Westmoreland category, Page 480
Police seeking suspect in ‘quick change’ scam near Donegal
State police are asking the public’s help identifying a man who they say bilked a Donegal Township convenience store out of $150. Troopers said the suspect entered the Coen Market along Route 31 near the Donegal interchange of the turnpike about 5:20 p.m. Saturday and conducted a scam, departing with...
Murrysville police sergeant has house full of police dogs
If someone breaks into Scott Kettren’s house, they’re in a for a “ruff” time. The Murrysville Police sergeant’s Penn Township residence is home to not one, but two, police dogs. While Argos, the 13-year-old Belgian malinois who served as the department’s police dog for a decade, enjoys his retirement, Magnus...
Greensburg’s Stage Right summer campers staging ‘Oz,’ ‘Addams Family’
Participants in Stage Right’s second summer camp session hit the ground running, starting to rehearse for performances on their first day. They’ll show what they learned during two musical productions Friday through Sunday in the Science Hall Theater on the Westmoreland County Community College Youngwood campus. “We had a great...
Jeannette man accused of beating woman with chair, stealing her phone
A Jeannette man is behind bars after police said he beat a woman with a chair and stole her cellphone Saturday, according to court papers. Leon D. Fair, 22, is charged with robbery, theft, reckless endangerment and related offenses. City police were called to South Fifth Street at 11:20 p.m....
Wings Across Westmoreland art installation landing in Mt. Pleasant
Wings Across Westmoreland will land in Mt. Pleasant on Saturday. The seventh installation in Westmoreland Cultural Trust’s countywide art initiative will be unveiled during a ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Mt. Pleasant Public Library, 120 S. Church St. Each set of wings includes features interpreting the community’s history and...
Wrong-way crash on Route 22 in Salem seriously injures 1 person, dispatchers say
At least one person was seriously injured Monday in a wrong-way crash that closed the westbound lanes of Route 22 at the intersection with Route 819 in Salem for two hours, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Multiple fire departments and state troopers were called to the scene near...
Greensburg YMCA to hold fundraiser
The Greensburg YMCA will hold a Neighbors Helping Neighbors fundraiser from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 5 at J. Corks restaurant, 25 E. Pittsburgh St., Greensburg. Proceeds from this year’s event will go toward numerous capital projects, large and small, the YMCA said in a statement. The relaxed event will...
Penn Township to vote on termination of disaster declaration
Penn Township commissioners are scheduled to vote this week on drafting resolutions to terminate the municipality’s disaster declaration. The declaration was initiated in response to the coronavirus pandemic. It has allowed the township’s emergency management coordinator to “take all appropriate action needed to alleviate the effects” of the pandemic, according...
3 people flown by medical helicopter following crash along I-70 in Rostraver
Three people were flown by medical helicopter following a crash Sunday morning on Interstate 70 in Rostraver, according to the Rostraver Central Fire Department. Crews responded to the two-vehicle crash on the eastbound side of the Matthew Smelser Memorial Bridge, also known as the Smithton high-level bridge, shortly before 10:30...
Island-hopping theme inspires Ligonier Valley art campersVideo
Rita Haldeman’s young students are using sticks, stones, lots of paint, and even more imagination, to explore cultures and art forms from across the globe. In her 20th year teaching art camps at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art’s Ligonier Valley location, the Jeannette artist decided to take this summer’s...
Ligonier Valley Historical Society holds living history weekend at Compass InnVideo
History lovers who braved intermittent rain showers Saturday afternoon were transported back to the 1800s as the Ligonier Valley Historical Society presented its second living history weekend this year. The event was held at the Compass Inn Museum in Laughlintown. It featured members of Ship’s Company, a Maryland-based maritime reenactment...
Western Pa. among nationwide areas seeing dangerous rise in opioid epidemic
Throughout the height of the covid-19 pandemic, it seemed as if the opioid epidemic had come to a sudden halt — largely because coronavirus headlines dominated newsstands, television broadcasts and everyday conversation. The latest overdose death figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, convey a starkly opposite...
