Patrick Varine stories, Page 159
Panther Foundation grants include funding for ‘maker space’ in middle-school library
Franklin Regional teachers were awarded $8,500 in grants from the FR Panther Foundation that will fund a video project and a science lab, as well as a creative space in the middle-school library. “We’re taking a look at part of the library and designating an area as a ‘maker space,’”...
Emergency officials: Overturned truck spills ‘unknown material’ into Yough River
An overturned truck in Elizabeth Township has released about 4,800 gallons of unknown material into the Youghiogheny River, emergency dispatchers said Thursday night. Fire and emergency crews were dispatched to the 2300 block of Douglas Run Road in Elizabeth just after 9:30 p.m. for a report of a tri-axle truck...
Murrysville Council approves excavation plan for ‘poor soil’ on Sloan construction site
Like many of the details surrounding the Franklin Regional School District’s “elementary campus” project, the discovery of poor soil on the Sardis Road property means one thing to those who support the project, and another to those against it. To the project’s engineer, the trucking of 12,000 cubic yards of...
Murrysville adds 1 final ‘Tuesdays at Townsend’ concert to finish season
With a massive playground and splash pad opening at Murrysville Community Park this summer, parks and recreation director Carly Greene wanted to make sure residents didn’t forget about the other parks in the municipality. That’s why Greene is happy to be adding an encore performance to her department’s “Tuesdays at...
Murrysville teen brings home 8 ribbons from Westmoreland Fair
Ian Sunny of Murrysville is on a roll this week at the Westmoreland Fair. And chances are, if he had baked a tray of rolls, he’d have won a ribbon for that, too. Sunny, 16, a junior at Franklin Regional Senior High School, brought home eight ribbons from the fair...
Judge hears arguments in Franklin Regional’s Sloan ‘elementary campus’ appeal case
Judge Harry Smail has a lot to consider in an appeal of Murrysville council’s approval of an “elementary school campus” project for the Franklin Regional School District. Smail heard oral arguments Wednesday in Common Pleas Court from attorneys representing three parties to the appeal — the municipality, school district and...
Franklin Regional opens school year with new website, stadium upgrades
Franklin Regional school officials made upgrades to their football field as well as their website in the run-up to the new school year. Online visitors will see a brand-new, revamped website launched in mid-August with a simplified address: FRSDk12.org. The new site features a revised directory, new teacher pages and...
Scottdale woman ‘got herself involved in every single organization she could’
Vicki Clark of Mt. Pleasant can’t remember her mother ever sitting down to relax. “She would be involved in so much,” Clark said. “She would call every single person in per phone book, she quit her job to babysit our girls. She got herself involved in every single organization she...
Franklin Regional OKs $35 million bond sale for Sloan Elementary projectVideo
The Franklin Regional School Board agreed to issue up to $35 million in bonds to fund the bulk of the Sloan “elementary campus” project, the same week that the district will be in court to face a group opposed to the plan. The project includes construction of a new elementary...
March for Parks surpasses $1 million in fundraising
The county’s annual March for Parks event has surpassed the $1 million fundraising mark, as residents, businesses and organizations have come together since 2003 to raise money for improvements at places like the Westmoreland Heritage Trail, Mammoth Park and Cedar Creek Park. The 17th annual March for Parks this past...
Pittsburgh policeman charged with June hit-and-run on North Shore
A Pittsburgh police officer has been arrested and charged in a June hit-and-run crash on the city’s North Shore that left a cyclist with a concussion. Brian M. Martin, 35, of Pittsburgh’s Westwood neighborhood, was charged Friday with accidents involving death or personal injury, reckless driving and drunken driving. Police...
Delmont dedicates new basketball court
Delmont officials were joined Thursday by Dedicated Nursing Associates President Craig Fusting, along with many of his employees, to dedicate a new basketball court a Newhouse Park. Dedicated Nursing Associates funded the majority of the new court’s cost, and it is emblazoned with their logo and their red and black...
Road realignment, amphitheater are big-ticket items in Murrysville capital improvement plan
Murrysville officials have about $10 million in road projects planned for the next five years, including the next steps in the proposed realignment of the intersection of Sardis Road, Logan Ferry Road and Franklintowne Court. Finance director Diane Heming said $600,000 generated from traffic impact fees has been budgeted to...
