Trio charged in Pittsburgh with taping pet mice to fireworks for videos
Police say they have charged four men who bought white mice from area pet stores, then killed them by duct-taping them to bottle rockets and igniting the fireworks, all while filming the acts in an effort to create viral videos on social media. Three Pittsburgh men — Nerson Amini, 25;...
Springdale plans to issue survey on future of Vets Field; potential changes to come next year
Springdale Manager Terry Carcella said he doubts football will ever be played at Veterans Memorial Field again. But borough officials plan to collect community feedback on what residents would like to see at the site ahead of potential changes next year. About two dozen residents came together last week for...
Hempfield grants Menards more time for store planning decision
Home improvement chain Menards gets a few more months to decide what to do with its site plan for a new store in Hempfield after township supervisors on Monday approved an extension. The site plan now will expire Dec. 31. Supervisor Tom Logan questioned the short time frame after the...
Hempfield extends garbage collection contract, with 3% price hike
Hempfield will stick with the same garbage collector in 2026 after township supervisors approved a one-year contract extension that comes with a 3% price increase. After 2026, the board will have the option for two more one-year contract extensions with additional 3% increases or seek bids from other haulers, said...
The Stroller, Sept. 23, 2025: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Follow the Stroller on X at @VNDStroller. Free grab-and-go meals available...
Trifecta of rainy, hot, dry weather could be pattern of the future
Excessive rain in the spring followed by a hot, dry summer might be the weather pattern of the future. Experts point to atmospheric greenhouse gases that are higher than they’ve been in more than a million years for driving temperature changes. The abundance of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases...
Owl good now: McCandless cop frees animal trapped in family’s badminton net
An officer from McCandless spent a recent morning performing an interesting rescue. Officer Todd Ray received a call that a great horned owl was trapped. “It was an unusual type of call. We never know what to expect,” Ray said. It was McCandless resident Janine Solomond’s dog, Gilligan, who found...
Longtime garden market in Penn Hills seeks public’s assistance
A Penn Hills vendor market housing 110 businesses is turning to the public for help to continue being a home for local artisans to showcase their wares. Jayme Visnesky, 48, and Darcy Kennedy, 54, co-owners of the Steel Goat Marketplace, have created a GoFundMe and set out a donation box...
Pittsburgh police help nab Chester man who was one of Pa.’s most wanted fugitives
A Chester man who spent more than nine months as one of the 10 most wanted fugitives in Pennsylvania was arrested Monday night at a home in Pittsburgh’s North Side, the U.S. Marshals Service said. Daryl Beckett Jr., 36, was arrested by Pittsburgh police and Pennsylvania State Police Special Emergency...
Drone flown over Ross Park Mall in effort to find abandoned and orphaned wells
An effort to find abandoned and orphaned gas wells in parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania took to the sky Sept. 21 over Ross Park Mall. The flights, conducted before the mall opened, marked the start of field work to survey parts of Ross and Shaler along with areas of North Fayette...
50-year-old woman struck, killed by PRT bus
A 50-year-old woman was struck and killed Monday afternoon by a Pittsburgh Regional Transit Bus in Pittsburgh’s Spring Hill neighborhood, The crash occurred around 12:15 p.m. near the intersection of Rhine and Buente streets, according to Pittsburgh Regional Transit spokesperson Adam Brandolph. The woman’s name was not provided Monday night....
Makeshift spike strips found on Route 981 in South Huntingdon
State police removed makeshift spikes strips to deflate tires found Sunday on roads in South Huntingdon. Made of pieces of wood with nails sticking out of them, the strips were found around 7:30 p.m. along Route 981 and Mendon Road, according to state police. They were painted black to blend...
Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers’ longest-tenured leader, dies at 78
Leo Gerard spent nearly two decades running the United Steelworkers, a Pittsburgh-based union with profound ties to American industry, but it was his frequent gaze abroad that labor figures say best defined his leadership. He set the tone early in his tenure, backing Liberian rubber workers in their fight for...
