Joe Napsha stories, Page 53

Elise Glad of Uniontown, a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Laurel Region, was hanging out with her “Little” on Sunday. They were enjoying all the activities at the organization’s Summer Fest event, which drew hundreds of people on a beautiful, sunny day to Twin Lakes Park...

All five Westmoreland County Special Olympics basketball teams brought home either gold, silver or bronze medals this past weekend in the state’s Special Olympics competition at Penn State University. “Every one of our teams — three five-on-five (teams) and two three-on-three — won medals,” said Anthony Monstrola of Greensburg, coordinator...

A second suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of an 18-month-old in downtown Pittsburgh over Memorial Day weekend, Pittsburgh police said Sunday. The suspect, Markez Anger, 23, was arrested in Turtle Creek in connection with the May 29 drive-by shooting of De’Avery Thomas, police said. Anger was taken...

A Clairton man was killed early Sunday morning when he was hit by a vehicle while walking along the Parkway East in Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner reported. The victim, Zaonte Lonee Davis, 24, was hit by a vehicle at about 2:10 a.m. in the westbound lanes of the...

Two men were shot multiple times in Homestead late Saturday night, Allegheny County police said. One of the men was reported hospitalized in critical condition, while the other was in stable condition, as a result of the shooting that was reported at about 9:30 p.m. in the 300 block of...

A man and a woman were wounded late Saturday night in a shooting outside a business in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, Pittsburgh police said. The victims were shot while they were in a crowd entering the Victory Banquet in the 800 block of Bennett Street shortly after 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police...

Two men who were shot in an apparent exchange of gunfire on Pittsburgh’s South Side early Sunday morning are in critical condition in a hospital, Pittsburgh police said. The men were found with gunshot wounds at the corner of South 15th Street and East Carson Street around 2:30 a.m., police...

Rodeo fans packed the stands at the Westmoreland Mall parking lot in Hempfield on Saturday to watch riders try to stay atop bulls for more than a few seconds and riders steer their horses around a barrel course at Live! Casino’s Pro Bulls & Barrels & Concert. Among a few...

Like so many others at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Westmoreland County on Saturday, Carly Bishop of Hempfield was walking around a path at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in memory of a loved one who died from cancer or in honor of a cancer survivor....

Homicide and related charges were dismissed against a Churchill man accused in the shooting death of a woman traveling along the Parkway East in Churchill last year, according to court documents. The charges filed against Leroy Eugene Irvin Jr., 35, in the death of Jasmine A. Guest, 24, of Monroeville...

Two men died Friday afternoon in an apparent murder-suicide, according to state police at Uniontown. The victims were identified as Brian Coll, 55, who was found about 3 p.m. with multiple gunshot wounds at the scene of the shooting along Atlas Road, and Craig Rishel, who was found later in...

Pittsburgh police said a man ducked into a South Side restaurant early Saturday morning after after being shot. The victim, who was not identified, told police he was struck in the leg by a stray bullet around 4 a.m. He ran into Cambod-Ican Kitchen at 1701 E. Carson St., to...

When George Reccelle was growing up in McKeesport in the 1950s, he listened to legendary Pittsburgh disc jockey George “Porky” Chedwick on the Homestead radio station WAMO and fell in love with the music he heard. “He played mostly African-American music on WAMO. He was a groundbreaker for playing that...

A former teacher at Aquinas Academy in Greensburg claimed in a federal lawsuit Wednesday he was fired from his job last year because he is in a same-sex relationship. Kenneth Ference of Unity alleged in his lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg that Maureen Marsteller, the diocese’s superintendent...

Irwin officials were told this week it could cost about $800,000 — money the borough does not have — to repair a section of a road connecting the site of a proposed senior citizen housing project with Route 30. Gibson-Thomas Engineering of Latrobe, the borough’s engineer, prepared the estimate for...

The Pittsburgh area economy added about 19,000 nonfarm jobs in April, a bright spot in a seven-county marketplace that has added 173,000 jobs during the past two years, but remains about 52,000 jobs shy of its pre-pandemic levels , according to state data. “This shows weakness in the market,” said...

This Memorial Day will be special for a Derry Township woman, whose hours of research and diligence digging into family history and dealing with the Veterans Administration paid off this spring when a headstone was placed at the grave of her Civil War ancestor, more than a century after he...

New Stanton Borough will host its third annual fireworks over New Stanton beginning at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Schaefer Fireworks of Ronks, Lancaster County, will produce the fireworks display. In the case of rain, the fireworks will be rescheduled for Sunday....

A pilot suffered life-threatening injuries Friday night when his plane crashed into a wooded area of Elizabeth Township, about a half-mile from Rostraver Airport, township officials said. The pilot, whose name was not released, was pulled from the wreckage of his single-engine Aeronca 7 Champion plane that crashed shortly before...

The University of Pittsburgh and Penn State are requiring people on campus to wear masks when they are indoors at campuses in certain counties. The move comes as a result of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designating those counties as having a high level of covid-19 transmission. The...

Norwin school board members continued the debate this week about how to cover a $3 million 2022-23 budget shortfall without raising taxes. The district may eliminate full-day kindergarten classes and six teaching positions, including five at the elementary level, to cuts costs. Five proposed new teaching positions, and a proposed...

State environmental regulators will receive input Wednesday from Donegal area residents who may be affected by the expansion of a coal mine along the Westmoreland-Fayette border. The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a virtual informal conference at 6 p.m. May 25 on a request from LCT Energy LP to...

Irwin officials hired full-time and part-time police officers to replace two members of the force who recently resigned. Council hired Stephen Novotnak of North Huntingdon as a full-time officer. Previously a part-time officer, he will be paid the starting patrolman’s rate of $25.62 per hour, plus benefits afforded in the...

Runners will have a chance to compete in a 3.1-mile race at the Bushy Run Battlefield along Route 993 in Penn Township on June 18 and raise awareness of human trafficking, sexual abuse and assault, and homelessness in the region. Those participating in the race, Colors for a Cause, will...

The Westmoreland County Housing Authority cleared another hurdle this week toward building a 50-unit, four-story apartment building in Irwin for low-income senior citizens by winning North Huntingdon’s approval of plans for a 1,300-foot roadway to connect the complex to a township road. Despite strong and impassioned opposition from several residents...