Patrick Varine stories, Page 38
Franklin Regional Intermediate School named among Discovery Education Schools of the Year
During the 2017-18 school year, Franklin Regional administrators and staff opted to partner with Discovery Education, which helps educators integrate modern technology into their lesson plans, and provides academic support through multimedia content and other classroom tools. During the same time period, district officials were working to put a Google...
Franklin Regional proposes 3.5 mill tax hike for 2024-25 school year
Franklin Regional School Board members approved a proposed final budget for next school year that calls for a 3.5-mill property tax increase. The final vote on the $69 million budget will come at the board’s June 17 meeting. The spending plan comes with a roughly $643,000 deficit with just under...
Meet the family behind Luke Bryan’s ‘Farm Tour’ concert in South HuntingdonVideo
When Joshua Cunningham found out his family’s South Huntingdon farm was in the running to host a concert by “American Idol” judge and country music star Luke Bryan, he asked Bryan’s producer about their honest chances. “He said, ‘I’ve been looking at it on Google Maps — you have a...
Westmoreland bands earn 2024 nominations at independent Josie Music AwardsVideo
Three Westmoreland County bands have earned nominations for the 2024 Josie Awards, which recognizes independent musicians. Greensburg’s Derek Woods Band was nominated for “Social Impact Music Video of the Year,” for their song “Thank You For Being Here.” The song celebrates unity and diversity, and explores the importance of embracing...
Paving work set to start on remainder of Export’s downtown parking lot
Paving work on the northern side of the central parking lot in Export is set to begin next week, according to borough officials. Council President Barry Delissio estimated the work will take three weeks to complete. The paving is one of the borough’s first steps toward creating a more unified...
Delmont police will restart K-9 program for 1st time in nearly 25 years
The Delmont Police Department will once again have a K-9 unit, after introducing a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois named Dirk at the borough council’s meeting Tuesday night. In addition to about $60,000 in funding through Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward’s office, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli also presented Delmont...
Murrysville area: Ulysses Grant reenactor, Memorial Day events, ‘Blessing of the Animals’ and more
Grant reenactor comes to Delmont Living historian Ken Serfass will portray former Civil War general and American president Ulysses S. Grant at 6 p.m. June 14 at Trinity United Church of Christ in Delmont. Serfass will present a program titled, “The Friendship with William T. Sherman: The Military Friendship That...
Monroeville area: Food pantry dates, free summer concerts, convention center events, more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bpoole@triblive.com. Food pantry distribution The Garden City Food Pantry will host a series of food distribution days beginning in June. The food pantry is open from 9-11 a.m. and 6-7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. Food distribution days...
Salvation Army recalls ‘Donut Lassies’ as National Donut Day approaches
For American soldiers stationed overseas, a small reminder of home can be a big deal. Nonprofits like Military Connections in Penn Hills regularly collect care packages to send to service members abroad. In the early 1900s, that reminder took the form of the “Donut Lassies,” Salvation Army workers who traveled...
Murrysville area: Heritage Trail poker run, car show, kids’ craft mini-camps and more
Heritage trail Poker Run set for next month Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials will host their annual festival and poker run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Murrysville. Each participant in the poker run will stop at five checkpoints along the trail to choose a playing card from the deck....
Delmont stormwater fees will start in 2025, newly formed authority president says
A new Delmont stormwater authority will function as a utility and assess a stormwater fee on property owners, a borough official said this week. The fee will be based on the amount of impervious surface on a given property, councilman and authority board President Stan Cheyne, with the goal of...
Export Historical Society moves ahead with plans to stabilize old mine entrance
What began as a teenage Eagle Scout’s effort to clean up an overgrown hillside has become a full-scale mining operation for the Export Historical Society. That’s an exaggeration, but not by much. In 2018, Troy Florian’s Eagle project was clearing brush, vegetation and dirt atop an old Westmoreland Coal Co....
