Patrick Varine stories, Page 88
Murrysville returning amphitheater grant after costs increase
Murrysville officials will put plans to build an amphitheater in Murrysville Community Park on hold, and are in the process of returning a $300,000 state grant to pursue one double its size. “We got back together and decided to take another look at this,” Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said....
Jazz musician Bill Heid to perform at Joey’s in ExportVideo
Bill Heid can remember being in his father’s studio, George Heid Productions, and seeing famous musicians like Billy Strayhorn, Henry Mancini and George Benson walk through its doors to record. “A lot of the Pittsburgh jazz greats recorded their first demo at my dad’s studio,” said Heid, who has been...
Export officials begin seeing benefits of controversial landlord license fee
When Export officials introduced the idea of a $100 annual license fee for rental property owners, it was met with a good amount of push-back from not just local landlords but also borough council members with rental units. Since it went into effect, however, some borough officials said they can...
Pa. Game Commission restricts rock climbing at 2 Fayette state game lands
While rock climbing has become increasingly popular at two state game lands in Fayette County, state game commission officials are restricting it to the animals that grew up there. The Pennsylvania Game Commission and state Fish & Boat Commission announced the closure of all rock-climbing activities at State Game Lands...
Derry man indicted on child pornography charges
A Derry Borough man has been indicted by a federal jury on nine counts related to sexual exploitation of minors, U.S. Justice Department officials announced Tuesday. According to the indictment, Michael Wilson, 43, persuaded or coerced multiple minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to create photos and...
What’s That: Murrysville marks site of natural gas discovery
Editor’s note ‘What’s That?’ is a recurring feature in the Tribune-Review’s Westmoreland Plus edition. If there’s something you’d like to see explored here, send an email to gtrcity@triblive.com. In 1878, Michael and Obediah Haymaker drilled a hole in Murrysville, hunting for oil. Instead, they found gas, inadvertently turning the Westmoreland...
TribLive Taste Test: Hot Tamales Fierce Cinnamon Peeps
Aren’t Peeps bad enough on their own? Apparently not, if TribLive Taste Test guest host Anthony Varine is involved. This week, with Easter on the way, we try out one of the many variations on Peeps. When last we encountered this marshmallow monstrosity, the Taste Test team was sampling sour...
Crews battle Uptown row house fire
Firefighters are on the scene of a row house fire that broke out Monday night in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood. Allegheny County 911 officials said fire crews were called to a residence near the intersection of Locust and Van Braam streets Uptown, near UPMC Mercy Hospital. The Pittsburgh Fire Fighters Twitter...
Suspect arrested in South Side Flats shooting
Pittsburgh police have arrested a man in connection with an April 2 shooting on Pittsburgh’s South Side that left another man in critical condition. Julyan Richards, 25, who was not listed with an address in court records, has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. Shortly...
Westbound Turnpike exit in Cranberry to close Monday night into Tuesday morning
The westbound Cranberry exit ramp from the Pennsylvania Turnpike will close at 7 p.m. Monday night and reopen Tuesday morning as work crews remove a disabled tractor trailer from the ramp, turnpike officials announced Monday. The closure of the westbound Exit 28 ramp will be from 7 p.m. Monday night...
Former Penn Monroe site in Monroeville to house Aldi, Key Bank, 2 restaurants
Work has begun on the site of the former Penn Monroe in Monroeville, after a proposed development there stalled several years ago. Key Development has proposed anchoring the property with a grocery store along with a bank, sit-down restaurant and drive-through restaurant. Steve Panko, representing Key Development, told Monroeville planning...
Pandemic isolation helps shape Greensburg family band’s new albumVideo
On “Lonely Telephone,” an EP released by Greensburg band Essential Machine about a decade ago, acoustic-based tunes bubble and float, underpinned by quirky xylophone pings and an indie-folk-music aesthetic. As the band — husband and wife R.J. and Karen Dietrich and their son, 20-year-old Robert — prepares to release its...
