O-R Weekend Recap: 5 things you need to know for Monday
Did you enjoy the weekend? In case you didn’t get a chance to read about local news in the area, we’ve compiled a list of the top five news stories from the Observer-Reporter’s website from Friday to Sunday. Read on to catch up on everything you need to know to start the week.
A sprawling mansion complete with a golf hole and nanny suite is on tap to become a winery and event center in Rostraver Township.
The township’s zoning officer gave preliminary approval Feb. 16 for Walter and Roxanne Vinoski of Ruffs Dale to open a winery at the mansion at 333 Castle Drive, pending a conditional-use hearing Wednesday, Rostraver records indicate.
The mansion was built in 1997 by investor Jay Lustig. It features eight bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a marble foyer flanked by two circular stairways, a pond, an outdoor pool, a Major League-style baseball field, a pond and a basketball court, the listing states.
For the full details, click here to read Scott Beveridge’s story.
A West Newton man is accused of stalking a Waynesburg University student he was romantically involved with and threatening to “shoot up the dorms” if she did not speak with him.
Damiyan V. Davis, 20, met the female student through a dating app a few months ago, although he continued to message her after she ended the relationship a month ago and had asked him to stop contacting her, Waynesburg police said.
Police said he called the student shortly after midnight Friday and demanded to speak to her, but her roommate took the call and spoke to him instead. Police said that angered Davis, and he threatened the women and the school.
Click here to read Mike Jones’ story.
Washington police arrested two people Wednesday and obtained a warrant for a third person after the three allegedly sold guns and a television that were reported stolen from a Victoria Street home last week.
Richard G. Dunfee III, 32, who lists several addresses in Washington, and Kayla McConnell, 27, of McDonald, were taken into custody at a house on Victoria, said police Detective Dan Rush, who filed the charges against the pair. Rush also obtained a warrant for the arrest of Christopher Duncan, 26, of Marianna. All three are charged with theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy. Dunfee also is charged with false identification to police.
Click here to read Kathie Warco’s story for the full details.
A Washington attorney was charged this week with diverting tens of thousands of dollars from an elderly client’s bank account for his own use.
The Allegheny County district attorney’s office announced Thursday it charged Michael Alberty, 57, with two counts of theft and one of misapplying entrusted funds. Detective William Miller wrote in an affidavit of probable cause Northwest Bank flagged suspicious activity on an 87-year-old woman’s account and notified an administrator at the Pittsburgh nursing home where she was staying.
An elder financial abuse audit performed by the Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging found Alberty had paid himself more than $180,000 in checks from the victim’s account between Sept. 14, 2015, and March 31.
For more information, click here to read Gideon Bradshaw’s story.
It has been more than a year since Gabler’s Drug Store in Carmichaels was robbed twice in nine days, but the pharmacist on duty during both encounters with the bearded suspect remembered one key detail of the man wearing a hoodie over his head.
“His eyes are pretty,” Barbara Struhar said. “They were piercing, and they’re piercing now.”
Struhar identified Joshua Cain Abel, sitting just a few feet away from her while she testified during his preliminary hearing Thursday afternoon, as the man who entered Gabler’s twice last January and pushed forward notes demanding prescription drugs.
For more details, click here for Mike Jones’ story.