Patrick Varine stories, Page 132
3 injured in Unity motorcycle crash
Three people are believed to have been injured and a small stretch of Route 982 was closed following a motorcycle crash Thursday night in Unity Township, according to Westmoreland County 911. The crash happened just after 9 p.m. near the intersection of Route 982 and East Mill Street. Latrobe police...
Group stages protest, march in downtown GreensburgVideo
A group of about 40 people held a protest Thursday evening at the corner of Main and Otterman streets in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The group held up signs and chanted slogans invoking victims of police violence in cases such as those that led to the deaths...
Pittsburgh tech company adds ultraviolet disinfection robots to its portfolioVideo
Most people think of ultraviolet light as the main reason for wearing sunscreen. Chris Proud, CEO at Safe Space Technologies in Pittsburgh, sees it as another weapon in the battle against the coronavirus. Safe Spaces’ parent company, Miller Process, focuses on collaborative robots, networking services and automation for a variety...
Murrysville scales back capital project plans amid pandemic’s financial effects
The effects of the covid-19 pandemic have thrown budgets of all types into upheaval, and Murrysville is no exception. On Wednesday night, Finance Director Diane Heming detailed how the municipality’s five-year capital-improvement plan was scaled back in light of pandemic-related financial projections, including a sharp decline in state money raised...
Police: Penn Hills woman ran through airport security checkpoint, tossed water on TSA agent
A Penn Hills woman was arrested by county police Aug. 19 after tossing water on a TSA agent and running unchecked past the Pittsburgh International Airport’s security checkpoint. Allegheny County police said Brandi L. Bailey, 32, of Penn Hills, threw water on a TSA agent when asked for her identification...
Educators hope to attract more adult students to free machining coursesVideo
When Ken Pedder was in high school, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do as a career. “I really had no direction or plans,” Pedder said. Eventually, he applied to Central Westmoreland Career & Technology Center. He was looking to follow somewhat in the footsteps of his father, a...
Mt. Pleasant school officials turn down PTO offer to buy, install air conditioning at elementaries
Mt. Pleasant school officials appreciate an offer from the parent-teacher organization to buy air-conditioning units for its three elementary schools, but according to the school board president, it’s one project too many right now. “Any new work done in these classrooms could delay the work already being done in the...
Delmont prepares for $4.85 million project to address sewage overflows
Delmont officials are proposing to replace two sewage lines and possibly construct a large holding tank to help deal with sewage overflows and infiltration and inflow of storm water into its sewage system. As part of a consent order finalized with the state Department of Environmental Control in late April,...
Pa. to spend $10M on surplus produce, milk, more from farmers for struggling familiesVideo
The demand to get nutritious food to struggling families may have slowed slightly since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, but not much: At its Aug. 10 distribution day, Westmoreland County Food Bank officials estimate they served about 1,000 families. To continue that effort — and to lend a hand...
Bill to create Purple Heart coin series gains traction in CongressVideo
Josh Marino suffered a traumatic brain injury when an enemy mortar exploded a few feet away from him during his 2007 deployment to Baghdad. In the moment, he had no idea what had happened. “At the time I thought, ‘Man, those cannons we have on base are really loud. They’re...
Export’s Ethnic Food & Music Fest a go; Delmont’s Apple’n Arts Festival, Pilgrimage canceled
In a season of cancellations, Export’s annual Ethnic Food & Music Festival is sticking to its guns and will go on this weekend. The event is set for noon to 9 p.m. Saturday along Washington Avenue. Councilwoman Melanie Litz said the relatively small size of both the borough and festival...
Delmont will update, modernize its burning ordinanceVideo
If you want to have a fire in a Delmont driveway fire pit on Friday, technically you had to notify the fire department in writing by Monday. “I was looking at it and I thought, ‘This is nuts. Who does this?’” Councilman Bill Marx said. With that in mind, Delmont...
Delmont-Salem Rotary proposes service project at Delmont parklet
In 1907, the first-ever Rotary Club project was the construction of a single-stall men’s restroom in Chicago. Some 113 years later, the Delmont-Salem Rotary Club is looking to the past for its 2021 service project: proposing to build a restroom at Delmont’s Rose Wigfield Parklet. Incoming club president Harold Hicks...
