Westmoreland category

At 60 feet tall and 75 years old, Jumonville’s Great Cross of Christ is starting to show its age. As the Jumonville Camp and Retreat Center welcomes visitors to the North Union site for the landmark’s anniversary celebration today, leaders also are seeking donations to help restore and preserve the...

Teamwork helped avert a tragedy last month at a Penn Township house fire. Firefighters and paramedics worked together to get a young girl out of the burning building to safety, the Harrison City fire chief said Friday. “It was teamwork. There were so many people who played an integral role,”...

Westmoreland County Treasurer Jared Squires will repay his October salary to the county so furloughs in his office can be prevented, he said Friday. “They (commissioners) wanted me to furlough at least one person, so I thought the sacrifice needs to come from leadership first,” Squires said. Commissioners this week...

Greater Latrobe High School senior Anderson Schafer peered into the viewing panels of a small colorimeter Friday. The device measures the iron content in a test tube of clear water, first collected from an abandoned mine and then cleaned as it passed through seven settling ponds at a treatment system...

The last official weekend of summer is upon us. Fall is coming Monday, so plan your next few days around these events to enjoy the last moments of the season. Rod Stewart tribute Singer Rod Stewart has enjoyed a decades-long music career, performing rock to adult contemporary and beyond. This...

Westmoreland commissioners said employees will be furloughed in two weeks and the county parks will partially close in early October as a result of the ongoing state budget impasse. Commissioners on Thursday instructed department heads to make recommendations for a temporary job reduction plan as part of continued cost-savings efforts....

A Murrysville massage parlor was raided by police Thursday and one woman arrested on prostitution charges, according to court papers. Municipal police had been investigating Asian Garden Spa on Route 22 since May after reading several online reviews of the establishment that indicated sexual acts were being performed by employees....

Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series on real estate market trends in Western Pennsylvania. Ashlea Lee was tired of hunting for pet-friendly rental apartments for Reese, her 5-year-old golden retriever. The Westmoreland County native and Greensburg Central Catholic alumna knew what she wanted: a modest ranch,...

Eastbound motorists on Interstate 70 in Rostraver and North Belle Vernon will encounter a ramp closure and detour as well as a single-lane restriction from 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 through 6 a.m. Monday. During closure of the eastbound on-ramp from Route 906, motorists headed north on Route 906 will...

Bill Rigby believes he had a face-to-face encounter with Bigfoot several years ago in Ohio. On Saturday, he’ll guide passengers on a Derry bus tour of sightings of the legendary creature closer to home — on portions of Chestnut Ridge overlooking the town. Offered five times throughout the day, the...

An Irwin man was ordered to serve at least 4 years in prison for possession of child pornography. Joshua David Ward, 34, pleaded guilty this week to three felony counts in connection with allegations he distributed and possessed more than 100 images that depicted child sexual assaults, police said. According...

Environmental nonprofit Protect PT may have to start over in its decade-long effort to shut down a Marcellus shale gas well development along First Street in Penn Township. The state Environmental Hearing Board ruled in June against Protect PT, which two years ago appealed permit renewals for unconventional natural gas...

State environmental regulators were peppered with questions from Indiana-area residents Wednesday concerned about the air pollution that will be emitted from a proposed 4.5-gigawatt, natural gas-fired power plant outside Homer City and the potential for impacting their health. “We don’t feel they took any shortcuts on evaluating the (air pollution)...

Even if you’re painting a life-size depiction of baby birds, you don’t need a huge canvas. That’s part of the reason why Murrysville artist Betty Trout decided to focus on multiple families of robins in her backyard as the subject of her entry in the “24 Minis” exhibit at the...

An observant off-duty state trooper helped end a nearly two-month manhunt Tuesday evening when he spotted a man accused of trying to kill his landlord with a pipe bomb. The suspect was riding a bicycle on a trail in Indiana County. Trooper Steve Limani said the trooper, who was on...

A Greensburg e-bike rider pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of disorderly conduct after police said he stumbled into and refused to leave the scene of a fatal hit-and-run crash in Hempfield this summer. Jonathan V. Mezeivtch, 35, was sentenced to one year of probation. He was charged after police...

Sewickley Township Public Library unveiled plans Wednesday for a new facility next to the H.W. Good Elementary School near Herminie — a $1.9 million project that will give the library a home of its own. “It’s been a dream of the board and director for many years. We’ve been talking...

In the valley below Monroeville Mall, a small stream that starts in Penn Hills winds its way downhill alongside Stotler Road, before breaking southeast and following the road that bears its name, Thompson Run. As the stream nears a bridge carrying Thompson Run Road over top, the water has an...

A former Jeannette man jailed for more than three decades in connection with the deaths of his wife and two young children wants to be released from custody as his case moves through the court system. Lawyers for James Young, 58, contend his speedy trial rights have been violated. They...

A candlelight vigil is planned Thursday night in memory of Tayson Foltz, the Franklin Regional student who was found dead outside the senior high school last weekend. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church, 4600 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. Family members said in...

Drivers in Murrysville will be detoured briefly on Friday, as work crews repair a traffic signal control box that was damaged in a crash where Manor and Mellon roads meet Route 22. Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said crews will begin repairs around 7:30 a.m. Friday morning. The work is...

A new member was appointed to the Jeannette City School Board this week to fill the seat left behind after Janice Smarto’s death last month. The board voted 6-2 to appoint Susan McFarland to the vacant seat. She will serve until the board’s reorganization meeting in December. Smarto died Aug....

Church News • First Baptist Church of Jeannette, 131 N. Second St., will host “Back to Church Sunday” at the 10:45 a.m. service on Sept. 21. The Rev. Jeffrey Johnson, former head of evangelism for American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware, will be the guest speaker. Cake and refreshments...