Patrick Varine stories, Page 160
What music gets the Steelers hyped for training camp?
There’s no doubt about what Steelers guard Ramon Foster is listening to in order to get hyped up for 2019 training camp. “ ‘Racks in the Middle,’ by Nipsey Hussle,” Foster said without missing a beat at Saint Vincent College. “I think that’s the only one worthy of mentioning.” Likewise,...
Drums Corps International competition coming to Elizabeth Forward’s Warrior StadiumVideo
The rhythm will be hitting hard and heavy Sunday, Aug. 4 at Elizabeth Forward’s Warrior Stadium, when Drum Corps International’s 2019 summer tour comes to the Pittsburgh region. Part of a competition that includes more than 45 drum corps performing more than 100 shows in 37 states, DCI Pittsburgh will...
Murrysville firefighters to conduct rough-terrain rescue training
Joggers and dog-walkers in Pleasant Valley Park on Saturday may notice a lot of activity by firefighters, but they needn’t worry. There’s no emergency. However, firefighters will be training for when an emergency does take place, conducting a rough-terrain rescue training exercise. The public can expect to see emergency responders...
Murrysville Council approves GetGo near Giant Eagle on Old William Penn Highway
Murrysville residents will get a GetGo convenience store and gas station off Old William Penn Highway, but they’ll have to get their cars washed elsewhere. Council gave unanimous approval Wednesday night for development of a 4,900-square-foot store alongside a dozen fuel pumps near the existing Giant Eagle. Giant Eagle officials...
Franklin Regional will break ground on Sloan school project
Franklin Regional officials will hold a groundbreaking for the new Franklin Regional Intermediate Elementary School on Wednesday, July 31. The $49 million project, which has generated debate, controversy and a legal appeal, includes the renovation of the existing Sloan Elementary — which will be converted into a school for children...
Murrysville library ice cream social will focus on ‘cozy mystery’ authors
When it comes to murder mysteries, not everyone wants theirs steeped in noir, hard-boiled in violence and splashed with sex. Enter the “cozy mystery” genre, where the emphasis is primarily on the detective work. “I always think of (the Angela Lansbury television show) ‘Murder She Wrote,’” said Murrysville librarian Emma...
California man sentenced for participation in tri-county drug ring
One of a dozen people indicted as part of a Western Pennsylvania drug ring last November has been sentenced to a decade in prison. Nikia Perkins, 44, of Bloomington, Calif., was sentenced on charges he conspired to distribute just over a kilogram of fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said in...
Jeannette company becomes leader in recycling biopharmaceutical waste
Triumvirate Environmental has a new way to help the pharmaceutical industry recycle plastic waste. The Jeannette waste-management company serves clients in the life sciences, health care, education and industrial markets. Biopharmaceutical waste — estimated to be about 30,000 tons per year and either incinerated or sent to landfills — is...
Mosaic church to continue Keynote Café’s mission of ‘investing in Jeannette’s youth’
Nate Keisel believes in the youth of Jeannette and has high hopes that they can persevere and find not only success, but the will to become leaders in their community. “We think that if we can remove some of the roadblocks these kids encounter, that leadership can flourish,” he said....
Export artist tapped to create painting for borough’s summer celebrationVideo
John Santoro of Export was a little taken aback when a member of the local historical society approached him to commission a painting representing the borough’s past, present and future for the third annual Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival. “This is completely the opposite of what I do,” said...
Fracking hearing will continue at Murrysville council meeting
Murrysville council will continue its public hearing on the proposed Titan fracking well pad, and consider approving the construction of a GetGo station outside the Murrysville Giant Eagle at its meeting Wednesday night. Monroeville drillers Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration have proposed the Titan well for property off Bollinger Road....
Saxophonist Vanessa Collier to play Pittsburgh Blues & Roots FestivalVideo
Acclaimed young blues singer and saxophonist Vanessa Collier will be part of the lineup at this weekend’s Pittsburgh Blues & Roots Festival, set for July 27 and 28 at the Syria Shrine Center in Cheswick. Collier, who recently received a 2019 Blues Music Award for “Best Horn—Instrumentalist,” is a 2013...
Police, residents to mingle at National Night Out events
Members of the Murrysville Police Department — and departments all over Pennsylvania — will highlight their capabilities and give officers a chance to mingle with the public at their annual National Night Out celebration Aug. 6. “It’s a transparent way for the community to see their department up close and...
