Patrick Varine stories, Page 141
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...
Murrysville begins leaf collections, lifts burn ban
Spring leaf and yard waste collection will kick off this weekend in Murrysville. Republic Services will collect leaf and yard waste left at the curb the night before May 9 and 16. To schedule a pickup, call Republic at 877-788-9400. For those with a fire pit or burn barrel, the...
Murrysville community adult scholarships still accepting applications
The form education may take in the next few months remains up in the air, but community organizations are still seeking applicants for scholarships: • The Murrysville-Export Rotary Club has extended the application deadline for its Westmoreland County Community College scholarship through May 15. Applications will be accepted from graduating...
Murrysville Council OKs hauling route adjustment for Sloan ‘elementary campus’ project
Murrysville Council granted the Franklin Regional School District’s request to allow trucks leaving the Sloan Elementary construction project to use Crowfoot Road as they haul material off-site. Project engineer John Frydrych of Civil & Environmental Consultants said the request was needed as a result of a 16-foot grade spanning the...
Murrysville makes adjustments to budget, tax deadlines in anticipation of covid-19 impact
Murrysville officials are proposing some adjustments to the year’s budget and eliminating late-payment penalties for real-estate taxes, in light of anticipated impacts from the covid-19 pandemic. “We figure as we go into May, June and July, we’re going to start seeing the effects of unemployment, and that will be revenue...
Franklin Regional plans ‘back-to-school task force’ to plan for 2020-21 year
As of early May, there’s just no telling what education in Pennsylvania could look like in the fall. Whatever form it takes, and whatever may happen during the 2020-21 school year related to the coronavirus, Franklin Regional school officials want to be prepared. “Right now none of us have a...
Planned power outage set for Forbes Trail area of Murrysville on Thursday morning
West Penn Power officials are planning a brief outage in the Forbes Trail area of Murrysville on Thursday morning. The planned outage will be from about 9 a.m. to noon, in order to upgrade facilities. If the weather does not cooperate, the outage will be rescheduled for Friday. Anyone with...
State police unable to hold memorial ceremony to mark 115th anniversaryVideo
State police take May 2 of each year to remember and honor troopers who have died in the line of duty with a ceremony in Hershey. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, an in-person ceremony wasn’t possible in 2020, the Pennsylvania State Police’s 115th anniversary. Instead, police officials created a tribute...
Export Council’s May meeting delayed 1 week
Export officials will hold their May council meeting a week later than usual. The May 12 meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Export Volunteer Fire Department social hall, the former American Legion building, 5778 Kennedy Ave. Council did not hold an April meeting....
Franklin Regional adopts proposed budget with 2.54 mill tax hikeVideo
The Franklin Regional school board adopted a proposed $61.5 million budget for the 2020-21 school year that includes a 2.54 mill tax hike. The budget includes a nearly $3 million funding gap that will be plugged, for now, with money from the district’s various fund balances, some of which are...
