Local category, Page 3125
Celebrate Fred Rogers’ birthday with trail trip
When spring officially arrives on March 20, there will be yet another cause for celebration. It would have been the 91st birthday of Fred Rogers, the late Latrobe native and children’s television icon, and the perfect time to explore his life and legacy at area stops along The Fred Rogers...
Penguins announce new development team, start of construction at Civic Arena site
The Penguins on Friday announced a new team for redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site in Pittsburgh’s Hill District and that the first phases of construction would begin by year’s end. Penguins President and CEO David Morehouse said in a statement that the Buccini/Pollin Group would serve as master...
Judge: Hempfield woman accused of sharing child pornography can be released from jail
A Hempfield woman charged with disseminating a video that police said depicts another woman having sex with a 5-year-old boy can be released from prison, a judge ruled Friday. Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered Amanda Smith to be released on nominal bond while she awaits trial next month, but...
Residents want gas drilling to stop at Beaver Run Reservoir
Environmentalists on Friday demanded board members of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County halt deep well gas drilling at the agency’s Beaver Run Reservoir property in Washington and Bell townships. The plea came nearly two months after a well at the reservoir property malfunctioned when a drop in pressure at...
$330K Penn State New Ken grant will train Alle-Kiski Valley teachers tech skills
A $328,000 state grant to a Penn State New Kensington collaborative with 14 Alle-Kiski Valley school districts will pay for teacher education and learning modules for students to take on computer coding and other technologies. The grant is part of $30 million awarded by Gov. Tom Wolf’s PAsmart, which is...
Great American Cleanup event planned in West Leechburg
The Kiski Watershed Association will participate in the Great American Cleanup with a cleanup event at the West Leechburg Wildflower Preserve from 9 a.m. to noon March 23. Volunteers are needed and should wear boots, gloves and clothes that can get dirty. Registration is not necessary. The Keep America Beautiful/Great...
Westmoreland pension fund reported in good shape
Westmoreland County’s pension fund lost more than $45 million in 2018 and for the first time in five years has been designated at a minimum distressed level. The account, which provides benefits to about 1,300 government retirees, has more than $415 million in assets after its value dipped by nearly...
Westmoreland Manor administrator out, replacement named
The private company that manages Westmoreland Manor has hired a new administrator to oversee day-to-day operations at the county-owned nursing home. Premier Healthcare Resources, the Penn Township-based firm that was paid more than $586,000 last year to run the 408-bed facility in Hempfield, replaced John Austin, the nursing home’s manager...
Guy Fieri could bring his Taco Joint to planned casino at Westmoreland Mall
Hempfield could land a little star power along with a mini casino planned for Westmoreland Mall. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s Taco Joint could be one of the options among entertainment options planned to go into the former Bon-Ton department store space. The Cordish Co., the Baltimore-based group heading the proposed...
Planned restaurant near Westmoreland Mall gets new name: IronRock Tap House
An upscale restaurant planned for outside Westmoreland Mall is getting a new name. Originally proposed as Sedona, the yet-to-open restaurant will now be called IronRock Tap House. This comes after its marketing team and owner Greg Cammerata decided the new name is a better fit for the vision and concept....
Student art from 1940s gives glimpse of Manor Borough history
Nestled behind desks and under a water pipe in Hempfield Area High School’s basement sat five pieces of Manor history in the form of original art. The paintings give a glimpse into what the borough looked like in 1943-44 from the perspective of Manor School students. “You see the age...
Meeting set on gas well failure near Beaver Run reservoir
The failure of CNX Resources Corp.’s gas well near the Beaver Run Reservoir in Washington Township in January and its impact on the community will be discussed by environmental groups during a public meeting this month in Delmont. The incident involving CNX Resources Shaw 1G Utica shale gas well resulted...
Authorities vow to aggressively rid Western Pa. of illegal opioid suppliers
Overdose deaths plummeted across Western Pennsylvania last year, but federal authorities said Friday they would continue working aggressively to further reduce the toll drugs are taking on the region’s communities. “Every person addicted to drugs is a son or a daughter, a mother or a father, a brother or a...
