Joe Napsha stories, Page 33

Irwin seeks money for sign improvements, paving Irwin Borough’s informational sign along Pennsylvania Avenue near the Irwin Park entrance is being targeted for improvements, funded by the borough’s anticipated allocation from its 2024 Community Development Block Grant. Council could earmark $122,500 to upgrade the sign so that it can display...

Many Pennsylvania towns have summer festivals that serve as a community gathering and homecoming for native sons and daughters. None of them is quite like Kecksburg’s. The tiny Mt. Pleasant Township village will have its 18th annual celebration — the Kecksburg UFO Festival — Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There will...

Owners of rental properties in North Huntingdon could be required to register their buildings if the township approves an ordinance that would create a list of those rental units and contact information for the tenants. North Huntingdon commissioners on Wednesday are expected to consider drafting an ordinance that would detail...

A North Huntingdon police officer will receive about $276,000 in a settlement over the racial discrimination lawsuit he filed last year against the township and a former manager. Patrolman Albert P. Carson II will receive the payment from the negotiated out of court settlement of the lawsuit. He filed the...

The search for unmarked graves at a 239-year-old cemetery in North Huntingdon has found about 65 “voids” in the ground that could be unmarked graves from decades or centuries ago. “I am doing this to find those unmarked burial sites because I don’t want anyone to be forgotten. There are...

Pietro Manno was overcome with emotion Monday during an EMS Memorial Service as he took identification tags engraved with the name of his son, Fred Manno. The North Huntingdon EMS/Rescue paramedic died almost a year ago after suffering a cardiac arrest while tending to a patient. Pietro Manno of Penn...

Western Pennsylvania could see some severe thunderstorms heading into Saturday afternoon and evening, but the potential for serious storms should dissipate by Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Timothy Cermak said the region can expect “low end strong to severe thunderstorm potential” in the late afternoon Saturday, he...

The Westmoreland Cultural Trust has named the operations and programming director for The Palace Theatre in Greensburg as its interim chief executive. Teresa Baughman, who has worked for the Trust since 1995, will lead the Trust in the role as interim CEO, in the wake of its former CEO leaving...

A one-year-old child was hospitalized in critical condition Thursday afternoon after almost drowning in Etna, Allegheny County Police said. First responders performed life-saving measures on the child, who was reported unresponsive at about 3:40 p.m. in the 30 block of Sycamore Street, police said. The preliminary information suggests the child...

North Huntingdon police located a 16-year-old autistic boy who had been reported missing late Wednesday night. Authorities were looking for the boy who was missing from the Ridge Road area of the township. They reported in an alert after midnight that the child had been found....

One of two women shot in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood Wednesday night has died, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Darkale Bonner, 35, died at a hospital just before 8:30 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said. The office said Bonner died from a gunshot wound to the head...

A Greensburg firefighter whose home was damaged by fire Wednesday night received hugs of support from his fellow firefighters and first responders as he sat on his neighbor’s front porch steps and watced his colleague’s efforts to extinguish any hot spots. Greensburg Fire Chief Tom Bell said the home of...

A North Huntingdon church with a mission to help international families adjust to life in Westmoreland County treated some of those families to an experience as American as a slice of apple pie. Calvary Church took three immigrant families out to the ballgame at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on June...

The Catholic Diocese of Greensburg has launched an initiative to help refugees from war-torn Ukraine by offering some of them the opportunity to settle in Westmoreland County. “It is an important part of the church’s mandate” to help those in need, said Bishop Larry J. Kulick. The diocese is planning...

Irwin church to offer meal to veterans Military veterans will be able to get a free meal of Italian roast beef, vegetables, a dessert and beverage at 3 p.m. July 15 at First Presbyterian Church of Irwin at 617 Main St. To make reservations, call 724-863-5910, ext. 113. Norwin library...

Two more individuals are suing Westmoreland County, claiming they were injured while riding the rebuilt Giant Slide in Mt. Pleasant Township’s Mammoth Park. Danielle Hunter-Campbell of Mt. Pleasant Township claims she dislocated and fractured her left ankle on Feb. 9; and Christina Savisky of Youngwood says she fractured her right...

Irwin Park renovations slated People using Irwin Park this summer will see improvements this summer as a result of a $362,746 project. Irwin Borough Council recently awarded a contract to Dunn Rite Construction of Forest Hills for the work to pave both parking lots at the park and improve the...

A proposed natural gas-fueled power plant a few miles north of West Newton would pump more pollution into a region that already has poor air quality, environmentalists and activists said at a community meeting this week. More than 100 people attended the meeting organized by the Environmental Health Project of...

Nearly 30 people were injured when a summer camp bus veered off Route 711 in Fayette County and landed in a field early Wednesday, according to state police. Troopers and first responders were called to the intersection of Pine Slopes Road and Indian Creek Valley Road (Route 711) in Saltlick...

A fire in a Pittsburgh house last week may have been caused by lithium-ion batteries that ignited while being charged in a solar-powered, after-market charging system, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire said Tuesday. Firefighters responded to a one-alarm fire on June 23 inside a bedroom at a home along the...

Quick action by a Derry Township farmer Tuesday morning saved a Quonset hut where fire had started in the storage area that held bales of hay, a fire official said. The fire at the Eaglehouse family farm on McCullough Road ruined the round hay bales, but the farmer was able...

A Pittsburgh woman and a Detroit man have been accused of defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration and at least two lenders of about $14 millions by obtaining fake loans for hundreds of companies from a program designed to help business recover from the covid-related financial losses, the U.S. Attorney...

Residents in communities along the Youghiogheny River in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties are expected to air concerns Tuesday during a meeting in West Newton about the potential environmental impact of a proposed natural gas-fueled power plant to be built in Elizabeth Township. The meeting, planned for 7 p.m. at the...

Bear Peak Power received preliminary approval from North Huntingdon commissioners this week to build a lithium-ion battery farm. The Denver renewable energy company plans to build a battery energy storage system off Route 993 on a four-acre parcel between the Western Westmoreland Municipal Authority’s sewage plant and Ridinger Park Road....

A former Norwin administrator has been hired as the chief operating officer for a non-profit that operates employment, education and training programs in Westmoreland and Fayette counties Thomas Wrobleski, a former human resources director for Norwin, was hired recently as the COO for the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette Inc.,...