Jack Troy stories, Page 15
Buffalo Township indecisive on fix for draft budget deficit
Buffalo Township officials have yet to decide how they’re going to plug a $140,000 revenue shortfall in their $4.2 million draft budget for next year. Options include a short-term loan, property tax increase or draw-down of federal American Rescue Plan funds. Pulling from reserves alone wouldn’t suffice, as the rainy...
Chorus to approve U.S. Steel-Nippon deal grows louder
United Steelworkers President David McCall was mentioned only once by name Thursday afternoon at a rally supporting the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, but his intransigence over the $15 billion acquisition looms much larger with a decision on the deal likely imminent. “I want to know: Who’s...
Penn Hills-based Turner Dairy Farms wins Pitt award for innovative flavors, practices
Turner Dairy Farms in Penn Hills, long known for its milk and iced tea, isn’t satisfied with just sticking to tradition. Take its limited-run chocolate marshmallow milk, for instance, or hard iced tea collaboration with Pittsburgh Brewing Co. This evolution is part of why Turner’s recently was named the Business...
Buffalo supervisors deny zoning change, likely killing housing proposal off Riemer Road
The Buffalo Township supervisors rejected a zoning change Wednesday that would have paved the way for yet another housing subdivision near the Route 356 corridor. Hawthorne Residential LLC asked the board to rezone a section of land off Riemer Road from agricultural to residential with the goal of building an...
Penn Hills renews contract with Hoffman Kennels over activist objections
Penn Hills has stuck with the pack as one of nearly 100 municipalities that pay Hoffman Kennels for animal control. The two-year deal, approved in November, comes at a base rate of $2,000 a month plus $100 for each call after working hours. The kennel, which has handled the municipality’s...
Allegheny Township budget status bleak but fixable; 3% tax hike proposed
Allegheny Township is barreling toward serious financial woes without some major changes, according to financial documents. That’s why Township Manager Dan Miller proposed a 3% tax increase to help offset $4.2 million in expenses, but the modest hike is just the start of what likely will need to be an...
UPMC, other health care and insurance giants scrub leadership from web after CEO killing
Health care giant UPMC makes no secret of who its top executives are, but the organization isn’t advertising it, either. At least, not for now. Western Pennsylvania’s largest employer, like some other large corporations, is giving its leadership a lower online profile. CEO Leslie Davis’ photo and biography have been...
$134,000 state fine hangs over Westmoreland communities involved in defunct economic development partnership
It’s unclear who will end up paying a $134,000 fine against a defunct consortium of northern Westmoreland County communities, but Allegheny Township won’t have to bear that cost alone, like some officials there initially feared. The State Ethics Commission first notified the township in 2021 that the Westmoreland Economic Development...
BNY sells South Buffalo data center for $5.5 million
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. sold its data center and office building in South Buffalo for $5.5 million to a subsidiary of an Irish firm. Commonly known as BNY, the company’s departure from RIDC Armstrong Innovation Park represents a “strategic consolidation,” spokesperson Ryan Wells said. He did not...
North Apollo sticks with Kiski Township for police coverage, withdraws from proposed regional force
North Apollo is right back where it started with police coverage after months of haggling with different departments and infighting among officials. Kiski Township police got the nod Monday to provide protection for another two years. Kiski Township will be paid $68,000 in 2025 and $72,000 in 2026. The decision...
Oklahoma Borough family leans on faith, community after fire ravages home
John Walsh and his family are trying to rebuild their lives from scratch from out of a hotel in Harmar. No one was hurt when a fire gutted their Oklahoma Borough home Saturday, but their two dogs and two cats were killed and nearly all of their possessions were destroyed....
Armstrong County officials propose 33% property tax increase
Armstrong County officials have proposed a 33% real estate tax increase to cover a long-standing budget shortfall. Officials unveiled their $26.5 million preliminary spending plan last week. The millage rate would go from 15 to 20 mills, meaning the owner of a home assessed at the county median value of...
