the almanac A U G U S T 9, 2026
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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DIGS, DOGS & DRONES
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THE EAGLE HAS LANDED
Bethel Park host another successful National Night Out at new venue By Eleano Bailey ebailey@thealmanac.net
Bethel Park has gone to the dogs. And drones, too. In an effort to take a bite out of crime, the municipality showcased both during National Night Out held Aug. 4 at its new digs, the Park Avenue playground and parking lot. The vicinity adjacent to the Bethel Park Community Center is a venue change from the previous event’s location at Miner’s Memorial Park. “We’re excited to switch things up,” said Bethel Park Police Department Community Resource Officer Amber Carruba. “The event has just grown bigger and bigger every year and we had to adapt to that. The location is more central and gives us a lot more options to do new things.” In addition to representatives from the U.S. Army, the event featured a visit from the Allegheny Mountain Rescue Group, a flyover from the state police helicopter and an opportunity for the police department to demonstrate the capabilities of its new drone lineup.
“Phenomenal technology,” Carruba said. “What they can do is just really extraordinary and keep everybody in the community safe.” Officers Ross Small and Chris Frost have been training with the equipment since its purchase in January. They explained how the variety of drones can be used for all kinds of different calls from search-and-rescue missions to situations such as an armed man inside a house or building and the SWAT team needs more information. “There are a lot of different applications,” said Frost. “In a case like a toddler getting lost running into the woods, we’d use one type of drone to search because it’s like a big camera in the sky. The little interior drones can fly inside rooms, closets, underneath chairs. They can go anywhere.” Drones are operational in many of the South Hills Area Council of Governments (SHACOG), including Castle Shannon, Mt. Lebanon, Whitehall and South Park, says Frost, but
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL AVIARY
Dariena arrived at the National Aviary in May and is one of only 15 or 20 harpy eagles in the United States.
By Brad Hundt
bhundt@observer-reporter.com
ELEANO BAILEY
Officer Matthew Poling engages with Brooks Pinney and Tate Kulback during National Night Out.
SEE NIGHT OUT PAGE A2
ELEANO BAILEY
A drone, operated by the Bethel Park Police Department, comes in for a landing as spectators watch.
ELEANO BAILEY
ELEANO BAILEY
Anna Dorfner sits patiently while getting a design painted on her arm.
Emily Golnazarian from the Allegheny Mountain Rescue Squad introduces Canine Wally to Abby and Jake Sanchez. Wally is a trailing dog that is sense specific. He will look for a missing person in the woods. He’s set up on a scent article and he will find a person’s last footsteps and take rescuers to that position.
Creator of McDonald’s Big Mac hailed from Uniontown By Jim Bissett For The Almanac
This is the fast-food jingle you know, even if you don’t know it. “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun...” It was the musical recipe for the Big Mac, the multi-decker sandwich sensation from the McDonald’s ad campaign that went viral in 1974 — or, what passed for viral 52 years ago — when the commercials featuring it were unleashed on
TV and radio. Kids sang the jingle on the playground at recess. Their moms and dads did the same (tried to, anyway) at the McDonald’s counter, where, if they could rattle it off — fast, with no flubs — they could get a free Big Mac. Meanwhile, Jim Delligatti’s birthday was Aug. 2. And, if you’re so inclined, you might even want to consider warbling the above ditty in his honor, instead of that other tune people normally summon to celebrate the yearly trip
LOCATION Local student wins Human Relations Award PAGE A4 What’s happening, B3
around the sun. Who’s Jim Delligatti, you ask? In the McDonald’s pantheon, Delligatti, who was 98 when he died in 2016, is still a star with a light that shines like the Golden Arches. That’s what the guy who was born in Uniontown, and grew up in Fairmont, W.Va., gets for inventing the Big Mac. McDonald’s celebrated National Big Mac Day on the occasion of his birth SEE BIG MAC PAGE A3
COURTESY OF MCDONALD’S
Jim Delligatti, who was born in Uniontown and invented the Big Mac, works in the kitchen making the famous sandwich in one of his McDonald’s fast food restaurants in this undated photo.
SPORTS Running back Wright on track for success PAGE B1 Classifieds, B5
A new resident has arrived on Pittsburgh’s North Side, and she’s living the life. She came to town from Miami in May, and has her own comfy space and hordes of admirers. Free, nutritious food is available on a reliable basis, there are plenty of activities and no-cost health care is provided swiftly at the first sign of a problem. The newcomer’s name is Dariena. And she’s a bird. Well, not just any bird, but a rare harpy eagle, one of only a handful in the United States. She’s joined by more than 500 other birds at the National Aviary who are also living in the lap of avian luxury. “For birds, it’s like a five-star resort,” said Cathy Schlott, the director of animal programs and experiences at the National Aviary. “All of her needs are met. We’re on call 24/7.” Just how unique is a harpy eagle like Dariena? There are only 15 or 20 like her in this country, all at zoos and brought from their native habitat, which stretches from southern Mexico into Central America and South America. They are most likely to be encountered in rainforest-like conditions, with many concentrated in Brazil. Their favorite foods are sloths and monkeys, and they are not to be trifled
with – their wingspan can stretch up to 7 feet and their talons are the largest of any kind of eagle and as big as a grizzly bear’s. Their face is like an owl’s. Nevertheless, they like to interact with people, as Schlott pointed out, and Dariena will occasionally come over to the glass that separates her from the National Aviary’s visitors so they can get a closer look at her and her black and white feathers. At the same time, though, harpy eagles are solitary and “live by themselves,” Schlott explained, and they don’t mind it. “People tend to put human emotions on animals,” she said. Harpy eagles are tough customers, but they have become vulnerable as a result of climate change, deforestation and hunting. It’s believed that there are about 100,000 to 200,000 in the world, and while that might seem like quite a few, consider that there are at least twice as many bald eagles in North America. Harpy eagles are on the list of threatened species compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “I tell people you have to come see her for yourself,” said Meagan Hinds, director of marketing and communications at the National Aviary. “It’s awe-inspiring.” The National Aviary is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit aviary.org for more information.
Mt. Lebanon man charged with meeting teen connected to Peters Township sextortion plot By Mike Jones
mjones@observer-reporter.com
Another man has been charged in connection with the sextortion scheme in Peters Township after he allegedly met up with a teenage boy to perform sex acts on one another. Charles Ezekiel Usner, 23, of Mt. Lebanon was charged Aug. 3 with multiple felony counts after Peters Township police said he communicated with the 15-year-old boy and drove him to Peters Lake Park last summer. Usner, who went by the nickname Zeke in messages, began communicating with the boy in late June and agreed to pick up the teen and drove him to the park where the sexual encounter occurred July 1 last year, according to
court documents. Police said Usner recorded the sex acts on the juvenile’s cell phone, and two weeks later the teen messaged Zachariah Abraham Meyers that he had “vids” of the encounter. Meyers, who is a former Peters Township High School student, is accused of enticing 25 fellow students to send compromising photos or videos of themselves and then allegedly blackmailing them. Police said Meyers coerced the teenage victim into meeting Usner and another man for separate sexual encounters last July as part of the sextortion scheme. Investigators found the video allegedly showing Usner engaged in the sex SEE CHARGED PAGE A2
SIGHTS & SOUNDS Revving up: Car Cruise in South Park PAGE B3 Real estate transactions, A3