Westmoreland category, Page 703
First Ligonier Valley Restaurant Tour kicks off Ice Fest
The Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce is kicking off the first Ligonier Valley Restaurant Tour as part of the annual Ligonier Ice Fest. The “tour” will take place from Jan. 25 through April 30, says Ruthie Stewart, events and marketing coordinator for the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce. The tour...
Ligonier next community to receive its pair of ‘Wings’
Westmoreland Cultural Trust’s “Wings Across Westmoreland” initiative will grant another community its wings. Ligonier’s piece of art will be revealed at 11 a.m. Jan. 25 at its new home, Town Hall on the Diamond, as part of the 29th annual Ligonier Ice Fest. The wings will highlight distinct features of...
Hempfield board ends controversial tax assessment appeals programVideo
A residential tax assessment appeals program that was largely criticized in 2017 will be eliminated from the Hempfield Area School District starting in 2021. The program, adopted in 2015 to target under-assessed commercial and industrial parcels, essentially raises property taxes to what they would be if officials did a countywide...
Youngwood shelter animals get helping hand via MLK Day of ServiceVideo
Allyson Bitner doesn’t have pets at her Hempfield home, but she understands the value of volunteering at a local animal shelter — for the helpers as well as the rescued felines, canines and other critters. “It’s very therapeutic to just pet a cat and pet a dog,” said Bitner, 15,...
4 students airlifted from head-on crash in Mt. Pleasant Township
Several Mt. Pleasant Area School District students were injured in a crash Monday evening, according to district Superintendent Timothy Gabauer. The head-on crash in Mt. Pleasant Township resulted in four people being flown by helicopter to Pittsburgh hospitals, Kecksburg fire Chief Adam Krozel said. According to state police, the driver...
Downtown Greensburg Project prepares marketing push for city
Greensburg wants to show off its good side, and the Downtown Greensburg Project is looking for public feedback on how to do that. “We’re not the same old city we’ve been for a long time, we want more collaboration, we want a stronger city,” said Jessica Hickey, director of the...
Greensburg Diocese 2019 Lenten Appeal generates almost $5 million for diocese, parishes
The latest Diocesan Lenten Appeal came in under the 2018 amount but still in keeping with recent trends, according to the Diocese of Greensburg. Totals for the 2019 appeal, one of three main sources of revenue for the diocese, were reported this monthin the diocesan newspaper, The Catholic Accent. Pledges...
Cops: Greensburg man jailed in large-screen TV sale scams
A Greensburg man wanted for two months on charges of duping patrons at two city bars into buying his large-screen television then running off with the cash was jailed Sunday on robbery and theft charges. Charles W. Brant, 43, was arraigned before District Judge Jason Buczak on two counts each...
Westmoreland Cleanways closes recycling center pending planned move
Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling has closed its Unity recycling center until it moves to a proposed new location in the township, near Pleasant Unity. In the meantime, local residents have other options for recycling items such as paper and appliances containing Freon, but there are no nearby substitutes for the...
Find out if that brooch is worth a bundle at appraisal day in Hempfield
If you have a piece of jewelry or furniture and you’re wondering if it’s just old, or may hold some value, bring it to the Westmoreland Historical Society’s “Antiques Appraisal Day” and find out. Historic Hanna’s Town will hold the appraisal event from 4 to 8 p.m. Feb. 25 at...
Police looking for tire thief at Salem impound lot
For the second time in a month, someone broke into a Salem Township impound lot and stole tires off a vehicle parked there, according to state police. The first break-in happened sometime between mid-December and Jan. 7. Troopers said someone cut a chainlink fence surrounding the Slate Dump Road lot...
South Huntingdon couple celebrates 70 years of marriage
The decades-long love story of Thomas and Pauline Babyak started in the Jacobs Creek post office. Pauline Babyak worked as a clerk there in the 1940s. Thomas Babyak, then recovering from surgery, worked as a truck driver for a dry cleaner. “He would come around every week,” Pauline Babyak said....
