Westmoreland category, Page 189
Westmoreland DA wants to review police video before it’s released to public
Four months after police released body camera video showing an officer shooting a Ligonier Township man, the Westmoreland District Attorney’s Office is asking local police departments to have prosecutors review similar footage before it is released publicly. The request hasn’t been opposed by police, but legal, law enforcement and open...
Fayette County native Rachel Duda takes over reins of PennDOT District 12
A 1984 fire that destroyed Rachel Duda’s childhood home in Fayette County had a major impact on her life in more ways than one. For two years, Duda lived with relatives in California. That’s where she set her mind on a career in civil engineering, one that has led her...
2 tractor trailers involved in Pa. Turnpike crash east of Donegal
Emergency crews responded to a Pennsylvania Turnpike crash involving two tractor trailers Wednesday afternoon, Westmoreland 911 officials said. The crash happened about 4 p.m. in westbound lanes of the turnpike at mile marker 91.2 just east of Donegal. Additional information was not immediately available....
Seton Hill offers free online genocide, Holocaust education certificate program to local teachers
Seton Hill will waive tuition costs for 15 local teachers to complete an online genocide and Holocaust education certificate program starting in March. The nine-credit program features three courses that will give secondary education teachers the strategies to address topics like genocide in the classroom, said James Paharik, director of...
Penn Township holiday project enters 8th year supporting Western Pa. homeless shelters
The best part of Kellie Haldie’s Christmas is delivering gifts, clothes and personal care items to people living in local homeless shelters. About 35 volunteers join Haldie in the annual giving project, Blessing Our Sheltered Hearts, which started in 2016. This year, volunteers supported three shelters and about 150 families...
North Huntingdon holds line on taxes
North Huntingdon property owners will not pay higher real estate taxes to operate the municipality’s government in 2024. The budget retains the tax rate at 11.55 mills. Of that 9.23 mills is devoted to the $15.8 million general fund, which was reduced from $16.4 million this year. Revenue from an additional...
Michigan teens jailed after police investigate gift card theft in Ligonier
Three teenagers from Michigan were jailed over the weekend after police said they provided fake names while authorities were investigating a theft of $400 in gift cards in Ligonier Borough. Keenen E. Reese II, Rashad A. Shahid and Malik S. Spillers, all 18, of Flint, Mich., all are being held...
Jeannette man jailed on DUI charges after crash injures woman, child
A Jeannette man is behind bars after police said he was driving while impaired during a crash that seriously injured two people. Allan M. Beech, 33, was jailed last week on $250,000 bail on charges of aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, child endangerment and related offenses...
Jeannette passes budget, holds tax line
Jeannette Council passed the city’s 2024 budget on Tuesday by a 4-1 vote. The budget does not call for a property tax increase, keeping the millage rate at 35.62 mills. Councilwoman Michelle Langdon cast the dissenting vote because she said she felt the earned-income tax should have been lowered. One...
Westmoreland happenings: Bus trip to performance of ‘Daniel’; holiday fun day
Arts • West Newton Church of God will sponsor bus trips April 15 and May 2 to see the stage production “Daniel” at Sight & Sound Theatres near Lancaster. Cost: $180, includes bus transportation, show ticket and lunch. The bus will leave from the Christian Church parking lot in Turkeytown....
Amtrak anticipates spending $6.6M on Greensburg, Latrobe station projects
As Amtrak, the state and Norfolk Southern Corp. are planning major improvements to the rail line from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg, the passenger rail service is projecting it will spend $6.6 million over the next two years on improvements to two Westmoreland County train stations, in Greensburg and Latrobe. Amtrak has...
What $200M in expanded passenger rail service means for Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is poised to add passenger rail service for the first time in decades, thanks to federal and state funding and a deal made with Norfolk Southern. PennDOT is investing $200 million for corridor upgrades that will allow Amtrak to run a second daily round trip between Pittsburgh and...
Pedestrian struck Christmas Eve on Route 30 in Hempfield
A Monroeville man was taken to the hospital after he was struck by a car Sunday in Hempfield. State police were called to Route 30 near West Hills Drive just after 6 p.m., after 30-year-old Agusto N. Tojil of Monroeville was struck by a car as he attempted to cross...
