Westmoreland category, Page 581
Gov. Wolf, health officials want Pennsylvanians to stay home for the holidays
Dr. Carol Fox is worried about the holidays. She watches the rising coronavirus caseload in Westmoreland County and keeps daily tabs on the numbers that are impacting Excela Health, where she is chief medical officer. As the toll from family visits over Thanksgiving becomes more clear, she said she is...
Latrobe woman wins Judges’ Choice award in state parks photo contest
A misty morning on the Youghiogheny River has earned a Latrobe woman an award in the Pennsylvania Parks and Forest Foundation’s “Through the Seasons” photo contest. Clare Kaczmarek, 68, won the Judges’ Choice award in the contest’s “Motion” category for her photo of the river running through a bed of...
‘Monticello Lights’ display backs up traffic in Delmont, second night set for SundayVideo
When residents of Monticello Drive in Delmont replaced their annual holiday party with a neighborhood drive-thru Christmas-light competition, they were hoping for an enjoyable weekend and a chance to raise a little money for charity. What they didn’t expect was a four-and-a-half-hour parade of cars that backed up traffic along...
Working through a pandemic: Ambulance services getting flooded with covid calls
The onslaught came all at once. One day, the coronavirus patient load was just as low it had been all summer. Then in mid-October, as the leaves began to change, days at work abruptly shifted. “It was all of a sudden,” said Dave Whipkey, paramedic and logistics director at Mutual...
Business owners buckle down for new covid restrictions
For some local business owners, the expanded state health and safety orders that went into effect Saturday were another punch to the gut, during a year in which they’ve already absorbed plenty of body blows. At Jioio’s Restaurant in Greensburg, owner Tony Jioio is buckling down for a tough holiday...
As virus cases, deaths mount, Westmoreland hospital officials plead for public’s help
The start of the coronavirus pandemic in March was nothing like the current surge. There was uncertainty back then as the virus quietly crept into the community, said Dr. Heather Walker, assistant director of the emergency department at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg. But now, the alarms are sounding...
Westmoreland County posts 568 covid-19 cases; 9 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 568 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County. It is the third-straight day the county reported at least 500 cases. On Thursday, 505 cases were posted, followed by a record daily high of 657 on Friday. Nine additional deaths were reported...
Westmoreland Shop With A Cop adapts to pandemic, starts Monday
State police Trooper Stephen Limani laughed recalling a dozen years ago at the start of the Westmoreland County Shop With a Cop program when the only worry was raising the $50 for each of the 20 children planning to go Christmas shopping at the Walmart in Unity. This year, Limani...
Greensburg company will host Toys for Tots drive through Dec. 20
Greensburg company Advanced Fire will host a holiday Toys for Tots drive through Dec. 20 at its location on West Drive, just off Route 30. The drives, taking place at 15 of its sites, is run through CertaSite Serves, parent company CertaSite’s charitable arm. “At our core, CertaSite’s purpose is...
Hundreds turn out for Unity’s drive-thru visit with Santa
The Unity supervisors have hosted a community holiday celebration near the township municipal building, complete with a Christmas tree, since 2009. This year, in keeping with pandemic precautions, those attending stayed in their cars, greeted with a wave from Santa before dropping off letters to the jolly old elf and...
Irwin hikes property tax by 15%; raises pay for workers
Irwin Borough property owners will pay about 15% more in real estate taxes next year. The 2021 budget of $4.79 million raises taxes three mills. Irwin Council approved the budget Wednesday, which raises the tax rate from 20 mills to 23 mills. Two of the three additional mills will be...
Westmoreland courthouse to operate by appointment only through December
Westmoreland County officials said Friday that most business at the courthouse in Greensburg will be conducted by appointment only through the end of December. Commissioners said all county offices will continue to operate during the three-week period of new restrictions announced earlier this week by Gov. Tom Wolf amid the...
