Westmoreland category, Page 832
Monessen mayor’s absence prompts call for law change to boot AWOL elected officials
The prolonged absence of Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw has prompted a proposal to change the Pennsylvania constitution to allow the removal of elected municipal officials for lack of attendance at public meetings. “For more than a year, the Monessen mayor has not attended city council meetings. Local government cannot operate...
Derry music students, parents urge district to replace retiring choral teacher
Derry Area School Board members are considering raising taxes by 2.8 mills in the district’s pending 2019-20 budget, but not for money to replace two retiring music and English teachers or to fill a part-time art position. Eight music students and a few adults voiced their opposition at Thursday’s school...
1891 German biography of Saint Vincent founder finally translated into English
In an 1854 letter to the archbishop of Munich, the Rev. Boniface Wimmer said the monastery that he had founded near Latrobe eight years earlier sometimes felt like Noah’s ark. “All sorts of creatures from everywhere gather under our roof,” he wrote. “Often, too, useless guests come, who disappear after...
Celebration of missing Unity woman Cassandra Gross’ life planned in Crabtree
Friends, relatives and family friends of missing Unity woman Cassandra Gross are invited to a celebration of her life Saturday in Crabtree. Several people are expected to share memories of Gross, who has been missing since April 7, 2018, starting at 1 p.m. at Marian Hall, said her mother Kathe...
2 Westmoreland apartment complexes named in lawsuit over disability access
Ann Sloan was surprised to learn that the owner of the Hempfield apartment complex where she lives is being sued by the federal government for discriminating against disabled renters by building units that have “significant accessibility barriers.” “Everything is fine for me,” said Sloan, who uses a walker to get...
WCCC honors grad who directed police response at Parkland school shooting
It was Valentine’s Day, and Clyde Parry was sitting in his police chief’s office in Coral Springs, Fla. An officer breathlessly announced he’d heard an active shooter was at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Suddenly, phone lines blew up at the department as desperate calls went out for help. Within...
Greensburg Recreation department introduces four new programs
Greensburg’s new recreation program manager has introduced four new programs for the summer, including options that could appeal to the young and old. “I’ve seen a lot of these types of programs implemented in other parks and recreation departments that I’ve worked for, and they were really successful,” said Lydia...
Miniature Ligonier Valley Rail Road featured in model train tourVideo
The Ligonier Valley Rail Road is rolling over the track once more — in railroad historian and hobbyist Bob Stutzman’s Latrobe basement. The original railroad operated from 1877 to 1952, hauling freight and passengers 16 miles between Ligonier and Latrobe. Stutzman’s scaled-down version, featuring O-gauge cars that are 1⁄48 as...
Avonmore man accused of killing bulls with crossbow cited for damaging apartment
A man accused of shooting four bulls with a crossbow on a Loyalhanna Township farm during St. Patrick’s Day weekend was cited for causing a disturbance inside an Avonmore apartment house where he lives, state police said. Shaun D. Ross, 60, was cited Thursday for criminal mischief and disorderly conduct...
Westmoreland County schools score nearly $1.4 million in state security grants
Pennsylvania awarded $40 million in new school safety grants, with 10 Westmoreland County school districts, two Career and Technical Centers and the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit among 234 recipients sharing in the largesse. State lawmakers established the competitive grant program in the wake of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting...
Almost 40 businesses raising money for woman injured in Hempfield crash
Local businesses have joined a growing effort to raise money for Cait Tracy, who was injured in a car crash Sunday night that killed two other passengers. What started as a fundraiser at the Hempfield location of Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard has spread to almost 40 restaurants and...
Police: Facebook friend request led to beating of New Stanton woman
A Pittsburgh man who police said befriended a New Stanton woman on Facebook is accused of beating her and stealing her laptop and notebook, according to court papers. Brian Craig Wilkinson, 45, of the city’s Greenfield neighborhood, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the March 25 incident. He was being...
