http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods/ Neighborhood news from the City, East, West, North, South, West, Washington, Westmoreland; My Homewood Journal en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 16:09:24 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208372-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml It took a high-speed chase, a pursuit on foot, and a scuffle, but two McKees Rocks police officers on routine patrol spotted a car jacking in progress and arrested a suspect. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 14:24:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208370-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Firefighters battled a blaze in Bridgeville this morning that destroyed an apartment building and spread to a neighboring structure. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 08:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208369-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Two Beaver County residents were hurt Saturday in a car crash blamed on speed. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 07:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208325-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Attorneys representing a man who was sentenced to death more than two decades ago in the murder of a waitress in Fayette County are trying to stop prosecutors from retrying the defendant. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208327-58.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml An official says a fire early Friday morning at the Sarris Candies factory in Canonsburg destroyed nearly 20,000 pounds of chocolate. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1207983-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The image of the first day of school at the new Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12 in Homewood still sticks in one teacher's mind. "I think the first day in August was so beautiful. They came in their uniforms. You could see the expectations that things were going to be different. We're really going to focus on our learning," she said. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208061-53-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml For about two hours a day, twice a day, five days a week, Cathy Gamble is the queen -- in neon green -- of 44th and Butler streets. The longtime crossing guard greets pedestrians by name and blows kisses from her stark white gloves to the drivers who stop in her wake at this bustling intersection, where she estimates she crosses 300 schoolchildren and countless more adults each day. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208271-59.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml It took eight years, but the people of the New Kensington area finally got a chance to welcome home the 307th Military Police Company on Saturday. The Army Reserve company, based in New Kensington, deployed to Iraq for a year in 2003 and 2004. But its soldiers came back in staggered groups then, and the town could never pull together a time for one large ceremony. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208323-455.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Bishop David A. Zubik will celebrate a memorial Mass for the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua at St. Paul Cathedral on Feb. 19. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12036/1208324-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Cambria County man driving on the wrong side of the road was killed early Saturday morning in a head-on collision, according to state police. Sun, 5 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208163-53-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The city of Pittsburgh would pay $75,000 and Jordan Miles would drop parts of his federal police brutality lawsuit under a partial settlement to be put before city council Tuesday. City solicitor Daniel Regan declined comment because council members had not yet been briefed on the proposal. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 18:49:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208169-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml WASHINGTON -- Area senators and congressmen vowed Friday to fight the Air Force's plans to close the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon within the next two years, moving two of its seven C-130 transport planes to other bases and retiring the rest. It isn't yet clear whether the base's troops would be transferred to other bases. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 16:05:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208114-122-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Kenneth Whitlock, a star Sewickley athlete who became the first black Marine from Allegheny County and then spent three decades as a school administrator in Virginia, died Tuesday. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 11:43:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208141-455-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The passing of 69 years has faded most of his memories. But when asked what he remembers of that night, Feb. 3, 1943, aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Comanche in the icy water of the North Atlantic, Thomas A. Vitale has the answer ready. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 11:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208236-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Attorneys representing a man who was sentenced to death more than two decades ago in the murder of a waitress in Fayette County are trying to stop prosecutors from retrying the defendant. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 10:49:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208058-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml For the former Allegheny County morgue, it no longer will be about corpses but habeas corpus. The county plans to convert the historic 110-year-old building, once a place for autopsies and tragic endings, into offices for its law department. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208094-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Clairton man was found guilty of second-degree murder Friday for the shooting death of a man at a New Year's Eve party last year. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208095-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml State police said a man was struck and killed by a car early Friday in Greene County. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208099-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A small shed housing a natural gas compressor at a Mercer County well caught fire Friday morning, burning for more than two hours before firefighters extinguished it. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208106-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Federal marshals on Friday afternoon captured a Wilmerding man accused of hitting his wife in the head with a gun and pointing the gun at his 11-year-old stepdaughter. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208107-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A man remained in the Allegheny County Jail Friday after police said he told them he shot and killed his roommate inside their Greenfield home last month during an argument about the day the victim's father died. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208115-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A man who pleaded guilty to hundreds of criminal charges for secretly videotaping women in an East Huntingdon tanning salon was sentenced Friday to seven to 20 years in prison. