Joe Napsha stories, Page 109
Penn library to hold chess tournament
Students will get a chance to test their chess skills against youngsters in their age group at a chess tournament on March 14 the Penn Area Library, Municipal Court, Harrison City. Tournament play begins at 1 p.m. and will continue until all rounds are completed. The junior division is open...
2 Steel Valley workers monitored for possible coronavirus
Two Steel Valley School District employees have been told to stay away from school property as a precaution related to the threat of the spreading coronavirus. The employees are required to distance themselves until the incubation period of the virus has passed and they are cleared by a medical professional,...
Cyber security experts: Hackers target children’s SS numbers
For computer hackers looking to steal someone’s identity, there’s nothing better than taking the social security number of a child, say cyber security experts at two area universities. Excela Health stopped 832 “violent intrusions” by hackers trying to gain access to the social security numbers of children in the last...
North Huntingdon officials hold closed-door session; discuss strategic plan
North Huntingdon Township commissioners held a closed-door meeting Wednesday with the leaders of various government departments, a gathering which one commissioner described as an “in-house retreat.” Attorney Bruce Dice, North Huntingdon’s solicitor, had advised township officials the meeting could be closed to the public because it is educational in purpose...
Westmoreland County school districts land state safety grants
Westmoreland County’s 17 school districts were awarded almost $1.1 million in state grants to improve school safety through a variety of measures, including hiring school resource and police officers, conducting school safety assessments, buying security-related equipment and hiring counselors and psychologists. The money is being allocated though the state’s School...
Penn-Trafford to induct 12 into first Hall of Fame class
A chef, school nurse, Pittsburgh area sportscaster, physician, historian, veteran, volunteer with several community organizations and former high school principal are among a dozen Penn-Trafford graduates to be inducted into the school’s inaugural hall of fame class. The Penn-Trafford High School Alumni Hall of Fame recognizes alumni and school associates...
Pittsburgh Army Corps of Engineers to hold hearing on proposed battery plant at Lordstown, Ohio
Plans to build a $2.3 billion electric battery assembly plant near General Motors Corp.’s shuttered automobile plant in Lordstown, Ohio, will be reviewed during a March 12 public hearing in Lordstown, which is about 75 miles from Pittsburgh. General Motors is applying for approval on behalf of GigaPower LLC of...
Program to explore Westmoreland coal history
Westmoreland County’s deep coal mining history will be explored during a March 14 program at the Westmoreland History Education Center at Historic Hanna’s Town on Forbes Trail Road in Hempfield. Marion Piccolomini, a native of Cardale, Fayette County and author of “Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Coal Region,” will speak about the area’s...
Pittsburgh area filled with not-so-hard workers, study says
Pittsburgh, which has prided itself for generations as having hard-working people who toiled in steel mills, factories, coal mines and manual labor jobs, apparently has softened over the years, based on a study conducted by WalletHub, a personal finance website. The workers of the onetime Steel City were “outworked” by...
Unity woman was caring person who loved children, loved pets
Rachael Johnston of Unity had a loving heart, taking care of children in her work and babysitting relatives and loving pets — both cats and dogs. “I knew her as a very gentle, loving person. She got along very well with kids and pets,” said her uncle, Herman Lagally of...
Ligonier woman managed cafeteria, ran ceramics shop
Nancy Vucina loved to sew clothing and make rosary beads for Catholic missionaries. “She made hundreds of rosaries for charity” using a kit containing beads, wire and pliers, said her daughter, Anna Stufft of Ligonier. Mrs. Vucina would go to Saint Vincent College and give the nuns her homemade lye...
Heavy snow, 40 below zero temps stop Latrobe man’s Alaskan journey
Tim Hewitt’s hopes of trekking some 1,300 miles through the Alaskan wilderness were smashed last week by deep snow that slowed his progress, making every step in his snowshoes difficult and deep snow that obliterated any traces of a trail. Hewitt, a Latrobe attorney, said on Feb. 24 from his...
