Megan Tomasic stories, Page 63
Community mourns drowning deaths of Uniontown children
Uniontown families and neighbors Thursday mourned the loss of two young brothers who drowned in a swimming pool a night earlier. Hunter George Smith, 3, and Hayden Lewis Smith, 1, were pulled out of the pool in the backyard of their family’s home on Whiteman Avenue around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday...
IronRock Tap House at Westmoreland Mall to open this fall
A new restaurant originally set to open this summer outside of Westmoreland Mall is now slated to open its doors in September. IronRock Tap House, originally proposed as Sedona, does not have a specific open date, said owner Greg Cammerata, but said live music will help kick off a grand...
Rock of Refuge church in Jeannette to give out free school supplies
One local church is helping students prepare for the coming school year by handing out free school supplies. Rock of Refuge Congregational Church in Jeannette is hosting its second-annual school blessing Aug. 3, when they will give out supplies to about 300 local students from preschool to 12th grade. The...
Firefighters respond to fire in Unity home
Firefighters responded to a fire in Unity Township Tuesday evening, a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher confirmed. Located at 3400 Route 982, the fire started in a garage and spread to a house. Officials at Trauger Fire Department confirmed no one was in the home at the time of the fire. Fire...
North Huntingdon woman remembered for love of knitting, family
Everybody wanted Betty Keim’s hand-knitted dish cloths, and they’re still asking for them today, her daughter Sherry Dalrymple said. “My mother made dish cloths like nobody’s business,” Dalrymple said, laughing. An avid member of a knitting club held at the Norwin Public Library each week, Mrs. Keim took pride in...
Girl Scouts add 42 badges for outdoor adventures, computer coding
New badges could soon decorate Girl Scouts vests — 42 to be exact. The badges, which center around outdoor adventures and computer coding, are a way to enhance the organization’s program while offering independent decision making scenarios to help build confidence in leadership abilities in girls in kindergarten through 12th...
Hempfield band to host first car show to raise money for London trip
Hundreds of cars soon could line the parking lot at Hempfield Area High School as members of the band work to raise money for their London trip, where they will perform in the New Year’s Day parade. On July 27, the band will host their first car show, which will...
Members of Sewickley Grange take part in tractor pullVideo
Almost 100 people gathered at the Sewickley Township Community Fair on Monday night hoping to see one thing — teams pulling a 5,000 pound tractor. “I’m expecting people to be sliding, falling on their face. … I’m expecting a lot of laughing,” said Pam DeMaglio, 60, of West Newton, who...
Police: 1 person killed in front loader crash in Somerset County
One person driving a front loader was killed Monday afternoon in Somerset County, according to state police. The one-vehicle accident occurred as the person drove along Oden Street in Confluence Borough, near the borough’s VFW, officials said. When officers arrived on scene shortly after 12:30 p.m., they determined the driver...
Greensburg man remembered for love of newspapers, passion for life
When Dante Polla was a teenager, he would talk with the neighbors about what was happening in the community, write it up, print it out and hand out his own newspaper. His passion for newspapers followed him throughout his life, no matter what career he was in, and eventually led...
Man fatally shot in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood
A man was fatally shot Thursday night in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood, police said. Officers responded around 10:30 to the 100 block of Millbridge Street, where they found the man dead on a sidewalk of gunshot wounds, public safety spokesman Chris Togneri said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office identified the...
Officials: Uniontown man found dead with dog biting at neck
Police are investigating after a Uniontown man was found dead in his home Thursday morning with his dog biting his neck, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI reported. The news station identified the man as 52-year-old Homer Utterback, who investigators say suffered from seizures. Officials believe Utterback had an episode and fell...
North Versailles police found missing 81-year-old man
A missing 81-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease was found safe late Thursday night. North Versailles police were searching for the man around 10:50 p.m. after he was reported missing a half hour earlier. The man was last seen in the 1,000 block of Clinton Street wearing a white t-shirt and...
