Westmoreland category, Page 150
Penn-Trafford eyes property tax increase, but some board members opposed
Property taxes will jump about 2% in Penn-Trafford School District unless school board members revise a preliminary 2024-2025 budget approved last week. The proposed $68.9 million spending plan is supported by a 91.75 mill tax levy in Westmoreland County, a 2-mill increase over the current tax rate of 89.75 mills....
Westmoreland students explore health care career paths at Independence fair
Tenth grade Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center student Zoey Wilders carefully stuffed gauze into a simulated wound to staunch the bleeding. A few feet away, nurse and emergency room educator Kelly Bedner cheered her on. “You’re saving that life,” Bedner said, ushering more students to try their hand at...
Court names Greensburg attorney to oversee Westmoreland register of wills office
Greensburg attorney James Antoniono will oversee the Westmoreland County Register of Wills Office, effective May 28, according to a court order issued Monday. The county’s elected register of wills, Sherry Magretti Hamilton, “has forfeited her role as the sole and chief administrator of the office by being derelict in her...
West Newton Bridge rehab among projects eyed with $300M in funding
The West Newton Bridge is among a list of projects that could be brought to life with $300 million in road, transit and bridge improvement funds that Westmoreland County is slated to receive as part of regional infrastructure work. The metal truss bridge, built in 1909, carries about 6,500 vehicles...
Export Historical Society moves ahead with plans to stabilize old mine entrance
What began as a teenage Eagle Scout’s effort to clean up an overgrown hillside has become a full-scale mining operation for the Export Historical Society. That’s an exaggeration, but not by much. In 2018, Troy Florian’s Eagle project was clearing brush, vegetation and dirt atop an old Westmoreland Coal Co....
PennDOT cites safety issues with Route 30 median barrier plan in North Huntingdon
North Huntingdon resident Tony Janczewski isn’t happy that the median barrier proposed for a stretch of Route 30 in the township could add two miles to his daily trip to work. According to Route 30 improvement plans displayed last week at the Hartford Heights fire station, Janczewski would have to...
First responders with PTSD would be eligible for workers comp under Pa. proposal
Life as a first responder can mean witnessing things that are hard to process. It can be different for each responder, said Shawn Penzera, director of special operations at Greensburg-based Mutual Aid EMS. Calls involving children or multiple fatalities are typically harder. But maybe an EMT recently experienced the death...
Newborn delivered during early Mother’s Day dinner at Hempfield restaurant
Four strangers and an emergency dispatcher helped bring Lyndsay Platt’s second child, Leila Marie, into the world Saturday on towels laid across a restaurant floor in Hempfield. Platt had arrived at the New City Buffet along Route 30 for an early Mother’s Day dinner with her fiancé and 18-month-old son,...
Tornadoes confirmed in Washington, Fayette counties from weekend stormsVideo
The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touched down shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday near Finleyville in Washington County. NWS confirmed the Finleyville tornado as an EF2, meaning it had winds between 111 to 135 mph. A church in adjacent Union Township was damaged while services were in progress,...
Penn Township to vote on expanding volunteer service tax program to include Manor firefighters
Penn Township commissioners will vote this next week on a proposal to expand its volunteer service credit program to include residents who serve in neighboring Manor Borough Volunteer Fire Department. Enacted by the township commissioners in 2018, the program gives real estate and earned income tax credits to Penn Township...
Westmoreland happenings: Computer class, salad smorgasbord, musical, more
Church News • Living Word Congregational Church, 2003 Ridge Road, Penn Township, will have a Second Mile prayer and communion service at 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday at the church. Class • YWCA Westmoreland will offer a class, “Canva for Beginners,” from 2 to 4 p.m. June 3 at the...
Water used for fracking on the rise but remains a small slice of MAWC sales
Water sales for fracking activities throughout Westmoreland and its neighboring counties represent only a small portion of what is distributed daily to local residential, commercial and industrial customers, according to recently released data. Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County said water purchased by local energy companies accounts for just 4% of...