Mt. Pleasant PTO hoping to buy $40,000 in air-conditioning units for elementary buildings
Almost every child wants to look cool when they go back to school. In Mt. Pleasant Area School District, parent-teacher organization members want children to feel cool as well. The group hopes district officials will allow them to buy about $40,000 worth of portable air-conditioning units for its elementary schools,...
Monroeville nursing home reports 47 covid-19 cases, after reporting zero last week
A Monroeville nursing home has reported 47 cases of covid-19 to state health officials, after reporting none a week ago. Long-term care facility data from the state’s Department of Health shows that Monroeville Rehabilitation & Wellness Center reported zero cases of covid-19. In numbers updated on Tuesday, the center reported...
Clemente rookie card, 1900 Wagner team photo up for auction
Pittsburgh Pirate history buffs, get your wallets ready: a New Jersey auction house is taking bids on Roberto Clemente’s 1955 Topps rookie card, as well as a team photo of the Pirates taken during Honus Wagner’s first year with the team in 1900. The auction concludes Sunday. Bidding on the...
Murrysville Republican committee plans grand opening for new ‘Victory Center’ location
The Murrysville Export Republican Committee will bring in KDKA-AM News Radio 1020 host Wendy Bell for the grand opening of its “2020 Trump Victory Center” on Aug. 22. The opening will be at 10 a.m. at the center’s new location, 3145 Carson Ave., across William Penn Highway from the Dunkin’...
Pittsburgh athletes get their fair share of food endorsements over the yearsVideo
If you drank the same soda as Mean Joe Greene, would you be able to strike fear into the hearts of 1970s NFL quarterbacks, too? It’s doubtful, but that certainly didn’t stop Pittsburgh sports stars from getting their fair share of product endorsements over the years. From Jaromir Jagr’s peanut...
Civilian marksmanship program promotes gun safety, produces skilled shootersVideo
On a cool Sunday morning, the sun is burning the fog off Skellytown Road in North Huntingdon, and the dull crack of distant gunfire is the only thing interrupting the chatter of birds. The shooting is coming from the White Oak Rod & Gun Club, where a small group gathered...
‘Code Orange’ air quality day for Sunday as temperatures near 90
Although National Weather Service officials said the region is trending down in terms of overall temperatures, it isn’t there yet, and Sunday will be another reminder of the summer heat it has experienced recently. Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection issued an air quality alert for Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette,...
Trade schools offer training in high-demand, essential careersVideo
Candace Carlton recently earned a massage therapy license. Unfortunately, the past six months have made it tough to put it to use. “That doesn’t do too well during a pandemic,” Carlton said. The prospect of going back to school also is challenging, given that school districts, colleges and education centers...
Historical society finishes work on 1800s-era Murrysville schoolhouse replicaVideo
The Murrysville Historical Preservation Society was hoping to mark Murrysville’s 200th anniversary at its annual festival this year. While the society has canceled its 2020 events, according to its website, it does have reason to celebrate: a period-appropriate replica of the former one-room schoolhouse off of West Pike Street was...
Zelienople native writes, directs, scores 1st filmVideo
When he was growing up in Zelienople, Nathan Brewer performed in Bible-based musicals written by his father and staged at Camp Lutherlyn in Prospect. When Brewer noticed the stage at his father’s Lutheran church was not being used, he begged his father to let him direct one of the musicals....
Export notes: Borough plans for annual summer festival, awards contracts for downtown workVideo
Export will host its annual Ethnic & Music Festival from noon to 9 p.m. Aug. 15 along Washington Avenue. With health and safety at the forefront, Councilwoman Melanie Litz said festival officials have limited the number of booths. “We have half as many vendors as last year, to try and...
Apollo man sentenced to federal prison on marijuana distribution charges
An Apollo man was sentenced to just over three years in prison following a conviction on marijuana distribution charges, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady announced Wednesday. Stephen Lerch, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV. Brady said Lerch was receiving packages of marijuana and THC vaping cartridges from...
