Westmoreland category, Page 807
Greater Latrobe students rise to challenge of creating, solving escape rooms
A team of Greater Latrobe Senior High students last week had to retrieve fake IDs that had been stolen from them. Another group of sophomores enrolled in Renee Stallings’ academic English 2 course had to defeat a dragon — actually, a donkey-shaped pinata. Ending a months-long class project, the teams...
Mt. Pleasant Area’s Rumbaugh Elementary School to close
Lloyd F. Rumbaugh Elementary School, which has educated Mt. Pleasant Area students for about 60 years, will shut its doors for good at the end of the school year. Operational efficiency as well as academic opportunity were the driving factors in the decision to close Rumbaugh and reconfigure the elementary...
Greensburg votes to dissolve Historic and Architectural Review Board
Greensburg City Council has begun the process to dissolve the Historic and Architectural Review Board, an organization that served as gatekeeper for most commercial development in the city. Council unanimously voted on the motion Monday. The ordinance to make it official will likely be introduced at June’s council meeting, and...
Michael Gray will remain as Latrobe’s city manager
Michael Gray became Latrobe’s city manager on Monday, after holding down the position on an interim basis since March 25. Council voted unanimously to keep Gray in the new role, setting aside plans to search for additional candidates from outside the city staff. “We had talked about doing a search,”...
Diocese of Greensburg priest removed pending sex abuse investigation
A Diocese of Greensburg priest has been placed on leave as law enforcement investigates an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, the diocese said. Officials said they received the allegation Monday against the Rev. Andrew M. Kawecki. He served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Everson and St....
Westmoreland County Democratic judicial candidates outspend Republican opponents
The six candidates seeking two judicial vacancies on the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas combined to spend more than a half-million dollars during this spring’s campaign season, most of which came from their own family accounts. According to campaign finance reports filed in Harrisburg, three Democratic candidates, attorneys Michael...
Here’s where Franklin Regional school board candidates stand on the issues
As the primary election nears, 13 candidates are jockeying for general-election ballot spots in the Franklin Regional school board race. Below are Q&A responses and biographical information for each candidate. RICHARD ARNOLD • Age: 74 • Education: Bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University; master’s degree from West Virginia University; doctorate...
Plea deals get Hempfield man time served in assault, DUI cases
A Hempfield man charged in two separate cases alleging rape and strangulation of a woman on Monday pleaded guilty to a lesser assault charge. Harold Franks, 36, was sentenced to serve the 251 days he has spent in jail. He was immediately paroled after pleading guilty to one count of...
Seton Hill honors Steele Eckenrode for community service
A 22 year-old Mt. Lebanon man has been named Seton Hill University’s 2019 winner of the school’s Presidential Award for Service. Seton Hill University President Mary C. Finger presented the award to Steele Eckenrode, a senior Business Administration – Entrepreneurial Studies major, during Honors Convocation on Friday. The award recognizes...
Monessen men get probation for shooting after evidence problems thwart retrial
Two men implicated in a nonfatal shooting nearly two years ago in Monessen were sentenced to probation. Joseph “Jo Jo” Heath III, 29, of Monessen, pleaded guilty to lesser misdemeanor charges of simple assault, reckless endangerment and making terroristic threats in connection with the June 25, 2017, shooting of Timothy...
Video surveillance photographs lead Greensburg police to theft suspects
Greensburg police used convenience store surveillance photographs to identify a couple who allegedly stole a woman’s purse out of a car and went on a spending spree this month. Amanda M. Hoeft, 23, and her boyfriend, Dylan M. Bollman, 28, were charged by police with theft, receiving stolen property and...
Westmoreland County Democratic political activist, labor activist, to be honored
Westmoreland County Democratic political activist and labor activist will be honored at the Woman of the Year Award Dinner on May 16 at Giannilli’s II on Route 30 in Unity. Harriet Ellenberger of Norvelt, Mt. Pleasant Township, is president of the Women of Westmoreland, which sponsors the annual award dinner....
