Murrysville Star category, Page 69
Man arrested after Export standoff, accused of threatening ex-girlfriend with shotgun
A former Export man remains in jail without bond after a standoff with police late Friday outside a former girlfriend’s residence, where he is accused of threatening her with a shotgun, according to state police. Alvin A. Kovatch Jr., 38, was arrested on charges of burglary, criminal trespass and harassment...
Franklin Regional grad Jared Smith to again represent Team USA at Pan American Championships
Pennsylvania Shotokan Karate Club’s Jared Smith qualified to compete for the Team USA senior team for a third straight year at the Pan American Championships in Curacao in May. Smith, a Franklin Regional graduate, placed second to Tokyo Olympian Tom Scott at the Team USA trials in January in Colorado...
Franklin Regional swimmers focus on relays at WPIAL meet
It’s been quite a season for the Franklin Regional swimming teams. The boys and girls advanced 14 swimmers to the WPIAL Class 3A championships March 3-4 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool. And while advancing 14 seems great, Panthers coach Vic Santoro said he was hoping for more. “It’s...
Franklin Regional basketball continues fundraising efforts for Clelian Heights
Organizer Kurt Kimmich longs for the return of the Special Needs Awareness Day at Franklin Regional. The unique event celebrates the students of Clelian Heights School for Exceptional Children in Greensburg, through basketball. Sister Charlene Celli of Clelian Heights told Kimmich, “Definitely next year,” when asked if the event would...
Eastern suburban Pittsburgh real estate transactions for the week of Feb. 27, 2022
Churchill Estate of Marylyn Knolle sold property at 2525 Greensburg Pike Apt 305 to Andrea Bullock for $180,000. Aaron Billger sold property at 2416 Marbury Road to Paul Jeffrey and Gail Elizabeth Roup for $482,085. Edgewood Brian Henry sold property at 1220 E End Ave. to Brian Wallace for $335,000....
Franklin Regional students prepare to stage ‘The Little Mermaid’ in March
Getting into character generally isn’t a huge challenge for Franklin Regional senior Haylee Phillips. Unless that character is Flotsam, an evil eel in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” Then it’s a little trickier. “I get to wear heelies, so I can skate around,” said Phillips, 17, referring to tennis shoes with...
1 in custody following brief standoff in Export
One person was taken into custody by state police around 11:30 p.m. Friday after a brief standoff in Export. State police and Murrysville police closed a small part of the lower section of Italy Road in the borough while responding to a domestic situation. Police were called to Italy Road...
Western Pennsylvania high school students take Polar Plunge for Special Olympics
Fox Chapel Area High School students suited up as characters from the Disney movie “Frozen.” It was the perfect fashion for Friday morning. With temperatures in the 30s and wind chills in the 20s, the teens took a plunge into 4 feet of cold water — dressed at Elsa, Anna,...
Murrysville Watch Committee makes final appeal to challenge fracking ordinance
After being rebuffed by the state’s Commonwealth Court in its appeal of a challenge to Murrysville’s unconventional gas drilling ordinance, members of the Murrysville Watch Committee will appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Committee attorney John Smith filed a petition this week asking for the state’s highest court to consider...
Murrysville area: Easter drive-thru, new school offices, art show entries, more
Submit news, briefs and event listings to pvarine@trib live.com. Murrysville to host Easter drive-thru Murrysville Recreation Department will host an Easter drive-thru from 3:30-5:30 p.m. April 13 at the municipal building on Sardis Road. Families can wave to the Easter Bunny and Yellow Chick and receive a treat bag while...
TV Talk: WarnerMedia CEO, Murrysville native Jason Kilar talks streaming wars
Looking back, Jason Kilar can see how his Murrysville upbringing led to his job today as CEO of WarnerMedia, the parent company of Warner Bros., HBO and streaming service HBO Max. His father, the late Lance Kilar, was an engineer for Westinghouse in Monroeville, a “technology geek” who ensured their...
Murrysville officer escapes serious injury after patrol vehicle struck by DUI driver, troopers say
A Murrysville police officer escaped serious injury over the weekend after the marked patrol vehicle he was driving was rear-ended on Old William Penn Highway by a DUI driver, according to state police. Troopers reported Murrysville police Sgt. James Chafin was stopped, sitting in a marked 2019 Ford Explorer conducting...