Westmoreland Mall’s Cash-In Culture closing, moving online
Tim Hartman gets a bit wistful when he talks about the ’80s. “It was a new dawn of pop culture,” said Hartman, co-owner of Cash-In Culture, a store that celebrates his passion for the past. With his love of the era comes a love of malls. A self-described “retail hound,”...
North Huntingdon says ‘no’ to Wolf’s limits on indoor crowds
A few hours after Gov. Wolf announced new covid limits for indoor gatherings to 10 people Thursday, North Huntingdon officials essentially thumbed their nose at him, saying anyone can attend their public meeting on Dec. 16. “It they (residents) want to come, they can come and speak,” said Zachary Haigis,...
Westmoreland Clerk of Courts unveils smartphone app
The Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts office is going modern. The office, which oversees all criminal court filings, on Friday unveiled it’s own app. In September, county commissioners approved a $15,000 contract with OVC LLC, a private firm that specializes in the creation of mobile apps for law enforcement, public...
Greensburg woman to serve 7 to 14 years for fatal drug sale
A Greensburg woman was sentenced to up to 14 years in prison for the sale fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a woman in her Greensburg home in February. Jamie Lynn Dickant, 35, pleaded guilty to counts of drug delivery resulting in death and three other drug-related charges in connection with the...
Westmoreland County breaks new covid case record for 2nd straight day
Westmoreland County has again broken the record for new covid-19 cases in the county, a day after the previous record was broken. There were 657 new covid cases reported Friday, surpassing Thursday’s record of 505 cases. In the past two days, 1,162 cases have been reported. It previously took the...
Rostraver Police ask for help identifying suspect in church burglaryVideo
Rostraver Police are asking the public’s help identifying a man they say broke into St. Anne’s Church Saturday and made off with an unspecified amount of cash and checks. Detective Kerry August said the suspect pulled into the church parking lot at 1870 Rostraver Road about 10 a.m. in a...
Air Force Raptor joins 2021 Westmoreland air show lineup
The Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet demonstration team is slated to return to Unity for next year’s air show at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Headquartered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Va., the Raptor previously participated in the Shop ’n Save Westmoreland County Airshow in 2016. The Raptor provides...
Westmoreland County Blind Association adding kitchen, sensory room for adult clients
Financial contributions leveraged by a state tax credit program will help the Westmoreland County Blind Association renovate part of its South Greensburg center to better meet the needs of the disabled adults it serves. The organization this week was awarded $46,500 through Pennsylvania’s Neighborhood Assistance Program. Three area financial institutions...
Westmoreland Symphony concert is truly ‘Home for the Holidays’ this year
For many around Westmoreland County, nothing signals the arrival of the Yule season quite like the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra’s annual “Home for the Holidays” concert. Even though pandemic restrictions prevent the symphony from playing in front of a live audience this year, the popular concert is on, via a livestream...
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art closes through Jan. 5
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art will be closed beginning Saturday through Jan. 5. The Greensburg museum cited “recently implemented restrictions” that are part of the state’s reponse to the covid-19 pandemic for the closing. The museum is scheduled to reopen 10 a.m. Jan. 6, when the regular operating hours...
Governor’s shutdown of inside dining another blow to restaurants, barsVideo
Restaurant and bar owners in Westmoreland County who were hoping to cash in any way they could during the Christmas and New Year holidays — typically one of the busiest times of the year, when not in a pandemic — suffered another blow Thursday with the announcement of another round...
Norwin goes all-remote until Jan. 11
With covid cases rising in Westmoreland County and in the towns it serves, the Norwin School District has decided to teach its 5,300 students from home beginning Monday and continuing until at least Monday, Jan. 11. With school staff being forced to quarantine, employee absenteeism is very high, Superintendent Jeff...
Westmoreland doles out another $2 million in covid-relief grants to small businesses
Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday awarded another 130 small businesses nearly $2 million to cover losses and expenses related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The money represents the second, and what commissioners said was the final, round of funding to small businesses from $31.5 million in federal relief funds the...