Cops: Man who fought North Huntingdon police had empty stamp bags, suboxone
A Trafford man accused of fighting North Huntingdon police in a convenience store parking lot this week is also charged with possessing 176 empty stamp bags, a package of Suboxone and hypodermic needles, according to court documents. Michael J. Lapaglia, 29, of Trafford was ordered held in the Westmoreland County...
Attorney for Turtle Creek man seeks to try 2 overdose death cases separately
It would be unfair for an Allegheny County man accused in two 2017 drug overdose deaths to have one trial for both cases, his attorney argued Thursday. Demetrius Bernard Christmas, 30, of Turtle Creek, is seeking to have separate trials in connection with the deaths of Paul Lucas, 21, of...
Hempfield man sentenced to state prison in marijuana operation
A Hempfield man who police said had more than 50 pounds of marijuana at his home was sentenced Thursday to one to three years in a state prison. Nickolas Boyd Hobaugh, 28, pleaded guilty to several drug offenses in two cases. He was ordered to forfeit $16,720 that police confiscated...
West Penn Power restores electricity in Allegheny, Westmoreland after outage
A broken switch Thursday at a West Penn Power substation knocked out service to more than 7,000 utility customers in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. More than half of impacted customers had power restored by 11 a.m., according to the FirstEnergy website. Power to all customers was restored by 2:30 p.m....
Guffey Road section closed for landslide repair in North Huntingdon
A section of Guffey Road in North Huntingdon has been closed as PennDOT crews work on landslide repair. Guffey is closed between Turner Valley Road and Mickanin Road. The closure will last about two weeks, weather permitting. Drivers coming from Irwin will turn left onto Mickanin Road and travel out...
Greensburg Salem School Board mulls another tax increase
There’s a lot yet to be determined about the Greensburg Salem School District’s 2019-20 budget, but most of the school board agrees on one point: “I think we’re going to have some sort of tax increase,” board member Nicholas Rullo said. The board will vote next week on a proposed...
World War II vet gets belated diploma from Derry Area High SchoolVideo
Pete and Kace Sabedra walked together across the Derry Area Middle School stage Wednesday. Kace, who will graduate from the district’s high school May 31, received the World Language Honor Society award for Spanish at the school’s annual awards ceremony. His grandfather, Pete, 91, received the equivalent of a lifetime...
Workers at Hempfield Rita’s donating tips to woman injured in deadly weekend crash
Employees at the Hempfield location of Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard are raising money for a woman who survived a Sunday car crash that claimed the lives of two people. According to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, Cait Tracy is fighting for her life after the crash...
Man accused of sexually assaulting Greensburg woman
An Indiana County man who was invited to stay overnight at a Greensburg woman’s home in March was arrested Thursday by city police for sexual assault. Thomas W. Swearingen Jr., 30, of Blairsville, is charged with aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault in connection with the alleged assault March 24...
Latrobe students test science, technology, engineering, arts and math – S.T.E.A.M. – skills
Seventh graders from Greater Latrobe Junior High on Wednesday participated in the school’s annual S.T.E.A.M. Day at Rotary Park. This is the third year the school has held the event, which focuses on activities based on science, technology, engineering, arts and math. “We came up with the event because we...
Hempfield boy takes honors in Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest
Hempfield fifth-grader Joseph F. Bonomo IV is headed to Washington, D.C., with his parents to pick up honors as the Pennsylvania State Society Daughters of the American Revolution’s American History Essay Contest winner for his grade. The son of Keira and Joseph F. Bonomo III, Joseph attends Aquinas Academy in...
Cops: Mt. Pleasant fugitive found hiding under bed at mother’s home
A Mt. Pleasant area man wanted for skipping several court hearings following recent drug arrests was discovered by Westmoreland County sheriff deputies Tuesday hiding under a bed in his mother’s house with several baggies and a jar of crystal methamphetamine nearby, according to court documents. Members of the sheriff’s department...
Idlewild offering free admission for veterans, service members
Military veterans and service members will get free admission to Idlewild & SoakZone on May 25 through Veteran X, a peer-support program in Westmoreland County. Three immediate family members of the veteran or service member also will get into the Ligonier Township amusement park for free. A free lunch will...
