Joe Napsha stories, Page 2
Environmental group to state: Make sure Rustic Ridge has sufficient subsidence insurance
An environmental organization has filed an appeal questioning whether a Donegal Township mine operator has followed a state directive to reinstate its mine subsidence bond to $3.14 million from a state-permitted reduction to about $293,000. The Mountain Watershed Association in Melcroft said in its filing with the state’s Environmental Hearing...
Norwin area: Church rummage sale, Heritage Trail ride, mulch sale, more
Church rummage sale The Lutheran Church of Our Saviour, 1570 Clay Pike, North Huntingdon, will sponsor a rummage sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 1 and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 2. Food will be available for purchase. Proceeds will benefit the Blessed Bundles outreach ministry. Heritage...
North Huntingdon donates old police car to Catholic Diocese police department
The Catholic Diocese of Greensburg will receive a former North Huntingdon police car, but not before a township commissioner raised questions about donating a vehicle to a religious organization. Township commissioners will transfer the title of a 2016 police cruiser with more than 100,000 miles to the Diocese of Greensburg...
New temporary road planned to bypass closed bridge in Irwin
Irwin officials have opted to help drivers temporarily bypass a closed bridge on Colony Drive off Route 30 by creating a road through a vacant paved lot connecting a street with an events center and a 226-unit apartment complex. The decision is a stopgap measure that allows the borough to...
Hempfield Area hires principal for Fort Allen Elementary
Hempfield Area will have a new principal at Fort Allen Elementary School next school year. Ross Houston, a principal at the Greater Johnstown Middle School, was hired Monday by the Hempfield Area School Board in a unanimous vote. Houston will receive an annual salary of $135,000 for the 2026-27 school...
Ligonier Country Market vendors face uncertain season after zoning, lease setbacksVideo
Lori Lentz of North Huntingdon sells pure homemade baking extracts from her Irwin store, Vnlla Cncpt. But she really benefits from the booth she has operated in the spring, summer and fall at the Ligonier Country Market. Yet the popular market — where vendors sell produce, flowers, beef, poultry, eggs...
North Huntingdon sewage authority $11.4M budget OK’d
The 12,750 residential and commercial customers of the North Huntingdon Township Municipal Authority will not see a rate increase in the upcoming fiscal year beginning May 1, the authority said. The authority, which serves parts of North Huntingdon, adopted an $11.4 million fiscal year 2027 budget at current sewage rates,...
Westmoreland Land Trust to host free Earth Day event at Saint Xavier Nature Reserve
Volunteers and visitors are welcome Saturday afternoon for a series of environmental activities at Westmoreland Land Trust’s Saint Xavier Nature Reserve in Unity. Tree planting and trash clearing along a section of Route 30 are scheduled along with a series of awareness programs set from noon to 3 p.m. The...
Strawpump fire department regains its service area in North HuntingdonVideo
The Strawpump Volunteer Fire Department regained its status this week as the primary responder for its service area in eastern North Huntingdon, 18 months after its territory was split between two neighboring departments following a poor insurance rating. “We are just excited to be the primary fire service for our...
Norwin area: Mulch sale, art workshops, used book sale, more
Used book sale The Friends of the Norwin Public Library will host a used book sale this month at the library, 100 Caruthers Lane. The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 22 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25. Attendees are asked to park in...
Ligonier Township supervisors failed to approve request; Country Market to look at other options
Ligonier Township officials Tuesday failed to approve Waterford Volunteer Fire Department’s request to have its 26-acre property rezoned from an agricultural to a commercial designation so it could expand its fire hall and also host the popular Ligonier Country Market. The rejection came by default — it never made it...
Construction begins on $10B natural gas power plant and data center in Indiana CountyVideo
Construction has begun on a proposed $10 billion project to create a 4.4-gigawatt natural gas-fueled power plant and hyperscale data centers on a hilltop outside Homer City in Indiana County. The aboveground construction began more than a week ago, after extensive underground foundation work was completed at what the company...
Motorcyclist killed in Uniontown crash
A motorcyclist was killed in a crash Monday afternoon in Uniontown, according to TribLive news partner WTAE-TV. The victim, who was identified as Kevin Glover, 34, was fatally injured in a two-vehicle crash around 5 p.m. along East Main Street, WTAE said. A spokesperson for the Fayette County Coroner’s office...
