Patrick Varine stories, Page 111
2-car crash briefly closes Route 30 in Hempfield
Two people were taken by ambulance from the scene of a two-car crash shortly before noon Friday on Route 30 in Hempfield, fire officials said. The crash involving an Equinox sport utility vehicle and a Subaru was reported around 11:45 a.m. at the West Road intersection with eastbound Route 30,...
News and briefs from the greater Murrysville area for the week of May 27, 2021
Townsend Park concert schedule announced The Murrysville Recreation Department has released the schedule for its summer concert series, “Tuesdays at Townsend,” taking place at Townsend Park. The free concerts will be from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the park, and each concert will also include regional food trucks and breweries:...
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces reopening, improvements at Western Pa., West Virginia sites
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District is announcing the reopening of select facilities at district-managed sites in anticipation of the 2021 recreation season. “We invite the public to come out and safely enjoy our beautiful reservoirs and parks. Our rangers and resource managers across the district have done...
Signature Dishes: Wade’s brings made-to-order doughnuts to Export’s breakfast tableVideo
This is part of an ongoing series highlighting Signature Dishes at locally owned restaurants in the region. See Trib Total Media’s new online directory of restaurants, Dine Local, at dinelocal.triblive.com. If too much business is a problem, Karen Wade and her husband, Alan, were on the verge of having a...
Murrysville family’s story highlights importance of public adoptionsVideo
Theresa Gutierrez has a lot of love to give. After losing her husband nearly a decade ago, Gutierrez raised her eldest daughter, now in her mid-20s, and her son Brandon, who is now 16. Just about a year ago, Theresa and Brandon welcomed 10-year-old Phillip into their home, and as...
Pittsburgh police arrest suspect in Downtown bank robbery
Pittsburgh police have arrested man in connection with a Downtown bank robbery Wednesday afternoon. Dante Engram, 33, address unknown, was arrested following the robbery, reported around noon on the 900 block of Fifth Avenue. A witness told police a man had walked into the bank with a note, then left...
Murrysville-Export-Delmont covid figures tallied for the week of May 26, 2021
The most recent data from the state Department of Health shows 1,494 coronavirus cases in the Murrysville area since the pandemic started in March 2020. In the past week, four new cases were reported. The health department this week released updated figures for the three ZIP codes that comprise the...
Franklin Regional begins making plans for return to normalcy in 2021-2022 school year
Franklin Regional School Board members were briefed Monday night on what Superintendent Gennaro Piraino hopes will be a return to some semblance of normalcy, after more than a full school year completed under covid-related restrictions. Piraino said the strategy will be to keep options open for district families. “Right now,...
St. Benedict the Moor moves to remote learning due to covid cases
Saint Benedict the Moor Elementary School in Pittsburgh’s Hill District will close through Memorial Day because of five positive covid cases in the past eight days. School families were notified of the situation and will be updated through the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. “With the unpredictable nature of covid-19 and...
No injuries following 4-alarm fire at Monroeville bike shop
Route 22 eastbound was reduced to one lane until about 8 p.m. Tuesday evening in Monroeville, after a four-alarm fire at Pro Bike+Run in the Miracle Mile shopping plaza. Monroeville No. 1 Chief Jason Sonafelt said the fire was reported around 3:50 p.m. and that all three businesses in the...
Penn Middle Drama Club will stream spring musical, ‘Annie Jr.’
Students in Penn Middle School’s Drama Club are preparing to stream two weekends of “Annie Jr.,” and it’s been a sprint from the start, according to club sponsor Sharon Wiant. “We started very late,” Wiant said. “Normally, we start in January and we usually need every bit of that time....
Monessen mayor’s Sunshine Act lawsuit targets city’s redevelopment authority
After being the target of three lawsuits related to potential Sunshine Act violations at a January 2020 council meeting, Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw has sued the men involved in two of those lawsuits — including one who was a political opponent in last week’s primary election — claiming they are...
Plum artist’s work will be featured at ESAL gallery space in Murrysville library
Clare Mears Stefanini began painting when she was in college at the University of North Carolina’s Wilmington campus. She eventually decided to major in art, and a group of her pieces will be on display throughout June in Murrysville. Stefanini joined the East Suburban Artists League this past winter, and...
