Westmoreland category, Page 798
Keep pets cool during heat wave, vet says
With the heat index expected to top 100 degrees Saturday, keeping the family’s four-legged companion cool is as important as keep the two-legged humans from boiling in the summer sun. “You don’t ever want to get them overheated. The only way dogs have to remove heat is by panting,” said...
Unity garage construction gears up as township revises work flow
Unity Township is moving forward with a new game plan for construction of its public works garage while officials await a revised timeline for completion of the delayed project. Work on the building, which will replace one destroyed in a 2017 arson, came to a halt when 42 wooden roof...
Community donates almost 2,000 bottles of water to Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department
When the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department asked for water, it found the community’s generosity was overflowing. Last month, the department posted on Facebook that it needed bottled water to help keep firefighters hydrated when responding to calls on hot summer days. Since then, the department has received more than 80...
Harrison City man pleads guilty to ‘logic bombing’ Siemens softwareVideo
A Harrison City man pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District court to sabotaging Siemens’ computers in a bid to drum up extra contracting work. David Tinley, 62, pleaded to one count before District Judge Peter J. Phipps. Tinley, a contract employee for Siemens’ Monroeville location, was charged with intentionally inserting...
Penn Township residents renew pleas for flood relief
Last week’s torrential rain brought a deluge of requests for flood relief from Penn Township residents. More than a dozen spoke at a standing-room-only meeting of township commissioners Wednesday. “Short of building an ark, I’ve got nothing left,” said Melissa Renwick, who lives on Bushy Run Road. Renwick said she’s...
Westmoreland bands to jam for childhood cancer foundation
Ed Kelso believes in serendipity. It took a lot of happy coincidences for a dozen local rock bands — including Kelso’s Highway Louie — to come together with a new original album just as the staff at Applebee’s in North Huntingdon was looking for a project for its annual fundraiser...
Murrysville church preps for volunteers to sew Christmas stockings for troops
In 2018, Penn Hills nonprofit Military Connections stuffed and shipped about 11,000 Christmas stockings filled with snacks and supplies to troops stationed across the globe. Roughly 5,000 of them came from a group of volunteers who create the stockings all year long, then come together for a full day of...
Westmoreland commissioners set 2nd public hearing on plan to reduce flooding
Westmoreland County Commissioners will hold a second public hearing Monday ahead of an expected vote on an updated plan designed to reduce flooding. Officials are seeking comments about the new Integrated Water Resources Plan compiled by the Westmoreland County Conservation District and county planners. The public hearing will begin at...
Latrobe authority proceeds with sewage rate hikes
Latrobe Municipal Authority sewer customers will see an increase in their bills this fall as the authority moves forward with planned rate revisions that were put on hold by a legal dispute with the Unity Township Municipal Authority. According to information posted on the authority website, the billing changes include...
Unity supervisors propose upgrade, wider access at Charter Oak playground
Kids in Unity could gain another place to have summertime fun if the township receives a state grant to update a deteriorating playground in the Charter Oak housing plan. Unity supervisors this week agreed to cooperate with the Charter Oak Civic Association to apply for the project grant and to...
Unity board OKs GetGo relocation, to consider new Sheetz
Giant Eagle’s plan to relocate and expand its Unity GetGo store moved a step forward this week. Township supervisors declared the convenience store and gas station an approved conditional use at the new site at Route 30 and Giffin Drive. At a 4 p.m. hearing Tuesday , the supervisors will...
Businesses, residents brace for weekend heat wave
A heat wave that could bring dangerous temperatures and a heat index exceeding 100 degrees has area residents and stores stocking up on fans and air conditioners, and is keeping HVAC companies on their toes. “It’s a nonstop kind of thing right at this moment,” said Chuck Cianciotti, owner of...
Police: 2 charged with endangerment after 3 kids have ‘unexplained’ scars, marks
A Smithton man and woman were charged with child endangerment Thursday after investigators said three children removed from their home last year had “unexplained scars and marks” on their bodies. Mel R. Anastasiu, 41, and Jamie Anastasiu, 39, each are charged with a felony. Mel Anastasiu was arrested in August...
