Top Stories of the Week

This past week’s top stories included important issues about a high school assembly that angered some parents, an out-of-control SUV rampaging through Birdland and a former Chartiers Valley bus driver killed in a car accident. Meanwhile, architects unveiled the preliminary design plans for the Nike Site Community Park in Collier Township. There also was an interesting feature story about a Bridgeville business that specializes in pet cremation, helping people cope with the loss of their furry friends.

A high school assembly discussing drug abuse and bullying last week went on a tangent that riled some parents and appeared to surprise the district. Several parents said one of the speakers was giving her presentation when she told the students she was bullied because she is gay. The speaker then began discussing her lifestyle that some parents said they did not think was appropriate in school.

A Scott Township man who spent his retirement years driving school buses for Chartiers Valley died Monday morning when his car collided with a dump truck in Stowe Township. According to the Allegheny County coroner’s office, 78-year-old Robert McCartney died at Ohio Valley General Hospital shortly after the crash. McCartney’s wife of 57 years, Betty, said her husband worked for Duquesne Light before retiring and driving Chartiers Valley schools buses.

A driver’s seizure caused her to lose control of her sport-utility vehicle and plow through several yards before crashing into a home in Scott. The woman and a young child in the SUV were not injured in the Friday afternoon crash. The woman at the wheel, whom Scott Township police did not identify, was taken to nearby St. Clair Hospital because of the seizure. Scott police Sgt. Jeff Skees said the SUV drove through several yards, across a street, before striking the side of 1228 Raven Drive. “Yeah, they were lucky,” Skees said. “Everyone was fine.”

Collier Township residents got their first glimpse of what the sprawling Nike Site community park may look like as the municipality moves closer to breaking ground at the former military base. The preliminary plan includes two baseball fields, two multi-use soccer fields, tennis and deck hockey courts, an amphitheater and numerous walking trails and picnic pavilions.

In a serene setting where a fountain gently murmurs and soft music plays in the background, reality hits and often tears flow. That’s the moment when grieving pet owners realize that the days of fetching balls and tossing toys, soft purrs and agile leaps, nuzzles and tail wags are no more. Deb Chebatoris, who has owned Chartiers Custom Pet Cremation in Bridgeville for the last six years, helps them cope with that transition — the visual realization that their pets are truly gone.