Westmoreland happenings: Holiday house tour, photos with Santa, toy collection, blood drive , more
Fundraisers • Sage’s Army and Dream Life Recovery, 6044 Lincoln Highway, Suite 400, Greensburg, will hold a holiday toy drive for teens and children 4 to 7 p.m. Dec. 12 at the center. There will be food and opportunities for photos with Santa. Donations welcome during regular business hours. Details:...
Increased school funding could lead to higher test scores — but it’s often more complicated
When it comes to education spending, more isn’t always better. At least that’s what the numbers — standardized test scores and per-student spending — suggest about Southwestern Pennsylvania’s school districts. School districts that spend the most per student do not always have the highest test scores, according to data from...
Holiday cheer shines bright at Pittsburgh’s annual Light Up NightVideo
Pittsburgh ushered in the holiday season Saturday as crowds packed Downtown for Light Up Night, taking in tree lightings, street performances and celebratory fireworks. The event drew steady crowds eager to welcome the season, helped along by the mild, comfortable weather. Thousands of people, young and old, turned out wearing...
‘A great celebration of the community’: Tarentum Brackenridge Christmas parade opens the season
The Rev. John Bailey summed up the 20th annual Tarentum Brackenridge Christmas parade that kick-started the holiday season Saturday: “It was just a great celebration of the community.” Leading off the parade was the Highlands High School Varsity Marching Band. Behind the trumpets, tubas and drums was a long line...
Free parking offer generates 3 truckloads of food donations from visitors to downtown Greensburg
Eight days of free meter parking in Greensburg resulted in at least three truckloads of food donations for the nonprofit Feeding the Spirit. City administrator Kelsye Milliron said three truckloads were dropped off to the nonprofit on Thursday. “They had to wait until (Friday) to do the rest because the...
‘Woot!’: Westmoreland volunteers enjoy their good deeds for those less fortunate
Sporadic hooting and hollering was coming from inside the Murrysville Christian Concern’s new community building in Export early Saturday, as a group of more than 200 volunteers adorned in blue hairnets scooped, measured and packaged oatmeal kits. The volunteers flanked long tables, which were lined with oatmeal, scales, funnels, toppings...
Man found shot 3 times in his legs in Clairton
A man was found shot three times in the legs in Clairton, according to Allegheny County Police. An emergency dispatcher said a call was received at 10:19 p.m. Friday of a shooting in the 1000 block of Marion Circle. Upon arrival, police reported finding an adult man with several gunshot...
Students’ weather balloon from Michigan lands (probably) in Brackenridge
From live leeches to building model rockets, a lot happens in Joe Graber’s Michigan high school science class. The most recent project is a weather balloon experiment that could lead to a scavenger hunt in the Brackenridge area. According to a Facebook post by Carrie Balk, a weather balloon launched...
The Stroller, Nov. 22, 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. Gift program benefits victims...
Westmoreland transit authority cuts ties with state lobbyists
A divided Westmoreland County Transit Authority board fired the agency’s state lobbyists this week. Four of the board’s seven members voted against retaining the Harrisburg-based firm, Malady and Wooten, which has represented the county transportation agency’s interests to state officials since 2022. The authority, which operates fixed-route local and commuter...
Overly’s light display — and Santa — return to Westmoreland Fairgrounds
The Overly’s Country Christmas annual holiday lights display is open for the season, ready to host old and new traditions for area families. The lights are accompanied by a Christmas village, model train display, Santa Claus and other attractions. The nonprofit organization regularly donates proceeds from the event to local...
Victim in fatal Duquesne shooting identified as Homewood man
A Homewood man was shot and killed in Duquesne on Friday afternoon, according to the Allegheny County Police. At 2:22 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of Duquesne Place for reports of a shooting, police said. The Allegheny County Examiner’s Office identified him as Eugene Jackson, 61. Police...
Aluminum City Arts could make New Kensington ‘Destination City’
Tony Paletta remembers thinking negatively of New Kensington when he was growing up in the city. He remembers moving away to live on the West Coast for a number of years and returning to New Kensington five years ago. That’s when his perspective changed. “Coming back in 2020, so much...
