Patrick Varine stories, Page 132
Murrysville library, recreation department partner on wetlands ‘Storywalk’Video
As Murrysville Community Library staff prepares to reopen the library for appointments on Monday, Aug.3, its members are also thinking about ways to utilize outdoor space and begin hosting in-person programs for patrons, as dictated by health and safety guidelines. One of the first, which patrons can do on their...
Bridge work will close Pa. Turnpike between Allegheny Valley, Pittsburgh exits early Sunday
The placement of beams for the Unity-Trestle Road bridge in Plum will require a five-hour closure of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s eastbound lanes beginning late Saturday night. The Turnpike will be closed between the Allegheny Valley (Exit 48) in Harmar and Pittsburgh (Exit 57) exit in Monroeville, from 11:49 p.m. on...
Southbound Route 28 restrictions will begin Monday in O’Hara area
Drainage work along southbound Route 28 will begin Monday, Aug. 3, with single-lane restrictions between the Harmar (Exit 11) and RIDC Drive (Exit 10) interchanges. The restrictions will be in place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Aug. 14, as work crews from Allison Park Contractors perform inlet cleaning...
Rich Hill Road section will close Monday for slide repairs in West Deer
Landslide repair work will close a section of Rich Hill Road beginning Monday, Aug. 3, PennDOT officials announced Friday. The landslide occurred between Michael Road/Russellton-Dorseyville Road and Mill Dam Road. Traffic will be detoured along the following route: From north of the slide: • From Michael/Russellton-Dorseyville Road, follow East Union...
Murrysville library will reopen Aug. 3 by appointment only
March 13 turned out to be quite a “Friday the 13th” for new Murrysville Community Library Executive Director Amy Riegner. Having started in January, Riegner had just arrived home from work when she received the news that all state libraries would be closing due to the covid pandemic, with no...
Voice of Westmoreland holds ‘Rally for Black Lives’ in Greensburg’s St. Clair ParkVideo
While Vice President Mike Pence was attending a “Cops for Trump” rally in downtown Greensburg, a half-mile away in St. Clair Park, city resident Arlena Williams was describing the fear she felt recently watching her son get pulled over by police right near her front door. “Our fears are not...
Briefs: Murrysville glass recycling event set for SeptemberVideo
Murrysville officials will partner with Republic Services to host a Sept. 19 glass recycling “pop-up” event at Veterans Field, 4170 Sardis Road. The collection will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and accepted types of glass include all colors of bottles, jars and jugs. Caps, lids and labels are...
Western Pa. residents among those receiving ‘mystery seed’ packets
Shawn O’Mahony of Penn Hills ordered a bunch of seeds online to jump-start his 2020 garden. So, when a couple of packets he didn’t recognize showed up in the spring, it didn’t seem like a big deal. “I received two of them a couple months ago,” O’Mahony said. “They were...
Moon teen’s debut record will be released FridayVideo
After winning a national songwriting competition for a Colorado nonprofit, Moon singer-songwriter Maleena Dominick is preparing to release her first record, “Bruises to Prove It,” on July 31. Dominick, 18, a Moon Area High School graduate this year, said writing the album was an emotional process, and a conversation with...
Penn State Extension plans online series on creating food plots for deer
Hunters who create food plots are not just looking to bring deer to an area with a good food source. They’re also playing a key role in sustainability, helping along the next generation of fawns. Penn State Extension officials will host a four-week webinar series on food plots beginning Wednesday....
Photos: Franklin Regional holds phased commencement ceremony
Franklin Regional seniors from the Class of 2020 got a chance to celebrate their high school education on Friday, July 24, during phased commencement ceremonies at Panther Stadium in Murrysville. Do you have photos from graduation? Submit them to pvarine@triblive.com and we’ll add them to the gallery! Please include a...
Murrysville travel ball teams seeing success in covid-shortened season
When Mike Ruane of the Franklin Regional Haymakers 11U travel ball team hit a walk-off home run to win the Mt. Lebanon 11U-A Tournament on July 26, circumstances would typically dictate a crowd of teammates waiting for him at home plate. The 2020 travel ball season has been anything but...
