Valley News Dispatch category, Page 432
Freeport council names leaders while seeking new members before next meeting
With four vacant seats and one member out sick, the Freeport Borough Council meeting Monday was about as long as a commercial break in Monday night’s Steelers game. With the lack of a quorum preventing an official meeting to be held, the only business conducted was appointing a president and...
Police say 15-year-old charged with felony for Snapchat threat that locked down Leechburg Area schools
Police charged a 15-year-old boy in connection with a threat made on social media Monday that resulted in all Leechburg Area School District buildings being placed on lockdown for a portion of the day. Parents were notified about the lockdown by an automated voicemail message sent out by Superintendent Tiffany...
Lernerville Speedway’s 2022 schedule announced
It looks to be another busy season ahead on the dirt track at Lernerville Speedway. The 2022 schedule will include more Fab4 Revved Up and Marburger Farm Dairy events in addition to national and regional sanctioned events — the 16th annual Big River Steel Firecracker 100, the Don Martin Memorial...
Kiski Township woman accused of shooting man she thought stole pistol from her SUV
Kiski Township police accused a woman of kicking a man out of her vehicle and shooting him because she thought he stole one of her handguns. Patricia Marie Kettering-Pierce, 55, of Clarks Hollow Road, Kiski Township was charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault, which includes a count of...
GoFundMe set up for Tarentum hit-and-run victims
A Tarentum woman is fighting for her life after being left in critical condition from a Dec. 30 hit-and-run crash, according to her family. Lyric Manley Jackson and her 9-year-old daughter Symia Jackson were struck by a vehicle while walking along East Seventh Avenue, near the Tarentum Bridge. The driver...
The Stroller, Jan. 4, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Start the new year off right! 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. Community blood drive planned in Gilpin A Red Cross community blood drive will be from noon...
District Association’s Follies raises money for projects from Harmar to Aspinwall and beyond
Fresh off the success of the Follies fundraiser, filled with jokes and jabs, the District Association of the Fox Chapel Area is eyeing ways it can use proceeds from the event to enhance life across the Lower Valley. The Follies, a light-hearted, self-deprecating musical, raised more than $85,000. “For a...
New Kensington man to serve 5-10 year prison term for meth lab in parents’ basement
A New Kensington man will serve up to 10 years in prison in connection with a methamphetamine laboratory found in his parents’ basement. Sean Christopher Smith, 36, was convicted in October by a Westmoreland County jury of multiple charges of possession of drugs used to make methamphetamines and two additional...
Leechburg schools placed on lockdown after threat made on social media
All Leechburg Area School District buildings were placed on lockdown for a portion of the day Monday after school officials learned about a threat that was made on social media, according to the superintendent. Superintendent Tiffany Nix notified parents about the lockdown in a voicemail. “We are in a lockdown...
Fox Chapel Area schools break fundraising record for charity
The Fox Chapel Area School District has set an all-time annual fundraising record for a local charity. Students helped raise more than $107,000 during a monthlong districtwide campaign that culminated in a livestreamed telethon Dec. 23. Over the past 32 years, the district has raised more than $1 million for...
Police: Allegheny Township woman charged with felony for breaking into home after being evicted
A woman from Allegheny Township and her accomplice are charged with breaking into a house after she was evicted from the residence, police said. Vandergrift police charged Lauren Renee Decapite, 35, of Rebecca Avenue with one felony count of criminal trespass in connection with the Dec. 30 incident. She is...
Vandergrift woman accused of stabbing man with kitchen knives during argument
Kiski Township police charged a Vandergrift woman with felony aggravated assault because a man told them she stabbed him multiple times with kitchen knives during an argument last month, authorities say. Amy Lee Hepler, 38, of Longfellow Street also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault, as well...
Taco Bell to open this year in Allegheny Plaza, but target date not announced
Construction on a new fast-food dining option is progressing in Allegheny Township. A new Taco Bell restaurant is expected to open as early as next month at 500 Hyde Park Road in Allegheny Plaza, but project officials are keeping mum on an opening date. On Tuesday, a spokesman from PBI...
Highlands kindergartner feels unstoppable with new prosthetic
Highlands kindergartner Annabel Grant received a rousing round of applause when she walked into school recently. Teachers and students lined the hallways of the district’s Early Childhood Center, hooting and hollering while the 5-year-old made her way to class. It was Annabel’s first day back in school with her new...
The Stroller, Jan. 3, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Free advice available for those with financial troubles Allegheny Valley Association of Churches has free support services available for anyone who is...
Del Vecchio’s owner runs business in the same Vandergrift house where he grew up
From an early age, Tommy Scanga felt at home in a kitchen. “I cook. That’s what I do,” said Scanga, 62, a lifelong Vandergrift resident. Cooking alongside his mother, Mary Ann Scanga, Tommy Scanga learned at an early age how to make Italian staples such as homemade sauce with meatballs,...
New Year’s Day dodgeball tournament draws small, but enthusiastic turnout in first year
The Dodgefathers arrived dressed to impress. The five-member dodgeball team, made up of middle school-age boys from Wheeling, W.Va., journeyed Saturday to West Deer to compete in the inaugural New Year Smash Em Dodgeball Tournament. Sporting matching custom T-shirts with a sporty play on the classic Italian mafia film, the...
Police: Spat over missing item leads to man’s shooting in Kiski Twp.; woman jailed
A Kiski Township woman was jailed in Armstrong County after shooting a man she had forced out of the car on the night of New Year’s Day, Kiski Township police said. Police said Patricia Kettering-Pierce, 55, of Clarks Hollow Road, shot the man along Edmond Road in Armstrong County about...
Vandergrift’s Meals On Wheels in dire need of volunteers
These days, Vandergrift Area Meals on Wheels is rolling along with fewer volunteers. The independent nonprofit with a mission of providing fresh and wholesome meals to older folks in Vandergrift and Allegheny Township is in “great need” of volunteers, according to food service director Buster Burnham. Burnham, a one-man chef...
Biohazard cleaning business proposes new office, warehouse building in Arnold
The owner of an Arnold business specializing in cleaning biohazards wants to put up a new building in the city for his company. JCS Biohazard Services cleans biologically hazardous materials, including blood, sewage, animal waste, animal carcasses and drug and medical waste, according to the company’s website. It provides cleanup...
The Stroller, Jan. 2, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Christmas tree recycling locations announced Several locations in the area will offer Christmas tree recycling. They include: • Allegheny Township: maintenance building,...
Man accused of beating Springdale woman, stealing her car, burglarizing her home
Springdale police charged a man with six felony theft charges after a woman told them the man pushed her out of her car after beating her, stole the vehicle and then burglarized her home. Vincent Edward Tabone, 29, of Sylvan Avenue, Collier Township, was charged with burglary, robbery of a...
Recreation, conservation projects in A-K Valley, Westmoreland County to get state grants
Grants totaling nearly $70 million will help fund more than 300 recreation and conservation projects across the state, including a number in the Alle-Kiski Valley and Westmoreland County, Gov. Tom Wolf recently announced. Included among the more than two dozen grants from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for...
The Stroller, Jan. 1, 2022: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
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. Therapy dogs welcome to join program at Allegheny Valley Hospital Allegheny Valley Hospital, Harrison, is expanding its pet therapy program and invites...
3 popular Oakmont restaurants have new owner; The Chelsea Grille to go Mexican
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...
