Westmoreland category, Page 468
Jigger’s Pub owners plan new restaurant across the street in Export
Jigger’s Pub owners Tony and Brenda DeCesare are planning to open a new restaurant directly across the street from their business, and took a big step in that direction Tuesday with the approval of a liquor license transfer. Export council members unanimously approved the transfer of the license by a...
Westmoreland news: peach festival, wine tasting and YWCA classes
Classes • The YMCA Westmoreland County Technology Center, 424 N. Main St., Greensburg, will offer the following classes in September and October: • Yoga with Nancy Micheals – 10 to 11:30 a.m., Thursdays Sept. 16 and 30, Oct. 7 to 28 • Fabulously Fit After 50 – 9:30 to 10:30...
Historic Bell’s Mills Bridge set for closure for drainage work
Drains on both ends of the historic Bell’s Mills Bridge are set to be replaced next week. County engineer Vaughn Neill said the covered wooden span will be closed for about four days while crews work there. The drainage infrastructure that allows water to flow off the road and bridge...
Seton Hill program to help teachers handle topic of genocide
Teachers tackling the tough topic of genocide in high school classrooms will be able to take advantage of a two-week institute at Seton Hill University next summer. University officials said the school recently was awarded a $174,426 competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to underwrite the summer...
Trauger Fire Department adds interest to loan from relief association; audit catches shortage
Trauger Volunteer Fire Department didn’t pay enough interest on two loans from its affiliated relief association, and other procedural requirements for borrowing about $9,700 were missed, according to a state audit. Once alerted to the problems with the loans, the department corrected them, according to state Auditor General Timothy DeFoor....
Unity’s Victory Brinker earns lone standing ovation on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Several things portend well for Victory Brinker’s chances to win Season 16 of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.” The 9-year-old opera singer from Unity was the final competitor in Tuesday’s live quarterfinal round, perhaps illustrating the “save the best for last” principle. There was plenty of build-up to her appearance, too....
Doctors petition Greater Latrobe to reconsider mask-optional plan for schools
About a dozen local physicians have asked the Greater Latrobe School Board to switch to a mask requirement for the coming fall semester. Parents remain divided over the district’s existing policy to make their use optional. Dr. Elizabeth Cutrell, a pediatrician with a practice in Unity who is the mother...
Hempfield Area suspends pay-to-play fees for 2nd year
For the second consecutive year, Hempfield Area School Board members voted to suspend pay-to-play fees for athletes and band members because of the covid-19 pandemic. During Monday’s meeting, board members unanimously voted to suspend the fees for the upcoming school year, which cost $100 per participant for the first sport...
Masks optional at Norwin; mask/maskless classes may be created in elementary grades
Norwin students will have the option of wearing masks in class under a health and safety plan that was the focus of an hour-long debate this week over whether the district should require students to wear masks. The near-unanimous approval of the state-required health and safety plan by the school...
Greater Latrobe School District, former wrestling coaches sued in federal court over hazing allegations
A student and his parents sued the Greater Latrobe School District, two former wrestling coaches and two students, alleging that the boy was assaulted during practice. It is, at least, the second lawsuit filed stemming from allegations of hazing by members of the wrestling team that came to light in...
After fire in her cell, police add arson charges to Greensburg DUI suspect
A Greensburg woman charged with DUI early Tuesday now is charged with arson and risking a catastrophe after city police allege she set fire to toilet paper in a cell block. Elisha M. Darnell, 42, was ordered held in the county jail on $10,000 bond following her arraignment on charges...
Hempfield Area to complete air quality, asbestos tests at district buildings
Hempfield Area School Board members are moving forward with an indoor air quality survey in the district’s nine buildings. During Monday’s school board meeting, members agreed to hire Dauphin County-based Skelly and Loy, Inc. to complete the survey at a cost of $9,475. School board member Sonya Brajdic was absent...
Greensburg’s singing florist Gary Pratt wins music industry award
Sometimes it takes a while to become an overnight success. Sounds like the opening line of a great country song — or the story behind one. Country singer/songwriter Gary Pratt of South Greensburg has been in the music business for decades, but, recently, he’s been gaining recognition far beyond Western...
