Westmoreland category, Page 729
Westmoreland election results show GOP strength, impact of straight party voting
Republicans Sean Kertes and Doug Chew cruised to victory last week to secure a new GOP majority on the Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners and, in doing so, finished more than 5,000 votes ahead of two better-financed Democratic incumbents. Political observers said the Republican wins for commissioner and four other...
Mt. Pleasant Township veteran part of dwindling ‘Greatest Generation’Video
When Army veteran Frank Emanuel injured his back, a physician feared the worst. “He thought I had cancer,” Emanuel, 95, recalled of his hospital visit more than 45 years ago. The Mt. Pleasant Township man set the doctor’s mind at ease. What showed up as white spots on the X-ray...
Staycation: Plenty of year-round activities at OhiopyleVideo
Ohiopyle State Park is home to a plethora of outdoor activities any time of the year. Pennsylvania’s largest state park, it attracts millions of visitors annually and is centered around the tiny town of Ohiopyle in Fayette County, which had a population of 57 people in 2018, according to census...
Sisters displaced by Latrobe house fire
Two sisters were displaced after fire ravaged a house on Avenue D in Latrobe during the early hours of Saturday morning. Latrobe fire Chief John Brasile said with the help of the state police fire marshal, crews were able to track the ignition source to an overloaded junction box in...
Watch for a ‘squatch: Conference on the Unexplained kicks off in HempfieldVideo
Glenn Adkins of Ohio has been obsessed with finding Bigfoot since the fourth grade. “I saw the old movie ‘Sasquatch,’ a real old, cheesy ’70s movie, and from that point on I wanted to do it,” he said. Adkins and a partner from the Ohio Squatch Project have a booth...
AMVETS, American Legion, VFW host honor roll ceremonies for Veterans DayVideo
Michael Jackson of Export, a retired first lieutenant with the U.S. Army Special Forces, was quick to distinguish Veterans Day from its sibling holiday, Memorial Day. “It’s about service today,” Jackson said at an early Veterans Day ceremony Saturday morning at the Frank Kapusta American Legion post in Export. “We...
Hempfield train derailment halts Pittsburgh-Harrisburg Amtrak serviceVideo
Amtrak will not provide passenger rail service on Saturday between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg due to Friday’s multi-train derailment in Hempfield, according to a company spokeswoman. Three Norfolk Southern Corp. freight trains were involved in the derailment, which happened about three miles east of Greensburg. The crash derailed 50 shipping containers,...
Checkpoint to history: Berlin Wall falls, Cold War ends on Greensburg man’s watch
Three decades ago, on Nov. 9, 1989, U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Rafferty was at home in West Berlin when word came over the Armed Forces Network that East Germans would soon be able to travel unimpeded to the West. The communist government announcement came after months of civil unrest and...
Holocaust survivors to speak at Seton Hill Kristallnacht Remembrance service
Three Pittsburgh area Holocaust survivors will speak at the annual Kristallnacht Remembrance Interfaith Service at the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education and the Office of Campus Ministry at Seton Hill University on Tuesday. The service marks 81 years since Kristallnacht, the infamous “night of broken glass” November 9-10, 1938,...
Greensburg woman convicted in torture death to get another psych evaluation
Nearly a decade after Angela Marinucci and five other Greensburg roommates were arrested and charged with the torture slaying of a mentally challenged woman, Westmoreland County taxpayers continue to pay their legal bills. Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway this week approved the payment of another $1,150 to a private...
Paper ballot count doesn’t change Westmoreland commissioner election results
A count of the handful of paper ballots cast in Tuesday’s election saw Democratic Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli slightly extend her lead over colleague Ted Kopas for the third and final seat on the three-member board of commissioners. Elections bureau officials on Friday recanvassed all absentee ballots cast and...
Hempfield facility highlights micro-hospital trend in Western Pa.Video
Touting fast health care in the heart of the community, Pennsylvania’s first “micro-hospital” will soon open in Hempfield as part of an industry trend to fill the middle ground between traditional hospitals and urgent care centers. Located along Route 30, the 120,000-square-foot Allegheny Health Network building dubbed AHN Hempfield Neighborhood...