Greensburg bishop to Trump, lawmakers: Fix ‘broken’ U.S. immigration system
Bishop Edward C. Malesic of the Greensburg Catholic Diocese has appealed to Pennsylvania lawmakers and President Donald Trump to solve the nation’s immigration impasse. In a letter dated July 12, Malesic expressed frustration with the continuing immigration “stranglehold” that is causing “tragic and inhumane consequences” for the United States. “I...
Skidmore Road closure extended in Hempfield
Replacement of a 36-inch cross pipe will keep a section of Skidmore Road closed through July 26, PennDOT officials said on Friday. The road will be closed between Morning Dove Lane and Tall Oaks Trail in Hempfield. A marked detour will route drivers along Reamer Avenue, Main Street, Route 30...
Murrysville Medic One earns heart association award for 3rd consecutive year
For the third year in a row, Murrysville Medic One officials will receive the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus Award for meeting high benchmarks when it comes to treating heart-attack victims. The Mission: Lifeline awards focus on STEMI or “ST elevation myocardial infarction,” cases — most commonly, heart...
North Huntingdon grants extension to fireworks company
Without much debate or verbal fireworks, North Huntingdon officials this week granted a fireworks company a 90-day extension of its temporary occupancy permit so it could attach the kind of facade the company had originally proposed around the base of its building off Route 30. The commissioners approved the request...
Westmoreland Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline reappointed to state association board
Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts Bryan Kline has been reappointed to serve as an executive board member for the Pennsylvania State Association of Prothonotaries and Clerk of Courts Association. The association, formed in 1928, serves as a coalition of state-elected officials who oversee court-related filing offices. “I am honored that...
Murrysville farmer gears up for annual themed corn maze
Herb Gearhard of Murrysville may use a drone nowadays to get a top-down look at his annual corn maze, but in nearly all other aspects, he’s old-school. “We don’t use GPS,” he said, pulling out a large sheet of taped-together graph paper. “We start with a sheet of paper and...
Scottdale man found guilty in Youngwood Mother’s Day crash that injured family
Victoria Schuler and her husband, William, were finally able to smile on Thursday, more than three years after they and their two young children were severely injured in a vehicle crash in Youngwood. “We’re glad for it,” Victoria Schuler said minutes after Matthew Murphy, 27, was found guilty of all...
Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix hits bucolic Westmoreland County roadsVideo
Members of the Greater Pittsburgh MG Club and Western Pennsylvania Triumph Association hit the roads in Westmoreland County on Thursday for the annual Countryside Tour as part of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, which will be held this weekend. The Countryside Tour, which started in 2012, left the Ramada Inn...
Irwin hires part-time police officer
Irwin has hired another part-time police officer. Devin Jay McCurdy of North Huntingdon was hired at the probationary rate of $12 per hour. After two weeks, he will be paid at the full part-time officer’s rate of $19 an hour, at the discretion of Chief Roger Pivirotto. The chief said...
Sleep Number to move out of Westmoreland Mall
Another store is slated to move out of Westmoreland Mall. Sleep Number, located on the lower level between Sloppy Soap and Champs Sports, will move to a freestanding building at Eastgate Plaza in Hempfield, said Sleep Number spokesperson Julie Elepano. The news comes weeks after Verizon Wireless, previously located across...
New Stanton bugler heads to Gettysburg for Taps
A New Stanton bugler who has played at military funerals since he was in the eighth grade is set to play Taps Saturday at the Soldiers Monument in the Gettysburg National Cemetery as part of “100 Nights of Taps.” Jay Copenhaver, 63, who plays for the Youngwood Veterans of Foreign...
Trafford man pleads guilty to assaulting pregnant girlfriend
A Trafford man was released from prison late Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in connection with a physical confrontation earlier this year with his pregnant girlfriend. Nigel Christopher Hogan, 29, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of simple assault and in a related case one charge...
