Local category, Page 2228
FirstEnergy to spinoff West Penn Power transmission business; allows for faster rate hikes
FirstEnergy Corp. spun off its West Penn Power Co. transmission business to a new shell company, a move the state’s top consumer advocate says will allow the Ohio-based utility a faster path to recover costs by raising rates on 720,000 West Penn customers. Keystone Appalachian Transmission Co. was formed to...
Duquesne and National Museum of Broadcasting commemorate 1st KDKA broadcast
A two-day celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of KDKA’s first radio broadcast is being held tonight and Tuesday nights. It was on Nov. 2, 1920, that KDKA made the world’s first commercial radio broadcast when it reported the returns of the Harding/Cox presidential election. Duquesne University and the National Museum...
Safety measures in place at Westmoreland polls
Voters who head out to the polls to cast in-person ballots will be safe, officials said Monday. All 307 voting precincts will be open Tuesday and safety measures were installed as the number of coronavirus cases continues to mount in Pennsylvania and Westmoreland County. Polls will be open from 7...
California University of Pennsylvania to offer some classes in person this spring
California University of Pennsylvania, which shuttered its campus last spring and went to online learning this fall, will resume in-person classes for about half of the school’s undergraduate courses when the spring semester begins, officials said Monday. The state-owned university in Washington County that enrolled about 6,900 students this fall...
Cindy’s Soft Serve makes leap to year-round, full restaurant in TarentumVideo
After three years in a small walk-up location on First Avenue, Cindy’s Soft Serve, Custard & More has a new home and a new name in Tarentum. Cindy and Bob Hatajik of Harrison moved the ice cream stand they opened in 2018 — now called Cindy’s Soft Serve & Hometown...
Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy buys East Deer land to enhance trail
The Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy acquired 43 acres of wooded land to make a stretch of the trail that goes through the Alle-Kiski Valley safer and more enjoyable. The conservancy paid $145,000 for the property, located on Murray Hill Road in East Deer. The purchase is part of a yearslong...
Covid infection doesn’t halt Westmoreland County’s Election Day preparations
Westmoreland County’s Elections Bureau office remained opened Monday after officials determined there was no widespread exposure to the coronavirus a day after an employee tested positive. That diagnosis was just another obstacle ahead of Tuesday’s election as officials continue to work through challenges related to mail-in ballots and the pandemic...
Western Pa. anglers aim to make it easier for outdoor enthusiasts to collect trashVideo
Hunter Klobucar and Tyler Waltenbaugh spent the summer of 2018 crossing the deep woods and backwaters of northern Pennsylvania, along the Route 6 corridor, and while their purpose was to study the natural habitat of brook trout, one particularly unnatural feature kept showing up: trash. “We’re in all these remote...
VP Mike Pence cites jobs, energy policy in push for Trump votes at Unity airportVideo
Vice President Mike Pence cited job creation and support for law enforcement and the military among strengths of the current White House administration in a last-minute plea Monday for Westmoreland County voters to help elect him and President Trump to second terms. Pence stopped at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in...
On eve of election, Joe Biden delivers pro-labor message in Western Pa.Video
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden delivered a pro-labor message Monday in three Western Pennsylvania campaign stops on the eve of Election Day. Beaver County “I will be the most pro-union president you have ever seen. I guarantee you a seat at the table,” Biden told a socially distanced, mask-wearing crowd...
Pine proposes belt-tightening instead of tax hike to make up for income lost to pandemic
Pine officials plan to implement a series of belt-tightening saving measures next year instead of raising taxes to make up for an expected drop in revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic. To counter an anticipated 6% reduction in overall revenue for the General Fund next year, spending will be reduced...
Joe Biden has strong, emotional ties to Rooney family
Jim Rooney, the youngest son of the late Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, shared a story about Joe Biden that tells all anyone need know about the relationship between the Biden and Rooney families. “My sister (Joan) passed away from cancer a year ago and, obviously, Joe’s son (Beau) did,”...
