O-R Weekly Recap: 5 things you need to know for Friday
It’s been a busy week in Southwestern Pennsylvania and some of our readers might have missed the biggest stories during the week. If you need to get caught up on all the news in the area, you’ve come to the right place!
Here’s a recap of the five most viewed stories on the Observer-Reporter’s website this week for you to get caught up on what’s going on in the area.
After the tragic 2015 death of their 23-month-old son, Dean, Laura and Paul Gillum donated the child’s organs.
Dean’s heart was donated to a 6-year-old boy named Lennon in South Carolina who suffered from a heart condition. The Gillums later found comfort by exchanging letters with Lennon’s parents.
To learn the whole story of these two families, read Karen Mansfield’s story.
A West Finley woman walked into a credit union in North Strabane Township, but instead of making a transaction, she told an employee that her husband was holding her hostage. Police then arrived on the scene and arrested Kevin Lee Ewing, 47, of 341 Gunn Ridge Road, West Finley, after demanding him to exit his pickup truck at gunpoint. During the arrest, a bank employee had put his wife in a secured room, where police found her hysterical, refusing to leave and repeatedly telling the officer, “He’s gonna kill me. I don’t want to die.”
For more details, read Kathie Warco’s story.
A memorial stone in remembrance of Gary Andreis Sr., who died at age 58 in August 2015 after capturing the highest percentage of votes on the Democratic ticket for Cecil Township supervisor in the primary election, was removed from Cecil Park Tuesday. Cecil supervisors voted 4-0 to allow its placement and there was no public vote taken before its removal.
After the removal attorney Jesse White filed a lawsuit against Cecil supervisors on behalf of Andreis’ daughter, Jennifer Andreis Moninger. The suit accuses them of violating the state Sunshine Act by illegally meeting and deliberating in private.
To learn more about this case, read David Singer’s story and his follow-up story about the lawsuit.
A 2-year-old Charleroi girl is expected to make a full recovery after she was struck Wednesday by a borough fire department squad truck driven by her father, Mike Roberts.
Roberts was dropping his daughter off at the baby sitter’s residence when she managed to get out of her seat belt and open the door. She was struck by one of the truck’s tires as her father was backing up and looking to the left. Police said Roberts won’t be cited for not having his daughter in a booster seat at the time.
For more information, click here to read Scott Beveridge’s coverage of the story.
Dead & Company – a band featuring members of the Grateful Dead – performed at First Niagara Pavillion Wednesday and Hanover Township police arrested several people on drug charges for possessing drugs including heroin, cocaine, psychedelic mushrooms and hash butter.
Concert attendee, Walter Prem Atri, tried to avoid emptying his pockets at the entrance of the venue, but police made him put his property on top of a trash can. When he pulled out a scale and police asked what it was for, Atri threw it in the trash and asked, “What scale?” He was then found with 91 stamp bags of heroin, seven packages of cocaine, marijuana. Oxycodone and $1,065.
For the full recap of drug arrests at the concert, read Kathie Warco’s story.
Now you’re all caught up with what everyone has been talking about this week! Keep visiting Observer-Reporter.com for all the latest headlines!