No property tax hike planned for North Apollo
North Apollo’s proposed budget for 2025, if passed, would come with no increase to real estate taxes. The millage rate would remain at 12.09 mills, meaning the owner of a home with the median assessed property value of $25,000 would continue to pay $302 a year to the borough. Expenses...
North Apollo mayor quits as the borough’s police options dwindle
North Apollo may have no choice but to stick with Kiski Township for police coverage as alternatives dwindle and the force’s leading critic, former Mayor June Kilgore, leaves office following her resignation. Since September, Kilgore has been asking council to consider another option for police coverage, when she raised doubts...
Pitt graduate workers unionize in landslide vote
Graduate student workers at the University of Pittsburgh have voted in a landslide to unionize with the United Steelworkers after years of organizing and rising pro-labor sentiment in academia. More than 97% of eligible voters went for a union just over a year after organizers kicked off their card campaign....
Penn Hills sets tight rules for future hookah bar proposals, but existing lounges stay status quo
Hookah bars are now a conditional use in Penn Hills, months after a shooting at Ballers Hookah Lounge & Cigar Bar killed two, wounded seven and raised concerns about nuisance businesses in town. The zoning amendment, approved Nov. 18, only impacts future proposed hookah bars, defined as “any establishment that...
Penn Hills draft budget calls for 2-mill tax increase, though not all officials are on board
Penn Hills residents would see a 2-mill tax hike under the draft budget for next year, though at least some council members believe a smaller increase could keep the municipality on sound fiscal footing. The property tax raise floated by Manager Scott Andrejchak would bring the millage rate from 6.444...
Volunteers plant trees along Penn Hills section of Allegheny River Boulevard
About 30 volunteers spent part of Nov. 16 planting eight trees near a stone turnout along Allegheny River Boulevard in Penn Hills. The event was a partnership between the Penn Hills Shade Tree Commission, the Allegheny River Boulevard Preservation Association and TreeVitalize Pittsburgh, an application-based program that offers trees as...
South Buffalo plans 15th year of no tax increases
South Buffalo is maintaining a 15-year streak of no tax hikes as part of its proposed $2.5 million budget. Supervisors approved a preliminary spending plan after a series of public budget workshops, with formal passage scheduled for Dec. 16. The property tax rate is expected to remain at 5.7 mills....
No tax hike expected for Vandergrift property owners
Vandergrift has no plans to raise real estate taxes next year, according to its preliminary spending plan. The proposed budget would keep the property tax rate at 28 mills. Expenditures are projected to hit about $2.5 million, roughly $30,000 more than expected income. That gap would be covered by leftover...
‘It’s inevitable:’ Residents mull what growth means for future of Buffalo Township
For all the consternation about a wave of residential development in Buffalo Township, Drew Klemens saw it coming 13 years ago, when he moved across from a cornfield now slated to become 627 units of upscale town homes and single-family houses. “Nobody is going to come out to this area...
627-home mixed-use plan proposed for Buffalo Township a clear sign of accelerating growth
A Lancaster-based firm wants to transform a slice of farmland in Buffalo Township into a town within a town, boasting more than 600 homes and about 20,000 square feet of retail space. The ambitious plan, proposed near the intersection of routes 28 and 356, reflects a seemingly insatiable appetite for...
Penn Hills Planning Department hiring ahead of director’s retirement
Penn Hills is seeking a planning director and a planner, but only one person is leaving what currently is a three-member department. Planning Director Chris Blackwell will retire in February after 30 years with the municipality and 10 as the department head. In that time, he has had a hand...
Penn Hills program helps low-income homebuyers cover upfront costs
More families are turning to a Penn Hills program that offers up to $14,500 toward a down payment and closing costs on homes in the municipality. Penn Hills, in collaboration with social services provider ACTION-Housing, Allegheny County Economic Development and consultant Urban Design Ventures, launched the program in 2017 to...
Could Springdale Church’s donated Pittsburgh Christmas tree be the last from the property?
A reliable supply of towering Christmas trees for Pittsburgh’s annual display may come to an end Saturday after crews cut down two more evergreens from an old church in Springdale. The city has sourced the centerpiece of its Light Up Night festivities from the former St. Alphonsus Church, owned by...
