Renatta Signorini stories, Page 119

The Westmoreland County Food Bank has seen an “overwhelming” increase in need with no end in sight, CEO Jennifer Miller said. “Our biggest obstacle right now is the unknown,” she said. But the organization knows for sure it can count on an $80,000 donation from Excela Health employees. “This $80,000...

Six more people have been charged in connection with an alleged yearlong scheme that used fake legal mail to deliver drugs to the Westmoreland County Prison. Five men were inmates at the time of the alleged offenses and the sixth was a girlfriend of one of the defendants, according to...

A construction project in Ohiopyle will not be done by Memorial Day because of delays related to the coronavirus pandemic and CSX railroad, PennDOT officials said Friday. Construction crews are now aiming for July 3 to wrap up work on the $12.4 million project designed to improve pedestrian safety in...

A Southwest Greensburg borough councilman directed a racial slur at another man last month during an investigation about a dog fight, according to a police report. Then this week, Councilman David Thomas questioned Police Chief Chris Kent about why information about him apparently using the slur was included in a...

An extension was granted for Pennsylvanians whose driver’s licenses, photo identification cards and learner’s permits are expiring this month. Expiration dates from March 16 through May 31 are extended to June 30, PennDOT announced Friday. Driver’s license centers statewide have been closed since March 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic. May...

Thousands of meals distributed in the Jeannette City School District are providing families with extra food during the coronavirus pandemic. Superintendent Matt Jones said the food, provided through the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, are appreciated by the community. “They’re providing those meals, especially on...

A Giant Eagle store in Unity was sanitized and reopened after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, the grocery chain announced. The employee was last in the Mountain Laurel Plaza store along Route 30 on Thursday. The case was confirmed Monday, according to information posted on the company’s website....

After her high school sweetheart spent 20 days hospitalized on a ventilator, Karyl Nicholas of North Huntingdon was relieved to finally talk to him by phone. The day the tube was removed — April 19 — is a bright spot in what has been nerve-wracking weeks for the family of...

Westmoreland Community Action is seeking input about community needs during the coronavirus pandemic. The results of an online survey will help the organization create services that could help. Nearly 1.6 million Pennsylvania workers have filed unemployment claims since mid-March, when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered closures of some businesses and schools...

A sheet of paper left in the Westmoreland County Prison library helped investigators unravel a yearlong scheme that used mail to deliver drugs to the Hempfield lockup, officials reported in court documents. Corrections officers listened to inmate phone conversations to intercept pieces of mail, and county detectives staked out the...

Three new deaths in Westmoreland County related to the coronavirus have been reported by Coroner Ken Bacha. All three were women, bringing the death toll to 30, according to statistics updated early Monday. Bacha has said the majority of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care homes....

State police are looking for a 39-year-old man described as armed and dangerous in connection with vehicle thefts in Westmoreland County. Troopers in Greensburg said Brian Joseph Stoltie is wanted in South Carolina for the 2019 attempted homicide of a police officer. Stoltie has ties to Westmoreland and Fayette counties,...

Jeannette City School District teachers and staff members will get to see some of their students in person Saturday for the first time in six weeks. A car parade will wind through the city as an opportunity for district employees to see students, albeit from a safe distance. The parade...

The Westmoreland County coronavirus death toll stands at 27, according to the coroner. A woman’s death was added to a total that is being provided by Coroner Ken Bacha, who said the majority of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care homes. He is being notified of...

Repair work is coming to a close at a huge sinkhole that opened up next to Route 30 at the Greensburg-Hempfield border in July after heavy rains. PennDOT spokesman Jay Ofsanik said the emergency repairs cost about $4 million and should be finished next month. Crews reached depths of 45...

A man died of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, bringing the death toll to 26, officials said Thursday. The death was added to a list that is being provided by Coroner Ken Bacha, who has said the majority of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care homes....

Two men were arrested this week in connection with an August shooting in Jeannette that left both injured. City police and Westmoreland County detectives said James Winston Smith, 42, of Jeannette, was in an alley behind North Third Street when he fired a handgun at James McClinton IV, 34, of...

State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, will hold a telephone town hall Wednesday afternoon about the coronavirus pandemic in Westmoreland County. Ward said she will be joined by Coroner Ken Bacha and Excela Health emergency medicine Dr. Heather Walker at 2:40 p.m. Constituents can listen to the discussion by phone or...

Officials said late Monday that a woman died from the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, bringing the death total to 25. The death was reported to the coroner’s office and added to the total Coroner Ken Bacha is providing on his department’s website. He is being notified of virus-related deaths sooner...

Firefighters found evidence of a squatter living in an abandoned Jeannette house while extinguishing a fire there Friday night, said Fire Chief Bill Frye. The Lavelle Street blaze appears to have started in a second-floor bedroom. A state police fire marshal and Jeannette officers are investigating the cause, Frye said....

State police cited two people for violating Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order after troopers said they were found drinking at a friend’s Bell Township home, according to court papers. Kara Lee Lawson, 27, of Bell and Scott James Renwick, 28, of Loyalhanna were cited for violating the Disease Control and...

Three more men and another woman have died from the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, bringing the death toll there to 24, officials said Monday. Coroner Ken Bacha said three of the most recent deaths came from a personal care home where no deaths had been reported. The fourth death happened...

Westmoreland court officials plan to meet Monday to go through a list of about 70 jail inmates who have diagnosed medical conditions that could make them susceptible to the coronavirus. But it’s unclear how many will be eligible for release. “The medical condition is only one factor,” District Attorney John...