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208116-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Police have arrested a man suspected of robbing an Oakland bank Wednesday, warning tellers not to "freak out" before demanding their money. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208117-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml In one of a handful of appointments to city-related boards Friday, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced he was removing the city finance director from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority and installing another aide in his stead. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208132-455-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Robert Tomasic says the only way he could get $60,000 for his house in North Braddock would be if he put in $10,000 to $15,000 worth of renovations first. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208139-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Bridgewater councilman charged in the 1979 homicide of a Monaca woman will remain in jail for now, a Beaver County judge ruled Friday. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208140-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Emilio Rivera claims that Allegheny County homicide detectives forced him into giving a false confession in the shooting of a Clairton police officer by threatening to arrest his girlfriend and have his infant son taken away. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208143-455-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Firefighters slipped on floors slick with melted chocolate, ultimately calling hazardous-materials teams to scrub the sweet goo from their gear during a fire Friday that caused little structural damage to the popular Sarris Candy store and factory in Canonsburg. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12035/1208201-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The family of a woman who went missing more than a month ago is offering $1,000 for information on her whereabouts. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207964-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Federal marshals this afternoon captured a Wilmerding man accused of hitting his wife in the head with a gun and pointing it at his 11-year-old stepdaughter. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:45:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207903-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml WASHINGTON -- The Air Force today announced plans to close the 911th Airlift Wing in Moon within the next two years, moving two of its seven C-130 transport planes to other bases and retiring the rest. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207950-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Beaver County judge denied bail today for the Bridgewater man recently charged in the 1979 death of a Monaca woman. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 17:02:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207941-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Police have arrested a man suspected of robbing an Oakland bank Wednesday, warning tellers not to "freak out" before demanding their money. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:29:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207940-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml State police said a man was struck and killed by a car early today in Greene County. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 16:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207919-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The family of a woman who went missing more than a month ago is offering $1,000 for information on her whereabouts. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 15:33:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207905-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A 24-year-old man cutting brush at the former Iron City Brewery site was injured by a chainsaw this morning. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 14:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207899-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A man who pleaded guilty to hundreds of criminal charges for secretly videotaping women in an East Huntingdon tanning salon was sentenced today to seven to 20 years in prison. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 13:12:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207777-28.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml After spending time in Iraq during the war, Regina Koetters isn't about to lose sleep over her latest endeavor -- opening a new market in the Strip District. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 10:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207895-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A fire at Sarris Candies in Canonsburg was smoky but apparently did little damage to the ice cream parlor and retail store at the business. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 10:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207815-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Neighbors remembered a 73-year-old man who died following a Downtown apartment fire Thursday evening as an eccentric man who loved to cook and enjoyed a good drink. Firefighters found Richard Snyder lying unconscious on the floor of his ninth-floor apartment in the Roosevelt Arms Apartments near Sixth Street and Penn Avenue, a pot of unattended food smoking on a stove nearby. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 08:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207827-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The family spent months searching winding back roads in Greene County, following his tracks. Friends called to say he turned up in their yard. But by the time the family arrived, he had run off, leaving only snapshots to prove he was there. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 05:52:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207894-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Oakdale residents are invited to a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the community center, 104 Seminary Ave., to help plan the borough's 120th anniversary celebration. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 05:26:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207893-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Officers have made an arrest related to a residential burglary on Hastings Avenue, he said, and they have identified a person of interest related to the theft of a small amount of cash at the Oakdale Inn on Noblestown Road. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 05:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207892-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A North Versailles man was arrested Thursday after police said he told them he shot and killed his roommate inside their Greenfield home last month during an argument about the day the victim's father died. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 05:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207824-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml New statistics from Allegheny County's eastern suburbs indicate that an $11 million reassessment may not have eliminated disparities between properties in poor communities assessed too high and properties in wealthier communities assessed too low, a lawyer at the center of the case said Thursday. