Renatta Signorini stories, Page 29
Blair County frozen custard stand posts naming contest for groundhog discovered in claw machine game
A groundhog is looking to make a name for itself after being rescued from a claw machine at a Blair County frozen custard shop. The Meadows is taking suggestions for a name for the animal that is in line to become the third-most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania. A $25 gift...
Jeannette residents pack council chambers to support police dog program that was recently scrapped
Jeannette residents pleaded with council members Thursday to rethink a decision to end the city’s police dog program, while criticizing the move that has put two canines out of work. “We just cut eight feet out of that police unit,” resident Kathie Tanyer said. “Those dogs are invaluable.” A police...
Fayette man accused of soliciting photos from girl
A Fayette County man is behind bars after state police said he solicited partially-clothed pictures from a 12-year-old girl for $200. Neal A. Snyder Jr., 39, claimed to have been high on drugs when he contacted the girl, according to court papers. He was arrested Wednesday on charges of corruption...
Buy a vacant lot, build a house and get a tax break under proposal to spur redevelopment in Jeannette
A tax break program for certain residential areas in Jeannette is in the works as officials hope to promote redevelopment of lots that have been cleared of deteriorating homes. Under the current proposal, anyone who buys a vacant lot and builds a house on it can benefit from three years...
1 dead dog and 2 others infested with fleas prompt charges against Derry man
A Derry Borough man is facing animal cruelty charges after police said he failed to get his dogs veterinary care, according to court papers. One dog died and two others had severe flea infestations and Lyme disease, borough police said in court papers. Authorities spent about five weeks trying to...
Video of dog abuse also shows tattoo that helps ID South Huntingdon man in case involving shih tzu Snickers
Fourteen graphic videos depicting the abuse of a dog were played by prosecutors Wednesday in district court in support of criminal charges against a man accused in the incidents. District Judge Charles Moore stood behind the attorneys and watched as the clips, most a few seconds long, were played on...
Jeannette footing $30 per day kennel fee for unemployed police dog Diesel
The future of an out-of-work police dog is up in the air. For now, Diesel, a 4-year-old Belgian malinois on Jeannette’s police force, is staying at a kennel until decisions can be made after the department’s police dog program was disbanded last month, according to city officials and handler Sgt....
Former Latrobe man acquitted of rape charges
A former Latrobe man was acquitted of felony rape charges Wednesday but found guilty of less serious misdemeanor offenses stemming from incidents in 2020 involving two teenage girls. Glenn D. Jones Jr., 25, now of Hostetter, was found guilty by a jury of possession of marijuana and two counts each...
Trial opens for Latrobe man accused of raping 2 teens
Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Wednesday morning in a 2020 rape case against a former Latrobe man. Attorneys delivered closing arguments to the jury Tuesday afternoon following testimony from a woman who claimed Glenn D. Jones Jr., 25, now of Hostetter, raped her when she was 15. A second...
2 charged in card-marking scheme at Live Casino Pittsburgh
Two men were arrested Friday in connection with what state police said was a card-marking scheme that netted them $12,175 from Live Casino Pittsburgh at Westmoreland Mall. The two suspects turned over the cash to troopers after being confronted while playing Mississippi Stud, according to court papers. The security manager...
Police: Greensburg woman claims to be ‘Rihanna Fenty’ during traffic stop
A Greensburg woman who police said was driving a stolen vehicle Sunday evening gave troopers six different names before they identified her through fingerprints, according to court papers. Leah L. White, 50, was pulled over on Route 22 east in Salem around 7:15 p.m. after a trooper on patrol learned...
New blood testing advancements can assist with Alzheimer’s, cancer detections
Advances in blood tests aimed at screening for ailments like Alzheimer’s disease and colon cancer can mean faster diagnosis and treatment for patients, said two Allegheny Health Network doctors. Problems can be found earlier in a way that’s easier on the patient than more invasive cancer screenings, such as a...
