Westmoreland category, Page 794
Westmoreland wants to expand program to help curb drug use by jail inmatesVideo
Westmoreland officials want to expand a pilot program at the county prison to give soon-to-be-released inmates medicine that blocks the effects of illegal drugs. Over the past year, 44 Westmoreland County Prison inmates volunteered to participate in the program to receive counseling and potentially injections of Vivitrol. So far, 16...
Former employee at North Huntingdon auto parts store accused of burglary, theft
A former employee at a North Huntingdon auto parts store was arrested for burglary after a security camera caught him entering the store after hours late Saturday, according to township police. Stephen M. Wray, 40, of North Huntingdon and a former employee at Spitz Auto on Route 30, was arrested...
Penn Township man accused of entering woman’s home, taking photos of bedroom
A 53-year-old Harrison City man was arrested on multiple stalking and harassment charges after police said he entered a woman’s home and texted her photographs of her bedroom and a day later smeared dog feces on a friend’s car, according to court documents. Lawrence W. Lauer III was arraigned Monday...
Hempfield doctor wants to withdraw plea in overdose death
A Hempfield doctor scheduled to be sentenced Monday for prescribing a patient a fatal dose of methadone wants to withdraw his no contest plea entered in March. Edgar Peske, 80, in court documents filed last week, contends his conduct did not cause the 2015 death of Nicole Henderson, 30, of...
Army veteran is Fort Ligonier’s first artist in residenceVideo
Throughout the grounds of Fort Ligonier, there are images of women in roles — comforting, nurturing, hunting — they have assumed in times of war past and present. They are the creation of the fort’s first artist-in-residence, Elise Wigle-Wells, Army veteran and lecturer in Saint Vincent College’s art department. Wigle-Wells,...
Every child gets a chance to be a child in Southwest Greensburg Adaptive BaseballVideo
Andrea Baer, team manager for Southwest Greensburg Adaptive Baseball, was trying to get her team psyched to play the Susan Yadamec Dance Co. team on Sunday. Baer’s team comprises about 20 children ages 5-18 with physical, cognitive and behavioral disabilities. As they gathered at home plate for a team photo,...
Mass at Steelers training camp seeks health, ‘successful completion’ of season
The Pittsburgh Steelers can consider themselves prayed up and ready to go for 2019. On Sunday, team executives, staff and fans gathered at Saint Vincent Parish for the annual Mass for Steelers training camp. The basilica dominates the Unity campus of Saint Vincent College, where the Steelers began their annual...
Underground scans help peel back history at Laughlintown’s Compass InnVideo
The Ligonier Valley Historical Society is taking a downward glance in order to look back in time at its historic Compass Inn Museum in Ligonier Township. A team from local Markosky Engineering visited last week with devices to scan below the ground beside and behind the restored 1799 stagecoach stop...
Kecksburg UFO Festival celebrates … something … that fell from the sky in 1965
A smalltown festival devoted to paranormal phenomena is not going to hold too many surprises, given the subject matter. So to see a young man striding with a sense of purpose in full Army regalia at the 2019 Kecksburg UFO Festival on Saturday — well, it didn’t seem all that...
Peyton’s K9s raises over $11,000 for K9 units across the countryVideo
Peyton Estochin already knows what she wants to be when she grows up — a K-9 handler for a police department. The 7-year-old McKeesport resident is already well on her way to making that dream a reality. Peyton’s K-9s, a nonprofit organization founded in 2018, has 1,445 likes on Facebook...
Out of this world: UFO sightings frequently reported across Western Pennsylvania, U.S.
While the Kecksburg UFO sighting has become a quaint part of local lore, more recent reports of unexplained aerial phenomena are getting serious attention from Congress, the U.S. military and longtime UFO watchers. “It’s not going away,” said retired journalist Bob Gatty. “Whether you believe or don’t believe in this...
Churches in Derry Twp., Jeannette among those to offer free school supplies, haircuts
With the first day of school right around the corner, churches and organizations across Westmoreland and Allegheny counties are fielding some of the back-to-school costs by handing out free school supplies. Here’s a look at three of them: In Westmoreland’s Derry Township, Harvest Church is preparing for the 20th annual...
