Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 37

Springdale Township canceled its summer concert series because of the covid-19 pandemic, but officials still wanted to give residents something fun. So why not a free television? The township is getting ready to give away 50-inch televisions to residents on Aug. 3 and Sept. 1. Residents don’t have to enter...

Hot and dry weather during most of July has dimmed the light spectacle of fireflies in some urban and other parched landscapes, according to some local experts. Naturalists from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy report less of a good showing this year of the beetle of summer — the firefly —...

Some things don’t change in a small town, and, apparently, baseball is one of them in Freeport. Players and fans on Tuesday dodged raindrops and assembled at James E. Swartz Sr. Memorial Field for the opening day of the 26th annual Freeport International Baseball Invitational. About 23 scholastic-age teams from...

It’s a sight you won’t get a chance to see again. Not unless you live another 6,800 years. It’s the ball of ice, rock and dust that everyone is talking about: a fuzzy-looking star with a tail otherwise known as comet NEOWISE. To see it, start to look below the...

Members of the University of Pittsburgh’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders toiled in the heat Saturday and Sunday to help make life better for people nearly 4,000 miles away. The group gathered to build a reinforced concrete slab at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in New Kensington as part of...

The Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority is raising its rates to help pay for $11.5 million in system improvements. The average household that uses 10,000 gallons of water per quarter will pay a total bill of $87.50, about 6.4% higher than the current $82.22, starting with January’s bill. Officials...

Springdale Township has bought surveillance cameras that can capture high-resolution images to record license plates and are capable of facial identification to thwart vandalism, illegal dumping and other misconduct. The township has contracted with Secure Technical Solutions Inc., of New Kensington, for about $4,000 for three to four cameras and...

Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3 is looking to fill a pandemic-related hole in its budget by filling people’s stomachs. The department lost an estimated $12,000 to $13,000 when it had to cancel one of its largest annual fundraisers, the weeklong Fireman’s Carnival, because of the coronavirus pandemic, said...

In celebrating International Snake Day on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission posted a photo of a Northern ring-neck snake, which caused readers to post their own photos of timber rattlesnakes and more. Wishing everyone “Happy World Snake Day,” the Fish and Boat Commission issued multiple posts on the...

The Pennsylvania Game Commission rescued a bald eagle stuck in a manure pit in Lancaster. The Game Commission said it received a report Saturday that a bald eagle was unable to fly out of a manure pit at a private farm in southern Lancaster County. The large mature male eagle...

Lower Burrell Council has agreed to pay a national company to create a new city website offering more information and services online, including delivery of city council minutes and easier access to information. The city is contracting with CivicPlus, of Manhattan, Kan., to set up and develop the website for...

Burrell School District is holding meetings with staff and families this month to address concerns about covid-19, which played a large role in the district’s recent school tax hike of nearly 3% for 2020-21. Late last month, the school board approved a $32.1 million budget that includes a 3 mill...

When the 90-degree-plus heat soars, artist Joan Marangoni stops painting by noon on her new outdoor mural at Murphy’s Music Center in Leechburg. She practically sprints to her new 30-foot round, above-ground pool at her Washington Township home. “Jumping in a pool to cool off and to be with your...

Low water levels in the Conemaugh River Lake have exposed some archaeological artifacts: abutments to a railroad bridge and remnants of the Pennsylvania Canal system from the 1800s. The artifacts in the Conemaugh River Lake, straddling Indiana and Westmoreland counties just east of Saltsburg, were visible over the July Fourth...

Details were released Friday for the Rise Up Against Racism event from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday in Lower Burrell’s Derek Kotecki Memorial Park. Coordinated by Trista Armstrong, 17, of Upper Burrell, the free event, which she is calling an educational event and not a protest, will feature a...

The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine is studying if covid-19 has been contracted by local bats who are recovering from white-nose syndrome, a deadly fungus that has been decimating populations. If the state’s fragile but recovering bat population contracts covid-19, it could create another stressor for the night...

As the invasive spotted lanternfly moves into Allegheny and other counties, Penn State Extension is offering a live webinar at 3 p.m. on July 15 about methods to get rid of the invasive insect. The cost is $10 for professionals and the public. The colorful moth-like invasive insect swarms and...

The Allegheny Valley Regional Police moved its office from the Springdale Township municipal building to Cheswick’s borough building as a precaution to prevent the spread of covid-19 and to make more room for other township employees. “This is more a shift to an office than a move,” said Michael Girardi,...

Calling it a “Destination Elopement Close to Home,” the National Aviary is opening up its newly renovated tropical rain forest room for small weddings featuring a waterfall, lush greenery and a few extra guests — the resident birds. “Couples with summer wedding plans interrupted by Coronavirus can still have an...

A Lower Burrell councilman and others surprised Eagle Scout Scott Fennell when they stopped by his high school graduation party to proclaim Sunday as Scott Fennell Day. They honored the teen for his volunteer Eagle Scout project constructing four outdoor work-out stations in the city’s Officer Derek Kotecki Memorial Park....

Allegheny County could be overrun with the beautiful but disgusting spotted lanternfly within two years if the public doesn’t find and report them this year, according to a Penn State researcher. Spotted like a Dalmatian, a lanternfly nymph recently found in Lawrenceville heralded its persistent presence in Allegheny County. Some...

The region will sizzle until next Friday for an unusually long heat wave, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service defines a heat wave as at least three consecutive days of 90-degree temperatures or higher. Friday was the second day of the year temperatures reached the 90s- degree mark,...