First Presbyterian of Greensburg hosts 3rd Christmas Day meal delivery
Volunteers at First Presbyterian Church of Greensburg offered free Christmas Day meals for the third year in a row Monday morning. This year about 60 volunteers spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Christmas prepping food, containers and transportation to serve approximately 650 meals to residents in surrounding communities including Hempfield,...
Free-Op Community Store opens in Jeannette, follows pay-what-you-can model
In the first few days of being open, a pay-what-you-can store in Jeannette was already making a difference. Madison Feidner said someone in need of a Christmas tree left with one and others were picking up presents. “This week was so important to me to just have some hours to...
Vehicle catches fire behind church in Hempfield Township
A single vehicle caught fire in the back parking lot of Word of Life Church in Hempfield Township on Sunday morning. Fort Allen Volunteer Fire Department and Carbon Volunteer Fire Department responded to the church on Route 136, according to Westmoreland County 911 dispatchers. The fire was put out and...
2 people flee on foot from Belle Vernon vehicle crash
Police responded Sunday morning to a two- vehicle crash in Belle Vernon — where two individuals fled on foot, leaving their vehicle at the scene. The crash occurred in the 400 block of Graham Street, according to Westmoreland 911 dispatch. One minor injury was reported, and the person was treated...
Caring on Christmas: How health care, emergency workers handle holiday shifts
Patrick Merkel knows that when someone calls the Allegheny County 911 center on Christmas, they might be experiencing the worst day of their life. Merkel is just one member of the team on the front lines on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. With up to 70 people working each shift...
Westmoreland natives killed in Christmas Eve 1944 U-boat attack have lives preserved digitally
Christmas Day 1944 never came for four Westmoreland County natives and 759 fellow servicemen who were passengers on a World War II troop transport ship headed for Cherbourg, France. On Christmas Eve, about 5 miles from its destination, the SS Leopoldville was torpedoed by a German submarine and sank, taking...
How to celebrate New Year’s 2024 in, around Westmoreland County
New Year’s Day falls on a Monday this year, meaning those who stay up late will be ringing in 2024 on a Sunday night. Although that may not be the day of the week that one might associate with revelry, there are more than a few places where you can...
Greensburg Salem High School show-and-tell introduces fourth graders to exotic species
Jayceona Smith had something to prove when she gingerly touched her finger to the back of Arthur, a curly-haired tarantula. “I want to see the alligator, the snake and the tarantula,” said Smith, one of the fourth-grade students at Greensburg’s Nicely Elementary who had a chance to see and learn...
Students with hearing loss, visual impairment tour Westmoreland Advanced Technology Center
Nearly 30 middle and high school students with hearing loss and visual impairments toured the Westmoreland County Community College’s Advanced Technology Center in East Huntingdon recently to experience the classrooms and labs. Burrell, Derry Area, Greater Latrobe, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield Area, Kiski Area, Ligonier Valley, New Kensington-Arnold, Norwin, Southmoreland and...
Latrobe council presents Student Showcase Award to Greater Latrobe student athlete
Kate Wolford, a senior and student athlete at Greater Latrobe Senior High School, was presented with the fall Student Showcase Award during December’s city council meeting. Wolford, 18, is a swimmer, and her involvement includes private swimming lessons, working with the YMCA and participating in various student groups such as...
‘Festivus’-themed event brings local leaders together at Greensburg Hempfield library
It’s a holiday for the rest of us — and for the small businesses and local organizations of Greensburg. Representatives from both groups were among those gathered in the upper meeting room of the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library for a “Festivus”-themed networking mixer event on Dec. 13. The gathering was...
Longtime judge Rita Hathaway, Westmoreland’s 1st woman president judge, set to retire
Rita Hathaway was a young mother and third grade teacher in 1983 when she suspected one of her students had been the victim of abuse. When her efforts to intervene on behalf of the child went unanswered, she decided she’d never again be in a position where she couldn’t help....