13-year-old charged with first-degree murder in stabbing of 10-year-old in Donegal Township
A 13-year-old boy was charged as an adult Thursday in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 10-year-old boy in Donegal Township. James C. Campbell is accused of stabbing Hunter Meyers in the head multiple times, according to state police and the Westmoreland County coroner. Campbell wore blue scrubs and...
Stranger charged with stalking, harassing Unity woman
A Philadelphia man is accused of stalking in connection with sexual messages sent to a Unity woman, one of which was a picture of her face superimposed on a nude woman, according to court papers. Shane P. Cassidy, 24, is accused of using images from the Unity woman’s social media...
Jeannette Public Library closed after bomb threat
The Jeannette Public Library was closed Tuesday after a bomb threat was called into city hall, according to library board members. The threat was called in on Monday and indicated a bomb would be present at the library Tuesday, said board president Joann Billheimer and board member Chad Krawtz. Police...
Police say Sewickley Township man charged at neighbor with a knife
A Sewickley Township man is behind bars after state police said he charged at his neighbor over the weekend with a knife, according to court papers. Kurtis C. Baker, 33, was arrested after the neighbor grabbed the knife and held the suspect down until troopers arrived. Baker is charged with...
Monessen man charged with drug delivery resulting in death of Jennifer Vukovich
A Monessen man is accused by state police of connecting a Youngwood woman to a dose of drugs last year that proved to be fatal. Troopers said James M. Cillo Jr., 31, met with Jennifer Vukovich on March 3, 2023, and the pair went to a location in Monessen where...
Police say man repeatedly beat a dog in South Huntingdon home
A man is behind bars after, state police said, he repeatedly beat a dog in South Huntingdon and recorded videos of the abuse. Zachary Robert Hixson, 30, is charged with neglect and two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. Troopers were called Friday to a home just outside West Newton...
Jeannette officers file suit seeking overtime payments for time spent feeding, caring for police dogs
Jeannette’s two police dog handlers claim in a federal lawsuit that the city violated labor laws by not paying them an overtime rate for time spent caring for their canines. Sgt. Jim Phillips and Officer Matthew Painter said in the filing that they spend at least 30 to 60 minutes,...
‘We don’t close during a remodel,’ Hempfield Walmart manager says as store unveils facelift
Customers at the Hempfield Walmart may have already noticed the storewide changes — added self-checkout stations, an expanded pet department and a new mother’s room, among others. Store officials said Friday that the three-month renovation project is now complete. A similar one at the East Huntingdon location is wrapping up....
‘A lawyer, not a politician’: John Peck, former longtime Westmoreland County district attorney, dies
As Westmoreland County’s top prosecutor, John Peck would go to Mass every day. And then he’d go to work, always well-dressed — even if it was a Saturday. Friends and former coworkers remembered the former district attorney on Thursday as an exceptional trial attorney, someone who they could count on...
Sinkhole forces closure of Greensburg alley
A section of a Greensburg alley was closed Thursday after part of the road started sinking into an old street basement access to a building, according to public works director Tom Bell. Part of John D. Reese Way, between Tunnel Way and Otterman Street, was blocked off and a metal...
Sentencing for former Greensburg police chief set for December
A sentencing date for the former Greensburg police chief on a drug case has been pushed back to December. The attorney for Shawn Denning, 43, of Delmont, requested more time to prepare for the hearing while in the midst of handling other, unrelated cases, according to court filings this week....
Unity shopping plaza blaze was accidental, state police fire marshal says
A state police fire marshal has ruled that an April 23 blaze in a Unity shopping plaza was accidental. Trooper Chet Bell said there was an electrical fault or failure where the sign belonging to Roadman’s Country Living Shoppe was affixed to an overhang on the building. He estimated damage...
Brick by brick, old Fort Pitt Brewery begins to fall in West Jeannette
Mildred Warren is hoping to get a memento — a brick — from the old Fort Pitt Brewery site in her West Jeannette neighborhood. Her father-in-law worked there in the 1970s when it housed Papercraft Corp., a gift wrap manufacturer. But she will otherwise be happy to put the crumbling...