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207794-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml State police are searching for a vehicle that struck a state trooper who was picking up debris on a Route 28 on-ramp in Armstrong County early Thursday. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207795-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Kittanning Street/Dorseyville Road in Etna will be closed for repairs Monday through Wednesday, weather permitting, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207797-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Somerset man died when his car struck a drainage ditch and rolled over Thursday morning. State police said Joshua Berkey, 28, was driving east on state Route 653 when he lost control of his Jeep Grand Cherokee near Harvest Drive, hit a drainage ditch and rolled over. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207800-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The Allegheny County Health Department has lifted a consumer alert it issued for Mullen's Bar and Grill on the North Shore after an inspector said she found several dead mice and more than 100 droppings scattered throughout the restaurant. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207822-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml For five years, unsafe conditions have prevailed at a Swissvale apartment building while the landlord built up a stack of violations. The last straw came last week when Swissvale Fire Chief Clyde Wilhelm issued to tenants a notice to vacate, saying the building had become uninhabitable. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207825-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Status conferences open to the public on the progress of Allegheny County's $11 million reassessment are followed many times by closed sessions in the chambers of the judge overseeing the project. A lawyer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday argued that those conferences also should be open to the news media and citizens. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207847-53-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Even as she kicked them off BNY Mellon's property, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Christine A. Ward found Thursday that the Occupy Pittsburgh protesters who have encamped along Grant Street since Oct. 15 had reached at least some of their goals. "[I]t bears noting that Occupy Pittsburgh has benefited greatly from their time occupying BNY Mellon Green. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207854-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Pittsburgh and Port Authority are discussing whether to lift the high occupancy vehicle restrictions in the Wabash Tunnel while McArdle Roadway remains closed by a landslide. The former railroad tunnel has drawn little traffic since it was renovated and opened to cars in December 2004. Traffic flows one way inbound during the morning rush and one way outbound at most other times. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207857-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml McKeesport City Council President Darryl Segina said council has postponed consideration of a full-term contract for solicitor J. Jason Elash until police complete their investigation of a car crash that left him briefly out of work. Mr. Elash's contract would have been on the agenda for Wednesday night's meeting. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207397-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml After talking about it for more than a decade, state legislators have given Gov. Tom Corbett a bill that boosts bingo and other small-games-of-chance jackpots -- and potentially boosts the fundraising abilities of veterans groups, fire companies, church organizations and social clubs across the state. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:55:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207351-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml They've been mistaken for everything from forest fires to gas well explosions -- even alien space craft. But fear not, those "giant flames in the sky" as some call them, are all a part of the Marcellus Shale gas well boom here in southwestern Pennsylvania. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207604-298-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Legislation proposed by state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, would direct $30 million in state funds to 18 academically and fiscally distressed school districts to be used to improve academic achievement. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:35:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207740-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The Washington County District Attorney's office today announced it will seek the death penalty against a 23-year-old man accused of stabbing an elderly woman to death in her home last month. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:35:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207739-100-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The Occupy Pittsburgh movement has three days to exit the space at Mellon Green after an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge this afternoon granted a motion for a preliminary injunction requested by BNY Mellon. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 14:32:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207737-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Many Allegheny County property owners in lower-income places like Braddock and Duquesne are finding their new assessments have increased more than those in more affluent communities like Plum and Monroeville, a lawyer involved in the case said today. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 13:43:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207470-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Bigwigs mingled with Big Macs at McDonald's in Canonsburg last week, but the occasion wasn't to announce the release of a new menu item. Restaurant manager Scott Kausky was presented the prestigious Ray Kroc Award during a surprise ceremony. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 12:39:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207647-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The Allegheny County Health Department has issued a consumer alert for Mullen's Bar and Grill on the North Shore after an inspector said she found several dead mice and more than 100 droppings scattered throughout the restaurant. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 12:20:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207613-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The suspended chief of the city school district's police force testified Wednesday that federal law enforcement counterterrorism training he has received contributed to his mindset when he pulled over an ambulance on Route 65 last July. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 11:46:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207449-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml When 11-year-old Vicie Simpson, a sixth-grader at Shaffer Elementary School in the Woodland Hills School District, found out that the school cafeteria was throwing away excess food every day, she was shocked. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:47:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207448-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Tara Reis has lived in the 15221 ZIP code her entire life -- she graduated from Woodland Hills High School in 1989, and both of her children now attend school in the district. Although she's been active at her children's schools, she said it was "time to take my service up a notch." Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:45:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207483-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The observance of Catholic Schools Week continues with activities and programs under the theme "Catholic Schools -- Faith. Academics. Service." through Sunday. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207491-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml He was born Frank Ronald Gamble, but most people know him as "Huck." Here's why: He was in a playpen at his grandmother's house in Oakdale when he apparently overheard two uncles talking about a movie based on Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Thu, 2 Feb 2012 10:37:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207694-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Police are searching for a Wilmerding man who they say struck his wife in the head with a gun and pointed it at his 11-year-old stepdaughter early this morning in an incident that drew county SWAT officers. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:59:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207458-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Built in 1939, Baldwin High School had not had a major renovation in the past 35 years. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:58:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207522-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Commissioned late last year to create a 45-inch tall szopka for a Christmas exhibit in an upscale Hong Kong shopping mall, Bethel Park folk artist and graphic designer David Motak delivered more than expected. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:50:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207637-258-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Once again we are reminded that a furry varmint who holes up in Jefferson County can match wits with modern science when it comes to long-range weather forecasting. Some experts' warnings that the Pittsburgh district was in for another snowy, frigid winter have melted in the light of reality. January produced 13 days on which the temperature exceeded the normal high by 10 or more degrees. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:36:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207519-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml If you're looking to appraise or sell some old coins -- or hoping to add pieces to your own collection -- then drop by the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Bethel Park this weekend. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:27:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207499-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml At any given moment at The Glen Montessori School in Emsworth, every child can be doing something different. On a recent school day in a primary classroom, 6-year-old Vijay Arora tackles the seven continents as he colors a map of Australia. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207505-54-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml When Quaker Valley High School sophomore Josh Billings of Sewickley first started thinking about his personal project required for graduation, his thinking went along the same lines as most of his classmates -- something small and quick to fulfill the requirement. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:06:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207516-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Like many students his age, Andrew Duerig, 16, loves to play computer games. But the North Hills High School sophomore has taken his passion one step further and has started developing his own computer games. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:04:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207691-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml McKeesport council approved an agreement with Federal Property Registration Corp. to provide an electronic registration process that will register vacant, abandoned and foreclosed properties so that the city can properly address violations of city maintenance codes. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 08:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207686-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml News briefs from the South suburban area: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 08:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207688-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml News briefs from the West suburban area: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 08:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207687-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml News briefs from the East suburban area: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 07:55:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207682-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A convicted drug dealer who skipped her sentencing was in the Allegheny County Jail Wednesday after sheriff's deputies said they found crack cocaine rocks and more than 500 bags of suspected heroin in her North Side apartment. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 06:10:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207690-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Cranberry -- Casting for Recovery will hold a "wearable art" fashion show and luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 12, at the Pittsburgh Marriott North, 100 Cranberry Woods Drive. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:58:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207423-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Hampton's two volunteer fire departments have received a $92,293 grant to purchase paging and radio equipment to comply with federal communications bandwidth regulations that take effect in less than a year. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:49:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207424-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Hampton will have the opportunity this month to refinance a 2002 bond issue worth $4.2 million that will lock in a lower interest rate, and yield a windfall for the township of between $450,000 and $500,000. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:48:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207685-54-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A new member of the A.W. Beattie Career Center Joint Committee has suggested changing the way the academic curriculum is offered at the McCandless school to an on-line learning program to address slumping enrollment and a tight budget. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:47:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207504-54-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Millvale may have an answer to lessen the flooding that torments businesses and residents along Girty's Run every few years. The borough is getting a $703,525 grant from the state to plant trees that should reduce flooding and stormwater runoff. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:44:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207422-54-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml North Allegheny school directors hope some of their proposed initiatives will bring in money for next year and allow them to cut the property tax increase in the preliminary budget. School board members approved the $1.26 million budget Jan. 25 by an 8-1 vote. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:43:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207433-54-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml More than half of the 245 students at North Catholic High School this year are being bused to the Troy Hill campus from Cranberry. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:40:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207749-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A 73-year-old man died following a blaze at a Downtown high-rise apartment building this evening. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:31:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207471-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Bethel Park Public Library will be host to Mother Goose Storytime for children ages 18 months to 2 1/2 years old at 10 a.m. Wednesday and continuing each Wednesday during February. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:30:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207462-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Nearly 500 families facing foreclosure in southwestern Pennsylvania have been able to stay in their homes this year because of a federal emergency mortgage program. About $13 million will go to help those 500 families in 11 counties. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207472-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Last summer, Pete Miller III of Port Vue bought a truck in South Dakota and traveled to the Kansas-Missouri border to buy a trailer. He then drove the 77,000-pound tractor-trailer equipped with full living quarters to Ohio to spend nine straight days sprint car racing at various tracks. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207523-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml On Sunday nights, Ali Phillippi uses Skype to see and talk with her fiance, Sgt. Robert Catto Jr., a teacher who lives in South Park and was deployed in November to Afghanistan. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:25:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207463-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml For parents and volunteer coaches, Saturday's Special Olympics Allegheny County Figure Skating Tournament is largely about what occurs off the ice. Mary Sirianni of Bethel Park said skating has improved the self-confidence of her daughter, Amanda, 19. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207469-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml You don't have to go to Washington, D.C., for out-of-control spending; we have it right here in Upper St. Clair. The school board has recently petitioned the state to raise the millage more than the maximum allowed percentage. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:22:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207473-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Nancy Aloi Rose firmly believes teachers are born, not made. That might explain why she never wanted to be an astronaut or a doctor when she was growing up -- always a teacher. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:21:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207521-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Homestead's code enforcement officer said borough council is interfering with his duties and putting him in harm's way because of a vote last month that he claims targets him. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:20:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207689-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The Ambridge Historic District Economic Development Corp. will host an antique appraisal day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Akulina's Antiques, 260 13th St. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207500-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Municipal news from the West suburban area: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:15:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207502-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Eating at the Pizza Hut at 7 Poplar St. on Friday will help two worthy causes at Crafton Elementary School. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207487-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml In hope of bolstering math scores on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, administrators at Sto-Rox High School have added the Apangea Math program to the curriculum. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207498-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Heidelberg is ready within the next two weeks to close on the purchase of a 6,000-square-foot building at 1639 E. Railroad St. that will serve as a public works building. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207488-57.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml West Allegheny is considering repairs and renovations to its two oldest school buildings. The school board hired Thomas & Williamson Program Management of Ross on Jan. 18 to conduct a $35,000 facilities assessment focusing on the condition of McKee Elementary in North Fayette and Wilson Elementary in Findlay. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:06:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207484-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml After a year of negotiations, the West Allegheny school board voted 5-4 on Monday to approve a five-year contract with the district's 159-member support staff union, retroactive to July 1. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:04:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207511-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml For the second time in seven years, Rosslyn Farms officials are debating whether to retain the borough's police department. The dilemma is being driven by the upcoming retirement of Chief Larry Fischio, a 34-year police veteran, at the end of August. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 05:03:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207684-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Monroeville Public Library, 4000 Gateway Campus Blvd., will sponsor an exhibition titled "Again and Again ... " by Emily Grace Dobson from Saturday through Feb. 25. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:59:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207482-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Tennis, anyone? Not too early to ask: Spring is just 47 days away and the East Hills Summer Tennis League is setting its schedule of competitive matches in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:55:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207480-56.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Dozens of residents in the Norwin area could benefit this summer when hundreds of volunteers provide free home repairs to those who are elderly, handicapped or in financial need. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:53:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207479-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml After a three-month delay, McKeesport Area School District will be able to start construction soon on the new Cornell Elementary/Intermediate School in McKeesport now that an erosion and sedimentation pollution control permit has been obtained for the project. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:52:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207441-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Once Brother Nathan Cochran settled upon an idea for his latest exhibition -- to bring attention to the talents of 20 regional artists -- the hard work began: deciding which artists to include. