Patrick Varine stories, Page 174
Murrysville man joins supercomputing research team at Berkeley lab
So far, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., has been home to 13 Nobel Prizes, and hosted the discovery of 16 elements on the periodic table as well as more than 600 isotopes. Late last year, and two more times in 2019, it will be home — albeit...
Vacant house in Jeannette catches fire for 2nd time in 2 years
A vacant house on South Seventh Street caught fire Friday for the second time in two years. Jeannette Fire Capt. Joe Matijevic is not interested in returning for a third. “I’m hoping we can get it demolished,” Matijevic said Friday night as fire crews cleaned up the scene on the...
Symphony East will welcome Pittsburgh Festival Opera performers in March
Pittsburgh Festival Opera vocalists Adrianna Cleveland, Alicia Jayourba, Abigail Eagleson and Corrie Stallings will perform at the next Symphony East program in Murrysville. The program will be at 1 p.m., March 18 at Redstone Highlands, 4951 Cline Hollow Road in Murrysville. It is open to the public, and no reservations...
1 dead in Derry Twp. crash on Route 217
At least one person has died following a two-car crash Friday that closed a stretch of Route 217 in Derry Township. The crash happened just before 5 p.m. near the intersection of Route 217 and Curnow Road, according to Westmoreland County emergency dispatchers. Route 217 was closed for about four-and-a-half...
Franklin Regional students incorporate drumming, lasers, blacklights into gym classVideo
Franklin Regional Middle School students, through a grant from the FR Panther Foundation, spent part of their Friday drumming to dance music with lasers and blacklights. Health and physical-education teacher Barbara Haybarger said the fitness drumming program helps students with rhythmic movement, building confidence and learning to collaborate with peers....
Franklin Township sanitary authority board moves March meeting
The Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority has shifted its March meeting to an earlier date. The authority board typically meets on the third Thursday of the month. The March meeting will take place on Monday, March 18. At its February meeting, the board approved the sale of 2019 bonds to...
Former West Penn Power manager loved fishing, family
If there was a place Cecil Fitzgerald was truly happy, it was most likely far offshore, aboard a boat with a fishing line in the water. “We really enjoyed boating and fishing,” said Mr. Fitzgerald’s wife of 63 years, Mary Lou Fitzgerald. “That was one of the main things we...
Delmont library will host a comedy tribute to resident Jim Davis
Jim Davis of Delmont knew how to make people laugh, whether it was cracking jokes or walking onstage at the intermission of an Apple Hill Playhouse show wearing a coconut bra and a hula skirt. “He may not have been an actor,” his wife, Charlene, said last fall. “But he...
WTO panel rules China over-subsidized grain production to undercut global pricesVideo
World Trade Organization officials ruled earlier this week that the Chinese government over-subsidized the country’s grain producers, artificially raising Chinese prices for grain and reducing imports. The WTO’s panel report “is a significant victory for U.S. agriculture that will help American farmers compete on a more level playing field,” USDA...
‘Paint with a Purpose’ in Murrysville to provide art scholarships for the developmentally disabled
Gabi Nastuck, director of Miss Gabi’s Art is Good Studio in Latrobe, will mark a year of working with East Suburban Citizen Advocacy in April, and it has been one of the most rewarding years of her artistic career. Nastuck, 40, of Latrobe will host an all-inclusive art class, “Painting...
Cantata choir welcomes new members, prepares for Palm Sunday
A local cantata choir is preparing for its second Palm Sunday performance at First Presbyterian Church in Murrysville, but its members have plans to perform well into 2019. The Murrysville Cantata Choir started a little under a year ago, presenting Lloyd Larson’s “Behold the Lamb,” and also performed at the...
‘Delay the Disease’ exercise regimen aims to combat effects of Parkinson’s DiseaseVideo
Officials from OhioHealth, a charitable healthcare-focused arm of the United Methodist Church, are hoping that an exercise regimen designed to combat the onset of Parkinson’s disease can gain traction in the Pittsburgh area. Redstone Highlands officials in North Huntingdon have incorporated the “Delay the Disease” regimen into its programming for...
