Quincey Reese stories, Page 9
Route 28 Harmar exit reopened after car crash takes out light pole
The Harmar exit of Route 28 inbound (Exit 11) has reopened Monday morning after being closed for several hours while crews addressed a fallen light pole. A car crash reported to PennDOT just before 2:30 a.m. knocked over the light pole along the exit lane, said spokesperson Steve Cowan. Utility...
Penn-Trafford cops ‘best newscast’ honors, again
Penn-Trafford High School’s video production team, PTTV, won “best newscast” at the 2025 Student Production Awards hosted by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Mid-Atlantic Chapter. This is the 6th time in eight years the team has secured this recognition. Students Julianne Fontano, Ella Malloy and Bryn Urban...
Westmoreland Diversity Coalition closes after 10 years; founder cites retirement, Trump DEI stance
The 10-year-old Westmoreland Diversity Coalition closed last month on the heels of the founder’s retirement and an evolving national diversity, equity and inclusion environment. Local nonprofit leaders say advocacy organizations have made a noticeable impact over the years in Westmoreland County, but more work needs to be done to amplify...
Westmoreland developments: Ice cream shop, barbecue takeout, Playa Bowls franchise open doors
“Exhausted parent” is not necessarily the clientele The Parlor by Steel City Whip is looking to attract. But if one should stop by the Hempfield ice cream and Dole Soft Serve shop, Dan Busatto has just the right flavor for them. The bourbon-spiked espresso ice cream complemented by chocolate chunks...
Penn-Trafford, Freeport Area students compete in national rodeo
Penn Township rodeo athlete Sophia Bankosh meets with a chiropractor every four to six weeks to prepare for competition in the barrel racing and pole bending events. But the chiropractor is not for Bankosh, a rising junior at Penn-Trafford High School. It’s for her 5-year-old appendix quarter horse, Dusty. Bankosh...
Dino’s Sports Lounge in Greensburg closes after 15 years
Matthew Wolff watched Monday afternoon as Weyand Sign and Lighting crews finished removing the giant red letters from the front of Dino’s Sports Lounge in Greensburg. Wolff has been a neighbor to the restaurant for more than a year, owning the OsteoStrong practice two storefronts over in the Greensburg Commerce...
Civil War book wins Gettysburg roundtable award for Penn Township author
Penn Township author Ron Kirkwood spent 17 days in 2022 at the National Archives in Washington, DC, scouring hundreds of pension files for the stories of Civil War soldiers and their families. Kirkwood, 70, a Michigan native, worked more than four decades as a newspaper and magazine editor — for...
Greensburg Salem passes 2.5-mill tax hike after contested vote, executive session
The Greensburg Salem School Board approved a $53 million budget Wednesday with a 2.5-mill tax hike for the 2025-26 school year. The average property owner with a median assessed value of $17,200 would see a $38 annual increase in their tax bills with a 2.5-mill tax jump — bringing the...
Hempfield Area hires administrator as assistant superintendent departs for Greater Latrobe
Hempfield Area Superintendent Mark Holtzman will reunite with a former Beaver Area colleague following a vote by the school board this week to hire a new administrator for the district. Emily Sanders will assume her post as Hempfield’s deputy superintendent this summer. She comes to the job after three years...
Hempfield Area reduces expenses, balances $114.3 million school budget
The Hempfield Area school board passed a balanced budget Monday night, almost exactly two months after it was tasked with closing a $5.1 million deficit. The gap was presented at the beginning of the board’s budget discussions in April. The board in May cut the deficit to $172,000, approving a...
State environmental board maintains permit renewals for 2 Penn Township gas wells
Gillian Graber has been hoping to avoid this moment for more than a decade. A second state department recently approved permit renewals for two proposed Marcellus shale gas wells to be located less than a half-mile from her Trafford home. The state Environmental Hearing Board ruled this month against nonprofit...
Greensburg Central Catholic adjusts staffing amid declining enrollment, rising costs
Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School will undergo staffing changes heading into 2025-26 as the school faces declining enrollment. The private, parochial school’s enrollment spiked following the covid pandemic — jumping from 345 in the 2020-21 school year to 373 in 2021-22. The student population remained relatively consistent across the...
