Thursday, January 17, 2013
Some lottery retailers are unsure of what the future holds, while Democratic State Sen. Matt Smith calls the decision to hire a British-based company to run the Pennsylvania Lottery a “risky scheme.”
Yankello's became the first Sewickley business in 1980 to sell lottery tickets, according to co-partner Mike Yankello. But now with the state poised to hire a British company to run the Pennsylvania Lottery, Yankello is concerned about what the future could hold. Long-time clerk Richard Praskach didn't appear hopeful. "The lottery needs to make changes, but I'm not sure this is it," he said. State Sen. Matt Smith is also questioning how Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration made the decision. The first-term Democratic senator from Mt. Lebanon said a hearing with the Finance Committee helped to shed light on the decision-making process by the administration, but it “does not forgive the actions taken that effectively cut the public and …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
It appears Election Day is about more than who you vote for.
Patch editors all over the country are busy getting the hottest Election Day stories today, and as it turns out, those tales aren't all about the candidates. Check out these election stories that are going viral in our little corner of Patchland. • Collingswood Patch reports a man in Millerstown, PA, stepped up to his touchscreen voter booth ready to vote for Obama but found every time he pushed Obama's button, it registered his vote for Romney. Find out what the man did after several attempts here. • Oak Forest Patch, outside Chicago, reports a 21-year-old mother-to-be was not about to give up her first-time voting experience just because she was going into labor. Click here to read about her voting experience. • Sewickley Patch, Plum-…
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Tracey Gist of Leet Township is accused of taking more than $6,000 from the Union Aid Society to pay her bills.
Sewickley police have charged a Leet Township woman with stealing $6,194 from the Union Aid Society. Tracey Gist, 45, of Pilgrim Drive, is facing seven counts each of forgery and theft by unlawful taking, and one count of access device fraud. According to a criminal complaint, Gist served as treasurer of the Union Aid Society when she forged seven checks between the start of her term as treasurer on June 1, 2010 and May to pay personal bills. Union Aid is a 110-year-old nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance, among other programs, to qualifying residents from the 11 communities within the Quaker Valley School District. Sherri Leifman, executive director, said the incident has had no impact on Union Aid's services to the …
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Woman seen walking nude through Sewickley Heights cemetery.
A naked woman seen strolling through a Sewickley Heights cemetery over the weekend was enough cause for someone to pick up the phone and dial 911. Sewickley Heights police responded shortly after 4:15 p.m. Saturday to the St. James Cemetery after receiving a report through Allegheny County emergency dispatchers of a naked woman walking around. Sewickley Heights Police Chief Herb Ford said the only description police received was that the woman was elderly. She also proved to be elusive. Officers, with assistance from Sewickley and Ohio Township police, searched the cemetery off Water Works Road and checked around the nearby Fern Hollow Nature Center, but after 30 minutes, they were unable to find her, he said. “They looked for her, but …
Monday, June 25, 2012
The eighth annual walk raises funds for cancer research to help find a cure.
Quaker Valley residents gathered Saturday for the eighth annual Relay For Life to honor those who have passed away from cancer and to celebrate those who have beat the disease. The 22-hour "Carnival for the Cure" event began with an opening ceremony and afterward, teams and individuals began walking the high school track all day. Walkers are scheduled to continue until this morning. Various food, games, entertainment and prizes were available throughout the day. Survivors soon gathered dressed in purple T-shirts and walked to celebrate their lives with support from the crowd and lots of cheering. Local survivor Keith Rothfus of Edgeworth, a candidate for Congress, stopped by the stadium to greet the survivors, who were treated to a …
Friday, June 1, 2012
The Allegheny County District Attorney's office and the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese are investigating amidst Facebook allegations.
The priest at St. James Church has taken a leave of absence during an ongoing investigation from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office involving Facebook messages to a minor, according to the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese. Pittsburgh Catholic Bishop David Zubik said in a letter posted on the parish's website that a complaint was recently made against the Rev. Dan Valentine regarding Facebook postings the St. James priest for six years made to a minor. “As a result of the complaint, I directed my staff to share all information with the office of the District Attorney of Allegheny County,” Zubik wrote in a letter that was read to church parishioners on Sunday. Zubik said the DA’s office informed the diocese that while the postings …
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The 35th biennial tour, presented by Child Health Association of Sewickley, includes a glimpse inside of six homes featuring one-of-a-kind furniture, antiques, original works of art, and decorating touches by renowned interior designers.
The Sewickley Valley will play host to visitors on Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5, for the 35th Sewickley House Tour, presented by the Child Health Association of Sewickley. The tour runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday for bus and self-guided walking tours and from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday for a self-guided candlelight tour. On Saturday, self-guided walking tours run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. while, as in years past, a bus tour by Lenzner Coach Lines will be available with several pick-up locations throughout Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. Six homes representing a bygone era, as well as some contemporary classics, await the viewing public at this biennial event, one of Child Health's major fundraisers benefitting children in Western …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
In an open letter, Harris writes that the NCAA president was wrong in including Paterno on his list of coaches fired for misdeeds.
Pittsburgh Steelers great and PSU alumni Franco Harris is again coming to the defense of the late Penn State football coaching legend Joe Paterno, whose career ended with the Penn State sex scandal. In an open letter, Harris blasts NCAA President Mark Emmert for making, in his opinion, a misleading, damaging and untrue statement by including Joe Paterno on his list of coaches that were fired for “misdeeds.” "Mr. Emmert should know that before you bunch everyone together and pass judgment, you must first get all the facts and the truth about each one. Obviously, he didn’t," Harris wrote. Harris refers to statements Emmert made in an Associated Press article. In the article, Emmert said, “You’re seeing boards of directors, of trustees, and …
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Residents gather Thursday for the second time in two weeks at the Sewickley Public Library to discuss the pink house.
At the conclusion of Thursday's "Save the Pink House" meeting, Beaver Street resident Don Travis left the Sewickley Public Library saying he felt good about the two hours he'd spent there. Travis, at one point, surprised everyone in the room with an offer to pay for 100 yard signs at a cost of $1,500 to help spread community-wide support for the effort. “I think we’re making progress,” Travis said after the meeting. “I think we’ll get there.” About two dozen people attended the information and organization meeting—the second in two weeks—involving the house at 202 Beaver St. known as the “Pink House.” The Presbyterian Church of Sewickley recently purchased the home and plans to raze it to build a new youth house and provide additional …
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Some residents feed the cats, while others worry about rabies. Animal Friends provides a solution.
David Sofranko remembers a time when there were two stray cats living in his Leetsdaleneighborhood. Since then, the cat population has exploded. Sofranko now estimates there are now about 50 feral cats living on Washington Street. “A couple cats are fine, but it snowballed,” said Sofranko, who doesn’t own pets. He and a dozen other neighbors, like Frank Bombiani, have been feeding them for years. But some residents have raised concerns about the street being overrun with cats and kittens and the potential that they could carry rabies. “I put the food out is all I do,” Sofranko said. “I mean, there could be a problem with rabies.” The cat colonies are concentrated on Monroe Way, the alley behind the Washington Street residences. Strays curl…
Joyce
3:20 am on Friday, April 27, 2012
There are no heroes at Penn State right now...perhaps there never were. Many people witnessed, heard of, were told, investigated, and ignored the plight of children. In what world do grown men, when told that a coach was showering alone in campus locker rooms with a child as young as 10, call that "horsing around"...and in what world do they not immediately seek out that child and see to his well… more ›