Patrick Varine stories, Page 81
Murrysville area: Oktoberfest, corn maze, scholarships, more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. ——— Historical festival set for Sept. 17 The Murrysville Historical Preservation Society will host its 11th annual festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Sampson/Clark Toll House, 5332 W. Pike St. in Murrysville. “Across a Tollgate in Time”...
Penn-Trafford area: Fall broom sale, Military Food Share, more
Bushy Run Lions to hold fall broom sale The Bushy Run Lion Club will be selling brooms from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept 15-17 in the S. & T. Bank parking lot, 4021 Route 130, Harrison City. A variety of brooms will be available, including household, garage, push (stiff...
Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials make minor revisions as extension gets underway
Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials have made some minor adjustments as they prepare to build a 750-foot extension to the trail in Export. Export Council voted unanimously Tuesday to execute an easement agreement with trail officials. Westmoreland County Parks Planning Coordinator Jeff Richards said they worked with the borough to refine...
Loaded gun, reported stolen, found near Allderdice High School
Pittsburgh police took custody of a loaded handgun found Wednesday on private property near Allderdice High School in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. The gun was discovered by Pittsburgh Public School Police in a Nike shoulder bag. It was under a blue grocery bag on a driveway in the 2000...
Pittsburgh police: Taxi driver robbed in Hazelwood
Pittsburgh police are seeking information about the robbery of a taxi driver on Wednesday afternoon in the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood. Police were called the 200 block of Winston Road shortly before 5 p.m. for a report of a strong-arm robbery. They said a juvenile had hired a taxi/ride-hail driver on...
State police charge former Freeport councilman, EMS treasurer with theft of nearly $100,000
State police have charged a former Freeport councilman and Freeport ambulance service treasurer with the misappropriation of nearly $100,000 over a four-year period. Justin G. DeAngelis, 41, who is listed with a Jeannette address according to court records, was charged Tuesday with theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and...
First phase of Maple Avenue parking garage work nearly complete in Greensburg
The first phase of repair work on the Maple Avenue parking garage in Greensburg is nearing completion. Greensburg Public Works Director Tom Bell told city council this week that the work should be complete in the next two weeks. The two-level Dr. Robert W. Queale garage on Maple Avenue between...
Irwin scout takes part in ‘100 Nights of Taps’ in Gettysburg
Scotty Clark Jr. has practiced taps, the historic bugle call sounded at military funerals in the United States, countless times. But that didn’t stop the 14-year-old Irwin native from getting a stomach full of butterflies as he prepared to do his part at “100 Nights of Taps” on the historic...
Everyone’s on the hunt in this week’s ‘House of the Dragon’
Everyone is on the hunt in the third episode of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” a show that has already spawned a sexually-inspired acronym which is unprintable here. King Viserys is on the...
‘Murrysville Madness III’ brings boxing back to SportZoneVideo
With two nights of boxing at the Murrysville SportZone under his belt and a regular rotation of venues ready to stage fights in the Pittsburgh region, Monroeville promoter Derek Gionta is feeling good. “The operation is getting to be routine, so now we know what to expect from a setup...
Penn-Trafford graduate heads up sustainability programs in Turtle Creek Watershed
Shaina Nicassio grew up in Penn Township’s Harrison City neighborhood, and after a stint with the National Park Service has returned to the area to work as the sustainability program specialist for the ReImagine Turtle Creek Watershed and Airshed Communities initiative. By organizing community events, local outreach and managing volunteers,...
Delmont resident takes charge of Greensburg diocese’s educational improvement tax credit program
A Delmont resident will take charge of programs that provide direction tuition assistance to students in Catholic schools across the Diocese of Greensburg. Diocese officials announced that William Barnes of Delmont is the new director of special projects. “Bill is now the direct link between parents, grandparents, parishioners, corporations and...
Franklin Regional Panther Foundation to fund gardens, microscopes, mariachi festival
The latest round of grant funding by the nonprofit Franklin Regional Panther Foundation will help fund a portable podcast studio, a mariachi festival and much more. Franklin Regional Senior High School teacher Jim Passarelli secured a $9,900 grant that will allow the district to take advantage of a long-abandoned area....
