Patrick Varine stories, Page 138
Penn-Trafford video students snag awards, adjust to producing amid pandemicVideo
The students who create Penn-Trafford TV, the school district’s in-house television broadcasts, brought home 16 nominations and six awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Mid-Atlantic Region High School Production Awards. Both are school records. But there was barely any time to enjoy their success before schools...
Delmont Library volunteers host ‘Grab and Grow’ garden kit distribution
The Delmont Public Library’s volunteers the Delmont Diggers were already looking at alternate plans for 2020, since the new library is being built where their butterfly garden once stood. “We’d planned to do container gardens around the library, but when covid-19 happened, we weren’t even able to do that,” said...
Construction manager: Franklin Regional elementary project keeping pace despite delay
The general manager for Franklin Regional’s Sloan elementary campus construction and renovation is confident that contractors will be able to keep pace with the project’s original timeline, despite a roughly month-long setback at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. “The only areas we’re trying to keep a close eye on,...
Greensburg diocese to begin in-person Mass on June 1
The seating and the passing of peace may look a little different but, beginning June 1, Catholic churches in the Diocese of Greensburg will celebrate Mass — in person. Diocesan officials announced Monday that parishes can once again begin public Mass. Parishioners will be required to wear masks and remain...
PennDOT set to start signal upgrades, light-timing changes in downtown Greensburg
PennDOT crews will begin traffic light upgrades and measures to lessen congestion in downtown Greensburg beginning Monday. Signal upgrades and congestion management for sections of Main Street, East and West Otterman Street, Humphrey Street and Pittsburgh Street will include the replacement of 10 traffic lights, seven light upgrades, light coordination...
UPMC Shadyside, Altoona among hospitals receiving federal shipment of remdesivir
UPMC Shadyside is among 21 hospitals that will receive shipments of remdesivir, the antiviral medication that FDA officials have authorized for emergency use to treat covid-19 patients. The Department of Health distributed the second shipment of the investigative antiviral medication on Friday: 1,548 doses of medication were sent to 21...
Pennsylvania’s largest area code is finally reaching its limit
One of Pennsylvania’s four original area codes finally is getting a little too crowded. The state Public Utility Commission announced Thursday the 814 area code would be assigned a new overlay code of 582. The change also means residents who never needed to dial more than seven digits to make...
Penn-Trafford nurse wins Highmark nursing excellence award
In 2014, Lisa Popovich of Penn Township would never have guessed she’d now be in her fourth year as a Penn-Trafford School District nurse. She certainly wouldn’t have guessed that she’d be receiving one of the Highmark Foundation’s Advancing Excellence in School Nursing Awards. “This was never on my radar,”...
Delmont takes first steps toward reopening
With Westmoreland County shifting into the state-designated “yellow phase” with regard to the covid-19 pandemic, Delmont officials are taking steps to slowly reopen the borough. “With the county moving into yellow status as of Friday, I think you can reopen the office if that’s your desire, with the CDC social...
Delmont extends discount period for borough tax payments
Delmont council extended the discount period for residents to pay real estate taxes, but also found out this week that their financial position is relatively strong amid the economic fallout from the covid-19 pandemic. Council unanimously approved a resolution extending the 2% discount period through Aug. 31. Taxes will then...
Online group plans Harrisburg protest over continued covid closures
A private Facebook group that has gained more than 90,000 members in the past month is planning a protest Friday in Harrisburg against Pennsylvania’s quarantine measures to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. ReOpen PA, described as a non-partisan group “for residents of Pennsylvania to organize and work towards...
Franklin Regional plans drive-thru ‘Celebration of Our Seniors’ on original commencement date
Franklin Regional School District officials have a couple of tentative dates for the Class of 2020’s commencement ceremony but, whether they work out or not, administrators want to recognize their senior students. Franklin Regional Senior High School will host a “Celebration of Our Seniors” at 6 p.m. June 5, the...
