Editor's note: This is the final of 12 stories looking back at the top local news from each month in 2008. On Jan. 1, the Valley News Dispatch will publish its review of the top news, sports and business stories of the year.
A troubled bar shut its doors after two violent incidents in 24 hours, the Valley's economy saw glimmers of hope, and labor issues were resolved to round out the year.
• Jerico Jones, 32, of New Kensington and Natrona, was fatally shot Dec. 10 outside Granma's Inn. The long-time bar in Harrison's Natrona section used to be a place to hunker down for a beverage and food after a shift at the mill but, recently, had been a source of complaints from neighbors, who said the bar had become a nuisance.
The second violent incident later the same day was the stabbing of Keith Hines of Natrona. According to police, Hines was stabbed multiple times by Boe Keenan, 26, of Natrona.
After the incidents, angry residents placed pressure on local and county authorities to close the bar.
The bar owner, Daniel D. Kwaitkowski, of Fox Chapel, closed the bar voluntarily and has no intentions of reopening it, according to his attorney, Anthony Sosso. This preceded a request by state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. to padlock the bar while conducting a full investigation of what may have led to the shooting and stabbing outside the bar.
• In brighter news, Allegheny Technologies' investment of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion in a new hot strip mill at its Brackenridge Works is expected to solidify a manufacturing presence in Allegheny County, county officials said.
The project will have an impact on the Alle-Kiski Valley, but to what extent is a matter of speculation. With the four -year construction expected to involve about 1,500 workers, officials are hoping money will make its way to local businesses such as hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, barbershops and retail stores.
• New Kensington lost Chicago-based automotive parts distributor LKQ. The company announced it will move to the former JC Penny-Eckerd distribution center in RIDC Park in O'Hara in February. It will employ 43 and have $1.2 million in inventory. The company signed a 10-year lease to use 79,000 square feet of the 330,725 square foot facility.
• Valley residents who rely on bus travel in Allegheny County breathed a sigh of relief.
The 2,300 union workers of the Port Authority of Allegheny County approved a new contract that will save the transit agency about $25,000 per year over its four-year term, but an estimated $93 million in years to come, thanks to cutbacks on retirement benefits.
• Authorities debated raising fees to repair aging water or sewerage lines, while one area of the Valley might finally receive infrastructure.
Fifteen years in the making, the state Department of Environmental Protection approved plans for a municipal sewerage system in Winfield. The $6.2 million project will connect about 310 homes and businesses in the Cabot, Knox Chapel and Marwood neighborhoods to sewer lines running along Little Buffalo Creek and to the Municipal Authority of Buffalo Township.
The Saxonburg Area Authority's water pipes showed their signs of aging. All of the authority's 1,100 customers in Clinton, Jefferson and Saxonburg were affected by water main breaks in January and water reserves fell below the minimum needed to fight fires. The authority does not have the money to replace the lines, was denied a grant and said improvement could not be done without increasing fees.
New Kensington and Lower Burrell residents will pay more for sewerage service beginning Jan. 1. New Kensington rates will rise 5 percent, and Lower Burrell rates will rise 24 percent. Both are served by the Municipal Sanitary Authority of the City of New Kensington, which is in the midst of a $22 million plant upgrade. The authority serves Arnold, Lower Burrell and New Kensington and a part of Plum, but each community sets its own rate.
