Westmoreland category, Page 494
Westmoreland Housing Authority leverages properties to pay for new construction, renovations
Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials said Tuesday the agency secured more than $17 million in low-interest loans and will seek to borrow another $4.5 million to pay for new construction projects and renovation of existing properties. Director Michael Washowich said the low-income housing agency used four of its larger properties...
Users give Mammoth Park slides thumbs-up after reopeningVideo
After a 10-month moratorium on rides at the Giant Slide complex in Mammoth Park, it took teenager Mary Janetka only about 10 minutes Tuesday to give the slightly recontoured, re-signed and reopened slide facility her seal of approval. “Oh yeah, it’s fun!” said Janetka, 15, who was accompanied in the...
Woman accused of being intoxicated during I-70 crash, leaving passenger at scene
A Mt. Pleasant Borough woman was arrested Saturday after state police said she was taking pills while driving on Interstate 70 and crashed, prompting a passenger to get out of the car in a construction zone, according to court papers. Christal Dawn Craig, 47, is charged with driving under the...
Suppression motion denied in federal gun case against man suspected in Unity woman’s disappearance
Search warrants in a federal weapons case against Thomas George Stanko were legally obtained, a judge ruled in denying a motion to suppress evidence against Stanko. Authorities had probable cause to search a storage unit Stanko rented and Unity property he owned based on coded conversations he had with family...
Latrobe restricts on-street parking of RVs, trailers, boats, sets fine
Latrobe Council on Monday amended an ordinance to prohibit parking of recreational vehicles, unattached trailers and boats along city streets for extended periods. Residents are allowed to park RVs on the street in front of their property for up to 72 hours. An out-of-town visitor can park a similar vehicle...
Latrobe seeks federal rescue funds
Latrobe applied to the state Department of Community and Economic Development for the first of two years of fiscal recovery funding under the federal American Rescue Plan. City Manager Michael Gray said the city should receive about $419,000 in each of the two years, but guidelines for use of the...
Latrobe’s summer paving costs under budget; intersection work nearing an endVideo
Latrobe will spend $20,000 less than expected on its summer paving project, according to City Manager Michael Gray. But that work isn’t expected to take place until paving is complete on key downtown intersections undergoing improvement as part of a separate PennDOT effort. City council on Monday awarded the summer...
Franklin Regional School Board to vote on 2021-22 budget next week
Franklin Regional School Board members will vote tonight on a 2021-22 budget with a bit less spending and a little more revenue, but not enough to stave off a proposed property tax hike to the state limit of just over 3 mills. As the board prepares for its final meeting...
Greensburg increases funds offered through the city’s Housing Assistance Program
Greensburg leaders during Monday’s council meeting voted to increase funding offered through the city’s Housing Assistance Program to further help those impacted by the pandemic. The vote raises the maximum amount received through the program from $1,500 — or three months of rent or mortgage payments — to $7,500, or...
Natural gas price drop means less money for towns
Pennsylvania will distribute about $46 million less in natural gas impact fees this year to the state’s counties and municipalities because of the drop in natural gas prices in 2020. That’s bad news, especially for rural townships in Marcellus shale-rich regions of Southwestern Pennsylvania already coping with pandemic-related income losses....
Patient flown by medical helicopter following Hempfield crash
At least one patient was transported by medical helicopter from the scene of a single-vehicle crash Monday afternoon in Hempfield. Emergency officials responded to the intersection of Baltzer Meyer Pike and Hurst Road just before 4 p.m. for a report of a car that had gone off the roadway with...
Ligonier approves resolution to support anti-gerrymandering bill
Ligonier officials joined more than 362 municipalities and 24 counties across the state, signing onto resolutions asking the General Assembly to pass a bill outlawing gerrymandering. The small borough in Eastern Westmoreland County last week joined only two other Westmoreland municipalities—North Huntingdon and Trafford— that have gone on record in...
Music festival set for Irwin on Thursday
Several bands and singers will perform live on the streets and in taverns in Irwin Thursday during the Music in the Streets event. Judi Figel & Dave Crisci will perform from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Lamp Theatre Courtyard, 222 Main St. Kevin McManus & The Bone Forum...
