Around the Rivers: A Brazen Theft, A Vandalism Spree, A Biking Jaunt and Applause for Jackie

President came to Carnegie Mellon University.

Local alongside their city brethren as the trial of convicted killer Richard Poplawski unfolded Downtown.

Residents of Patch communities celebrated the first days of summer by and , diving into cool pools, taking in a live for the best summer reading.

Patch brought you plenty of other stories as well from Around the Rivers over the past week. Among them:

A brazen thief risked his or her life to steal copper wiring from a utility substation early Wednesday, and in the process cut off electricity for hours to more than 4,000 people in Cranberry and Zelienople.

Cranberry Township Police said the thieves entered the substation on Route 19 by cutting the exterior fence and grounding cables that activate the equipment.

Penn Power spokesman Doug Colafella said the theft was the fourth from area substations in less that a week. On Friday, police and Penn Power's parent company First Energy for information leading to an arrest in the theft.

Two former volunteer firefighters may have been bored, but now they're in trouble and facing charges stemming from a vandalism spree in two communities.

Brandon Marcell Diewald, 18, and Justin Edward Chorba, 18, both of Leetsdale, are charged with two felony counts of arson and four counts of criminal mischief as a result of a tire-slashing spree through Edgeworth and Leetsdale.

John English said the pair told police they were "bored" and looking for entertainment when they damaged nine cars and set fire to a pile of garbage in front of a home in Edgeworth.

Edgeworth Fire Chief Tim Scott said the two had been new volunteer firefighters but no longer are with the borough department as a result of their arrests. They are awaiting a preliminary hearing set for Tuesday.

In a case that began with a report to , a federal grand jury indicted a former engineer with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission on charges that he lured and extorted teens and other victims to send him sexually explicit photos online.

Russell Freed, 43, of Penn Hills, was indicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh on seven counts, including four counts of production and attempted production of child pornography, two counts of distribution and receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

The case began Feb. 5, when a Ross woman and her daughter reported that someone was harassing the daughter on her cell phone by posing as an acquaintance, demanding explicit photographs and threatening to distribute them if the teen did not send more.

From that report, investigators developed evidence linking Freed's phone to an elaborate plot to extract more sexually explicit photographs from the teen, her mother and others, according to court records.

Investigators identified Freed after posing online as the teen's mother and tracing the phone used in the text-message exchanges, according to a court complaint. Freed is free on $50,000 bond.

When William Keyser of Perrysville celebrated his 100th birthday with his extended family, he figured that happy gathering might be the last time they'd all be together.

That was five years ago. Now the Ross Township resident is preparing to celebrate his 105th birthday, and another party is in the works.

Keyser, who was born July 9, 1906 during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, is believed to be the township's oldest resident. Born in Pittsburgh's Manchester neighborhood, he grew up in Swissvale and Wilmerding and quit school at age 11 to help his family after his father was crippled in a train accident.

He worked as a cabinetmaker and, with his wife Margaret, raised three children in Perrysville. Now a resident of  The Haven at North Hills assisted-living facility, he said he feels fine, eats what he wants and knows how to relax after a fulfilling life of hard work.

“I took my drink everyday, either a highball, Manhattan or a drink of wine,” he said. “I grew up during Prohibition, and that’s when everyone had something to drink.”

Patch contributor had a couple of days off, so he hopped on his bike to check out the Panhandle Trail from Moon Township to Wheeling, WV. 

He tells Moon Patch what he found during his 12-hour jaunt from the Montour Trail at Coraopolis to its crossroads with the Panhandle trail in McDonald and on to West Virginia. Total distance: about 64 miles.

(and Wows Leno, Too!)

Once again, Jackie Evancho was a hit when she appeared Friday to sing and chat with host Sharon Osbourne on the CBS show "The Talk."

It was a reunion for the 11-year-old singer and Osbourne, who also was one of the  hosts last summer when Jackie was a runner-up on "America’s Got Talent," the show that kicked off her international career.

Two days earlier, she also performed on where host Jay Leno said cast and crew stopped during the show's rehearsal to listen to her performance of "Angel" from her new CD, "Dream With Me."

“She has the most beautiful voice,” Leno said.