Westmoreland category, Page 689
New Stanton teen pleads guilty but mentally ill in 2016 killing of mother, brotherVideo
Jacob Remaley on Tuesday simply said he was sorry. Sorry for forever changing his family on the morning of Nov. 30, 2016, when, at age 14, he shot and killed his mother and younger brother in their New Stanton home. “I know I am guilty,” Remaley, now 18, said as...
Jeannette man accused of pointing gun at woman who pulled over near his home
A Jeannette man is being held without bond after police said he pointed a gun at a woman who pulled over in front of his house to tend to her sick son in the backseat. Christopher Jamal Jackson, 23, is charged with weapons violations, intimidation of a witness, aggravated assault...
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit impact grants open to all teachers
In 2019, the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit Foundation for the first time opened their impact grant program to any teacher, rather than just special-education teachers. “We literally threw the rubric out,” said foundation board member Roberta Cook of Murrysville. Cook and others in the foundation liked what they saw when choosing...
Fayette company donates light to fire department in memory of fallen paramedic
A Fayette County business recently donated a portable industrial lighting stand to a local fire department in memory of a Rostraver-West Newton Emergency Medical Services paramedic killed in the line of duty last month. Black Diamond Equipment Rental of Uniontown gave the mobile street light that can illuminate an emergency...
Latrobe eyes netting to restore access to city garage, protection from falling concrete
Latrobe officials hope protective netting will allow the Weldon Street parking garage entrance to reopen after being closed for months because of crumbling concrete. That entrance and sidewalk were closed last fall after contractor Pullman Services ran into more concrete damage than expected while making major repairs. The garage is...
Bushy Run Battlefield to offer free admission for Charter Day
Bushy Run Battlefield will celebrate Pennsylvania’s 339th birthday with free admission. From noon to 4 p.m. March 8, the museum will offer free tours and historical demonstrations, courtesy of the Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society. The day also will feature a basket raffle, wine tastings from Bushy Run Winery, and...
Former Franklin Regional student to serve probation for cyber attack that crippled school, county computers
The lawyer for a former Franklin Regional High School student convicted of a cyberattack that disrupted more than a dozen computer systems throughout Westmoreland County in late 2016 told a judge it was all just a prank. Defense attorney Lyle Dresbold said Michaela G. King uploaded a computer program she...
$3.4 million sewer project underway in HempfieldVideo
A $3.4 million sewer project is underway in Hempfield. Located along Business Route 66, also known as Sheridan Road, the project to extend sewer lines along the highway started last week, said Brian Hohman, business manager at the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. Crews have started work on a $3.4...
Mt. Pleasant man to serve 3 to 6 years for fatal hit-and-run crash
A Mt. Pleasant man was sentenced Monday to serve up to six years in prison for a hit-and-run crash last year that resulted in the death of an elderly Hempfield man. Jonathan A. McElroy, 43, pleaded guilty to charges of causing an accident involving death, tampering with evidence, making false...
Family laments that Hempfield doctor avoided jail for their daughter’s fatal overdoseVideo
Don Howard pulled no punches Monday in a Westmoreland County courtroom as he called for his daughter’s former doctor to be sent to jail. “He’s nothing but a pill pusher, and I guess he doesn’t mean his Hippocratic oath,” Howard said during a hearing in which Dr. Edgar Peske, 81,...
Pennsylvania launches webpages to school voters on new procedures
State officials are making good on a promise to get out the word about Pennsylvania’s new voting systems — at least online. On Monday, three weeks before the new date when voters may apply for a no-excuse absentee ballot, the Pennsylvania Department of State launched a new website (www.votespa.com/readytovote), complete...
6 accused in conspiracy to smuggle drugs into Westmoreland County Prison
A Cambria County woman is accused of working with four Westmoreland County Prison inmates in failed attempts to bring drugs into the jail, according to court papers. Matraca Lynn Vrana, 26, was arraigned Friday and jailed on $50,000 bail. She and five others, including the mother of one of the...
