Westmoreland category, Page 406
Sinkhole opens up along Route 136 in west Hempfield
A sizable sinkhole opened up on Thursday afternoon along the 3200 block of Route 136 in Hempfield. “My employees spotted it and let me know about it this morning,” said Joe Maher, owner of West Hempfield Self Storage. “There’s an old mine shaft about 25 feet down. This area was...
Audit: Norwin mistakes cause state’s $101,255 overpayment for busing
Norwin may lose about $101,250 in future transportation reimbursements for overreporting the busing of about 260 nonpublic and charter school students from 2016-2020, a state audit found. The school district got the extra $101,255 reimbursement in transportation funds beginning in the 2016-2017 school year and continuing though 2019-2020, because of...
Men charged in shooting outside Greensburg bar treated city street ‘like it was the O.K. Corral’
A 24-year-old man said he dropped his cane and tried to get to safety upon hearing gunshots as he left The Rialto bar in Greensburg last month but was struck by a bullet. William Piscar testified he was leaving the establishment at the intersection of West Otterman Street and North...
Search for new Westmoreland elections director stalls
The Westmoreland County commissioners have indefinitely halted a search for a new election bureau director. The department has been without a top executive since the commissioners fired the former director last summer after she served 10 months on the job. Since June, it has been operated with two interim directors...
Volunteers sought to help clean up fire scene at Mt. Pleasant Township Christian camp retreat
The arduous task of cleaning up a maintenance building destroyed by fire at Laurelville Retreat Center will get underway Monday with the help of volunteers and heavy machinery. “It’ll definitely be messy, dirty work,” said Jeanette Lahm, director of the Mt. Pleasant Township Christian camp retreat. The center’s maintenance building...
Greensburg fighter wins MMA title in Ohio Combat League
Greensburg got itself a mixed-martial arts champion in January. Mataeo Garner captured the Ohio Combat League’s light heavyweight championship Jan. 29, fighting in the amateur division at 204 pounds. The 24-year-old Greensburg resident won a unanimous decision in the third round against Dayton, Ohio, fighter Darryl Booker. At 5-foot-9, Garner...
Former New Florence man sentenced to 5 years in prison for distributing meth, fentanyl
A former Westmoreland County man was sentenced this week to five years in prison after his conviction for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, according to U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung. Nicolas A Beard, 28, formerly of New Florence, was sentenced Wednesday by federal Judge Arthur J....
Municipal authority taps federal program to keep water flowing in Westmoreland homes
More than 100 Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers have received nearly $31,000 since the start of this year from a new federal program to help low-income residents pay delinquent water and sewer bills. The Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program was authorized last year and funded through two federal bills,...
Input sought from Jeannette business owners
Two Jeannette councilwomen are hoping to learn more about the needs of city businesses during a session next week. Councilwomen Robin Mozley and Michelle Langdon said the forum planned for 6 p.m. Monday at city hall will give business owners a chance to discuss how they are doing and what...
Greensburg finalizes $1 million loan that will be dedicated to public safety
Greensburg officials this week finalized a $1 million loan that will bolster funds dedicated to public safety that traditionally came from the now-closed J. Edward Hutchinson Parking Garage. Council members unanimously approved an ordinance related to the almost $1.1 million loan. “We wish we didn’t have to do it, but...
Franklin Township sewage authority finalizing system-wide flow model as part of state consent order
The Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority is wrapping up work on a flow model of its entire system, the next milestone in its consent order with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The authority has been conducting smoke-and-dye testing for illegal connections as well as video inspection of all its...
Latrobe zoning panel OKs plan for dek hockey rink at Legion Keener Park
Plans for reestablishing a dek hockey rink in Latrobe are one step closer to reality now that the Latrobe Foundation has received a variance for developing the recreational facility in a residential zone at the edge of Legion Keener Park. “It’s too much of a good thing for the community...
