Local category, Page 2621
Beating away the day: WCCC uses drum circle to help students handle stressVideo
The sound of drums on Tuesday echoed through the recently renovated Student Achievement Center at Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood. Students gathered for the monthly drum circle and worked together to beat away the stress of the semester. “It’s meant to help them learn to work together, to collaborate...
Close call between orbiting space junk expected above Pittsburgh
What happens if a space telescope weighing more than a ton collides with a 10-pound experimental satellite about 600 miles above Pittsburgh? “You probably wouldn’t see anything here at all,” National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said. The gloomy, overcast cloud cover is expected to continue through 6:39 p.m. Wednesday,...
Latrobe police to greet residents at art center
The Latrobe Police Department has established a tradition of inviting area residents to learn more about the work of its officers and other emergency responders during the annual National Night Out event, held the first Tuesday in August. On Feb. 5, the department will try a new morning outreach effort:...
Charges filed in Unity man’s 2015 drug overdose death
A former area woman is accused of providing a fatal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a Unity man in 2015, according to court papers. Caitlin Nicole Brown, 27, was charged in October 2017 with drug delivery resulting in death and related offenses. She was extradited to Pennsylvania last week....
Westmoreland Manor water being tested for Legionnaires’ disease
State health officials confirmed Tuesday an investigation is ongoing at Westmoreland Manor for a suspected case of Legionnaires’ disease. Residents and employees at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield have been using bottled water to drink and to clean with since Friday, when the investigation started. “The department is investigating...
Students at South Allegheny School District dismissed early because of bedbug
Students at the South Allegheny School District were dismissed early Tuesday after a bedbug was found in a school building, officials said. District officials made the decision to dismiss middle and high school students early out of “an abundance of caution.” Finding a bedbug doesn’t mean the building is infested,...
Westmoreland Labor Council backs Democrat Prah in 58th District special election
The Westmoreland County Labor Council endorsed Democrat Robert Prah Jr. in an upcoming special election for the 58th district state House seat. It was a difficult choice between Prah and Republican Eric Davanzo, said WCLC President Walter Geiger. “We are proud of both of these men. They are both union...
Wilkinsburg man on trial for fatal 2017 crash in Squirrel Hill
A Wilkinsburg man accused of being drunk, crashing the car he was driving and killing one of his passengers is on trial this week in Allegheny County. Daquan Lamont Thompson, 25, is facing charges including homicide by vehicle for the crash. Thompson and three passengers were in a Chevrolet Cobalt...
412 Food Rescue expands mission in Westmoreland, other Western Pa. counties
A Pittsburgh nonprofit that “rescues” good food from going to landfills is expanding its services to surrounding counties through a smartphone app and a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. 412 Food Rescue, founded in 2015, redirects surplus food from local waste streams to nonprofits that serve people in need. In...
Donations pour in for New Alexandria teen struggling to recover from medical emergency
A New Alexandria teen who earned three livestock ribbons at the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Show is struggling to recover after undergoing cardiac arrest and hemorrhagic shock. In early January, Autumn Zundel, 13, was diagnosed with an anterior mediastinal mass between her heart and lungs, after going to UPMC Children’s Hospital...
Cops: New Ken man tried to rob police officer in Downtown Pittsburgh
A New Kensington man was arrested after trying to rob a plainclothes police officer in Downtown Pittsburgh about 6 p.m. Monday, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV. Port Authority of Allegheny County police arrested Aaron Walker, 26, who allegedly approached an officer near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood...
The Stroller, Jan. 28, 2020: Events in the Alle-Kiski Valley
Cat food donations needed at Frankie’s Friends Rescue Frankie’s Friends Cat Rescue, New Kensington, is in need of donations of Purina Cat Chow Complete in the blue bag. Items can be dropped off from 9 to 10 a.m. or 5 to 7 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays or shipped to the...
