The Week in Review

Nothing goes better with the morning news than a hot cup of Joe. And there are plenty of great places in the area that serve up good coffee. From LaBella Bean to Shouf’s, there are great coffee shops in Bridgeville.

Meanwhile, a false statement to police prompted a SWAT team response in Collier Township. A warning was issued to parents about the problems with Chat Roulette and children. Also, the Chartiers Valley superintendent said the school district has sent a complaint to Peoples Natural Gas over the leak near one of its schools.

And it’s also time for the WPIAL basketball playoffs, and the boys and girls teams had mixed results. The boys charged into the quarterfinals following a win against Norwin last week, but the girls fell to Mt. Pleasant in overtime.

Phrases like Grande Café Mocha, Café au lait, tall, skinny and skim have infiltrated the vocabulary of coffee lovers. It’s estimated that nearly 30 million Americans have at least 2 to 3 cups to kick-start their day, and this includes espressos and specialty drinks. Starbucks has good blends and is one of the more nationally recognized coffee-houses, but I find that the local cafés in Bridgeville offer more of the old charm and what coffee houses are really about: bringing together good friends for a cup of Joe. “We get coffee, sometimes twice a week, just to catch up,” Dawn Hanson said about the time spent with her friend at La Bella Bean following a morning workout.

A false statement to police Friday afternoon prompted the Allegheny County SWAT team to surround a house in Collier Township. Police said that during a traffic stop on Thoms Run Road, officers could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle. When police asked where the drugs came from, Shane Murphy allegedly told the officers he bought them from a man on probation who owned a gun.  That prompted the SWAT response at a house on Ewing Road, which proved to be unfounded because the man no longer lived in the area. Police charged Murphy, 18, of Dormont, with numerous charges including making a false statement to authorities, obstruction of justice, risking a catastrophe, disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment.

It used to be that parents needed to worry about "spiked punch", Spin the Bottle and a few other temptations at teen parties. Now, there is another danger that seems to be luring adolescents in disguise as a party game. It's called “Chat Roulette.” "Chat Roulette" is a specific site, however it can be played at any chat site. The game involves the participant (usually a group gathered around at parties with one spokesperson) to randomly select another chatter from the list in the site. The teen then proceeds to seduce the stranger or provoke an argument.

The Lady Vikings used revenge as motivation in their Class AAA WPIAL first round game as No. 13 seed Mt. Pleasant defeated fourth-seeded Chartiers Valley 52-44 last night at Canon-McMillan High School. Chartiers Valley leading scorer Lexy Herron left the game twice in the first quarter with an apparent left knee injury which helped the Lady Vikings secure a, 12-3, lead with 3:30 remaining in the frame. However, the Lady Colts (17-6) were able to climb back into the game when Mt. Pleasant went the next seven minutes without scoring. Despite the scoreless stretch and 10 turnovers, the Lady Vikings (18-5) still led by two points at the half.

The Chartiers Valley School District has sent a complaint to Peoples Natural Gas over the fumes that inundated one of its schools last week. An overwhelming odor of natural gas filled the Chartiers Valley Primary School on Thursday, forcing students to be moved to the nearby middle school auditorium while workers tried to fix the problem. Superintendent Brian White Jr. addressed the school board on the issue during the district’s monthly voting meeting Tuesday night.

While Norwin boasts one of the highest scoring duos in WPIAL history with guards Matt Palo and Andy Carter, it was Chartiers Valley forward Matt Noszka who had the scoring touch in yesterday afternoon’s, 70-58, Class AAAA WPIAL first round victory at Baldwin. The senior scored a game-high 22 points, but was more interested in how his team played defensively. “Overall, I think we played really well on defense and that was our main focus going into the game,” Noszka said. “Throughout the year we’ve had trouble putting teams away, and I think there was a little bit of that tonight. But we fought through adversity and pulled the game out.” Noszka missed the previous three games for the Colts while serving a suspension.