Patrick Varine stories, Page 135
Annual ‘Fireworks Over Fayette’ will go on without festival
While organizers will skip the festival that usually accompanies it, the annual “Fireworks Over Fayette” display will take place on June 28. Fayette Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Muriel Nuttall said chamber officials had concerns about going ahead with the event. “Our show costs upwards of $10,000 each year and...
Carnegie Museums plan timed ticketing system for reopening next week
Carnegie Museum is scheduled to reopen next week, with museum officials requiring all visitors over age 2 to wear masks and instituting a timed ticketing system to ensure the building does not exceed 25% of its capacity. The museum, which reopens June 29, will have directional signs for visitors and...
Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra hosts series of online classes
The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s Academy of Music announced a slate of one-hour online summer courses. Classes will include the academy’s annual exploration of the various periods of classical music, along with technique courses and a “Life in Music” series: • “Classical Chatters” explores the four basic periods of classical music...
Murrysville OKs contract for bridge work
Murrysville council awarded a $78,000 bid last week for maintenance repairs to three bridges in the municipality. Plum-based Pugliano Construction will perform maintenance work on the Heather Highlands, Cal-Ken Court and Logan Ferry Road bridges, which were identified for repairs as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s bi-annual inspections....
Greensburg YMCA closes after report of covid-19 exposure
After a soft reopening last week, the Greensburg YMCA closed again Friday afternoon and will remain shut down until at least Monday to allow time to sanitize after a person who used the facility tested positive for covid-19, YMCA officials said. The YMCA closed when the state Department of Health...
TribLive Taste Test: Harvest Snaps Snack CrispsVideo
On today’s TribLive Taste Test, we switched up the format a little. Since we received a box with every single flavor of Harvest Snaps’ snack crisps – made from peas, red lentils and black beans – we decided to hold a little competition. We blindfolded ourselves and tried to guess...
R.K. Mellon Foundation funds PPE grants for front-line workers in Allegheny, Westmoreland
A Delmont councilman is continuing the work of the borough’s former fire chief, securing grant funding to supply all Westmoreland County firefighters with face-shield filters to protect against coronavirus. Delmont Fire Chief Rich Balik, who died in late May, was working with the R.K. Mellon Foundation to secure a $10,000...
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health seeks $301M federal covid-19 grant
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health is pursuing a $301 million federal grant to strengthen its ability to respond to the covid-19 pandemic, and will earmark $100 million for local health departments if the grant is awarded. “This funding is essential to our future response to the covid-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania,” Secretary...
Murrysville will host glass recycling event
Murrysville and Republic Services will sponsor a pop-up glass recycling event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The collection will be in the parking lot at Veterans Field, 4200 Sardis Road. All colors of glass bottles, jars and jugs will be accepted. Caps, lids and labels are acceptable. All...
Public meeting will outline Delmont, Salem plan to address sewage, stormwater issues
The public will get a closer look at how Delmont and Salem Township plan to address longstanding sewage and stormwater issues in early July. The Delmont Volunteer Fire Department will host a July 2 meeting that is to include officials from both towns, and the public is invited to see...
ATF agent shot at home involved in ’11 Hunnit’ gang investigation, 12 suspects indicted
The house in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood where an ATF agent was shot Thursday morning belongs to one of a dozen people charged with drug trafficking in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. A dozen defendants from Allegheny, Westmoreland and Lawrence counties have been charged with drug trafficking following a lengthy wiretap...
PNC commits $1 billion to programs, efforts to stem systemic racism
PNC Financial Services officials on Thursday announced a $1 billion commitment to programs and efforts that would “end systemic racism and support economic empowerment of African Americans and low- and moderate-income communities.” The commitment includes $50 million in charitable support for local and national work promoting social justice, expanding financial...
