Westmoreland category, Page 399
Hempfield substitutes getting a pay raise
Substitute teachers in the Hempfield Area School District will see a boost in their daily pay, an effort by district leaders to remain competitive during the pandemic. Board members this week voted to bump pay rates to $200 per day for substitute teachers who are teaching for a contracted teacher...
$3M in grants announced for Southwestern Pa., including Mill Creek in Ligonier Township
Well before starting a 32-year career with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Jim Miller said he enjoyed fishing as a teenager along Mill Creek in the village of Waterford in Ligonier Township. “It was well known even then as a cold-water fishery back then and had natural trout. It...
Irwin hires 2 police officers
Irwin’s police department has new replacements for two part-time officers who left the force last month. Borough council on Wednesday hired Kyle Morton of Yukon as a full-time officer at a rate of $25.62 an hour, plus benefits. Cole Bertok of Jeannette was hired as a part-time officer at a...
Plaque at Greensburg Salem Middle School will honor late crossing guard
The late Karen McPhail rarely forgot a name or a face in her Greensburg community. “It was unbelievable how she knew everybody,” said Sgt. Donald Sarsfield of the Greensburg Police Department. McPhail worked for the department for 16 years as a crossing guard, spending much of that time helping Greensburg...
Westmoreland County Prison fills a dozen vacancies at job fair
The county job fair at Westmoreland Mall was a big success, officials said. More than 40 applications were received for 50-plus vacant jobs in county government, according to Sam Miller, associate director of the human resources department. “It seems to have been a successful event,” Miller said. The goal of...
2022 maple sugar season nearing its end in Western Pennsylvania
Don’t get too sappy about it: The 2022 maple sugaring season is nearing its end in Western Pennsylvania. Dan Roseum, owner of Roseum Maple Syrup in Murrysville, expects the season to last one or two more weeks at most. The Pennsylvania season, which typically begins in early February and ends...
2 taken by ambulance from Route 30 crash in North Huntingdon
Two motorists were taken by ambulance for treatment at a hospital following a three-vehicle crash Wednesday night on Route 30 in North Huntingdon, according to Circleville Fire Chief Craig Couchenour. The wreck was reported at 7:40 p.m. near the Flynn Tire auto repair store, a Westmoreland County Public Safety supervisor...
Lawsuit accuses former Seward police chief of forcing woman to have sex with him
A woman who said the former Seward police chief forced her to have sex with him to avoid criminal charges is suing him in federal court. The lawsuit filed Wednesday against Robert I. Baldwin Jr. and the Seward Police Department includes claims of civil assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress...
Gas tax holiday? Not so fast, says Washington, D.C., tax think tank
When Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf hailed President Joe Biden’s plan to ban Russian energy imports to the U.S. in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion in the Ukraine, he also announced support for a so-called federal gas tax holiday through 2022 as prices at the pump skyrocket. Wolf said he...
Hempfield is latest district to face book ban challenge
As a frenzy of book challenges rocks the nation at an unprecedented rate, local school districts are facing heightened scrutiny over which texts are made available in their libraries. This week, a Hempfield Area School District committee will review a policy that determines how school materials are reevaluated after two...
Accused Jeannette shoplifter arrested on multiple criminal charges after return trip to store, police say
A suspected shoplifter’s return trip Tuesday to a Dollar General store in Jeannette ended in the man’s arrest on multiple felony drug delivery and possession charges when police said they discovered him with crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and prescription opioid medication. Police said they seized nearly a brick of heroin,...
Jeannette may move property maintenance officer to full time
Jeannette Council is considering bumping its part-time property maintenance officer up to full-time status. The group discussed the move during an executive session this week and might vote on the matter at a session Thursday. Council in September hired Vincent Pascarella of New Stanton, resurrecting the job that fell in...
East Huntingdon man facing more fraud charges over money taken for work not done
Home improvement fraud charges keep racking up against an East Huntingdon man who was arrested Monday in connection with nearly $49,000 taken from eight Westmoreland County residents. It’s the 10th such case filed against him in Westmoreland and Fayette counties in the past year, according to online court records. Jason...