Groups to host Greensburg vigil against refugee detention camps
Voice of Westmoreland, a nonpartisan community group that works to give everyone a voice, is hosting a candlelight vigil Friday, “to end human detention camps” on the U.S.’s southern border. Members of the group will join the community to “protest the inhumane conditions faced by refugees in our own country,”...
9 people rescued in Penn Borough after onslaught of rain
Nine people were rescued in Penn Borough on Thursday afternoon by the Penn Township Ambulance Association’s swift water rescue team. Eight adults were rescued from Style Right Industries on Cole Street after the building became surrounded by water, said Edgar Grant, director of the association. Not knowing how high the...
Calumet VFD cancels drag queen bingo after low ticket sales, warnings from churches
A popular fundraiser at the Calumet Volunteer Fire Department that could have raised almost $8,000 has been canceled, leaving officials scrambling to find funds needed to repair and replace trucks and provide training to firefighters, said department secretary Robin Obarto. The Sparkling Queens of Drag, a group that performs drag...
Sheetz offers free fries on National Fry Day
Saturday is National Fry Day and, to celebrate, Sheetz is giving away free french fries. Customers who order through the Sheetz app can also receive any size fry for free, along with dipping sauce. While the history of National Fry Day is unknown, according to the National Day Calendar, it...
Turnpike Route 66 in Westmoreland, plaza at Ohio border to go cashless
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is converting two more toll plazas — Gateway at the Ohio border and the Route 66 bypass in Westmoreland County — into cashless collection sites. According to the Turnpike’s cashless tolling website, the plazas will be converted by Oct. 27. The change is part of an...
Bovard residents frustrated proposed gas hookups fizzle
Several Bovard residents in Hempfield are frustrated because gas hookups suggested in 2017 have yet to come to fruition. As part of the Peoples Gas initiative Go With Gas, gas lines were to be extended into three Westmoreland County communities — including Bradenville in Derry Township and Claridge — giving...
Greensburg mailman remembered for time in service, love of family
R. Ronald Joseph had a knack for telling Greensburg residents where they lived. “His recall is phenomenal,” said his nephew, Rick Joseph. “He couldn’t wait to hear you were from Greensburg so he could ask what your name was and he could tell you where you lived.” Ronald Joseph spent...
Officials: Rabid cat found in South Huntingdon business
A rabid cat wandered into a business in South Huntingdon last week, exposing at least one person to the disease, officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said. On July 5, the cat entered the business on Country Lane, acting normal. A feral cat colony is near the company, which...
Kevin O’Leary of ‘Shark Tank’ to give free talk on maintaining wealth
Kevin O’Leary, of ABC’s “Shark Tank,” is slated to speak at Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater on July 30, starting at 6 p.m. O’Leary will speak on keys to moving ahead and getting the edge on business ventures. O’Leary founded a computer software company that he eventually sold for $3.6 billion. He...
Organizers: Westmoreland Arts and Heritage festival sees lower attendance
Attendance was down during the 45th annual Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival this last weekend, according to its Executive Director Diane Shrader. The festival, which brings food and craft vendors to Twin Lakes Park east of Greensburg, typically draws around 125,000 people over four days. This year, however, heavy rains...
Informational meeting for 2020 Census to be held this weekend in Derry
Almost 3,000 jobs are available in the area ahead of the 2020 Census, and a forum is being held for community members to ask questions about possible employment and the importance of the once-a-decade survey. Led by Maryann Schneider, Westmoreland County recruiting assistant for the U.S. Census Bureau, the event...
Hempfield ax-throwing facility expanding to Unity
A Hempfield business is expanding its Viking-themed footprint into Unity, and residents could soon be channeling their inner “savage” by throwing axes. Valhalla Indoor Axe Throwing, which will have 10 ax-throwing lanes as well as 20-yard indoor archery ranges, will have a soft opening July 10, with an official grand...
