The Week in Review

After last weekend's Super Bowl letdown, there was a hodgepodge of news and events happening around the area. But even after Pittsburgh’s disappointing loss a week ago, a newborn baby and the hometown football team still topped our list.

A South Hills couple welcomed a new baby into the world on the day of the big game, meaning there was a wide range of emotions for the family. Meanwhile, a Bridgeville family was forced to escape from their residence when a clothes dryer caught fire and burned the home’s basement.

Both high school basketball teams said goodbye to their seniors with big wins in anticipation of the playoffs this week. And a Scott Township man is preparing to release a new book highlighting the lives of 107 area servicemen whose stories have been all but forgotten. Finally, a winter storm early in the week left a beautiful blanket of snow.

As Chris and Gina Tarr settled in to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday afternoon, the couple started to get nervous about what was going to transpire. But it wasn’t the game they were most anxious about. Instead, Gina went into labor about five hours before kickoff and the couple rushed to West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield to deliver their first child. “It was the perfect storm,” Chris Tarr said.

Three people were forced out of their Bridgeville home Thursday afternoon when a dryer in the basement caught fire and filled the residence with smoke. Brianne Steck said the family was in the kitchen when they heard a “loud boom” in the basement at about 4:15 p.m. Steck’s mother, Cindy, went downstairs and told them the dryer was on fire and that they needed to leave the house at 716 Maple St. immediately. Steck was able to get her 7-year-old son, Brady, out and they waited outside in the bitter cold for firefighters to arrive.

Monday night’s 48-10 victory for the Lady Colts over visiting Section 5-AAA opponent McGuffey was bittersweet for senior guards Lexy Herron and Lindsay Richardson. Any win is big, especially when it puts a team just one game away from winning at least a share of a section title. However, as both Herron and Richardson admit, it’s hard to believe that the two guards have just played the last game of their careers at Chartiers Valley. “It just seems so unreal right now,” Richardson said. “These past four years have gone by so fast. I remember being a freshman and never thinking this day would come.”

Although Joseph Oyler was never in the military, the Scott Township resident has spent the last six years of his life researching the names and stories of local men and women who died while serving our country. His newly-released book, Almost Forgotten, tells the stories of 107 veterans from the Bridgeville and South Fayette area dating as far back as the Civil War and continuing through Vietnam and a few Cold War accidents. The book presents many interesting details and emotional stories as well as the author’s research journey pulling this all together.

Chartiers Valley players often sport shirts that say, “Tradition Never Graduates” on the back. And in last night’s 73-65 win against Moon on senior night, Coach Tim McConnell believes that statement proved true. And while tradition may never graduate, three Colts seniors will. Point guard Steve Burda, who scored a game-high 26 points against the Tigers, and reserve guard Evan Lorenzato were honored prior to the game for their contributions to the program over the last four years.

A light dusting of fluffy snow blanketed the area overnight, creating a wintry wonderland that was both pleasing to the eyes and less than cumbersome for motorists. The region received about two inches of snow and caused few delays during the morning commute. But what it left behind was stunningly beautiful. A few visitors at the Bridgeville Public Library found a warm place by the fire to read, while others used the day to shovel their sidewalks to keep pedestrians from slipping. Meanwhile, dozens of ducks at the pond next to the Rennerdale Volunteer Fire Department crowded around a small break in the ice to splash with their feathered friends.