Joe Napsha stories, Page 84
Boosters donation funds new Norwin baseball scoreboard
Two years in the making, Norwin is getting a new scoreboard for its high school baseball field. Like so many things over the past 12 months, plans to install a new scoreboard at the high school field were postponed because of covid, said Ronald Awenowicz, president of the Norwin Baseball...
Norwin-area happenings, March 25, 2021, and beyond
Irwin Scouts planning mulch sale Boy Scout Troop 284 of Irwin is holding a spring mulch sale. Black, brown and red mulch is available. Orders can be placed online at www.Troop284Irwin.com or mailed with payment to Boy Scout Troop 284, 1670 Craig Drive, North Huntingdon, PA 15642. A Orders must...
North Huntingdon OKs plans for Kenny Ross Mazda dealership move
North Huntingdon officials have approved site plans for a new Kenny Ross Mazda dealership along Route 30 that will be built adjacent to Kenny Ross Subaru. Township commissioners also approved plans to consolidate two parcels on the site, which previously was a nursing home, across an alley from the existing...
Westmoreland water authority offers site for mass vaccine, but no takers
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is offering its warehouse in New Stanton as a site for covid-19 vaccinations. The site is close to a Pennsylvania Turnpike exit and has plenty of parking. The only problem is that the large providers — UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, Giant Eagle and others...
Irwin sponsors Easter Egg hunt
Irwin will hold an Easter Egg hunt from March 22 to 26 that will give children ages two to 12 from Irwin, North Huntingdon and North Irwin the opportunity to win prizes. Borough office employees will hide the plastic eggs along Main, Third, Fourth and Fifth streets and Irwin Park...
Norwin students criticize return to full-time in-school instructionVideo
Norwin’s plan to have students return to school five days a week beginning Friday was panned by eight high school students Monday, who claimed they are being made to choose between their health and their education. The students say social distancing is not possible in the high school, and not...
North Huntingdon-Irwin area covid cases drop again as of March 15, 2021
The rate of new coronavirus cases in the North Huntingdon-Irwin-North Irwin area again fell during the past week, with state Department of Health reporting Monday there were only 32 new cases during the second full week of March. In the four ZIP codes covering North Huntingdon, Irwin, North Irwin, Westmoreland...
Lamp Theatre pavilion completion delayed
The delay in finishing the outdoor pavilion at The Lamp Theatre in downtown Irwin can be blamed on a familiar problem: a supply chain disruption caused by the covid pandemic. “Covid has held us back. We’re waiting for a lot of materials,” said John Gdula, president of The Lamp Theatre...
Life during covid: North Huntingdon home health care supervisor writes fiction novel to escape stressVideo
Editor’s note: This is an occasional series examining how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of members of our community. Since the onset of covid-19, there’s been no such thing as a routine home health care visit. Although the spread of coronavirus has slowed in the region, a North...
Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Yough plan graduations for their normal days
Unlike last year, when some high school graduations were pushed back to the summer, seniors at Penn-Trafford, Norwin and Yough will be among those who will graduate at the end of the regular school year. Penn-Trafford is planning to hold its commencement on Thursday, May 27, and Norwin seniors will...
Medical marijuana dispensary opens in IrwinVideo
For Raymond Myers of Irwin, the opening of a new medical marijuana dispensary in the borough is a blessing, a place he can walk to get medication for his anxiety, depression and back pain. “The medical marijuana has really helped me. I use wax and (marijuana) flower. This (Irwin site)...
Sewickley Township mobile home destroyed by explosion, no injuries reported
A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause of an explosion that destroyed a mobile home near Sutersville on Thursday night, a Sewickley Township fire official said. The man who lived at the mobile home on Sutersville Road, in the village of Gratztown along the Youghiogheny River, was not...
