Patrick Varine stories, Page 107
Pa. law enforcement, lawyers, legislators try to raise awareness of human trafficking
A 22-year-old man from Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. A 46-year-old Chinese national from Mt. Pleasant. A 26-year-old man from Buffalo, N.Y. All three face charges of human trafficking in cases connected to the greater Pittsburgh area. And, on Monday, state police announced charges against three people accused of running a human...
Concert in the Park returns to Murrysville following pandemic hiatusVideo
After being forced to take a year off because of covid concerns, Murrysville recreation officials will bring back the annual Concert in the Park, which has taken the place of Murrysville Community Day in recent years. In a nod to continuing covid-19 developments both locally and nationally, special events and...
Pa. Supreme Court: Money from state-forest drilling cannot prop up state budget
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that state officials cannot transfer money from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Oil and Gas Fund — derived from natural gas drilling on state forest land — to the state’s general fund to help balance the annual budget. The PA Environmental Defense Foundation...
Murrysville authorizes emergency work on collapsing storm sewer at Heritage Estates
Murrysville officials will contract emergency repairs to a storm sewer line that is collapsing in the Villas at Heritage Estates, the second time they encountered the issue in the housing plan off Sardis Road. “The work is beyond the ability of public works,” Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said. “The engineer...
‘On the move’ in the Murrysville area for the week of July 29, 2021
Jordan Humes of Export graduated from Lock Haven University at its spring 2021 commencement ceremony at Charlotte Smith Field. Humes graduated summa cum laude with a degree in health sciences • • • Anthony Massetto was among 1,200 students to graduate in May from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. •...
News and briefs in the Murrysville area for the week of July 20, 2021
Calendar, conservation kits will benefit Rotary As part of its role in Rotary International’s “End Plastic Soup” campaign — which is aimed at preventing plastics from entering local, state and national waterways where it ultimately ends up in the ocean — the Murrysville-Export Rotary Club will sell calendars featuring artwork...
Motorcycle ride in Washington Township man’s memory will raise money to help scleroderma sufferers
In less than two years, Kody Churma went from a healthy young man to one who was unable to hold a fishing pole, and couldn’t draw because he wasn’t able to hold onto a pencil. Kody died from complications related to scleroderma, an autoimmune disease that attacks skin tissue and...
Alle-Kiski Valley rockers Sourmash nominated for multiple independent music awardsVideo
Independent musicians from Western Pennsylvania are representing the region in a strong way when it comes to the annual Josie Music Awards. Alle-Kiski Valley hard rockers Sourmash have received three nominations from the country’s largest independent music awards organization. The group, whose repertoire pays homage to classic and Southern rock,...
Murrysville council hears proposal on gas-interconnect for fracking well
A subsidiary of the company building the first unconventional gas well in Murrysville gave municipal council members a look Wednesday at its proposal for an interconnect site that will transfer natural gas to a nearby transmission line. Officials from Hyperion Midstream, a subsidiary of Canonsburg-based Olympus Energy, want to build...
Pittsburgh man pleads guilty to trafficking endangered, invasive fish
A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to trafficking one endangered and one invasive species of fish. Anthony Nguyen, 49, entered guilty pleas to 2020 charges of interstate trafficking in illegally possessed or transported fish and creating a false record. Nguyen is charged with violating the federal...
Jeannette shooting victim’s mother calls for DA to reopen caseVideo
Taunja Williamson doesn’t understand why the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office does not bring charges in the 2019 shooting death of her son, Mariell McGowan. McGowan, 29, of Jeannette was fatally shot Oct. 28, 2019, on Cuyler Avenue, just a few doors down from his mother’s home and a block...
Joy Riders bring senior ride-along program to Redstone Murrysville residents
Carl Schlenke of Murrysville can remember walking down to the railroad tracks on the southern side of Route 22 and watching steam engines load coal for transport to Pittsburgh. Now, that railroad bed is part of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail, and Schlenke, a resident at Redstone Highlands in Murrysville, got...