Pittsburgh doctors cheer removal of black box warning on hormone therapies for menopause
Pittsburgh-area doctors are welcoming the removal of a black box warning — the strongest available to the federal Food and Drug Administration — from hormone therapies used to treat menopause symptoms. The agency announced the change last week, directing drugmakers to remove prominent labels alerting women of increased risks of...
Independence hospital staffers ‘trying to piece everything together’ in aftermath of merger announcement
Butler Memorial Hospital staffer Tara Erskine is ready for change. Erskine, 30, of Kittanning has worked as a CT scan technologist at the Butler hospital for eight years. A member of the hospital’s technologists union, Erskine is optimistic about Butler Memorial being partnered with West Virginia University Health System. Officials...
Wall fire at Lower Burrell supermarket causes evacuation
A fire in a wall Friday afternoon at the Community Supermarket in Lower Burrell caused an evacuation of the store for about a half-hour. Crews responded to the grocery store, at 3220 Leechburg Road, just before 4 p.m. for a smell of something burning, said Brennan Sites, chief of Lower...
Death penalty on the table for Fayette women accused of killing 9-year-old
Fayette County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against two women accused in the death of 9-year-old Renesmay Eutsey. District Attorney Mike Aubele said notices of aggravating circumstances were filed Friday against both suspects — Sarah Shipley, 35, and Kourtney Eutsey, 31, both of Dunbar Borough. The aggravating circumstances prosecutors...
Road work to alter traffic on Coxcomb Hill Road for weeks
Drainage improvement work that will shift traffic on Coxcomb Hill Road in Plum is set to begin Monday, Nov. 24. The work will last until mid-December, according to a release from PennDOT. The shift will take place between Hulton and Logans Ferry roads weekdays between from 8 a.m. and 4...
3 men charged in White Oak fatal shooting of motorcyclist
Three men are facing charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a motorcyclist in White Oak. On Friday, Victor Cruz, 27, Albert Renchko, 36, and Jacob Baker, 33, were charged in the Oct. 12 shooting death of 33-year-old Kenneth Hayman. Allegheny County dispatchers were notified that day of a...
How Westmoreland County uses blue ‘pills’ to break more than 200 election ties
Brian Carnahan didn’t even know he’d be a candidate for public office until he cast a write-in vote for himself on Election Day. That single vote was enough to put him into a five-way tie for the position of inspector of elections at his Jeannette 5th Ward precinct for the...
East Deer joins Lower Valley Ambulance Service
The future of emergency medical service in East Deer is no longer up in the air after the township commissioners agreed to use Lower Valley Ambulance Service. According to Commissioner’s Chairman Tony Taliani, East Deer was considering two options for EMS services. The other was the proposed paid EMS authority...
PennDOT preps for opening all lanes of I-70 ‘diverging diamond’ interchange in Rostraver
PennDOT plans on Tuesday to open the new Diverging Diamond interchange along Interstate 70 in Rostraver to two lanes of traffic in each direction on Route 51. The interchange was partially opened in July, with a single lane of Route 51 traffic crossing above the interstate in each direction. On...
Patron’s shuttered East Liberty liquor license transferred to Hard Rock Cafe International
Patron Mexican Grill on Highland Avenue in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood has permanently closed. The restaurant at 135 S. Highland Ave. is boarded up with tan paper covering the windows. However, according to TribLive observations Wednesday, some of the light fixtures were turned on inside the establishment. There is a...
Tull Family Foundation awards over $2M to boost high school athletics
Augustine Hanover spent last season with the Obama Academy boys soccer team practicing on a beat-up baseball field pocked with holes. “We have 10-year-old jerseys and not enough soccer balls,” said Hanover, a Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy student. On Friday, the 16-year-old joined dozens of student-athletes in the school’s...
Hempfield business owner gives back with 50 turkey donations this Thanksgiving
When Hempfield business owner Kris Wilkins was a child, holidays were a financially stressful time of year for his family. That’s why Wilkins, owner of Beautiful Kitchens along North Greengate Road, is donating 50 turkeys to local families in need — no questions asked. “I didn’t have much money growing...
