Westmoreland category, Page 3
Norwin youth sports leagues face jump in school facility use fees
Norwin youth sports teams and community groups will pay more to use school district facilities starting in the 2027-28 school year under a fee schedule the school board approved unanimously this week. The board hiked the rates without discussion for the use of gymnasiums, ball fields, the swimming pool and...
4th person sentenced in Westmoreland catalytic converter theft ring
The last of four people charged with operating a catalytic converter theft ring throughout Westmoreland County in 2022 was ordered to serve at least 21 months in prison. Vince Lamar Skillings, 48, of Derry pleaded guilty last February to theft and two additional felony counts in connection with his role...
Irwin officials consider temporary bridge after Colony Drive closure
With funding for a new bridge likely unavailable for three years, Irwin officials are expected to discuss next month whether to rent or buy a temporary structure to replace a bridge closed in January because of a hole in the decking. “If everything went smoothly, we’re still looking at three...
Hempfield Area considers replacing 4 high school grass fields with turf
Hempfield Area High School may replace four grass athletic fields with synthetic turf, Superintendent Mark Holtzman said. The district is eyeing its baseball, softball and multipurpose grass fields for replacement, Holtzman said. The school board will vote on the matter next week. Because of snowmelt and spring rainfall, the district’s...
Delmont sewage project costs rise to $5.5MVideo
Delmont Council will wait to decide whether to pursue state grant and potential loan funding for a sewage project whose scope has recently expanded. Borough engineer Dalton Mack said a new equalization tank, designed to hold sewage and release it slowly, should be designed based on a 10-year summer storm...
Former Greensburg officer convicted of drug dealing must repay pension benefits
Greensburg’s police pension commission on Tuesday approved a decision that seeks the repayment of $75,400 by a retired officer who was sentenced to probation on federal drug crimes. The commission OK’d the findings of fact, conclusions of law and decision regarding the forfeiture of pension benefits paid to Regina McAtee....
Former Torrance State Hospital nurse charged with sexual assault of patient
A former nurse at Torrance State Hospital is accused by state police of having regular sexual encounters with a patient over seven months last year, according to court papers. The encounters between Dana R. Coxon, 40, and the patient, in his mid-20s, were video recorded and photographed on a cellphone...
Westmoreland Hospital, former nurses sued again for alleged mistreatment of patients
A third lawsuit has been filed against a Westmoreland County hospital and four former staffers accused of mistreating patients. According to court documents, the alleged incidents occurred over five days in late June 2024 after Shirley Stouffer of Hempfield was admitted to Independence Health’s Westmoreland Hospital with heart issues and...
Loyalhanna woman accused of shooting man
A Loyalhanna woman is behind bars after state police said she shot her former boyfriend, according to court papers. Nina L. Lipford, 51, was arraigned Saturday on an attempted homicide charge. The wounded man, 50, told troopers he was at Lipford’s home on Substation Road early last week when they...
Hempfield man accused of assaulting pregnant woman
A Hempfield man is accused of assaulting a pregnant woman and her unborn child during an incident at his apartment over the weekend. State police arrested Richard A. Haubrich Jr., 33, on Sunday on charges of aggravated assault of an unborn child, strangulation and related offenses. Troopers were called to...
Plan for proposed Westmoreland convention center stalls
Progress on a proposed Westmoreland convention center pitched by the county’s chamber of commerce appears to have stalled. Chamber President Dan DeBone confirmed funding remains the major sticking point, preventing forward movement on what is estimated to be an $86 million project in Hempfield. Last August, the chamber released results...
Ferrante’s Lakeview on Route 30 to change hands
Christina Augustine is following in her grandfather’s footsteps — and her mother’s and her aunt’s. Next month, Augustine, 42, of Addison will become the general manager of Ferrante’s Lakeview — a restaurant and special events venue that has operated off Route 30 in Hempfield for about 70 years. Her grandfather,...
Green Beacon Gallery in downtown Greensburg searches for a new home
Greensburg was not a random choice for Phil and Steve Harrold’s art and music gallery. The initials of the West Pittsburgh Street venue, called Green Beacon Gallery, align with a common abbreviation for the name of the city — which the brothers deemed deserving of an open stage for local...