Murrysville artist’s work will go on display at Brushes and Beans Café
Like so many other large-scale public events, art shows largely went by the wayside during the covid-19 pandemic. So, when Murrysville artist Barbara Jewell saw that a new coffee shop, Brushes and Beans Café, offered their space as a venue for local art displays, she was immediately energized. It cemented...
Murrysville library welcomes new youth services coordinator
Public libraries have a special place in Becky Martinazzi’s heart. “They’re one of the best spaces offered to people of every age, income level, location, ethnicity or physical ability,” said Martinazzi, 33, of Ebensburg, who recently was introduced as the new youth services coordinator at Murrysville Community Library. “I specialized...
Murrysville police sergeant has house full of police dogs
If someone breaks into Scott Kettren’s house, they’re in a for a “ruff” time. The Murrysville Police sergeant’s Penn Township residence is home to not one, but two, police dogs. While Argos, the 13-year-old Belgian malinois who served as the department’s police dog for a decade, enjoys his retirement, Magnus...
Apple’n Arts organizers discuss 2021 festival options with Delmont council
Apple’n Arts Festival organizers will present a scaled-down version of the annual fall event after being asked by Delmont council members to offer a proposal for 2021. “We haven’t yet sent out applications for vendors,” organizing committee member Brandy Walters said. “What we’re hearing is that a lot of craft...
Apple Hill Playhouse property sold to Washington County developer
The Apple Hill Playhouse property at 275 Manor Road in Salem has been sold to a Washington County corporation. Westmoreland County deed records from June 25 show the property, which previously belonged to the theater’s executive artistic director Pat Beyer, was sold for $150,000 to Manning Properties LLC, based in...
News and briefs in the Murrysville area: July 13, 2021, and beyond
Police to host National Night Out on Aug. 3 The Murrysville Police Department will host the annual National Night Out event from 4:30-8 p.m., Aug. 3 at the police station, 4200 Sardis Road. National Night Out brings police and community residents together under positive circumstances for an evening of conversation...
Farmers market kicks off return of public events at Bushy Run Battlefield
The Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society’s monthly farmers market returns July 24, from 8 a.m. to noon. Market dates are the fourth Saturday of the month, and will also take place Aug. 28 and Sept. 25. There is no pre-registration required, nor any set-up fees for vendors. However, no animals,...
‘Loki’ season finale breaks the Marvel multiverse wide open
Editor’s note: “Loki” spoilers through season 1, episode 6. For all time. Always. “All time” is now on the table following the season finale of “Loki” on Disney+. Marvel head Kevin Feige wasn’t kidding around when he said that this series would forever alter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After battling...
Eat’n Park, Turner Dairy Farms partner to create Smiley Cookie Milk
Turner Dairy Farms in Penn Hills has taken its milk plenty far off the beaten path in the past, with flavors ranging from strawberry to chocolate-banana to the “Star Wars”-themed blue “Blue Banthamilk.” Its latest offering comes as part of a partnership with local mainstay Eat’n Park: Smiley Cookie Milk,...
Massive boost in state education funding is not much help to Franklin Regional
Pennsylvania’s 2021-22 education budget includes the largest funding increase for public education in the state’s history, some $416 million. That is little consolation to Franklin Regional school officials, however, who found themselves again raising taxes to the state’s Act 1-mandated limit for the coming year, or risk cutting programs and/or...
R.K. Mellon Foundation to invest $1M in companies’ best ‘social-impact’ ideas
The Richard King Mellon Foundation is looking to invest $1 million in three companies whose members can pitch the best ideas for making a social impact in areas like economic development, economic mobility, health and well-being and environmental conservation. The social-impact investment competition will ask for-profit companies to submit ideas...
12-year-old missing from Arlington found safe
A 12-year-old boy last seen Monday in Pittsburgh’s Arlington section has returned home safely, police said. Pittsburgh police detectives had sought the public’s help to find Kirill Matveev, who went missing at about 4 p.m. Monday. Police posted to social media just before 9 a.m. Wednesday that Matveev was located....
Murrysville officials examine how federal covid relief funds can be spent
Murrysville will be eligible for about $2 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan, meant to help offset the financial strain of the covid-19 pandemic on local and state governments. Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said half the funding should arrive by the end of July, with the...
