Michael DiVittorio stories, Page 57
Social worker to be hired by Sharpsburg via federal grant
Sharpsburg officials plan to use a federal grant to hire a full-time social worker. The borough received $180,564 in covid relief funds earlier this year to cover the salary of a social worker for two years and purchase two computers for police cars. Council Vice President Karen Pastor said candidates...
Animal Friends pet food drive planned at Edgeworth Elementary
Edgeworth Elementary students and staff want to repay the kindness shown by Animal Friends during a difficult time with a pet food drive. The K-5 school in the Quaker Valley School District will be collecting wet and dry cat and dog food, treats and cat litter Feb. 13-17. Counselor Jessica...
Kayak Pittsburgh to open kayak rentals in Sharpsburg for a 2nd season
The outdoor nonprofit Venture Outdoors will return for a second season of kayaking in Sharpsburg. Sharpsburg Council voted 6-0 Jan. 26 to allow Venture Outdoors to use the James Sharp Landing for a Kayak Pittsburgh rental site this summer. Councilwoman Kayla Portis was absent. Venture Outdoors launched a pilot rental...
Allegheny RiverTrail Park closes out winter Friday program with fire pits and fun for families
Allegheny RiverTrail Park officials closed this winter’s Cabin Fever program with some fire pits and fun off Freeport Road in Aspinwall. Dozens of families flocked to the 10-acre park Jan. 27 to make s’mores, watch a movie and participate in arts and crafts. Phil Teplitz of Aspinwall showed his daughters,...
Micro food pantries being developed by Sewickley Academy student
A Sewickley Academy junior hopes to help fight food insecurity in Sewickley and surrounding areas. Claudia Kronk, 17, founder of the bakery Desserts by Claudia, wants to install four micro food pantries stocked with nonperishables and other goods. Possible spots include Leetsdale, Coraopolis and Sewickley. She said she became inspired...
Penn Hills officials welcome 10 new police officers, all full-time
Penn Hills officials welcomed new police officers to the municipality when Mayor Pauline Calabrese swore in 10 full-time patrolmen and women at the Jan. 23 council meeting. “This is such a tremendous evening,” Calabrese said. “I’m so proud of seeing you all stand here, and we are so grateful and...
Sewickley Hills Council fills vacancy with zoning hearing board member
A Sewickley Hills zoning hearing board member has been tapped to fill a council vacancy. Hunter Hopkins was appointed to replace Jack Faulkner, who stepped down at the end of last year after serving on council for 35 nonconsecutive years. Faulkner ran Red Mud Hollow Farm, also called The Kennel....
Charges against Leetsdale councilman withdrawn due to ‘improperly filed’ complaint
Charges filed against Leetsdale councilman Wesley James were withdrawn Jan. 25 at a preliminary hearing in Forest Hills. Mayor Sandra Ford had accused James of disorderly conduct and harassment in connection with an incident at a council workshop meeting Nov. 3. She filed a private criminal complaint at the office...
O’Hara police sergeant honored as ‘Top Gun’ DUI expert
Ben Wolfson doesn’t claim to be a maverick, nor is he nicknamed Ice Man. But he is a Top Gun. The O’Hara police sergeant is a two-time Pennsylvania DUI Association Top Gun Award winner for his efforts as a drug recognition expert. Officers are nominated for outstanding contributions or for...
Police: 2 juveniles recovering after being shot in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood
Pittsburgh police are investigating the shooting of two juvenile boys in the city’s Homewood neighborhood. Public Safety spokeswoman Amanda Mueller said officers were dispatched at about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday for a Shotspotter alert along the 7200 block of Susquehanna Street. First responders located two boys who had been shot in...
Man wanted in connection with a Dec. 26 homicide in Pittsburgh apprehended
Pittsburgh Public Safety officials announced the arrest of a man wanted for the murder of a Pittsburgh man Dec. 26 in the city’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood. Police arrested Ambrose J. Sample Jr., 42, at about 2 p.m. Tuesday along the 200 block of Dinwiddie Street in the Hill District, according to...
Penn Hills School District to go remote Wednesday due to bad weather forecast
Penn Hills School District will switch to remote learning Wednesday due to expected poor weather. School board President Erin Vecchio said district officials did not want to take the risk of something happening to students and staff on the way to school in the morning. “We can’t put the kids...
