Westmoreland category, Page 182
Gas well fees to pay for improvements at New Florence’s Memory Park
More than $71,000 in money from impact fees levied on Pennsylvania’s unconventional natural gas wells will be used to make improvements to Memory Park in New Florence. “The sidewalks are old. They’re heaving very badly and creating a tripping hazard,” said borough council President Jason Beatty. The borough will pay...
Westmoreland County, union exchange proposals as strike deadline looms
Negotiators for Westmoreland County’s largest labor union and the commissioners have exchanged what was described as “final offers” in an effort to avoid the first strike against the county government in more than three decades. Al Smith, staff director and business agent for the Service Employees International Union Local 668...
Lawyer for Chinese national seeks return of $20,000 seized by Westmoreland County district attorney’s office
The son of a Chinese national who attacked a man in Greensburg with a meat cleaver is asking that $20,000 seized by the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office be returned. The situation apparently was the result of a misunderstanding and language barrier, attorney Mike Worgul wrote in a petition filed...
Parks Township woman sentenced for aggravated assault by vehicle in April crash
A woman who state police said was impaired during a Salem crash that left a motorcyclist seriously injured was sentenced Monday to one to two years in a state prison. Jammie Lynn Koslof, 44, of Parks Township, Armstrong County, was ordered to spend three years on probation after the prison...
Latrobe eyes upgrade of curbs to improve accessibility on Jefferson Street
Latrobe plans to improve accessibility to sidewalks along a two-block section of Jefferson Street, between Weldon and Chestnut streets. City council is seeking bids to upgrade 17 curb ramps to meet current federal standards. City manager Terry Carcella said the curb improvements would continue upgrades at other downtown intersections —...
Arts programming slated for Westmoreland
Arts grant applications open Applications are open for the Westmoreland County Bureau of Parks and Recreation’s grant program, supporting arts-related projects and activities in the county. Local nonprofit arts organizations and government entities involved in the production or display of arts activities are eligible, if their projects take place from...
Pitt-Greensburg site of upcoming blood drive
The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and Vitalant are partnering to host a blood drive on Jan. 31 at the Hempfield campus. It is open to the public. The drive will be held 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m. at Smith Hall Lounge, 150 Finoli Drive. Vitalant is offering donors a chance to...
Jeannette’s Clay Avenue ripe for redevelopment as city ups code enforcement
The contrasts are stark on Clay Avenue in Jeannette. Thriving businesses and eateries between the 200 and 600 blocks of the town’s business district are interspersed among abandoned or vacant buildings, many of which are ripe for redevelopment. “Those places have been there through the good and the bad …...
Hempfield superintendent Wolicki resigns after extended leave of absence
Hempfield Area Superintendent Tammy Wolicki is officially retiring instead of returning to her job after an extended leave of absence. Wolicki was appointed as Hempfield’s superintendent in 2017. Her contract was renewed in 2021 and was set to run through June 2027. According to board solicitor Krisha DiMascio, Wolicki’s contract...
Norwin superintendent to leave district, catching school board off guard
Norwin Superintendent Jeff Taylor is leaving the district when his contract expires at the end of the school year, he said Monday. Taylor notified district faculty and staff in an email sent at 4:30 a.m. and at Monday night’s board meeting. He wouldn’t detail plans after his contract expires June...
Hempfield’s High Park firefighters have to decide from 3 options, chief says
After responding to one of 53 emergency calls in the last quarter of 2023, members of the High Park Volunteer Fire Department in Hempfield have a month to decide their fate. The fire department can go under township management, merge with a neighboring station or dissolve, fire Chief Anthony Kovacic...
Man who fled Jeannette traffic stop arraigned on multiple charges
A man who successfully eluded police and search dogs after escaping from an October traffic stop in Jeannette was arraigned Monday. Lance W. Frederick, 32, of Chester, just outside Philadelphia, was denied bail on charges of fleeing from police, unlawful possession of a firearm, drug possession and related offenses. It...
