Westmoreland category, Page 393
‘Someone knows what happened to Samantha’: Hope remains to solve ’07 Derry Township homicide
Whoever killed Carol Polo’s daughter has had 15 years of freedom. She hopes that will end soon. “We pay for it every day, the last 15 years we have paid for it,” she said. “Now it’s time for somebody else to pay for it — and they need to.” Investigators...
Small plane damaged during landing at Palmer airport in Unity
No one was injured when a small plane skidded on the runway Monday morning at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, according to emergency officials. “His gear collapsed as the plane was landing,” said airport executive director Gabe Monzo. “There were two people on board the plane, which was out...
Feeling hungry? Permanent food truck location opening in Penn Township
Food truck fans in Penn Township are in for a treat this April. Township commissioners greenlighted a resolution that will bring food trucks to 1115 Harrison City Export Road. Nicassio Enterprises received conditional-use approval to bring the vendors to the property, which is located about half a mile from the...
Retired Westmoreland Park Police dog takes a bow
After a decade of duty, Rex, Westmoreland County’s explosive detection dog, is calling it quits. The 11-year-old Belgian Malinois that served as the first K9 officer with the county’s Park Police Department, was retired from service in February. The canine and his handler, Officer Bill Meyers of Hempfield, were honored...
Interns sought for Forbes State Forest conservation tasks
Students who will be heading to or returning to college next fall may want to consider a summer internship that gets them out into the field — or, rather, into the forest. Applications are being accepted through April 30 for Youth Conservation Corps internships in Forbes State Forest. A joint...
‘Yes, I can vote’: Pitt-Greensburg student becomes U.S. citizen
As a political science major, Juliet Montes Duran dedicates her time to learning about local, national and international governments. Until last week, however, she couldn’t participate in the government of the country she grew up in. The sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg became a naturalized U.S. citizen...
Scattered snow showers snarl traffic throughout Western Pennsylvania
Sunday’s snowy weather has emergency crews responding to a number of crashes across western Pennsylvania as winter makes a last gasp before spring. About an inch-and-a-half of snow that began accumulating late Saturday night caused state police to close the Walworth bridge carrying Lincoln Highway over Route 119 in Southwest...
Jeannette business grants could be distributed in June
Grants for Jeannette businesses could be distributed in June after city council agreed to shift government funding designated for coronavirus pandemic response. Ethan Keedy, the city’s chief fiscal officer, said he hopes to have an application process set up by April 1. Those details will be added to the city’s...
Franklin Regional approves sporting clays student club sport
Tony Bucciero was at a sporting clay fundraiser when his shooting foursome included the coach of a youth clay-shooting team. “He was telling me they had 80 kids, more than the football team, and that they had to cut it off at 80,” the Murrysville resident said. Over at the...
Indianapolis collector traces 1850s Bible to prominent Westmoreland family
Before the internet opened up new avenues for genealogical research, Bibles once were a prime repository for families intent on preserving their history. One such tome, dating from the 1850s, has provided an Indianapolis-area man an intriguing link to the Southwestern Pennsylvania region where he was raised. Pittsburgh native Chris...
Westmoreland Historical Society offers trip through time to explore local trolley legacyVideo
West Penn Railways Co. was a major provider of public transit over trolley lines in Westmoreland County and surrounding areas, from 1917 until the company’s demise in 1952. Fans of local history and past transportation modes can take a figurative trip back through time on those now-gone lines by attending...
Out & About: Latrobe BPW tags club president as Woman of the Year
Latrobe Business and Professional Women’s Club members and guests gathered Saturday for a Spring Tea at St. Bartholomew Parish Marian Hall in Crabtree. On the agenda for the annual event is the presentation of the club’s Woman of the Year and New Member of the Year. President Deborah Bowman noted...
Out & About: Greensburg Garden Center spring tea defies last wintry blast
Winter tried to make a last stand, but flowers were blooming as the Greensburg Garden Center hosted its annual Spring Tea. Back from a two-year pandemic hiatus, the event was held Saturday at Maplewood Presbyterian Church in Hempfield. “There’s a snowstorm outside, but the atmosphere in here is spring,” said...
