Michael DiVittorio stories, Page 4
Duquesne woman identified as victim of June house fire
A woman who died in a June house fire in Duquesne has been identified. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office late Friday identified the deceased as Gudrun Estes, 68, of Duquesne. According to the report, Estes died in the fire that destroyed one home and damaged several others in the...
Quaker Valley Middle School presents ‘Grease’ as this year’s musical
Quaker Valley Middle School musical producer Megan Mueller believes the power her student cast and crew are supplying will be electrifying when they present “Grease” later this month. “I’m extremely excited,” Mueller said on Oct. 29, nine days before opening night. “They’re very talented. I’ve enjoyed working with them. I’ve...
Fox Chapel Area High School performers prepare for fall play ‘Our Town’
Fox Chapel Area High School performers are gearing up for this year’s fall play production. Students in all grade levels have been working diligently to present the Thornton Wilder classic “Our Town.” The play explores the relationship between two young Grover’s Corners neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb, whose childhood...
Leetsdale officials exploring legal options for parking at Henle Park
Leetsdale officials are considering legal action to create more parking at a popular borough recreation site. Council unanimously voted on Oct. 9 to authorize Solicitor Daniel Conlon to prepare a plan for Henle Park parking. All options are on the table, from negotiating deals with nearby property owners to acquiring...
Teen girl stabbed in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood on Halloween
Pittsburgh police are investigating a stabbing in the city’s Allentown neighborhood that left one teen hospitalized and another juvenile detained. Officers were dispatched Friday at about 7:20 p.m. to the 700 block of East Warrington Avenue for a group of juveniles fighting. Public Safety spokeswoman Eliza Durham said officers located...
Bell Acres officials approve new police chief contract, hire new part-timer
Bell Acres officials have inked a new one-year deal with the police chief. Kristoffer Korol is in his 13th year as borough chief. He was hired as a part-time patrolman in 1999 and promoted to full-time in 2000. Korol also served multiple years as captain before taking over the department...
Townhouse plans changed, approved for former Aspinwall church site
Plans have changed for proposed townhouses at the former Community United Methodist Church in Aspinwall. Planning commissioners unanimously voted on Oct. 22 to approve a new proposal from Amena Properties founder Tony Pompeo Jr. to create four single-family homes at the corner of Center Avenue and Fourth Street. The Aspinwall...
Sewickley Hills officials extend contract with garbage hauler
Sewickley Hills residents can expect to pay a slight increase for garbage collection next year. Council unanimously approved a one-year extension of the current three-year contract with trash hauler Valley Waste. It runs Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026. Collection is weekly, with residents billed monthly or quarterly. Recycling is...
Peace poles installed at Fox Chapel Area School District schools
Fox Chapel Area School District has a symbol of peace at each of its six schools courtesy of a community nonprofit. The Rotary Club of Fox Chapel Area donated peace poles to the district earlier this year. Each pole is an 8-foot monument that shows the message, “May Peace Prevail...
Man taken into custody as part of FBI investigation in Harrison
A Harrison man was taken away in handcuffs by township police during an FBI operation Tuesday. Authorities reached that evening did not release the name of the suspect or possible charges. Bradford Arick, spokesman for the FBI Pittsburgh office, would only confirm agents were “conducting authorized law enforcement activity” along...
Sharpsburg has 5 candidates vying for 4 council seats
Editor’s note: The Herald is featuring candidate interviews in contested municipal and school board races only. Sharpsburg has five people seeing four four-year council seats in November, according to Allegheny County Elections Division records. Council president Adrianne Laing, vice president Karen Pilarski-Pastor, councilmen Roman Mason and Corey Ochai, all Democrats,...
Synagogue shooting victims remembered as Squirrel Hill community moves forward
Former Pittsburgh Police Cmdr. Jason Lando did not want to believe what he was hearing during a shift seven years ago. Lando remembers double-checking the call that came in Oct. 27, 2018, reporting a shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. “My first reaction...
Fox Chapel mayoral candidates are a current councilman and a political newcomer
Editor’s note: The Herald is featuring candidate interviews in contested municipal and school board races only. Fox Chapel councilman Jonathan Colton and political newcomer Robert Marsh are running to become the borough’s next mayor in November. Colton, a Democrat, and Marsh, a Republican, each were the lone candidates seeking their...