Delmont Recreation Board adds live music to ‘Movies in the Park’Video
The Delmont Recreation Board will augment its annual summer “Movies in the Park” series with free live music before the film begins. The first event will be at 6 p.m. June 27 at Newhouse Park, featuring music from The Phisbins. Food will be available to purchase at the concession stand...
Play ball: Youth baseball, softball given green light in Delmont, Murrysville
With Westmoreland County in the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s covid-19 reopening plan, youth athletic associations in Delmont and Murrysville have been given the go-ahead to start their seasons. “We’re ready to go,” said Erin Salas, who serves as softball vice president for both the Delmont Area and Franklin...
Hankey Church, Old Greensburg roads will close through October for Murrysville bridge replacement
PennDOT has announced the closure of Hankey Church Road and upcoming closure of Old Greensburg Road for bridge replacement work on Route 366 in northern Murrysville. Work crews will be replacing the small bridge that carries Greensburg Road (Route 366) over Pucketa Creek between the roads that will be closed....
Murrysville parks reopen, but splash pad, community center remain closed
Murrysville officials have reopened the “destination playground” at Murrysville Community Park, and are hoping that it will remain a viable destination this summer through proper health and safety precautions. Council members began working through the logistics of reopening recreation sites at their June 3 meeting, just two days before Westmoreland...
Couple creates nonprofit website to pay tribute to covid-19 victims nationwide
On some maps showing how the covid-19 pandemic has affected the U.S., dots are used to represent a case or a certain number of cases in a particular area. But as the country’s covid-19 death toll passes 116,000, the creators of the Mourning America website want people to know that...
Franklin Regional gets update from its ‘back-to-school task force’
The Franklin Regional school board will hold a special meeting in July to lay out plans for how education will work in the 2020-21 school year. That meeting date has not been set yet, but members of the district’s back-to-school task force updated the board Monday night on their work....
Health officials: Some Lyme, covid-19 symptoms are similar
Preliminary data is showing that Pennsylvania is on track for its third year of declining incidents of Lyme disease, but an estimated 8,500 cases in 2019 still puts the state among the top five nationwide. As tick season ramps up to its peak in July, state health officials urge residents...
Franklin Regional passes $61M budget with 2.54-mill tax hike
Franklin Regional school directors voted 6-3 Monday to adopt a 2020-21 budget with a 2.54-mill tax increase. Despite expenditure reductions related to special education funding, fewer commissions on tax collections and no change in insurance premiums, which were expected to rise, the $61.6 million budget stands with the tax hike....
Franklin Regional hires new assistant superintendent from Greater Latrobe
Franklin Regional School District will have several new administrators in the 2020-21 school year, including a new assistant superintendent. The school board hired Robin Pynos on Monday. Pynos, a Duquesne University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania alum, comes to Franklin Regional from the Greater Latrobe School District, where she served...
Franklin Regional school board members butt heads over meeting procedures
Franklin Regional Superintendent Gennaro Piraino decided in early June that he’d had enough of school board members arguing and talking over one another in public meetings. “Maybe I’m overstepping my bounds, but I’m a member of this team of 10,” Piraino said. “Right now, what is happening week after week...
Body of murdered New Castle teen found
New Castle police found the body of missing 19-year-old Amari Wise in a wooded area off of Pennsylvania Avenue, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI reported Monday evening. Both of the men wanted in Wise’s death, a father and his son, are now in custody, New Castle Police said. Todd Henry, 47,...
Rosedale Tech reopens Kennedy Township campus to students
Before Gov. Tom Wolf even made the official announcement about Allegheny County “going green” during the coronavirus pandemic, officials at Rosedale Tech in Kennedy Township were working to ensure they’d be ready to open the doors and resume on-campus classes. The first day back in class for Rosedale students was...
Franklin Regional graduation officially postponed until July
Franklin Regional graduates may have had a chance to do a drive-thru “graduation,” but if the real thing is going to happen, it won’t be until July. School district officials announced over the weekend that plans for a traditional graduation ceremony will be postponed until July 24. “Though we strongly...
