Year to start with pay raise for Pa.’s governor, lawmakers and judges
Latest News, Main
November 30, 2024
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials will get a heftier salary increase in 2025 than the average Pennsylvanian saw over the past 12 months, un...
Stories Behind the Stars: Monessen WWII soldier loses life saving another
Latest News, Main
STORIES BEHIND THE STARS
By By JOHN J. TURANIN For the MVI 
November 30, 2024
This story is part of Mon Valley Sons of World War II, a series about our sons who lost their lives in service to our country during the war. When Monessen’s Private Stanley Zazac awoke on Jan. 25, 19...
Latest News, Main
November 30, 2024
By JUSTIN VELLUCCI TribLive A teenager accidentally shot his younger brother in the leg late Thursday while showing off a gun to friends in their Port Vue home, authorities say. Allegheny County Polic...
Politics
Tariffs: another bad idea
November 30, 2024
To the Editor: Four years ago we were at a crossroad, as we find ourselves again. The choices made, whether by actual or fraudulent votes at that time, have brought our nation to be a laughing stock o...
Hits & Misses
Politics
November 30, 2024
Supporting local small businesses should be a priority all year round, but especially today, which marks Small Business Saturday. The observance was launched by American Express in 2010 to aid small b...
What if most Americans aren’t bitterly divided?
Politics
November 30, 2024
Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there’s one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that’s wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while ...
MVI launches Christmas Cheer Club toy drive
Latest News, Main
By TAYLOR BROWN, Senior Reporter 
November 29, 2024
Donations will be accepted starting Monday to help out the Salvation Army. The Mon Valley Independent’s Christmas Cheer Club will kick off again Monday, continuing a decades-long tradition of fulfilli...
Annual Zombek light display opens Saturday
Latest News, Main
By SARAH PELLIS spellis@yourmvi.com 
November 29, 2024
The popular event in Elizabeth Township raises money to aid families in area school districts. In what has become an annual spectacle for residents in the Elizabeth Forward area, the Zombek family Chr...
Model railroad club ready to unveil revised display
Latest News, Main
By JIM BUSCH For the MVI 
November 29, 2024
Visitors will notice some changes to Steelton when this year’s exhibition opens Saturday. The fastest growing “town” in the Mon Valley can’t be found on a map. But, the fictitious town known as Steelt...
Fire destroys Allenport home
Latest News, Main
By TAYLOR BROWN, Senior Reporter 
November 29, 2024
The blaze also damaged a neighboring house belonging to the owner’s sister. Members of the same family living in two separate households were displaced Wednesday by an intense fire in Allenport. Stock...
Elizabeth’s Guardian Angels feed area families
Latest News, Main
By SARAH PELLIS spellis@yourmvi.com 
November 29, 2024
The group provided about 140 free takeout Thanksgiving dinners for local residents. Elizabeth’s Guardian Angels held their annual free Thanksgiving takeout this week for around 140 families in need li...
Valley businesses going big for Small Business Saturday
Latest News, Main
By TAYLOR BROWN, Senior Reporter 
November 29, 2024
Created 15 years ago by American Express, Small Business Saturday is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving to generate support for locally owned stores. Small businesses are the heart and soul of local...
Monessen will create plan for developing downtown area
Latest News, Main
By MICHAEL RICHTER, mrichter@yourmvi.com 
November 29, 2024
City officials are working with a consulting firm in Pittsburgh to bring new life to the business district. Monessen is working with a consulting group to develop an entire block in the downtown area....
BVA approves student programs with two universities
Latest News, Main
By LADIMIR GARCIA lgarcia@yourmvi.com 
November 29, 2024
The arrangements with Carlow University and Pitt-Greensburg will each last for five years. The Belle Vernon Area school board voted to enter into two student teaching programs with local universities ...
Immigrants are good for you
Politics
November 29, 2024
Donald Trump has proposed many policies based on faulty assumptions and even outright lies. One of his most misleading falsehoods is his virulent denunciation of immigration. Repeatedly, he’s vowed to...
Politics
November 29, 2024
TODAY IS CONSIDERED the most important shopping day of the year, but tomorrow is equally vital for many Mon Valley businesses. After the Black Friday hysteria dies down, there will be many great barga...
Thanksgiving feast — without all the work
Latest News, Main
More area families are opting to enjoy a catered version of the holiday
By TAYLOR BROWN, Senior Reporter 
November 27, 2024
This Thanksgiving, some families are thankful that someone else will do the cooking. Instead of spending hours in the store looking for canned pumpkin or fresh cranberries only to find the shelves emp...
Thanksgiving takes months of preparation for turkey farm
Latest News, Main
By MICHAEL RICHTER, mrichter@yourmvi.com 
November 27, 2024
The Matt Helon Farm in Washington Township has been in operation for nearly 70 years. Vicki and Mike Olexa have spent nearly half of the year preparing for Thanksgiving on the family’s farm in Washing...
Area native writes about Rostraver’s ‘Tree of Hope’
Latest News, Main
By LADIMIR GARCIA lgarcia@yourmvi.com 
November 27, 2024
The isolated Christmas tree is the subject of the latest children’s book by Lori VanKirk Schue. A notable Christmas Tree that sits along Route 201 in Rostraver Township will be getting its very own ch...
Fire breaks out at McKeesport building with tattoo shop, apartments
Latest News, Main
November 27, 2024
No injuries were reported in the early-morning blaze. By the MVI A Tuesday morning fire damaged a McKeesport building that houses a tattoo shop and apartments. Firefighters responded to Versailles Ave...