Westmoreland category, Page 633
Giant slides at Mammoth Park to remain closed 2 more weeks
The Giant Slide at Mammoth Park in Mt. Pleasant will remain closed for at least two more weeks as Westmoreland County officials await safety reports from two independent investigators. Public Works Director Greg McCloskey reaffirmed Wednesday that officials believe the matching 100-foot metal slides are safe. Four of the five...
Mt. Pleasant man jailed on $250K bond after police seize heroin, meth, cash
A major area heroin dealer, who investigators said typically conducted business out of his car throughout central and southern Westmoreland County, on Tuesday decided to sell four bricks of the drug from his Mt. Pleasant home. That proved to be a mistake. Borough police and agents from state Attorney General’s...
Police identify suspects in I-70 brick throwing probe
State police in Belle Vernon said they have “identified suspects” in two brick throwing incidents last month along Interstate 70 that caused a minor injury to one truck driver near the North Belle Vernon interchange. On July 7, state police reported bricks were thrown at two eastbound tractor-trailers. One driver...
Lamp Theatre remains dark as 3 workers cut
Hurt by the cancellation of shows since mid-March because of the covid-19 shutdowns, coupled with a public as hesitant about mingling in crowds as performers were cautious about traveling, The Lamp Theatre in Irwin has furloughed its three employees. With revenue slowed to a trickle, The Lamp Theatre decided it...
Westmoreland County adds 18 new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County added 18 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The new cases — all confirmed — bring the county’s total to 1,573 cases. There were 260 new tests reported, for a daily positivity rate of 6.92%. Overall, the county’s positivity rate since the outbreak...
Delmont will update, modernize its burning ordinanceVideo
If you want to have a fire in a Delmont driveway fire pit on Friday, technically you had to notify the fire department in writing by Monday. “I was looking at it and I thought, ‘This is nuts. Who does this?’” Councilman Bill Marx said. With that in mind, Delmont...
Western Pa. leaders working to exceed census response rates from 2010
Fewer people have responded to the 2020 census across Western Pennsylvania than in 2010, new data shows. According to the Pennsylvania State Data Center, several area counties, including Allegheny and Westmoreland, are about 5 percentage points behind self-response rates recorded in 2010. That means fewer people so far have responded...
Neighbors pleased with youth group’s efforts at fighting blight in Jeannette
For years, Paul and Paula Hassinger were met with blight the moment they took a step outside their West Jeannette front door. Now, the abandoned houses across 12th Street looks much better after a Murrysville church group ripped out some overgrown weeds and brush last month, but the Hassingers still...
Westmoreland Symphony will livestream upcoming season concerts
The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra will return to the stage of The Palace Theatre for its 2021 season, with one significant difference from past years. The seats in the historic Greensburg theater will be empty and, instead, patrons will be viewing concerts in their homes via livestream presented in partnership with...
Township makes truck payment on behalf of East Huntingdon’s cash-strapped fire department
East Huntingdon Fire Chief Brian Kite knew $61,000 was a lot of money to request from the township. But the department’s $61,000 annual fire truck payment was looming. With several months worth of canceled fundraisers and a firemen’s club ordered closed by the state, the money was going to otherwise...
Westmoreland community events: Aug. 12
Sale Fairview Church of God rummage sale is set for Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The church is located on Route 982, between Laurelville and Kecksburg in Mt. Pleasant Township. Meeting Post-pandemic life will be the topic for the next meeting for the Socrates Café at the Delmont Public Library....
Delmont-Salem Rotary proposes service project at Delmont parklet
In 1907, the first-ever Rotary Club project was the construction of a single-stall men’s restroom in Chicago. Some 113 years later, the Delmont-Salem Rotary Club is looking to the past for its 2021 service project: proposing to build a restroom at Delmont’s Rose Wigfield Parklet. Incoming club president Harold Hicks...
