Westmoreland category, Page 81
Westmoreland sheriff says deputy shortage strains department, but agrees to pause planned service cutback
A plan to halt the transport of some criminal defendants to hearings at local magistrate offices was put on a temporary hold Friday after intervention from a Westmoreland County judge. Sheriff James Albert this week issued an edict that would have limited his department’s workload starting next week in response...
Bushy Run launches winter living history event after canceling August reenactment
After canceling its annual reenactment of a 1700s battle this summer, Bushy Run will host a new living history event at its museum Saturday. Bushy Run canceled its August reenactment — which tells the story of a 1763 clash between British soldiers and Native Americans during Pontiac’s War — in...
Hempfield’s troubled High Park, West Point fire departments may join forces
High Park Volunteer Fire Department, which has been closed for the past year, is proposing a merger with West Point Volunteer Fire Department. Attorney Kim Houser said members of both departments have been examining the potential to join forces and could file a petition in the coming weeks in Westmoreland...
Here are 5 things to do in Westmoreland this weekend: Feb. 7-9
Is it a song-and-dance kind of weekend, a brunch-and-shop kind of weekend or a fun-and-games kind of weekend? No matter how you choose to unwind, there’s something to do in Westmoreland County. ‘Pippin’ at Greensburg Garden and Civic Center Find your corner of the sky with Greensburg Civic Theatre’s production...
Greensburg area restaurants compete for charity in chili cookoff
People are passionate about food. And when the dish can be as diverse as chili, their opinions can get just as spicy as the peppers. “White chicken chili is soup. It’s not chili,” said Brian Root of Greensburg, eliciting an immediate frown from Michelle Havrilesko, who had just finished eating...
Search on for missing New Derry man; car found unlocked, police say
State police are searching for a missing New Derry man whose parked car was found Wednesday in Derry Township, three days after he was last seen. State troopers said they don’t suspect foul play in their search for 63-year-old John J. Dofollo. He was reported missing by family members when...
Authorities seize items in drug task force raid at North Huntingdon vape shop
Authorities raided a North Huntingdon vape shop Thursday morning after undercover officers made purchases there of suspected illegal products. Westmoreland County Detective Tony Marcocci said authorities seized large quantities of items containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, in a raid at Star Smoke and Vape on Route 30. The...
Westmoreland County readies for U.S. 250th birthday bash
Fresh on the heels of Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday celebration in 2024, local officials are looking to the forward to the nation’s Semiquincentennial. The celebration will actually begin this spring at Historic Hanna’s Town in Hempfield to commemorate what history experts tout as one of the first signs of U.S....
Westmoreland voters to elect new register of wills for abbreviated term
Westmoreland County voters this year will elect a new register of wills to serve an abbreviated term that runs through the end of 2027. Jon Wian, 43, of Delmont was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and confirmed this week by the state Senate to run the courthouse office where wills,...
South Carolina man accused of killing girlfriend in Rostraver
A mother of three was fatally shot late Wednesday in Rostraver by her live-in boyfriend, according to police. One of three children living at the Route 136 home called 911 around 11 p.m. to report the shooting. Estela Rivera Vasquez, 35, was found in the basement with a gunshot wound...
Greensburg fire officials hope electronic signs will give recruits the message
Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell wants to try out a new recruitment method — electronic signs. He is planning to buy four signs with a $109,600 state grant that could be installed outside three fire departments and city hall, as long Greensburg officials give the OK. “We picked the three...
Penn Township 8th grader’s glass art earns spot in international showcase
Most 13-year-olds wouldn’t ask for a glass-blowing torch for their birthday. But Penn Township native Caitlin Dolhi isn’t like most 13-year-olds. Dolhi, an eighth grade student at Penn Middle School, learned three years ago about the Pittsburgh Glass Center, tucked along Penn Avenue in the city’s Friendship neighborhood, and enrolled...