Westmoreland places ‘leveraged bet on market’ to shore up county pension debt
Westmoreland County’s largest ever bond issue, which will put taxpayers on the hook for $173.6 million, won’t lay water or sewer lines, pave roads, fix aging bridges or set a single steel beam. Instead, debt on the $126.48 million in bonds to be paid by taxpayers over the next 20...
Westmoreland road work to affect traffic on routes 30, 119 beginning Monday
Motorists will encounter a detour and lane restrictions in Youngwood and additional restrictions on Route 30 in Hempfield beginning Monday, as work proceeds on PennDOT road projects. In Youngwood, beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, a section of Depot Street, between northbound Route 119 (Third Street) and South Second Street, will...
Pitt faculty unionization vote slated, Pitt says
The University of Pittsburgh’s faculty members will be able to vote starting next month on whether they want the United Steelworkers to represent them in contract negotiations. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board decided the secret-ballot vote for about 3,000 employees will be conducted from Aug. 27 to Oct. 12, the...
Latrobe nonprofit plans week-long virtual auction, wellness series
Latrobe-based nonprofit Laurel Faith in Action is inviting area residents to take a break from the heat outside to join in a virtual Fun in the Sun online auction. Set for Monday through July 23, the fundraising event includes about 50 items up for bid. Participants also can check out...
Norwin promotes covid vaccine clinics
Norwin students 12 and older and school district residents will be able to get a free covid vaccine before school starts Sept. 8 by making an appointment at Excela Square at Norwin Medical Commons in North Huntingdon. To be fully vaccinated, two doses of the Pfizer shot will be administered...
Raises approved for much-needed Go Westmoreland bus drivers
Go Westmoreland paratransit bus drivers are getting raises. Westmoreland County Transit Authority board members this week approved 4.6% raises for nonunion drivers with the agency’s shared-ride program which provides subsidized door-to-door trips in small buses to seniors, disabled and low-income riders. Driver pay will increase to $15 per hour starting...
Westmoreland increases signing bonuses for Manor nurses
Westmoreland County is upping the ante to hire nurses. With nearly three dozen openings at Westmoreland Manor, the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield, officials said increased signing bonuses will be paid to new hires during the final five months of this year. They will receive up to $6,000 in addition...
Irwin cops take turn as baristas
The owner of a boutique bakery in Irwin and borough police participated in a fundraiser with a caffeinated kick on Thursday. Caroline Lewis, owner of the Cheesecake Caffe on Main Street, sponsored a cleverly-named “Lattes With Law Enforcement” three-hour event, where officers donned aprons over their police uniforms to make...
Latrobe police say neighbors’ complaints led to drug arrests
Multiple complaints this month over an influx of pedestrian and vehicle traffic at a Latrobe home resulted in the arrests of a couple Thursday by city police on charges of trafficking cocaine and heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia. William E. Schall, 34, and Bobbi Rae Ragazzini, 26, who live...
Norwin GOP fills vacancy on school board ticket
Norwin area Republican committee members selected a replacement for the candidate who withdrew from the GOP ticket for the school board election in November, snubbing the school board president who also sought the nomination. Shawna Ilagan of North Huntingdon beat fellow Republicans Dorey Stabile McCarron and Norwin School Board president...
Former Excela nurse accused of stealing pain pills from patients
A former nurse at Excela Health Westmoreland hospital in Greensburg was arrested this week by the state Attorney General’s office on accusations of stealing prescription painkillers from patients over a five-month period in 2020, according to court papers. Joel M. Gazal, 34, of North Versailles, was arraigned on two counts...
9-year-old ‘America’s Got Talent’ opera singer from Unity honored by Westmoreland commissionersVideo
Unity’s Victory Brinker might have been on a bigger stage last week when she wowed the judges during her appearance on “America’s Got Talent.” But her smile was nearly as wide this week during an appearance at the Westmoreland County Courthouse when she was honored for her performance, which pushed...
Greensburg church members walk streets to pray for city’s needsVideo
At LifeSpring Christian Church in downtown Greensburg, Pastor Dale Adams and his congregation are on a journey to develop deeper prayer lives — and to bless the city in the process. The journey is not just spiritual, it’s also physical. Since May, they’ve taken to the streets of their neighborhoods...
