Murrysville Star category, Page 136
Delmont preps for annual road paving program
Delmont officials are paving the way to pay nearly $300,000 for the borough’s 2019 road program. This summer’s program will include paving work on West Pittsburgh Street, Stotler Drive and Cupp Way. Work on Stotler will also include some stormwater drainage work beneath the street. The vast majority of the...
Murrysville woman snares honors at IUP
A Murrysville woman will be featured in Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Eberly College student gallery as an Outstanding Student in this year’s graduating class from the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology. Julia Nitchman, a May IUP graduate, is the daughter of Beth and Craig Nitchman. She is a...
Facebook post leads to more charges for accused Murrysville massage parlor owner
Despite arguing that a social media post accusing someone of being a “liar” does not amount to a crime, a Mt. Pleasant woman accused of running four massage parlors in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties was ordered to stand trial for intimidating a witness Friday after allegedly making such a claim...
Delmont Visionary Committee works with IUP students on possible Heritage Trail routes
Members of the Delmont Visionary Committee would like to bring the Westmoreland Heritage Trail as close to the heart of the borough as possible. Whether that is the trail, itself, or a spur that connects to Delmont’s downtown area, was the subject of a project that saw committee members working...
Delmont Pilgrimage officials seeking more volunteers, sponsorships
Clancey the camel doesn’t come cheap. “It’s about $1,000 per night for the camel and the donkeys,” said Denni Grassel, a member of the group that took over the former Christmas in Salem Crossroads Pilgrimage and is seeking sponsorships to help fund the annual holiday event. Rechristened the Delmont Pilgrimage...
Franklin Regional student documentary earns national award
When Colten Oakes, a member of Franklin Regional Senior High School’s broadcasting and video production class, got his camera out at the traveling Vietnam War memorial in Murrysville Community Park, he couldn’t help thinking of his grandfather, whose dog tags were hanging around Oakes’s neck. “We were there to do...
Franklin Regional incumbents have tough time in primary
A raft of Franklin Regional school board candidates opposed to the Sloan elementary campus project will appear on the Republican side of the ballot in November, and two incumbents will not have a chance at re-election in the fall. “The No. 1 thing I heard from people in this community...
Incumbents cruise in Export; at least one newcomer headed to Delmont council
With 100% of the relevant precincts reporting, primary results in the Star’s coverage area are as follows as of 10 p.m.: DELMONT COUNCIL Dennis Urban (R, 48%) and Becky Matesevac (R, 43%), 79 total write-in votes (45 Democrat, 34 Republican). Write-in votes are a factor in this race because there...
Certified herbalist will lead trail walk in Delmont
Certified herbalist Lindsey Praksti will lead a walk on Thursday along the Westmoreland Heritage Trail in Delmont. Walking in the woods was what first got Praksti, who received her certification from the Blue Ridge School of Herbal Medicine in North Carolina, interested in finding new uses for the plants she...
Murrysville Medic One will hold open house for new garage
Murrysville Medic One officials will host an open house next month at their new garage off Sardis Road. “We want to invite the public in to see all the stuff that we’ve got and how the building looks,” said Medic One spokesman Matt Stromberg. Wet winter weather slowed construction on...
Murrysville teen pens play emphasizing importance of arts and humanities
Ariel Rockman, 18, of Murrysville thinks people should place more value on the arts and humanities. It led her to pen her first play, “The Intervention,” staged in late April as part of the Shady Side Academy Senior School’s Original Works Theatre Festival. The play tells the story of Harry,...
Manufacturing employees volunteer at food bank in Delmont
Anthony Beckley, vice president and general manager for Murrysville manufacturing company Dormont, was used to occasionally taking a work day and doing volunteer work with his employees. “I’d done a lot of it in my previous jobs at GE and Abbott Laboratories,” Beckley said. A little more than a year...
Trail Town Festival set for Heritage Trail
Bikers, walkers and joggers can join in the Westmoreland Heritage Trail’s first Trail Towns Festival on June 1, which coincides with National Trail Day. Start at one of the trail access points — Roberts Parcel, Braun/Carson Street or Saunders Station and travel to Trafford’s BY Park for music, food, ice...
