South Hills Record category, Page 81
Century III Mall boarded up; only JCPenney remains
The once-vibrant Century III Mall is now boarded up, with the exception of JCPenney, the only store now open on the 90-acre property. West Mifflin officials had closed the mall in February, deeming the property “unsafe and uninhabitable” due to a broken water and fire suppression system. Las Vegas-based Moonbeam...
Rescue divers recover severed fingers from Jefferson Hills swimming accident
Murrysville Medic One’s dive team spent Monday afternoon searching for something rather unique: fingers. The team was requested by Allegheny County officials to respond to the Jefferson Hills area following a swimming accident in which a swimmer had four fingers severed. “It had something to do with a rope swing,...
New contract sets foundation for future in West Jefferson Hills
West Jefferson Hills School District and its teachers union entered a new six-year agreement on May 28 that leaders say reflects their vision for the district’s future. The contract, which runs from July 1 to June 30, 2025, clears the way for schedule changes, personalized learning time and the launch...
TJ students bid farewell to school with generation-spanning lip dub
Ten songs. One Video. It’s how all 930 Thomas Jefferson High School students came together to say goodbye to the building that has served as TJ’s home for the past 60 years. On May 24, the entire student body lined the hallways, auditorium, cafeteria and gymnasium to film a lip...
Advisers tasked with improving ‘cultural competency’ in West Jefferson Hills
The West Jefferson Hills School District has hired two advisers in attempts to “build cultural competence in the district,” according to the superintendent. School board members on May 28 approved the hiring of Morris Turner and Maurice Lucas as cultural advisers for Pleasant Hills Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High...
Jefferson Hills Community Day serves as unofficial start to summer
All are invited to 885/Andrew Reilly Memorial Park on June 8 for food, friends and fireworks, when Jefferson Hills hosts its community day from noon to 10 p.m. Held in conjunction with TJ Youth Baseball’s All Star Day, Jefferson Hills Community Day is meant to bring the entire community together...
South Hills Memorial Day parade features firefighters, marching bands and veteransVideo
The South Hills Memorial Day parade featured two fire departments, local police, high school bands and veterans. The parade began on Brookline Boulevard Monday morning at 10 a.m. and wove through Brookline, Dormont and Mt. Lebanon. It ended at the Mt. Lebanon Cemetery. The Mt. Lebanon police guard led the...
Bethel Bakery, Spoonwood brew up new chocolate raspberry cake stout
You can now have your cake and drink it too. So says the motto for the Retort Chocolate Raspberry Cake Stout, a new beer brewed up through a collaboration between South Hills-staples Bethel Bakery and Spoonwood Brewing Co. The beer, which made its debut on May 24, combines Spoonwood’s traditional...
Thomas Jefferson student artwork to brighten up UPMC Children’s health center
Vibrant, colorful, kid-friendly murals created by Thomas Jefferson High School students will adorn the walls of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Center of Adolescent and Young Adult Health’s clinical and research hub in Oakland. For the past several weeks, about 40 students in the school’s drawing and painting classes have...
Pleasant Hills Arboretum Story Hike lets visitors travel through books
Nestled among the tall grass at the Pleasant Hills Arboretum, there’s a place where visitors can journey through a book. The Story Hike, a permanent fixture featuring pages of a book posted around the large meadow at the grounds on West Bruceton Road, debuted on May 18 with a celebration....
Proposed plan could link Mon-Fayette Expressway, Route 885
Imagine a commute from Jefferson Hills to Pittsburgh taking only a few minutes. State Rep. Mike Puskaric (R-Washington/Allegheny) says he has a plan that could make such a drive a reality. By adding a three-mile connector from the Mon-Fayette Expressway to Route 885, South Hills and Mon Valley residents could...
South Hills voters choose candidates for November race
Voters across the South Hills decided who they want to see on their party ballot in the November election for school board and council seats. All results are unofficial and do not include write-in totals, which have not yet been finalized. Baldwin Borough Newcomers Denise Maiden and Patty Boyer and...
