Westmoreland category, Page 54
Judge denies request for change in $1M bond on woman accused in Greensburg Beverage estate theft
A 26-year-old Murrysville woman accused of participating in a scheme to defraud her aunt of a $4.4 million estate settlement will remain in the Westmoreland County Prison after she lost her bid Monday to have her $1 million bond reduced. Angela Lynne Valesky was returned to the prison after Westmoreland...
Police: Security video shows Monessen man kicking, choking and dragging dogs around yard
A Monessen man and woman are in jail after police received more than 50 videos from a neighbor, many of which show the man kicking, choking, dragging and throwing his dogs around the yard as they yelp and scream in pain, according to police. Douglas J. White, 27, and Mackinzie...
Dino’s Sports Lounge set to close Greensburg location
Dino’s Sports Lounge is closing its Greensburg location, according to a post on social media Sunday. The restaurant has been open on Towne Square Drive for 15 years. The post indicated the reason for the closure was out of the control of restaurant ownership. Management refused to comment to the...
Morning Roundup: Man in critical condition after East Hills shooting; youth flee Ligonier Valley youth center
Here are a few morning news items from across the region for Monday, June 30: Man in critical condition after East Hills shooting A man was shot late Sunday in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood and taken to a hospital in critical condition by Pittsburgh EMS, according to Pittsburgh police. Officers...
Westmoreland happenings: Ice cream fundraiser, class reunion, senior citizen news, more
Fundraisers • A fundraiser to benefit the West Newton Church of God mission trip to New Mexico will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Country Custard Cottage and Gift Shop, 1503 Mars Hill Road, Sewickley Township. Mention the fundraiser and 30% of your purchase price will be donated...
Route 30 crash hot spots a concern for motorists, property owners, police, PennDOT
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Route 30 crash hot spots a concern for motorists, property owners, police, PennDOT
A note left on the door of their new Hempfield home 21 years ago was the first sign of trouble for Kristie Harvey’s family. It was from a young driver, admitting to having hit a perimeter wall on Harvey’s lot just off the Cedar Street exit of Route 30. It...
Cars, motorcycles, tattoos on tap at inaugural Whiskey Throttle Fair
Joe Fidanzato loves to flaunt his shiny, silver 1981 GMC Caballero Diablo any chance he can get. Fidanzato, 75, of Monongahela polished the wheels after parking the car Saturday morning off a dusty road at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township for the Whiskey Throttle Fair. The fair featured...
18th-century artifacts get room with a view at Fort Ligonier Museum
A place for everything and everything in its place applies equally to spontoons and shards. Thanks to a new climate-controlled collections storage room in the basement of Fort Ligonier Museum, Meghan Budinger will have separate compartments to safely archive the former iron and brass weapon — a type of personal...
Former Monessen man resentenced to life in prison for children’s murder in 1973
Susan Worlton only knew her sisters from her mother’s stories and the few pictures that remain. In a courtroom Friday, Worlton told a Westmoreland County judge how the violent murders of her sisters five decades earlier have impacted her family. She and her mother were among the witnesses at the...
‘It’s humongous’: World’s largest rubber duck amazes crowd at Idlewild park
When Katie Luttner and her two grandchildren approached the giant, bright yellow duck through the trees at Idlewild & SoakZone on Friday, they were in awe. “I’ve never seen it before, and I didn’t realize how huge it is,” she said. “(It’s) bigger than what I expected.” The “World’s Largest...
Off-duty nurse pulls Route 30 crash victim from car, administers CPR in Southwest Greensburg
Dawn Hritz wasn’t even supposed to be driving on Route 30 at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. But she was. A forgotten karate uniform for her son and earlier-than-expected ride home turned into a lifesaving feat for the Hempfield woman who joined forces with Sophia Sikora and Kayla Borland, EMTs with Mutual...
3 puppies recovering after being found along Five Star Trail
Three emaciated puppies are getting small amounts of water and food every few hours after they were found Thursday in a box along the Five Star Trail in Greensburg. A person walking on the trail near Lynch Field found them and Ninth Life Rescue Center took the animals in after...