Murrysville sets fracking well hearing for next month
A public hearing on a proposed Titan well pad off Bollinger Road in Murrysville is scheduled for June 19. Murrysville council will host the 7 p.m. hearing on the unconventional gas well in council chambers at the municipal building, 4100 Sardis Road. The Titan pad, proposed by Canonsburg driller Huntley...
Murrysville police anticipate joining multi-agency Community Response Team
Tom Seefeld started a Community Response Team when he was police chief in New Kensington 20 years ago, with the goal of having some officers specially trained for high-risk events such as active shooters or barricaded gunmen and serving drug warrants. Now chief in Murrysville, Seefeld is about to be...
Memorial Day events set in Murrysville area
White Valley AMVETS will host Memorial Day activities, including an honor roll and rifle salute, throughout the Star’s coverage for the 73rd consecutive year. Their schedule will be: • 8 a.m. at the Export American Legion on Kennedy Avenue • 8:30 a.m. at Murrysville Cemetery • 9:15 a.m. at Hills...
Franklin Regional middle-schooler’s photos on display at Westmoreland art museumVideo
When Tai Thomasson of Murrysville picked up his mother’s film camera a few years ago, he wasn’t expecting his photos to be published in “Murrysville Living” magazine. The 14-year-old certainly wasn’t expecting about a dozen of them to become part of a month-long exhibit on display at the Westmoreland Museum...
Delmont council approves work on borough building
Delmont council members are looking to replace aging items in the borough building, a structure described by public works head Bill Heaps as having “the body of a 30-year-old and the insides of a 100-year-old.” Council voted 5-0 to begin preparing engineering specifications for replacing the building’s aging roof, and...
Sportsmen’s group will host annual fishing derby at Sloan Elementary
The 32nd annual Sportsmen and Landowners Alliance of Murrysville Fishing Derby will be held May 19 at Sloan Elementary School on Sardis Road. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and fishing will start at 9 a.m. Hourly prizes will be awarded and at 2 p.m., trophies will be awarded to the...
Franklin Regional eighth-graders prepare to stage ‘Seussical Jr.’
Franklin Regional Middle School students will host performances of “Seussical Jr.” by the eighth grade performing arts class this weekend. The show will be at 7 p.m., May 16-17 in the Little Theater at the school, 4660 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. Tickets are $7 and will be available...
Police: Roaming cows in Murrysville spotted on Trefoil Drive
Several black Angus cows that have been spotted roaming Murrysville during the past few weeks were seen Tuesday morning in a Trefoil Drive front yard, according to police. Four of the animals were seen at 6 a.m. in the residential neighborhood off School Road South, according to a post on...
Murrysville police K9 retires after nearly a decade of service
Scott Kettren will continue riding around Murrysville as a police sergeant, but he may find himself glancing over his right shoulder for at least a few weeks, expecting a furry friend to be there. Kettren’s partner, Murrysville police K9 Argos, retired this month and will spend his days at Kettren’s...
13 candidates compete for Franklin Regional school board seats in primary
The Sloan “elementary campus” project is not the only reason the Franklin Regional school board primary is so crowded, but it’s certainly near the top of the list for many of the 13 candidates competing for six seats. “As a former senior public school administrator, I can unequivocally state that...
Murrysville retires one officer while bringing another aboardVideo
Murrysville’s police department added one officer and lost another May 10, swearing in Officer Anthony Talamo on the same day that longtime K9 officer Argos retired. Talamo, 27, is a Murrysville native and a 2010 Franklin Regional graduate. Chief Tom Seefeld, who served as Talamo’s training officer at the police...
Wetlands event series kicks off Memorial Day weekend at Murrysville park
Events centered around the wetlands area at Murrysville Community Park will kick off during Memorial Day weekend and continue through late July. The summer program series will begin May 25, as naturalist Susan Miller of Plum leads participants on a walk to check nests and eggs at purple martin houses...