Voters to decide if Pittsburgh’s police review board’s powers should be expandedVideo
Voters in the City of Pittsburgh will be tasked Tuesday with deciding if the city’s police review board’s powers should be expanded so police officers are required to participate in investigations. The group, formally known as the Independent Citizen Police Review Board, also would be allowed to do performance audits...
New Kensington-Arnold elementary student tests positive for coronavirus
A Roy A. Hunt Elementary School student is quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, New Kensington-Arnold School District announced. Students in third through sixth grades attend the elementary school in Arnold. Superintendent Jon Banko would not say in which grade the infected student is enrolled. Banko did say the...
Hempfield officials take steps toward welcoming middle school students back daily
Officials at the Hempfield Area School District are gearing up for the possibility of middle school students returning to a more regular schedule. Surveys sent out last week by Matthew Conner, assistant superintendent for secondary education, ask parents if they will send their children back to school daily or commit...
Suspect in Unity woman’s disappearance wants federal weapons charge dropped in separate case
Federal authorities did not have probable cause to search a Potter County cabin belonging to Thomas George Stanko, making the seizure of a sawed-off rifle illegal, his attorney argued in a pretrial motion. Investigators didn’t have evidence that a firearm would be found there during the October 2018 search, said...
2 Georgia men charged in check scheme in Southwestern Pa. involving homeless, addicts
Two Georgia men are accused in a check-cashing scheme in Southwestern Pennsylvania that preyed on local residents and businesses closed for the weekend, according to court papers. Jon Jon Detrell Anthony and Jurele McKnight, both 31, are charged in Westmoreland County with corrupt organizations, access device fraud, theft, receiving stolen...
Greensburg police investigating Halloween vandals who shot vehicles, house
Greensburg police are investigating who shot out windows of nine parked vehicles and a house along several streets north of the Westmoreland County Courthouse late Halloween night or early Sunday. Most of the damage occurred over several blocks in the Academy Hill area, Capt. Shawn Denning said. No one was...
Pa. Secretary of State: Election will not be called by Tuesday
The results of the election will not be called Tuesday night — and that’s no different from previous years, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar reiterated Monday morning. “It takes time for votes to be counted,” said Boockvar. “Elections are never called – they’re never finished on election night, and...
Owner of Westmoreland, Monroeville malls files for bankruptcy
After months filled with lost revenues and tenants permanently shutting their doors, the company that owns both the Westmoreland and Monroeville malls has filed for bankruptcy protection. Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL Properties made the announcement Monday, months after the company announced a restructuring plan to help alleviate debt. The move came...
Shaler Area not considering 5-day, in-person learning at this time
Shaler Area School District leaders are not considering a return to full-time, in-person classes at the moment, Superintendent Sean Aiken told families last week. Students in mid-October began a hybrid model, with two days of in-school learning, after having started the year entirely online. “The next question is when we...
Westmoreland adds 129 covid cases over two days, 1 death
Westmoreland County added 129 new cases of coronavirus over the past two days, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Monday. Health officials said there were 66 cases added Sunday, 56 of them confirmed, 10 probable. There were 63 cases added Monday, with 53 confirmed, 10 probable. Officials said the county...
Peters Township school district investigating allegations of ‘blackface’ by band before football game
When the Peters Township marching band took the field Friday night for a pregame performance before a high school playoff football game against Woodland Hills, two drum majors marched at the front wearing a full-body black spandex suit. Some perceived the suits as the modern-day equivalent of blackface. The incident...
Allegheny County adds 264 covid cases over past 2 days, no new deaths
Allegheny County added 264 cases of coronavirus over the past two days, the county Health Department reported Monday. Officials said there were 144 new cases on Sunday and 120 new cases on Monday. There were 203 confirmed cases from 2,755 PCR tests, which were conducted from Oct. 23 through Sunday....
Hempfield student captures life during pandemic, submits journal to Heinz History Center
Mary Planic is hopeful her journal will one day help people researching the coronavirus pandemic. Planic, a 15-year-old sophomore at Hempfield Area High School, created the journal of day-to-day life starting when stay-at-home orders were issued by Gov. Tom Wolf this spring to help curb the spread of the virus....
