Joe Napsha stories, Page 36

An Irwin woman is accused of attempting to bring a loaded handgun in her carry-on bag early Wednesday at Pittsburgh International Airport, the Transportation Security Administration said. The woman, who wasn’t identified, was stopped by an officer who had spotted the gun in the checkpoint X-ray machine, the TSA said....

Some Norwin School Board members ripped a budget proposal Monday that would cut nine teaching positions, scrap plans to fill five proposed ones and eliminate two administrative jobs in the 2023-24 school year to help balance the 2023-24 budget without raising property taxes. “We’re hurting the reason we are up...

The Westmoreland County Housing Authority will soon be able to gauge interest from seniors who want to live in the 50-unit apartment building set to open in Irwin next year. Senior citizens age 62 and older will have the opportunity to learn about living in Grand View Senior Residences, a...

North Huntingdon has hired a consulting engineer to develop a master plan of recommended improvements to the township’s 127-acre Oak Hollow Park. KU Resources Inc. of Duquesne was directed to develop a site plan to outline what would be appropriate development for what township leaders consider the community’s flagship park....

Dog owners may soon be able to walk their pets around Indian Lake Park in North Huntingdon year-round, if the township commissioners lift the limits on pet owners exercising their pooches in the park just between November and February. Township commissioners paved the way to eliminate rules that prohibited leashed...

The importance of school-based training for a career in the trades was hammered home to state education officials Friday during a tour of the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Stanton, where they saw students of today preparing for jobs in the workforce a few years from now....

Pittsburgh police said Thursday they are seeking the public’s assistance in finding a 16-year-old girl who has been missing for two months. The department’s special victims unit detectives said they are seeking Haley Eadie, who ran away from school on Feb. 27. Eadie may be on the North Side, West...

Church to bless bikes, hold car cruise St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish at 200 Leger Road, North Huntingdon, will hold its annual Blessing of the Bikes and Car Cruise on June 25. Food trucks, raffles, prizes and a Best of Show award will be part of the car cruise that...

Angela Long hopes to become a teacher one day, perhaps at her alma mater. The 18-year-old senior at Hempfield Area High School plans to study early childhood education at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg. She’ll do so without tuition debt. Long was one of two Westmoreland County high school students awarded...

A former head of North Huntingdon’s emergency management operations has been tapped to lead Mutual Aid Ambulance Service Inc., Westmoreland County’s largest ambulance service. Gene Komondor of North Huntingdon, who was the township’s emergency management coordinator from 2007 to October 2020 and had operated an ambulance service, started his new...

An architectural firm has been hired by Irwin to design plans for the borough building and possible renovations to the 112-year-old structure on Main Street. Ulery Architecture LLC of Unity was hired to create the architectural plans for the borough building at 424 Main St., because Irwin does not have...

Norwin School District officials are looking to cut costs to close a projected $8 million deficit in its 2023-2024 budget. The school board adopted a preliminary budget that projects revenues for the upcoming school year at about $81 million, but with $89 million in proposed expenditures. The board approved the...

Food drive slated A Penn Township staffing agency is conducting a snack food drive until May 5 for a North Huntingdon non-profit that helps make birthday wishes come true for children of families in need or who are homeless. Express Employment Professionals at 4012 Route 130, Harrison City, is collecting...

Comedy show fundraiser slated The “Comedy for a Cause” event to benefit the Myasthenia Gravis Association of Western Pennsylvania will be held at 7 p.m. April 29 at Elements, 3000 Commerce Loop, North Huntingdon. It will include comedians Teresa Logan and Phil Hughes, who will be providing the entertainment. The...

The iconic Homer City coal-fired power plant, with its four tall smokestacks and three cooling towers north of Route 22 in Indiana County, will be shutting down over the next three months. Two other coal-fired power plants in Indiana and Armstrong counties could be following the same closure path in...

The North Huntingdon Police Department hopes to provide an educational program in Norwin’s elementary, middle and high schools beginning this fall. The effort — funded by money from Westmoreland County’s opioid settlement — would be aimed at preventing substance abuse by students. Chief Robert Rizzo proposed to the North Huntingdon...

Angela Merendino was a graphic designer for Kennametal in Unity, operated a freelance business on the side and was an adjunct professor at Seton Hill University in Greensburg. She wanted something different. “I just wanted to create a business that was steeped in health,” Merendino said. That desire was spurred...

A team of three Norwin High School students won a PennDOT regional contest after designing a solution to the lack of parking for commercial trucks along interstate corridors. The proposal from Nicholas Cormas, Gabriel Conboy, and Caden Hoffman was selected as the regional winner for schools in Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington...

Area police to participate in medication take back program North Huntingdon police will join departments in Murrysville and Penn Township in participating in the national Prescription Medication Take Back Day Program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 22. North Huntingdon police will accept the unneeded and outdated medications —...

A North Huntingdon restaurant and brewery are teaming up to provide tacos and a salsa bar and alcohol at an ABBA Disco Party fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Hearth women’s services in Pittsburgh from 7 to 11 p.m. April 15 at the Elements Event Center,...

A Greensburg-area man who is a regular lottery ticket buyer thought he was lucky when he learned he had bought a winning Mega Millions Pennsylvania Lottery ticket Friday — but not as lucky as he turned out to be. “He did not know he had won” $1 million when he...

An effort to make immigrants welcome in the Norwin community where they are a distinct minority is being launched by a North Huntingdon church. “We want them to see what’s best about this community. We want them to stay here and raise their families here,” said Pastor Nick Poole, lead...

North Huntingdon and Mt. Pleasant Township officials celebrated the 250th anniversary of the founding of their municipalities Thursday with speeches on their history, colonial reenactors, an Abraham Lincoln portrayer, a commemorative coin and a new municipal flag. Huntingdon Township was founded when Westmoreland County was founded 250 years ago on...

Norwin ROTC unit sponsors Bataan Memorial March fundraiser The Norwin Air Force Junior ROTC unit is sponsoring the Bataan Memorial March along the Westmoreland Heritage Trail at 9 a.m. April 29. The march for runners and walkers begins at the trailhead near Trafford’s B-Y Park. Registration begins at 8 a.m....

Norwin-area residents told local and county officials improvements are needed to routes 30 and 130 to ease traffic congestion and improve safety. About 20 residents attended a meeting this week organized by Irwin Councilman Tyler Baum, who said he views the communities as being connected through the transportation routes. “Our...