PennDOT District 11 is advising motorists southbound Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard) approaching the inbound (southbound) Fort Duquesne Bridge (I-279) in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, will be closed long-term beginning on Monday, June 7.

Bellevue will not be applying for a grant to fund a new police officer position if officials follow their own directive.

Safety committee chairman David Gillingham Jr. made a motion at council’s regular meeting Tuesday to apply for a COPS grant that would provide funding for a new police officer for three years. Gillingham, however, could not answer questions about whether the borough would have to pick up the tab for the officer after the 36-months funding period.

A quick trip to the store became more of a ride than expected by a young Ben Avon man, whose vehicle flipped over after hitting the hillside along Perrysville Avenue in Ben Avon, near the entrance to Avon Park. Driver Mark Keyser told police that he lost control in the heavy rain gushing down the street Saturday afternoon. Pictured here, a relatively uninjured Keyser, who managed to get himself out of the car, jumps back in to obtain some belongings. Also pictured are Ohio Township Police Officer Joel Donovic and NorthWest EMS personnel.

Photo by Connie Rankin for The Citizen

Avalon Police responded to a traffic accident at the Marathon station on Union Avenue on May 14. Police found a vehicle wedged between two steel poles that were attached to the gas station sign.

An Avalon man was arrested May for for the theft of prescription medications from a Florence Avenue residence on May 13. Charged was Stephen Fazio of Cleveland Avenue.

Port Authority officials are unsure how long a 5-ton weight restriction will be in place on the Center Avenue bridge in Emsworth, but Ben Avon officials are concerned that it may be long enough to result in damage to some of the borough’s side streets.

The weight restriction was posted Friday, May 14, after a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation inspection revealed areas of deterioration on two piers, according to Port Authority spokesperson Heather Pharo.

Pharo said that further analysis of the span is needed, and is likely to take several weeks.

By LOIS THOMSON

"I regret voting for it because it's unenforceable, and possibly unconstitutional," said Ben Avon Council member Dan Herchenroether, referring to the gun ordinance council adopted last December that requires residents to report lost or stolen handguns to the police within 72 hours or face a potentially huge fine.

Avalon Police Chief Robert Howie, left, welcomes his successor, new chief Tom Kokoski, after Kokoski was sworn in by Mayor David Haslett at Wednesday’s Avalon Council meeting. Howie will retire May 25 after 17 years as chief, and a total of 23 years with the Avalon Police Department. Kokoski, who has been a police officer for 12 years and employed with Avalon for the past eight, was hired last month by Avalon Council. Council voted Wednesday to approve a 3.5 year contract with Kokoski, though Dec. 31, 2013.

Drivers traveling through Ben Avon should note that a stop sign is going to be mounted at the bottom of Ridge Avenue where it meets Brighton Road.

Borough council members voted unanimously at Tuesday's meeting to install the sign. Sue Weiss was absent.

An Avonworth senior is being charged with rape and indecent assault after being discovered with an unconscious girl at a post-prom party in an Ohio Township home last Friday.

According to Ohio Township Police Chief Norbert Micklos, witnesses at the party found Chad Stewart, 18, of Emsworth, sexually assaulting an unconscious girl.

The girl is a juvenile and is not from the North Boroughs, Micklos said.

Efforts to demolish an abandoned house in Avalon were finally successful this week, but not in a way officials had hoped.

The house at the end of Semple Avenue took a major slide off its foundation Tuesday evening, making emergency demolition of the building a necessity.

Borough manager Harry Dilmore said that that the borough had condemned the house about 18 months ago after the owner’s attempts to repair the crumbling foundation proved unsuccessful and the bank foreclosed on the property.

A number of car parts were reported stolen in two separate incidents at an Ohio River Boulevard business. Vehicle transmissions and batteries were reported stolen from Economy Transmission on May 3, and on May 4 two engines were reported stolen from the business’s property.

A burglary was reported at a North Balph Avenue residence on April 26.

A Grant Avenue resident reported May 3 that property had been stolen from a storage shed in the yard.

Items were reported stolen from a vehicle on North Sprague Avenue on April 26.

Emsworth's sewage and sewer surcharge fees will be changing with the next billing cycle after the borough council approved an ordinance amending its fee schedule during the Wednesday meeting of Emsworth Council.

Borough property owners currently pay a flat fee of $50 per quarter, which covers sewage service through ALCOSAN, and a borough surcharge to help pay for mandated sewer-related repairs.

The new fee structure could save some people money, while increasing the cost to those who use a lot of water.