Joyce Hanz stories, Page 13

It was apparently an offer two Freeport business owners couldn’t refuse. Co-owners and married couple Michael and Virginia Graff of Fawn recently closed their businesses, The Clubhouse on the Hill and White Buffalo Golf Course, after receiving two separate offers from different buyers interested in purchasing the public golf course...

West Leechburg Volunteer Fire Department officials are ramping up fundraising to pay for a new custom firefighting vehicle. The department purchased a 2023 Pierce Saber Tanker for $572,000 using two loans, one from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the other from Kansas State Bank. The new truck replaces a...

A long-shuttered historic mansion in Leechburg has reopened as the 1st Street Cafe. The cafe occupies the space in the building formerly known as the Addison House Restaurant & Lounge. Serving specialty coffees and homemade desserts, the cafe opens at 6 a.m. and is the retirement project of Devra Gromley...

Doreen Smeal of Leechburg received a unique gift on her 70th birthday. A mayoral title. She was sworn in Dec. 29 as the second female mayor of the borough she has called home her entire life. “I live in my late grandfather’s house,” Smeal said Monday while stopping by the...

A Parks Township man is accused of stealing more than $9,000 from his parents’ bank account, police said. Brandon Watterson, 52, was charged via summons Friday by state police with six felony counts, including theft, theft by deception and access device fraud. Watterson faces a preliminary hearing March 28 before...

Volunteering is more than a word for Leechburg resident Robin Patton. It’s a lifestyle. Patton volunteers at four Alle-Kiski Valley organizations: Leechburg Area Food Bank, Cat Crusaders, Homeless Cat Management Team and Gilpin Volunteer Fire Department. “I’ve met a lot of special people in all the groups I work with...

A little slice of the beach life is for sale in Gilpin — shoes optional. The popular Barefoot Bar & Grill on Schenley Road was listed Monday for $325,000 by Chrissy Heinle of Realty One Group. Jim McKee, Barefoot co-owner, said the decision to sell comes with mixed emotions but...

Craving some island vibes but stuck in wintertime Pittsburgh? Take a daycation destination to these tropical-themed bars and eateries that offer a beach-themed escape from the winter doldrums. From lobster specialty sandwiches and nachos to Caribbean-influenced cocktails, these independently owned restaurants put the paradise vibe in Pittsburgh. The Hula Bar...

Frequent Pittsburgh Mills walker Paul Tyree recently noticed a new form of entertainment during his fitness jaunts around the inside of the Frazer shopping mall. A four-game skills gambling kiosk, each with large, colorful digital displays and an accompanying chair occupy the middle of a corridor that’s visible from Macy’s,...

Editor’s note: This story has been amended to correct the the date of council’s next meeting and the names of current council members. Oakmont officials are looking to fill a vacant council seat after the recent resignation of councilwoman Tracey Holst. Holst, a Democrat, submitted her resignation letter Dec. 31....

Kiski Township police officials are looking to add a dog to their roster of officers. Chief Lee Bartolicius is spearheading efforts to raise about $20,000 to purchase and train a police dog. The department launched the Kiski Township K-9 Fund this month and to date has raised just over $3,000....

Leechburg Area School District is losing its superintendent of seven years. Tiffany Nix submitted a letter of resignation Thursday announcing she accepted a post as assistant superintendent with the Penn-Trafford School District. “We’re very happy that Dr. Nix will be joining the Penn-Trafford team,” said Penn-Trafford Superintendent Matthew Harris. “She...

Leechburg Area School District employees and administrators dressed up as holiday characters Wednesday to serve a Christmas-themed lunch to students. “This is the first year that we’re dressing up and spreading holiday cheer,” Superintendent Tiffany Nix said. “The joy on the students’ faces was priceless.” Nix, dressed as Olaf from...

Several Leechburg Area School District school board members are criticizing school board president Ashley Coudriet for what they claim is a lack of transparency surrounding a recent vote to appoint an interim solicitor. In a 6-3 vote Dec. 6, the board appointed a new interim solicitor, Gary J. Matta, to...

Melinda Cody of Allegheny Township has implemented a Christmas strike, and she’s never been happier. For decades, Cody — a wife and mother of two adult children — prepped, baked, cooked, decorated, shopped, organized and wrapped gifts, providing a traditional Christmas experience for her family with all the expected holiday...

Roberta Bouch of Harrison takes her great-grandmother responsibilities seriously. A part-time caretaker for her two young great-grandchildren, Bouch was unsure whether the two child safety seats in the backseat of her vehicle were installed properly. “When I first put the car seat in a few years ago, I contacted a...

An award-winning media course has united aspiring student filmmakers and resulted in benefits that go beyond book learning at Freeport Area High School. Students channeled their inner lights, camera, action for months, filming a behind-the-scenes peek into all aspects of creating a high school musical. Junior and senior students enrolled...

Kayla Webster was working a hectic Saturday, waiting tables at David’s Diner when a surprise stopped her in her tracks. “I thought she was going to hit the floor,” diner co-owner Pam Morrow-Wolfe said Tuesday, recalling the moment Webster stumbled into the kitchen, pale and appearing in shock, clutching a...

Gilpin officials are throwing a financial lifeline to a local EMS service based in Leechburg. Supervisors unanimously approved an EMS tax to help fund Lower Kiski Ambulance Service in an effort to intervene with much-needed funds. “EMS is a mandatory service that townships must supply to its residents per state...

Ted Tomson remembers sneaking onto Brackenridge Heights Golf Course as a kid to gather errant golf balls from the course’s pond. “All the rich folks from here went there,” he said. “When I was a kid, I would sneak into there and get the golf balls out of the lake,...

Some Vandergrift business owners are hoping their new initiative to raise money for the borough’s library can revamp how the town thinks about supporting its nonprofits. Throughout the year, customers at Chris Kakias’ G&G Restaurant had the option to donate to the Vandergrift Public Library through a wall-mounted box placed...

It’s not a park that’s going in at the corner of Freeport Road and Powers Run Road, but a sewerage line and stream restoration. “No park,” said O’Hara Township engineer Charles Steinert. The ongoing work is a two-part sewer and stream restoration Powers Run Sanitary Sewer Relocation and Stream Restoration...

An Indiana Township resident is celebrating a professional milestone. Cherie River worked for decades to accomplish her goal of opening a school specifically designed to meet the educational needs of special-needs students in grades K-8. The River Academy of Excellence opened Nov. 1 at 3390 Saxonburg Blvd. in Indiana Township....

It’s the birthplace of a famous Hollywood star and a major holiday destination dubbed the “Christmas Tree Capital of the World.” Take a Daycation Destination trip to Indiana, Pa., set amid the rural, scenic foothills of the Allegheny Mountains in Indiana County, about an hour east of Pittsburgh. It’s home...