Plum Advance Leader category, Page 39
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Aug. 24, 2023
Chalfant Estate of Robert Richard Fox sold property at 240 Highland Ave. to Christopher Leasher for $123,000. Churchill Jeffrey Vella sold property at 2394 Collins Road to Marco Longo for $221,000. Peter Yannopoulos sold property at 165 Thornberry Drive to Rebecca Ann Bennett for $303,900. Edgewood Jonathan Raney sold property...
A week after fatal house explosion, Plum community seeks the will to push forward
The idyllic innocence of Rustic Ridge shattered a week ago. Tragedy struck this close-knit community in Plum, a neighborhood of more than 200 homes, about 10:23 a.m. last Saturday. An explosion leveled a home on Rustic Ridge Drive and resulted in an inferno that destroyed two neighboring homes. The shock...
10 houses near site of Plum explosion being examined for structural integrity
Ten homes near a massive explosion that leveled three other houses in Plum last Saturday and killed six people will have to be examined by building experts to determine whether people can live in them again. Allegheny County released a statement Saturday that included for the first time the exact...
Plum District to host community back-to-school movie event
Plum Borough School District’s previously scheduled Back-to-School Movie Night will go on as planned Saturday evening. In its second year, the event will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and include games, food trucks and tables featuring school resources and information. It is open to the public. Assistant Superintendent Denise...
Clontz family thanks first responders, others who helped during Plum house explosion
Jen and Addie Clontz on Friday thanked everyone who responded to the Plum house explosion and those people who are helping them process the enormity of it. Jen’s husband, Casey, 38, and son, Keegan, 12, died in the explosion Saturday in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood in Plum. Jen and Casey...
Plum’s boys and girls golf teams organize outing to benefit Rustic Ridge victims
Plum Senior High School’s girls and boys golf teams are uniting to raise funds for the victims of the house explosion in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The Rustic Ridge “Plum Strong” Plum Boys & Girls Golf Teams Charity Outing is scheduled for Sept. 17 at Willowbrook Country Club in Allegheny...
Plum School District partners with therapists to serve those impacted by explosion tragedy
A few days ago, Erica Kuhn and Melissa Gionta-Oliver were strangers. Now the two therapists from Plum are spearheading efforts to provide an online database of mental health resources for the Plum Borough School District and community after the tragic house explosion Saturday in the borough’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood. The...
Therapy dogs provide comfort in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood
Gloria Frick says everyone knows the power dogs can have on a person’s well-being. On Thursday, Frick and other members of the Alliance of Therapy Dogs brought some four-legged comfort to Ridge Top Park in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, where six people were killed in a home explosion Saturday. Those...
Murrysville business offers free cleaning services to families affected by Plum explosion
A Murrysville business has stepped forward to help families recovering from Saturday’s deadly explosion and fire in Plum. Murrysville Cleaners is offering free cleaning services to residents of the affected Rustic Ridge neighborhood, including free pickup and delivery of clothing. The offer is good through the end of September. “We...
Plum youth football community mourns, honors Keegan ClontzVideo
Keegan Clontz’s No. 40 football jersey hung from one of the goalposts during the Plum Little Mustangs 12U scrimmage Wednesday evening against Franklin Regional at the Plum Midget Football Association fields along Ross Hollow Road. His initials also were painted on the field at the 40-yard line. They were two...
Gathering to celebrate life of Plum blast victim Kevin Sebunia set for Sunday
A gathering to celebrate the life of one of the six people who died in last week’s house explosion in Plum will be held Sunday afternoon. Family and friends of Kevin Sebunia, 55, will gather from 1 to 8 p.m. at Larry Mills Park to share photos, stories and messages...
Peoples mum about possible natural gas odor in Rustic Ridge prior to house explosion
Officials at Peoples Natural Gas Co. on Thursday would not say whether they had received reports of natural gas odors in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood in the days before a fatal house explosion. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to share any information on that front, because this is all...
Remembering soccer/hockey dad who died in Plum explosion: Paul Oravitz’s heart ‘was always in the right place’
Paul Oravitz insisted his friend should come. He had called Andy Zarroli, a neighbor and friend, the night before a St. Patrick’s Day beer crawl that Oravitz and others in their Rustic Ridge neighborhood were attending. Oravitz asked Zarroli if he was coming. “I said, ‘No, I don’t want to...