Western Pa. nonprofits hopeful state will pass bill to accept online, card payments for raffles
Gone are the days when Western Pennsylvania’s fire departments relied solely on community donations, hoagie sales and summer festivals to finance new equipment. Many stations rake in hundreds of dollars per month through tip boards — raffles in which participants purchase tickets with a chance to win prizes, ranging from...
Pitt-Greensburg grad secures write-in nomination for Hempfield tax collector after 2-week campaign
Andrew Lentz never planned to run for political office. That was, until a friend told the University of Pittsburgh graduate there were no candidates running for tax collector in his hometown, Hempfield. “I am kind of at the point in my life where I don’t know exactly what I want...
Hempfield brings back annual summer concert series with CCR tribute
The 1960s and ’70s hits of American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival will echo throughout the amphitheater in Hempfield Park on Sunday, as the township’s annual summer concert series returns. The “Amp Up Your Summer” concert series was launched in 2019 to expand on the township’s annual Community Days, a...
Monroeville manufacturing company expands with state backing, aims to grow industry in region
Mike Gunniers has a plan to expand his Monroeville-based automated systems company — Premier Automation — into a manufacturing hub for Southwestern Pennsylvania. The product of Gunniers’ vision, Premier Labs, a 70,0000-square-foot corporate venture studio in Murrysville, was introduced Thursday. It will focus on helping innovation and manufacturing startups, President...
Penn-Trafford area: Puppet show, food trucks, art shows
Penn Area Library plans puppet show Penn Area Library in Penn Township will host a puppet show for children, performed by the Children’s Institute, from 1 to 2 p.m. June 16. Titled “Kids on the Block,” the puppet show teaches children about conditions such as cerebral palsy, blindness and deafness....
Former Greensburg diocese bishop to be honored during viewings, services next week
Former Diocese of Greensburg Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt, who died Sunday morning at age 86, will be celebrated during several services next week. Brandt, named bishop by Pope John Paul II in 2004, led the diocese for 11 years. The diocese has not officially released the cause of death, but...
Penn-Trafford approves 3-mill tax hike, dips into savings to cover remaining deficit
Penn-Trafford tax bills will raise $84 annually on average following the school board’s decision Monday to implement a 3-mill tax hike. The board approved a $70 million budget with about $69.9 million in revenue Monday night. District tax rates will be 93.75 mills for Westmoreland County residents and 14.39 mills...
$172K deficit remains in Hempfield Area budget ahead of final vote
Hempfield Area still needs to figure out how to close a $172,000 gap in its 2025-26 budget ahead of the school board’s next voting meeting June 23, where a final budget will be adopted. The board held the final public hearing on its $114.5 million budget June 2. On May...
Woman in stable condition after crashing vehicle off Penn Township road
A woman who crashed her vehicle over a hillside along Paintertown Road in Penn Township Monday morning is in stable condition, according to Ed Grant, Penn Township Ambulance operations director. The vehicle went over a steep embankment, rear end first, shortly after 10:45 a.m., traveling about 30 feet down from...
Classic characters, bubbly beverages and pampered pups: 3 new businesses come to Greensburg area
Jess Kunkle is on a twofold mission: to pursue her lifelong career aspiration and help revitalize the business scene in Greensburg, the town she has called home for nearly a decade. “I wanted to help put a business back into downtown Greensburg,” Kunkle said, “because downtown Greensburg has been kind...
Irwin theater company reprises shows from founding years in 10th season
Rob Jessup is taking a step back in time, reprising his role as director for the first show Split Stage Productions performed in its inaugural season 11 years ago. Split Stage Productions spawned out of a conversation between Jessup and his friend Nate Newell about the lack of risqué or...
2 new faces expected to join Hempfield Area School Board
Two new faces are expected to join the Hempfield Area School Board next year, and two incumbents will return for another term, according to primary election write-in results posted Tuesday. Newcomers Lindsay Stevens and Daniel Graft and incumbents Scott E. Learn and Jerry Radebaugh won both the Republican and Democratic...
2 Western Pa. recovery nonprofits seek donations to continue sober space at Stage AE
Janice Olson considers herself living proof that it’s possible to have fun at a concert while sober. But for people in substance-use-disorder recovery, the heavy presence of drugs and alcohol can take the focus away from enjoying performances by a favorite musician. Olson, director of operations at Hempfield-based recovery nonprofit...
