Shaler Journal category, Page 17

Keegan Smetanka feels comfortable that he can make the right read when he scans defenses. The senior quarterback demonstrated the Shaler offense is capable of producing plenty of big plays last year. Smetanka completed 54.7% of his passes, throwing for 2,151 yards with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. While the...

Etna’s annual Community Day was smack dab in the middle of what are commonly referred to as the dog days of summer — July 3 to Aug. 11 each year and usually the hottest days of the season. But one way to beat the dog days is to take a...

Students in the Shaler Area School District will have access to expanded competitive eSports programs when they return to school. It’s not a surprising development when you consider that eSports is a billion-dollar industry in the U.S., according to Eloise Milligan, coordinator of academic services for the Shaler Area School...

Bellevue Joseph Suto sold property at Jacks Run Road to Joshua and Natalie Neurohr for $90,000. Andrew Badger sold property at 139 Sheridan Ave. to Joseph Carmen and Allison Murtha Laneve for $460,000. Codey Wentz sold property at 128 Washington Ave. to Emily Solan for $255,000. Etna SQZ Capital LLC...

Another special election is coming for some Allegheny County residents. Democrats and Republicans have chosen their nominees for an upcoming special election for the 21st state House District. The seat was recently vacated by former state. Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Lawrenceville, as she prepares her run for Allegheny County Executive. District...

Fall is coming and Shaler Township has some exciting events in the months leading up to Halloween. The fun begins with a Community Yard Sale Sept. 9 from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at Kiwanis Park. As the name indicates, it’s a community wide yard/garage sale that allows people to do one-stop...

Monroeville Convention Center soon will be packed with artists, pop culture enthusiasts, costume creators and a familiar face that rivals many of the celebrity guests. Mike “Zombo” Devine of Shaler makes his return to Steel City Con Aug. 11-13 after a brief retirement from hosting such events. The usually silver-haired...

It’s training police officers hope to never use. “Heaven forbid, if (an active shooter event) would happen, they would have to familiarity with the buildings,” said Greg Garcia, a Ross Township police officer and and member of the North Hills Special Response Team. Police officers from throughout Allegheny County’s northern...

You may not know it to look at the empty dek hockey rink near the pool and playground behind Etna’s Borough Building, but the borough was once home to a thriving dek hockey program. Dek hockey had been a part of the Etna community since 1995, and up until 2021,...

Ask a visual artist what motivates them and you’re likely to hear a good number mention the therapeutic benefits of engaging in the creative process. That certainly goes for the artists who have created the nearly 90 hand-cut collages on display at Shaler North Hills Library through Aug. 26. Many...

Students in Shaler Area School District will return to school on Aug. 24. New and continuing programming includes Portrait of a Graduate, the district’s vision for 21st-century learning for every student. “This is a process of identifying skills and characteristics that we desire our students to have as they graduate...

Bellevue Zachary Richert sold property at 173 N Sprague Ave. to Chauncey Foster for $285,000. Estate of Alfonso Siriani Jr. sold property at 144 S Bryant Ave. to Victoria Randall and Kaitlin Elliot for $164,000. Etna Denise Bowland sold property at 16-18 Bridge St. to 16 Bridge LLC for $165,000....

WXDX program director and midday host Abby Krizner doesn’t seem to remember a time in her life when music wasn’t an integral part of it, whether she was playing instruments or playing records. That’s probably not too surprising to those familiar with Krizner’s on-air work hosting and curating alternative rock...

By all accounts, Tony Garland was an altruistic, lovable man. That’s the way his neighbors remembered him after learning he died at a hospital at 11 a.m. Wednesday following injuries suffered in a house fire Tuesday night at his home at 1601 Burchfield Road in Shaler. His partner, Michael E....

Two men were hospitalized in critical condition, and a firefighter was treated for dehydration, Tuesday night as a result of a fire in Shaler. Allegheny County 911 dispatch said the calls for the two-alarm fire at a home along the 1600 block of Burchfield Road came in shortly after 9...

When Etna council unanimously passed an ordinance prohibiting the first-generation sale of fur products at its July 18 meeting, Etna became the first municipality in the state and the 14th in the nation to ban fur products, according to the Humane Society of the United States. “First-generation” refers to newly...

The following students were named to the dean’s list at Chatham University for the spring 2023 semester: Meghan Dominek, Emma Blough, Michael Hurst, Abby Ronald, Gabe Ruano, Rachel Coleman, Oden Due, Annamarie Hart and Hannah Perry. Eli Yofan and Sophia Oeherle made the dean’s list at Miami University for the...

Logan Peterson felt fortunate that the AAU boys volleyball national championships rolled around in early July. The Shaler senior right-side hitter, who plays for the 17U North United club team, was itching to get back on the court. The Titans lived up to heavy expectations by winning the WPIAL for...

Bellevue James McGurgan sold property at 713-715 Clinton Pl to Stefania James for $239,700. Katherine Beattie sold property at 509 Highland Pl to Jonathan Hyslop and Kathryn Senko for $125,000. Kenneth Draim sold property at 149 N Sprague Ave. to Andrew and Patricia Folmer for $324,000. Bradford Woods Nancy Snyder...

Inside the “A” in the logo for the newest place to grab a beer in Shaler, an image of a shoot of a grain of barley is visible. The name of the establishment is Acrospire Brewing Co., and it’s inspired by ingredients in the beer. The word acrospire means the...

Around 200 people attended Shaler Garden Club’s 15th Annual Great Garden Tour on July 9. “Spectacular, whimsical, and clever,” were words used to describe William and Catherine Heintzinger’s garden, which won first place in the 2022 Shaler Great Gardens Contest. The couple started their garden in 1974 and it includes...

All it took was a second. On a sunny summer afternoon, Shaler native Jason Ruhle was halfway through a two-hour cruise around the confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers, captaining 12 passengers on two tiki boats down the Allegheny River. He docked about 4:30 p.m. July 8 at Point State Park....

Bellevue John Stahl Jr. sold property at 184 N Sprague Ave. to Todd Williams and Alexa Roberts for $250,000. Etna Daniel Lisjack sold property at 316 Butler St. to Richard and Timothy Miller for $80,250. Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority sold property at Sherman Ave. to Bryan Holland for $1,300. Franklin...

Firefighters responded to a fire at a Shaler strip mall shortly after 4:30 Friday morning that affected a dialysis clinic and a Planet Fitness there. No flames were visible and there were no injuries, according to Shaler Township Fire Chief Dwayne Steinmetz, who was at the scene. “All it was...

Shaler residents will pay more next year to have their garbage collected. At the July 11 meeting, the board of commissioners voted unanimously to award a new contract to Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill, LLC d/b/a County Hauling, the current provider and only bidder. Residents will pay $30 per month in 2024,...