Renatta Signorini stories
Secret Service investigating $5M gold bar scam in Unity
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a scam that netted more than $5 million from a local resident through transactions in Unity. State police were enlisted to see if anyone else locally had fallen victim to the scam, which they said involved individuals posing as the Federal Trade Commission. Troopers...
Greensburg council to vote on $1.06M fire truck purchase
Greensburg council is expected to vote next week on buying a new fire truck for Hose Company No. 1. Councilman Randy Finfrock proposed taking $1.067 million from parking revenue to pay Pierce Manufacturing in full for a new rescue pumper. That option comes with a $110,000 discount on the total...
WTAE’s Elena LaQuatra: How a cochlear implant helped new Pittsburgh morning anchor rise to the top
As the clock in the WTAE studio counted down, Elena LaQuatra’s bubbly personality turned serious. She scanned scripts behind the anchor desk and made quick adjustments to her hair and dress. With a hand signal from show control operator Taylor Jones, LaQuatra’s face was broadcast live on televisions around Pittsburgh....
‘She was just a good dog’: Greensburg Bloodhound Team announces death of Darcy
Darcy was an accomplished member of the Greensburg Bloodhound Team. She successfully helped find numerous missing adults and children and helped state police get key information about a suspect in a bank robbery in Westmoreland County. In that case, she followed scent trail to where the suspect parked. “She was...
Jeannette’s Buster Clarkson Field to receive $19K in repairs, but coaches say more is neededVideo
Improvements are on the way at West Jeannette’s Buster Clarkson Field, but the high school baseball coach and youth league president agree more are needed. Lou Altieri, president of Jeannette Baseball Association, said he hopes the new pitcher’s mound and infield grading will be complete before the high school season...
Rodent infestation closes Ollie’s location in GreensburgVideo
The Greensburg Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has been shut down because of a rodent infestation, according to the state Department of Agriculture. A Tuesday inspection report showed there was evidence of rodent activity in multiple areas of the store. There were excess droppings and urine found, wrote the inspector from the...
North Huntingdon shop sells $138K Treasure Hunt ticket
A North Huntingdon smoke shop is getting a $500 bonus after it sold a jackpot-winning ticket for the Pennsylvania Lottery’s Treasure Hunt game. Lottery officials said the ticket, sold at Mr. Smokes on Route 30, matched all five balls drawn Tuesday to win $138,476. The winning numbers were 4-5-10-12-26. Lottery...
Supervisors OK liquor license transfer to Sheetz on Route 30 in Hempfield
A Sheetz gas station and convenience store under construction on Route 30 in Hempfield will have alcohol sales after township supervisors approved the transfer of a liquor license. The license was moved from the Youngwood location that closed in October 2024. The vast majority of Sheetz stores sell alcohol in...
Hempfield seeks more information on easements for Northmont flood control project
Hempfield supervisors on Monday tabled a request from Greensburg officials to use eminent domain to get easements on two township properties for a planned flood control project. Supervisor Doug Weimer said the board wanted more information from Greensburg about how the project would benefit Hempfield. Greensburg officials have been working...
Lost driver’s license? New program helps navigate process of regaining privilegeVideo
A new program at Summit Legal Aid helps people who’ve lost their driver’s license to get the privilege restored. What started as a pilot program in Washington County has spread to nine other counties, including Westmoreland, in an effort to help those who have lost, or are in danger of...
Peters Township High School senior accused of catfishing, sextortion of at least 21 teen boys
A Peters Township High School senior is behind bars in connection with an elaborate scheme through which police said he solicited and collected nude and pornographic images and videos of teenage boys. Police said Zachariah A. Meyers, 18, used fake social media profiles to communicate with the boys and coerced...
Suspect in Donegal Township robbery, car theft arrested in Youngwood
A man accused in a carjacking in Donegal Township on Friday afternoon was found in Youngwood in the stolen SUV where state police said they apprehended him after a short chase, according to court papers. Troopers said they used the OnStar system in the Chevrolet Equinox to track it down...
Greensburg watch party cheers on Olympian Jasmine Jones as she sets track bobsled recordVideo
When Jasmine Jones’ face and name appeared on the big screen Friday afternoon, her supporters went wild. Their cheers continued, growing louder and louder, as the Westmoreland County native raced down the bobsled track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, at the Winter Olympics “Go Jasmine, run your race,” someone yelled, waving...
