Westmoreland president judge, husband sue Delmont storage company over damaged furniture
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court President Judge Rita Hathaway and her husband George Hathaway on Tuesday sued a Delmont self-storage facility for damage to furniture kept in a unit at the business. According to the three-count lawsuit, Hathaway said she leased a unit at the StoreExpress indoor facility on Route...
Nurse accused of raping patient in Arizona pleads not guilty
PHOENIX — A nurse facing criminal charges in the rape of an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a long-term care facility in Phoenix pleaded not guilty Tuesday during a brief court appearance. The only comments by Nathan Dorceus Sutherland were made when he identified himself to the court...
Trump’s travel to Mar-a-Lago alone likely cost taxpayers more than $64 million
One of the ongoing questions about the administration of President Trump has an answer - at least, in part. Since his first month in office, with his first weekend forays to his private retreat in Florida — Mar-a-Lago — questions have been raised about the cost of those trips. This...
Westmoreland County could borrow $44M for voting machines, parks, Manor, other projects
Westmoreland commissioners this week are expected to finalize plans to borrow $43.9 million to buy new voting machines, refurbish the county-owned nursing home, improve local parks, upgrade emergency response communications and provide additional budget flexibility. The financial package, which could be approved Thursday, will provide about $26.9 million to pay...
Tarentum has 5 candidates for empty council seat
The creator of a Tarentum Facebook group, the executive director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and a program coordinator at Tobacco Free Allegheny are among five applicants to fill an empty seat on Tarentum Council. Letters of interest for the seat vacated by 3rd Ward Councilwoman Rhonda Dzugan...
Texas man dies after vape pen explodes in his face, medical examiner’s office says
FORT WORTH — A 24-year-old Fort Worth man died last month after his vape pen exploded in his face, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office. William Brown was at a vaporizer store in Keller when it happened. His grandmother, Alice Brown, said he had just purchased the device...
Westmoreland happenings: Feb. 9 and beyond
Special events • The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra announces the Tribune-Review Young Artists Competition Winners’ recital will be at 3 p.m. Sunday in Seton Hill University’s Performing Arts Center, 100 Harrison Ave. Admission is free. Details: 724-837-1850 or joy@westmoreland symphony.org. Classes/programs • Saint Vincent Camerata will present “Music Was My Refuge,”...
Amphitheater being built in downtown Jeannette
Three years after a fire destroyed a vacant three-story building in the heart of downtown Jeannette, the now-empty lot will rise again as an amphitheater. Construction on the project should be completed this summer, said Tay Waltenbaugh, director of Westmoreland Community Action. “I think that’s a great attraction for the...
Brackenridge to hold public meeting on riverfront trail project
Brackenridge has hired a Pittsburgh firm to help design a trail along the Allegheny River that would become part of the larger Three Rivers Heritage Trail. The firm, TranSystems, will have to work around a number of obstacles and challenges such as trees, telephone poles and “pinch points” where maintaining...
Virginia’s highest office frozen as Ralph Northam weighs next move
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office put much of the business of governing on hold Tuesday as the Democrat privately weighed whether he can stay in the job despite the uproar over a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page. Negotiations between the governor’s office and...
U.S. commander: ISIS hold in Syria, Iraq on verge of collapse
WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected to declare near-total triumph over the Islamic State group in Syria in his State of the Union address Tuesday, but U.S. defense officials are increasingly fearful that the militants are simply biding their time until the Americans leave the battlefield as planned. ISIS has...
Utica shale gas well in Washington Township contained
CNX Resources contained a Utica shale gas well that experienced a significant drop in pressure last week, the company said Tuesday. Well “killing” operations on Shaw 1G well in Washington Township began at about 5 p.m. Monday and were completed by 11 p.m., said Lauren Fraley, spokeswoman for the state...
Water main break affects 20 in Tarentum
Tarentum crews were responding to a water main break on Park Street Tuesday afternoon. About 20 customers were affected by the break in the 1100 block of Park Street, according to the borough. No roads were closed as of about 3:30 p.m. Brian Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You...
Officials: Temperature swings cause poor air quality in Allegheny County
Blame Allegheny County’s poor air quality forecasts on a weather event called an “inversion” where warm air in the atmosphere traps cold, polluted air on the ground. Or blame the polar vortex. While county health officials predicted a poor air dispersion day that didn’t quite materialize Tuesday, another is in...
Sens. Toomey, Casey weigh in on what they’d like to hear from Trump tonight
Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators hope that President Donald Trump will point to two Pittsburghers seated as his guests at the State of the Union as part of a message of unity and against hate. Judah Samet, a Holocaust survivor who missed the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue because he...
Pittsburgh salt truck driver fired after crash that damaged 3 vehicles in Lawrenceville
Pittsburgh has fired a Public Works Department salt truck driver who sideswiped three vehicles in Lawrenceville in January and left without reporting it, a city official said Tuesday. Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, said the city terminated the driver Friday. City officials are not releasing his name. The...
Grand jury: Penn Hills school leaders plunged district into ‘economic ruin’
A scathing grand jury report released Tuesday says Penn Hills School District leaders are guilty of “inexcusable” carelessness that brought the district to “economic ruin” but failed to find any cause to bring criminal charges. The grand jury, convened by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., worked for...
UPMC Children’s Hospital receives $1.5 million from Tull family
Young physician-scientists pursuing groundbreaking pediatric research are about to receive a substantial boost in funding. The Tull Family Foundation, founded by Thomas and Alba Tull, is donating $1.5 million to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to support research and the hospital’s creative arts programs. A million dollars of the funding...
College student finds man in closet wearing her clothes
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A college student says she found a man in her closet wearing her clothes. The University of North Carolina-Greensboro student heard strange noises coming from her closet in her off-campus apartment on Saturday. The student told WFMY-TV she asked who was in there and was told “My...
State Rep. Wheatley says time is now for recreational marijuana legalization
State Rep. Jake Wheatley knows the marijuana bill he introduced Tuesday will be a tough sell in the Republican-controlled legislature. But he predicted the GOP would eventually sign on as more and more state residents call for legalization. Wheatley’s legislation would legalize recreational use of marijuana in Pennsylvania for people...
Nomination of acting EPA head Andrew Wheeler moves to full Senate
WASHINGTON — Acting Environmental Protection Agency chief and former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler won a Senate committee’s approval of his appointment to the permanent post on Tuesday, along with praise from the panel’s Republicans for his work rolling back a series of Obama-era environmental measures. The 11-10 vote by the...
Philadelphia trolley crash injures more than 30
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a crash involving a trolley and a paratransit vehicle in Philadelphia resulted in injuries to more than 30 people, but the severity of injuries is unclear. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority says the crash happened shortly before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in west Philadelphia. SEPTA spokeswoman Heather...
Seton Hill takes MLK Day across Westmoreland
OK, the official remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King was Jan. 21, but the impact of King’s teaching will continue to unfold in Westmoreland County this weekend. About 200 students, faculty and staff from Seton Hill University will mark King’s legacy Saturday when they spread out across 20 different nonprofit...
Cops: Unity man subdued by Taser also accused of drug possession
State police used a Taser early Tuesday to subdue a Unity man who became combative with four state troopers during a traffic stop. Patrick A. Smith, 35, was arraigned on charges of resisting arrest, manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug...
Prosecution committed to not calling use-of-force expert in Rosfeld case
Defense attorneys for former East Pittsburgh cop Michael Rosfeld want to make sure prosecutors don’t renege on their pledge not to call a use-of-force expert during next month’s homicide trial. Daniel Fitzsimmons, chief trial deputy for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, has said repeatedly that he does not intend...