Police say Latrobe man assaulted Johnstown police officers
A Latrobe man allegedly assaulted two Johnstown police officers early Monday morning, officials said. Timothy Devalerio, 21, is being held in the Cambria County jail on $10,000 bail after he allegedly tried to bite one of the officers and eventually fled the scene. Officers responded to an area near the...
Steelers fans from near and far fired up about season as they flock to training camp
Josh Simpkons of Plum watched Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster very carefully. He observed the footwork and hand position of the third-year NFL player at the first public day of training camp at Saint Vincent College in hopes to find ways to get better. Josh, 10, a wide receiver for...
Seton Hill names new dorm after Sisters of Charity
Students arriving at Seton Hill University for fall classes will find a new residence hall named for the religious order that founded the institution. The Sisters of Charity Residence Hall, opening in August, will boost the Greensburg university’s on-campus housing from 800 to 945 beds. The three-story building, which features...
McKeesport man sues Bushy Run over ban for exposure, which he denies
A Native American re-enactor contends he was erroneously barred from Bushy Run Battlefield because of an alleged criminal incident that he said never happened. In a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County, Todd Johnson of McKeesport contends a posting in early June on the Facebook page of the Penn Township historic...
Elderly Greensburg woman sues grocery store over buggy-related broken bones, other injuries
A Greensburg woman has sued a local grocery store, claiming she was injured by a malfunctioning shopping cart. Johnetta Battistoni, in a five-count lawsuit, contends that while shopping at the Pittsburgh Street Shop ‘n Save market in Greensburg in early October 2017 the wheels of her small push cart stopped...
State police accuse two men of sex assaults in Mt. Pleasant Twp., East Huntingdon
Two Westmoreland County men were charged Friday by state police for allegedly sexually assaulting two underage girls in separate incidents in Mt. Pleasant and East Huntingdon townships. Kenneth R. Daniels II, 39, of Mt. Pleasant was arraigned on charges of rape, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, involuntary deviate...
Historic Hanna’s Town wraps up kids’ summer camp, ushers in Civil War encampmentVideo
Six students from Westmoreland County finished Revolutionary Kids Summer Camp at Historic Hanna’s Town in Hempfield, just in time for this weekend’s Civil War encampment and re-enactment. On the last day of of camp, students were treated to a blacksmith demonstration by Rex Baughman of Hempfield. He started off by...
Police: Pair found with unprescribed pills after Penn Township hit-and-run
Two men involved in a hit-and-run along Route 130 in Penn Township were arraigned Thursday on multiple drug possession and conspiracy charges after township police said they possessed anxiety and pain pills without a valid prescription. Steven J. Zappitelli, 30, of Phoenixville, Chester County, and Andrew M. Kocan Jr., 23,...
Headed to Steelers camp? Here are other things to do in the areaVideo
We all know Steeler Nation is a loyal bunch. And as its members descend on the Saint Vincent College campus for Steeler training camp through Aug. 16, all eyes will be on Chuck Noll Field. But in between watching the action, visiting the vendors and trying to snag a photo...
6 things to do in and around Westmoreland: July 26-28
We are creeping toward August but there’s still plenty of summer fun yet to come. Here’s what’s going on in and around Westmoreland County this weekend. Ready for some football? Just like the swallows to Capistrano, the Pittsburgh Steelers return each summer to the Unity campus of Saint Vincent College...
Murder-suicide ruled in shootings that claimed 85-year-old Irwin couple
An 85-year-old man fatally shot his 85-year-old wife at their Irwin home Wednesday or Thursday before shooting himself in a murder-suicide, according to authorities. Joan I. Agnew died of multiple gunshot wounds, and Thomas I. Agnew died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at their Highland Avenue residence,...
Westmoreland approves storm water management plan
A new stormwater management plan could soon be in place to hopefully help alleviate flooding in Westmoreland County. The Integrated Water Resources Plan, a 217-page document, identifies areas that are at risk for floods and outlines potential efforts to keep water from overflowing waterways and encroaching on roads and homes....
Westmoreland commissioners award $1 million paving contract over objection
Westmoreland County commissioners awarded a $1 million contract to pave nearly 5 miles of roads amid a potential legal challenge of a policy that critics say freezes out non-union companies from seeking government work. The contract awarded Thursday to Derry Construction Inc. was approved by all three commissioners, including Republican...
