Jeff Himler stories, Page 17

Neighbors remember Thomas Zeller as a somewhat eccentric man who pursued a low-tech lifestyle. Zeller, 71, died Saturday when flames destroyed his Scottdale home. “It’s a sad thing,” Market Street resident Chuck Brownfield said Sunday. “He didn’t really associate with a lot of people, he never bothered anybody.” According to...

A vehicle crashed into a 7-Eleven store in Penn Hills early Sunday and then fled, according to first responders. Penn Hills Fire Company No. 7 reported it was among emergency units called to the scene at 600 Rodi Road shortly after 1 a.m. No one inside the store was injured...

Allegheny County Police are investigating a crash Saturday night in Monroeville that fatally injured a pedestrian. According to the County Medical Examiner’s Office, the victim, Thomas Tate, 48, died shortly after 9:30 p.m. at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville — about a half hour after the crash. Officials didn’t list a...

A Penn Hills man who was shot Oct. 6 in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood has died. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed late Saturday the death of Malcolm I. Nowlin, 26, in an area hospital following the incident in the 4100 block of Butler Street. The office listed the time...

Fort Ligonier Days pays tribute to the 18th century British outpost that lent its name to the modern town of Ligonier. But, full appreciation of the festival’s origin doesn’t appear to be widespread among those who are drawn to the event, judging from a random sampling Saturday of visitors who...

No horses were harmed Saturday after a stubborn fire broke out about 3 p.m., then ravaged a storage barn at the Westmoreland Equestrian Center in Hempfield. The fire briefly closed a section of Business Route 66 in Hempfield, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said. The roadway had reopened to traffic...

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a home in Wilkins Township early Saturday morning. Officials told TribLive news partner WTAE the fire was reported at about 2:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Greensburg Pike, and there was no indication...

A Beaver County man is charged with attempted homicide in a Friday morning shooting in Pittsburgh that sent another man to Allegheny General Hospital. City police used surveillance video to trace a white Nissan Armada involved in the shooting to Shane Terrance Phillips, 52, of Ambridge, according to a criminal...

The 18th and 21st centuries will intersect in Ligonier this weekend as the town hosts the annual Fort Ligonier Days. The festival’s historical appeal includes reenactors portraying French and Indian War combatants and one of the country’s founding fathers — no, not George Washington. Live entertainment, a parade and vendors...

An Irwin-area Catholic priest who resigned amid questions about how the parishes he led hired a man who had a criminal record has returned to ministry, Greensburg Catholic Bishop Larry J. Kulick said. But the Rev. John Moineau will be moving from his former post at Irwin’s Immaculate Conception and...

A man was taken to a hospital in critical condition after he was shot Friday evening in Baldwin. First responders found the man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the 5400 block of Keeport Drive. The shooting was reported to Allegheny County 911 shortly before 6 p.m. County police detectives...

Kiski Area administrators cautioned families about the disruption “lookalike” weapons can cause in school settings after an airsoft BB gun was confiscated during a Friday afternoon elementary bus run. A driver on a South Primary/Upper Elementary school bus was alerted that a student was in possession of the inoperable gun...

The Heritage Winds, a quintet of airmen-musicians, will visit Latrobe on Oct. 13 to present selections from the world of films and classical and military traditions. Tickets aren’t required to attend the free concert, set for 3 p.m. at Latrobe Presbyterian Church. The diverse program will include music from movies...

German immigrants and their descendants have left deep roots in Southwestern Pennsylvania, a heritage that will be explored Sunday at West Overton Village and Museum in East Huntingdon. The hour-long program “Germans to America” will be presented at 12:30 p.m. in partnership with the Heinz History Center and will be...

The Barefoot Dutchman made his way through eastern Westmoreland County on Thursday, carefully placing one unshod foot in front of the other. Anton Nootenboom, a native of the Netherlands and veteran of its army, has adopted the nickname as he nears completion of a shoeless eastward trek across the United...

Todd Frescura has established a clear path for his cows to move through mud-prone areas of his family’s organic dairy farm in Unity. The cattle walkways help keep dirt out of the farm’s milking parlor and out of a stream on the 100-acre spread that is part of the Sewickley...

A consultant hired to assess government operations in Latrobe has recommended two new supervisory positions and a more focused role for the finance director. City council members questioned the potential impact of the suggestions on the budget. Dormont-based Grass Root Solutions is expected to complete a five-year strategic management plan...

Downtown Latrobe will be under a friendly spell Wednesday evening when the town’s monthly Shop Hop and Night Market welcomes visitors for a Witches Night Out. Rain or shine, the event is set for 4 to 8 p.m., featuring more than 50 local artisans and food vendors along more than...

Fall’s arrival comes with an invitation from local organizations to explore the scenery and look to the future at St. Xavier Nature Preserve in Unity. On Oct. 2, the Westmoreland Land Trust, which owns the 248-acre preserve, will host the latest in a series of public meetings to solicit comments...

Latrobe council is expected to consider a carrot-and-stick combination of measures to help curb blight in the city. The carrot is a proposed real estate tax abatement meant to encourage owners to make improvements to blighted properties. The stick is a registration system, with fees and potential fines, that could...

The Westmoreland County leaders who gathered this week in Unity to sign a pledge to do their part to remove 25 billion pieces of litter across the country used the event itself as an example of waste reduction. Food offered to those who attended Thursday’s event was served on reusable...

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Austin Davis touted health care policies pursued by the Biden-Harris administration and Democratic members of Congress during a Friday stop in Greensburg Davis met with local officials and patients at the Westmoreland County Labor Council headquarters at One Northgate Square as patients Diana Steck and Lisa Gephart...

A deacon who subdued a gunman in a North Braddock church May 5 will receive a Carnegie Medal, North America’s highest honor for civilian heroism. Clarence McCallister, 63, is included in a list of 18 new medal recipients released by the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. McCallister, who is a...

A Pittsburgh man will serve 15 to 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty in the shooting of a North Versailles police officer and K-9 last year. Ian Lamont Fields, 47, received the sentence as part of a plea deal this week in Allegheny County Court, according to online court...

A fire Thursday evening shut down a pump at a Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County water treatment plant in Bell Township, but a spokesman said there was no resulting interruption in service to customers. Spokesman Matt Junker said the fire affected a motor that operates a pump supplying treated water...