Pitcairn News

"Everybody had a plan, and nobody did anything . Now we're at it again. They said it was a 100-year storm.

Tim Puko can be reached via e-mail or at 412-391-8650. In eight of the region's most flood-prone communities, emergency responders are meeting minimum state requirements for emergency planning, but only a third of the response groups have plans tailored to flooding, according to an ongoing University of Pittsburgh study.

Twenty-three of the county's 44 suburban libraries stand to lose part of their current Regional Asset District funding next year under a new plan that attempts to allocate the money more equitably.

June 25, 2009 - Around this time last year, Jack and Kate Tiffany, of Spring Hill, Ohio, and the crew of Leading Edge Restorations , were anticipating the flight of their recently restored Pitcairn PA-18 Autogiro to Oshkosh for AirVenture 2008.

Communities throughout the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh continue to bail out from last Wednesday's record storms and the sporadic flooding they caused.

Allegheny County this evening declared a disaster emergency as a result of Wednesday night's floods, which caused major damage to homes, roads, bridges, public property, sewer systems and culverts.

Leaders in Turtle Creek, Wilkinsburg and Forest Hills declared a state of emergency in those communities following Wednesday night's storms, which flooded roads and basements and knocked out power.

Brian C. Rittmeyer can be reached via e-mail or at 724-226-4701. Strong storms that socked the region with heavy rain, wind and lightning Wednesday evening for the most part spared the Alle-Kiski Valley.

One of Allegheny County's most wanted fugitives was arrested on Thursday. Police said Dale Ramey, 18, is wanted for pushing a child off of a bicycle in Pitcairn and then stealing it.

An 18-year-old Pitcairn man accused of pushing a juvenile and stealing his bicycle has been found, thanks to a tip from a Comcast viewer.

Life sometimes throws you things you cannot seem to handle. While it gives you sunshine and other great things to be thankful for, its cruel storms leave you without anything to seek refuge to.

The awards just keep coming for RAMP. Raising Achievement in Monroeville and Pitcairn, a group of volunteers in Gateway School District whose goals are to address the issue of academic achievement gaps within the community, received the Pennsylvania State Education Association's Human and Civil Rights Award this spring.

A Pittsburgh man is in Westmoreland County Prison after allegedly leading officers on a foot chase Tuesday before he was found to possess crack cocaine, pills and a digital scale.

Who'd want to bicycle across the southern United States - in the summer? Bryan Pitcairn of Oakland Township and about 30 other young serious bicyclists ages 18 to 25 will do just that, starting June 10, to raise money and awareness for affordable housing organizations.

A fire left several people without gas service Thursday morning in Pitcairn. Allegheny County dispatch workers said the blaze began at about 1 a.m. in the 400 block of Broadway Boulevard.

Pitcairn again escaped a fire-related disaster when firefighters extinguished a trash fire Thursday behind a Broadway Street building before it could burn through a gas meter and set off an explosion, a fire department spokesman said.

Firefighters battled flames in Pitcairn Wednesday, for the second time this week.

Drawn by the sight of a police officer running down Broadway Street, Craig Schiller stepped to the balcony of his Pitcairn apartment to see fire cracking and pushing out the windows of the building next door.

Broadway Avenue in Pitcairn was closed Tuesday while the remains of two buildings were torn down after a large fire.

A two-alarm fire that destroyed two vacant buildings in Pitcairn could have been a lot worse.