TribLive stories, Page 637
Letter to the editor: WCCC should have equitable funding
Westmoreland County Community College is facing a serious budget situation due to reduced funding from its local sponsor, Westmoreland County. The county support allows the college to charge a reduced tuition rate for county residents. Consider: • State code requirement for local sponsor funding (Westmoreland County): 33%. • 2023 college...
The Stroller, Jan. 14, 2024: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Library to offer two new clubs for teens Community Library of...
Fentanyl’s deadly rise: Pervasive opioid becomes symbol of America’s drug problem
Fentanyl arrived right on time for Stephanie Taylor. “My tolerance was so high, it was taking more and more (heroin) to get my fix, to get me to that feel-good feeling I was searching for,” she said. Taylor, 35, a Vandergrift native who today is more than four years into...
Letter to the editor: Notable Westmoreland women
Regarding the article “Westmoreland 250: Area natives have made their mark” (Dec. 31, TribLIVE): I was disappointed to find 19 men listed but only three women. After some research, I suggest the following ladies be included: Martha Rial, a noted photojournalist, was born in Murrysville and traveled the globe with...
High school scores, summaries and schedules for Jan. 13, 2024
High schools Basketball Boys Saturday’s results Hoops for Harmony At York St. John’s College 82, Imani Christian 72 Ron Galbreath Classic At Westminster College Farrell 58, Union 51 Mohawk 65, Beaver 56 Aliquippa 55, Franklin 38 Nonsection Penn Hills 61, Central Catholic 49 Serra Catholic 90, Aquinas Academy 82 South...
High school roundup for Jan. 13, 2024: Penn Hills surges past Central Catholic
Robert Thomas scored 18 points to lead Penn Hills to a 61-49 victory over Central Catholic in nonsection boys basketball Saturday. Amon Hawthorne added 12 and Kahlil Wall had 11 for Penn Hills (8-4), which broke the game open with a 17-8 scoring advantage in the third quarter. Enzo Khalil...
Athletic director promises Michigan working on Jim Harbaugh contract as NFL rumors heat up
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel made his way down State Street during Saturday’s championship parade, he fielded the same question over and over again from anxious fans. Everyone wants to know: Will Jim Harbaugh stay, or will he go? Manuel doesn’t have a clear answer....
Top-rated quarterback Cam Ward transferring to Miami
MIAMI — The Miami Hurricanes have their quarterback of the future — the very near future — and he’s the one they wanted. Fourth-year junior graduate transfer Cam Ward, the prolific former Washington State and Incarnate Word starter from West Columbia, Texas, announced on Saturday night he is transferring to...
Injured Golden Knights star Jack Eichel to ‘miss a little bit of time’
LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights were preparing to be without star center Jack Eichel for Saturday’s game against Calgary at T-Mobile Arena, and Eichel’s status going forward is still unclear. The team did not disclose whether it is an upper- or lower-body injury. “The latest update we got today...
Major Republican donor in Iowa says he’s decided to back Trump
DES MOINES, Iowa — Bruce Rastetter, a major Iowa Republican donor, predicted a resounding Iowa caucus victory for Donald Trump, saying the agriculturally-heavy state maintains nostalgia for the former president’s tenure in the White House. At a Des Moines roundtable hosted by Bloomberg News on Saturday morning, Rastetter said, after...
Biden says U.S. doesn’t support Taiwan independence after vote
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said the U.S. does not support independence for Taiwan after voters there defied China and returned the governing Democratic Progressive Party — which has sought to limit Beijing’s influence — to a third consecutive term. “We do not support independence,” Biden told reporters Saturday as...
Trump turns on Ramaswamy, telling Iowans ‘don’t get duped’
Former President Donald Trump trained his sights on rival Vivek Ramaswamy, casting him as a threat to his Make America Great Again movement in what appeared to be a shift in strategy two days before the Iowa caucuses. “Vote for ‘TRUMP,’ don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA,” Trump...
