Joe Napsha stories, Page 111
Fireworks companies sue North Huntingdon for more than $30,000
Two Kansas fireworks firms sued North Huntingdon for more than $30,000, saying the township’s refusal to grant a permit that would keep their store open near the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s entrance has caused a “significant” loss in sales the past two months. Fireworks Leasing LLC and Wholesale Fireworks Enterprises LLC, both...
Irwin native pushed for early prosecution of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
Fallout from the teen sex trafficking scandal of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted pedophile who hanged himself in a New York City jail cell, continues to plow a path of destruction. Manhattan jail guards face federal criminal charges related to Epstein’s death and an alleged subsequent...
Jeannette school closet helps students in need
Rather than being filled with desks, chairs and books, a second-floor room at Jeannette McKee Elementary School has shelves of pants, racks of shirts and skirts, boxes of new tennis shoes, hats, gloves and some toiletries. The former classroom was converted this year into the Jeannette McKee School Closet, where...
North Huntingdon budget: No tax hike for 2020
North Huntingdon property owners will not pay more in real estate taxes to operate township government in 2020. With little fanfare or discussion, the North Huntingdon commissioners on Wednesday passed a $14.7 million general fund budget that keeps taxes at 11.3 mills. The revenue generated by 9.3 mills will be...
North Huntingdon businessman Tony Corsa named to Norwin School BoardVideo
A North Huntingdon businessman was elected Thursday to the Norwin School Board from among a field of 18 candidates. Tony Corsa, 42, won the support of seven of the eight board members during the second vote to fill the vacancy created by the Dec. 2 resignation of Barbara Viola. Corsa...
North Huntingdon commissioner questions $22K in raises for township department heads
Eight of North Huntingdon’s top officials are in line for raises ranging from 3% to 6% for next year, despite one township commissioner questioning what they did to earn a pay raise for 2020. The pay raises, which commissioners approved by a 5-1 vote on Wednesday, will cost the township...
19 seek to fill vacancy on Norwin School Board
The Norwin School Board has to select among 19 residents who are seeking to fill one vacancy. Among the hopefuls are a teacher who lost her bid for the board in the May primary, a North Huntingdon commissioner’s wife, four other teachers, an administrator working in other school districts, plus...
Greensburg woman loved to travel – Dec. 18, 2019
Peggy Jean Bell of Greensburg loved to travel with her husband, Tom, to places in the United States and around the world — Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Europe and South America, said her daughter, Cheryl Bell of Ashburn, Va. While she toured foreign lands and experienced the different cultures they...
Trafford library’s search for library director hampered by funding limitations
For almost four months, the Trafford Community Public Library has remained open six days a week thanks to volunteers. The small library on Brinton Avenue has not had a director since Jessica Beichler took over as the Penn Area Library director in Harrison City in early September. Beichler, who replaced...
Trafford offers grant for facade improvements – but not for naked mannequins
Entrepreneurs who want to open a business in Trafford next year will have a shot at a $600 matching grant for improving their storefront’s facade, though there is a catch. The money is available to any business owner who has designs on sprucing up their storefront in Trafford “as long...
Battle of Bulge veterans gather for ceremonies near GreensburgVideo
Seventy-five years after the massive German offensive in December 1944, the cold still stands out in the mind of Battle of the Bulge veteran Joseph Folino of Hempfield. “The bigger enemy was the cold. It was below zero, and there was no shelter for us. You were not allowed to...
North Huntingdon K-9 to retire
After eight years of service, one of North Huntingdon’s K-9 officers is retiring at the end of the year, to be replaced by a new dog. Officer Jeremy Nichols, who works with K-9 Nero, said he will be taking the German shepherd home once the dog leaves the department. “I...
P-T school library gets grant
A Penn-Trafford elementary school library aide’s enthusiasm led to a grant from an Ohio foundation that can be used to buy books and other materials for the McCullough Elementary School library in Penn Township. Sarah Schadler, a library aide at Penn-Trafford’s McCullough Elementary School, had volunteered at the used book...
Police seek Fayette bank robber
State police are seeking the man who robbed a bank in Fayette County Friday afternoon. The man, wearing a green jacket and a blue tassel cap, robbed the Vanderbilt branch of the Scottdale Bank & Trust Co. at 704 Main St., Vanderbilt, at about 12:30 p.m., according to state police...
Unity man charged in cryptocurrency fraud scheme
A 23-year-old Unity man could face 22 years in prison and lose the $942,500 house he bought near Mountain View, his Ferrari and expensive jewelry if convicted on federal accusations that he stole from executives and investors of cryptocurrency firms. Anthony Francis Faulk was charged in California with conspiracy to...
Irwin plans crackdown on speeders
Public complaints about speeders zipping along Pennsylvania Avenue in Irwin have prompted borough officials to crack down on drivers who ignore the speed limit, which is 25 mph through Irwin. A short-term answer might come through using a mobile radar sign, with a pending change to state law potentially delivering...
Wreaths Across America to honor veterans buried in 3 Norwin cemeteriesVideo
Veterans buried in three Norwin-area cemeteries will be honored Saturday with wreaths placed on their graves by volunteers with the North Huntingdon chapter of Wreaths Across America, a national initiative. A third cemetery, Long Run Cemetery in North Huntingdon, has been added to Union Cemetery in North Huntingdon and Immaculate...
Trafford holds the line on taxes for 2020
Trafford property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes for the operation of the borough’s government in 2020. Trafford Council this week approved a general fund budget of $1.8 million for 2020, a 21% increase from the 2019 budget of $1.51 million. Most of the additional...
Border Patrol nabs Mexican man convicted of sex offense in Indiana County
A Mexican man deported four years ago after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor in Indiana County, was arrested this week for attempting to illegally enter the country along a desolate section of the Arizona border, the U.S. Border Patrol said. The suspect, Romualdo Gregorio Felipe, 48, was...
Norwin taking applications to fill seat on board
Norwin residents who want to serve on the school board have until 3 p.m. Dec. 13 to notify the district. The board is seeking a replacement for Barbara Viola, who resigned. Her replacement will serve the remainder of her term, which was to expire in December 2021. Prospective candidates should...
Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski putting personal memorabilia up for auction
When Bill Mazeroski smashed a walk-off home run over Forbes Field’s left field wall, he not only secured the 1960 World Series crown for the Pirates but claimed a top spot in Pittsburgh sports history. His hit and jubilant celebration as he rounded the bases still stand as one of...
Greensburg First Presbyterian Church designated architecturally significantVideo
A landmark, 101-year-old Greensburg church now has earned architecturally significant status from a Pittsburgh preservation organization. The First Presbyterian Church along South Main Street may be Westmoreland County’s first house of worship to receive the designation from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, according to Karamagi Rujumba, the foundation’s communications...
West Penn warns of utility bill scamVideo
West Penn Power in Greensburg is alerting customers to be aware of scammers who may try to trick them into paying fictitious bills this winter on the false pretense that electricity will be shut off. FirstEnergy, the Ohio-based parent of West Penn Power and nine other utilities, said its companies...
Norwin board member resigns
A year after the Norwin School Board had to have Westmoreland County judges name a replacement when directors could not agree on who should fill a vacancy, the board could find itself in the same position. Board member Barbara Viola of North Huntingdon, who had been the president, resigned Monday....
Hikers opt out of Black Friday shopping for outdoor adventures
On a brisk Black Friday morning that left a dusting of snow atop one of the ridges in Linn Run State Park southeast of Ligonier, a group of 23 Western Pennsylvania hikers opted out of the shopping mall crowds and opted in for a nine-mile hike along a trail that...