Westmoreland Family Court CASA program welcomes new advocates
A volunteer program that matches trained adult advocates with abused and neglected children under the supervision of the Westmoreland County courts is growing. Officials with the Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children program, or CASA, said Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani recently swore in 12 new volunteers to the...
Murrysville police K9 retires after nearly a decade of service
Scott Kettren will continue riding around Murrysville as a police sergeant, but he may find himself glancing over his right shoulder for at least a few weeks, expecting a furry friend to be there. Kettren’s partner, Murrysville police K9 Argos, retired this month and will spend his days at Kettren’s...
Charleroi K9 Blitz assists Monessen police, state agents in drug arrest
Monessen police and investigators from the state attorney general’s office needed an assist from Charleroi’s police dog officer Blitz when they searched a city man’s home and SUV for drugs Friday while executing a search warrant. Blitz and his handler, William Gardner, were called in to assist in searching the...
Unity man accused of leading police on 15-mile chase on ATV
A Unity man is accused of being drunk while leading police on a 15-mile chase on an all-terrain vehicle through the township early Sunday, according to court papers. The chase ended when Michael Duane Balik, 22, of Whitney, crashed near Armel Hollow and Quarry roads, state police said. His male...
Cops: Derry Township man attacked stepfather with butcher knife
A Derry Township man is accused of attacking his stepfather with a butcher knife Saturday inside a house in the village of Torrance. State police said Thomas McQuaide, 53, defended himself with a baseball bat during the 11 a.m. attack, striking David Geisler, 21, in the head. Trooper Ty Smith...
Westmoreland panel to discuss concussions and student mental health
An athlete who breaks a limb likely will be fitted with a cast that makes recovery visible to all. Getting past the lingering effects of a concussion or other traumatic brain injuries often doesn’t include a prop that makes the process as outwardly apparent. “A brain injury is a silent,...
Ventre, Kertes lead campaign spending in GOP race for Westmoreland commissioner
When it comes to spending, Republican candidates John Ventre and Sean Kertes topped the crowded field of GOP hopefuls in the Westmoreland County Commissioner primary race. Ventre listed nearly $47,000 in expenses while Kertes reported spending more than $30,000 from Jan. 1 through May 6, according to campaign finance records...
Greensburg lawyer remembered for his dry wit and loving heart
George Conti needed help. It was 1973. His Greensburg law practice was growing, and then he learned his secretary needed a vacation. When he mentioned he was going to be shorthanded, a friend suggested he knew someone who might be willing to help for a week or two. Kate Bauer,...
Monessen woman, 96, honored on Mother’s Day with high school diploma from 1941
Ethel Safo Peshok always encouraged her children to pursue education. On Sunday, her friends and family joined to honor the lessons the 96-year-old Monessen woman imparted to them. As a special Mother’s Day surprise, they arranged for her to receive the high school diploma she sacrificed 78 years earlier when...
Man injured when skid loader overturns in Penn Township
A man was injured Sunday afternoon in Penn Township when a skid loader overturned and trapped him. The incident happened just before 2:30 p.m. in the 7000 block of Pleasant Valley Road, just off Route 130, a dispatcher said. The man was transported to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, a Westmoreland...
Hempfield eyes future as ‘destination community’ through redevelopment
While officials work to steer development in Hempfield, they want to maintain some of the charm from the once-sprawling farming landscape when miles of grain fields and pastures were dotted by small patch towns. Years of commercial and residential development has permanently altered much of that landscape, large swaths of...
Q&A: Westmoreland GOP commissioner candidates address issues
Seven Republicans are seeking two nominations this month to run this fall for Westmoreland County commissioner. Democratic incumbents Gina Cerilli and Ted Kopas are unopposed this spring. Incumbent Republican Charles Anderson announced earlier this year he is not running for a third-full term in office and will retire a year’s...
Crowded GOP field looking to survive primary, reclaim majority on Westmoreland commissioner board
When Republicans in 2011 won the party’s first majority on Westmoreland County’s Board of Commissioners in more than 60 years, it appeared the GOP was finally ready to take over the political landscape at the top of county leadership. But Democrats took back control of the board four years later....