Mt. Pleasant PTO hoping to buy $40,000 in air-conditioning units for elementary buildings
Almost every child wants to look cool when they go back to school. In Mt. Pleasant Area School District, parent-teacher organization members want children to feel cool as well. The group hopes district officials will allow them to buy about $40,000 worth of portable air-conditioning units for its elementary schools,...
Norwin grads digging up the past
A group of Norwin High School graduates who attended the former Hartford Heights Elementary School plan on Wednesday to hunt for, and hopefully dig up, a time capsule they buried on school grounds when they were students there in the late 1980s. Keri Holton of North Huntingdon said they are...
Lawyer: Jury trial only way to settle case involving contested Greensburg traffic stop
The lawyer for a Pittsburgh man awaiting trial in Westmoreland County on drug charges that he says resulted from an illegal traffic stop two years ago in Greensburg said he has no choice but to ask a jury to resolve the case. Christopher Batch, 31, was charged in November 2018...
Hempfield approves reopening plans with phasesVideo
After months of work, Hempfield leaders approved a health and safety plan that will welcome students back through a blended approach. On Monday, board members unanimously approved the plan, which will bring back students in a phased approach starting Aug. 27. An initial phase has students following a staggered schedule...
Hempfield woman arraigned, charges pending against 2 others in North Huntingdon assault, home invasion
North Huntingdon police identified three of five people allegedly involved in a daylight home invasion and assault Saturday afternoon. Arianna R. Matrone, 18, of Hempfield, was arraigned Tuesday on charges of burglary, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, simple assault, harassment and terroristic threats filed by township police in connection with the...
Jeannette woman paroled after pleading guilty to threatening, assaulting teen
A Jeannette woman was released from jail Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to charges of threatening and assaulting a teen last year in Rostraver. Police said Mary J. Burch, 49, entered a vehicle driven by a teenage boy outside of a convenience store on Nov. 8, 2018, claimed she had...
Authority OKs $5.8M in contracts for Arnold Palmer airport terminal, runway expansions
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is moving ahead with interior and exterior improvements at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, at a cost of about $5.8 million. The authority this week awarded contracts for expanding the passenger holding room and for continuing widening and strengthening of the runway at the Unity airport....
Community college leaders tout cost advantages as 4-year schools go online
As families weigh the rapidly evolving landscape at colleges across the state, officials at Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to accommodate students faced with last-minute decisions about the fall semester. “We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if...
Westmoreland sees lowest new covid-19 case count in 56 days
Not since June 16 has Westmoreland County seen a day with so few new reported new cases of covid-19. The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced two new cases of coronavirus were added to the county’s total, which now stands at 1,555. Both of those new cases were confirmed. It’s the...
Western Pa. colleges awarded federal funds to underwrite reopening costs
Seven local colleges and trade schools were awarded more than $900,000 in federal grants to help underwrite public health and safety plans for reopening shuttered campuses. The grants that flowed through the state are part of a $28 million pool of federal CARES Act money state officials set aside to...
Greensburg artists’ mosaic finds home in Puerto Rican church
A mosaic created for a show at the Greensburg Art Center will have a permanent home at a chapel in Puerto Rico. Artists Rosemary Sovyak of Hempfield and Tom Niggel of Greensburg combined their talents for the piece that was part of last winter’s “Collaborations” exhibition, featuring works made by...
Latrobe delays vote on underpass rehabilitation
Rehabilitation of Latrobe’s railroad underpasses will have to wait a few weeks longer, as city council this week tabled awarding bids for the project. City manager Mike Gray suggested council act on three contracts — for concrete repairs, painting and electrical work — during a special meeting to be held...
Militia encampment planned at Compass Inn Museum
Editor’s Note: This event has been canceled. The Compass Inn Museum and Ligonier Valley Historical Society headquarters are closed as a precaution for two weeks, through Aug. 28, because of an employee’s potential exposure to the coronavirus. A local re-enactment group that portrays a Revolutionary War-era militia unit and working...