‘I put five years of my life into this’: Seton Hill graduates first class of doctor of physical therapy students amid open job market
As Morgan Simkovic watched her brother receive treatment following a brain tumor diagnosis in 2010, she knew she wanted to be a physical therapist one day. Simkovic sat in on some of her brother’s physical therapy treatments at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. He completed seven months of...
Murrysville library seeks area writers for local author fair
Murrysville Community Library staff wants to give local authors a chance to connect with local readers, and will host its first-ever author fair next month. “At the end of our summer reading program last year, the one thing we got a lot of was requests for more literary events,” said...
Yough grad serves on USS Gerald R. Ford
A Yough High School graduate is part of a U.S. Navy crew that recently completed an eight-month deployment on a new aircraft carrier, according to the military. Commander Doug Ivanac, a Herminie native, serves on USS Gerald R. Ford, which is based in Norfolk, Va. The Gerald R. Ford Carrier...
Jeannette Community Band kicks off 36th season on Memorial Day weekend
The Jeannette Community Band will open its 36th season with a May 26 concert at the Jeannette American Legion, 109 S. Fifth St.. The 7 p.m. concert will feature the band of more than 60 volunteer musicians from the city and surrounding communities. In addition to director Ron Stemple, Maria...
Free outdoor concerts bring Irwin community, businesses, artists together
Borough groups and businesses are taking advantage of the warm weather to bring a summer full of music to Irwin’s downtown. “We wanted to please a variety of crowds with different types of music, so we branched out this year with some acts little different from what we’ve done in...
Open mic nights feature local talent in Jeannette
Performers looking to share their artistic craft are getting a chance through new monthly open mic nights in Jeannette. Practice Makes Perfect is working with You Are Here gallery and Jeannette Recreation Board to organize and host the events at the amphitheater on Clay Avenue. The open mic nights will...
Officials dedicate renamed Ligonier Township bridge, honor legacy of 2 Congressional medal recipients
Officials and family members gathered Saturday at Ligonier Valley Cemetery to make sure future generations don’t forget the battlefield bravery displayed by two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients who are buried there. While a local veterans honor guard provided a military salute, state officials dedicated the nearby Route 711 span...
PennDOT bridge replacements to affect traffic in Rostraver, Murrysville
PennDOT bridge replacement projects are scheduled to begin Monday, May 13, triggering detours in Rostraver and a lane restriction in Murrysville. Crews from Golden Triangle Construction Co. will install a precast box culvert to replace the bridge that carries northbound Route 906 (Second Street) over Webster Hollow Run in Rostraver....
Embattled Westmoreland County register of wills fires office lawyer
Westmoreland County Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton on Friday fired the taxpayer-funded lawyer who has represented her courthouse office since 2012. Michael Nestico, who has served as the register’s solicitor since before Hamilton first took office in 2016, was told he was removed from his part-time position in favor...
Latrobe rapper prepares to head out on 2nd international tourVideo
Sean Lewandowski started writing rhymes in high school after discovering hip-hop in the early 1990s, but he began taking it seriously after hearing Kanye West’s 2004 record, “The College Dropout.” “It gave me the confidence to pursue rapping, because it was such a breath of fresh air and expanded my...
Gun recovered from Donegal Lake connected to St. Clair woman’s fatal shooting
The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that a gun found Friday in Donegal Lake is related to the fatal shooting in December of a St. Clair Township woman. Dive teams from the Greensburg Police Department and Murrysville Medic One discovered the revolver about 70 feet offshore, Medic One Director...
Jeannette looks to crack down on ‘very egregious’ crosswalk violations near Elliott Group
Jeannette police are looking for ways to continue enforcement near Elliott Group after officers saw drivers commit 18 violations near crosswalks in a four-hour period Thursday, according to police Chief Derek Manley. Officers watched traffic near crosswalks on Claridge-Elliott Road during morning and afternoon shift changes at the facility. They...
Concert, food truck event in Jeannette kicks off May 23
A popular event combining music and food trucks in downtown Jeannette is set to kick off May 23. That’s when the first event will begin at 6 p.m. at the Elliott Group Amphitheater at Clay Avenue and South Fifth Street, with crowds spilling out into the surrounding blocks. Every other...
