Westmoreland category, Page 51
Passenger testifies Bruce Alvarado was shooting at police after 2023 car chase
Amber Barkhamer wanted out of the stolen Jeep Patriot. Police were chasing the SUV with their sirens blaring and lights flashing while Bruce Alvarado, 40, stayed on the road, dodging other motorists and weaving in and out of traffic, she testified Tuesday. “He said he wasn’t going to jail today,”...
Latrobe caretaker accused of assaulting woman
A Latrobe woman’s caretaker was jailed Monday for allegedly pulling the woman’s hair to lift her out of a wheelchair and then dropping her onto the floor, where she hit her head, Latrobe police said. Nicole M. Crusan, 48, allegedly mistreated the 71-year-old stroke victim, who was on the floor...
Crabtree Sunoco store sells $1M scratch-off ticket
A Latrobe-area man is $1 million richer thanks to spending $20 on a $1 million-winning “Jackpot” scratch-off ticket at a Crabtree store last month. “They (sales clerk and winner) were both excited that he won” on May 25, said Tim D’Aurora, owner of the Crabtree Gas & Co along Route...
Ligonier streets take on period look, with movie cameras set to roll for ‘Hershey’
Portions of Ligonier’s central Diamond and adjacent West Main Street will take on a new old look in the days ahead as the crew of “Hershey” arrives to shoot footage for the independent film about the founder of the Pennsylvania chocolate company. During the location shoot, which begins Wednesday and...
Historic Salem park seeks donations to offset storm damage, celebrate 80th anniversary
While other families were grilling in the park for Memorial Day, Anita Jackson-Lowe was looking for ways to clean up her park. Jackson-Lowe is president of the Fairview Park Association, a nonprofit that owns the historic Salem property that was once home to the state’s first and only Black-owned amusement...
Trial opens in shooting of Monroeville police officer after 2023 chase
A couple of seconds after a lengthy police chase ended in a collision with a stolen Jeep Patriot, Monroeville Patrolman Craig Huhn came under gunfire. “By the second gunshot, I could identify that I was being shot at,” he testified Monday. The SUV collided with the Ford Explorer patrol unit...
Hempfield Area finance committee wrestles with $172K deficit ahead of budget vote
Hempfield Area will still need to cover a $172,000 gap before passing a final budget for the 2025-2026 school year later this month. The school board held its final public hearing on its $114.5 million budget Monday evening. It approved May 19 a proposed final budget with a 4.35-mill tax...
Mine safety offices in Pa. pulled from list of DOGE closures
All four mine safety offices in Pennsylvania that were scheduled to have their leases terminated have been pulled from a list of federal government offices to be closed as part of extensive cost-cutting measures. Mine Safety and Health Administration offices in Hempfield, Marshall Township, Waynesburg and Frackville in Schuylkill County...
Police: Missing Greensburg woman returns home
A Greensburg woman has returned home after being missing for nearly two days, according to Police Chief Charles Irvin. Lisa Slavnik, 48, returned home Tuesday night. Irvin said she appeared to be safe. Police would not release any other details. No one answered the door at Slavnik’s house Wednesday morning....
Penn State students at closing campuses juggle staying the course or jumping ship
Penn State New Kensington fit the bill for 19-year-old Angelina Da Vila. “Originally, I wanted to go to Penn State,” she said. “I wanted to be in the city, but not go to such a big school. I still wanted that small-school atmosphere, and New Kensington sounded like one of...
Annual Mammoth Fest in Mt. Pleasant draws thousands of families to Westmoreland County park
Michelle Liprando of Harrison City watched as her daughter, Sienna, spun around and around and around on a motorcycle merry-go-round at Mammoth Park in Mt. Pleasant Township Sunday. It became a familiar sight — the young girl went on the C&L Shows’ ride quite often during Westmoreland County’s annual Mammoth...
Westmoreland happenings: Strawberry festivals, cheese tasting, blood drive, more
Church News • Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church, 4600 Old William Penn Highway, Murrysville, will host a community Pentecost picnic June 8 at the church. A worship service will be at 10 a.m. and the picnic will be afterward. There will be a bounce house, activities for all ages, an obstacle course and...
