Sunday, April 21, 2013
Here's a list of some quick-and-easy ways to deal with items that should not be sent to landfills or recycled at the curb.
Although April 22 is officially Earth Day, it's not too early for residents of Plum, Oakmont and Verona to begin to look at ways to be more environmentally friendly. The Pennsylvania Resource Council and partners will hold a Hard to Recycle collection from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, off Route 28 in Frazer Township. For the first time, the event will accept hard, white, molded Polystyrene packing material for free, thanks to a partnership with NOVA Chemicals and Appliance Warehouse. Fees apply to some items. See the list here plus additional details in the flyer. The following is a list of items, provided in part by the Allegheny County Health Department, that should not be in landfills and …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Pennsylvania is reporting high influenza activity, according to the state health department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Allegheny County certainly isn't immune from the widespead outbreak of influenza reported by the Pennsylvania Health Department and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Allegheny County Health Department reports four local deaths in the last few weeks have been attributed to the influenza Type A virus. All four deaths have been patients 65 years or older, with the oldest victim 98 years old, according to Dr. Jim Lando, acting director of the department's Office of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. "Influenza does take people each year," he said. "That's why we do recommend that people get vaccinated." Lando said that between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012—the most up-to-date reporting period this flu season—there had been 215 confirmed …
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Individuals who had close contact with man need to take precautions.
Allegheny County Health Department officials issued a rare public health notice Friday following the bacterial meningitis death of a Squirrel Hill resident. Joseph Christopher Cecchini, 29, died from meningococcal meningitis on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, according to Dr. Ron Voorhees, acting director of the Allegheny County Health Department. Cecchini, who also went by the name Joe Christopher, worked and lived in Pittsburgh and was the president and publisher of Cue magazine. “We want to make sure that people who have had close contact with Mr. Cecchini between Aug. 24 and Sept. 5 take precautions and get antibiotics to prevent the onset of symptoms," Voorhees said. "They also should seek care promptly if they become ill. “People who were …
Thursday, August 23, 2012
With record number of infected mosquitoes recorded locally this year, Allegheny County Health Department takes steps to kill adult mosquitoes to prevent spread to humans.
New numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirm that the recent West Nile virus outbreak is the largest ever in the United States. CNN is reporting the number of cases so far this year is the highest recorded through August since the disease was first detected in the United States in 1999. As of Tuesday, 38 states had reported human infections. "Here in Pennsylvania, there've already been some human cases," said Guillermo Cole, Allegheny County Health Department spokesman. Cole said, though, none of the approximately eight cases have been from western Pennsylvania. Since 2002, when the first case appeared here, there have been 21 humans infected and "a few deaths," he said. There was one human case reported last …
Thursday, August 16, 2012
ALCOSAN must make major improvements by 2026, and Verona officials have begun discussing how it will impact the borough financially.
Verona Council has begun discussing how a $2 billion improvement plan for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority’s system will impact borough residents financially. In 2008, ALCOSAN became party to a consent decree issued by the Federal Court in Pittsburgh on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Allegheny County Health Department. Consent decrees have been issued to municipalities across the nation, including Verona and Plum boroughs, to comply with objectives set by the federal Clean Water Act and Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy. Eighty three municipalities and boroughs in Allegheny County will be affected by the project. The ALCOSAN consent decree was the …
Friday, August 10, 2012
The Verona Chamber of Commerce and Dirty Harry's Bike Shop teamed up with Allegheny County to rent out bikes to county residents.
Barry Jeffries loves riding his bicycle, and he's taking part in a program that would make it easy for people to experience riding bikes. Jeffries, the owner of Dirty Harry's bike shop in Verona, has teamed up with the Verona Chamber of Commerce and Allegheny County to run a bike share program. The chamber received a $4,000 grant from the county health department to run the program, in which potential riders can "rent" bicycles from Dirty Harry's for three days. There is no cost to participate in the program or borrow a bike, and it is open to all Allegheny County residents. Jeffries and his team are housing 10 mountain bikes and a child's bike, complete with a kick stand, water bottle cages, helmets and a lock. People then can stop by the…
Monday, August 6, 2012
Dozens of cases of the West Nile virus have been found in mosquitoes around western Pennsylvania over the past two months.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Mike Jones
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Dozens of cases of the West Nile virus have been found in mosquitoes around western Pennsylvania over the past two months, but no humans have been infected yet. Allegheny, Washington, Beaver and Fayette counties are currently considered “high risk” areas in Pennsylvania, according to state regulators. In Allegheny County, there have been 70 positive tests for West Nile Virus. In June, a mosquito sample in Penn Hills tested positive for West Nile Virus. Three cases were pinpointed in the Bridgeville area in the past month–most recently on July 26 and July 21–and another case was found in a mosquito in Collier Township on June 21, according to state records. Other areas that have been impacted are the city of Pittsburgh with dozens of …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The Allegheny County Health Department has reported that a rabid raccoon was found in Oakmont on Sunday.
Residents in the Plum-Oakmont area should be aware and avoid contact with raccoons and other animals that could carry the rabies virus. According to the Allegheny County Health Department, a raccoon found in Oakmont on Sunday tested positive for rabies. Residents reported seeing a raccoon acting lethargically and staggering along and near the walking trail parallel to Allegheny River Boulevard and Allegheny Avenue. The raccoon was tracked, put down and submitted to the health department for rabies testing by Oakmont police officers. So far there have been no known exposures to the raccoon, but anyone who could have had contact with the animal is asked to call the county health department at 412-687-2243. Five rabid animals—four of them …
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Plum-Oakmont residents are urged to eliminate potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Plum, Oakmont and Verona residents are being urged to check their property for standing water, which could become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can carry the West Nile Virus. Earlier this month, a mosquito sample in Penn Hills tested positive for West Nile Virus. According to the Pennsylvania's West Nile Control Program, West Nile Virus cases in Pennsylvania occur primarily in the mid summer or early fall, although mosquito season is usually April to October. Since May, the Allegheny County Health Department has caught ten mosquitoes in various neighborhoods, which have tested positive for the virus, the Post Gazette reported. “Mosquitoes breed in standing water, even in small amounts, so people should make every effort, …
Friday, May 18, 2012
The Allegheny County Health Department is reporting a surge of cases across the area.
- AWARENESS
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Friday, May 18, 2012
The Allegheny County Health Department announced this week that a growing number of pertussis cases are being reported in the county. Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious bacterial respiratory disease that can cause uncontrollable, violent coughing that often makes it hard to breathe. After many fits of coughing, someone with pertussis may need to take deep breathes that result in the “whooping” sound characteristic of the disease. There have been 46 confirmed or probable pertussis cases since the beginning of the year, well above the average of seven reported cases in that time period over the past several years. On Wednesday, the Upper St. Clair School District confirmed a case of petrussis. Peters Township …
Linda McCaulley
10:14 am on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Riverview Children's Center has a paper bin for recycling with proceeds benefiting the RCC parent group more ›