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United School District eyes 8-mill tax hike

By Jeff Himler
Property owners in the United School District could face an 8-mill tax hike next school year, based on a tentative 2013-14 budget the school board approved Tuesday. School officials said they hope to trim the planned expenditures of $20,380,945 as …

Burrell Township supervisors consider using block grant for waterline extension

By Gina Delfavero
A waterline extension in the Fairfield Heights section of Burrell Township has been mentioned by township supervisors as a likely use for the municipality’s 2013 community development block grant. The supervisors at their May 15 meeting entered into a cooperation …

Indiana County approves firm for conducting reassessment

By Greg Reinbold
The Indiana County Commissioners last week settled on a provider for the county’s massive property tax reassessment project in what commissioner chairman Rodney Ruddock called “probably the most important decision the county commissioners have made in 10 years.” At the …

Blairsville monument planned for local residents lost in wartime action

By Jeanette Wolff
The number of combat veterans who died fighting in wars for America’s freedom is a staggering 1,346,000. For most of us, that is a statistic. …

Charges refiled in tot’s death

By Paul Peirce
State police refiled criminal homicide and aggravated assault charges Wednesday against an Indiana County woman whose 13-month-old child drowned in a bathtub on Feb. 2. Homer City District Judge Susanne Steffee had dismissed both complaints against Tonya Thomas, 25, of …

Prosecutors: Smothering killed Indiana County tot

By Mary Pickels
An Indiana County toddler’s death was caused when his stepfather placed his hand over the child’s mouth and nose, suffocating him, prosecutors said on Monday. Malachi Patterson, 22 months, was removed from life support on Sunday in Children’s Hospital of …

Indiana County toddler dies of abuse injuries

By Liz Zemba
A 20-month old Indiana County boy who was hospitalized with life-threatening head and torso injuries has died and homicide charges are pending against his stepfather, according to the district attorney. Malachi Patterson died early Sunday afternoon at Children’s Hospital of …

Indiana County man charged in assault on toddler

By Bob Stiles
A man has been charged with assaulting his 20-month-old stepchild, who was fighting on Saturday to remain alive in an Allegheny County hospital. Juan Campbell, 27, of 88 Susan Drive, Burrell Township, was charged Friday night with aggravated assault, recklessly …

Police investigate suspected child abuse in Indiana County

By Renatta Signorini
State police are searching a Burrell Township home in connection with a 20-month-old child who has life-threatening injuries, according to Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty. No criminal charges have been filed, but doctors at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh do …

Appeals court hears Indiana County power plant case

By Brian Bowling
The government should be able to pursue its claim that the former owners of an Indiana County coal-fired power plant failed to install required pollution controls in the 1990s because the absence of those controls makes the plant one of …

Homicide charge dismissed against Indiana mother in drowning

By Paul Peirce
An Indiana County district judge dismissed homicide and aggravated assault charges Monday against a pregnant mother who is accused in the drowning of her 13-month-old son in a bathtub on Feb. 2. Tonya Thomas, 25, initially was charged with murder …

Blairsville-area company finds 2nd calling in shale gas service industry

By John D. Oravecz
Business has surged at Twin Pines Manufacturing Corp. near Blairsville since it got in on the ground floor of the region’s natural gas boom five …

Homer City council approves zoning change for distillery

By Greg Reinbold
The Homer City Borough Council ended months of impassioned debate about a potential microdistillery on Main Street during Tuesday night’s meeting. The panel voted unanimously to pass an ordinance amending the borough’s zoning code to include “craft distillery establishment” in …

Brush Valley fundraiser for double-lung recipient focuses on organ donation awareness

By Debbie Black
Jim Anderson spent his working days operating heavy equipment in the construction industry and serving as a volunteer firefighter in the Brush Valley Fire Department. …

Saltsburg’s summer road improvements are expected to focus on alleys

By Gina Delfavero
Saltsburg Borough Council on Monday agreed to transfer $30,548.35 from a matured CD into a checking account to pay for summer road work in the borough. Council President P.J. Hruska did not yet have a list of roads slated for …

Homer City council approves zoning change for distillery

By Greg Reinbold
Homer City borough council ended months of impassioned debate about a potential microdistillery on Main Street, voting unanimously Tuesday to amend its zoning code to include “craft distillery establishment” as a permitted use in commercial zones. The planning commission voted …

2nd suspect charged in scam to steal from Indiana County drilling company

By Paul Peirce
A second conspirator in the ongoing investigation into the embezzlement of more than $6 million from an Indiana County gas drilling company was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh. Prosecutors on Monday charged Daniel Pikel, 57, …

Police: 3 tried to kick out windows to escape sunken truck as others tried to break in

By Kate Wilcox
As friends jumped into a muddy overflow pond in Indiana County with crowbars to attempt a rescue, the three men trapped inside an overturned pickup truck tried to kick out the vehicle’s windshield to escape, according to police. One onlooker …

Juror falls ill in Murphy trial

By Rich Cholodofsky
Defense attorneys lost a bid Monday to save Kevin Murphy from a possible death penalty, arguing he was convicted of a triple homicide last week on circumstantial evidence. The penalty phase trial for Murphy, 52, of Conemaugh Township, Indiana County, …
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