Penn Hills Progress category, Page 7

Draft budget calls for 2-mill tax hike Penn Hills residents could see a 2-mill real estate tax increase under the proposed budget for next year. The tax hike would bring the millage rate from 6.444 mills to 8.444 mills — a 31% increase. The owner of a home assessed at...

The Penn Hills girls basketball team will be challenged to continue a winning tradition when its season starts this December. The Indians reached the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs for the second straight season last year, winning a preliminary round game before being knocked out by Oakland Catholic. Penn Hills, which...

The Penn Hills Youth Football and Cheer Association cheerleading team won the Western Pennsylvania Youth Athletic Association Cheer Bowl championship for the third straight year in the big and little divisions. Cheer coach Ashley Blake said that she emphasizes to all the girls on the team that the judging isn’t...

ALLEGHENY COUNTY Forest Hills Ryan Lynn sold property at 508 Sherwood Road to Daniel Geary for $310,000. Monroeville Ryan Williams sold property at 350 Coleman Drive to Mason Mauldin and Maria Daugherty for $249,900. Ryan Wierzchowski sold property at 573 Firethorn Drive to James and Daniel Boden for $125,000. Pascal...

Churchill Matthew McHugh sold property at 63 Garden Ter to Shawn Busche and Matthew Fisch for $230,000. Luke Widich sold property at 108 Merrie Woode Drive to Keith and Nina Parish for $435,000. Forest Hills Estate of Matthew Hall sold property at 507 Atlantic Ave. to CDPGH 1 LLC for...

Lindsae Heidenreich spends her days crawling under plow trucks and skid steer loaders in a Penn Township turnpike maintenance shed, chipping away at the rust nestled in every nook and cranny. Heidenreich, 37, of Penn Hills has rust removal down to a science. Scrub down the vehicle with a degreaser,...

Penn Hills is seeking a planning director and a planner, but only one person is leaving what currently is a three-member department. Planning Director Chris Blackwell will retire in February after 30 years with the municipality and 10 as the department head. In that time, he has had a hand...

More families are turning to a Penn Hills program that offers up to $14,500 toward a down payment and closing costs on homes in the municipality. Penn Hills, in collaboration with social services provider ACTION-Housing, Allegheny County Economic Development and consultant Urban Design Ventures, launched the program in 2017 to...

The FBI is investigating a bank robbery Tuesday morning in Penn Hills. Police were dispatched about 11:30 a.m. to Citizens Bank at 6125 Saltsburg Road for reports of a robbery. A man was seen running from the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash, Penn Hills police Chief Ronald Como...

Volunteers sought to help plant trees The Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission needs volunteers to help plant 15 trees from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 16 along Allegheny River Boulevard. The planting will take place rain or shine. The organization is partnering with the Allegheny River Boulevard Preservation Association (ARBPA)...

The Penn Hills football team was focused on the task at hand during the first round at the WPIAL playoffs. The Indians have attempted to stay with that line of thinking all season. When things break down or go awry, Penn Hills wants to maintain a simple mantra: Do your...

Upper St. Clair’s defense smothered Penn Hills on Friday night, earning a 24-3 victory in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals. “Our defense really made a number of big plays tonight,” Panthers coach Mike Junko said. “They were the reason we got this win. They put a lot of pressure on...

Frank Trujillo couldn’t wait to be a fireman and stuck with it for 78 years. “When I was a young fellow, they had a carnival one year and they took me on a ride in a fire truck, and that always stuck with me,” Trujillo said. “The first year I...

Union Railroad has completed long-awaited repairs to its half of a dilapidated fence along Leechburg Road near its North Bessemer Yard, but it remains unclear when the rest might be addressed. The rusted, sagging fence has been described as potentially dangerous to pedestrians by Penn Hills code enforcement officer Jason...

Free books available monthly for kids through age 5 Children who reside in the 15235 ZIP code are eligible to receive free books every month until their 5th birthday through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program in conjunction with Reading Ready Pittsburgh. The program, which aims to inspire a love of...

Don Gerken has his younger brother on his mind as Veterans Day approaches, and how his combat service in Vietnam — which earned him Silver and Bronze stars — left lasting scars. “I think he brought a lot of that war home with him,” said Gerken, one of 17 military...

Serra Catholic sophomore Emily Ruperto nearly threw in the towel on cross country. During the summer, Ruperto hits the club swimming circuit hard. The Penn Hills resident doesn’t have much time to get ready for the start of cross country season. “I’m all in on swimming during the summer,” Ruperto...

Many have criticized the PIAA’s decision to go to six classifications for football during the 2016 season. However, Penn Hills ultimately ended up landing in a division that has been one of the most successful for the WPIAL on the state level. After playing the first two seasons in this...

ALLEGHENY COUNTY Chalfant Thomas Francis Lubanovic sold property at 117 Lynnwood Ave. to Mark Hoel for $10,500. Churchill Estate of Esther Polichio sold property at 457 Woodland Hills Drive to Richard Myers and Lauren McReynolds for $371,000. Edgewood Ian Lee sold property at 20 Love Pl to Zachary Luettgen for...

Penn Hills football coach Charles Morris approached senior running back/linebacker Naytel Mitchell before the season with a request to play a physical brand of football on both sides of the ball. Mitchell accepted and was hard on conditioning to be ready for the rigors of a long season and handle...

Linton Middle School will be seeing some internal changes starting in November. School board members voted Oct. 30 to approve phase one of the school’s HVAC upgrade project. When the project is finished, classrooms will have new unit ventilation systems and controls, allowing teachers to make temperature adjustments for heat...

Penn Hills Elementary School is getting a window makeover. On Oct. 30, board members approved the purchase and use of security window film, a safety measure that will add school spirit and peace of mind to the school off Jefferson Road. According to Christopher Cence, the school’s principal, no specific...

Actress Viola Davis (“How to Get Away With Murder,” “Fences”) took the stage Tuesday night at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty not to discuss her latest project, but to discuss trauma and healing. “We want an America as good as its promise, though that is a promise that...

The eastbound Interstate 376 ramp to Penn Hills, which is Exit 81, will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, for asphalt paving. PennDOT’s posted detour is to take Exit 80, which is the Monroeville/Buisness Route 22 off-ramp, and turn left at the light on Rodi...

A new wave of players in Penn Hills civic life are going after vacant land and blighted properties in historically neglected neighborhoods in hopes of attracting new residents and, in turn, amenities. And while some of that work is happening through Elevate Penn Hills, an initiative of the Penn Hills...