Norwin to restrict public access to school facilities to improve student safety
Norwin will close public access to its campuses on school days to improve student safety, the district announced. Only people with legitimate school business will be admitted to buildings and recreational facilities. The public will be prohibited from using the track or other recreation facilities from 7 a.m. to 4:30...
Excela Health challenged by ‘disrupters’ in health care market, CEO saysVideo
Excela Health not only faces competition from larger Pittsburgh-based health systems but also national tech companies “invading” the local market in an effort to change how people receive health care, the Westmoreland County-based system’s top official said. “The biggest disruption in our health care space is technology,” Excela Health CEO...
Lamp Theatre to show locally produced film by P-T gradsVideo
When Brandon Keenan was a teenager growing up in Harrison City, he would take a date to The Lamp Theatre, where the price of admission was cheap and so was the popcorn. Now 36 and living in Monroeville, Keenan will return to the Irwin theater on Saturday with fellow filmmaker...
Liberty Bridge, Andy Warhol Bridge cited as among top 19 in U.S.
All the commuters who drive across the Liberty Bridge and wait in rush hour traffic over the Monongahela River, and those traveling the Andy Warhol Bridge over the Allegheny River, can say they have been on one of the most outstanding bridges in the country. Both Pittsburgh bridges were among...
I-70 lane restrictions planned for Yukon area
Motorists traveling Interstate 70 between Yukon and Madison — exits 53 and 54 — will have to drive through lane-restricted areas next week, PennDOT said. There will be a single lane of travel in both directions while crews demolish the median barrier and install a temporary barrier. Work from 10...
Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski’s house in Hempfield goes on auction block
The Westmoreland County home of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski and his wife will go to the highest bidder, with the sale coming less than three months after memorabilia from his Hall of Fame career and other household items attracted hundreds of people to a New Year’s Day auction. Bids...
Ligonier man served his country and community
Francis Yandrick was a man who served his country and community, fighting in the Army during World War II and serving on Ligonier Borough Council. “He really did love the town of Ligonier,” said his granddaughter, Natalie Headley of Baltimore. Francis X. Yandrick of Ligonier died Friday, Feb. 14, 2020,...
Surveyors tackling resurvey of Mason-Dixon Line
A group of surveyors from Pennsylvania and Maryland starting this year plan to create a new record of what might be America’s most famous border: the Mason-Dixon Line. Members of both states’ surveyor societies will help survey the 196-mile border stretching from Delaware to the southeastern tip of Fayette County,...
Latrobe attorney takes on another brutally cold, long Alaskan wilderness run
Latrobe labor attorney Tim Hewitt is at it again, putting his body through yet another outrageously long journey through the Alaska wilderness in the middle of winter. He set the record for running the famed Iditarod Trail Invitational, billed as the “world’s longest winter ultra-marathon,” having covered more than 1,000...
Gala planned for Lamp Theatre
“A Night at the Speakeasy” will be the theme of The Lamp Theatre’s March 20 fundraiser that will take patrons back to the Roaring ’20s and the days of Prohibition. Patrons are encouraged to wear a cocktail dress, formal wear and 1920s-themed clothing to the gala that will be held...
Norwin Lions to hold ‘cubcakes’ fundraiser
Those who love cupcakes can eat them for a good cause at the Norwin Lions Cubcake Wars at the Norwin High School cafeteria, 251 McMahon Drive, North Huntingdon, from 1 to 4 p.m. March 29. Money from the eighth annual fundraiser will be used for the Norwin Lions and its...
Sage’s Army to hold family recovery meetings
Sage’s Army, a nonprofit fighting drug addiction, will hold a free family reinforcement/recovery session on Feb. 27. The event will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the group’s headquarters, 216 Fourth St., Irwin. The sessions are designed to provide information and guidance for family members who deal with...
Youngwood braces for ‘traffic nightmare’ with water, sewer line replacement projectVideo
Youngwood residents soon will live the highway construction mantra of “temporary inconvenience, permanent improvement.” All four lanes of Route 119 will be torn apart to install new water and sewer lines, followed by PennDOT’s reconstruction of the borough’s main north-south thoroughfare. “It’s going to be a traffic nightmare for two...