Franklin Regional Fly Fishing Club works with Trout Unlimited to promote conservation
Eleven students from the Franklin Regional School District found themselves wading into Loyalhanna Creek last week, learning about fly fishing courtesy of the Forbes Trail chapter of Trout Unlimited. “It’s our opportunity to recruit our replacements,” said chapter member Larry Myers. “We need someone in the future to continue with...
Grammy-nominated Rhonda Vincent brings bluegrass to the Lamp TheatreVideo
Rhonda Vincent learned to play the drums at age 6, the mandolin at 8, and the fiddle all before reaching her teenage years. She’s been recording bluegrass music since she was 5, with her family on “The Sally Mountain Show.” She is the fifth generation of her Missouri family to...
Murrysville man starts ‘Trout Glam’ Instagram with unique fishing photos
There are men and women who take the sport of fishing seriously, with that approach reflected in photographs of their catches. Mike Ruane, 47, of Murrysville is not one of those people. He might be serious about his fishing — but not about his photos. You can catch him yelling...
Murrysville woman charged after walking in front of traffic in Kiski Township for 2nd time
Kiski Township police arrested a Murrysville woman Thursday afternoon who they said was walking in front of oncoming traffic on Route 156 just north of Avonmore for the second time this month. Police said they were called to Route 156 near Adair Road where they found Janne D. Hussak, 31,...
Uptown man, 67, charged with 3 Downtown Pittsburgh bank robberies
An Uptown man is facing a federal indictment, accused of robbing three Downtown Pittsburgh banks between Jan. 31 and Feb. 8. Calvin Leavy, 67, of Pride Street, was arrested Feb. 8 in the Midtown section of the city, police said. They said Leavy had taken a Port Authority bus after...
Franklin Regional ‘unpauses’ teaching of honors English novel ‘Persepolis’
The Franklin Regional School District’s curriculum committee called a special meeting earlier this week, at which its members voted to “unpause” the teaching of Marjane Satrapi’s 2004 graphic novel “Persepolis,” set during the Iranian Revolution. The committee voted 3-0 — school director and committee member Traci Eshelman Ramey was not...
Pittsburgh police: Man shot in Arlington Heights in serious condition
A man is in the hospital in serious condition following a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Arlington Heights neighborhood Thursday afternoon, according to police. Pittsburgh police were called to the 3000 block of Cordell Place around 4:15 p.m. and arrived to find a man who had been shot in the leg. He...
Pittsburgh police: Stolen vehicle crashes into Downtown construction site, the suspect’s 4th arrest in a week
Construction crews doing sidewalk repair and street work at the closed intersection of Wood Street and Sixth Avenue now have some additional work to do, after a stolen vehicle crashed into the closed intersection Thursday morning. Just before 10:30 a.m., Pittsburgh police responded to the 300 block of Sixth Avenue...
Murrysville area: Woman’s club scholarships, bio-ethics talk, more
Submit news, briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Woman’s club scholarships, fundraiser event • The Murrysville Woman’s Club is accepting applications for at least three non-traditional scholarships of $3,000. Applicants must be residents of Westmoreland County, 21 years or older and must demonstrate financial need. They must be currently enrolled...
Myrtle Beach reporter sharpened her journalism skills at Franklin Regional
Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would...
MMA returns to Monroeville with ‘Brawl in the Burgh 11’
It’s been a while since Andrew Evans needed to worry about being picked on at school. “I was an out-of-shape kid, and in ninth grade, I got really tired of it and decided to go down to an MMA gym and start training,” said Evans, 19. On April 16, the...
Harmar guitarist’s band earns multiple Iron City Rocks awards
When he was teaching himself to play guitar at 12 years old, Matthew Kamenicky imagined being in a rock ’n’ roll band someday. What he couldn’t have imagined was that, not long after forming the rock group Steel Mill Rising, he’d be getting a call from an ESPN official asking...
Penn Township artist’s work included in Pittsburgh Pastel Artists League exhibit
While she typically works with oil paints, Penn Township artist Rita Haldeman found herself drawn to soft pastels, composed of pigment, water and a small amount of chalk or artificial binder. “Pastels have the most beautiful luminosity and vibrant color,” she said. “They create new colors in a different way,...
