Joe Napsha stories, Page 56

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...

North Huntingdon officials this week narrowly approved permits for two residents to keep chickens, with a warning from one council member that it could open the floodgates for more backyard hens. By 4-3 votes, the commissioners approved permits for Megan Javor of Lancelot Drive and Sarah Helzlsouer of Adams Drive...

Penn-Trafford football coach John Ruane, whose 2021 team won the WPIAL and PIAA championships, received 90 copies of “A Noble Knight/Dan Priatko’s Story of Faith and Courage” to distribute to players. The inspirational book details the life of North Huntingdon resident Priatko, a 1984 U.S. Military Academy graduate who was...

Penn-Trafford football coach John Ruane, whose 2021 team won the WPIAL and PIAA championships, received 90 copies of “A Noble Knight/Dan Priatko’s Story of Faith and Courage” to distribute to players. The inspirational book details the life of North Huntingdon resident Priatko, a 1984 U.S. Military Academy graduate who was...

Irwin plans Memorial Day parade Retired Army Col. Kenneth Gongaware, a Norwin High School graduate, will be the keynote speaker at the Memorial Day observance at Union Cemetery in Irwin on May 30. Prior to the observance, a parade will proceed from Main Street in downtown Irwin at 10 a.m....

Community group Protect PT will host a May 26 meeting at 6:30 p.m. to host a discussion about gas well development in the Level Green area. It will take place at the group’s new Community Environmental Education Center, 3344 Route 130, Suite B in Penn Township, and will include Protect...

Norwin School Board members have yet to reach a consensus on how they will deal with a projected $4.1 million shortfall in the district’s proposed 2022-23 budget. Board members and residents this week debated whether the district should increase taxes, dip into its reserves or make spending cuts to balance...

The poetry anthology of Amanda Gorman will be discussed by a local NAACP official, a college professor and three young adults at 6:30 p.m. May 25 at the Greensburg YWCA, 424 N. Main St. The panel discussion of “Call Us What We Carry” will feature Ruth Tolbert, president of the...

The Level Green Lions spring cleanup event, postponed last week because of rain, will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday in the Penn Township community. Registration will be from 8:30 to 9 a.m. at the Level Green Community Building, Murrysville Road. Roadside cleanup sites will be assigned at...

The latest chapter in whether North Huntingdon residents are permitted to raise chickens could end next week. Commissioners are likely to vote on a request from Megan Jovar of Lancelot Drive for a conditional-use permit to keep the seven hens she has in her backyard and a request from Sarah...

A Bethel Park police officer was injured Friday night when he was hit by a vehicle and the driver is in custody, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. Bethel Park Chief Timothy O’Connor told WPXI that the officer was hit by a hit-and-run driver at the intersection of Broughton Road...

A Coraopolis man was killed Friday in a crash in Moon Township, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. The victim, George McMahon, 59, was injured in the incident along the 500 block of Flaugherty Run Road at about 12:45 p.m., the medical examiner said. He was taken to Heritage...

Pittsburgh Public Schools said Thursday that all students, staff and visitors to some of its buildings will be required to wear masks for the next seven to 10 days because of a covid outbreak. Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts Magnet School in Downtown and the Colfax School in Squirrel Hill...

Norwin school officials this week debated how to address a possible $4.1 million deficit in the district’s budget for the upcoming school year, prompting a discussion over staffing and possible cuts to avoid raising taxes a maximum of 4.4%. Expenditures are projected to be about $83.5 million for the 2022-23...

Patsy Cline music featured at meetings for seniors Singer Cathi Rhodes will perform as country singer Patsy Cline at these upcoming meetings held at the Community United Methodist Church, 3487 Route 130, Harrison City: • Penn Township Senior Citizens, 1 p.m., May 25. Lunch is $6; dues are $2. Masks...

Brandon Thomas of Hempfield, who has dealt with bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders and depression for two decades, said it is important for those facing mental health issues not to give up and not to think they are a bad person for what they might have done. “Bad decisions don’t...

A memorial softball tournament for a Jefferson Hills police officer who was killed in 2020 crash involving a drunk driver will be held Sunday at the John DiVirgilio Sports Complex off Municipal Road in Rostraver. The second annual Dale Provins Memorial Softball Tournament is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m....

A woman who kept six chickens in the backyard of her Elizabeth Township home before moving to North Huntingdon last month got a recommendation Monday from North Huntingdon’s planning commission that she can keep the chickens at her new home. The planning commission unanimously recommended that Sarah Helzlsouer of 12120...

As she walked around the Greensburg Garden Center’s May Mart sale in an almost steady downpour Friday, Elizabeth Pesci of Hempfield was undeterred by the rain from above or the mud around her feet. “Rain doesn’t bother gardeners. We are used to it,” said Pesci, one of organizers of the...

West Penn Power Co. plans to spend about $47 million to trim trees that could impact power lines and other measures to control vegetation in Allegheny, Armstrong, Fayette, Westmoreland and 14 other counties in the state. “We trim and remove trees to help minimize power outages, particularly during severe weather,”...

Dinner to benefit Hartford Heights firefighter A May 15 spaghetti dinner will benefit a longtime North Huntingdon police officer, township commissioner and firefighter who is battling cancer. The Duane Kucera Medical Fund dinner will be from noon to 6 p.m. at the Hartford Heights VFD, 14335 Route 30 in North...

Penn-Trafford students earn $10K video prize Penn-Trafford High School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions club was awarded $10,000 for its public service announcement video on the issue of distracted driving. Penn-Trafford won second place among 38 Pennsylvania schools for its “Drive Distracted Free” video in the Pennsylvania Just Drive Public Service...