth Bank will be opening its new office in Harrison on Monday. For customers unsure about the move 2 miles down Freeport Road, a familiar face will be there — Cheryl Rezak. Rezak, 59, has worked at the bank in Heights Plaza shopping center for nearly 40 years. She...