Murrysville council hears pitch for acid-mine remediation project
Murrysville and Export have the unfortunate distinction of being home to two of the largest mine water sources in the Turtle Creek Watershed. That is not through any fault of their own. Long-abandoned mine activity, combined with the natural flow of stormwater, has resulted in the slow leakage of various...
Pittsburgh’s eastern suburban real estate transactions for the week of Feb. 20, 2022
Churchill Nancy Carpenter sold property at 2300 Forest Drive to Adam Bates and Abigail Kalnas for $187,000. Edgewood Heather Elise Gomer Kirschner sold property at 123 Pennwood Ave. to Kelly Currie for $209,000. Forest Hills Estate of Karen McMahon sold property at 285 Barclay Ave. to Carl and Susan Depasquale...
Snowstorm doesn’t deter apple pruners at Murrysville nature reserve
A cold, blustery morning punctuated with a 30-minute snowfall Saturday didn’t stop about a dozen people from joining in an educational experience of pruning wild apple trees in part of the 183-acre Morosini Reserve in Murrysville. As Camie Szantner of Export watched her 6-year-old daughter, Callie, carefully cut a small,...
Franklin Regional notebook: Panthers miss playoffs on tiebreaker
The Franklin Regional boys basketball team needed a win in its final Section 3-5A game of the season to get into the WPIAL playoffs, but neighboring Gateway spoiled the Panthers’ plans. Gateway won, 57-36, to send the Panthers into a three-way tie for third place in the section. The top...
Murrysville takes public input on spending federal covid relief dollars
Murrysville officials wanted to hear from ideas from the public about how to use a little more than $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan relief funding at their Feb. 16 meeting. Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said the municipality had received an initial payment last July, and the second will...
Western Pennsylvania residents look to preserve region’s mining historyVideo
On an unusually warm day in what would normally be the dead of winter, melting snow perfectly illustrated why an old Pittsburgh Coal Co. mine in Fayette County is now called “The Ruins.” “Nature takes a backseat to industry, but it always wins out in the long term,” said Rachel...
Murrysville area: Art show, library programs, wellness checks, more
Submit news, briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Franklin Regional fined for chemical discharge The Franklin Regional School District recently paid a $7,000 fine to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, after mop water containing floor finish and floor-finish stripper was poured down a janitorial sink connected to the stormwater...
Franklin Township sewage authority finalizing system-wide flow model as part of state consent order
The Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority is wrapping up work on a flow model of its entire system, the next milestone in its consent order with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The authority has been conducting smoke-and-dye testing for illegal connections as well as video inspection of all its...
Commonwealth Court denies Murrysville Watch Committee’s appeal of fracking ordinance
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court this week denied the Murrysville Watch Committee’s appeal of its failed challenge to Murrysville’s fracking ordinance. Initially filed as a challenge to the Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board, which upheld the ordinance on unconventional gas well drilling, appeals at the county (2020) and now state level (2021) have...
Westmoreland Senior Spotlight: Franklin Regional’s Owen Holm
School, swimming, homework, sleep, repeat. This is the life of senior Franklin Regional swimmer Owen Holm. “One weakness I have is pushing through all the tiredness, all the exhaustion,” Holm said. Holm definitely hasn’t shown it in the pool, being a part of a relay team that earned a PIAA...
Franklin Regional standout Caden Smith seeking college football fit
Franklin Regional standout senior Caden Smith, a terrific three-sport athlete, wants to play football in college. Many consider him a Division I prospect, and some schools have inquired. But the 6-foot-4 wide receiver and safety doesn’t have any offers — yet. He was hoping to commit by national signing day,...
Franklin Regional motivated to make Penguins Cup run
When the Franklin Regional hockey team plays a game, the Panthers do so with a chip on their shoulder. The 2021 Panthers reached the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Penguins Cup championship game in Class 2A, but lost to Baldwin. “Every time we play a game, we talk about that game,”...
Gateway boys knock Franklin Regional out of playoffs
Gateway came to Murrysville on Friday night and spoiled Franklin Regional’s night on multiple levels. The Gators ruined the Panthers’ senior night and knocked them out of the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs for the first time in seven years with a 57-36 victory in a Section 3-5A game. Franklin Regional...
