Patrick Varine stories, Page 114
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,...
PennDOT prepares for Coxcomb Hill Road closure in Plum
PennDOT officials are preparing for a drainage improvement and shoulder reconstruction project in Plum that will close a 1-mile stretch of Coxcomb Hill Road beginning Monday, May 24. Work between Kerr Road and Logans Ferry Road is anticipated to begin next week, according to PennDOT District 11 spokesman Steve Cowan....
Gateway Education Association calls for a strike as contract negotiations linger for more than a year
Gateway School District’s teachers’ union has threatened to go on strike beginning May 24, according to union officials. The Gateway Education Association notified Superintendent William Short on Tuesday morning that a strike will begin next Monday if a tentative agreement has not been reached. The district and association have been...
No injuries as truck crashes into ditch on Route 366 in Washington Township
No one was injured Monday afternoon when a tractor-trailer cab ran off Route 366 and landed in a ditch in Washington Township. The crash was reported shortly after 2:45 p.m., according to a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor. The truck, which was not hauling a load, broke through a guardrail and...
Murrysville-Export-Delmont covid figures tallied for the week of May 17, 2021
The most recent data from the state Department of Health shows 1,490 coronavirus cases in the Murrysville area since the pandemic started in March 2020. In the past week, 13 new cases were reported. The health department this week released updated figures for the three ZIP codes that comprise the...
Marvel’s measured progression into weirdness has us ready for ‘Loki’Video
*** WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE *** You like Loki. I like Loki. Everyone likes Loki. One of the many tricks Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has pulled over its first several phases is making the smarmy villain into an endearing scamp whose death in “Avengers: Infinity War” was...
Franklin Regional life-skills students use mobile kiosk to take entrepreneurship on the road
Teachers in the Franklin Regional School District are slowly but surely creating a small army of entrepreneurs and skilled workers through programs funded by the nonprofit Franklin Regional Panther Foundation. The foundation’s first $12,000 grant in 2017 helped establish the FR Panther Shop, where life-skills students in the Work Exploration...
‘Hair metal’ stadium tour featuring Motley Crüe, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett postponed to 2022
If you wanted to pour some sugar on your significant other during the Def Leppard show at PNC Park this summer, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer. The stadium tour featuring classic-era “hair-metal” bands Motley Crüe, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, has been rescheduled...
Walmart, Sam’s Club to begin offering youth vaccinations
Following recommendation by the Federal Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacy locations will be extending its vaccine supply to children ages 12 to 15, company officials announced Friday. “This is great news, not just for the newly eligible cohort, but for the entire...