Franklin Regional: Make-up days cut into spring break, extra days to be scheduled
Franklin Regional students will still get two days off for spring break, but two more have been pegged as make-up days, as of Feb. 26. April 18 and 23 will now serve as make-up days as a result of cancellations due to winter weather, district officials announced via the FR...
Murrysville couple pens musical for CLO’s ‘Gallery of Heroes’ programVideo
The Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera’s “Gallery of Heroes” program brings 50-minute mini-musicals to area schools, educating and entertaining students with stories about historical figures like Galileo, George Washington and Harriet Tubman. Now, a Murrysville couple will add astronauts to the CLO’s gallery. “We were trying to think of big milestones...
No one injured as strong wind topples tree onto Murrysville home
Joe Morelli was sitting at his home off of Brick Hill Road in Murrysville on Sunday afternoon when he heard a loud crash at the front of the house. During a period of strong, gusting winds that began Sunday morning and prompted a high-wind warning from the National Weather Service,...
Saint Vincent center offers advice, connections for small business startups
Before an entrepreneur reaches the point where they feel comfortable calling themselves a small-business owner, there’s the daunting prospect of first starting a business. In the case of someone like FlexScreen President Joe Altieri of Plum, he was able to put in place a group of investors to help launch...
West Penn Power: Fixing electric lines will be a ‘multiday event’ in Westmoreland Co., region
Pastor Tim Stradling stepped up to the microphone at 10:50 a.m. Sunday to kick off the second service at Armbrust Wesleyan Church. Before he could get out his first sentence, he heard an unwelcome thump. “That’s the noise our sound system makes when everything goes out,” said Stradling, who continued...
E-waste collection event set for March 2 in Murrysville
An e-waste and data destruction event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., March 2 at Murrysville Calvary Lutheran Church, 4725 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. It will be provided by Greensburg-based Cyber Crunch. Computers, laptops and cell phones will be accepted at no cost. Hard drive shredding...
AARP to provide tax preparation at Murrysville Community Center
AARP tax aides will be on hand March 8 and 22, and April 5, to help with tax preparation for lower-income, elderly and disabled residents. Aides will be at the Murrysville Community Center at 3091 Carson Avenue from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on each date. Participants will need to...
Penn Area Library sees strong response with direct-mail campaign to patrons
Patrons of the Penn Area Library recently received a letter from library officials seeking donations as part of a direct-mail campaign, the first it has undertaken. But it likely won’t be the last. “We’ve been thinking about this for several years now,” said library treasurer Alice Ainsworth. Encouraged after speaking...
Westmoreland libraries will receive book that provides a ‘snapshot’ of county’s natural areas
Retired biology teacher Dick Byers of Stahlstown set out with a group of volunteers to document Westmoreland County’s natural areas and preserve a “snapshot” of the region’s flora and fauna for future generations. The next generation will have a chance to read all about it through the county’s library network....
Conservation district will provide tips on maintaining, repairing unpaved driveways
Drive through rural Westmoreland County and it won’t take long to find: an unpaved driveway with loose stone peppering the public road at its entrance, the result of storm water shifting gravel before it finds a path into the ground. Westmoreland Conservation District officials are hoping to change that. Next...
Delmont library officials closer to funding new buildingVideo
In just more than four years, Delmont Public Library officials, board members and patrons have raised about two-thirds of the $1.5 million they’ll need for a new building. Donations have ranged from $10, donated by a local elementary school student, to a $200,000 pledge from an anonymous local family, to...
Eleven FR junior wrestlers qualify for state tournament spots
Eleven members of the Franklin Regional J.O. Wrestling program have qualified to compete in the Pennsylvania State Championship Wrestling Tournament. On Feb. 17, Franklin Regional hosted the Area 3 state qualifier tournament with youth wrestlers from 19 school districts competing for spots in the state championship tournament. That championship is...
Murrysville thrift store board president confident order will be lifted
Murrysville Christian Concern thrift store officials thought they’d hit a low point in early 2018, when nearly the entire board of directors resigned in the wake of concerns among store volunteers and one board member that the nonprofit was not using enough of its revenue for charity purposes. That changed...