3 injured in two-vehicle crash in Mt. Pleasant Township
Three people were injured in a two-vehicle crash early Friday night in Mt. Pleasant Township, county emergency officials said. At least one person was taken by ambulance from the scene of a crash at the intersection of Route 981 and Hecla Road, according to Westmoreland emergency dispatchers. The crash was...
TribLive Taste Test: Frozen Garden Fusion CubesVideo
On today’s TribLive Taste Test, we try out Frozen Garden’s Fusion Cubes. The frozen blend of fruits and herbs can be dropped into a glass of drinking water, where they infuse it with flavors like orange-pineapple-rosemary and strawberry-lemon-basil. You can also drop more than one into a glass, which at...
Former Irwin police officer loved hunting, fishing, family
Mark Garbin can remember his father, Alfred, coming home for lunch and dinner, Irwin police car gleaming and his uniform pressed. “He was always working,” Mark said of his father’s 27 years with the borough police force. “He loved being a police officer and doing the right thing.” Alfred A....
Westmoreland Fair brings rides, revelry and rabbit agilityVideo
It’s easy to tell that Alan Lipscomb works outdoors. Lipscomb’s face glowed with the deep pink of a fading sunburn Thursday morning as he cleaned the lead car of the Dragon Wagon children’s roller coaster on the grounds of the Westmoreland Fair, which opens Friday and runs through Aug. 24....
TribLive Taste Test: Aji White Fantasy & Carolina Reaper peppersVideo
On today’s TribLive Taste Test, we decided to unnecessarily torture ourselves by trying a couple of hot peppers from staff writer Patrick Varine’s home garden. Well, technically we tried one very tasty pepper — the Aji White Fantasy pepper — and then subjected ourselves to a small sliver of hell...
Delmont paving program to begin ‘within two to three weeks’
Delmont residents are likely to see road crews in the borough “within two to three weeks” to start the borough’s 2019 paving program, engineer Kevin Brett said at Tuesday night’s council meeting. Borough officials secured a loan of about $292,000 for paving work on West Pittsburgh Street, Stotler Drive and...
DEP consent order aims to identify FTMSA issues by 2022
Delmont Councilman Bill Marx is not happy about signing a consent agreement with no sense of how much it might someday cost the borough. “I’m going to be honest, it’s a bitter pill to swallow to be told that we have to sign onto this without knowing what it’s going...
Export festival marks official opening of Westmoreland Heritage Trail’s 4th phase
The annual Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival often marks the unveiling of something new and positive for the borough. “In the past we had the unveiling of the (restored Turtle Creek Valley Railroad) caboose, and last year we unveiled a mural, so it’s really nice to do a little...
Franklin Regional marching band tickles the ivories for 2019 halftime show
Roll over, Beethoven — the Franklin Regional Panther Marching Band has a few new piano pieces for you. That is the theme behind the band’s 2019 marching show. “’Roll Over Beethoven’ is the theme, and it’s all based on piano-centered pieces,” said senior Lane Kline, one of the drum majors....
Labor officials: Colorado company violated overtime pay laws in 21 Pa. counties
A Colorado company will pay more than $18,000 in back wages and damages for overtime pay violations in 21 Pennsylvania counties, including Allegheny and Westmoreland, following a federal investigation. U.S. Department of Labor officials announced Tuesday that Huwa Enterprises, an environmental restoration company based in Keenesburg, Colo., violated overtime provisions...
Eddie Murphy to star in Netflix biopic of ‘Dolemite’ creator Rudy Ray Moore
This is the space where I’d normally insert an appropriate and hilarious Dolemite quote to kick off this story. But anyone familiar with Dolemite — the kung-fu-fighting, crass-rhyming pimp character created by actor and blue comedian Rudy Ray Moore in the 1970s — will know that there are no quotes...
World War II vet caddied on same golf course where his father was killed by lightning
Mel Cirincione caddied at the 1935 U.S. Open, on the same Oakmont golf course where his father was killed by a lightning strike only a year earlier. His father Frank was cutting grass on the seventh tee July 20, 1934, when he was struck and knocked 4 feet back from...
