Tony LaRussa stories, Page 35

Students at West Hills Intermediate School in Kittanning were evacuated from the building after smoke and the smell of burning rubber was reported in a computer room, according to authorities. Student were placed on a bus and taken to nearby West Hills Primary while firefighters set up operations at the...

Students and spectators at Fox Chapel High School’s home bocce match against Pine-Richland recently joined the effort to find a bone-marrow match for a 7-year-old Butler County boy suffering from a rare genetic disorder. “I feel like this is a very easy way to help a child in need,” said...

Herb Ellerbrock’s fascination with reptiles was so intense as a kid growing up in Sharpsburg, his parents hung a sign outside their home and turned the front room into a shop for him to collect and sell snakes. That shop helped fuel the boy’s passion for reptiles and amphibians and...

Changing some of Pennsylvania’s antiquated laws can be a laborious process that often takes a backseat to more pressing legislation. But when the governor issued emergency orders during last year’s coronavirus shut down to prevent a halt in mortgages being issued, a lawmaker from Pine Township saw a chance to...

New Kensington police accused a woman of stealing blank checks from her neighbor and forging his name to cash them during the weeks after he suffered a stroke. Shanna Rachelle Heymers, 41, of the 2500 block of Virginia Drive in New Kensington, was charged with two felony counts of forgery...

Harrison police have charged a man who is not permitted to own a firearm with a felony for, police say, intentionally providing false information about his past when trying to buy a gun from a sporting goods store. Anthony Lee Miller, 41, of Pine Court in New Kensington, was charged...

A 21-year-old man died on Tuesday morning when his SUV swerved into oncoming traffic along Route 66 in Washington Township and crashed head-on into a pickup truck, according to authorities. The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday night identified the driver of the SUV as Michael C. Signore, of Delmont....

New Kensington police say they charged a Lower Burrell with a felony and jailed him on a parole violation after he tried to ditch a bag of cocaine when his car was pulled over for having windows that were tinted too dark, according to his arrest papers. Josh J. Porowski,...

State police accused an East Deer woman of dealing crack cocaine after an informant bought the drug from her during a sting operation. Sarah Rebecca Ellis, 26, of the 900 block of Front Street, was charged with two felony counts of possessing drugs with the intent to deliver as well...

Darting in and out of a smoke-filled building in search of occupants and scaling a ladder to the roof as flames roar is dangerous work, even in the best weather conditions. Add frigid temperatures, whipping wind and falling snow, and the dangers multiply dramatically for firefighters trying to save lives...

New Kensington police charged a felon with illegal possession of a firearm after seeing a video of him pointing a pistol at a woman during an argument, authorities say. Don Levon Graves, 57, of Main St., New Kensington, was charged with felony counts of possession of a firearm by a...

An Allegheny Township couple was charged with multiple felonies after their three children told police they are under near-constant video surveillance and most of the food in the house is kept locked up. Leann Marie Lawson, 35, and Nevin A. Lawson, 51, of the 100 block of Indian Hill Road,...

Brackenridge police arrested a woman after her boyfriend told them she beat the family’s dog to death with a hammer in front of their children. Bianca Simone Lee, 32, of Nelson Avenue, was arrested on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals in...

New Kensington police say a woman leaped out of a second-story window to get away from officers who came to arrest her for trashing a house and swinging a knife at the owner when he told her to leave. Khayla Jean Loughner, 32, of Eighth Avenue, Brackenridge, was charged with...

Harmar Township police arrested a former gas station clerk on charges that he stole more than $4,300 worth of winning lottery tickets and cash during a one-week period in November. Joshua Andrew Lang, 19, of Spruce Street, Verona was charged Jan. 26 with a felony count of theft by deception...

South Buffalo police said they used a stun gun to subdue a man Saturday after he allegedly tackled an officer and ran off when they tried to arrest him for injuring a woman during an argument. Christopher Joseph Lordo, 36, of Ronald Drive, Buffalo Township was charged with a count...

The driver of a vehicle that went off the road and into a creek on Monday afternoon in Oklahoma Borough did not suffer any significant injuries, according to authorities. The one-vehicle wreck was reported at 2:15 p.m. along Vista Drive, according to a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor. Emergency crews from...

A Kiski Township woman faces a felony charge after a man told police she put her hands around his neck until he couldn’t breathe during an argument. Robin Ray Bohannon, 35, of State Route 156 was charged with felony strangulation as well as simple assault and harassment in connection with...

A Leechburg woman faces three felony charges after elementary school officials reported that a 5-year-old had suffered injuries to his face, back and arms. Amanda L. Charles, 37, of Beale Avenue, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault of a child and endangering the welfare of a child, which...

A man was charged with felony drug possession and arrested for an outstanding warrant along with two other wanted people when the vehicle they were riding in was pulled over by New Kensington police for a burned-out license plate bulb. Don Lamont Carter Jr., 26, of Broad Street in South...

Two Leechburg men have been charged with multiple felonies after telling police they got drunk, broke into a neighbor’s house and took two dogs because they thought they were being abused, according to their arrest papers. Michael Paul Keim, 39, and Kevin Karl Trefelner, 55, of Evergreen Road each were...

Parks Township police took into custody a man whom they said was loitering on the back porch of a home and had an arrest warrant issued for him by authorities elsewhere in the Alle-Kiski Valley. Police responding to a report of a man trying to break into a home at...

In a town aptly dubbed the “City of Bridges,” Friday morning’s collapse of a span carrying traffic over Fern Hollow Creek in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park while cars and a Port Authority bus were on it might very well be the worst nightmare a local motorist could imagine. The early morning...

New Kensington police have called off the search for a teen who went missing on Jan. 25. Police reported that Amir Kennedy, 14, returned home Sunday....

A woman is accused of pointed a rifle at her neighbor’s dog and threatening to shoot it before turning the weapon on its owner when he told her killing the animal would land her in jail, according to Leechburg police. Tracey A. Geracia, 53, of Kirkpatrick Avenue, was charged with...