Murrysville area: Holocaust speaker, Dixieland picnic, conservancy events, more
Holocaust education speaker at ‘Boomers and Beyond’ James Paharik, professor of sociology and director of Seton Hill University’s National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education will present “The Holocaust and Catholic Social Teaching” at the next “Boomers and Beyond” speaker session in Murrysville on Sept. 13. Paharik teaches courses on the...
Dollar General moving from Salem Plaza to Route 66 corridor in Murrysville
Murrysville council will vote next month on a proposal to bring a Dollar General store to the Route 66 corridor just north of Delmont. Bob Gage of GBT Realty, a Tennessee firm that contracts with Dollar General, outlined plans for a 10,640 square foot store on the northeast side of...
Nonprofits, community groups to mark International Overdose Day on Wednesday
Officials at Highmark’s Fifth Avenue Place headquarters in Pittsburgh will light the building purple on Wednesday to mark International Overdose Awareness Day and to draw attention to the resources available for those living with addiction. That’s just one event in a flurry of activity that will mark the day. The...
Projects at Morosini Reserve offer new chances to check out local wildlife in MurrysvilleVideo
Zach Posner can remember watching deer browse the big apple tree his family used to have in their Claridge backyard. “They’d always come up and eat apples,” said Posner, 15, of Penn Township. “We also live close to Bushy Run, and we can go over there and see a lot...
Review: A good man makes a real bad decision on ‘House of the Dragon’
ALERT: Contains spoilers for the ‘Game of Thrones’ series up through episode two of ‘House of the Dragon’ Good, honest men usually have a tough go of it in the “Game of Thrones” universe. Just ask Ned Stark. King Viserys Targaryen isn’t a perfect man by any means. He doesn’t...
Delmont Pilgrimage marks 50 years of bringing the Christmas story to the boroughVideo
Kerri Cole of Delmont will not forget her first trip to the Delmont Pilgrimage, partly because of the impact it had on her and partly because of her unknowing lack of preparation. “I had stiletto heels, a dress and a full-length London Fog coat,” Cole said with a laugh. “I...
Pa. lawmakers eye stronger guidelines as school districts enhance security measures
Following the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a grant program with the goal of getting $300 million to state school districts for security upgrades. Four years after the killing of 17 people, schools in Western Pennsylvania are continuing to make...
Murrysville medic retires after 50 years in emergency service
Pat Anderson has seen quite a bit since he got his start in emergency medical services back in 1972. Some of it was deadly serious, making split-second medical decisions in the days before EMTs underwent numerous certification classes and were given basic first aid and CPR training. Some of it...
Mr. Smalls gives live theater a go this weekend with Sondheim’s ‘Passion’
Jordan Berlin Speranzo and Nick Grosso have a passion for live theater. So it’s only appropriate that the first production they teamed up to stage shares that same name: Stephen Sondheim’s “Passion.” Speranzo’s mother Liz Berlin, rock veteran of Pittsburgh’s Rusted Root and owner of Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale,...
Amphitheater project, vehicle replacement among Murrysville’s 2023 capital priorities
Murrysville officials recently laid out roughly $21.5 million in capital improvement plans for the next five years, including construction work on the Logan’s Ferry Road, Heather Highlands and Cal-Ken Court bridges. More than 70% of the capital improvement funding will go toward road overlay and infrastructure projects, according to finance...
Murrysville area: New Rotaract club, cyclo-cross race, fall library programs, more
New Rotaract club forms Dominick Fogle of Delmont was installed as the inaugural president for the new Rotaract Club of Delmont-Murrysville during the club’s charter meeting, held July 26 at the Delmont Public Library. Rotaract’s mission is to provide an opportunity for men and women to enhance their leadership skills...
Export will vote again, with full council, on $5 sewage rate hike
Export Mayor Joe Zaccagnini broke a contentious tie vote last month over whether to approve a $5 monthly increase in local sewage rates, passing along a roughly 8% rate hike by the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority. Next month, the issue will come back before a full council for another...

