Kellen Stepler stories, Page 20
Fiscal responsibility, managing growth priorities to Collier commissioner candidates
Editor’s note: The Signal Item is only spotlighting contested races in the primary election. Three Collier commissioner seats are available in this year’s election. The Republican primary candidates are incumbents Wayne Chiurazzi and Karianne Suter, along with Mark Lewis and Jason Wylie. The Democratic candidates in the primary are incumbent...
Meet the candidates for Chartiers Valley School Board
Editor’s note: The Signal Item is only spotlighting contested races in the primary election. Candidates for Chartiers Valley School Board have an array of answers as to how they’d lead the district into the future. In the May 20 primary election, incumbents Mitch Montani, Herb Ohliger, Megan Sexton and Lisa...
Carlynton School board candidates key in on communication, transparency, finances
Editor’s note: The Signal Item is only spotlighting contested races in the primary election. Communication, transparency and finances are top of mind for the six candidates seeking four nominations on the Carlynton School Board. Brittany Bova, Tina Geer and Reece Smith, and incumbents Leeanne Mitchell-O’Brien, Susie Puskar and Christine Simcic...
Artificial intelligence to help Lower Burrell public works save money, plan road repairs
Lower Burrell officials expect to save a few thousand dollars annually by using artificial intelligence software to determine the quality of city roads. Council on April 14 approved a five-year agreement with Vialytics of New Jersey at a cost of $11,520 annually plus a setup fee of $2,875. “By implementing...
Penn State trustees speak out against branch campuses closing
Four current or former Penn State University trustees, including late football Coach Joe Paterno’s son, are urging the university administration not to close any of the school’s branch campuses. “The easy decision is to close campuses because it requires the least thought and inflicts pain elsewhere,” said the op-ed, published...
Outlawing noisy brakes may be uphill battle for stretch of Lower Burrell road
Lower Burrell is asking PennDOT to weigh public safety against peace and quiet on a stretch of Route 56. Council last week requested PennDOT complete a “brake retarder study,” in the section of Route 56 between Hill Crest Country Club and its intersection with Puckety Church and Leechburg roads. Mayor...
Penn State branch campus closure announcement delayed
Upper Burrell Supervisor Ross G. Walker III hopes no news is good news. The longtime township supervisor said that, since learning of the potential closure of his township’s Penn State New Kensington campus, he has not heard anything from Penn State administration regarding the school’s future. “It could make you...
Lower Burrell planners OK proposed Bon Air Elementary renovations
Regardless of which option Burrell School Board chooses when it comes to renovating Bon Air Elementary School, it has the support of Lower Burrell’s planning commission. The commission recommended approval of plans that add cafeteria and kitchen space to Bon Air, or additional cafeteria space and six additional classrooms at...
6 buildings to be razed, others renovated at New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park
A familiar, if not attractive, sight to motorists on the New Kensington Bridge soon will be gone. Red brick buildings, known for decades for being empty and having smashed windows, are among six at the New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park to be demolished over the summer as remediation efforts at...
Proposed Carnegie Elementary renovation reevaluated
A proposed renovation project at Carnegie Elementary School is being reevaluated due to costs exceeding expectations, according to Carlynton School District officials. Carlynton had planned to move forward with the renovations this summer, but the bids were higher than anticipated, according to a district statement. The base bid was about...
Collier boy could be part of golf’s next generation
When Niko Ameredes was 2 years old, his father, TJ, would take him out to the golf course with an iPad and snacks. “(Niko) would get out and putt,” said his mom, Samantha. “As time went on, he’d do a little more than putting. He’d play two holes, and that...
Infrastructure improvements for electrical service on tap in Collier
Duquesne Light officials plan for infrastructure improvements for electrical service in a problematic section of Collier to be complete by the fall. Company spokeswoman Alyssa Battaglia said Duquesne Light sent letters to customers in the Rennerdale section of Collier to update them to increased reliability in the area. Those area...
