the almanac J U LY 14, 2024
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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Century in the tubes PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HEINZ HISTORY CENTER
The Liberty Tunnels under construction, circa 1920 to 1921.
Liberty Tunnels in its 100th year of operation
BETHEL PARK WOMAN CELEBRATES 100TH BIRTHDAY PAGE A2
BETHEL PARK’S LANG WINS WALDIE SCHOLARSHIP PAGE B1
By Jon Andreassi Staff writer
jandreassi@observer-reporter.com
For a long while, Mount Washington was a distinct natural barrier separating Pittsburgh from the communities in the South Hills and beyond, but that changed dramatically when the Liberty Tunnels opened to traffic 100 years ago. The tunnels – or the tubes, if you prefer – connected the South Hills to the city by way of West Liberty Avenue. Cars began traveling through the Liberty Tunnels in January 1924, though they had been open to foot traffic prior to that. Leslie Przybylek, senior curator at Heinz History Center, said it was those communities that lobbied the hardest for the construction. “It was really the South Hills communities that kept the momentum alive,” Przybylek said. The population and development of Mt. Lebanon exploded with the advent of the tunnels.
TRIGGER THE WANDERING HORSE MAKES WAY AROUND SOUTH FAYETTE PAGE B3 What’s happening, B3 Real estate transactions, A6 Classifieds, B4-6
SEE TUNNELS PAGE A3 Work crews clear out rock during construction.
Food drive memorializes Mt. Lebanon native
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NAMUS
State police are asking for the public’s help identifying a woman who was killed in the May 2, 1986, crash shown. The woman was a passenger in a tractor-trailer traveling through Springhill Township in Fayette County.
Investigators continue efforts to identify remains By Jon Andreassi Staff writer
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
Officials in Southwestern Pennsylvania continue to seek the identities of women whose remains are still unidentified decades after their deaths. Last month state police in Uniontown issued a fresh plea for tips in identifying a woman who was killed in a tractor-trailer crash in Spring-
hill Township on May 2, 1986. She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a man traveling from Sparrows Point, Md., to Richmond, Ky. In Washington County, Coroner Timothy Warco said his office still hopes to identify skeletal remains discovered May 12, 2004, in a swampy This woman has been unarea near The Pavilion at Star identified for nearly four deLake in Hanover Township. cades after dying in a vehiSEE REMAINS PAGE A2 cle crash in 1986.
The fourth annual David T. Bannon Food and Fund Drive is off to an impressive start. To date, $110,000 and 11,500 pounds of food and essentials have been collected for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The event runs through July 28. Donations can be deposited into bins located at 420 Parkview Drive in Mt. Lebanon. The fundraiser is held in memory of Bannon. The Mt. Lebanon High School graduate was living and working in Washington, D.C., when he passed away at age 34 on July 28, 2020. Though COVID was not the cause of his death, he was hospitalized during the period when no visitors were allowed because of the pandemic.
David T. Bannon
“We couldn’t be there with him,” Christine Patti told The Almanac when she started the food drive in her son’s memory in 2021. She added that the family was “fortunate” that the Georgetown Medical Center had “many
very compassionate” staff members. “But they weren’t there hugging him and holding his hand. He was by himself until the very end.” SEE DRIVE PAGE A2
BANNON ENJOYED WATCHING THE FOOD CHANNEL, AND COOKING WAS ONE OF HIS HOBBIES. THOSE INTERESTS, ALONG WITH THE FACT THAT PATTI (BANNON’S MOTHER) VOLUNTEERS WITH THE FOOD BANK’S PRODUCE TO PEOPLE PROGRAM, MADE SENSE TO DO A FOOD DRIVE IN BANNON’S MEMORY.