Carnegie Museum will partner with Pitt, Boston University to study climate-change effects
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the University of Pittsburgh and Boston University will partner on a three-year collaborative research project to study the effects of climate change and invasive plants on trees and wildflowers. The three entities were awarded a $646,000 National Science Foundation grant to study “phenological mismatches...
North Huntingdon apartment building sold for $1.05 million
A Greensburg area property management firm paid just more than $1 million for a North Huntingdon apartment complex off Route 30, according to Westmoreland County real estate records. MAC Realty Management, based in Mt. Lebanon, sold the 22-unity apartment complex at 409 Bethel Road, to Scalzitti Properties of Van Avenue,...
Latrobe eyes higher fees at waste transfer station, end of downtown water line work
People soon could pay more to dump municipal waste at Latrobe’s solid waste transfer station. Under a proposed revision to the rate structure, the minimum charge for municipal waste dumped at the station along Mission Road would jump from $12.50 to $14 for 200 pounds or less. The per-ton rate...
Man in critical condition after Pittsburgh shooting
A man was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in Pittsburgh’s North Side. City police said they responded to a ShotSpotter notification of gunfire near the intersection of Brighton Road and Woods Run Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Monday. The responding officer did not find a victim nor a suspect,...
Plum Borough School District classes to resume after threat to high school
Plum Borough School District classes are expected to resume Tuesday as borough police continue to investigate a threat against the high school. Schools were closed Monday after someone threatened to shoot up the high school. District officials announced that evening they would be returning to a normal schedule following a...
Arnold Palmer airport security guard fails alcohol test
A security guard was sent home Friday night after failing an alcohol test at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Westmoreland County Airport Authority Executive Director Gabe Monzo said the guard failed an alcohol breath test he was administered after one of two other guards who were on duty noticed indications of...
Drivers urged to wait to fill up as gasoline prices continue to tumble
Gasoline prices in the Pittsburgh area and nationwide continue to fall on oil prices that are nearing their lowest level since October, an industry analyst said. “While the national average could fall into the $2.30s before all is said and done, the downward move likely won’t last much more than...
Westmoreland Manor water system being tested after complaint filed with state
Residents and staff at Westmoreland Manor have relied on bottled and boiled water since Friday as officials conduct tests to determine if the county nursing home’s water system was compromised. A complaint forwarded by the state’s Department of Health resulted in required testing of the Hempfield facility’s water distribution network,...
Leechburg Area Pool in Gilpin needs help from public to stay afloat
The future of the Leechburg Area Pool could be in jeopardy if it can’t recruit new board members, officials said Monday. The six-decade-old pool in Gilpin could potentially dissolve, which is akin to a form of bankruptcy, the pool’s board told members in a letter posted to Facebook. “We need...
Bar Louie gastrobar chain files for bankruptcy
Bar Louie, a national gastrobar chain with two locations in the Pittsburgh area, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the company announced Monday. The two local Bar Louie locations are at The Waterfront in Homestead and on the North Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field. Both of those locations,...
Brackenridge, Harrison and Tarentum continue joint planning effort
An effort to develop a joint comprehensive plan for Brackenridge, Harrison and Tarentum is scheduled to take another step forward with a public meeting next month. “We want everybody to come,” said Elaine Kramer, a designer and planner with the Pittsburgh-based consulting firm Pashek+MTR, which has been working with a...
WCCC approves sale of former Latrobe center to Arizona firm
Westmoreland County Community College’s former Laurel Education Center may soon have a new owner after sitting idle for more than four years. WCCC trustees this month agreed to sell the shuttered Latrobe building to SimonCRE, a commercial real estate development firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz., for $410,000. That’s $10,000 more...
Westmoreland Prison Board elects new leadership
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert was elected Monday to serve as chairman of the county’s Prison Board. The panel oversees operations of the county jail in Hempfield. Members include the sheriff, all three county commissioners, Controller Jeffrey Balzer and District Attorney John Peck. For more than a decade, the county’s...
