Joe Napsha stories, Page 97
State takes $300 weekly jobless aid from feds; wants $600 checks restored
The state is accepting half a loaf in terms of federal stimulus aid for certain unemployed people because it’s better than getting nothing at all, saying it will apply for the $300 weekly checks that have replaced the $600-a-week benefits that were cut off at the end of July. It...
Motorcyclist hurt in Route 66 crash in Washington Township
A motorcyclist was injured late Friday night in a crash along Route 66 near the intersection of Route 356 in Washington Township, the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety said. Emergency responders set up a landing zone for a medical helicopter shortly after the accident was reported at 11:10 p.m....
2 motorcycles crash in South Huntingdon
Two motorcyclists crashed along Mt. Pleasant Road in South Huntingdon on Friday night, according to a Westmoreland County Public Safety supervisor. Turkeytown firefighters responded the crash, which was reported at about 8:10 p.m. Additional details were not immediately available....
Car overturns on Route 356 in Allegheny Township
A motorist was trapped in a vehicle that went over a guardrail and overturned off Route 356 in Allegheny Township on Friday night, according to dispatches from Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety. Emergency responders were at the scene around 7:45 p.m. and were cutting brush around the vehicle to...
Passavant Memorial Homes extends extra pay when state rejects bid for aid
Despite not receiving state aid for hazard pay for frontline workers, a McCandless-based nonprofit will give its employees at 140 community group homes across the region an extra $3 an hour until late October — an initiative that will cost the company about $2 million. Passavant Memorial Homes Family of...
Irwin restaurant opens amid pandemic; state restrictions hurt eateriesVideo
Candy Zambo says it was just her luck that she tried to open a restaurant in downtown Irwin in midst of a pandemic. “I’ve wanted to do this. I’ve always loved the restaurant industry,” Zambo said, undeterred by the circumstances surrounding the opening of Candy’s Corner Cafe at 435 Main...
I-79 traffic patterns switching in South Fayette
Motorists traveling along Interstate 79 in South Fayette in southern Allegheny County and in Cecil Township in northern Washington County will experience a shift in lanes beginning Thursday night, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said. Construction crews will begin shifting the traffic lanes at 8 p.m. Thursday and expect to be...
State hands out $50 million for $3/hour raises for frontline workers
Pennsylvania’s process for determining which companies with frontline workers in the battle against covid-19 will be reimbursed for hiking their workers’ wages by up to $3 an hour through late October has left some health care companies wondering how the decisions were made. “There’s not really a rhyme nor reason”...
Turnpike to close Beaver Valley to Cranberry section for bridge work early Sunday
The Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed between the Beaver Valley and Cranberry interchanges early Sunday so that crews can remove the bridge structures for the new Freedom Road Bridge spanning the toll road at milepost 28 in Butler County. The turnpike will be closed in both directions between the Cranberry...
Stewartsville Lions Club to sell barbecue chicken
The Stewartsville Lions Club will hold a chicken barbecue sale beginning at 11 a.m. Aug. 30 at the Holiday Travel parking lot, Route 30, across from Norwin Town Square in North Huntingdon. Due to social distancing guidelines, meal orders will be taken from the customers, who will remain in their...
Race for Grace to hold golf outing at The Madison Club
The Race for Grace Foundation, which raises money to fight childhood cancer, is holding a golf outing on Sept. 12 at The Madison Club, Yukon Road, Madison. Based in North Huntingdon, the foundation is named in memory of Grace Ekis, the daughter of Brian and Tamara Ekis. She was 5...
Norwin schools estimated repair tab: $15M – $17M
Norwin officials were told this week that — based on a master facilities study — between $15.4 million and $17 million is needed in the immediate future for repairs to the district’s buildings, stadium and pavement. All of Norwin’s four elementary schools, along with the intermediate, middle and high schools,...
Greensburg’s Lynch mansion, with 38 rooms and carriage house, on market for $900KVideo
A historic three-story brick Greensburg mansion built by an associate of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, replete with seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms, parlor room and a brick carriage house, is on the market for a mere $895,000. The 38-room, 6,000-square-foot stately manor was built for Thomas Lynch between 1905 and 1907...
Norwin hires new athletic director in 5-4 vote
Norwin hired an athletic director Monday who was Greensburg Salem’s athletic director the past 20 months and previously was an assistant athletic director at Norwin. Mike Burrell Jr. was hired by the school board on a 5-4 vote at a pro-rated school year salary of $84,000. Burrell’s first day on...
Virtual teaching: Be improvisational, engage students, experts say
As teachers get ready to return to a school format in which many will have to do virtual instruction, area experts in online teaching offer some advice. Connect with students, offer rigorous instruction, be a bit improvisational and refrain from simply providing students at home with the same lesson as...
Race for Grace in North Huntingdon goes virtual
North Huntingdon’s popular Race for Grace, which raises money to battle childhood cancer, will be a virtual event this year. The race is usually run at the Norwin junior and senior high school complex in April. This year, it will be held Oct. 3. Runners and walkers can participate in...
Irwin seeks money for park trail
People who like to walk or jog on the path around Irwin Park may soon be on a better path to fitness. Irwin council authorized Lucien Bove, its engineer, to apply to Westmoreland County for about $138,000 to resurface and reconstruct the walking path around the park off the intersection...
3 drug dealers tied to the SCO gang get federal prison sentences
An “ SCO” drug-dealing gang member and two associates, all of whom authorities said were dealing drugs in the Pittsburgh area last year, will spend five years to eight years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania announced Thursday. Michael Rose, 28, formerly of Pittsburgh, was sentenced to...
Battle over backyard chickens resumes in North Huntingdon
North Huntingdon officials this week once again clashed over how to regulate backyard chickens in a prelude to a future public hearing on a proposed ordinance that will set parameters on how hens can be raised in a residential neighborhood. Commissioners on Thursday expressed conflicting opinions on what they wanted...
Location of time capsule buried in a North Huntingdon school courtyard remains a mysteryVideo
The location of a time capsule buried 31 years ago in a former Norwin elementary school courtyard remains as much a mystery today as the contents sealed inside it, despite a couple of hours of digging into the solid earth and using a metal detector to try to find it....
Lamp Theatre remains dark as 3 workers cut
Hurt by the cancellation of shows since mid-March because of the covid-19 shutdowns, coupled with a public as hesitant about mingling in crowds as performers were cautious about traveling, The Lamp Theatre in Irwin has furloughed its three employees. With revenue slowed to a trickle, The Lamp Theatre decided it...
Norwin grads digging up the past
A group of Norwin High School graduates who attended the former Hartford Heights Elementary School plan on Wednesday to hunt for, and hopefully dig up, a time capsule they buried on school grounds when they were students there in the late 1980s. Keri Holton of North Huntingdon said they are...
Norwin protesters: put students in class 5 days a weekVideo
The message about 60 Norwin students and parents sent to school officials as they gathered outside the administration building Monday was loud and clear: Let students attend school five days a week and scrap plans to offer three days of online instruction. “I don’t think our district is actually listening...
Pa. leaders tell schools to be consistent but flexible in reopening plans, teaching methods
As schools prepare to resume teaching, the leaders of Pennsylvania’s health and education departments on Monday said districts should be consistent in approach but flexible in how they educate students. A spike in covid-19 cases in a county may require districts to change how they plan to teach students, said...
Dealership donation aids Norwin Meals on WheelsVideo
Norwin Meals on Wheels shut down for about six weeks this spring because of the pandemic, but money from a North Huntingdon auto dealership’s charitable program helps the organization continue to provide nutritious meals to area residents. The donation of close to $24,000 from Kenny Ross Subaru will be used...