Murrysville native steps into new role as director of her hometown library
Katherine Neidig had about three months of regular work when she started in a part-time position at the Murrysville Community Library in January 2020. “I was doing cataloguing and technical services, and then all the procedures were tossed aside during the pandemic,” said Neidig, who grew up in Murrysville and...
Fire crews knock down flames sparked by bathroom remodel in Derry Township
Fire crews knocked down Wednesday afternoon an attic fire at a Derry Township home that was sparked during a bathroom remodeling. Crews were called to a home in the 4000 block of Route 982 around 1:20 p.m., Bradenville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Piantine said. A relative of the homeowners...
‘Height of the season’: Flu cases surge in Western Pa.
Flu cases are spiking in Western Pennsylvania as the region’s doctors treat high numbers of patients stricken with the seasonal respiratory illness. Dr. Amy Crawford-Faucher, a family physician and chair of the Allegheny Health Network Primary Care Institute, said Wednesday she’s seen a “significant increase” in the number of people...
Jury convicts New Alexandria man of resisting arrest
A Westmoreland County jury on Wednesday sided with police officers who used force to subdue a New Alexandria man who was found wandering through a Unity neighborhood two years ago. After nearly three hours of deliberations, the jury convicted Denton Krapf of one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest in connection...
Fayette County attorney’s license suspended 5 years because of money laundering case
A Fayette County attorney who completed a probation sentence for offering to launder drug money for clients had his law license suspended for five years, the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday. The license suspension is retroactive to April 2020 when the temporary suspension started for...
Export looks at offering online billing, payment system for sewage customers
Export Secretary Tonia Writt hears one question consistently from borough sewage customers: Why can’t you guys process credit card payments? That could change if council decides to implement an online billing system through Muni-Link, a Blair County company that also handles online billing for the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority....
Westmoreland happenings: Soup sale, turkey dinner, meetings, more
Fundraisers • Holy Family Church will sell homemade soups and baked goods before and after the Feb. 8 and 9 Masses at the church, 225 N. Second St., West Newton. Public welcome. • A turkey dinner will be served from 4 to 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at Community Church of...
Export officials eager to showcase mining history via site cleanup, pedestrian walkway
Export officials are excited about the creation of a historical area showcasing the borough’s mining history. A $139,000 state grant designated to bring the project to life will likely pay only for the engineering work, but it’s a start, said borough Councilwoman Melanie Litz. “This has been a long time...
Weimer will seek return to Hempfield supervisor seat he’s held since 2001
Doug Weimer announced his candidacy for the Hempfield Township Board of Supervisors. Weimer, who has served on the board since 2001, pointed to what he described as a track record of producing a balanced budget with no property tax increases. He was part of a board majority that rejected a...
Motorists stranded in Laurel Ridge ice storm get warm welcome from Fairfield couple
A Fairfield Township couple provided sanctuary to motorists stranded by an ice storm Sunday evening on Laurel Ridge, earning thanks in return for their hospitality. The ice-slicked surface of Route 271 left a Greyhound bus and dozens of other vehicles stuck for several hours on the western slope of the...
Video shows state police punching New Alexandria man during 2023 arrest as resisting arrest trial beginsVideo
State police officers testified Tuesday they believed a New Alexandria man was under the influence of drugs when he refused to comply with troopers responding to a call two years ago of a man wandering through yards in a Unity neighborhood. Westmoreland prosecutors contend Denton Krapf, 48, resisted arrest on...
Franklin Township sewage authority will test its alert system on Thursday in Murrysville
Murrysville residents living in the area of the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority at the bottom of Meadowbrook Road may hear sewage officials testing a new audible alert system on Thursday. The testing will consist of audible tones and messages related to the FTMSA facility, and may be heard locally....
State Senate signs off on new Westmoreland register of wills, judge
Westmoreland County’s newest row officer and a judge could be sworn later this week after the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday confirmed both nominations from Gov. Josh Shapiro to fill the vacancies. Republican Jon Wian, 43, of Delmont takes over the Register of Wills, the office where wills, estates, adoptions and...
