Westmoreland category, Page 854
Woman pinned beneath vehicle following Derry Township crash
Emergency crews are on the scene of a crash on Route 22 near its intersection with Rushwood Road in Derry Township, just east of New Alexandria, where dispatchers say a woman is pinned beneath her vehicle. The crash was reported shortly after 10 a.m., and emergency officials also reported that...
Hate crime symposium to be held at Saint Vincent
Online anti-Semitism and the prosecution of hate crimes, including the October mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue and the 2015 slayings at a historic African-American church in Charleston, S.C., will be among topics of a March symposium at Saint Vincent College in Unity. Robin Valeri, professor of psychology at St....
Rostraver man gets up to 5 years in jail for driving drunk in crash
A Rostraver man will serve up to five years in jail for driving drunk when he collided with another vehicle in which a young child rode as a passenger. John Summers, 47, pleaded guilty in November to drunk driving and related offenses in connection with the April 14, 2017, crash...
Ligonier man’s appeal in 2011 murder case rejected
First-degree murder convictions against a Ligonier man serving two consecutive life prison sentences for the 2011 killings of a Washington Township couple were upheld by a state appeals court. In a ruling issued this week, a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed a ruling issued last year by...
Work on New Stanton highway ramps will stretch into 2020
PennDOT is set this month to begin improvements to ramps and lighting at the intersection of Route 119, Toll Route 66 and the New Stanton-Youngwood Road in New Stanton. Expected to start Monday and continue through April 2020, the project will stretch between the Technology Drive exit on Route 119...
State funds OK’d for Route 119 in Youngwood, Latrobe underpasses
An overdue update of the Route 119 corridor in Youngwood and repair of deteriorating sidewalks in Latrobe railroad underpasses were among 50 Pennsylvania projects that got a boost Friday with a combined $44.5 million in funding from the state’s Multimodal Transportation Fund. The $400,000 approved for Youngwood is designated for...
Taxpayers will foot bill for expert in Derry Township murder case
A Westmoreland County judge on Friday authorized spending $9,700 of taxpayer money to hire an expert to analyze nearly 100,000 computer images connected to a Derry Township murder case. Walter Cable, 26, of Greensburg, is one of two men charged with criminal homicide for the 2017 death of 34-year-old Ronny...
Westmoreland County judge to consider Upper Burrell’s request to redistrict voting precincts
Westmoreland County officials said Friday it will begin work in March to potentially redistrict two voting precincts in Upper Burrell. Attorneys for the township and county appeared before Common Pleas Court Judge Harry Smail Jr. to address a lawsuit filed last week by Upper Burrell and 20 of its residents...
Greensburg woos developers for downtown hotel project
Greensburg officials have long wanted a downtown hotel, and they’re done waiting for developers to come to them. The city and the Greensburg Community Development Corp. are directly reaching out to developers, with a request for proposals for a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. The city was recently in talks with...
Plum painter charged with home improvement fraud by Greensburg police
A Plum contactor is accused of taking a $1,250 down payment in 2018 for a painting project in Greensburg that he never started. Michael Cerniglia, 54, was charged with home improvement fraud by Greensburg Patrolman Regina McAtee this week. McAtee alleges in an affidavit that Cerniglia, operator of Michael’s Painting,...
Parents accused of abandoning 3 children in Greensburg home to avoid arrest
A Greensburg couple allegedly abandoned their three children — a 16-year-old boy and 5-year-old twins — for more than a week to avoid being served arrest warrants, Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department deputies allege in court documents filed Friday. Ryan J. Mason, 39, and Destany Stamps, 36, were arrested at a...
Appeals court upholds DUI suspension of Jeannette man who claims he was passenger
A state trooper’s word was enough to justify the 2016 drunken driving arrest of a Jeannette man who claimed he wasn’t behind the wheel at the time, a three-judge panel ruled this week. Trooper Kimberly Zubovic’s statement to Trooper Thomas Dohey, the arresting officer, that Richard McBeth appeared intoxicated provided...