Gov. Shapiro orders DEP probe of Plum house explosion
Stating that he is “extremely concerned” after a house blew up in Plum over the weekend, killing six people and causing catastrophic damage, Gov. Josh Shapiro has broadened the probe into the disaster by ordering the state Department of Environmental Protection to launch an investigation. The governor’s directive was issued...
Plum youth football players get VIP treatment at Steelers training camp
Alex Highsmith is typically gracious with his time when it comes to signing autographs or mingling with Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Thursday, though, Highsmith went overtime, making the rare double-back for a second extended period of autograph-signing at Saint Vincent College. After all, this group of young fans was different. About...
6th victim dies from Plum house explosion
For four days, Paul Oravitz fought for his life in the UPMC Mercy burn unit as the Rustic Ridge community prayed. On Wednesday, his fight ended. Oravitz died as a result of injuries suffered in a house explosion Saturday in his home in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood of Plum. He...
Remembering borough manager who died in explosion: Michael Thomas was ‘a Plum guy through and through’
Andy Zarroli got to know Michael Thomas first as a friend, and then as Plum’s borough manager. And their friendship overcame the fact that Zarroli, 56, is from Philadelphia and Thomas, 57, grew up in Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood. “Mike was a friend of mine. He was a close friend of...
Peoples restores Rustic Ridge natural gas serviceVideo
Workers from Peoples natural gas purged gas lines Wednesday in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood in preparation for restoring gas service to residents there. According to the borough, the work took place along Rustic Ridge and Brookside drives and Timberwood Court. Peoples spokesman Nick Paradise said purging the lines is part...
Safety tips on natural gas usage and home inspections
Keeping a home fueled by natural gas safe is pretty simple, said Dennis Caveglia, who has operated Valley Plumbing & Heating in his native Leechburg for 40 years. Caveglia, like many working with natural gas, wouldn’t hypothesize about what caused the Plum house explosion Saturday morning that killed six people...
Plum girls organize separate charity events to help victims after house explosion
A pint-sized Plum Area School District student put her grief to good use Saturday with an on-the-spot charity event to raise money for victims of the house explosion in Plum. Emmy Halasowski, 7, was understandably shaken and scared Saturday as events unfolded after the deadly explosion on Rustic Ridge Drive...
Rustic Ridge community gathers in 2 places to honor the lives lost in house explosion
Teresa Champion-Feigel and her husband, Tim, walk on the weekends in the neighborhood of Rustic Ridge in Plum. On Saturday, she said she didn’t feel like walking. Her husband suggested they go to the nearby park — Ridge Top Park. “We were walking, and that’s when we heard the explosion,”...
For one afternoon, Rustic Ridge kids put horrific explosion out of their minds
The corner lot of 154 Rustic Ridge Drive in Plum on Tuesday turned into a therapeutic group session for dozens of kids in the neighborhood — even if they didn’t know it. At least two dozen kids of all ages, from toddler to teen, gathered in the driveway and backyard...
Remembering devoted mom who died in Plum explosion: Heather Oravitz was ‘a special wife’
Lindsay and Fran Sciullo thought so highly of Heather and Paul Oravitz that they entrusted to the Oravitzes’ daughter what was most precious to them — their two sons. Taylor Oravitz would babysit the Sciullo boys, Maddox and Brady, when Lindsay and her husband, Fran — educators in the Plum...
‘Notorious Pittsburgh’: Book tells tales from city’s seedy underbelly
A man of questionable business practices fishes in his pocket for the key to his Cadillac, which is parked in a dark alley. He probably hears the sound of approaching shoes as he attempts to enter the car. Soon, he is mortally wounded by four gunshots to the chest, shoulder...
Natural gas leaks found in Plum’s Regency Park neighborhood following fatal Rustic Ridge blast
Following a fatal explosion that investigators say may have been fueled by natural gas in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, two natural gas leaks have been found in another borough neighborhood. Leaks were reported in the area of Crestview and Mower drives, and on Kathy Lynn Drive in Plum’s Regency Park...