Grant will help preserve historical aspects of downtown Greensburg
A new grant will help preserve historical aspects of downtown Greensburg. Awarded to the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Westmoreland, the $23,375 Keystone Historic Preservation Grant will be used to reevaluate the Greensburg Historic District, redefine the districtwide facade design guidelines and conduct an individual building condition assessment at...
Penn Township negotiating with turnpike commission in advance of bridge removal
Penn Township commissioners will vote this week on drafting an agreement with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission as the Harvison Road bridge will be demolished in preparation for a $30 million widening project of the toll road. Township secretary, manager and director of finance Mary Perez said the commission determined it...
$3M Pennsylvania Lottery scratch-off ticket winner is furloughed Indiana County steelworkerVideo
Two weeks after winning $3 million on a scratch-off Pennsylvania Lottery ticket at a Giant Eagle in Ligonier, Randy Lytle, a furloughed steelworker, still can’t believe his lottery luck. Lytle, 30, of Robinson, Indiana County, won the top prize on a Monopoly 100X scratch-off May 31. He said Monday during...
Stage Right’s campers will be singing, dancing and playing harmonicas this summer
You’re never too young to start making music with Stage Right School for the Performing Arts in Greensburg. Among five summer camp offerings is a harmonica camp for families with children ages 6 months to 4 years. The camp is part of Stage Right’s Music Together Program, an immersive music...
Mammoth Park’s Giant Slide set to reopen
The Giant Slide at Mammoth Park is set to reopen Tuesday with additional safety measures. The Mt. Pleasant Township complex featuring two 100-foot slides was temporarily closed in August after a few users reported injuries. It was shut down to allow time for safety inspections and county officials to investigate...
Search of car stopped in Jeannette leads to additional drug charges
A man arrested in Jeannette last month after police seized 40 stamp bags of heroin stuffed in his underwear is facing additional charges after police say they found two more bricks of heroin in the car he was riding in, according to court papers. Nicholas J. Travis, 36, of Indiana,...
Out & About: SAMA-Ligonier Valley party grooves to Woodstock themeVideo
If you had fallen asleep in 1969 and woke up Saturday at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley, you wouldn’t have felt out of place. It was like the Age of Aquarius all over again for the annual Garden Party, held under sunny skies on the lush...
Pandemic wreaks havoc on school food service, transportation budgets
As school leaders across the region debated the best way to keep students safe during the covid-19 pandemic, budgets for food and transportation services largely went bust as both districts and outside companies were left with fewer bodies queuing through cafeteria lines or riding buses. With schools bringing students back...
Westmoreland County launches clean energy program for property development
Westmoreland County commissioners have created a program that officials said will help private businesses and industrial building owners borrow money to pay for energy conservation programs. The Countywide Property Assessed Clean Energy Program, launched by the state in 2018, allows the county to act as a middle man for private...
‘More than just getting a meal’: W. Pa. food banks, groups still see more people in need
As restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic have lifted and life for many begins to phase into something that resembles normalcy, others remain in need. It will take 12 to 18 months for people to fully recover from the set-backs presented during the pandemic, estimated Charlese Hayden McKinney, director...
Out & About: ‘Happiness’ on menu of Westmoreland Symphony Hat LuncheonVideo
It was an interlude of “Hats and Happiness” on Saturday at the Greensburg Country Club, as the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra presented its 19th annual Hat Luncheon. Guests gathered on the veranda prior to moving into the ballroom, sipping champagne and mimosas and admiring each other’s colorful frocks and fanciful chapeaus....
Murrysville Export Democratic Club presents first Biden-Harris Community Service ScholarshipsVideo
Community service is important enough to U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle and Conor Lamb that it brought the two Democrats into solidly Republican territory in Murrysville on Saturday afternoon. “Hey, Conor, is this your district?” Doyle, D-Forest Hills, joked during the Murrysville Export Democratic Club’s first Biden-Harris Community Scholarship presentation, held...