Murrysville, McCandless ranked among safest towns by security company
Murrysville and McCandless are among the top 50 safest cities in the U.S., according to the latest rankings from home security and safety advisory company SafeWise. Pennsylvania makes the list several times, with seven towns among SafeWise’s top 50 including Buckingham Township (11), Upper Saucon Township (27), Upper Allen Township...
Virtual retreat equips Western Pa. teachers with tools for online education
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools across the nation, it wasn’t just students and parents who were tossed headlong into a brand-new challenge. Many teachers, counselors and principals faced the same dilemma. “All of a sudden, we found ourselves having to write game plans and blueprints for something that...
Nature education serves as inspiration for Penn Hills womanVideo
During her junior year in high school, Nyjah Cephas said she wouldn’t really have described herself as a “school kid.” But when The Ellis School’s long-standing partnership with Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy brought her to Frick Park for a few stewardship days, something clicked. “I could have some experiential learning and...
Penn-Trafford Drama Guild will stream showcase of spring musical tunesVideo
In early March, just a couple of weeks before the curtain was set to rise on the Penn-Trafford Drama Guild’s production of “Footloose,” musical sponsor Jen Haberberger wasn’t thinking about the coronavirus. She certainly wasn’t thinking about using pool noodles to properly social-distance students at rehearsals. “We would’ve started technical...
Medical study is seeking people who may have tick immunity or resistanceVideo
Jason Bobe is looking for a few of what he calls “medical superheroes.” Bobe, an associate professor in the genetics and genome science department at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, is part of Mount Sinai’s Resilience Project. It seeks to find people who,...
Indiana scammer to pay refunds for phony NFL, concert tickets
The state Attorney General reached a settlement with an Indiana County business that repeatedly scammed customers by selling phony tickets to NFL games and Pittsburgh-area concerts. The settlement with Ticket Victory of Indiana, owned by Brian Plowcha and operated between 2015-2018, will pay back more than $24,000 in consumer restitution,...
Pa. sees 1st West Nile case of the year in Potter County
Pennsylvania recorded its first probable human case of West Nile Virus this year, according to state health officials. A resident of Potter County was tested for the virus, with samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation. The state recorded seven cases of West Nile in...
Murrysville company will help test systems for lunar lander
In the summer of 2021, Pittsburgh tech company Astrobotic plans to launch an unmanned lunar landing mission after being awarded a contract by NASA. But before that can happen, someone needs to make sure all of the lander’s systems are functioning correctly and working in concert with one another. That’s...
McKeesport homicide suspect arrested by U.S. marshals in Chicago
U.S. marshals have arrested a woman accused of killing a 29-year-old Pittsburgh woman last month in McKeesport. Gabrielle Parker, 33, of McKeesport, was arrested Wednesday in Chicago, according to U.S. Marshal Michael Baughman. Parker is charged with homicide following an early morning shooting June 18 in the 500 block of...
Murrysville approves ordinance regulating 5G cell towers
Murrysville Council has approved an ordinance regulating small-wireless facilities, the infrastructure necessary to bring 5G service to the area. 5G is the fifth generation of cellular service, which companies began rolling out in 2019. The Federal Communications Commission in 2018 set out a timeline requiring towns to make space available...
Franklin Regional plans 2-phase graduation ceremony for Friday
Franklin Regional seniors will get an opportunity to walk onto the Panther Stadium field as part of a two-phase graduation ceremony set for Friday evening in Murrysville. The first ceremony, scheduled to start at 5 p.m., will be for students whose last name begins with A through K. A second...
Pennsylvania hopes to encourage 10,000 landowners to create stream-side buffersVideo
The riparian buffer at the headwaters of Steele’s Run in Murrysville mostly offers aesthetic benefits. But, each year, its physical value will continue to grow as it protects the cold-water fishery stream from erosion, provides shade, cools the stream and offers a habitat for native wildlife. Officials with the state’s...
Former Pa. senator sentenced to prison for child pornography possession
A former state senator from Lebanon County was sentenced to one to two years in prison for possessing child pornography and related offenses, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday. Mike Folmer was charged in September 2019 after an online tip led investigators to discover images of child pornography on...
