Jack Troy stories, Page 13
Allegheny Township Big Lots appears to be in jeopardy as partial liquidation unfolds
The future of Big Lots’ footprint in Western Pennsylvania remains unclear, but it’s not looking good for the Allegheny Township location. Its lease was recently available for transfer, which is a sign it could close as part of the struggling bargain retailer’s acquisition by a Boston-based asset liquidation firm. Locations...
Funding comes through to replace roughly 1,000 lead water lines in the Alle-Kiski Valley
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County has the cash on hand to start ripping out approximately 1,000 lead water lines in its five-county network. The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority came through earlier this month with a $4.6 million grant and a $5.4 million loan to fund most of the project....
New player arrives in U.S. Steel-Nippon takeover saga with the goal of quashing it
An asset manager based in Cleveland is seeking to quash a Japanese takeover of U.S. Steel and oust its leadership after buying a minor stake in the company. The activist shareholder, Ancora, recently acquired less than a quarter-percent stake in the company. It said in an open letter Monday the...
Grants are an imperfect lifeline for volunteer fire departments
Until a few weeks ago, some Vandergrift No. 1 volunteer firefighters would answer rescue calls in one-piece cotton jumpsuits ripped from decades of crawling into mangled vehicles and performing hillside rope rescues. The rescue gear wasn’t specially rated for safety — or especially well-fitting, according to Chief Randy Dunmire. “Just...
Southern Armstrong police settling into Freeport headquarters
The Southern Armstrong Regional Police Department now has a proper headquarters. After two years of performing key functions in a cramped Gilpin basement, the force moved this week to a roomy station at 235 Fifth St. in Freeport. “Finally, we found somewhere that worked, made sense, was big enough for...
Steel-processing furnace confirmed as source of Lower Burrell explosion, but details remain scant
Few details have been released about a Lower Burrell steel plant explosion that killed a Tarentum man. Brennan Sites, chief of Lower Burrell No. 3 Fire Company, confirmed a steel-processing furnace was the source of the explosion. Daniel R. Vakulick, 20, died from injuries sustained in the blast just before...
Starbucks and Bealls coming to Allegheny Township’s Hyde Park Plaza
The rumors are true: Starbucks and Bealls are moving into Allegheny Township’s Hyde Park Plaza. Jeff Paul, owner of the once-beleaguered shopping center, confirmed the incoming tenants Thursday after months of online speculation. A Starbucks spokesperson, however, said the company has “no store opening plans to announce.” Even so, Paul...
Franchising equal parts rewarding, rigorous for new owners of McDonald’s stores in Penn Hills
Eugenia and Michael Cassidy took over the two McDonald’s stores in Penn Hills last year, and, so far, they’re “lovin’ ” it. But there’s more to getting in on one of the world’s most recognizable brands than just pooling together at least $500,000 in nonborrowed funds, the minimum for prospective...
Repurposed rails from Brilliant Branch to make line running through Penn Hills, Verona quieter
A more than 2-mile stretch of rail line passing through Penn Hills and Verona is set to quiet down. In the coming months, Allegheny Valley Railroad will pull up track from its soon-to-be abandoned Brilliant Branch and use it along part of the Allegheny Subdivision, which follows the south bank...
Kiski Township hires interim manager to keep basic functions afloat as it seeks full-time replacement
Jason Dailey has become the go-to managerial stopgap for municipalities in the Alle-Kiski Valley facing the sudden departure of their chief administrators. He might have his work cut out for him in Kiski Township. The township supervisors hired Dailey this week just days after former Township Secretary Patrick Bono abruptly...
Freeport high school renovations could cost up to $55M, raise taxes for years to come
Proposed renovations at Freeport Area High School would cost between $20 million and $55 million and result in tax increases for years to come, officials said. The $20 million proposal would include upgrades to roofing, lighting, windows and heating and cooling, while the $55 million plan would also include sewage...
Freeport’s new sewage treatment plant to cost $134K more than expected
A new West Penn Power policy will force Freeport to spend an additional $80,000 on electrical work for its new sewage treatment facility. Crews must lay power lines between the perimeter fence and control room underground instead of overhead, leading to the change order requested by Robert Horvat of KLH...
