Jeff Himler stories, Page 26

North Huntingdon resident Tony Janczewski isn’t happy that the median barrier proposed for a stretch of Route 30 in the township could add two miles to his daily trip to work. According to Route 30 improvement plans displayed last week at the Hartford Heights fire station, Janczewski would have to...

Officials and family members gathered Saturday at Ligonier Valley Cemetery to make sure future generations don’t forget the battlefield bravery displayed by two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients who are buried there. While a local veterans honor guard provided a military salute, state officials dedicated the nearby Route 711 span...

A former Penn Hills School District employee is charged with stealing nearly $7,000 worth of equipment from the high school field house. Patsy Seneca, 70, of Penn Hills was captured on surveillance video loading items from the field house into his pickup truck on the morning of May 1, according...

Residents from around Western Pennsylvania enjoyed a colorful sky show late Friday and early Saturday as a strong solar storm sparked a display of the northern lights in many areas around the United States. WTAE meteorologist Jill Szwed said it’s the strongest geomagnetic storm since Halloween 2003 and offered an...

Fans have one less way to get to Pittsburgh Pirates games this weekend. The Gateway Clipper Fleet announced its shuttle boat ride from Station Square to PNC Park is out of service for games Saturday and Sunday against the Chicago Cubs. The shuttle service also was unavailable on Friday, after...

PennDOT bridge replacement projects are scheduled to begin Monday, May 13, triggering detours in Rostraver and a lane restriction in Murrysville. Crews from Golden Triangle Construction Co. will install a precast box culvert to replace the bridge that carries northbound Route 906 (Second Street) over Webster Hollow Run in Rostraver....

Local cuisine and craft brewery and winery offerings will be in the spotlight when the Latrobe Art Center hosts “A Taste of the Neighborhood: Pizza, Brews & More.” The center’s annual event for participants age 21 or older is set for 6 p.m. on May 17 in downtown Latrobe, at...

Two Ligonier-area soldiers from different centuries received the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in battle, and both will be recognized again when a local bridge is named for them. Officials will gather at 11 a.m. Saturday in Ligonier Township to dedicate the span that carries Route 711 over Loyalhanna...

The generations of Latrobe area residents who have provided military service to their country will be highlighted May 17 and 18 when the Latrobe Area Historical presents the program “Honoring Our Veterans.” The presentation is set for 9:30 a.m. each day at the society headquarters and museum, 416 Weldon St.,...

Keith Hood was up around 3 a.m. Wednesday because a storm had knocked out his power, struggling to close a bedroom window when he heard “the train” coming. “It scared me,” said the resident of Berkley Road in Ligonier Township. “It was loud and ferocious. We’ve lived here 27 years,...

Volunteers are needed Saturday morning in West Newton to help raise nearly 400 flags in honor of local deceased veterans. Now in its 30th year, the West Newton Avenue of Flags display will be on view until June 1 at the West Newton Cemetery, 210 Vernon Drive. The nonprofit program...

Beginning Monday, Chrissy Edwards-McCune will be out and about in Westmoreland County — setting traps to collect mosquitoes that might be infected with diseases and could bite humans and make them sick. “I’ll set traps at about 30 sites each week,” said Edwards-McCune, who is a West Nile virus technician...

Derry Area residents will see their school property taxes hold steady for the fourth year in a row under the district’s tentative $43.4 million 2024-25 budget. Approved at this past week’s school board meeting, the proposed budget calls for tapping the district’s fund balance to cover a $2.1 million gap...

Brayden Johnson soon will be taking off into the world of post-secondary studies, as he hopes to land a job as a commercial airline pilot. The senior at Greater Latrobe Senior High has a head start because he did initial flight training at the nearby Laurel Highlands Aeronautical Academy at...

The three members of the Sizzle Squad combined all the right ingredients to pull off a win in Westmoreland County Community College’s inaugural culinary competition. Brittany Martin of Belle Vernon drew upon her previous experience working in a restaurant and her love of food-based TV reality shows as she led...

PennDOT paving work is scheduled to be underway beginning on Monday, May 6 on the outskirts of Greensburg, simultaneously restricting traffic for several days on two routes providing access to the city from the east. Depending on weather, crews from Tresco Paving Corp. are set to begin milling and resurfacing...

Derry Area School District is spending some money this summer to help keep its student-athletes running smoothly. The school board this week awarded a contract to American Athletic Track and Turf to resurface the track at the high school stadium. The board meanwhile is hoping for state funding assistance to...

Mt. Pleasant Area School District residents would face a 3-mill property tax hike under a proposed $38.8 million 2024-2025 budget based on a worst-case scenario. But district officials say they hope to trim that tax increase by June 26, when the school board is scheduled to vote on a final...

Remaining spots are limited for the 10th annual Loyalhanna Sojourn, a paddling trip down the Loyalhanna Creek from Latrobe to New Alexandria. The Saturday, May 18 excursion will cover 9 miles, beginning with 8 a.m. registration at Latrobe’s Cardinal Park. It’s geared for people of all ages and experience levels...

After a decade leading Derry Area High School’s agriculture/horticulture program, Carly Rippole’s looking forward to summer. The school’s two greenhouses are slated to get an update that includes new panels and technology that will allow Rippole and her students to monitor and control the greenhouse environment remotely. “I’m excited to...

French foes never succeeded in capturing Fort Ligonier from the British during the mid-18th century armed conflict between the two nations. But reenactors portraying French Marines will have the run of the recreated version of the fort Saturday and Sunday in Ligonier Borough. They’ll show visitors how troops would have...

Latrobe Municipal Authority is poised to update electrical systems at its sewage treatment plant as an unrelated sewage rate hike takes effect. Many of the electrical components at the Lattanzio Road plant, including the utility service entrance and related circuits, date from the 1980s, authority manager Terri Hauser noted. “They’ve...

Where hiking trails now welcome visitors to explore the slopes of Laurel Mountain, at the border of Westmoreland and Somerset counties, locomotives once pulled carloads of timber and quarried stone over the lofty ridge. Participants in a May 2 program organized by the Ligonier Valley Historical Society and the Forbes...

Thirteen-year-old Blake Rensko left behind the confines of his seventh grade classroom at Ligonier Valley Middle School on a recent Wednesday to spend some time angling in a nearby stretch of the Loyalhanna Creek. He didn’t catch anything during his fly-fishing excursion, but he hooked a 20-inch rainbow trout and...