Westmoreland treasurer seeks third term
Westmoreland County incumbent Republican Treasurer Jared Squires announced Tuesday he will seek a third term. Squires, 41, of Mt. Pleasant Township, was first elected in 2011 and won re-election in 2015. “The Treasurer’s Office has continued to maintain a focus on customer service while keeping the costs of the office...
Charleroi, Monessen areas under boil-water advisory
Thousands of customers in the Mon Valley towns of Monessen, Charleroi, North Charleroi and Speers are under a boil-water advisory because of the possibility disease-causing organisms may have entered the system through a break in a transmission line Tuesday, the Borough of Charleroi Water Authority said. Water buffaloes have been...
NASA about to pull plug on Mars rover, silent for 8 months
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA is trying one last time to contact its record-setting Mars rover Opportunity, before calling it quits. The rover has been silent for eight months, victim of one of the most intense dust storms in decades. Thick dust darkened the sky last summer and, for months,...
Missing Bridgeville boy found safe
Bridgeville Police say a missing 12-year-old boy has been found safe, according to WPXI-TV. The Bridgeville Police Department posted on their Facebook page Tuesday afternoon they were looking for Robert Rave. He had been seen in Scott Township around 7 a.m. Tuesday after spending the night at a friend’s house...
National debt hits new milestone, topping $22 trillion
WASHINGTON — The national debt has passed a new milestone, topping $22 trillion for the first time. The Treasury Department’s daily statement showed Tuesay that total outstanding public debt stands at $22.01 trillion. It stood at $19.95 trillion when President Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2017. The debt figure...
Kansas declares staffing emergency at most crowded prison
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas declared an emergency Tuesday at its most crowded maximum-security state prison over what Gov. Laura Kelly called “serious staffing shortages” inside a lockup that’s had multiple inmate disturbances over the past two years. But Kelly acknowledged that the most immediate effect of the declaration — longer...
Transit parking lot plans in North Huntingdon remain on hold
Commuters parking at the Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s park and ride lot along Route 30 in North Huntingdon will have to wait a little longer to learn when the parking lot will be repaved and where commuters traveling by bus to Pittsburgh can park during the project. The site plan...
Westmoreland judge rejects request to overturn conviction in 2016 Latrobe murder case
Jurors had enough evidence to convict a Johnstown man for the 2016 murder of a friend in Latrobe, a judge ruled Tuesday. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio, in a 32-page opinion, denied defense requests seeking to overturn the conviction and sentence for 20-year-old Austin Krinock, who following...
Century-old Catholic church demolished after failing to sell
NANTICOKE — A century-old Roman Catholic church in Pennsylvania has been demolished. Some emotional parishioners were on hand as the cross-topped steeple of St. Joseph’s Church in Nanticoke toppled to the ground on Monday. St. Joseph’s has been closed since 2010, and the parish was consolidated with several other churches....
Westmoreland prison worker may be disciplined after inmate’s premature release
Westmoreland officials said Tuesday an investigation is ongoing to determine how to discipline a county prison worker responsible for the premature release last week of an inmate sentenced to serve up to 23 months behind bars. Sheriff Jonathan Held, who serves as chairman of the county’s prison board, said it...
World’s oldest known wild bird hatches chick on Midway Atoll
HONOLULU — The oldest known wild bird in the world has become a mother again at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. wildlife officials said. The Laysan albatross named Wisdom hatched a chick earlier this month at the remote atoll northwest of Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Monday. Wisdom...
White House press group condemns attack on cameraman at Trump rally
WASHINGTON — The White House Correspondents’ Association condemned on Tuesday an attack the night before of a television cameraman working at President Trump’s rally in El Paso, Texas. The association’s president, Olivier Knox, said Tuesday the group is relieved that “this time, no one was seriously hurt.” Knox said the...