Casino revenues boost long-delayed projects in Alle-Kiski Valley communities
Oklahoma Borough, with a population of 788, doesn’t have hundreds of thousands of local tax dollars laying around to overhaul its community park, let alone pave the parking lot there. “(Officials) have talked about it in the past, and that project was just put on the back burner because of...
Shrinking council could be an option for Freeport amid retention issues
Two members of Freeport’s depleted council have expressed interest in shrinking the body from seven to five members. Council President Rick Fennell and Councilwoman Kimberly Barr mulled the idea during an informal feedback session Tuesday night. “It’s a conversation worth having, is all I’m saying,” Barr said. A voting meeting...
Cleveland-Cliffs still interested in U.S. Steel if pending merger fails
Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Monday his company is ready to make another offer for U.S. Steel if its attempted merger with Japan’s Nippon Steel fails for good. “We have an all-American solution,” he said during a fiery news conference at the company’s stainless steel plant in Butler. Details were...
Teacher’s surgery recovery at center of lawsuit between Freeport Area School District and union
Freeport Area School District has sued its teachers union in a bid to overturn an arbitrator’s ruling that an employee was not required to use Family and Medical Leave Act time off. A lawsuit filed last week in Butler County Court against the Freeport Education Association claimed first-grade teacher Claudine...
2050 look-ahead: Same diseases, new approaches mostly ahead for health care sector
Editor’s note: Almost one-fourth of the way through this century, TribLive is looking ahead to the next 25 years, using the events of the past 25 as a road map of what possibly is to come. This installment of the occasional series looks at health. Pam Surano knew it would...
Summer Hill woman dead after Fort Pitt Tunnel crash
A woman from Pittsburgh’s Summer Hill neighborhood died Saturday after a crash that briefly closed the eastbound lanes of the Fort Pitt Tunnel. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the deceased as Marcia Winston, 62. The incident happened around 1:45 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s report. Winston was...
Biden administration delays deadline for U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel to kill merger
The Biden administration has given U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel an extra six months to ditch their merger, keeping the deal alive as litigation unfolds over whether a national security panel’s review of it was tainted by political considerations. Under the watch of the Committee on Foreign Investment in...
Building the Valley: Posh Pawws Grooming Services a ‘boujee’ experience for dogs and humans alike
Rosie the Yorkshire Terrier is a far cry from her wild ancestors. She scampers around in her 7-, maybe 8-pound frame, ponytail bouncing with each step. Her favorite trick is to sit pretty. And when it comes to food, if it’s not dehydrated chicken, she doesn’t want it. That makes...
Backyard ice rinks a ‘labor of love’ for handy hockey families
Growing up in Monroeville, Matt Sargo fell in love with ice hockey after his neighbor, a Buffalo, N.Y. transplant on a mission to spread the sport’s good word, built a small rink in his backyard. “He came here with a plan,” said Sargo, a hockey coach who now lives in...
Nepali Asian Restaurant in Carrick ordered to close after inspectors find cockroach infestation
A cockroach infestation, rotten food and raw pork chops dripping onto produce were among the findings Thursday that the Allegheny County Health Department says led it to order Nepali Asian Restaurant to close. The Nepalese restaurant in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood, which opened in 2018, racked up 22 violations, including six...
Trump might still have sway in U.S. Steel-Nippon deal
President-elect Donald Trump’s comments Tuesday, touting a United Arab Emirates company’s planned $20 billion investment in U.S. data centers, could spark hope for the proposed takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel. Though Trump previously said he was not in favor of a foreign company assuming ownership of the...
Kiski Township passes 32% real estate tax hike
The Kiski Township supervisors have settled on a 32% property tax hike to balance this year’s budget. After a brief negotiation, the board opted for a 1.75-mill increase, raising the millage rate from 5.5 mills to 7.25 mills. The owner of a home assessed at the township’s median value of...
U.S. Steel, Nippon say Biden’s decision to block sale was ‘political’
President Joe Biden on Friday blocked a nearly $15 billion sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp., throwing the local future of the country’s once-dominant steelmaker into question. In a move signaled months ago, Biden cited national security concerns surrounding the deal despite pledges from Nippon to...
