Westmoreland category, Page 197
Holiday celebration slated to ‘start the season’ in Scottdale with house tour, vendors, parade
Scottdale’s holiday celebration will take on a new meaning this weekend as the borough continues to mark its 150th anniversary. Start the Season day, slated for Saturday, will feature a vintage house tour, vendor markets and a parade, said Tom Zwierzelewski, president of the Scottdale Historical Society. “We’re working on...
Stores, police work to combat retail theft as holidays approach
Holiday shopping in some local stores will look a little different this year. With reports of retail theft on the rise, some retailers are placing some inventory under lock and key, requiring customers to contact a store employee to access certain merchandise. The measures are aimed at reining in what...
Norwin grad’s memoir shares struggles, hope after rare cancer diagnosis, remission
LeeAnn Tripp is a rare survivor of a normally fatal form of cancer. It was a rare occurrence when the North Huntingdon native was diagnosed as an adult with a deadly brain cancer normally found in no more than 300 U.S. children each year. She has beaten the odds again...
No students injured when Franklin Regional bus hits house
A Franklin Regional school bus driver was transported by ambulance after the bus struck a home in Murrysville on Thursday afternoon, according to county emergency officials. First responders were called to the intersection of Northlawn Circle and Longview Drive after the bus struck a house while making a turn onto...
Route 136 reopens in Hempfield following mobile home fire
Route 136 reopened around 9 p.m. Wednesday night in Hempfield, after crews knocked down a truck fire which had spread to a nearby mobile home, according to a Westmoreland 911 supervisor. First responders were called to a house trailer near the intersection of Route 136, Ladysmith and Beeno roads around...
Independence Health sees about $23 million in losses over 3-month period
Independence Health System operated at a deficit of almost $23 million between the beginning of July and the end of September this year, according to recently released reports. The shortfall is an extension of the downsliding pattern that the combined health system — made up of subsidiaries Excela Health and...
Greensburg police investigate weekend car theft, break-ins
Greensburg police are investigating the theft of a car and several other vehicle break-ins overnight on Saturday or Sunday. Police are working to determine whether there is a link between incidents reported at the Hawksworth apartment complex along North Main Street and another reported along Culbertson Avenue. A vehicle stolen...
Jeannette plans to add 63 more surveillance cameras, including 16 license plate readers
The number of surveillance cameras in Jeannette is more than tripling, according to Police Chief Donald Johnston Jr. The department is adding 63 cameras, including 16 license plate readers, with grant funding received last year from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Johnston estimated the 25 cameras already affixed...
Westmoreland happenings: Concert, blood drive, Christmas parties, more
Fundraisers • Mt. Pleasant Church of God will host a Fair Trade Marketplace from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 1 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 2 at the church, 936 W. Main St. There will be more than 20 vendors, music and free coffee and doughnuts. Admission is...
Westmoreland County awards more than $600K in annual tourism grants
A museum dedicated to firefighting and an enterprise that promotes business-boosting events in Greensburg are among more than 50 groups that will get a share of more than $600,000 in Westmoreland County tourism funding next year. The county commissioners this week approved 58 tourism grants for 2024, drawing upon money...
Westmoreland 250: 10 things to see in Unity
(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December.) Visitors to Unity will...
Lighted trees featured in annual holiday display, gala at Ligonier Town Hall
The twinkling array of this year’s Ligonier Valley Historical Society Festival of Lights display is bound to include a few cherry-colored snouts. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and his Friends” is the theme for the 40th edition of the event, set for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Dec. 5...
Greensburg man pleads guilty to series of home burglaries
A Greensburg man was ordered to serve up to four years in prison for a series of burglaries in the city in late 2019 and early 2020. James E. Dickant Jr., 34, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges in six separate cases in connection with thefts from local homes in Greensburg...
Wagon Wheel co-owner will continue selling ‘Our Famous Red Cake’
Mimi Kaufman of Salem isn’t starting a bakery. But she also wasn’t quite ready to give up the flagship red cake dessert at the Wagon Wheel, the restaurant she has owned alongside her sisters. The Wagon Wheel is closing its doors, but fans of the dessert will be able to...
Land bank fosters new life for more than 170 abandoned Westmoreland properties
When Jackie Sobel and her father, David, were looking to put down roots for their craft brewery, they knew new construction wasn’t going to be right for the vibe they wanted. “We were looking for something that had a lot of character,” she said. They perused Westmoreland County Land Bank...
Roadkill deer collection not a job for the faint of heart — or stomach
Thanksgiving week is a good time of year to be doing Steve Boeser’s morning job. Boeser will admit it’s not glorious work. The 56-year-old Washington Township resident is contracted by Murrysville to pick up roadkill deer. But the colder the weather, the easier his job is. On a late-November morning,...
Officials say time capsule reflects current spirit of Westmoreland County
When the next generation of Westmoreland County employees opens a time capsule in front of the courthouse, they’ll see photos and documents of life in 2023. They’ll even see a covid-19 in-home test. As snow flurries danced in the air, a small group of Westmoreland employees gathered for a quick...
Westmoreland commissioners paint bleak financial picture in proposed 2024 budget
Westmoreland commissioners have four weeks to make final tweaks to a 2024 budget that is not expected to raise taxes but could all but exhaust the county’s surplus of funds. Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a preliminary $464 million spending plan that calls for expenses to outpace revenues by nearly...
Westmoreland certifies election results
Westmoreland County’s election board on Monday issued a final certification of the 2023 election results. The three-member board of county common pleas court judges signed off on the results of about 195 races including the election of a new board of commissioners, row offices, district judges, school boards, township supervisors...
Chinese national pleads guilty in Greensburg meat cleaver attack, deportation expected
A Chinese national is expected to be deported after pleading guilty on Monday for attacking his Greensburg roommate with a meat cleaver in August. Liwu Tian, 57, pleaded guilty to one felony count of aggravated assault as part of a deal with Westmoreland County prosecutors. Because the case is concluded,...
Gala dinner to serve as finale for Westmoreland 250 celebration
Organizers of this year’s observance of Westmoreland County’s 250th anniversary are inviting the public to reflect on the year-long celebration at an event on Dec. 6. The Golden Gala Dinner is set for 5-8 p.m. at the Antiochian Village Conference Center, 140 Church Camp Trail, off Route 711 in Fairfield....
Western Pa.’s small merchants navigate pricing, staffing challenges as holiday rush arrives
When Marion McFeely makes a batch of caramel pecan turtles at her shop in Greensburg, she’s aware of the pain in her pocketbook as well as the sweet delight her customers will experience. Like many small retailers heading into the critical holiday shopping season, she’s feeling the pinch of inflation...
Senior artists show off award-winning works
Jean Coursey Beaufort was looking for just a little bit of happiness in her life. Her husband, Tom, had died last year just 19 days after she moved from her Ligonier Township home and joined him in residence at Redstone Presbyterian SeniorCare in North Huntingdon. Beaufort, 78, taught art for...
‘Pretty remarkable’: Rita’s Closet ministry in Ligonier provides free clothes, household items to anyone in need
What started as a simple giveaway of Rita Stauffer’s extra clothes and housewares has grown so much that it may need a new, long-term home. Every Monday, Darlene Rummel and a team of volunteers set up racks and tables of clothes and household goods in the basement of First Church...
Former churches are finding new life after religious calling
Jason Fitzpatrick has one primary requirement for his living arrangements: space, lots of it. “I lived in an old gymnasium in Chicago, and that inspired me to buy a church,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m a little claustrophobic, so I’ve always loved big spaces. The gym was 4,000 square feet, and I...
