Patrick Varine stories, Page 9
97 years ago today, Disney copyrighted the Mickey Mouse characterVideo
On Aug. 12, 1928, an ambitious young man named Walt Disney filed a copyright application for Mickey Mouse, a new animated character he’d created alongside animator Ub Iwerks. That turned out to be a successful business move for Disney, who would go on to build his character into an international...
Pittsburgh region sees driest start to an August since late 1800s
After a spring and early summer that saw several damaging storms and floods, the precipitation well has run dry in August. The last time the Pittsburgh region saw no rain in the first 10 days of August, Grover Cleveland was serving his first term as president in 1887, according to...
Morning Roundup: 1 arrested following SWAT standoff in Bedford Dwellings; cooling centers open
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning — Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025: SWAT situation resolved in Pittsburgh A man was taken into custody Monday night in Pittsburgh’s Bedford Dwellings neighborhood after reports of a gunshot fired during a domestic altercation. Police were called to a home...
Westbound Route 380 partially closed after truck overturns in Washington Township
The westbound side of Route 380 is down to one lane and both on-ramps from Route 66 are closed after a truck overturned early Monday morning in Washington Township. First responders were called to the scene shorty before 7:15 a.m. for a report of an overturned tri-axle truck and possible...
Morning Roundup: Missing Greensburg man’s car found in Acme
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, Aug. 11: Man wanted for attempted homicide Pittsburgh police are seeking a city man wanted in connection with an aggravated assault this spring. Police said Bryant Garrett, 62, was charged with criminal attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery and...
Parkway East fully reopens after weekend work closure
After a weekend closure, the Parkway East is fully reopen on both the eastbound and westbound lanes, PennDOT officials announced early Monday morning. Officials said work replacing an overhead sign structure between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and Edgewood/Swissvale interchange was completed early, with the roadway opening back up a little...
Pittsburgh man fatally shot, struck by vehicle in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, police say
Pittsburgh police said a Pittsburgh man was pronounced dead late Sunday after being shot twice and then allegedly struck by a vehicle in the city’s East End. First responders were called to the 6900 block of Wiltsie Street in the city’s Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar neighborhood around 10:30 Sunday night, according to Pittsburgh...
Murrysville moves ahead with disc golf course at community park
Murrysville officials will move ahead with plans to add a disc golf trail at Murrysville Community Park that can also be used as a walking trail. Council voted unanimously at its Aug. 6 meeting to work with Dan Flanigan, a course designer with the Professional Disc Golf Association, on a...
Ackermann preserve in North Huntingdon to join Old-Growth Forest Network
Old-growth trees are much more than just an imposing sight to encounter in the forest, though many of them most certainly fit that bill, rising high into the sky and boasting massive trunks that would require at least two people to fully encircle. They provide shade for the forest under-story,...
Murrysville Area: Export summer festival, Fairview Park Old Fashioned Picnic and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Export summer festival The annual Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival will be from 12-9 p.m. Aug. 16 along Washington Avenue. Borough officials announced that there will be no parking on Washington Avenue after 11 a.m. on Aug. 15, through Sunday morning,...
Traffic signal replacement by Monroeville municipal building to start in mid-AugustVideo
Monroeville drivers will have to wait just a little longer for the four-way stop at Monroeville Boulevard and Northern Pike to revert back to a traffic signal. Municipal officials said a state grant they received in 2023 was about to be put to use this past April to replace half...
Victim identified in fatal crash on Route 51 in Brentwood
A portion of Route 51 in Brentwood has reopened following a fatal crash Tuesday night. Borough police said the multi-vehicle crash happened on Route 51 between Marylea Avenue and Towne Square Way just after 7:15 p.m. The road was closed for about five hours late Tuesday as police reconstructed the...
