Joyce Hanz stories, Page 44

This Thanksgiving, Freeport native Jean Urik kept her kitchen clean. She and Don Hines of Butler enjoyed a free holiday turkey meal with all of the trimmings at St. Mary’s Parish on High Street in Freeport. “It’s hard to cook Thanksgiving for just two people without having a ton of...

Vandergrift councilwoman Karen McClarnon has resigned her position. McClarnon submitted a letter of resignation, effective immediately, to council President Kathy Chvala and borough secretary Steve Delledonne. Council approved McClarnon’s resignation during a special meeting Wednesday afternoon. Borough solicitor Larry Loperfito was absent. McClarnon did not attend the meeting and declined...

Three Washington Township cops were serving it up Wednesday at Kiski Area Upper Elementary School, but there were no warrants involved. “It’s lunch with the law,” joked police Chief Scott Slagle. Slagle, joined by Officer Kenneth Hollis and Sgt. Vince Surace, served lunch to almost 550 students. The annual event...

A fundraiser for a 22-year old Washington Township man killed in a wrong-way crash is planned for this weekend in Oklahoma Borough. Zeth Charles Reber died on Nov. 14 when his car was hit by a minivan traveling the wrong direction on State Route 380 in Washington Township. The driver...

A holiday market has returned to historic Vandergrift. Vandergrift Market offers many vendors Saturdays on the lower-level floor of the former J.C. Penney department store at 134 Grant Ave. Market hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Saturday through Dec. 18. In its second season, volunteers with the Vandergrift...

While adults know that grief is part of life, elementary school kids might just be learning. Counselors in the Kiski Area School District are working to help students cope with their feelings. A daylong grief-themed program was presented Thursday at all four elementary schools as part of Children’s Grief Awareness...

More than 100 people gathered Wednesday evening outside New Kensington City Hall to honor the life of fallen New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw. New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo led a memorial service near the Brian Shaw Memorial outside City Hall on the fourth anniversary of Shaw’s death. Shaw was...

Meet the new chicks of Shady Side Academy. Momo, Dawn, Cricket and Pippy are four peeps hatched from an incubator Oct. 11 in Bonnie Maxwell’s biology class at the middle school campus in Fox Chapel. “Momo is ruling the roost,” said sixth-grader Amalia Guttridge. “Chickens are so cool, and they...

Mask-wearing will remain mandatory the remainder of the year for students and staff in the Kiski Area School District. The board voted 7-1 Monday to keep the mandated mask policy requiring all students and staff to wear a face covering on campus and district school buses. Michelle Schmidt was the...

A love of numbers is adding up as the right answer to one couple’s professional pursuit. Jason and Monica Dunkel, married for 20 years, both teach elementary math at the same school, in the same department, in the Kiski Area School District. And they also share a number: 1976, their...

A Kiski Area High School graduate studying to become a welder died Sunday in a wrong-way crash in Washington Township. Zeth Reber, 22, of Washington Township died when his 2014 Honda Civic was hit head-on by a 2012 Dodge Caravan traveling the wrong direction on Route 380 in Washington Township....

A little dog with a big heart won a nationwide canine competition. Boone, a two-legged special needs hound-mix from Butler Township, was named the 2021 American Humane Hero Dog on Friday in an awards ceremony Friday in Palm Beach, Fla. He appeared as a finalist in the 2021 American Humane...

Vandergrift is prepping for a visit from the big guy himself. Santa will cruise around the borough in a firetruck from 6 to 8 p.m. on Nov. 26, the day after Thanksgiving. Called “Santa Around Town,” the event is sponsored by the Vandergrift Improvement Program (VIP) with the borough’s two...

Local projects to promote mental health awareness and support the arts are spreading hope, one canvas at a time. The Positive Painting Project and The Katie Whysong Scholarship for the Arts were created this year by Alisa and Todd Whysong of O’Hara, in honor of their daughter, Katie. Katie died...

Two friends are teaming up again to help folks living alone enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Last year, as the pandemic highlighted social isolation during the holidays, Molly O’Brien of Fox Chapel and Bethanie Stein of Aspinwall started their own, small-scale effort to provide meals directly to people in need....

An elementary school in the Fox Chapel Area School District has a new assistant principal. Benjamin Canan, 34, joined O’Hara Elementary School this month as program principal, the official name for the role. He said he seeks to bring a personalized approach to helping lead the school and promises to...

A flag honoring fallen police officers is causing a flap in Aspinwall. Council members fielded comments during last week’s meeting from about 15 residents either supporting or opposing the flag that has flown outside the borough building for 12 years. Aspinwall resident Karen Hart took to social media to express...

A national chain focused on healthy eating is opening Wednesday in Blawnox, the first location in the Pittsburgh area. Clean Eatz is opening at 175 Freeport Road, in a new retail plaza at the corner of Center Avenue. Owner Darryl Duncan, 58, hails from the corporate health care field and...

Kayla Johnston had a “What’s that?” moment when she moved to Hyde Park in 2004. What caught her eye and interest? The Hyde Park foot bridge. The pale yellow metal pedestrian bridge spans the Kiski River and connects Leechburg and Hyde Park and their two counties — Westmoreland and Armstrong....

A hands-on approach to life is serving up new opportunities for Mackenzie Borkovich of Indiana Township. A senior at Fox Chapel Area High School, Borkovich began playing softball and started taekwondo lessons when she was 6 years old. More than a decade later, she’s a standout pitcher for the Foxes...

A shortage of drivers in the Kiski Area School District has resulted in adjustments to some school bus schedules. School officials asked for patience during ongoing transportation adjustments to pickup and dismissal drop-off times in a post on the district’s official website. John Tedorski, Kiski Area director of technology services...

They’re two best friends with a passion for fashion. Alle-Kiski Valley natives Dessie Mitcheson Pilek and Jen Zatko Atchison met as cheerleaders in seventh grade and graduated together from Kiski Area High School in 2009. These days, they are business partners expanding their online clothing business — East West Boutique...

It’s the gourd that keeps on giving. Donations are still rolling in for Pittsburgh’s Project Bundle-Up, thanks to the dedication of one Aspinwall resident. Joel “The Pumpkin Guy” Keefer, 70, of Fourth Street began carving elaborate oversized pumpkins for the public 25 years ago. After collecting and donating $89,000 over...

Kiski Area Upper Elementary sixth graders are experiencing a field trip to a sacred field this week. Almost 300 students are visiting the Flight 93 National Memorial on three days, in three groups, in Shanksville. “For those that remember 9/11, it’s living history. But for the kids, it’s history,” Kiski...

Dorseyville Middle School students return to the musical stage this month as they present “High School Musical Jr.” The cast of almost 80 students includes about 30 technical and stage crew members. “After such a challenging year we wanted to do a show that would make people smile,” said musical...