Valley News Dispatch category, Page 662
Leechburg Public Library reopening on Tuesday
Leechburg Public Library is scheduled to reopen Tuesday inside Leechburg Junior/Senior High School, just in time to celebrate the library’s 93rd birthday, the new library board said. The library abruptly closed May 30. Since then, the new board of directors was formed and numerous volunteers stepped up to keep the...
Black Hawk helicopter to be part of American Heroes Day in Kiski Township
After a three-year hiatus, the Apollo Salute to the Armed Forces Committee will bring back American Heroes Day this month. Highlighting the celebrations at Kiski Township Community Field will be the landing of a military Black Hawk helicopter as the event gets under way at 11 a.m. Emergency vehicles from...
West Leechburg boy uses lemonade stand to raise $1,300 for Alzheimer’s researchVideo
Brody Toy of West Leechburg is honoring his late great-grandfather one glass at a time. Brody, 7, sells lemonade from Brody’s Lemonade Stand annually, donating 100% of the money raised to Alzheimer’s disease research and in remembrance of his great-granddad, Joseph Kish. Kish of Gilpin suffered from Alzheimer’s and died...
Tarentum man accused of fatally stabbing Ninth Avenue woman in jealous rage
Friends and neighbors of Tarentum homicide victim Susan E. Jeffries on Saturday afternoon recalled her as kind and helpful, and they were stunned to learn she was stabbed to death in her East Ninth Avenue apartment. “She was a nice person,” longtime friend John Phillips said. “I would’ve never thought...
Book tells about Tarentum native’s Vietnam War rescue mission
Allen Ellis Weseleskey says he would do it all over again. In the same way. Facing the same imminent danger. Weseleskey, who was born in Tarentum, lived in Springdale and currently resides in Virginia Beach, Va., is a retired Navy captain. On March 9, 1968, in Vietnam, he rescued a...
Springdale Cub Scouts pack hurricane cleanup kits as Dorian hurls toward Florida
Nine-year-old Gabriel Wallace plopped a hard plastic scrub brush into a household bucket in the basement of Springdale United Presbyterian Church, then paused to adjust his black-rimmed glasses and pull out a pen and checklist. One bottle of laundry detergent, check. Five sponges, check. Thirty-six to 50 clothespins, check. Wallace...
Pennsylvania law doesn’t prohibit children on ATVs
It’s not against the law for children to ride on or drive all-terrain vehicles in Pennsylvania, but there are certain rules they must follow depending on their age and where they’re riding them, according to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “There are guidelines for operating ATVs with...
Company battling for Tarentum billboard pursuing signs in Harrison, too
A company fighting in court to put billboards in Tarentum now wants to place two in Harrison. Oliver Development wants to put two signs atop a pole on property along Alter Road, next to Route 28, according to documents the company has filed with the township. The vacant land is...
Emergency repair to restrict East 10th Avenue traffic in Tarentum
Traffic is expected to be restricted on East 10th Avenue in Tarentum for an emergency repair on Tuesday, according to the borough. Traffic is scheduled to be reduced to one lane between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on East 10th near Ormond Street, borough Manager Michael Nestico said. The borough’s...
Vandergrift children’s garden grows on without stolen pumpkins
Vandergrift has its own Great Pumpkin Caper. About two weeks ago, pumpkins planted by children in the borough’s Franklin Park started to vanish. At least 10 have gone missing since, likely taken in broad daylight because the park is locked at night. “They weren’t even orange,” said Chloe Kruse, a...
5 things to do in Westmoreland this weekend: Aug. 30-Sept. 2Video
TGIF! It’s the kickoff to Labor Day weekend, the last official hurrah of summer. Though it’s usually a time to pack in a picnic, backyard barbecue, road trip or other outdoor fun, that’s not all there is to do around these parts. SHEL game Indie-folk band SHEL will wrap up...
Big Kmart in Allegheny Township will close before Christmas
The only remaining Kmart in the Alle-Kiski Valley is closing. The Big Kmart located in Hyde Park Shopping Center in Allegheny Township will close before Christmas, according to a statement provided by Larry Costello, public relations director for Chicago- based Transformco, which is representing Kmart. “After careful review, we have...
