Plum Advance Leader category, Page 16
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Aug. 25, 2024
ALLEGHENY COUNTY Churchill Gina Stephens sold property at 2307 Marbury Road to Chase Ryan and Miranda Johnston for $497,000. Randall Russell trustee sold property at 1515 Old Beulah Road to Erin Winstanley for $530,000. Edgewood Estate of Robert Kellerman sold property at 112 Gordon St. to JBS Rental Associates LLC...
Franklin Regional continues dominance vs. Plum
Plum hoped to stop a five-game losing streak to rival Franklin Regional when the neighbors met to open the season Friday evening. But the visiting Panthers weren’t about to relinquish their recent stranglehold on the series. FR scored three times in the first quarter, led by 28 at halftime and...
Wrestlers at Verona’s Battle in the Borough perform through raindrops and chest chops
Verona first responders answered an “unusual call” after a rainstorm earlier this month. Police, firefighters and Lower Valley Ambulance personnel responded to Cribbs Field along Second Street for a report of two men “fighting” the evening of Aug. 17. It was not a typical emergency. In fact, it wasn’t an...
Plum’s Darian Nelson offers all-around talent, leadership in senior season
At the beginning of Plum’s football practices, Darian Nelson is one of the vocal leaders, counting out with a booming voice while everyone stretches. Nelson has been playing on both sides of the ball since he was a freshman and has learned from the older guys along the way. Now...
Plum School District hosts Meet the Teacher events ahead of start of new school year
Students in the Plum School District got a look inside their schools and a chance to meet their teachers last week before returning to classes on Aug. 21. The district hosted Meet the Teacher events at its schools on Aug. 14 and 15. It replaced the self-guided tours and open...
In brief: Plum, Oakmont area news, events for the week of Aug. 19, 2024
Plum School District hires special education director The Plum School Board approved hiring Denise L. Lohr as the district’s new director of special education and student services. Lohr will replace Amy Baumgart-Eiben, who resigned in June. Her salary was set at $123,600. Lohr has served as the early childhood services...
Pittsburgh east suburban real estate transactions for the week of Aug. 18, 2024
Allegheny County Churchill Katelyn Larue Burns Carmody sold property at 315 Homer Drive to Jack Larkin and Abigail Robeson for $280,000. Antigone Kyros sold property at 105 Kingsdale Road to James Kyros for $250,000. Edgewood George John Haritos sold property at 1108 East End Ave. to PNC Bank NA for...
Police say Plum woman was drunk in O’Hara crash that killed Pittsburgh man, endangered her 7-month-old
Allegheny County Police say a Plum woman drove drunk, with her 7-month-old in the back seat, when she was involved in a crash in January that killed a 74-year-old man in O’Hara. Alyssa J. Galiano, 29, turned herself in Friday morning after an arrest warrant was issued. She faces felony...
Plum School Board approves finance team for first step of $30M borrowing for building project
The Plum School District has flexibility as it begins a three-step process to borrow $30 million for a building project. The school board last week authorized district administration to work with financial advisers, bond counsel, an underwriter and the district’s solicitor to prepare for borrowing nearly $10 million for the...
Plum approves new contract with police chief, promotes 2 officers
Plum police Chief Lanny Conley has a new five-year contract and two newly promoted officers to go along with it. Council approved the contract and promotions at its meeting on Monday, Aug. 12. Conley’s current salary is $154,628. The contact includes 3.5% annual raises with the first effective in January....
New crop of starters motivated to keep Plum boys soccer among WPIAL elite
The Plum boys soccer team enjoyed another strong regular season last fall in what has become a string of such successes the past half decade. The Mustangs went 14-0 in their Class 3A section, lost just once in nonsection play and earned the top seed for the WPIAL playoff tournament....
4 residents and Plum police officer recognized for saving woman from fiery crash
Several good Samaritans and a Plum police officer were recognized for their efforts in saving a woman from a fiery crash last month. A Lower Burrell woman suffered a medical emergency while driving the morning of July 17. It became a tumultuous ride as her vehicle struck a street sign...