Blairsville karate instructor welcomes martial arts master from Japan
Tetsuhiro Hokama, known to his students as “Hokama Sensei,” using the Japanese honorific for “teacher,” has taught old-style Okinawan karate in his home country of Japan as well as Europe, Africa and South America. Last week, Hokama Sensei was in Blairsville, Indiana County, supervising trainees at Matt Kohler’s Torii Dojo...
Harrison City man pleads guilty to ‘logic bombing’ Siemens softwareVideo
A Harrison City man pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District court to sabotaging Siemens’ computers in a bid to drum up extra contracting work. David Tinley, 62, pleaded to one count before District Judge Peter J. Phipps. Tinley, a contract employee for Siemens’ Monroeville location, was charged with intentionally inserting...
Butterfly programs will flutter in late JulyVideo
Two separate butterfly-related events will happen in the Murrysville area later this month. The first is a July 27 presentation on butterflies and host plants, by Marcy Cunkelman. It will be at 10 a.m. in the wetlands pavilion at Murrysville Community Park, 4056 Weistertown Road in Murrysville. Cunkelman will show...
Murrysville church preps for volunteers to sew Christmas stockings for troops
In 2018, Penn Hills nonprofit Military Connections stuffed and shipped about 11,000 Christmas stockings filled with snacks and supplies to troops stationed across the globe. Roughly 5,000 of them came from a group of volunteers who create the stockings all year long, then come together for a full day of...
Gin Blossoms, Cowboy Mouth to headline Flood City festival in JohnstownVideo
Johnstown hosts the annual Flood City Music Festival, not South by Southwest. But those two directions perfectly describe two of the festival’s 2019 headliners. The Arizona-based Gin Blossoms and New Orleans-based Cowboy Mouth will headline the two-day festival, set for Aug. 2 and 3 at Peoples Natural Gas Park in...
Skidmore Road closure extended in Hempfield
Replacement of a 36-inch cross pipe will keep a section of Skidmore Road closed through July 26, PennDOT officials said on Friday. The road will be closed between Morning Dove Lane and Tall Oaks Trail in Hempfield. A marked detour will route drivers along Reamer Avenue, Main Street, Route 30...
Murrysville Medic One earns heart association award for 3rd consecutive year
For the third year in a row, Murrysville Medic One officials will receive the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus Award for meeting high benchmarks when it comes to treating heart-attack victims. The Mission: Lifeline awards focus on STEMI or “ST elevation myocardial infarction,” cases — most commonly, heart...
Beaver Falls man gets 5 years in prison for New Brighton bank robbery
A Beaver County man was sentenced by a federal judge in Pittsburgh to more than five years in prison after pleading guilty to robbing a New Brighton bank 11 months ago. Ernest Dewayne Taylor, 50, of Beaver Falls, was sentenced the Aug. 17, 2018 robbery of Huntington Bank in New...
Murrysville farmer gears up for annual themed corn maze
Herb Gearhard of Murrysville may use a drone nowadays to get a top-down look at his annual corn maze, but in nearly all other aspects, he’s old-school. “We don’t use GPS,” he said, pulling out a large sheet of taped-together graph paper. “We start with a sheet of paper and...
Franklin Regional will begin equipping all students with Chromebooks for 2019-’20
Franklin Regional officials will begin a one-to-one Chromebook program for students attending Franklin Region Senior High School in grades 9-12 for the 2019-‘20 school year. Each student will receive a free Chromebook computer to be used in the classroom as well as at home for educational purposes. Teachers will use...
Periodical cicadas perform ‘natural pruning’ on trees across Western Pennsylvania
Drive through nearly any part of rural Western Pennsylvania and it won’t take long to notice: little clumps of dead leaves at the ends of certain tree branches. Fall hasn’t arrived early. The phenomenon is called “flagging” and is the work of the periodical cicadas from Brood VIII, who emerged...
Police plan to crack down on aggressive driving in Western Pa.Video
Risk is a daily, accepted feature of the job for Murrysville police Officer Ryan Auvil. But that doesn’t make it any less frightening when a tractor-trailer driver fails to move into an adjacent lane — to “steer clear,” according to current state law — as Auvil is writing a ticket...
