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August 9, 2024

Dunkin’ Grand Opening Set For Monday, August 19th

Ellwood City runs on Dunkin’ The new Ellwood City Dunkin’ location is set to hold its grand opening on Monday, August 19th. This official announcement was provided this week by its franchise group, Heartland Restaurant Group. According to Larry Mench, Sr. Director of HR, Training & Development, the new location will open at 4:30 a.m. on August 19th. There will also be a ribbon cutting ceremony held at 10:30 a.m. with the general manager and Ellwood City Borough Council members and other VIP’s from the Ellwood City area.  Ellwood City Borough Council approved final requests in regards to a Dunkin’…

July 12, 2024

PART 2 – Cast Q&A: New Castle Playhouse Presents The SpongeBob Musical

The New Castle Playhouse will present The SpongeBob Musical starting tonight July 12-21 and will feature some of Ellwood City’s area favorite actors. At least five Ellwood City Area actors including Lauren Bush, Jacob Storey, Ace Sharer, Alex Hazen, and Lauren Krug will take to the Main Stage in Augustine Auditorium on July 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and on July 14 and 21 at 2 p.m. (ticket information can be found at the end of the article) In PART 1 of our series, published Thursday, we caught up with Bush, Storey, and Sharer for a…

July 11, 2024

PART 1 – Cast Q&A: New Castle Playhouse Presents The SpongeBob Musical

The New Castle Playhouse will present The SpongeBob Musical starting tomorrow July 12-21 and will feature some of Ellwood City’s area favorite actors. At least five Ellwood City Area actors including Lauren Bush, Jacob Storey, Ace Sharer, Alex Hazen, and Lauren Krug will take to the Main Stage in Augustine Auditorium on July 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20 at 7:30 p.m. and on July 14 and 21 at 2 p.m. (ticket information can be found at the end of the article) In Part 1 of our series, we caught up with Bush, Storey, and Sharer for a cast Q&A….

June 21, 2024

Divine Grace Parish-Holy Redeemer Church to Hold Welcome Home Masses to Celebrate Completion of Renovation Project

Soon, the congregation of Divine Grace Parish-Holy Redeemer Church, 415 Fourth St., will return to their home—a home with some major changes and upgrades. For the past few months worship has been held in the Catholic Center, but that’s about to change on June 29 when the congregation will finally get to see the full results of the extensive makeover that began on April 1. “I hope that the folks will be very pleased when they see it. While the church is the same everything is better,” said Deacon Don Pepe who is Director of facilities for the parish. “The…

May 3, 2024

The Riverside Hall of Fame: Royann Winfield, Selfless Coach, Mentor to the End

NOTE: This is the third in a three-part series featuring The Riverside Hall of Fame’s first class, all coaches. The inductees will be honored at the First Annual Hall of Fame banquet at Shakespeare’s Restaurant this Saturday, May 4th, from 6 to 10 p.m. Attendees will celebrate the esteemed inaugural class of: Dan Oliastro, Karl Florie, and Royann Winfield. Royann Winfield was a fighter to the end. Whether it was standing in strong support of her students, or her residents at McGuire Memorial, or battling cancer, Royann simply refused to give up on herself or others. Her final season in…

May 2, 2024

The Riverside Hall of Fame: Dan Oliastro, Winningest Coach in WPIAL History

NOTE: This is the second in a three-part series featuring The Riverside Hall of Fame’s first class, all coaches. The inductees will be honored at the First Annual Hall of Fame banquet at Shakespeare’s Restaurant this Saturday, May 4th, from 6 to 10 p.m. Attendees will celebrate the esteemed inaugural class of: Dan Oliastro, Karl Florie, and Royann Winfield. He may be the winningest coach in WPIAL history, but winning isn’t everything to Coach Dan Oliastro. “It’s more than just baseball,” he said. “One of the things you have to do is build relationships … good relationships with the kids.”…

May 1, 2024

The Riverside Hall of Fame: Karl Florie Built Powerhouse Team and Family of Football Players

NOTE: This is the first in a three-part series featuring The Riverside Hall of Fame’s first class, all coaches. The inductees will be honored at the First Annual Hall of Fame banquet at Shakespeare’s Restaurant this Saturday, May 4th, from 6 to 10 p.m. Attendees will celebrate the esteemed inagural class of: Dan Oliastro, Karl Florie, and Royann Winfield. Karl Florie, wasn’t the school board’s first choice to coach Riverside’s football program, but it came to pass that he was he was the right choice. Although his first season produced zero wins, he went on to build a program that became a powerhouse in…

April 12, 2024

ECASD’s Board of Directors Tables Motion to Dissolve the District’s Soccer Program

The Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors voted to table a motion to dissolve the District Soccer program during their regular meeting Thursday night. The consideration was originally on the agenda after interest in the program seemed to dwindle when a Google Document for sign up wasn’t completed by enough students to develop enough of a roster to hold practices or maintain a consistent team. Board Director Jean Biehls made the motion to table it until next month to give the students a chance to ramp up recruitment efforts, and the rest of the board unanimously agreed. During…

April 12, 2024

PART THREE: Lincoln High School’s Schoolhouse Rock Live! Is A High Energy, Nostalgic Gem

Lincoln High School will present the musical, Schoolhouse Rock Live! starting tonight, April 12, 2024 in the high school auditorium, at 501 Crescent Avenue, Ellwood City (information about the show and how to get tickets can be found at the end of this article). I got a sneak peak at the show, and you don’t want to miss it! Under the direction of Rick Hudson, this musical is based on the 1970s cartoon. Check out an interview with Director Rick Hudson, here. Schoolhouse Rock Live! is a high energy, education of sorts that includes music, comedy, and a truly golden…

April 11, 2024

PART TWO: Lincoln High School’s Schoolhouse Rock Live! Cast Q&A

Lincoln High School will present the musical, Schoolhouse Rock Live! on April 12-14 in the high school auditorium, at 501 Crescent Avenue, Ellwood City (information about the show and how to get tickets can be found at the end of this article). The production features a cast and crew of high school students and is directed by Rick Hudson. We caught up with some of the leads in the show for a cast Q&A. Today’s Q&A is part two in a three-part series about Schoolhouse Rock Live!  Featured tomorrow will be part three, a review of the show and gallery…