Avonmore family charged with hiding fugitive from police
Two men and their mother are facing charges of trying to hide a fugitive. Jessica Sue Thorpe, 39, Luke Robert Thorpe, 18, and Leroy William Thorpe, 22, all of Maple Terrace Lane, Avonmore, are accused of hindering the apprehension of Donald Thomas Phillips, 40, of Avonmore. A police affidavit states...
Report: 21% of Pennsylvania’s boating fatalities linked to alcohol or drugs
A new Coast Guard report shows that drugs or alcohol played a role in more than 100 of the 633 boating fatalities across the country last year. The statistics were similar in Pennsylvania, with three of the 14 boating-related fatalities in 2018 attributed to alcohol or drug impairment. The Pennsylvania...
2 accused of selling drugs near children in Vandergrift house
An early morning raid in Vandergrift resulted in the arrest of two men on drug and child endangerment charges. Lonnell Alexander Moore, 29, and Carlos Cordoba, 22, both of Sherman Avenue, were arrested Wednesday. Police said they found four grams of cocaine and about a half-pound of marijuana inside the...
Alle-Kiski Valley host families sought for 8 exchange students
Host families are needed for foreign exchange students for this school year. According to Kathy Harenski, the AFS liaison coordinator for Western Pennsylvania, the eight students needing families to stay with come from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Japan and China. They are between 15 and 17 years old. They can...
O’Hara man dies after bike struck by vans on Freeport Road in Harmar
An O’Hara man died Thursday morning after he was struck by two vans while riding his bike along Freeport Road in Harmar, officials said. Thomas Haykin, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:23 a.m. shortly after the incident, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Haykin was riding his bike in...
Philip Pelusi latest business to exit from Frazer’s Pittsburgh Mills mall
Another business is leaving the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. Philip Pelusi, an upscale Pittsburgh-based hair salon with 11 locations throughout the region, opened at the Mills location in 2005, coinciding with the mall’s grand opening. “We have a great team of designers that work at our Mills location,” Philip...
Girl dies after ATV crash while riding with dad, sister in Fox Chapel yard
A 5-year-old Fox Chapel girl died Thursday evening when the all-terrain vehicle on which she was riding with her father and sister crashed, according to police. The crash occurred near Guyasuta and Longfellow roads shortly before 7:30 p.m. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the girl as Annabel Whittingham....
Allegheny County Police warn of phone scams
Allegheny County Police want to warn people about a phone scam soliciting money with threats of arrest. County Inspector Andrew Schurman said multiple residents have reported receiving such calls the past few days. “In one reported instance the caller requested money from the recipient for prepaid calling cards,” Schurman said....
Animal Protectors’ new facility in New Kensington nears completion
The cement already is poured for the “catio” and framing installed for the addition of dog kennels at a former school in New Kensington’s Parnassus neighborhood that will soon be an animal shelter. Officials from Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley say the finish line is in sight for the New...
Skip Beal, retired VND and Trib newsman and voice of ‘The Stroller,’ dies at 81
Skip Beal was a passionate newsman who knew the Alle-Kiski Valley inside and out and wasn’t afraid to spark a little outrage when he wrote The Stroller column in the Valley News Dispatch. “He loved his job, there’s no doubt about it,” said his oldest son, Benjamin Beal III of...
Leechburg man accused of inappropriately touching girl
A 31-year-old Leechburg man is charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. Mark Faiola was being held in the Armstrong County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Sept. 4. According to a criminal complaint, Faiola is accused of touching the girl inappropriately on June...
Harrison’s Kaley Bastine spreading police fundraising efforts to New Kensington
A Harrison girl is branching out in her efforts to support police — even crossing a river. Kaley Bastine, 7, will be selling cupcakes from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 28 at Bird Dog’s Sports Bar & Grill in Harrison to raise money for New Kensington police Officer...
Cheswick church rallies behind pastor who needs heart transplantVideo
Clinton Blazevich was told he could live with his heart condition for maybe three to five years before needing a heart transplant. That was nearly 20 years ago. Blazevich, 42, suffers from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, and cardiomyopathy, a condition that makes it harder for the heart to...
