Megan Tomasic stories, Page 64
Vendors, attendees brave weather on last day of Westmoreland arts festival
Several cars lined the parking lots at Twin Lakes Park in Hempfield on Sunday morning, waiting to peruse the last day of the annual Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival despite continued threats of rain that shut down the festival early on Saturday. Inside, vendors checked their products for water or...
Fallingwater, other Frank Lloyd Wright designs named to World Heritage list
Fallingwater, along with seven other Frank Lloyd Wright works, were officially named to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage list. Selected by the World Heritage Committee in Baku, Azerbaijan, the sites show the development and evolution of modern architecture in the first half of the 20th...
Baggley woman remembered as caring person
Yvonne Schmucker was always helping someone else, no matter her own circumstances. And the Baggley, Unity Township, native raised her children, who all volunteer and work for various organizations, and grandchildren to be the same way. “We all have gotten that bug from my mother, just helping when we can...
Dozens of classic tractor-trailers gather in New Stanton for annual show
Tim Hoover has 15 antique tractor-trailers at his Saltsburg home, but he brought only two to this year’s Steel Valleys Antique Truck Historical Society’s classic truck show. “The truck shows, there’s no competition here,” said Hoover, 61. “Everybody’s equal. It doesn’t matter what you bring, how you bring it. It...
Beltzhoover shooting victim reported to be in stable condition
One person was shot in the thigh early Saturday morning in Beltzhoover, according Pittsburgh police. Officers responded to the 600 block of Curtin Avenue around 1 a.m., where they found a male who had been shot outside a home. The victim, who was alert, told police he was walking outside...
Flash flood watch issued ahead of thunderstorms in Western Pa.
Westmoreland, Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and surrounding counties are under a flash flood watch, according to the National Weather Service. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to bring over 2 inches of rain per hour. Soil that is already wet from recent rainfall could create flash flooding around streams, creeks and roads,...
Professional fireworks shows still plentiful despite federal figures to the contrary
Business for display fireworks companies is booming, industry experts say, despite figures showing a dud when it comes to pounds of pyrotechnic goods sold over the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2018, there was a 31.5 million pound decrease in the number of display fireworks used in the United...
Verizon store closed at Westmoreland Mall
Another store has joined a list of businesses permanently shutting their doors at Westmoreland Mall. Verizon Wireless, which sat between Greenhouse Winery and T-Mobile on the first floor of the mall near JCPenney, closed at the end of June, said David Weissmann, public relations manager for the Verizon Consumer Group....
Seton Hill names director of National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education
A new director of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education has been appointed at Greensburg’s Seton Hill University. James Paharik, who has been involved in Holocaust education on international and national levels, started Monday. He has presented several times at the International Conference on Holocaust Education at Yad Vashem,...
Hempfield dialysis clinic has opening date
A Greensburg dialysis clinic that relocated from Greensburg to Hempfield is set to open next month. Fresenius Kidney Care, formerly located near Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital, will open its doors on Aug. 5, according to Maddie Ronquillo, spokesperson for the clinic. The 8,000-square-foot clinic sits on about five acres along...
Police searching for Bolivar man after Indiana County shooting
State police are searching for a Westmoreland County man who allegedly shot into an Indiana County hotel Monday. David Lee McGinnis, 26, of Bolivar, is accused of firing one round from a 9mm handgun during an altercation inside a Days Inn, police said. The incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. at...
Some Fayette County townships under boil water advisory
Several townships in Fayette County are under a boil water advisory by the Mountain Watershed Association. The association placed part of their system in Nicholson, Georges and German townships under the advisory due to water loss and a leak, which have not yet been located, according to a news release....
Western Pa., Ohio fireworks companies play big role in nation’s Fourth celebrations
Thousands of boxes filled with consumer fireworks filtered one day this month through Phantom Fireworks’ main warehouse in Warren, Ohio, where hundreds of workers prepared for Fourth of July sales. More than 20 miles east across the Pennsylvania border, Jason Farell, scripting coordinator and designer at Pyrotecnico in New Castle,...
