Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 26

The Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation gave a shout-out Monday to local stores, restaurants and outfitters for National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day. A Penn State study on the economic impact of state parks in 2012 estimated park visitors generated more than $1 billion in sales to the state...

Patrons received more than grab-and-go free community boxed meals Thursday at the Knead Community Café in New Kensington. They got a dose of pandemic protection with 260 safety kits stuffed with hand sanitizer, gloves and masks, courtesy of Burrell students. Before the pandemic hit, Burrell students were volunteering at the...

Olympus Energy is paying $1.2 million to the Municipal Authority of the City of New Kensington to extend about 3 miles of waterlines near three Marcellus well sites in Upper Burrell and Allegheny Township. The energy company is buying water from the municipal authority and paying to pipe the water...

Upper Burrell and area environmental officials discovered a faulty PennDOT storm drain that could adversely affect drainage at the proposed Dollar General development at Route 780 and Dewey Drive. The proposed Dollar General is on commercially zoned land. When the store was first proposed, township officials didn’t expect many obstacles...

You can get a taste of Southern California in the parking lot of a Lower Burrell car dealership, where a city native has been serving beach-style Mexican food out of a food truck four days a week for the past two months. The Gripz food truck parks at Forza Motorcars...

The Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania will hold a grand opening June 12 for the Babcock Nature Center in Buffalo Township, along the Butler-Freeport Community Trail. The new 2,500-square-foot center with a 1,200-square-foot pavilion is situated in the six-acre Buffalo Creek Nature Park, located off of Monroe Road next to...

Three nominees to replace former state Rep. Jeff Pyle have been chosen by their respective parties to run in a special election to represent parts of Armstrong, Indiana and Butler counties. A longtime Republican lawmaker from Ford City, Pyle retired suddenly because of health issues this month. He had just...

Armstrong County Commissioners Chairman Don Myers is the second candidate to seek the Republican Party nomination to fill the seat of state Rep. Jeff Pyle. Pyle cited health reasons in announcing his retirement last week. Pyle was in his ninth term representing the 60th District, which includes parts of Armstrong,...

Voters in Pennsylvania’s 60th State House District will choose a replacement for former state Rep. Jeff Pyle in a special election May 18, officials said Monday. That’s the same day as Pennsylvania’s primary. Pyle, a Republican from Ford City, was three months into his ninth term representing a district that...

When things didn’t work out for Madison Gourley after she left Kiski Area High School in her senior year to move away with her new husband, she returned home and earned her GED diploma. She is on her way to nursing school at Westmoreland County Community College in the fall....

After a rallying cry two years ago, the efforts to restore the Apollo Cemetery in Kiski Township have been bolstered by volunteers, donations and the elbow grease of Boy Scouts. Volunteers and donations are needed for a spring cleanup from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 27. The Apollo...

The Upper Burrell supervisors will consider a request for a Marcellus natural gas well to be drilled on Alcoa property off White Cloud Road. So-called unconventional wells are used in a controversial natural gas extraction process known as fracking. This would be the second Marcellus shale fracking site in the...

Editor’s note: The original version of this story attributed school board President Pam Key’s remarks to a different school director. Burrell School District is working on a plan to help students in academic trouble, including those having problems with virtual learning. Superintendent Shannon Wagner told the school board Tuesday about...

Nine-term state Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-Ford City, retired Tuesday because of health issues. Pyle, 56, is in his second round of battling cancer. He first was diagnosed with kidney cancer less than two months into his first term as a state representative in early 2005. Pyle beat the disease then,...

One of the final details on Burrell School District’s $1.8 million renovation of Buccaneer Stadium — painting lines on the track — remains on hold until there’s a window of warmer and dry weather. “It’s a great surface,” said Drake D’Angelo, Burrell’s athletic director. “We will be excited to use...

A pair of bald eagles chose another unlikely urban spot to nest in the once highly industrialized Pittsburgh area — the U.S. Steel Irvin plant in West Mifflin along the Monongahela River, across from Glassport. There are no other known eagle nests in the state at a steel mill, making...

The décor at Lower Burrell’s Fisher Hall was getting a bit too rustic for the times, so a city councilwoman and the public works department are working on a face-lift for one of the city popular social halls. Located in Burrell Lake Park, Fisher Hall is the go-to venue for...

The fast-moving blaze that engulfed a three-story home in the 300 block of East Ninth Avenue in Tarentum on Thursday started in the kitchen, according to fire officials. Two firefighters were injured, but discharged from Allegheny Valley Hospital within hours. Residents in the home were able to safely exit. The...

Upper Burrell is temporarily shelving Dollar General’s plans to build a store along Route 780 at Dewey Drive until the developer secures permits and other approvals. The township’s planning commission also raised concerns over drainage issues near the store. Although the proposed store is unpopular with many residents who would...

The harbingers of spring are here. Glen’s Frozen Custard, with locations in Lower Burrell and Springdale, opens Thursday. Della’s Frozen Custard opens Friday. And early Sunday, clocks will be turned ahead an hour for Daylight Saving Time. Mom-and-pop frozen custard and ice cream shops have been opening this month throughout...