Westmoreland happenings: chili cook-off, soup sale and musical bingo
Fundraisers • Lincoln Heights Civic Association will host bingo from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, 42 Millersdale Road, Jeannette. There will be 20 regular games and five quickies. Cost: 25 cents for a three-card bingo board and $1 for quickies. Payout is 50/50. Free coffee. • Soup sale to benefit...
Pittsburgh area grads contribute to THON success, help fight pediatric cancer
Local high school alumni will be getting their groove on for a good cause later this week. Erik Frantz, Olivia Ahr and Jennifer Gustafson, each from the Highlands School District Class of 2018, along with 2020 Norwin grad Abby Bartos, are some of the local alumni who will participate in...
Westmoreland jury finds father not guilty for napping while small children roamed
A former Greensburg man was found not guilty Tuesday of three felony offenses in which he was accused of being asleep as his young children walked alone on city streets. Jurors deliberated more than four hours before it acquitted Antonio Partlow, 33, now of New Kensington, of three counts of...
Mail-in ballot applications sent to voters as questions remain ahead of May primary
About 350,000 applications for mail-in ballots were sent to voters in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties over the past two weeks as local election officials prepare for a May primary election in the midst of uncertainty over the legality of the state’s voting laws and jurisdictions of congressional and state legislative...
Answer to dog-or-coyote question doesn’t surprise Westmoreland woman who found animal
Christina Eyth wasn’t exactly surprised to learn the genetic results of an animal she found shivering and scared underneath her Fairfield porch Jan. 17. “I kind of saw it coming,” she said Tuesday. “I figured it was going to be a coyote.” The dog-or-coyote debate was laid to rest Monday...
Westmoreland sheriff resumes walk-in applications for concealed carry gun permits
After nearly two years of Westmoreland County residents having to make an appointment to acquire a permit to carry a concealed gun, Sheriff James Albert said walk-in applications once again are being accepted. Since March 30, 2020, because of social distancing recommendations connected with the coronavirus outbreak, the sheriff’s department...
Greensburg hires new police officer
A new officer is joining the Greensburg Police Department. Patrolman Shawn Miller, whose first day is Tuesday, was sworn in during Monday’s council meeting. Miller previously worked as a sheriff’s deputy for Westmoreland County, said interim police chief Shawn Denning. His salary will be $53,000 per year. Miller’s hiring comes...
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit offers free course to help bolster substitute teacher ranks
On a school day in November, Allegheny Valley School District officials had 11 teachers off work and only one substitute to call in. The district was considering using some of its American Rescue Plan funding to help bring in additional substitutes, serving as yet another example of a district struggling...
Greensburg YMCA seeks feedback on services, needs
The Greensburg YMCA will host a public meeting on Thursday and again on Feb. 24 to get feedback on what people want from the facility and how the YMCA can meet the needs of the community. “We really want to hear from the community, what they feel they need and...
Black community leaders to be celebrated at Greensburg event
Black community leaders will be honored this weekend at the Black History Month and American Health Month celebration from 1 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the New Creation Family Worship Center at 119 Westmoreland Ave., Greensburg. The identities of the community two leaders will not be revealed until Saturday, said...
Norwin board pulls plug on CNN 10
The Norwin School Board pulled the plug Monday on daily broadcasts of CNN 10 to middle school students, and the television will be shut off in the classrooms unless students, teachers or administrators want them to watch the broadcast or videos pertaining to topics such as Veterans Day or the...
Child endangerment trial begins for father accused of leaving kids alone on cold Greensburg street
A Westmoreland County jury will begin hearing evidence Tuesday in the case against a man charged with allowing his three young children to wander the streets of Greensburg alone on a cold Valentine’s Day two years ago. Prosecutors contend Antonio Partlow, 33, and his wife, of Charleroi, were asleep shortly...
Commonwealth Court denies Murrysville Watch Committee’s appeal of fracking ordinance
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court this week denied the Murrysville Watch Committee’s appeal of its failed challenge to Murrysville’s fracking ordinance. Initially filed as a challenge to the Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board, which upheld the ordinance on unconventional gas well drilling, appeals at the county (2020) and now state level (2021) have...
