Patrick Varine stories, Page 144
Franklin Regional senior earns 4 digital media awardsVideo
When Ryan Lucht and fellow Franklin Regional media student Tim Quinn made a short horror film, they never expected that it would lead to meeting horror industry icons such as Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero. Then again, given the success that the school’s media students have had in recent years...
Dairy industry group working to stop purchase limits on milk
If your local grocery store still has a limit on how much milk a customer can buy, the state’s Department of Agriculture wants to know about it. Despite the covid-19 pandemic disrupting the local dairy supply chain, agriculture officials announced the American Dairy Association North East is working to stop...
Sen. Bob Casey, Excela doctor urge caution when it comes to reopening businesses
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and Excela Health’s chief medical officer urged the public to be patient and consider “the greater good” when it comes to reopening businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic. “In order to preserve public health and to prevent the spread of a disease for which there’s no...
TribLive Taste Test: Dalgona whipped coffeeVideo
On today’s TribLive Taste Test (Special Social Distancing Edition!), we try out the latest viral drink craze: Dalgona coffee, or whipped instant coffee. “Dalgona” refers to a type of South Korean toffee candy. The coffee is so named because once it is whipped, it has a similar appearance to the...
Franklin Regional art students send portraits overseas to Malaysia
Members of Franklin Regional’s National Art Honor Society may be stuck at home amid the coronavirus pandemic, but their artwork continues to make a difference in the lives of others. Most recently, it made a difference by way of the Memory Project, which promotes intercultural awareness and friendship through art....
2nd covid-19 case confirmed at Presbyterian SeniorCare facility in Washington County
A resident at a Presbyterian SeniorCare Network community in Washington has tested positive for covid-19, the second confirmed case at the Washington County facility. SeniorCare officials made the announcement in a news release Wednesday night. “Although we did not have any residents who had exhibited any covid-19 related symptoms, we...
Frazer man seeking Libertarian nomination for presidentVideo
Sam Robb is only half-joking when he says he’s running for president of the United States because he was left at home unsupervised. “My wife was out of town, and I’d been joking on and off about running for years,” said Robb, 51, of Frazer, who is seeking the Libertarian...
Franklin Regional free meal service open to all students
Franklin Regional students do not need to be signed up for the school district’s free and reduced lunch program to receive free meals, officials said. As of Monday, the district has waiver approvals from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide free meals to all children. In cooperation with its...
Franklin Regional will combine committee-of-the-whole, voting meetings in April
The Franklin Regional School Board will hold both of its monthly meetings on the same night, April 13. The board’s committee-of-the-whole meeting will be followed by its monthly voting meeting. As with the most-recent meeting, deliberation and voting will be livestreamed through the district’s YouTube page, Youtube.com/user/FranklinRegionalSD. A link to...
Comic explores cybersecurity issues in health care industry
In the field of cybersecurity, words like “infected” and “virus” are typically references to one of the ways computer hackers worm their way into a company’s technology and exploit it. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, that vernacular has taken on a double meaning, as a wide variety of health care services...
Murrysville doula authors children’s book on milk bank donationVideo
Jan Mallak was nearly two decades into her career as the director for Hearts and Hands Doula in Murrysville when one of the mothers she’d worked with called and issued a challenge. “She decided to take on the task of creating a milk bank in Western Pennsylvania,” said Mallak, 67,...
Employee at Murrysville Giant Eagle tests positive for covid-19
An employee at the Giant Eagle in Murrysville has tested positive for covid-19, store officials reported Thursday night. The regional chain has sought to keep customers informed by keeping a list of stores where employees have tested positive for the virus, and when that employee was last in the store....
State police: Convenience store, restaurant, bar customers can’t stick around to play video games
The state police don’t want bar patrons playing video gambling machines under normal conditions, let alone during the coronavirus pandemic. State police have received “an influx of public inquiries related to liquor licensees allowing patrons to remain in their establishments to operate video gambling devices, sometimes marketed as ‘games of...
Juniper Village at Forest Hills senior community to begin proactive coronavirus testing
Juniper Communities, a senior housing company with sites in Forest Hills, Meadville, State College and eastern Pennsylvania, will begin taking a proactive approach to the coronavirus pandemic by testing residents and staff. “Senior living communities are the first line of defense for 3 million citizens most at risk for complications...
Allegheny County court judicial emergency extended to May 8
The judicial emergency declared in March by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will now be extended through May 8 in Allegheny County, according to an order issued Thursday by county President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark. Clark’s order follows an extension of the statewide judicial emergency through April 30, ordered Wednesday by...
EPA: Do not flush anything other than toilet paper to help keep sewage systems running efficiently
With increased sanitary measures taking center stage amid the coronavirus pandemic, federal environmental officials are asking Americans to stop flushing disinfecting wipes in an effort to keep sewage systems functioning properly. “Flushing anything other than toilet paper, including disinfecting wipes, can damage internal plumbing, local sewer systems and septic systems,”...
Pittsburgh Youth Chorus students create ‘virtual choir’ video performanceVideo
The children of the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus aren’t interested in waiting until the coronavirus pandemic is over to begin making music again. And while all 223 members of the organization’s six choirs weren’t able to fit, 18 students had a chance to be part of its first “virtual choir,” performing...
State waivers not necessary to restart Franklin Regional school construction
The Franklin Regional School Board is trying to determine if it needs state permission to restart the Sloan “elementary campus” project if the board decides to move forward despite the covid-19 pandemic. According to Department of Education guidelines regarding the pandemic, the district needs no waiver and can make that...
Murrysville Medic One gets massive anonymous donation of medical equipment
Murrysville Medic One received some good news this week: An anonymous benefactor was donating protective medical equipment. A lot of it. “We had the police department come down and block off part of the road because we had three wheelchair vans full of stuff,” said Matt Stromberg, a Medic One...
1 dead in Jefferson Hills steel hauler crash
A 64-year-old man died after his tractor-trailer overturned and went partially over a hillside in Jefferson Hills on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Jefferson Hills police responded to Payne Hill Road just before 4 p.m. Wednesday to find an overturned rig roughly a quarter-mile from Jefferson Boulevard. A downed telephone pole...
Adapting: The ‘second first day of school’
Editor’s note: Adapting is a regular series spotlighting the ways the global coronavirus pandemic is changing the everyday lives of people in Western Pennsylvania. On Monday, students in many areas across Pennsylvania had their “second first day of school,” in the form of school districts’ online learning plan going into...
Carnegie Museum researchers discover new reptile genus, species
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History might be closed to the public right now, but its staff is still busy with research — including the discovery of a reptile from the Late Paleozoic period that had a crucial role in shifting its species’ diet from eating insects to eating plants....
Former corrections officer from Greensburg loved family, games
Under normal circumstances, it might be concerning for a former county jail inmate to come walking up and say hello to a longtime corrections officer. But for Jacqueline Learn of Greensburg it was just another part of her day. “Even the prisoners called her ‘Miss Jackie,’” said Ms. Learn’s brother,...
Murrysville Boy Scout creates ‘scent wall’ for search-and-rescue dog groupVideo
Eagle Scout projects fall into a wide variety of categories, but many are aimed at beautifying the towns in which they take place, or fixing up a feature that has fallen into disrepair. Liam Rhea of Murrysville jumped at the chance to take on a project that could potentially help...
Local government groups work through future meeting plans amid coronavirus pandemic
Local governments are adapting as quickly as possible to keep municipal business going amid the spread of coronavirus. Here’s how groups in the Star’s coverage area are handling meetings in the foreseeable future. Franklin Regional School District Franklin Regional’s school board will be conducting meetings via the Zoom digital meeting...