Trout season in Pennsylvania: by the numbers
Trout season is coming, and the state Fish and Boat Commission is hard at work stocking streams and lakes across Pennsylvania. Stocking efforts started March 1 will continue into April in preparation for April 13, the statewide opening of trout season. A full list of upcoming trout stocking events is...
No injuries reported after gun fired inside South Greensburg business
No one was injured Friday when a shot was fired inside a South Greensburg tax law office, according to police Chief Scott A. Fanchalsky. Attorney Jeffrey Burzawa, 59, was charged with reckless endangerment and discharging of a firearm in an occupied structure. He was freed on $5,000 unsecured bond after...
PennDOT: Route 28 lane restrictions from East Deer through Harrison to resume Monday
Separate projects along Route 28 will restrict traffic for several months in most of the stretch from Harrison to around the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer. The larger of the two projects is the completion of a $34 million project started last year. That work covers a seven-mile stretch of...
Emergency shelter in Downtown Pittsburgh to stay open on cold nights until April
A county-funded emergency shelter in Downtown Pittsburgh set to close next week will reopen any night that drops below 25 degrees through the end of March, officials said Friday. Pittsburgh Mercy’s winter shelter operated out of Smithfield United Church of Christ on Smithfield Street near Strawberry Way will remain open...
Lower Burrell’s former solicitor questions city’s savings with new firm
Lower Burrell’s new solicitor appears to be charging about half as much as the city’s former solicitor, but the former solicitor questions whether the city will wind up paying half as much. City council voted this month to part ways with its longtime solicitor, Stephen Yakopec Jr. It then hired...
Shady Side Academy student creates board game, SSAopoly, that gives glimpse of campus life
Do not pass Go — instead, pass the Senior Quad on Shady Side Academy’s Fox Chapel campus and collect $200. In a clever twist on the iconic Monopoly game, students have created a school-themed version — SSAopoly — with details that include paying $10 for forgetting “Dress Up” Day or...
‘Augmented reality’ artist will be featured speaker at AAUW meeting in Murrysville
Award-winning photographer and “augmented reality” artist Christopher Ruane will be the featured speaker at the Thursday meeting of the Murrysville Area American Association of University Women. “I was messing around with photography ever since I was younger,” Ruane said in a 2014 Tribune-Review interview. “Since I got out of high...
Bids too high for Bolivar boat ramp project
Boaters and fishermen who like to ply the Conemaugh River in the northeast corner of Westmoreland County may yet have a new place to launch in Bolivar. But the project likely faces a delay because the three bids borough officials opened Thursday were higher than anticipated to build a 30-foot...
Fire that damaged Youngwood toy business ruled arson
A state fire marshal has ruled a blaze that damaged a Youngwood toy business Thursday night was intentionally set, according to state police spokesman Trooper Stephen Limani. Youngwood Fire Chief Lloyd Crago said the owners of Gene and Troy’s Toys, who live nearby, had not been in the South Seventh...
Jury convicts man of 3rd-degree murder for killing family in Thanksgiving Day crash
A jury Friday convicted Demetrius Coleman of three counts of third-degree murder in the 2016 Thanksgiving Day crash in North Versailles that killed a family heading to dinner, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors intend to argue that Coleman should face life in prison without the possibility...
Latrobe Police seek help identifying BP robber
Latrobe police are trying to identify a man who robbed the BP gas station-convenience store early Friday. Police said the store at 204 Lloyd Ave. was robbed about 12:30 a.m. The suspect wore a gray, hooded sweatshirt, gray gloves, black pants and white shoes, said police Chief John Sleasman. Police...
Fox Chapel senior vies for national nod after winning big in Scholastic Art contest
Fox Chapel Area senior Seo Yeon “Christina” Wang collected eight Gold Keys in the 2019 regional Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a feat that sends her work on to national review. Seven individual pieces of Wang’s and a portfolio — one of only four to be recognized this year —...