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:50:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207439-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The Latrobe Skating Center is a great place for family entertainment -- and has been since Jim Erny bought the indoor roller skating rink 23 years ago. But families with autistic kids hold a special place in his heart. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:48:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207450-56-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Looking for a good place to locate a small, startup technology company in Westmoreland County? Or perhaps you've worked as a pastry chef for several years but now want to open a bakery and you need a site with lots of foot traffic. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 04:48:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207683-54.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Police were searching Wednesday night for two armed men who robbed a Family Dollar store in Millvale. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:41:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207648-455.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Penn State University's insurer wants a judge to determine if it has to provide coverage or pay for defense costs in a lawsuit over alleged child sex abuse by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:32:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207649-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Pittsburgh firefighter was charged this weekend with driving under the influence after police stopped him during a roving DUI checkpoint in Homewood. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:31:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207646-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A 17-year-old boy remained in a juvenile detention center Wednesday on charges that he raped one teenage girl, assaulted another and sent threatening text messages to a third. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:23:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207645-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge charged in December with drunken driving in Mt. Lebanon has entered a program for first-time offenders that, if completed successfully, means his record would be expunged. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:21:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207680-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Penn Hills man was arrested on an attempted homicide charge late Wednesday after Wilkinsburg police said they spotted him with an AK-47 not far from where a man's car had been shot. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:19:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207644-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A second man has been arrested on charges that he took part in a McKees Rocks home invasion in which a pair of gunmen stole grenades and an assault rifle. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:17:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207642-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A North Side woman was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for conspiring to distribute 3.5 to 5 kilograms of cocaine. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:16:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207643-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Shady Avenue will be closed from Solway to Northumberland streets in Squirrel Hill from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and Friday for emergency tree removal, the Pittsburgh public works department announced. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:15:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207641-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml A Clairton man was sentenced to 22 to 44 years in prison Wednesday for the beating death of a 2-year-old boy. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:11:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207678-100.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The Obama campaign is opening its Pittsburgh field office today, inviting volunteers and supporters to an evening event. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:10:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207350-57-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Police news from the West suburban area: Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207347-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml When Charles V. "Chuck" Wagner began his 50-year coaching career in 1961, John F. Kennedy was president, Joe Paterno was still an assistant coach at Penn State and Vince Lombardi had not yet won an NFL championship with the Green Bay Packers. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207602-58.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml On the morning of the day Karissa Kunco was found slain on the side of a rural Washington County road, Randol Taylor testified that he got a phone call from his friend Jordan Clemons, the man now charged in her death. "He said, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. She's dead,' " said Mr. Taylor, who was one of several witnesses who testified during a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207603-53-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a package of help for homeowners who want to fight new property assessments, but it won't nail down eligibility guidelines until next week. Council also advanced a bill giving homeowners until March 30 to pay property taxes at a 2 percent discount. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207605-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Two men accused of shooting a Clairton police officer during a home invasion last April asked an Allegheny County judge to throw out their confessions. Attorneys for Marcus Andrejco, 19, of Rankin; and Emilio Rivera, 26, of McKees Rocks, argued that the interrogation techniques used by Allegheny County homicide detectives were improper. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207606-53.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto was in Shadyside on Tuesday night to celebrate the completion of the first phase of an LED streetlight project. Not to be outdone, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl held his own celebration Wednesday in the West End, using a cherry-picker to install one of the lights himself. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207624-454-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml The state said Wednesday that it is easing limits of an asset test it plans to reinstate for Pennsylvanians receiving food stamps. A total of 4,000 households are expected to lose their food stamps under the revised proposal by the state Department of Public Welfare. The plan sparked criticism from Democrats and advocates for the poor when it became public last month. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12033/1207631-55-0.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml Peters police Chief Harry Fruecht Wednesday announced that he has ended an investigation into allegations that student athletes were "forced to play with injuries" and said he will take no further action. "The police department has been unable to support these allegations with fact," Chief Fruecht said. "So we're done with it." Thu, 2 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500