Five candidates will compete for four open seats on the Franklin Regional School Board in the Nov. 4 election, and their goals and concerns cover a wide range of topics. All candidates are running for a four-year term. Shannon Venditti received the highest number of votes on the Republican ballot,...

East Huntingdon incumbent supervisors Jeff Keefer and Justin Morrow have the same job. They also have the same opponent in separate races for two seats on the township’s governing board. Keefer, 55, a Republican, is seeking a four-year term. A former member of the township’s road crew, Keefer was appointed...

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg communications professor Jessica Ghilani likens the design of social media platforms to casinos without windows. The introduction of algorithmic sorting to Facebook in 2009 paved the way for social media platforms to generate endless streams of content for users — a system Ghilani describes as...

Christine Marquis wasn’t expecting to run for mayor of Latrobe, but she accepted the Democratic nomination for the post after supporters waged a successful primary write-in campaign on her behalf. On Nov. 4, Marquis will face off against Republican incumbent Eric Bartels. Bartels is seeking his second term as mayor,...

Jeannette is looking at financial incentives and other options to encourage more applicants to two openings on the police force. As of Tuesday afternoon, no one had applied for the positions, police Chief Derek Manley said. The application period closes Oct. 31. During a meeting Monday to prepare for the...

A judge has rejected an appeal from a Monessen man who has spent 50 years in prison for the 1973 murders of two young children and the rape of their mother. Attorneys for John Veltre Jr., 69, claimed that Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Stewart II abused his...

Candidates competing for four open seats on Murrysville Council have unanimously identified one central issue facing the municipality: the long-overdue update to its comprehensive plan. All five candidates running for the four seats cited the planning document — which serves as the town’s vision for growth and development — as...

This pre-Halloween weekend is packed with scary good activities for all ages throughout Westmoreland. Don your costume and get ready to haunt the town with these events. Halloween tales tours The Compass Inn Museum in Laughlintown will host a fascinating and spine-tingling event with real ghostly tales from the Ligonier...

Hempfield raked in $180,500 in proceeds from an online auction of 116 pieces of surplus equipment. More than 66,000 people looked at what Hempfield had for sale through Anderson Auctioneers, including trucks, firefighting equipment, traffic signals, kitchen appliances, chairs and reflector lamps. “That’s impressive,” said township Supervisor Jay Anderson. “There’s...

A Jeannette man will serve two years of probation for illegally possessing a loaded handgun while playing blackjack in a Westmoreland County casino. Kenneth J. Czarnecki, 26, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of carrying a firearm without a license while gambling at Live Casino Pittsburgh at Westmoreland Mall in...

Traffic has been reduced to a single lane on Crawford Lane Bridge in Rostraver. Temporary traffic signals have been installed at each end of the bridge, on Crawford Lane and Finley Road, to guide traffic over the span that crosses above Interstate 70. The lane restriction is slated to continue...

Youngsters in Irwin Borough will have a chance to don their Halloween costumes and go to businesses in downtown Irwin for a trick-or-treat from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, followed by a parade along Main Street. Registration for the parade will be held 1 to 3 p.m. at the S&T...

A Hempfield man was ordered to serve seven years on probation after he pleaded guilty to charges related to claims he propositioned a teenager last year at a school bus stop. Police claimed Michael D. Thomas, 72, made sexual comments to a 13-year-old Wendover Middle School student as she waited...

A judge on Wednesday denied bail for a former Jeannette man awaiting retrial on charges he set a fire three decades ago that killed his wife and two young children. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Stewart III ruled that state law prohibits bail for defendants who face a...

Westmoreland commissioners on Tuesday authorized the county’s finance department to apply for a $14.1 million state treasury loan to fund essential human services amid Pennsylvania’s ongoing budget stalemate. The commissioners said an infusion of cash is needed as county resources used to pay key service providers that care for children...

Murrysville officials have had problems in recent years with crashes on Route 22 causing damage to the electrical boxes that control several traffic lights along the highway. The municipality plans to replace the current light-control system. But in the meantime, they don’t have a lot of options to protect the...

Six people are running for four spots on Youngwood council — including three incumbents, two newcomers and one who has filled in for a vacant seat on the board for about four months. Managing borough finances, replacing public works equipment, updating stormwater infrastructure, fostering community and addressing blighted properties are...

The Southmoreland School Board is reviewing a policy that would end the livestreaming of its meetings in favor of posting a video recording after the meeting’s conclusion. The move comes a month after School Director Catherine Fike, a retired school psychologist, was accused by the school board of disclosing confidential...

Property taxes are expected to remain steady in Jeannette’s 2026 budget. “I do not see a need for a tax increase unless something disastrous happens between now and the November council meeting,” City Manager Ethan Keedy said. There is more work to be done on the proposed spending plan, but...

A Smithton woman injured during an altercation at Saturday’s No Kings protest in Greensburg is calling on the Westmoreland County commissioners to formally condemn political violence. Karen Primm, 70, said she sustained a gash to right arm when she was struck by pole of a flag waved by an apparent...