Massachusetts considers banning book bans in response to rise in challenges
BOSTON — A bill making its way through the Massachusetts legislature would block efforts to ban books from school and public libraries. Lawmakers of the Joint Committee on Education heard testimony from advocates and opponents of “An Act regarding free expression,” which would prevent the removal of books from school...
Steelers fans have mixed reactions to shifting playoff game to Monday but express confidence in team’s chances
For Rick Porrado of Murrysville, the Steelers playoff game shifting to Monday afternoon means a lot more than just a change in his viewing schedule. Porrado owns Rick’s Sports Bar in Murrysville — and he usually isn’t even open on Monday nights. By early Saturday afternoon, he was beginning to...
Pa.’s poorest school districts were slated for a funding boost, but aid went to construction instead
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. BELLEFONTE — Pennsylvania’s poorest districts won’t receive $100 million in new money to help fill vacancies and reduce funding deficits after lawmakers diverted those dollars...
Nickolaus Hayes: Why Dry January is good for your health
Dry January — abstaining from alcohol for the entirety of the first month of the year — has significant benefits for physical and mental health. It also prevents impaired driving and helps people reevaluate their drinking habits. Social drinking during the holiday season is widely accepted, generally seen as a...
North Allegheny notebook: 6 Tigers picked for PIHL all-star game
Six North Allegheny hockey players were selected to play in the annual PIHL all-star game, set for Jan. 28, at Robert Morris’ Island Sports Center. Forwards Marc Joyson, Ryan Jackman and Evan Kerber; defensemen Owen Logan and Travis Lamark; and goalie Andrew Long were picked to play in the Class...
Robin Abcarian: With every release of court documents, the damage Jeffrey Epstein did confronts us anew
I could live the rest of my life happily without being reminded of Jeffrey Epstein, his yearslong exploitation of young women or the many famous male moths who were drawn to the billionaire’s flame. I’m sure his emotionally scarred victims wish they could, too. Recent news developments, unfortunately, make the...
Letter to the editor: Shutdown as scare tactic
The evening news has been reporting, again, a possible federal government shutdown. By my own rude/crude math, our fair republic has been rescued from government shutdown more than once in the last short stack of years. It’s getting to be a regular thing, something possibly used as a bargaining chip...
Sounding off: Pay raises, slavery, freedoms, tax hikes among week’s topics
Pa. Legislature’s blank check There is a popular commercial dealing with the timeshare industry. Basics are this: You don’t know how much and for how long you are going to pay for a real estate mistake. You signed a blank check for life. Several times this paper has granted me...
Few power outages reported Saturday evening after heavy winds wreaked havoc earlier
With a heavy wind advisory in effect through Sunday across Southwestern Pennsylvania, plenty of residents are waking up to news of a downed tree in their area. As of 8:30 a.m., PennDOT officials in Westmoreland County were reporting several downed trees either blocking the road or laying on utility wires...
Letter to the editor: Action needed on toxic wastewater
A Dec. 21 Penn State webinar, “Natural Gas in the Appalachian Basin,” discussed the Marcellus and Utica shale gas. Nothing was said about managing wastewater produced from fracking, or other dangers of gas. It was said gas is needed to provide constant electricity. After storms damaged Hawaiian electricity, the island...
Editorial: Pennsylvania will flood with campaign cash in 2024
We knew it was coming. The 2024 election year was bound to be some rough weather for Pennsylvania. It’s a presidential year, after all, which means national campaign funds and political action committee money will fall like rain. Presidential years also mean state and federal representatives will be on the...
The Stroller, Jan. 13, 2024: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Publicize your non-profit’s community events, fundraisers and club meetings for free in The Stroller. Send information at least two weeks in advance to vndnews@triblive.com or The Stroller, 210 Wood St., Tarentum PA 15084. Please include a daytime telephone number. Who Knew? program to discuss extreme winter weather The Who Knew?...
Letter to the editor: Watching our freedoms erode
First, I am not a Trump supporter. I am a retired serviceman who has fought for our freedom. A freedom that I have been seeing erode every day. I watched with everyone as they tore down our statures and rewrote our history. I watched as the playing of our national...
