Mary Ann Thomas stories, Page 53

Stanford Home Center in Allegheny Township ran out of air conditioners early Friday, but only momentarily, as other stores stocked up on water and beverages and braced for the rush as residents cope with uncharacteristic searing temperatures. “We’ve been selling air conditioners like crazy,” said Stewart Claypool, one of the...

With oppressive heat in the forecast, swimsuit-clad crowds are expected to not only hit local pools but area rivers and lakes where funky things can happen if swimmers don’t take a few precautions, according to experts. The good news is Southwestern Pennsylvania does not have flesh-eating bacteria and the rash...

The 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing will be celebrated Saturday in the borough of Apollo with a flurry of activities from a traditional ice cream eating contest to a virtual jet engine display from the Air Force. Most events will be held at Owens Grove along Apollo’s North...

They came festooned in tiny parachutes and swaddled in bubble wrap. So protected were the 90-some raw eggs that most were expected to remain unbroken and pristine after a 60-foot drop from a fire ladder truck. The egg drop has been a tradition for at least 25 years for the...

Still in his wet clothes, Gary Lyon left his home Saturday afternoon after rescuing three people and a dog on the Kiski River for another rescue involving three more people, this time on an inflatable tube shaped like a unicorn. Three adults boarded the 12-foot unicorn in Vandergrift, planning to...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Kiski Area East Primary School in the Kiski Area School District a $26,700 grant to provide students with fresh fruits and vegetables for the 2019-20 school year. The program provides students with a fresh fruit or vegetable snack during the school day to increase...

River experts say Saturday was a perfect example of why kayakers and other paddlers need to check river conditions before setting off on a float. Three kayakers had to be rescued from the Kiski River near Leechburg when their kayaks got hung up on submerged trees in the fast-moving water....

The Army Corps of Engineers will be on site to conduct routine groundwater sampling at the nuclear waste dump along Route 66 in Parks Township from July 22 to 25, and maybe later. The 44-acre dump, officially known as the Shallow Land Disposal Area, was used primarily in the 1960s...

Lower Burrell has a new director of public works and parks after the city’s longtime public works foreman moved on. Jeff Fleming, the city’s director of public works and parks, will earn $82,000 annually and started July 8. The former foreman, Scott Johnson, resigned to take a job in Colorado....

Craigdell Road, Wachter Drive and part of Oregon Drive will be open only to local traffic as they are milled on Tuesday. Base repairs will be done on Tuesday and possibly paving, which is otherwise scheduled for July 17, weather permitting. There are flaggers to assist residents to reach their...

Former Vandergrift Councilman Pete Basile told the Tribune-Review on Friday that he resigned from his elected position for health reasons. A retired Westmoreland County assistant police chief, Basile, 58, was elected in November 2017 to a four-year term. He also was a part-time Vandergrift police officer for 34 years. His...

Wells were drilled despite a state-imposed $45,000 fine against Huntley & Huntley for a landslide on a private road for the Zeus unconventional natural gas well pad in Upper Burrell along Guyer Road. The slide near the fracking well pad added to regulatory and legal challenges at the site but...

The biggest, juiciest red raspberry of the season can barely contain itself, ripened to perfection but still hanging on the cane at a small farm along Kiski Township’s Old State Road. The perfection is by design as Martin Krezolek, 42, researched and planted what he believes are the best kinds...

Allegheny Township received $71,000 in dividends for keeping its insurance and workers compensation claims to a minimum last year. It was no accident, according to township manager Greg Primm. Primm said the township’s department leaders are constantly “preaching the gospel of safety” when training employees and they always look for...

The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh will throw two more free public star gazing parties this summer at Kunkle Park in Washington Township on July 27 and Aug. 3. If conditions are right, brightly colored double stars will be visible as will be the beautiful star clusters of the Milky...

It’s a long road to become the fastest flier on earth with speeds approaching 200 mph in a dive. But local juvenile peregrine falcons, which are designated as state-threatened, are on their way as two were spotted in the region this week after leaving their nests weeks ago. That is...

It wasn’t just that someone lost a volleyball court in a flood. It was that one of the Alle-Kiski Valley’s winningest girls’ volleyball coaches, Tom Phillips, lost two sand courts complete with night lights in Buffalo Township where several thousand girls have trained and many adults played. After 29 years,...

The question isn’t so much where are the turkeys, where aren’t there turkeys? The Pennsylvania Game Commission is conducting a turkey survey through Aug. 31 and is looking for residents to report their sighting via website and a mobile app. Observers need only report the number of turkeys, location, date...

Weather permitting, PennDOT crews will conduct survey work requiring a single-lane closure on Route 28 southbound Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. between the Highland Park Bridge and Millvale, exit 3. The survey is for a future paving project, according to Steve Cowan, PennDOT spokesman. The survey...

Lower Burrell City Administrator Amy Rockwell is the new president of the Association for Pennsylvania Municipal Management (APMM), a state-wide organization of professional managers for local and county governments. Rockwell, a city resident, will serve a three-year term. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for her and the City of Lower Burrell,”...

There are too many bald eagle nests for the Pennsylvania Game Commission to count on its own, and it needs the public’s help. The agency used to release bald eagle nest numbers each year around July 4, when the birds were considered threatened in the state. But a comeback from...

By all means, do grill for summer holidays. But you can cut your exposure to potential cancer-causing agents by tweaking the menu and method of cooking, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). Grilling and cooking meat at high temperatures can create several cancer-causing substances that are either...

The likely passage of U.S. Senate and House bills are expected to boost continued development of the 1,300-mile-long September 11th National Memorial Trail connecting all three plane crash memorial sites in Shanksville, Pa., New York City and Arlington, Va. The September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance, along with others, has...

While firefighters use untold gallons of water to fight blazes to save lives, they don’t want to come up short taking care of their own water needs. Keeping first responders hydrated for hours in the heat can become a challenge that impacts their performance and health. Volunteer firefighters, strapped by...

Larger than a monarch butterfly but residing in the same realm of beauty, cecropia moths with wing spans of 5 to 7 inches are out and if you’re lucky, like the folks at Tree Pittsburgh, you might just spot one. Tree Pittsburgh has a distinct advantage though. The nonprofit tends...