Man charged after violent attack in Pittsburgh
A Pittsburgh man is charged in connection with the beating of an ex-girlfriend’s childhood friend and leaving him with a concussion. Grover Walker, 36, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and robbery. He was taken into custody on Monday. On May 28, Joseph Hogan visited the home of his...
Ohio man pleads guilty in fatal Route 22 crash
An Ohio man pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge for causing a fatal 2023 crash on Route 22 in Salem that killed his 16-year-old passenger. Ricardo Pierre Hardy Jr., 24, was ordered to serve five years of probation, including 18 months of house arrest, after Westmoreland County prosecutors agreed...
East Huntingdon man identified as mobile home explosion victim
Authorities have identified the man killed in a mobile home explosion Saturday in East Huntingdon as William P. Lubovinsky, 82. The Greensburg-based fire marshal for the Pennsylvania State Police continues to investigate what caused Lubovinsky’s home to explode. Firefighters from multiple communities responded to the blaze about 4:15 p.m. at...
Bracing for the worst: Allegheny County agencies, nonprofits fear further federal cuts
Already hamstrung in numerous ways by the Trump administration, state and local government agencies as well as nonprofits are bracing for the worst in the upcoming federal funding bill. “Everything has been destabilized with the work that we do,” Jordan Golin, president and CEO of Jewish Family and Community Services...
Slippery Rock enrollment up 2.75% — its highest increase in 9 years
Slippery Rock University is experiencing record enrollment and retention rates this fall semester. Total enrollment at the Butler County state college is 8,625 students, a 2.75% increase from last fall, according to the university. It’s Slippery Rock’s largest single-year increase in the past nine years. There are 1,549 full-time, first-year...
Shaler Area High School assistant principal starts work month ahead of formal hiring approval
The Shaler Area School Board approved hiring an assistant principal for the district’s high school about a month after he started working. While the district says it followed “standard protocol” in hiring the administrator, it’s a practice that should not be, says Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania...
Verona police seek ‘armed and dangerous’ suspect
Verona police are asking the public to keep an eye out for a suspect they say could be armed and dangerous. An arrest warrant has been issued for Price Riley, 38, of Verona after a Center Avenue resident claimed Riley assaulted them over cigarettes. Borough police Chief Thomas Dessell said...
Scottdale day care worker accused of shoving 4-year-old to the ground
A Scottdale day care center worker is accused of shoving a 4-year-old girl to the ground and allowing another child to hit the girl as a disciplinary measure, according to Scottdale police. Krista Ondish, 58, of Madison is accused by Scottdale police of assaulting the child Sept. 5 at the...
Greensburg man charged with child endangerment after 4-year-old struck on Route 119
A Greensburg man is facing charges after state police said a 4-year-old boy was hit by a car on Route 119 in July. Troopers said in a news release that Andre C. Stanford, 42, and four children were walking on the side of the road in Hempfield near Lynch Field...
Millvale to celebrate 3 years of revamped Free Fridge and Pantry with costume giveaway
An upcoming celebration just got better. A birthday party for the Free Fridge and Pantry is being coupled with a Halloween costume giveaway from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 11 behind Millvale Community Library, 213 Grant Ave. The Millvale Free Fridge and Pantry is a year-round community resource in Millvale...
Ex-landlord hopes justice is served as man accused of trying to kill him has court appearanceVideo
Seeing the man accused of trying to kill him for the first time in months on Monday, Dave Martin had mixed emotions. Rage was one. Pity was another. “I’ve prayed for the guy and I’ve also been very upset with the guy,” he said. Martin will have at least two...
Springdale to resume data center conversation this week
Springdale’s Planning Commission will likely offer its recommendation to borough council to approve or deny an application to build a massive data center this week. Residents and commissioners will again hear from developers seeking to construct the center at the former site of the Cheswick Generating Station at 6:30 p.m....