Murrysville library seeks area writers for local author fair
Murrysville Community Library staff wants to give local authors a chance to connect with local readers, and will host its first-ever author fair next month. “At the end of our summer reading program last year, the one thing we got a lot of was requests for more literary events,” said...
Jeannette Community Band kicks off 36th season on Memorial Day weekend
The Jeannette Community Band will open its 36th season with a May 26 concert at the Jeannette American Legion, 109 S. Fifth St.. The 7 p.m. concert will feature the band of more than 60 volunteer musicians from the city and surrounding communities. In addition to director Ron Stemple, Maria...
Free outdoor concerts bring Irwin community, businesses, artists together
Borough groups and businesses are taking advantage of the warm weather to bring a summer full of music to Irwin’s downtown. “We wanted to please a variety of crowds with different types of music, so we branched out this year with some acts little different from what we’ve done in...
U.S. Attorney: Hampton man received insider-trading information from Dick’s employee
Federal prosecutors say a Hampton man received information from a corporate Dick’s Sporting Goods employee that he used to net more than $800,000 in profits. Frank T. Poerio Jr., 62, has been charged with four counts of securities fraud, U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said Friday in a news release. Olshan...
Penn Hills man who fled police returned from Florida
A Verona man who led police on a high-speed chase before fleeing the state in April has been returned to Allegheny County, according to the county sheriff. Hermas U. Craddock, 37, of Penn Hills traveled first to North Carolina and then Florida according to police, where he was arrested April...
South Fayette man charged in multiple ‘street-racing’ incidents, accused of fleeing from police
A South Fayette man has been charged with riot, fleeing from police and other charges in connection with a street-racing incident in Downtown Pittsburgh the night before the Pittsburgh Marathon. Police said Jason Stotlemyer, 32, fled from two attempted traffic stops. Pittsburgh Police were called to the intersection of Liberty...
Latrobe rapper prepares to head out on 2nd international tourVideo
Sean Lewandowski started writing rhymes in high school after discovering hip-hop in the early 1990s, but he began taking it seriously after hearing Kanye West’s 2004 record, “The College Dropout.” “It gave me the confidence to pursue rapping, because it was such a breath of fresh air and expanded my...
Gun recovered from Donegal Lake connected to St. Clair woman’s fatal shooting
The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that a gun found Friday in Donegal Lake is related to the fatal shooting in December of a St. Clair Township woman. Dive teams from the Greensburg Police Department and Murrysville Medic One discovered the revolver about 70 feet offshore, Medic One Director...
Amazon gives inside look of distribution warehouse in North VersaillesVideo
Walking into Amazon’s 140,000-square-foot distribution center in North Versailles on Thursday was a bit of a “full-circle” moment for Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. “When I was growing up, we had the Eastland Mall here, which was a leader in its time,” said Davis, a native of nearby McKeesport. “It...
Events in Westmoreland, Allegheny counties will mark Migratory Bird Day
Avian admirers in southwestern Pennsylvania will mark World Migratory Bird Day on Saturday. In Westmoreland County, the Westmoreland Bird and Nature Club is encouraging residents to take part in the Global Big Day, hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and its eBird app. Participants are asked to observe and...
Prison toilets and more: Items from former Hempfield lockup are hitting the auction block
Who wants to buy a used prison toilet? Judging by the volume of calls auctioneer Bill Anderson has received about the sink-and-toilet combos that are being auctioned from the former state prison in Hempfield, some people are considering the purchase. “The county put out the legal notice for the auction...
Westmoreland Heritage Trail Poker Run set for next month
Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials will host their annual festival and poker run June 1 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Murrysville. Each participant in the poker run will stop at five checkpoints along the trail to choose a playing card. At the end of the event, participants will have a...
Murrysville acid mine remediation a ‘generational opportunity’ to clean Turtle Creek
The Murrysville Area Watershed Association gained the support of Export officials Tuesday night for an acid mine remediation project that would prevent additional heavy metals and other elements from entering Turtle Creek. The association initially pitched Murrysville council on the project more than two years ago, after working with Monroeville...