Penn State Extension extends discounts for online courses due to high demand
When Penn State Extension officials made online courses free during April, public interest was overwhelming. “We would’ve filled Beaver Stadium with students,” said Extension Director Brent Hales. “We had over 109,000 people sign up.” There was so much demand — it initially crashed extension servers, Hales said — that officials...
Steel City Con shifts summer show dates to AugustVideo
The popular Steel City Con is shifting its summer show dates to mid-August amid continued health and safety measures during the covid-19 pandemic. The show will move from June to Aug. 14-16. “We did not take this difficult decision lightly knowing that our vendors as small businesses are struggling to...
Longtime Franklin Regional band director to retire this yearVideo
When Kevin Pollock was hired as the Franklin Regional high school band director, he found himself in a brand-new position with a week before summer band camp rehearsals began. “With so little time to plan and prepare, we fell back on a patriotic show theme I’d used at two previous...
Pleasant Unity man charged with threatening Gov. Wolf over business closures
A Pleasant Unity man has been arrested and charged with threatening Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, officials in York County announced Tuesday. Rocco Anthony Naples, 28, faces a third-degree felony charge of threats and other improper influence in official and political matters and related misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and harassment,...
Here’s how Murrysville’s new voter precincts break down
When the Pennsylvania primary arrives next month, several thousand Murrysville voters will find themselves part of two new precincts, and figuring out which can be tricky. The Newlonsburg and Sardis precincts — the two biggest in Westmoreland County — were broken into four parts. Murrysville political committee members were hoping...
19 students from Pittsburgh region earn National Merit Scholarships
Nineteen students in the Tribune-Review’s coverage area were announced among the winners of $2,500 National Merit Scholarships. Winners were selected from more than 15,000 candidates. In June and July, an additional 4,100 college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships will be announced. Here are the winners, their hometown mailing addresses and (high schools):...
Plant-Based Pittsburgh group encourages home gardening amid pandemic
As the weather begins to warm, plants begin to grow far and wide, and not just in Western Pennsylvania’s widespread forests. Gardens throughout the state are beginning to take shape, as gardeners prepare their soil, water seedlings and prepare for another growing season. In Murrysville, the local branch of Plant-Based...
84 Lumber builds addition for recovering Salem teenVideo
As a Salem teenager fights to regain the life she knew just a few short months ago, she has a brand-new, handicap-accessible wing in her home thanks to the generosity of 84 Lumber. In early January, Autumn Zundel, 13, was diagnosed with an anterior mediastinal mass between her heart and...
Redstone staff in Murrysville arranges 100th birthday parade for 2 residentsVideo
For the staff at Redstone Highlands senior community in Murrysville, the simple act of throwing a 100th birthday party for residents is a complicated affair these days. “It’s been challenging, just to make sure I’m crossing all my T’s and dotting all my I’s,” said Redstone Care Partner Megan Henninger,...
Pennsylvania customs officials seize unapproved medication shipped from Hong Kong
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized a shipment of 1,200 capsules of an unapproved medicine shipped from Hong Kong to Pennsylvania. Working out of the Port of Harrisburg, agents seized the Lingua Qingwen capsules en route to an address in Union County, in the central part of the state....
Windber woman helps provide food for low-income children
Donna LaMonaca of Windber has been a volunteer at the Saint Vincent de Paul Family Kitchen in the Altoona-Johnstown area since she was a child. When they called her last month to say they weren’t able to distribute all of the donated milk they had on hand, she got an...
Delmont fire company plans mini-parade through borough to honor moms
Fire department volunteers are among the first responders in their communities, and with Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday, Delmont librarian Denni Grassel approached members of the borough fire department with an idea. “She mentioned that moms are kind of like the ‘first responders’ of the household,” Delmont Fire Chief...
Franklin Regional librarians start home-delivery service for students
What’s a school librarian to do with no students in the buildings? Take the books to the kids, of course. “Our theory was: they’re staring at a screen all day, and when we offered them the possibility of checking out e-books, the thought was ‘Oh, more screen time,’” said Franklin...