North Huntingdon man charged with DUI in UTV crash that seriously injured passenger
A man was arraigned this week in connection with a UTV crash in North Huntingdon that left a passenger seriously injured, according to township police. Benjamin Howard Kessler, 22, of South Versailles, Allegheny County, is accused by police of being intoxicated while behind the wheel of the UTV on Jan....
Fire equipment, road salt top list of purchases planned with $1M Hempfield surplus
A $1.1 million surplus from 2025 could help Hempfield get ready for winters to come. Public works director Austin Erhard is hoping to order a half a million dollars worth of road salt with part of the leftover money. That 6,000 tons would fully stock Hempfield’s salt storage facilities, he...
Former Greensburg officer convicted of drug dealing must repay pension benefits
Greensburg’s police pension commission on Tuesday approved a decision that seeks the repayment of $75,400 by a retired officer who was sentenced to probation on federal drug crimes. The commission OK’d the findings of fact, conclusions of law and decision regarding the forfeiture of pension benefits paid to Regina McAtee....
Former Torrance State Hospital nurse charged with sexual assault of patient
A former nurse at Torrance State Hospital is accused by state police of having regular sexual encounters with a patient over seven months last year, according to court papers. The encounters between Dana R. Coxon, 40, and the patient, in his mid-20s, were video recorded and photographed on a cellphone...
Loyalhanna woman accused of shooting man
A Loyalhanna woman is behind bars after state police said she shot her former boyfriend, according to court papers. Nina L. Lipford, 51, was arraigned Saturday on an attempted homicide charge. The wounded man, 50, told troopers he was at Lipford’s home on Substation Road early last week when they...
Hempfield man accused of assaulting pregnant woman
A Hempfield man is accused of assaulting a pregnant woman and her unborn child during an incident at his apartment over the weekend. State police arrested Richard A. Haubrich Jr., 33, on Sunday on charges of aggravated assault of an unborn child, strangulation and related offenses. Troopers were called to...
3 arrested in retail theft scheme from Lowe’s, including Hempfield, Monroeville and Frazer stores
Three people are accused in an organized retail theft scheme at local Lowe’s stores that ultimately led to them sending money to the Dominican Republic, according to police. The trio used credit cards belonging to other people to make purchases in five counties and then pick up the ill-gotten goods...
Jury verdict: 2 guilty of first-degree murder in St. Clair woman’s shooting death
A Westmoreland County jury convicted Melissa Fox-Beacom and Matthew Bates of first-degree murder Friday in the 2023 shooting death of her mother. Jurors decided that even though Fox-Beacom and Bates didn’t fire the shots that killed Alice Robson on Dec. 11, 2023, their actions leading up to the shooting made...
Gunman in St. Clair woman’s slaying testifies ‘a light switch flipped inside me’, saying others convinced him to kill
Robert Jack was standing in the driveway of a St. Clair home when he was asked to kill the woman who lived inside. The request from friend Matthew Bates caught Jack, 20, by surprise, he testified Thursday. Jack thought he was at the Furnace Lane home to hang out with...
Eminent domain may be next for flood control project in Greensburg’s Northmont neighborhood
Greensburg may use eminent domain to acquire the remaining easements needed to complete a flood control project in the Northmont neighborhood. City council Monday introduced a bill that, if approved, would give Solicitor Zachary Kansler the authorization to file a declaration of taking at the Westmoreland County Courthouse. But Kansler...
Overlay districts could expand possible uses of former fire stations in Hempfield
Minor renovations at a building in Hempfield that once housed fire trucks have allowed Mutual Aid EMS to turn it into a new ambulance base. Ambulances have been responding since November from the former High Park fire station on Baughman Avenue, close to Route 30 in the western part of...
Ex-boyfriend testifies New Florence woman ‘despised’ her mother, discussed wanting to kill her
Melissa Fox-Beacom regularly brought up her hatred for her mother in conversations with her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, he testified Wednesday. She never referred to Alice Robson as mom. “ ‘My mother’ — she’d say it with an attitude,” Ace Vavrek remembered. “ ‘My mother.’ It’s like she despised her.” Even so,...