Norwin-area happenings, March 18, 2021, and beyond
Norwin library to feature author on women in WW II The Norwin Public Library is sponsoring a virtual program at 6 p.m. March 22 about women who were involved in the military during World War II. Author Kayleen Reusser, who has interviewed about 250 men and women while writing seven...
Norwin-area charges filed, March 11, 2021
Charges filed with North Huntingdon District Judge Wayne Gongaware. All individuals have the right to a preliminary hearing and are innocent until proven guilty before a judge in the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas. • Devon W. Anderson, 30, of Jeannette, by North Huntingdon police with receiving advancement payment...
Irwin OKs buying 75 refurbished meters; sets rates at 25 cents for half-hour
Irwin officials took steps this week to standardize parking rates in the borough at 25 cents for 30 minutes. It’s part of an ongoing process that will start with buying 75 refurbished digital parking meters that will replace mechanical ones. Council on Wednesday unanimously approved the standardized rate. It will...
New fed relief plan saves aid for 925,000 Pennsylvanians, state says
Congress extended a lifeline to about 925,000 Pennsylvanians who get federal unemployment benefits by giving final approval Wednesday to a $1.9 trillion covid relief package. The House on Wednesday passed the American Rescue Plan, after the Senate approved its own version of the controversial stimulus bill on March 6. President...
Irwin ponders upgrading parking meters — old ones give away time for too little money
Irwin officials have found that too many of the borough’s old parking meters have problems that make drivers happy — meters that give away more time than drivers pay for and rates so low that plinking a nickel into a meter gives the motorist 30 minutes of parking. The borough...
AHN, Highmark Health outfit first responders with more personal protective gearVideo
For about a dozen ambulance services that received free boxes of personal protective equipment Tuesday during a distribution of masks, gowns and face shields at AHN Hempfield Neighborhood Hospital, the initiative was a lifesaver — literally and financially, recipients said. “This will really help out. (PPE is) in really short...
Norwin official vows not to raise school taxes
Property owners in the Norwin School District will not have to pay more in school taxes in the 2021-2022 school year for the first time since 2011, Norwin’s top official promised. In promoting a commitment of doing more with less, Superintendent Jeff Taylor told the school board Monday there will...
Norwin outlines plans for 5 days of in-person classes per week
For the first time this school year, all Norwin students will have the option of returning to class five days a week, beginning March 19, officials said. Bringing students back to class for five days of instruction “is something that’s been very important to our students and our community members,”...
North Huntingdon-Irwin area covid cases continue decline for the week of March 1, 2021
The number of new coronavirus cases in the North Huntingdon-Irwin-North Irwin area continued to decline during the first full week of March, with only 41 new confirmed cases from March 1 to 8, according to data the state Department of Health released on Monday. The four ZIP codes covering North...
Norwin officials to discuss in-school options for instruction
Norwin school officials are planning to discuss options for more in-person instruction during a school board meeting set for 6:30 p.m. Monday. Superintendent Jeff Taylor is expected to address plans for students in grades five through 11 to have the option of returning to school for four days of in-person...
Westmoreland County gets $12.9 million for emergency rental aid for needy
Westmoreland County residents who are behind on their rent and facing possible eviction or unable to pay huge heating bills and fearing a utility shutoff can seek help through a $12.9 million federally funded program for emergency rental aid. “We’re seeing an increase in demand for rental assistance across the...
Penn Township man jailed after 19-hour standoff
A Penn Township man peacefully surrendered to police Thursday after a state police special response team took action to end a standoff that began a night earlier, authorities said. James Kassimatis, 51, came out of his Center Street house in Harrison City around 2 p.m., township police Chief John Otto...
Irwin cans longtime engineering firm; council at odds over whether move saves money
Irwin switched engineering firms, dumping its longtime engineer in favor of a Latrobe firm. With no public debate on the issue or explanation for its decision, borough council voted 5-2 this week to immediately terminate Bove Engineering Co. of Hempfield and hire Gibson-Thomas Engineering Co. Council members Rick Burdelski, Leslie...
