Valley News Dispatch category, Page 356

The end of 2021 also became an end of an era as three beloved Oakmont restaurants have been sold. Hoffstot’s Cafe Monaco, The Chelsea Grille and Oakmont Tavern were purchased by Oakmont resident and entrepreneur John Keefe. Keefe owns three other eateries in Oakmont — The Lot at Edgewater, Pub...

East Deer could be joining the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department in the near future. The township commissioners voted 5-0 Friday afternoon to apply to the force, which now covers Cheswick and Springdale Township. The department is operated by a board from the two municipalities. The board would have to...

Cheswick Borough property owners will not see an increase in taxes next year but will pay more for sewage. Cheswick officials unanimously voted 7-0 to approve the $2.2 million budget keeping the tax rate at 5.6 mills. The general fund is $1.9 million. Cheswick council member Brad Yaksich was absent...

Even as the global covid pandemic kept its grip on the Alle-Kiski Valley for a second year, 2021 saw its share of other significant developments, including the arrival of a major brewery, a concerted effort to diminish blight and even the rebirth of some downtown areas. Here are some of...

Arnold police arrested a man because two women said he walked into their homes and made sexually suggestive comments to them and refused to leave until they threatened to call police, authorities say. Thomas Slosky, 59, of Laurel Place in New Kensington was charged with a felony count of criminal...

A New Kensington woman was charged with felony identity theft after, police say, she gave them her sister’s name when she was approached by an officer who saw her sitting in a vehicle with a marijuana pipe. Shanna Rachelle Heymers, 41, of Virginia Drive also faces a charge of possession...

Publicize your events, club meetings and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Best wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year to all our readers! Natrona food pantry offers help The Natrona Community Pantry...

There’s more than meatloaf and homemade mashed potatoes keeping the old stainless steel Yak Diner in North Apollo going. The manufactured 1955 O’Mahony diner is a movable prefab building, and it has to go. The new diner owners will hook the Yak to a semitrailer Monday to move it just...

Several hundred residents in Washington Township will have their electric power shut off for part of the day on Wednesday so upgrades can be made to West Penn Power’s facilities, utility officials announced. The planned power outage will affect 229 customers in the area of Goldfinch and Mallard drives as...

Allegheny County Police investigators are pursuing information on a hit-and-run crash that critically injured two pedestrians Thursday on the Tarentum Bridge. The two people injured — an adult and juvenile — were transported by ambulance to undisclosed area hospitals after the 6:04 p.m. crash. Police reported the collision occurred in...

State police accused a man of dealing drugs after, police say, they found nearly 9 ounces of marijuana in his car during a traffic stop in North Buffalo Township. Bradly Alan Wiles, 35, of Oliver Road in Boggs Township, Armstrong County, was charged with one felony count of possession of...

A 45-year-old Washington Township man accused of assaulting a teenage girl and threatening her with a rifle surrendered to police after a four-hour standoff early Wednesday, according to court documents. Township police arrested Calvin C. Creighton Jr. at his home on the 100 block of Turack Road just after 4...

Publicize your events, club meetings and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. Leechburg Elks to host annual hoop shoot event The annual Leechburg Elks Hoop Shoot free throw competition will be at noon Jan....

River Road closure for moving the Yak Diner delayed Closure of a section of River Road in North Apollo that was set of happen Monday will be delayed for at least a day. Arlene “Dolly” McCoy said Saturday that moving the diner must be delayed until PennDOT releases a permit....

Upper Burrell residents anticipating the opening of the Dollar General along Route 780 no longer have to wait. The store, located on 4500 Seventh Street Road, opened its doors on Christmas Eve. The store is expected to gain some traction from its placement near a residential area. “We look forward...

Customers of the Harrison Township Water Authority will see a 5% increase in their rates beginning Jan. 1, the authority announced. The authority said in a recent press release that it is increasing the cost of water because of inflation; increased costs for chemicals, health care, fuel and employee pay;...

Kiski Township police dropped rape charges against Jordan Michael Coleman of North Apollo after the alleged victim confessed she made up the allegations. Coleman was arrested and jailed after accusations that he choked, assaulted and raped an estranged girlfriend on Oct. 28 in North Apollo during an argument that started...

A Vandergrift woman and her daughter each face 33 animal cruelty and neglect charges after a state humane officer accused them of improperly caring for 11 cats and then abandoning them at a shelter. Callie Jo McCluskey, 51, and Katherine McCluskey, 18, of 37th Street, each were charged with 11...

New Kensington police charged a Victoria Avenue man with felony aggravated assault after his girlfriend accused him of breaking her wrist during an argument. Ernest Darnell Prince, 30, also faces a misdemeanor charge of unlawful restraint in connection with the Dec. 5 incident. He faces a preliminary hearing on the...

Publicize your events, club meetings and fundraisers for free in The Stroller. Send information at least a week in advance to vndnews@triblive.com. Please include a daytime telephone number. HOPE Center shares wish list The Alle-Kiski Area HOPE Center, Tarentum, needs items for its clients who are fleeing domestic violence. Items...

Wish lists abound this time of year, but not all gifts come in neatly wrapped packages. Local community leaders know what they’d most like to see under their municipal trees — if cost and tax dollars were no object. From trails to safe sidewalks to green space, officials appear to...

Pastor James Arter of First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Leechburg has seen the impact the church’s Community Closet has on families and individuals. Years ago, a young girl came with her father to buy clothes. She was so taken with the project’s mission that she later returned with clothes of...

Tom Tyborowski begins decorating his Tarentum house for Christmas at the same time the Halloween pumpkins go out — but the lights, reindeer and nutcrackers remain at least until February. “We enjoy it and sometimes after the rush of the holidays, when everything seems blah, we enjoy the lights just...

Harrison will keep a township contractor busy not only with demolishing structures but doing some building work, as well. Township commissioners awarded two contracts to Ron Gillette Inc. and expanded another. The commissioners approved a contract for Gillette to tear down a number of abandoned, blighted structures in the Natrona...

A Tarentum woman was charged with a felony after police say she intentionally provided false information about her past when filling out an application to buy a gun at a sporting goods store. Robin A. Ratz, 66, of Heuser Way was charged by Harrison Township police with a felony count...