‘I love bringing people together’: Greensburg-Jeannette NAACP meets for prayer luncheonVideo
The last time the Greensburg-Jeannette NAACP held an event, it was a prayer breakfast at the former Ramada on Route 30. That was two years ago. Now, the Ramada is torn down and gone, like a great many other things during the same period of time, said branch President Ruth...
77 townhouses headed to Penn Township in final phases of Blackthorne Estates
More housing is headed to Penn Township. Township commissioners have approved Blackthorne Estates’ phases VI-B and VII, which will add 77 townhouses to the luxury golf course community more than 25 years in the making. The townhouses, to be built by Ryan Homes, will feature three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms, two-car...
Seton Hill to host signing of book collecting writings of Holocaust scholar
The writings of late Holocaust scholar Eva Fleischner, and a collection of her essays recently published by Seton Hill University’s National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education, will be the focus of an April 6 book signing. The public is invited to the 4 p.m. event in Cecilian Hall on the...
East suburbs mountain biking team seeks new members as 2022 season approaches
When Becket Pottinger of Murrysville advanced to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard U14 Eastern Ski Championships this month, his father credited his training — both on and off the slopes. “He was beating kids by three and four seconds, and honestly a lot of that has to do with biking,”...
Monessen program to explore Italian Jews, history and persecution
The flight of Jews from Spain to Italy — and, ultimately, to places like Western Pennsylvania — is a largely unknown tale. An Italian-Jewish historic program this weekend in Monessen, which has been two years in the making, intends to shed light on this part of international and local history....
Pittsburgh metro area loses population, leads nation in natural population decline
The Pittsburgh metropolitan area lost 13,755 residents between July 2020 and July 2021, according to U.S. Census estimates. The biggest factor of that loss was the region’s natural decline, which is when an area experiences more deaths than births. The Pittsburgh metro area’s natural decline of 10,383 was the largest...
Students from Bangladesh, Poland find common ground during exchange stay in Hempfield
As Russian missiles devastate Ukraine, people around the world are yearning for the day when peace will return to Eastern Europe. A hemisphere away, in Hempfield, two young men from disparate countries and cultures have achieved more than just peaceful coexistence. Mansib Rahman, 18, of Bangladesh and Bartosz “Bartek” Zielinski,...
Greensburg officials eye options to demolish parking garage used by Excela
Greensburg leaders are looking for money to demolish the J. Edward Hutchinson Parking Garage, which closed last year because of high costs of maintenance and repair. The city is working with local lawmakers to discuss what funding might be available to help tear down the garage “so it’s not an...
Police ID man who ripped state flag from pole at Hempfield gas station, charges expectedVideo
State troopers on Friday identified a man who ripped the Pennsylvania state flag from a pole outside a Sheetz convenience store in Hempfield. The flag was flying at half-staff in honor of two troopers who were killed in the line of duty this week. Trooper Steve Limani said tips from...
Stained-glass windows from former Mt. Pleasant parish rescued by historical society
A last-minute rescue this month resulted in several pieces of century-old Mt. Pleasant history being returned to Western Pennsylvania after spending almost two decades of being stored inside a warehouse near Columbus, Ohio. Nine stained-glass windows, weighing between 700 and 900 pounds each, that adorned the former Transfiguration Roman Catholic...
Bolivar man accused of inappropriately touching child
A Bolivar man is in custody after state police said he inappropriately touched a child several times last year, according to court papers. David Allen Luther, 74, is charged with indecent assault, corruption of minors and child endangerment. The accusations were reported in January. The child’s age and gender were...
Irwin officials to review plans for housing project
Plans for a four-story, 50-unit senior living apartment building next to Norwin Public Library will be publicly unveiled this week. The Westmoreland County Housing Authority is scheduled to present plans for Grand View Senior Residences to the Irwin Planning Commission at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 30. The panel offers recommendations...