Ohio woman pleads guilty to theft, forgery scheme at Murrysville, Irwin banks
An Ohio woman charged last summer in an identity theft and forgery scheme at banks in Murrysville and Irwin was paroled last week after pleading guilty to her role in what authorities described as a multi-state operation. Jennifer C. Folzenlogin, 63, of Cincinnati, was arrested last July following a regional...
West Newton bridge project: Temporary span to keep town connected
Don Lewandowski of West Newton is like many residents in a borough split by the Youghiogheny River. He is looking forward to the estimated $17 million project that will include a temporary bridge and a subsequent upgrade of the aging West Newton Bridge. “The bridge needs to be done. It’s...
Westmoreland public safety director retires, commissioners promote top deputyVideo
Roland “Bud” Mertz provided a steady hand as the world plunged into pandemic-fueled panic in early 2020. Mertz, as head of Westmoreland County’s Department of Public Safety, took control over the local response in the early days of the virus’ outbreak. Throughout the next year, he served as the point...
Fiber fair dazzles in Delmont
When Dorothy Gallagher was a teacher in Poland, she took up knitting as a side hustle. “Making one sweater bought me a kilo of sausage,” she said. “Now I hand spin silk, cat fur, alpaca — all for the mental clarity and dexterity benefits.” Gallagher was among 20 or so...
Westmoreland happenings: Mardi Gras pancake dinner, Lenten services, meetings, more
Church news Zion’s Lutheran Church, Greensburg, will have services at 12:05 p.m. Thursdays during Lent at the church, 140 S. Pennsylvania Ave. Lunch will be afterward. Lunch cost: $5. Fundraiser Harrold Zion Evangelical Church youth group will sponsor its third annual Shrove Mardi Gras pancake dinner from 4 to 7...
‘More people are leaving than coming’: Charleroi’s Haitian community withers under federal pressureVideo
The shelves at Queen’s Market still hold bags of corn millet and leafy Haitian lalo, but the customers who buy them are vanishing from the streets of Charleroi. As the Trump administration ramps up pressure on immigrants with Temporary Protected Status to “take advantage of the department’s resources for departure,”...
Local teachers benefit from Seton Hill program on Holocaust, genocide education
For Leticia Fournier, the religious affiliation of Christ the Divine Teacher School in Latrobe makes education on the Holocaust even more important. Fournier has taught the school’s Holocaust studies course for eight years. First launched in 2004, the class was a partnership with nearby Beth Israel synagogue, which closed in...
Father, 2 children killed in Indiana County fire
A father and his two children were killed in a fire early Friday morning that destroyed their home in the Indiana County town of Clymer, the coroner said. Keith Lee Fabiszewski, 34, and the children were trapped by the fire in their home along the 400 block of Hancock Street,...
3 arrested in retail theft scheme from Lowe’s, including Hempfield, Monroeville and Frazer stores
Three people are accused in an organized retail theft scheme at local Lowe’s stores that ultimately led to them sending money to the Dominican Republic, according to police. The trio used credit cards belonging to other people to make purchases in five counties and then pick up the ill-gotten goods...
Jury verdict: 2 guilty of first-degree murder in St. Clair woman’s shooting death
A Westmoreland County jury convicted Melissa Fox-Beacom and Matthew Bates of first-degree murder Friday in the 2023 shooting death of her mother. Jurors decided that even though Fox-Beacom and Bates didn’t fire the shots that killed Alice Robson on Dec. 11, 2023, their actions leading up to the shooting made...
Penn Township accuses The Club at Blackthorne of violating the municipality’s zoning ordinance
The Club at Blackthorne, a private event and wedding venue, is in violation of Penn Township’s zoning ordinance, the municipality’s solicitor said Thursday. The 36,000-square-foot Club at Blackthorne is located off of Harrison City-Export Road in the township’s Blackthorne Estates housing community, which is accompanied by a golf course. The...
Paper ballots OK’d for Westmoreland voters at $18K price tag
Westmoreland County voters will again be able to cast paper ballots at the polls during this year’s primary and general elections. Republican commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew on Thursday approved a contract with an estimated price tag of $18,275 to supply paper ballots at each of the county’s 306...
