Westmoreland category, Page 409
Westmoreland happenings: Backyard birding workshop, turkey dinner, comedy night
Church news • Norwin Alliance Church will host a men’s pizza and wing fellowship night at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the church, 10585 Farview Drive, North Huntingdon. Former North Versailles police officer Emmit Green will be the guest speaker. Reservations requested by Feb. 14. Reservations: 724-864-1570. • The Caring...
Herminie woman hospitalized after Hempfield crash
A Herminie woman was hospitalized Tuesday after state police said she was involved in a one-vehicle crash in Hempfield. Marie L. Kane, 86, was traveling on Route 136 around 9:30 a.m. when troopers said she lost control after being unable to stop for another vehicle that was waiting to turn...
Jersey Jerks slated for Westmoreland airshow flyover; passenger fare set at $5K
A bird’s-eye view of Westmoreland County will be available this summer from the passenger seat of a vintage single-engine airplane — for a price. For a suggested donation of $5,000 apiece, two passengers can tag along with members of the Jersey Jerks aerial team when they complete a flyover of...
New Kensington, other northern Westmoreland towns report delays getting road salt deliveries
Municipalities across northern Westmoreland County are reporting issues with getting timely road salt deliveries from a new supplier under a state contract in which they participate. Officials in New Kensington, Lower Burrell and Vandergrift said they have had issues receiving deliveries from Compass Minerals, the supplier for Westmoreland and other...
911: 3 vehicles involved in multiple collisions on Route 30 near Adamsburg
Police and EMS were on the scene of a multi-car crash on Route 30 just south of Adamsburg on Tuesday night. The eastbound lanes of Route 30 reopened shortly after 11 p.m., following multiple crashes an hour earlier in the area where the highway is carried over Edna Road in...
Judge says no evidence Westmoreland DA favors the famous
A Derry Township man will serve three days in jail for driving his Dodge Charger 120 mph on Route 22 while drunk nearly two years ago after a judge rejected a defense argument that prosecutors gave preferential treatment to a local celebrity and unfairly rejected a bid by a “blue...
Guilty plea entered in Greensburg woman’s fatal overdose
An Allegheny County woman pleaded guilty to supplying the fatal dose of heroin used in the overdose of a Greensburg woman in May 2019. Britnee R. Clark, 41, of Avalon was one of three people charged in connection with the death of 59-year-old Roxanne Gongaware, whose body along with drug...
NTSB: Speed, road conditions played big role in fatal Mt. Pleasant turnpike crash
The driver of a tour bus involved in a deadly 2020 Pennsylvania Turnpike crash likely was traveling at unsafe speeds on a wet road, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB’s unanimous adoption of the drafted probable cause came more...
Troopers: Hempfield woman accused of cutting boyfriend with knife in altercation after DUI crash
A Hempfield woman was arrested this week on aggravated assault and drunken driving charges after state police say she cut her boyfriend’s hand with a knife and punched him during a Jan. 31 argument when she crashed her SUV. Jessica L. Fink, 39, is accused of driving erratically after departing...
Greensburg police: 2 men jailed on multiple charges after 8-mile chase, crash
Two men inside a stolen car that led Greensburg police on an 8-mile pursuit early Tuesday through the city and north on Route 119 before crashing into an embankment near Crabtree were ordered to jail on numerous criminal, traffic and theft complaints. Darnelle L. Wade, 37, of New Kensington and...
Greensburg Civic Theatre stages multi-award-winner ‘Rent’
Edward Bostedo loves “Rent” so much that he has a lyric from the musical tattooed on his leg. When Greensburg Civic Theatre needed a director for its upcoming production of the multiple award-winner, he applied right away and was accepted. Though the Delmont resident has been directing community theater for...
Asbestos issues drive up costs for demolition of Franklin Regional elementary
The bulk of Franklin Regional School District’s capital plan for the coming school year is demolishing the former Heritage Elementary School, although the cost has gone up substantially after asbestos was discovered in the building. A little less than half of the $2.25 million capital budget for the 2022-23 school...