Chance to win 58th state House District excites Westmoreland Dems at endorsement meeting
A statewide race had the potential for some fireworks, but a bid to turn the 58th House District blue generated the most excitement at Sunday’s endorsement meeting of the Westmoreland County Democratic Committee. “I’m very, very hopeful,” said Robert Prah Jr., the Democratic candidate to fill the vacant 58th District...
Fashion icon, Southmoreland graduate B. Smith dies at 70
Fashion icon and Everson native Barbara “B.” Smith, who also became a restaurateur and author, died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, at her home on Long Island, N.Y., her family announced on social media. She was 70. Smith was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2013, when she was 64....
Cartoonist, writer bring back iconic comic ‘The Yellow Kid’Video
A longtime editorial cartoonist and a comics writer meet at an arts festival, admire each other’s work and strike up a friendship. No, it’s not the set-up for a punchline, but rather collaboration of like minds among two of the biggest fans of a century-old newspaper comic-strip character: The Yellow...
$285M Westmoreland transportation investment proposed for next 4 years
Advancing technology allows more people to bridge distances through electronic connections. But traveling from one point to another remains a fact of life for most when it comes to working, buying household essentials, receiving health care and pursuing recreation. That’s why plenty of resources continue to be devoted to improving...
Regional health care systems set a national pace in elder care
Health systems like to tout new facilities and innovative treatment protocols, but some of their most significant advances in Southwestern Pennsylvania are happening quietly in medical schools, hospital rooms and homes where they are setting new standards in geriatric health care. In a nation struggling to contain health care costs...
Westmoreland colleges, universities address nursing shortage
By some estimates, the United States is losing 70,000 registered nurses a year to retirement. The current number of baby boomer RNs — 660,000 — is roughly half their peak in 2008, according to the Journal of Nursing Regulation. That there is a nursing shortage — driven partly by demographics,...
Ligonier Township student leads effort to ship enough food to feed 10,000 peopleVideo
On Saturday, Braden Myers learned that one 18-year-old can feed 10,000 people — with a little help from his friends. The home-schooled Ligonier Township high school student organized a food drive as his senior project but decided to make it international in scope. “I just got so excited to have...
Latrobe Lions Club cancels dementia presentation
Editor’s note: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Latrobe Lions Club has announced that a presentation on dementia it was co-sponsoring with the Latrobe Area Historical Society has been cancelled. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia among older adults, is the sixth leading cause of death in the...
Ligonier woman managed cafeteria, ran ceramics shop
Nancy Vucina loved to sew clothing and make rosary beads for Catholic missionaries. “She made hundreds of rosaries for charity” using a kit containing beads, wire and pliers, said her daughter, Anna Stufft of Ligonier. Mrs. Vucina would go to Saint Vincent College and give the nuns her homemade lye...
Laughlintown workshop to outline remedies for storm-damaged driveways
The past two water-logged years, when the Pittsburgh region experienced up to 20 inches more precipitation than the annual average of 37.66 inches, have left many unpaved driveways and lanes washed out and filled with ruts. The Westmoreland Conservation District and Brandywine Conservancy are joining forces to offer some solutions...
Murrysville marketing firm earns national award for podcast production
A Murrysville marketing agency specializing in engaging the Christian community will receive a National Religious Broadcasters award for producing the weekly “Health, Hope & Inspiration” podcast. Sponsored by the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and produced by Murrysville-based Infinity Concepts, “Health, Hope & Inspiration” was developed to provide information and...
Heavy snow, 40 below zero temps stop Latrobe man’s Alaskan journey
Tim Hewitt’s hopes of trekking some 1,300 miles through the Alaskan wilderness were smashed last week by deep snow that slowed his progress, making every step in his snowshoes difficult and deep snow that obliterated any traces of a trail. Hewitt, a Latrobe attorney, said on Feb. 24 from his...
Unity supervisors retain former state senator Regola to lobby for grants
Unity officials are turning to a former Pennsylvania senator for help in landing state funding for proposed improvement projects. Supervisors this week hired Robert Regola of Hempfield to lobby on behalf of township grant requests in Harrisburg. Regola, who offers additional services in government affairs and business development through his...