Baldwin zoning board denies plans for hazardous waste disposal company
The room erupted in cheers as Baldwin Borough’s zoning hearing board voted unanimously May 16 to deny a hazardous waste disposal company from operating on Streets Run Road. About 200 people packed the Baldwin Borough municipal building, pleading with board members to stop the company from coming to their community....
Whitehall, PennDOT at odds over Baptist Road repairs
Tom Stefano fought back tears as he stood at the top of his Baptist Road driveway in Whitehall Borough. The gravel on the driveway is gone in some parts, shifted in others, due to water from heavy rains that swells up from underneath. There are drainage issues along the street....
Steel Blossoms, with roots in Western Pa., sign record deal
There was a definite spark the first time Sara Zebley and Hayley Amour performed together inside the Pleasant Hills American Legion. They knew they had something special. Fast forward a few years, and the two were packing up their bags and moving to Nashville to form Steel Blossoms, an Americana...
Brentwood Formula 1 team racing to raise funds for trip to world finals
The success of a miniature race car designed and built by a team of Brentwood High School students is taking them to Abu Dhabi in November to compete in the world finals of F1 in Schools. “It’s kind of insane. We’re always used to this small town vibe where everybody...
Photo Gallery: Pleasant Hills Preschool Mud Day
Pools of mud provided plenty of fun for preschoolers during the fourth annual Mud Day at Pleasant Hills Community Presbyterian Church on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. The messy event also featured a mud kitchen, mud fishing, a station to dig for worms and a mound of mud where the kids...
Final beam installed for Jefferson Hospital ER expansion
Allegheny Health Network is one step closer to finishing its emergency room expansion at Jefferson Hospital. The final steel beam was placed Wednesday as officials from AHN and Highmark Health celebrated with local leaders and EMS crews at the Jefferson Hills facility. The $21 million expansion and renovation project will...
Offering STEAM to students with special needs should be a priority, Mon Valley educators say
Robert DeFillippo challenged his geometry students at Mon Valley School in Jefferson Hills to create a code that would guide a robot through blobs of paint spread across a large canvas. He then asked them to again use coding to make the robot splatter the paint around. Their efforts resulted...
Whitehall golf prodigy got into the swing of things in Augusta
Michael Quallich was headed home to Whitehall after a whirlwind weekend at the Drive, Chip and Putt contest in Augusta, Ga., in early April when he got a very important phone call. On the other end of the line was PGA pro John Daly, calling to compliment him on his...
Baldwin-Whitehall School District students, staff participate in second Day of CaringVideo
When Rosetta Bower signed up for Baldwin’s second annual Day of Caring, she had one request—send Superintendent Randy Lutz. Bower, 89, was Lutz’s high school bus driver. “He was a good bus rider. And he’s good now with everything that he does,” she said. Lutz and nine members of the...
Field set for Baldwin-Whitehall school board primary after court decision
The nine-member Baldwin-Whitehall School District Board has five seats up for reelection this year and no shortage of candidates interested in filling them. Eleven people are running in the May 21 primary. Five of six new candidates are running as a group called Fresh Start, while five incumbents have formed...
4 running for 3 Brentwood council seats
Brentwood residents vying for a party nomination for a seat on borough council in the May 21 primary say they want to help keep Brentwood running strong. Four candidates will appear on the Democratic ballot for Brentwood council, seeking a party nomination for one of three, four-year seats. Candidates on...
Brentwood officials break ground on new borough building project
Brentwood leaders plan to open the doors to a new municipal building in July 2020. The 10,000 square-foot building will be complete with state-of-the-art technology and heat — something they haven’t always had at their current building. The project is one of many leaders say are leading to a resurgence...
Baldwin council candidates want to foster strong sense of community
Baldwin Borough Council candidates want to see more recreation in the community and an increased focus on public safety. Four candidates will appear on the Democratic ballot, seeking a party nomination for one of three, four-year seats. Candidates on the Democratic ballot include James Behers, Denise Maiden, Erin M. Brown...
