By Jose Negron jnegron@yourmvi.com Night in and night out, Aaron Balla does his best to maintain a calm presence on the California sidelines.   “I don’t know if I do or not, but I try not to show pani...

By Dean Dellamalva Jr. MVI Sports Two teams on fire in Section 4-3A met Tuesday night in Charleroi as the Cougars played Southmoreland. Charleroi was putting an eight-game section win streak on the li...

By JEREMY SELLEW jsellew@yourmvi.com Belle Vernon Area’s girls basketball team is on a five-game winning streak heading into arguably its two biggest games of the season. And while Leopards head coach...

By JASON BLACK For the MV Independent The Geibel boys basketball team is starting to get healthy, and that might not be a good thing for a lot of other teams in Class A.   The Gators have battled thro...

Agnes M. “Babe” Atkinson, 74, of Ligonier, formerly of Belle Vernon, passed away, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, in Ligonier Gardens Personal Care Home. She was born May 9, 1945, in Fayette City, daughter of...

Patricia M. McNulty, 68, of Charleroi, died Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in Premier Washington Health Center in Washington, Pa. Born Aug. 29, 1951, in Charleroi, she was the daughter of the late Jack and He...

Debora J. Stein, 70, of Allenport, passed away on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. at Excela Health, Latrobe. Born in North Charleroi on Sept. 30, 1949, she was the daughter of Norbert and Bessie Stark Flaherty...

Elizabeth “Betty” Wavrek, 98, of Monongahela, died Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, in the TLC Adult Care Center, West Newton. She was born Dec. 5, 1921, the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Kovach Savadeck. Bet...

By JEREMY SELLEW jsellew@yourmvi.com Now on the outside looking in when it comes to a potential playoff berth, Elizabeth Forward girls basketball head coach Krystal Gibbs said she’ll find out a lot ab...

By Jose negron jnegron@yourmvi.com There may not be a player in the WPIAL that has had as much of an impact on her team’s success over the last week than Charleroi’s Bella Skobel.   The senior standou...

By the MV Independent First-place and unbeaten Southmoreland continued their run towards a perfect finish in Section 3-4A with a 65-24 win at Ringgold Monday. Gracie Spadaro led the Scotties (18-0, 11...

Jenn Codeluppi / Mon Valley Independent Aiden Kotecki, 9, of Monongahela controls a robot by using an iPad as Elliott Kuch, 3, of Speers watches Monday night at Rostraver Public Library.

By EMILY BENNETT DILULLO ebennett@yourmvi.com A coalition of concerned Monessen citizens put their heads together Monday night to organize efforts against the mayor and members of council.   Led by se...

By JEFF STITT jstitt@yourmvi.com Charlotte Heyward, the mother of Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward, said her family understands that men’s suits are expensive, which is why they are expan...

By CHRISTINE HAINES chaines@yourmvi.com Service to 55 customers was fully restored Monday night after a water main break in a section of Elizabeth Township along Route 48. Pennsylvania American Water ...

By TAYLOR BROWN tbrown@yourmvi.com Charleroi and surrounding communities have a new chief of police.   Chad Zelinsky was unanimously appointed to the position by the Charleroi Regional Police board on...

By CHRISTINE HAINES chaines@yourmvi.com The Belle Vernon Area School Board had the first reading of a nepotism policy Monday that would open the door for the relatives of supervisory personnel to appl...

By KRISTIE LINDEN klinden@yourmvi.com It’s been a dark couple of days in Carroll Township, where a longtime leader passed away this weekend. Township Supervisors’ Vice Chairman James “Don” Harrison, 8...

By ERIC SEIVERLING eseiverling@yourmvi.com Plans for a new UPMC medical complex in Jefferson Hills continue to move forward, as officials from the healthcare giant went before the borough’s planning b...

Bonnie Hotz Speers Hill Bonnie Hotz, 73, of Speers Hill, passed away Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020 at her home. She was born Jan. 14, 1947 in Pittsburgh, the daughter of the late Carl Clark Jr., and Pearl H...