DEP OKs air quality plan for Rostraver landfill leachate system
The state has approved a Rostraver landfill owner’s plan to treat and evaporate the runoff flowing from the garbage dump, three months after fining the operator for how it was handling the leachate. The state Department of Environmental Protection in Pittsburgh said it recently approved the air quality plan submitted...
Suspect in shooting near Arnold Palmer airport in Unity ordered to stand trial
A Lancaster man was ordered Monday to stand trial on charges that he shot at a box truck driver last month in Unity. Tyler J. Mieczkowski, 22, faces charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, fleeing from police and reckless endangerment, court records show. Police said Mieczkowski fired several shots into...
Yough students sweep Paint the Plow contest
Students at Yough High School swept PennDOT’s District 12 Paint the Plow contest, winning Fan Favorite and Judges’ Pick. This year’s theme was “seat belts are always in season” and students painted on a plow blade a cougar, the school’s mascot, buckling a seat belt amid changing weather. Students participated...
Greensburg man sentenced for inappropriate contact with girl
A Greensburg man was sentenced Thursday to seven years on probation in connection with inappropriate contact with a girl. Tracy Higdon, 50, pleaded no contest child endangerment. Other charges, including aggravated indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, were dismissed. Higdon was arrested in March 2021 after...
Unity man sentenced to state prison for drug, gun possession
A Unity man was sentenced Thursday to five to 10 years in a state prison for having drugs and a gun at the Hostetter Hotel. Jerome W. Thorton II, 33, pleaded guilty to prohibited possession of a firearm and possession with intent to deliver. He was ordered to pay $3,000...
North Huntingdon closes section of road extension after it slides into creek
North Huntingdon has closed a section of a road off Route 993 in the Ardara neighborhood because part of the roadway slid into a creek that is a tributary of Brush Creek, North Huntingdon said Thursday. Pine Hollow Road Extension was closed between Pine Hollow Road in North Huntingdon and...
Cost overruns, supply delays push back opening of Westmoreland Transit Authority garage
Cost overruns and construction delays are likely to push back the scheduled opening of Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s new storage complex in Hempfield for at least several months. Transit officials had planned for the $7.4 million, 16,000-square-foot garage and storage facility to open in February. It sits on a 10-acre...
Salvation Army expands healthy options as food assistance need grows
Capt. David Bender compares it to Black Friday when about 50 local residents line up outside the Salvation Army of Allegheny Valley for its Thursday food pantry and community luncheon. Doors are open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but most of the take-home food is gone by 11:30 a.m....
Future brides search for options at Greensburg wedding show
It’s been a whirlwind since Christmas for Tatum Tocco and her fiance, Steven Whiteman. The Jeannette couple became engaged over the holidays and are planning an October wedding. They were among the hundreds of future brides and grooms who explored options for their impending nuptials at Cavanaugh’s Bride Show at...
Greensburg Restaurant Week returns with range of options from sit-down to delivery
Diners can enjoy an eclectic array of menu options by sampling the specials offered at 14 area eateries during Greensburg Restaurant Week. Beginning on Monday and continuing through Jan. 28, those options will include fig and port wine duck breast at Morelands in South Greensburg, shrimp tacos at Tapped Brick...
Hempfield moves Weatherwood Community Park, municipal complex projects forward
The first phase of its Weatherwood Community Park construction project is set to get underway in Hempfield. Officials will vote Monday to advertise the construction bid for the first phase of the park project, which will be completed in tandem with a new municipal complex. “We’re always trying to look...
Ski resorts, slopes get busy with influx of snow and wintry weather
Ali Kander knew it was going to be cold, but family tradition is family tradition. “I learned to ski when I was 5, and she’s 5,” Kander said while pointing to her daughter, Elle, as the mother-daughter duo from Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood prepared to make their first runs of...
PA Cyber students make no-sew blankets for charity on MLK day
While many students had a day off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, students with The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School were hard at work. PA Cyber students across the state spent Jan. 15 volunteering on charity projects — part of the online school’s initiatives to celebrate MLK Day by encouraging...
