Patrick Varine stories, Page 4

Delmont officials will host a meeting from 6-7 p.m. Oct. 15 with a question-and-answer session about a draft of the master plan for the borough-owned Shields Farm property. The draft will be presented, having incorporated comments received during the last public meeting and through completed surveys. The plan’s purpose is...

Rick Murray would like to help Walmart pitch its vision of a mixed-use development on the site of the Monroeville Mall, because he thinks it could someday be a real asset to the community. The problem is, despite being a mall tenant, he has no idea what the future of...

Being inducted into the local hall of fame is not new for Monessen native Charel Allen. She was inducted into the Mid Mon Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, after a career that saw her playing professional basketball with the WNBA and multiple teams overseas. “My mom signed me...

When Joanne Bortz gets home, there’s no telling what instrument her son Logan might be playing. “There’s at least 20 different instruments in our house,” she said. “When he’s not with one of several bands he plays in, there’s just constantly music in the house.” Logan, 16, is a junior...

Thousands of people are descending on the Delmont area this weekend for the annual Apple ’n Arts Festival, drinking cider, eating apple pie or just enjoying the crispy crunch of a fresh apple in autumn. And while there is no shortage of apples to go around, the larger industry has...

Last year, the Moore family of Murrysville revived “Igor’s Fright Shack,” the homemade haunted house that family patriarch Michael Moore created in his younger years. “My garage still bears the scars from when he started it,” said Moore’s father, Charles. “As a matter of fact, when they decided to start...

Council meeting change Monroeville council’s citizens’ night and work session in November is changed to Nov. 6 because of the general election. It will be held at 7 p.m. at the municipal building, 2700 Monroeville Blvd. Blood drive The Pitcairn Lions Club will host a blood drive from 1-5 p.m....

National Park Service officials are dusting off the contingency plan from the 2018 federal government shutdown, in anticipation of another closure starting Wednesday. In southwestern Pennsylvania, the two most-visible areas that could be affected are national parks such as the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County and Fort Necessity...

A Monroeville insurance agent has been charged for the third time in less than two years with fraudulent business practices. Prosecutors in this most recent case with the Pennsylvania Attorney General say Chad G. Skena, 48, of Monroeville, talked a client into investing more than $75,000 in a phony business...

The new traffic layout where Route 380 and Golden Mile Highway meet in Murrysville was intended to ease passage for trucks that must cross the highway on their way to a fracking well pad just up the road. And while it might be more accommodating to truck traffic, it appears...

Four deer hunters will get a chance to wait for their quarry in the confines of Delmont’s Shields Farm this fall. Council voted to begin a deer management program on the Shields Farm property, 145 acres that belongs to the borough but is technically in Salem. “A couple members of...

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Apple’n Arts Festival The 2025 Apple’n Arts Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 4 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 5 at Shields Farm in Delmont. It is at Contact Place. Parking is $10 per car....

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bkikel@triblive.com. Heritage Day Monroeville Historical Society will host its annual Heritage Day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 27 at the McGinley and McCully Homes, 2381 McGinley Road. Activities will include guided tours and interactive demonstrations, pony rides, farm animals,...

A Mt. Pleasant man has been charged in the death of a Greensburg man this past winter, after the two fell through the ice at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland while riding a side-by-side. Officers with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said Ricky A. Wise, 59, of Mt. Pleasant...

PennDOT closed a portion of Arona Road between Route 30 and Wendel Road in North Huntingdon because of a water main break Tuesday afternoon. Fire crews from Strawpump VFD arrived to find the road flooded near the Route 30 side. “Our foreman said the open ditch where the gas company...

Authorities have identified the man killed in a mobile home explosion Saturday in East Huntingdon as William P. Lubovinsky, 82. The Greensburg-based fire marshal for the Pennsylvania State Police continues to investigate what caused Lubovinsky’s home to explode. Firefighters from multiple communities responded to the blaze about 4:15 p.m. at...

A wildfire Saturday in Benezette it isn’t expected to impact tourism in the self-proclaimed “Elk Capital of Pennsylvania.” In north central Pennsylvania, visitors regularly flock to Elk County to observe the animals, and fall is particularly popular for viewing the annual elk rut. The game commission maintains multiple elk viewing...

Diane Daugherty of Murrysville has been looking out her back window at a construction site for the past three years. She doesn’t think the developers should be starting a new project until they finish the current one. Daugherty voiced her objection at Murrysville Council’s recent public meeting, speaking against a...

Former steelworker, longtime Pittsburgh-area labor activist and musician Mike Stout wanted a way to formalize relief efforts for those affected and displaced by the 2023 East Palestine train derailment. The freight train derailment on Feb. 3, 2023, in the village near the Pennsylvania state line included 11 cars transporting hazardous...

Even if you’re painting a life-size depiction of baby birds, you don’t need a huge canvas. That’s part of the reason why Murrysville artist Betty Trout decided to focus on multiple families of robins in her backyard as the subject of her entry in the “24 Minis” exhibit at the...

In the valley below Monroeville Mall, a small stream that starts in Penn Hills winds its way downhill alongside Stotler Road, before breaking southeast and following the road that bears its name, Thompson Run. As the stream nears a bridge carrying Thompson Run Road over top, the water has an...

Old William Penn closure Old William Penn Highway between Duff Road and Evergreen Drive will be closed through the end of September as work crews demolish the existing Parkway East bridge over the road, PennDOT officials announced. Traffic will be detoured. East of the closure, drivers will turn north onto...

A candlelight vigil is planned Thursday night in memory of Tayson Foltz, the Franklin Regional student who was found dead outside the senior high school last weekend. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church, 4600 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. Family members said in...