2 transported from motorcycle crash in New Stanton
One person was flown by medical helicopter and another was transported by ambulance from a motorcycle crash Tuesday evening in New Stanton, according to emergency officials. First responders were called to South Center Avenue in New Stanton around 6 p.m., according to Westmoreland County 911 officials. Mutual Aid Ambulance spokesperson...
Westmoreland will install 2nd Liberty Bell replica in Murrysville as part of semisesquicentennial
When the United States marks its 250th anniversary in 2026, replicas of the iconic Liberty Bell will be installed all across Pennsylvania, each with a different theme created by local artists. And while the goal was to place at least one in each county, Westmoreland County already has two in...
25th anniversary of the Rolling Rock Town Fair
If you grew up in Western Pennsylvania during the rise of alternative and grunge rock in the ’90s and early 2000s, there’s a good chance you recall hearing radio commercials for the Rolling Rock Town Fair. For a handful of years, some of the biggest names in modern rock radio...
Rolling Rock Town Fair debuted at Westmoreland Fairgrounds 25 years ago todayVideo
If you grew up in Western Pennsylvania during the rise of alternative and grunge rock in the ’90s and early 2000s, there’s a good chance you recall hearing radio commercials for the annual Rolling Rock Town Fair. For a handful of years, some of the biggest names in modern rock...
Croquet tournament fundraiser will continue under new management
While the organizers of the annual Westmoreland Croquet Tournament charity fundraiser were proud of their legacy in 2024, they were also a little sad that — at the time — the 34th annual event would be the last. But it’s time to burnish the mallets and polish the wickets, because...
Monroeville area: Book Walk opening, job fair, food distributions and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bkikel@triblive.com. Book Walk ribbon-cutting The Monroeville Public Library and its Friends group invite the community to attend a ribbon-cutting for the new Book Walk, a storytelling experience designed to allow parents and children to read a picture book as they walk....
Franklin Regional grad works on to address cardiovascular illness, healthcare literacy in Tanzania
While working on his undergraduate degree at Duke University, Faraan Rahim had the chance to travel to Ghana in west Africa for a summer project, and the 2019 Franklin Regional graduate fell in love with the challenges and rewards of global health care. Today, Rahim is on the opposite side...
Newly formed Gateway Skeet Club earns trophy at 1st state competition
The Gateway Skeet Club came home from state competition with a second-place team trophy — not too shabby considering it was the team’s first trip to the tournament after forming this year. “I think we were all surprised,” said team member Christian Sterner, 16, who will be a junior this...
Monroeville area: Job fair, church events, National Night Out, more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bkikel@triblive.com. Job fair United Career Fairs will host an Aug. 19 job fair focused on sales and management positions. It will be from 6-8 p.m. Aug. 19 at the Courtyard Marriott, 3962 William Penn Highway in Monroeville. Each company will introduce...
Researchers using scent dogs to sniff out eggs of invasive spotted lanternfly
Humans can be trained to identify the eggs of the invasive spotted lanternfly. But it’s not easy. The mottled gray color of the egg masses often matches the areas where they’re laid, or they’re located high in a tree or some other hidden location. Suffice it to say, no human...
Paying more for groceries? Here’s how prices have moved — or not — over the past year
Donald Trump campaigned, in part, on the promise to bring down grocery prices, but seven months into his second term, the result is a mixed bag. Coffee and beef prices are up. Baby formula, eggs and Cheerios are down. Toilet paper and diapers have held steady. “The obvious one is...
Pittcon, among world’s largest science conferences, will return home in 2027
One of the world’s premier laboratory science conferences is named for the Steel City — and it’s coming home for the first time in more than a half-century. The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry & Spectroscopy is organized almost entirely by volunteers from the region and an office staff in...
Soldiers & Sailors architect designed home for sale in Monroeville
There are quite a few surprises inside the stately Monroeville house at 1397 Abers Creek Road. First is the stark contrast of the early-20th-century exterior with the thoroughly modern trappings on the interior. But the 3,450-square-foot house, which sits on just over 11 acres, also has an architectural pedigree. The...