Irwin martial arts expert inducted into hall of honor
An acclaimed martial arts expert from Irwin has been inducted into a martial arts hall of honor — at the age of 25. “It was quite an honor,” said John Morgart Jr., who was inducted into the Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Honor last weekend in Atlantic City, N.J....
Plum man accused of having, sharing child pornography
A Plum man was arrested Thursday after authorities reported finding child pornography videos and images on his computer, according to court papers. Antonio Raffale Pampena, 35, allegedly shared the files in December and January through a peer-to-peer network with an agent from the state attorney general’s office who is based...
Westmoreland courthouse space applications now online
Residents seeking to hold public events in meeting rooms and the courtyard in front of the Westmoreland County Courthouse can now submit applications online. County officials on Thursday issued a revised policy that will take effect Feb. 1 to allow online applications and other minor changes to the reservation process...
Poor weather cited in delayed Ligonier Township bridge reopening
Severe winter weather is being blamed for a delay in reopening a state bridge that has been under construction since April on Route 711 in Ligonier Township. The bridge over Mill Creek was expected to open in January. Project officials are now projecting both lanes of the bridge will be...
Hempfield to review past votes, but supervisors balk at state audit
Despite claims by one of its own, state investigators will not examine whether Hempfield supervisors have voted on issues outside the public eye — including on reaching a $125,000 union settlement agreement and other matters. The Pennsylvania Auditor General’s Office can only audit a township’s pension funds and use of...
Region getting break from winter blast
Count John Dean of Jeannette as one of the few people in the region who are unhappy that the polar vortex that left Western Pennsylvania in sub-zero temperatures this week will slowly disappear. “I don’t mind this at all. I’ve been waiting for this (cold weather) all winter long,” said...
‘Got away with one’: Judge dismisses DUI charges for Greensburg woman’s driveway crash
A Westmoreland County judge on Thursday dismissed drunken driving charges against a Greensburg woman who was arrested in her own driveway following a collision with a neighbor’s car. Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani ruled in favor of Mary Britz, 58, who Greensburg police charged after she crashed into a car...
Westmoreland County ups fees for filing civil, family court documents
Fees to file civil and family court documents in Westmoreland County will increase beginning Friday. The move will raise about $30,000 in new revenues for the county, Prothonotary Christina O’Brien said. The money is expected to balance her department’s budget and cover rising personnel and equipment costs. “We have to...
Man sent to prison for up to 40 years for raping Delmont girl
An Indiana County man will serve up to 40 years in prison for raping a Delmont girl, starting when she was 10. A Westmoreland County jury, following a three-day trial in May, convicted Bryan Harrold, 51, of Saltsburg, of 13 counts including rape of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse,...
Jeannette woman wants to change guilty plea in boyfriend’s death
A Jeannette woman who faces a potential 40-year prison sentence wants to withdraw her guilty plea for the murder of her teenage boyfriend. The lawyer for Crystal Belle, 39, filed court documents Thursday in which she now contends someone else was responsible for the beating death of Khalil Parker, 19,...
Nevin Arena finalist in Penguins’ ‘Renovate the Rink’ contest
The Kirk S. Nevin Arena, Greensburg’s home for hockey and ice skating, is one of three finalists in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ “Renovate the Rink” contest. The facility could win $100,000 in renovations if it garners enough votes to claim the grand prize. Online voting continues through Feb. 22. The other...
Interstate 70 reopens in Westmoreland after propane tank explodes in tractor-trailer
A propane tank being hauled in a tractor-trailer exploded Thursday, shutting down Interstate 70 eastbound for four hours in Westmoreland County and snarling traffic for miles, according to state police. The force of the 11 a.m. explosion ripped apart the trailer, spilling 100 to 150 propane tanks of various sizes...
Route 119 reconstruction earns industry honors
A project that reconstructed a section of Route 119 in East Huntingdon has gained national recognition, receiving an award for excellence in concrete paving workmanship. Completed during the 2016 and 2017 construction seasons, the PennDOT project updated a 5-mile section of the highway, from the Westec Drive exit to the...