Jefferson Hills voters to choose from 7 candidates seeking 4 council seats
Jefferson Hills voters have a contested council race with seven candidates vying for four seats in November, according to Allegheny County Election Division records. Candidates are Democrats Edward Manfredi and former councilwomen Karen Bucy and Nicole Stoicovy-Ruscitto, and Republicans Nicholas Horgan, council president Melissa Girman-Steffey and vice president Hilary Kingsley-Budd...
Proposed Sharpsburg budget contains no tax hike, borough sewer fee change
Sharpsburg property owners should not expect a tax hike as part of next year’s budget. Council unanimously voted Oct. 23 to advertise the 2026 budget, but they did not immediately release it. No date to do so was set at the meeting, so it was unclear when the plan would...
O’Hara council has a mix of contested, uncontested races depending on ward
Editor’s note: The Herald is featuring candidate interviews in contested municipal and school board races only. O’Hara has some contested and uncontested races for council seats, depending on the ward, in November, according to Allegheny County Elections Division records. Democrat councilman Richard Hughes and Republican Anthony Santucci are competing for...
Sewickley Hills council candidates decline to answer election questions
Sewickley Hills has four candidates seeking three four-year terms on borough council in the upcoming November election. Candidates are current Council President Joseph Hajnas, Councilman Thomas Klixbull, Councilwoman Teresa Hartle and Planning Commission member Cynthia Phillips. Hajnas and Hartle earned enough votes in the primary to be on both the...
Pleasant Hills voters to chose from 5 candidates seeking 4 council seats
Pleasant Hills voters will choose from five candidates seeking four council seats in the November general election. They are Republican incumbents Eileen Solinas and Jarrett Niecgorski, fellow Republicans Darcy Lynn Vergallito and Stephen Harroun and Democrat Joseph Esper, according to Allegheny County Election Division records. Solinas, Niecgorski and Vergallito will...
Indiana Township Fall Festival draws families to Emmerling Community Park
Indiana Township police celebrated this year’s fall festival at Emmerling Community Park with hayrides, pumpkin painting, face painting, temporary tattoos, balloon creations, music and more. More than 250 people were estimated to have participated in the autumn event on Oct. 11. A bounce house was the newest fall fest feature....
Fox Chapel Area High School crowns new homecoming king, queen after carnival
Fox Chapel Area High School has a new royal couple. Seniors Finnegan McManus and Emma Kurtz, both of Blawnox, were crowned homecoming king and queen Oct. 11. Halftime of the high school football game between the Fox Chapel Foxes and Plum Mustangs at the high school stadium was filled with...
O’Hara man charged with attempted homicide in connection with domestic incident
An O’Hara man is facing charges including attempted homicide after police say he attempted to set a pool deck and a relative on fire Oct. 10. Township police Superintendent Jay Davis said officers from O’Hara, Sharpsburg and Etna responded to a report of an assault and uncontrolled fire at a...
Many Quaker Valley area races uncontested in the November election
Editor’s note: The Sewickley Herald is publishing election previews with candidate interviews for contested municipal and school board races only. Write-in campaigns will not be featured. Quaker Valley area voters will see a lot of familiar names, a handful of new ones and even a couple of new political parties...
Annual Fall in the Wall festival brings hundreds to Aspinwall
Hundreds of folks packed Aspinwall streets earlier this month for the annual Fall in the Wall celebration. Aspinwall Chamber of Commerce presented its autumn festival Oct. 11. There was face painting, pumpkin painting, pony rides, a petting zoo, a deejay, balloon artists, music, magicians, arts and crafts, food trucks and...
Police: 2 people killed after being hit by bus in Indiana County
Two people died Monday after being hit by a bus in Indiana, Pa. Police responded around 2 p.m. to the intersection of Philadelphia and Seventh streets. According to a police department release, an IndiGO bus collided with two pedestrians who were crossing the road. The bus was traveling west on...
Indiana Township has 2 candidates running for a District 5 supervisor seat
Editor’s note: The Herald is featuring candidate interviews in contested municipal and school board races only. Indiana Township has two candidates vying for one four-year supervisor seat in District 5. Democrat incumbent Jonathan Neumann and Republican challenger Terrence Wirginis will be on the November ballot, according to Allegheny County Elections...
