Rick Shrum

Dave and Renee Dickson oversee operations at Foster Farm Acres in Buffalo Township. “Renee owns the place and I’m the caretaker,” Dave said, referring to his spouse, whose family has been in charge for three generations. “We raise beef, hay, oats, corn . . . whatever the deer don’t get. Everyone in the family helps. […]

Gus Pagonis grew up in Charleroi three-quarters of a century ago, amid smokestacks and among countless Mon Valley kids who likewise were uncertain of their lifetime trajectories. “I was in a rock ’n roll band in the Valley when I was younger,” Pagonis recounted. “I think I was 15 or 16. My dad would say, […]

Jim Welty is well versed on what is afoot and underfoot with the energy industry. Concerns about having enough energy to sustain efficiency of this region’s electric grid seem to be as abundant as the natural gas resources available in the Marcellus Shale Basin, below the Earth’s surface throughout most of Pennsylvania. Increasing energy demands, […]

Sitting placidly along the Monongahela River, essentially a baseball throw from Washington County, Ductmate is a large-scale provider of products and services to contractors and builders in the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning industry – commonly known as HVAC. An HVAC system controls temperature, humidity and air quality of homes and businesses. To be precise, it […]

Residents, local government officials and others statewide have reason to be more thankful for what transpired with the gaming industry last month. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported on Tuesday that total revenue generated from all forms of gaming, plus fantasy contests, in November was $562,368,782. That is more than a half-billion dollars, a record […]

A venerable, upscale department store from the Midwest moved into Pennsylvania a little more than a week ago – and is already stylin’. Von Maur has opened in South Hills Village, occupying a space that previously served a once-venerable department store, Sears, which has essentially shut down nationwide. Von Maur sells clothing, shoes, accessories, luggage […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last in a series of stories reflecting on 20 years of gas drilling in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Renz No. 1 was enshrouded in doubt 20 years ago, when Range Resources was attempting to unleash natural gas from the well through hydraulic fracturing. Workers had drilled the site in Mount Pleasant Township […]

Community Bank, upper case, isn’t the only venerable community bank, lower case, operating in the southwestern-most corner of Pennsylvania. Three of these modestly sized financial institutions have been doing business within a 25-mile radius for a century or more – concurrently most of the time. Washington Financial Bank, First Federal Savings and Loan of Greene […]

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories reflecting on 20 years of gas drilling in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Mount Pleasant Township is among the most appropriately named municipalities in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It is pleasant, to be sure, a friendly, bucolic town of about 3,300 residents nestled in its gently rolling hills. Shane […]

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories reflecting on 20 years of gas drilling in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Mount Pleasant Township is among the most appropriately named municipalities in Southwestern Pennsylvania. It is pleasant, to be sure, a friendly, bucolic town of about 3,300 residents nestled in its gently rolling hills. Shane […]