Ex-boyfriend confesses to slaying of woman found dead inside suitcase
GREENWICH, Conn. — An ex-boyfriend of Valerie Reyes is in federal custody after prosecutors say he confessed to the slaying of the 24-year-old New Rochelle, N.Y., woman, whose body was stuffed inside a suitcase and dumped on the side of the road in Greenwich a week ago. Detectives from Connecticut...
New Kensington-Arnold district, teachers’ union making progress on contract
More than 18 months after their last teachers’ contract expired, negotiators in New Kensington-Arnold School District may be closing in on a new labor pact. Officials from both the teachers’ union and the district say they are making progress in resolving their differences. “We’ve been working without a contract for...
Fayette authorities seek help locating 87-year-old Dunbar man
State police in Uniontown are seeking the public’s help locating an 87-year-old man who was last seen Monday at his Dunbar Township home. Police describe Luther Bryner as 5-feet 9-inches tall and approximately 140 pounds with gray hair and hazel eyes. Police said he was seen in the vicinity of...
Biden: Longtime Rep. John Dingell treated all with ‘dignity’
DEARBORN, Mich. — Longtime Rep. John Dingell knew that jobs were about more than collecting a paycheck, and that health care meant more than just good health. Both were about dignity, former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday while eulogizing the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history. Biden...
Harrisburg becomes 5th Pennsylvania diocese to open fund for abuse survivors
The Harrisburg Catholic Diocese’s Survivor Compensation Fund began taking applications Tuesday for compensation from victims of clergy sexual abuse. Harrisburg is the fifth of the state’s eight Catholic dioceses to launch a compensation fund for abuse survivors in the wake of the August 2018 grand jury report that detailed allegations...
Wisconsin judge tosses wrestler’s suspension, worrying refs
MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin judge overturned a high school wrestler’s suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct after the student’s parents took legal action, worrying referees and the state’s athletic association that officiating decisions could be undermined by courts. At issue is a Feb. 2 wrestling contest in which the victor was suspended...
Texas sheriff: 2 malnourished children found in dog cage
DECATUR, Texas — Sheriff’s deputies discovered four malnourished children, including two locked inside a dog cage, when they responded to a domestic disturbance at a Northeast Texas home. Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin says deputies found the children aged 5 and younger Tuesday morning at the home near Rhome, about...
Pennsylvania university system pledges to transform amid struggles
HARRISBURG — Leaders of Pennsylvania’s state-owned university system are promising a transformation amid declining enrollments, rising costs and lackluster state support. Tuesday’s hearing before the House Appropriations Committee comes after enrollment at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education fell below 100,000 for the first time since 2001. The system...
Probation officers ask Greensburg man’s parole be revoked after multiple arrests last week
The Westmoreland County Adult Probation office has asked a judge to revoke the parole of a 19-year-old man who was arrested twice last week by Greensburg police for allegedly stiffing a cab driver out of a $90 fare just a few hours after he was accused of illegal possession of...
At major colleges, sexual assaults most likely off-campus
WASHINGTON — At some of the nation’s largest universities, the vast majority of sexual assaults take place not in dorm rooms or even on school property, but in the neighborhoods beyond campus boundaries, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. But the schools’ obligation to investigate and respond to...
Group to launch program to help homeless youth in Western Pa.
The problem of youth homelessness in Western Pennsylvania is getting renewed attention from an agency on the opposite end of the state. Valley Youth House, based in Bethlehem, recently received $407,348 in grant funding for youth homelessness programs, including $175,460 to start a Host Home Program in four Western Pennsylvania...
Police: Apollo man gave pot and booze to children, one as young as 7
An Apollo man is accused of giving marijuana to two children, in one case starting when the boy was 7. Police said they received a Childline complaint about Dale Edward Bash, 33, in January. A woman told investigators that Bash had been giving marijuana to her children, ages 15 and...
Man pulled from Feb. 4 Pittsburgh house fire dies
A man pulled from a house fire in Pittsburgh’s Homewood section last week died Tuesday, authorities said. The man, who the medical examiner has not identified, was one of two people pulled from the Feb. 4 fire, according to Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri. Crews responded at about 3 p.m....