Hempfield School Board decides to tear down existing high school to its bare bones, building up from there
Hempfield leaders are moving forward with a multimillion-dollar project that will involve tearing down the high school to its structural system and replacing everything as new. School board members voted 8-0 Tuesday night to overhaul the 66-year-old building rather than renovate the existing structure or build a new school. Board...
Westmoreland courthouse structural concerns identified in January; collapse threat not imminent
Engineers in late January found deteriorating structural beams in a parking garage below the Westmoreland County Courthouse in downtown Greensburg. County officials said Tuesday that while urgency is needed to make repairs, there is no imminent threat of collapse. Core samples taken in October found evidence of deteriorating beams from...
Greensburg YMCA to hold indoor triathlon
Competitors will get a chance to get into the season by swimming, riding a stationary bicycle and running or walking on a treadmill this weekend in the Greensburg YMCA Indoor Triathlon. The competitors will swim 400 yards at the YMCA pool, a nine-mile bicycle ride and a two-mile run or...
Saint Vincent weightlifter Amanda Serapiglia wins bronze at national event
She majors in biochemistry, but Saint Vincent’s Amanda Serapiglia also experiments in another discipline. The junior from Trafford is bringing home a bronze medal after competing in the Arnold Sports Festival’s USA Weightlifting National University Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Serepiglia, a 20-year-old cross-fitter, took third in her weight division while...
Westmoreland Museum appoints new curator of American art
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art has announced the appointment of a new curator. Jeremiah William McCarthy will begin his role as Curator of American Art on April 19, succeeding Chief Curator Barbara L. Jones. She is retiring after nearly 27 years at the Greensburg museum. “I look forward to...
Troopers serving warrant in Indiana County say suspect had heroin, cocaine, marijuana, meth
A state police fugitive task force learned a man wanted for skipping court hearings was hiding out in a Blairsville apartment March 2, where they descended and found him atop “a second-story roof walkway on the roof and looking to escape by climbing a brick wall,” Trooper Stephen Limani said....
2nd man arrested in bail scam that targeted Hempfield woman
A second New Jersey man has been arrested in connection with a bail scam that duped a Hempfield woman out of thousands of dollars. Noel Medrano-Abreu, 29, is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail. He was arraigned Tuesday, with the help of an interpreter, on two conspiracy...
Dewey Bunnell excited to bring rock group America to Greensburg on 50th anniversary tourVideo
We can be thankful to England for a lot of things, especially for America. No, not the country. After all, we fought for that. I’m talking about America the folk-rock group, the band that produced hit songs like “Ventura Highway,” “I Need You,” “Tin Man” and of course “A Horse...
Fort Ligonier program looks at Gen. John Forbes’ place in history
Fort Ligonier will commemorate the anniversary of the death of Gen. John Forbes with a special program at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Center for History Education at the historical complex at routes 30 and 711 in Ligonier. “This new event is meant to shine some light on the man...
Portrait of Patsy: Singer brings country legend’s spirit to Hampton
Music was the order of most days at the Rhodes house in South Greensburg. “Dad would play guitar and sing. My mother would harmonize while she was doing dishes,” Cathi Rhodes said. “I thought everyone grew up this way. I’d go to some of my friends’ houses, and I’d say...
Franklin Regional ‘pauses’ teaching of novel about Iranian Revolution after complaints
Franklin Regional School District is “pausing” use of a novel in a freshman honors English course after school board members asked administrators to review its use amid concerns from some residents in the district. “Persepolis,” Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel about growing up as a 10-year-old girl amidst the Iranian Revolution...
Students from 8 school districts compete at Saint Vincent’s Pasta Bridge Engineering Competition
Nineteen teams of students from eight school districts in Western Pennsylvania were hoping to keep things “al dente” Monday night at the 15th annual Pasta Bridge Engineering Competition, held at Saint Vincent College. That wasn’t the case for one of three Norwin students teams. “We had some issues with the...