Motorcyclist hurt in Washington Township crash
A motorcyclist was hurt in a crash Monday night along Route 380 in Washington Township, a Westmoreland County Public Safety supervisor said. The motorcyclist was transported by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment, the supervisor said. The accident was reported at about 7:45 p.m. along Route 380 near the...
Crews begin clearing former Ligonier Beach property, volunteers set to do more work Saturday
The first step in the long journey to clean up the overgrown Ligonier Beach property along Route 30 restarted Friday when volunteers using heavy machinery removed logs, dead trees, heavy brush and debris from the field surrounding the former pool and in the deteriorating pool itself. That heavy lifting done...
Strawpump fire department expected to regain service area in North Huntingdon
Strawpump Volunteer Fire Department is poised to regain its fire service area in the eastern end of North Huntingdon. Eighteen months after having its territory split between two adjacent volunteer departments, its fire insurance rating is now at an acceptable level, according to the township. North Huntingdon commissioners on Thursday...
Driller seeks to tap Beaver Run Reservoir for fracking water
CNX Midstream Operations LLC is seeking a state permit to draw water from Westmoreland County’s Beaver Run Reservoir for its horizontal drilling operations. If the permit is approved by the Department of Environmental Protection, the Cecil-based company would install a 156-foot plastic pipeline to supply the high-pressure water needed to...
Norwin area: Race for Grace raises $177K, Bataan Memorial March, more
Race raises $177K Race for Grace, a popular Norwin-area community event that raises money to fight pediatric cancer, raised at least $177,000 from the 5-kilometer walk and run held at the Norwin school complex March 28, according to race officials. Almost 1,500 people registered for the event, which had about...
Pittsburgh detectives probe woman’s death in Homewood
The death of a woman found Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s Homewood North neighborhood is being investigated by Pittsburgh homicide detectives, a Pittsburgh police spokeswoman said. The detectives were called to the scene where the woman was found in the 7000 block of Fielding Way, said Eliza Durham, a police spokeswoman....
Jeannette fire damages house; contractor ‘lost everything’ in garageVideo
A fire destroyed a Jeannette garage and damaged the rear of the attached vacant house Monday afternoon. A small heater exploded while a contractor was working in the garage, Jeannette fire officials said. “I lost everything — all my tools, two tractors, a motorcycle and weed cutters,” said David Kerlin,...
Slickville airman’s remains slated for burial in Delmont 80 years after WWII
A Slickville airman whose body had been missing for 80 years since his plane was shot down over Poland during World War II will be returning home this summer, his family said. The remains of Staff Sgt. Stephen J. “Johnny” Fatur, which were recovered from a crash site in Poland,...
Norwin area: Bataan Memorial March, art workshops, Sage’s Army anniversary, more
Bataan Memorial March The Norwin Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps will hold its 14th annual, 14-mile Bataan Memorial March along the Westmoreland Heritage Trail on April 25. The race begins at 9 a.m. at the B-Y Park trailhead in Trafford, with a rest and water station 7 miles...
6 hurt in crash in Downtown Pittsburgh
Six people were injured early Sunday morning when a vehicle crashed near The Pennsylvanian apartment building in Downtown Pittsburgh, Tribune-Review news partner WTAE reported. The incident started with a traffic stop in Wilkinsburg, a Pittsburgh police spokeswoman said. The crash, at the East Busway entrance near the Pennsylvanian, happened just...
2 injured in Rivers Casino garage crash
Two people were injured early Sunday morning when a vehicle crashed into Rivers Casino from the fourth floor of the adjacent parking garage, Pittsburgh police said. At the casino at Pittsburgh’s North Shore, a vehicle crashed through the glass doors by the elevator at about 4 a.m., injuring a man...
Woman shot Sunday morning in Mt. Lebanon
A woman was shot in Mt. Lebanon early Sunday morning, Allegheny County Police said. She has been hospitalized in stable condition. The woman was reported shot in the 200 block of Whitmore Street at about 7:15 a.m., county police said. Allegheny County Police were assisting Mt. Lebanon police in the...