Hempfield’s St. Emma Monastery continues food-fair tradition started during pandemicVideo
The Benedictine nuns of St. Emma Monastery in Hempfield may technically be cloistered, but by May 2020, they were just as anxious as everyone else to get back outside. With covid-19 case counts rising and falling, they needed a way to safely provide social distancing — so they settled on...
Murrysville to evaluate permanent fixes for Logan’s Ferry, Heather Highlands bridges
Murrysville officials would like to build on a 2018 study of the Logan’s Ferry bridge intersection and begin evaluating permanent fixes for there and the Heather Highlands bridge. “We have a major problem with several bridges,” Jim Morrison, chief administrator, told council this week. “They’re required to be inspected annually....
Memorial Day events will include return of parade, rededication of Export veterans’ monumentVideo
After a 2020 Memorial Day that was pared back because of covid-19 concerns, the White Valley AMVETS and local American Legions will bring back their full slate of events this year, including the rededication of the Export veterans’ memorial, recently relocated closer to the Westmoreland Heritage trail. Work crews from...
Protect PT appeals fracking well-pad approvals to Pa. Supreme Court
The citizen group Protect PT’s argument for why zoning hearing board decisions allowing additional gas well fracking in Penn Township should be overturned contained a number of elements, but focused on a central question. Should a legal body be permitted to simply declare that an expert witness’s testimony is not...
Oak Street in Irwin used for ‘Quadfather’ film shootVideo
Dominick Domasky of Greensburg is in the inspiration business. Whether it takes the form of books, motivational speaking or, on Thursday night, film-making in downtown Irwin, Domasky’s Motivation Champs company “shares inspiration, positivity and smiles 24/7, and helps other people do the same,” he said. One of Domasky’s clients is...
Greensburg College Club presents annual scholarships
The Greensburg College Club continued its century-plus tradition of granting scholarships to local high school students on Thursday evening, presenting nearly $20,000 in scholarships. “We had a wonderful group of applicants this year,” said Maxine Oleyar, part of the club’s scholarship committee. “The amount of things these kids do are...
Next phase of Titan fracking well pad headed to Murrysville planning commission
The next phase of the first fracking well pad in Murrysville will be in front of the municipality’s planning commission next month. Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison briefed council members Wednesday on a proposed conditional use and development application for the road and utility work associated with the Titan well...
Leechburg paramedic for Allegheny Health Network featured in Marvel comic bookVideo
If you ask Gary Cockroft, he’s about as far from a superhero as you could get. “I’m really quiet. I don’t like the camera; I like to stay in the background,” said Cockroft, 64, a Leechburg resident and paramedic with A-K Pulser. Marvel Comics and the Allegheny Health Network, however,...
2 of 3 incumbents fall in Franklin Regional school board primary
Two of three Franklin Regional school board incumbents will not appear on the general-election ballot following losses in Tuesday’s primary election. According to unofficial results, incumbent Mark Kozlosky came away with the highest vote total, 16.72% of just under 11,000 votes in the Republican primary, but current board member Paul...
1st-time candidates take top ballot spots in Murrysville council primary
First-time political candidate Jason Lemak came out on top in the Republican primary for Murrysville council when the results were finally announced early Wednesday morning, taking just over 20% of votes cast. Lemak will be joined on the general election ballot by fellow newcomer Jamie Lingg (19.25%) and incumbents Dayne...
Franklin Regional eyes more-traditional commencement following relaxation of covid restrictions
For Franklin Regional Senior High School Principal Ron Suvak, the past 365 days mean he’s just a year older. “But our kids only get to be kids one time,” he said. “There are certain things endemic to the high school experience that we weren’t able to recreate last year.” That...
‘Technical error’ omits discussion of judge’s recusal from Commonwealth Court livestreamVideo
During oral arguments last week before the state’s Commonwealth Court, attorney John Smith, representing the Murrysville Watch Committee and its appeal challenging Murrysville’s unconventional gas drilling ordinance, requested that Judge J. Andrew Crompton recuse himself. Moments afterward, the livestream feed of the public court proceeding cut to a hold screen,...