Ligonier Township couple credits faith, ‘love of family’ for 75 years of marriageVideo
Wilma Riffle Pechart remembers Jan. 21, 1945, like it was yesterday. “There was at least 8 inches of snow on the ground, and it was very, very cold. We didn’t send out a single wedding announcement, either,” Wilma Pechart, 91, recalled Saturday at her home in Ligonier Township, with husband,...
Police: Two girls accused of breaking into cars after escape from Derry Twp. group home
Two teenage girls who escaped from a group home in Derry Township last week are being held in Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center after their arrests for allegedly breaking into multiple cars in an apartment complex, state police reported. The girls, ages 14- and 16-years-old, escaped late Monday from Adelphoi...
Excela Latrobe introduces improved surgical robotVideo
Students from Greater Latrobe and Ligonier Valley school districts joined other local residents Friday in trying out the controls of an improved surgical robot introduced during an open house at Excela Latrobe Hospital. Seventeen Excela surgeons use the robot and one like it at Excela Westmoreland Hospital to perform precision...
Prohibition thinned ranks of Western Pa. distilleries, breweries — but some survivedVideo
Southwestern Pennsylvania’s whiskey industry overflowed with more than 100 distilleries making rye whiskey between the 1880s and early 1900s, but they went dry when Prohibition took effect a century ago. “The distilleries had to close and most did not reopen” when Prohibition was lifted in 1933, said Samuel Komlenic, a...
War on alcohol: An experiment that was a ‘catastrophic failure’
The United States was a battleground before World War I — with armies of people opposed to liquor and saloons lobbying politicians and marching on Washington, D.C., in their mission to outlaw what they considered a scourge on nation’s morality — alcohol. “Prohibition had been a long time in coming,...
One woman’s marathon journey to a perfect fit in the classroomVideo
Vicky Krug was determined to become a teacher. Her resolve only grew during nearly two decades she spent as a social worker, substance abuse therapist, substitute teacher and tutor earning multiple degrees and certifications along the way. A brain injury she suffered when her car and a truck collided on...
Scouts — both boys and girls — clash at Pinewood Derby in IrwinVideo
Cub Scout Pack 293 leader Daryl Muzy admits technology has improved significantly in the 50-year history of the North Huntingdon-area Cub Scout pack’s annual pinewood derby race. Instead of eyeballing the finish line, as was once done by the scoutmasters, the speedy wooden cars now cross a laser beam that...
Westmoreland bus authority pays $12,500 in overtime in 1st week of running service
Westmoreland Transit Authority paid out about $12,500 in overtime wages for the first week in January after it assumed control over bus and paratransit services from a private contractor. Officials said scheduling procedures that had been in place for years as well as a driver shortage required the agency to...
Federal authorities join East Huntingdon gas tanker explosion probeVideo
Federal investigators have joined the probe of a fuel tanker explosion Friday that leveled an East Huntingdon tanker truck garage and sent three workers to a Pittsburgh hospital, including one with critical burns. Officials from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and U.S. Department of Transportation gathered Saturday...
Lights sought for Miracle League field in Murrysville Community Park
A request by Miracle League of Western PA officials to add lighting to the Bill Mazeroski Miracle Field at Murrysville Community Park could end up as a delicate dance balancing player safety and respect for nearby residents who were told the park would not be lit. “There were commitments made...
Cops: Missing Ruffsdale girl, 13, found safe
A 13-year-old Ruffsdale girl who went missing this week was found safe late Friday, state police said. Troopers issued an alert early Friday saying Lainey Ucman had not been seen since 9 p.m. Thursday in the area of Story Frye Road in South Huntingdon. Late Friday, state police in Belle...
Greensburg police ask for help identifying burglary suspect
Greensburg police are asking the public’s help identifying a suspect in a burglary Saturday in the city’s Northmont area. An unknown suspect reportedly burglarized a residence during the morning hours and fled in a Subaru SUV. Police described the burglar as a white male about 5 feet 5 inches tall...
Dollar General considers new store in Unity
A new Dollar General store could be coming to Route 30 in Unity. Next week, the township zoning hearing board is scheduled to hear from developers of the store proposed along the eastbound lanes of the highway at Smith’s Hill Road, just east of Beatty Crossroads. At 6 p.m. Jan....