Bridgeville seeks reversal of federal decision for funding for McLaughlin Run flood project
Bridgeville is at risk of missing out $5.33 million of federal funding for a flood control project officials say would advance public safety and development in the northern end of the borough. The borough is calling on its residents to contact federal legislators to restore FEMA’s “Building Resilient Infrastructure and...
New Kensington sinkhole deemed ‘public nuisance’ now fixed
A hole in a New Kensington alley deemed a “public nuisance” by officials has been filled. Crews spent Monday and Tuesday working to fill the hole in Moss Alley in the Parnassus section of the city. “It was a great day,” said Vince Davis, who owns property nearby. The hole...
Lower Burrell nixes idea for alcohol at city parks events
Lower Burrell is scrapping plans to allow alcohol at city park events — at least for now. The proposal, according to City Manager Greg Primm, would have required alcohol vendors to be state-licensed and offer only Pennsylvania-made alcoholic products. It would have established a formal permitting system and operational rules...
‘Potentially life-saving’: Arnold, Lower Burrell, New Kensington move to form daytime fire crew
Your eyes won’t be fooling you if you see an Arnold firefighter in a Lower Burrell fire truck en route to an emergency scene. Or a Lower Burrell firefighter in a New Kensington truck. The cities are working together to establish a Tri-City duty crew to effectively staff the cities’...
Building the Valley: Lower Burrell’s Monarch Hospice emphasizes personal care
A little more than a decade ago, hospice nurse Lori Hank grew more and more frustrated with the direction the health care industry was headed. She told her friend, Richard Seifert, that she felt the industry was not focusing on patients over profit. Seifert gave her the push to open...
Faced with a perfect storm, small local colleges try to navigate the future
“If you build it, they will come” was not the way to go about higher education in Pennsylvania, experts say. Declining birth rates and rising tuition costs are combining with other economic factors to make it harder — especially for smaller campuses — to fight enrollment declines and survive. “It’s...
Students from several school districts dance the day away at life skills prom in Lower Burrell
There was no doubt in senior Dustin O’Hara’s mind that a school year’s worth of effort operating a coffee cart at Valley High School paid off. The coffee cart, coordinated by Valley life skills students and offered weekly to the school, paid for a prom Friday morning at the Wildlife...
Morning Roundup: Pa. State police accuse Knoch teacher of hitting 8-year-old student
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Friday, April 11: Knoch teacher accused of hitting student Pennsylvania State Police have accused an elementary school teacher in the Knoch School District of striking an 8-year-old student in the face in November. Troopers plan to charge Knoch Primary...
New Kensington hole declared a public nuisance, city seeking repair bids
New Kensington is seeking bids to fix a sewage-flooded hole that has been declared a public nuisance. “We are actively trying to fix this problem,” said City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti. “We’re aware of it, and we’re doing our due diligence.” The hole is in Moss Alley in the Parnassus area...
Proposed Chartiers Valley budget shows no tax increase; transportation, academics discussed
Chartiers Valley School District property owners likely won’t pay more in taxes next year. School directors voted, 6-3, on Tuesday, April 8 to approve the proposed final budget for next school year, which totals $79 million and maintains the real estate tax rate at 20.1909 mills. The final budget is...
Morning Roundup: Man in custody after SWAT situation in Pittsburgh; Braddock could join regional police force
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, April 10: Man in custody after SWAT situation in Pittsburgh A man was taken into custody following a SWAT situation overnight in Pittsburgh’s Summer Hill neighborhood, according to TribLive news partner WTAE. At 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, a man...
‘It is a public hazard’: Waste-filled New Kensington sinkhole alarms neighbors
What started as a sewer repair in a New Kensington alley has devolved into a public safety and health hazard, neighbors say. “It’s technically not a sinkhole, but it turned into one,” said Vince Davis, who owns property nearby. “The hole originally was like (the width of) a manhole, 13...
Valley biology teacher wins grand prize in National Science Teaching Association competition
A Valley High School biology teacher has been nationally recognized for her efforts in the classroom. Kathy Jo Sagwitz, who has taught at Valley for 17 years, was selected as the grand prize winner in the Shell Science Lab Regional Challenge, administered by the National Science Teaching Association. “Great teaching...