North Huntingdon man remembered for love of history
When Irwin prepared to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2014, Jerry Kyslinger was there with his pen, ready to capture the memories. Helping to write “Irwin Then & Now,” the North Huntingdon resident traveled to various nursing homes, scanning pictures provided by residents to show before and after shots of...
Hempfield Towers residents heated about going days without air conditioning
The thermometer that sits on Gioia Schreckengost’s television stand in her fifth-floor apartment read 82 degrees, inching close to the 86-degree temperature outside. Residents at Hempfield Towers on South Grande Boulevard have been without air conditioning since June 21 after a mechanical failure with the unit, according Michael Washowich, executive...
Safety tips for setting off Fourth of July fireworks
The Fourth of July is right around the corner, but before the oohs and aahs are in order, here’s a list of safety tips to make sure your fireworks go off with a bang. Compiled by Phantom Fireworks, a consumer fireworks company based in Youngstown, Ohio, the list suggests reading...
Pittsburgh man killed in Penn Hills crash June 12 identified
A 66-year-old man who died after being hit by a Toyota Corolla in Penn Hills has been identified. Joseph W. Picard was killed June 12 while crossing Saltsburg Road, the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office confirmed. The crash happened shortly before 1:30 p.m. in the 7000 block of Saltsburg Road, just...
Pittsburgh police looking for missing Hill District teen
Pittsburgh police are searching for a missing 13-year-old boy. Amir Foster was last seen around 5 p.m. Wednesday in the California-Kirkbride neighborhood, according to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police’s Facebook page. Foster, who is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs around 130 pounds, was last seen wearing a white...
Hempfield’s $4.3 million SAFER grant to be managed by outside organization
Hempfield now has an outside organization dispersing and directing funds from a $4.3 million grant awarded to Westmoreland County fire departments in 2017. Awarded Sept. 1, 2017, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, or SAFER, grant provides money to departments for recruiting...
Route 30 reopens in Unity Township after crash Wednesday evening
Both lanes of Route 30 eastbound at St. Vincent Drive were shut down Wednesday shortly before 5:30 p.m. after a motorcycle and car collided, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher confirmed. According to the dispatcher, the driver was ejected from the motorcycle. Marguerite Fire Chief Scot Graham said one person was...
Pittsburgh ranks among top 20 places to celebrate Fourth of July
Pittsburghers get ready — the city made the Top 20 list of best places to celebrate the Fourth of July out of 100 United States cities. According to WalletHub, a personal credit tech site, Pittsburgh ranked 20th, coming in behind Orlando and before Minneapolis. The site uses a list of...
Hempfield supervisors appoint new fire chief
Hempfield now has one fire chief who will oversee 12 separate stations — a major step toward making the township’s stations fall under one department. Township supervisors this week appointed Anthony Kovacic, the current director of emergency services for the township, to the top position. Kovacic started his career in...
Church group: Drag queen bingo encourages fondling, groping
Mt. Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department won’t host another drag queen bingo, but it’s not because of the drag, Chief Jerry Lucia said. “We didn’t have the large crowd we thought, and then we had bingo players come here thinking they’d be playing bingo all night,” Lucia said. “They only played...
Hempfield creates plan for consolidated fire departments ahead of ISO rating
A list of issues laid out in a 2018 gap study focusing on Hempfield’s fire service is leading the path for changes that will eventually make 12 stations fall under one department and firefighters answer to one chief. The study, completed by The Allegheny Group, focuses on issues with staffing,...
SCI Greensburg closing is potential wrench in census count
Hempfield residents and leaders could still be feeling the effects of SCI Greensburg closing as the census — and its potential funding and determination of legislative districts — looms on the horizon. The once-a-decade survey counts prisoners as members of the community where the lockup is located — a decision...