Penn Hills council selects Pittsburgh firm to design VOPP bike/walking trail
A Pittsburgh branch of an engineering and design firm has been tasked with crafting a near 14-mile bike and walking trail. Penn Hills council unanimously voted Jan. 23 to select TranSystems to develop the VOPP Trail – Verona, Oakmont, Penn Hills and Plum. Municipal planning director Chris Blackwell said Penn...
Police: Man found dead of gunshot wound in Hill District apartment
A man has died after being shot in the face Sunday evening in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said officers were dispatched to the 2100 block of Bedford Avenue shortly before 6:20 p.m. for reports of a man with a gunshot wound. Officers found the victim, who...
New Kensington pro wrestling school hosts event for vendor collective
Hand-crafted earrings and trinkets, glass pendents, vintage clothing from the 1960s and pins made from old magazine photos are not things usually found at a pro wrestling venue. However, all of that and more was on display Saturday as part of Shops and Suplexes, an event at the wrestling school...
More than 100 permanent layoffs to take place at a Munhall pipe manufacturing plant
Leaders of a Munhall stainless steel pipe and tubing manufacturing plant plan to layoff more than 100 workers by the end of the year. Cuts have already begun as part of a four-phase process at Ascent Tubular Products, according to a notice posted on the state Department of Labor’s website,...
Construction to cause disruptions to ‘T’ service this weekend
Riders on Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s light-rail “T” routes Downtown, on the North Shore and in parts of the South Hills should expect significant disruptions this weekend, PRT officials announced. Contractors are working on two separate projects from Friday night up to the start of Monday’s service. Riders should allow for...
Pittsburgh police: Man in critical condition after crashing truck into utility pole
A man was hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday after crashing a truck into a utility pole in Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood. Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said police, fire and EMS personnel responded to the crash near the intersection of Brownsville Road at Birmingham Avenue at about 4:20 p.m. Cruz said...
Penn Hill School District’s chief financial officer excited about new opportunity
Former Plum School District business manager John Zahorchak has found a new professional home in a neighboring community. He was recently hired as Penn Hills School District’s chief financial officer at a starting salary of $150,000. “I’ve been very familiar with Penn Hills for a long time, and it just...
Penn Hills School District officials claim no tax hike necessary in next school year’s budget
Penn Hills School District officials may have an opportunity to do something almost unheard of the past several years: not raising taxes. “There won’t be a tax increase this year, and you can take my word on that,” board President Erin Vecchio said during a finance committee meeting Jan. 18....
Gala to raise funds for memorial soccer field project in Bell Acres rescheduled for March
Organizers of a recreation gala hope the event will be a catalyst for raising funds for a matching state grant. The Quaker Valley Recreation Association recently received approval for $500,000 through the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Michael Riordan, development lead for the association’s capital campaign, said it is a...
Municipal intern being considered for Leetsdale
A municipal intern from the Local Government Academy may be able to help Leetsdale officials get more done this summer. Council members at the Jan. 12 meeting discussed seeking help from the nonprofit, non-partisan organization. Council vice president Maria Napolitano said potential intern projects include helping with the borough website...
Quaker Valley School District officials promise to keep any potential real estate tax hike to 4.1% or less
Quaker Valley School District officials have pledged to keep any tax hike for next school year to 4.1% or less. That percentage is the highest the district can push for under the inflation-based state limit known as the Act 1 index. Act 1, passed in 2006 to provide property tax...
Police say no foul play in man’s fatal fall from Lower Lawrenceville building
A man who died after falling about 30 feet from a rooftop Tuesday in Pittsburgh’s Lower Lawrenceville neighborhood has been identified. Jonathan Encrapera, 41, of Pittsburgh was declared dead shortly after he fell, according to an Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office report. Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said officers...
ShotSpotter reports 11 shots fired in the East Hills, Pittsburgh police find man shot in the arm
A man was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday after being shot in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood. Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said officers were dispatched shortly after 8 p.m. to the 2300 block of East Hills Drive after a ShotSpotter alert reported 11 rounds had been fired. Police found a...