3 trains derail in Hempfield; 50 railroad cars jump tracks; no injuries reported
Three Norfolk Southern Corp. mixed-freight trains were involved in a derailment about three miles east of Greensburg on Friday that derailed 50 shipping containers, blocking both rail lines that carry freight and passenger traffic on the heavily-traveled route between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the railroad said. No one was reported injured...
Greensburg jeweler resizes, polishes storefrontVideo
Downtown Greensburg’s business district just got another jewel. With the completion of the Beeghly and Co. Jewelers’ expansion project, the 400 block of South Main Street has a gleaming new building instead of two old brick buildings. Beeghly is showing off its new addition during a two-day grand re-opening party,...
Concealed-carry law seminar set this month in Irwin
North Huntingdon Police Chief Robert Rizzo and Kim Stolfer, president of Firearm Owners Against Crime, are slated to be presenters at a Nov. 16 seminar in Irwin on Pennsylvania’s concealed-carry laws. The free seminar will run from noon to 2 p.m. at VFW Post 781, 100 Billott Ave. and is...
Toomey-led federal animal cruelty law awaits Trump’s signature
A bill making “heinous” forms of animal cruelty a federal felony was awaiting the president’s signature after it passed the House and Senate in recent weeks. The PACT — Prevent Animal Cruelty and Torture — Act makes crushing, burning, drowning, suffocating and impaling of animals punishable by up to seven...
Workers at Jeannette hemp warehouse protest lack of payVideo
Former employees of a Jeannette hemp-drying facility stood in frigid temperatures outside the business Friday morning, waving cardboard signs and urging passing cars to honk in support. The target of their protest: Patriot Shield Security, the employer that hasn’t paid them in weeks. Employees said pay has been inconsistent since...
5 things to do in Westmoreland: Nov. 8-10Video
With Election Day in the rear-view mirror, it’s a good time to cast off the weight of the world (or at least, the weight of local politics) and find something fun to do. Here are a few events promising a good time this weekend in Westmoreland County: Step back in...
Excela launches expanded cardiology services with new team of specialistsVideo
When nearly 100 patients left Excela Health System last year to undergo minimally invasive heart valve replacements not offered through its Westmoreland County hospitals, officials knew it was time to stop the bleeding. It is now “game on,” Excela acting CEO John Sphon said after the recruitment of four specialists...
Norwin school recognizes veteransVideo
Earl Mills of North Huntingdon stood up from the seat of his rolling walker Thursday morning at Sheridan Terrace Elementary School in the Norwin School District to be recognized for his military service, which took him halfway across the world more than 65 years ago. Mills, who served in the...
Crash closed westbound lanes of Route 30 in North Huntingdon Thursday
Westbound lanes of Route 30 in North Huntingdon were closed for about 45 minutes Thursday night due to a crash. The crash, which involved multiple vehicles, happened at the bottom of Jacktown Hill Road. Officials responded to the call around 5:15 p.m., but the scene was cleared by 6 p.m.,...
Penn Borough council: Zero candidates, 15 write-in votes
The 15 write-in ballots cast in Penn Borough could decide who fills three vacancies on council — although just who that will be has yet to be decided. No candidates appeared on the ballot. According to unofficial results of Tuesday’s election, four candidates each received three write-in votes: incumbent council...
Ligonier Valley grad gets juvenile justice scholarship
Angel Scritchfield might be done with the juvenile court system, but the lessons she learned are going to stick with her. “It just kind of helped me figure out how to make my life better as a whole,” she said. That attitude and Scritchfield’s strides in life won her a...
Mt. Pleasant Navy veteran, 102, to be honored at Penguins game
Melva Dolan Simon has been listening to Pittsburgh Penguins hockey games on the radio for years. But, in all of her 102 years of life, she’s never been to a game. That will change Saturday, when the Mt. Pleasant Township native, who served in the Navy WAVES during World War...
Former Gateway Packaging controller pleads guilty to stealing nearly $200K
A former employee at Gateway Packaging, a stock product and packaging company in Murrysville, Westmoreland County, pleaded guilty this week in federal court to stealing nearly $200,000 from the company and falsifying financial statements to cover it up, prosecutors said. Victoria Mazur, 52, of Plum, pleaded guilty to one count...