Irwin Park summer concert series opens with alternative rock band
Irwin’s annual Concert in the Park series at the Irwin Park amphitheater returns this summer, with the first concerts slated for Sunday . Irwin will kick off its five-show Concert in the Park series at Irwin Park amphitheater off Pennsylvania Avenue and Main Street with Alt Rocks, a 1990s and...
Latrobe appoints Long Island native with building code experience to fill council vacancy
A retiree whose work experience includes examining building plans and completing code reviews is now a new member of Latrobe’s city council. Council members voted unanimously this week to appoint Lenor Rivera to serve on the panel through December 2027. She will complete the term of William Yuhaniak, who cited...
Civil War book wins Gettysburg roundtable award for Penn Township author
Penn Township author Ron Kirkwood spent 17 days in 2022 at the National Archives in Washington, DC, scouring hundreds of pension files for the stories of Civil War soldiers and their families. Kirkwood, 70, a Michigan native, worked more than four decades as a newspaper and magazine editor — for...
Here are 5 things to do in Westmoreland this weekend: June 27-29
June is wrapping up, and next week will be a short week for many. But there’s still lots going on all around Westmoreland County. Here are a few things you can do this weekend to close out the month. Ligonier Valley Bluegrass Festival Get ready for a full weekend of...
Mama Duck, duckling inflatables set to pump up crowds at Idlewild and SoakZone
Jase Wiarda occasionally calls a company with a pressure washer to give his rubber duck a bath. “It’s a weird phone call to make,” he said. “People think it’s a prank.” That is, until they realize their services are being sought to clean the “World’s Largest Rubber Duck” — a...
Route 30 eastbound reopens after multi-vehicle crash shut it down for hours in Southwest Greensburg
Route 30 eastbound reopened near the Route 119 interchange after a crash early Thursday evening shut it down for hours. The 5:30 p.m. wreck involved multiple vehicles, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Southwest Greensburg firefighters reported in a social media post that the crash involved a tri-axle truck...
Plans progress for Westmoreland human services hub
Westmoreland County’s plan for centralized hub to house its human services programs received a $500,000 boost from a Pittsburgh foundation. Commissioners this week accepted a grant from the Eden Hall Foundation that officials said could help pay for relocation of hundreds of employees and social service programs to one location....
Westmoreland commissioners say opioid settlement funds needed but won’t cover prior costs
Westmoreland commissioners said the roughly $2.6 million doled out Thursday from legal settlements with major drug makers and distributors will not even come close to covering the damages the county sustained from the opioid addiction crisis. The money was awarded to agencies and nonprofits aimed at drug treatment, recovery and...
11th annual United Way Build a Bike sees 600 bikes built for local children
United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania held its 11th annual Build A Bike event over three days this week, assembling 600 bikes for children and tapping the power of 300 volunteers. “It goes beyond the two wheels, into the classroom” said Amy Franz, United Way regional vice president, highlighting the social,...
Greensburg Salem passes 2.5-mill tax hike after contested vote, executive session
The Greensburg Salem School Board approved a $53 million budget Wednesday with a 2.5-mill tax hike for the 2025-26 school year. The average property owner with a median assessed value of $17,200 would see a $38 annual increase in their tax bills with a 2.5-mill tax jump — bringing the...
Greensburg man receives modified sentence for 2023 hit-and-run
A Greensburg man’s sentence was modified Thursday to 20 months of probation in connection with a 2023 hit-and-run that left a woman seriously hurt. Christopher M. Degnan, 46, was ordered to spend 90 days on house arrest with electronic monitoring. He was arrested months after police said he hit a...
Perking up: How the arrival of a coffee shop can get a small town buzzing
Avonmore has long chased an economic renaissance that never quite arrived. If anything, the dream of a bustling business community slipped further out of reach when the town’s rolling mill closed in 2019, taking more than 100 jobs with it. But the borough has a coffee shop among its small...