Former Westmoreland man accused of taking $24K for Derry Township home remodel he didn’t finish
A former Westmoreland County man was arrested Monday on charges of taking $24,000 from a Derry Township couple and failing to remodel their home, leaving it exposed to the elements for months, according to court papers. Roy E. Povlik, 39, of Follansbee, W.Va., is charged with receiving an advance payment...
Community day planned for South Pennsylvania Avenue parklet in GreensburgVideo
Following a cleanup day that took place in June, a Greensburg-based development group is hosting a community day this weekend at the parklet on South Pennsylvania Avenue. Scheduled from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, the event hosted by City Cribs will feature food from McFeeley’s Ice Cream Truck, Baldy’s...
Route 22 in Murrysville reopens after 2-vehicle crash
A section of Route 22 westbound reopened Tuesday morning after a two-vehicle crash, according to Murrysville police. Traffic was diverted onto Old William Penn Highway in the area of Cline Hollow Road after the collision between a tractor-trailer and passenger vehicle, according to police and a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The...
Greensburg outreach event brings community agencies together
An outreach event Friday will bring dozens of resource agencies around Westmoreland County and the region — along with free coronavirus vaccines — together in one spot. The Community Agencies Resource Exchange event in Greensburg will host more than 60 organizations that provide services to families and people in need....
Penn-Trafford, support staff union divided over contract terms, fact-finder’s recommendations
Penn-Trafford School District and a union representing 83 support staffers remain at odds over contract terms after the district rejected recommendations in a fact-finding report. Wages are among the issues where the two sides differ. The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ contends that its members who are charged with...
Penn-Trafford makes masks optional inside district schoolsVideo
Wearing face masks will be optional this school year for Penn-Trafford students, staff and visitors inside district buildings. The school board adopted its policy Monday after hearing from residents on opposing sides of the issue. Assistant Superintendent Scott Inglese said the district will look into the possibility of seating students...
CDC: Allegheny, Westmoreland counties now considered to have high spread of covid-19
Allegheny, Westmoreland and several surrounding counties now have a high level of covid-19 transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC defines a “high” covid-19 transmission level as more than 100 cases per 100,000 people or a 10% positivity rate in a particular county over seven...
Irwin hires cop, code enforcement officer
Irwin officials recently hired a new police officer, a new code enforcement officer and a new planning and zoning manager. Charles Hume was hired at council’s Aug. 11 meeting as the fulltime planning and zoning manager at a rate of $20.69 an hour, replacing Justin Kachmarek, who left the borough...
Former Unity group home resident pleads guilty in scissors attack
A former resident at a Latrobe-area juvenile group home pleaded guilty Monday to a charge that he slashed a fellow inmate six times with a scissors during a violent confrontation. Omar Hernandez-Vallejo, 18, told a Westmoreland County judge he was defending himself during the Feb. 20 confrontation. “I feel that...
Former Westmoreland deputy sheriff seeks dismissal of sex charges
A former Westmoreland County deputy sheriff wants a judge to dismiss criminal charges alleging that he solicited sex from female inmates during routine prisoner transfers, claiming there is not enough evidence to support the claims. In court documents filed Monday, the lawyer for Daniel Gradischek, 34, of Unity argued that...
Norwin cafeteria workers say proposed pay raise ‘an insult’Video
Norwin School District’s food service workers are upset over the school district’s offer of annual raises of 20-cents per hour during negotiations on a new two-year contract, the union said. “We deserve more than a 2o-cent-an hour rise. That offer is an insult,” cafeteria worker Loni Davis told the Norwin...
Report of Fairfield couple donning stolen ATV gear results in burglary arrests, troopers say
A Fairfield couple recently spotted aboard an all-terrain vehicle while wearing a particular brand of ATV gear that was reported stolen last spring, were questioned and subsequently arrested for burglarizing two area homes. Aaron J. Wisner, 33, and Kayla M. Hritz, 29, were arraigned on two counts each of burglary,...