Murrysville attorney wounded by self-inflicted gunshot during arrest, police sayVideo
A suspended attorney had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at his Murrysville office as police tried to take him into custody on theft charges, according to authorities. A search warrant was served around 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the office of Robert C. Klingensmith on Old William Penn Highway just outside...
Closures and detours announced for Ligonier movie filming
There will be a number of road closures, detours and street restrictions in the heart of Ligonier this week to allow for filming of the movie, “Hershey.” Here are the areas that will be affected. Municipal Lot A, at Church Street and Route 711, will be closed for parking from...
Intersection improvements begin on Route 286 near Murrysville-Plum border; other roadwork announced
Delayed construction is beginning at the intersection of Route 286 and Saltsburg Road in Murrysville, near the Plum border, according to Plum officials. Canonsburg-based Olympus Energy paid for temporary traffic improvements last year as part of its Hermes fracking well pad project, built nearby on the Murrysville-Plum border off Logan’s...
Q&A: New Stanton musician sounds taps at great-great-grandfather’s grave
Josiah Inghram joined the 130th Pennsylvania Regiment in the fall of 1862, at the age of 17. He trained in Harrisburg under Col. Henry Zinn and was quickly ordered to Antietam, where his regiment saw its first combat during the Civil War. More than 160 years later, his great-great-grandson Jay...
Westmoreland County war memorial centennial anniversary celebrated
Glenn Smeltzer stood with pride in Westmoreland County Courthouse Square on Saturday as he and his son watched a ceremony a century in the making. County officials and member of the Greensburg-based Sons of Veterans of Civil War Capt. George A. Cribbs Camp No. 276 celebrated the 100th anniversary of...
Hostetter man gets jail sentence in underage corruption case after judge cites prior record
Judge Timothy Krieger rejected a Hostetter man’s plea for a house arrest sentence Friday, instead handing him a jail term for incidents in 2020 involving two teenage girls. “I appreciate that,” Krieger said to Glenn D. Jones Jr., 26, who told the judge he previously did well on house arrest...
Greensburg man sentenced for sexual assault of boy
A Greensburg man was sentenced Friday to 12 to 24 years in a state prison for the sexual assault of a 3-year-old boy. James A. Swanson, 48, was ordered to spend three years on probation after the prison term is over. He was convicted in March of rape and involuntary...
Jeannette shooting victim describes chaotic scene, gunfire that led to death of young mother
As Cortez McClendon was getting food out of a refrigerator, he felt the gunshots. He was hit with bullets five times, three of which remain lodged in his body, before falling to the floor of the Jeannette home on June 9, 2023. McClendon testified Friday that he remembered seeing Briana...
Hearing set in North Huntingdon high-speed crash
A hearing for prosecutors to lay out some of their evidence is being scheduled in the case against a North Huntingdon man accused of driving 90 mph last year before colliding with another vehicle, seriously injuring its driver. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli said Friday he expects testimony to take...
Judge tosses lawsuit against Norwin, former superintendent; director vows to file amended complaint
A federal judge dismissed a Norwin School Board director’s lawsuit against the former superintendent and the district. U.S. Judge Scott Hardy in Pittsburgh ruled that Alex Detschelt failed to state a claim for which the court can grant relief. Detschelt, of North Huntingdon, filed the lawsuit after he was censured...
Oakmont’s Joe Wos to bring ‘Once Upon a Toon’ show to Latrobe’s Mister Rogers celebration
Kids and adults attending Mister Rogers Family Days will have the chance to “toon” in to the artistry of Oakmont cartoonist Joe Wos at this year’s edition of the Latrobe festival. Known for his short-format “Cartoon Academy” TV series of drawing demonstrations produced at Pittsburgh PBS affiliate WQED, Wos will...
Cleanup of former Fort Pitt Brewery site in West Jeannette continues after boost in federal funding
Demolition work at the former Fort Pitt Brewery site in West Jeannette is expected to wrap up in the next few months as officials prepare for an environmental assessment later this year. The decrepit buildings are gone, but remaining work includes cleaning up and spreading dirt, said Brian Lawrence, director...
Maintenance plan review underway for Hempfield public works equipment
Hempfield Supervisor Jay Anderson is pushing for a public works fleet maintenance plan to be established as the board approved spending an unexpected $174,000 to buy a new day cab tractor. The vehicle is used to haul a trailer and heavy public works equipment such as a paver or excavator....