How the Huey helicopter made its way to Lynch Field
It came by police escort, not air. The 1966 U.S. Army Huey helicopter retired at Lynch Field has been there since the mid-1990s, a product of the vision of late Greensburg Fire Chief Edward Hutchinson. He and fellow firefighter Lou Battistella picked it up in September 1995 in Washington, Pa....
Pa. mine cleanup funding seen as game-changer
Pennsylvania could clean up the vast majority of the state’s abandoned mines and the pollution caused by them with a $245 million federal allocation annually for the next 15 years, a Westmoreland County conservation official said. “This pot of money has the potential to make one of the largest impacts...
Intersecting histories of Lincoln Highway, Saint Vincent College topic for museum talk
Saint Vincent Drive serves as the main entrance to the same-named college and archabbey from modern Route 30, also known as the Lincoln Highway. The interwoven histories of the highway and Saint Vincent’s neighboring educational and monastic communities will be explored in a Feb. 12 program at the Lincoln Highway...
Covid-19 surge at Westmoreland jail eases, inmate transports to resume
Transportation of inmates to court hearings will resume Wednesday as the number of coronavirus cases at the Westmoreland County Prison continues to decline. Common Pleas Court President Judge Rita Hathaway rescinded a court order issued in late January that halted inmate transfers amid a wave of new cases that saw...
North Huntingdon man, now 19, seeks to move armed robbery case to juvenile court
A now 19-year-old man should be prosecuted in juvenile court for a 2020 armed robbery of two men in Mt. Pleasant, a psychologist told a Westmoreland County judge. Dr. Michael Crabtree, a professor at Washington and Jefferson College who was hired by the legal defense team, said Elijah Chaabane’s life...
Deputies seize cache of ammunition, firearms from Sewickley Township man’s mobile home
Six days before state troopers arrested a 39-year-old Sewickley Township man on rape charges, county sheriff’s deputies seized more than a dozen handguns, rifles and shotguns from his home, according to court documents. Steven K. Stemmler, who resides in the KOA Campground on Waltz Mill Road, was arraigned Thursday on...
Small plane makes emergency landing at Arnold Palmer airport; no injuries reported
No injuries were reported when a small plane made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff Monday morning at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. The chartered plane carrying nine passengers and three crew members experienced smoke in the cockpit about 20 miles into its flight, according to Gabe Monzo, executive director of...
Route 31 in Donegal Township closed for hours after chain- reaction crash involving 3 trucks
Jesse Bash had stopped his black four-wheel drive pickup truck on Route 31 in Donegal Township Monday to make a left turn into a furniture outlet store where he works when the driver of a tri-axle truck behind him “began really laying on his air horn.” “I was really starting...
Greensburg police looking for suspect in ‘smash and grab’ theft at Lynch Field
Greensburg police are looking for a man accused of smashing the window of a vehicle parked Sunday at Lynch Field and taking a purse. A woman reported the incident just before 2 p.m. outside The Aerobic Center, according to Capt. Shawn Denning. A center manager told investigators that the suspect’s...
Frontier bids $2.9 billion for rival budget airline Spirit
Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines are proposing to combine in a $2.9 billion deal that would create a larger discount airline to compete against the nation’s dominant carriers and, they say, promote lower fares. Both are ultra-low-cost carriers that tempt travelers with rock-bottom prices for no-frills service but often generate...
Man killed in Hempfield UTV crash
A Hempfield man died Sunday evening when the utility terrain vehicle he was driving collided with a tree, according to Westmoreland County deputy coroner Sean Hribal. Joseph Weisend, 51, sustained multiple blunt force injuries around 5:30 p.m. in the crash along Rocky Mountain Road. Investigators said Weisend was driving a...
Union Mission staff, Latrobe community raise funds to help injured employee
Union Mission staffers are no strangers to fundraisers, routinely raising money to help pay for programs at their Latrobe area shelter. But circumstances were far different Sunday as staff and volunteers gathered to help one of their own who continues to fight for her life in a Pittsburgh hospital. Mary...
Hempfield supervisors to consider zone change to former Cherry Creek Golf Course
Hempfield supervisors will consider a zoning change at the former Cherry Creek Golf Course, potentially paving the way for a new housing development in the southern portion of the township. A hearing is scheduled 7 p.m. Feb. 28 at the township municipal building to discuss changing around 100 acres of...