Murrysville dance school will open 2nd location in Plum
Technically, Donna Zerjav of Murrysville runs Donna’s School of Dance in her spare time. In her day job, Zerjav works as a claims adjuster for Erie Insurance. But “Donna the claims adjuster” isn’t how most people know her. It’s “Donna from Donna’s School of Dance.” That’s because the business has...
Plum Boy Scout Troop celebrates 60 years of service
Plum Boy Scout Troop 111 is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Mayor Harry Schlegel delivered a proclamation to the troop and its committee chair Jim Plutto at a council meeting Aug. 12. Schlegel also declared Aug. 24 “Boy Scout Troop 111 Day” in the borough. Troop 111 is based...
Investigation into Plum house explosion could take years, officials say
It could take years to determine a cause of the deadly house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood, officials said Tuesday. “These can be very, very lengthy investigative processes,” said Matthew Brown, chief of Allegheny County’s Department of Emergency Services. “The key is to actually, definitively, get to what the...
Plum schools seek $9.9M loan for $30M renovation and expansion project
The Plum School Board on Tuesday will consider borrowing the first one-third of the money needed for a roughly $30 million building project. During its meeting Tuesday, the board is expected to hear a presentation from the district’s financial advisors, PFM Financial Advisors, before voting on proceeding with borrowing nearly...
Plum holds solemn vigil for those lost in house explosion a year ago
At 10:23 a.m. Monday, Plum paused to remember those who died in a house explosion in the borough’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood exactly one year ago. Church bells at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church were among those that began chiming at the precise moment Paul and Heather Oravitz’s home exploded...
In brief: Plum, Oakmont area news, events for the week of Aug. 12, 2024
Plum plans ‘Meet the Teacher’ events at schools Ahead of the start of the 2024-25 school year, the Plum School District will hold new “Meet the Teacher” events at its schools on Aug. 14 and 15. The event replaces the self-guided tours and open house. Teachers and staff will be...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of Aug. 11, 2024
ALLEGHENY COUNTY Chalfant Wayne Nagle sold property at 232 North Ave. to Heidi Maribel Dubon Corrales for $55,000. Churchill Joseph Zohr sold property at 13 Churchill Road to Isaac and Kelsey Kumar for $605,000. Sadia Sala sold property at 3758 E Rural Court to GMS Global Invests LLC for $113,500....
Still no answers: 1 year later, Plum community still awaits a cause for fatal Rustic Ridge house explosion
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Plum community to observe Rustic Ridge anniversary 1 year later with no answers
As a Plum community pauses to remember those who died in a fatal house explosion a year ago, questions about the cause remain unresolved, and a mayor is demanding answers. Six residents of the Rustic Ridge neighborhood died as a result of the massive Aug. 12 explosion, which sent shock...
Retirement has Plum School District searching for new assistant superintendent
One of Plum School District’s two assistant superintendents is retiring, so the district is looking for a replacement. Denise Sedlacek will retire on Nov. 1, Superintendent Rick Walsh said. Sedlacek, a resident of Allegheny Township, started her education career in 1984 and has been in administration since 1991. She came...
Parts of former Sheetz in Plum demolished; property for lease
While work is underway at the site of a former Sheetz on Plum’s Golden Mile Highway, the future of the property is unclear. Crews were seen this week dismantling and removing the last pieces of the canopy of the shuttered convenience store and gas station. Sheetz closed the location at...
Plum man, 61, accused of sexually assaulting 14-year-old girl he met outside a borough bar
A 61-year-old Plum man is accused of taking two underage teen girls he met outside a bar to his home and giving them marijuana before having sex with one of them. Plum police say John Dale Vorous admitted to taking the girls, ages 14 and 15, to his Francis Road...
Plum set to begin 2024-25 school year with larger senior, junior classes
Plum’s Class of 2025 is one of two large “bubbles” making its way through the school district. The senior class for the 2024-25 school year numbers 316 students, assistant Superintendent Ashley Boyers said. The junior class behind them is even larger, at 325. Typical class sizes for the district are...

