Westmoreland category, Page 270
No ‘au revoir’ just yet: Penn-Trafford to keep French program, for now
French language courses at Penn-Trafford School District won’t be going away anytime soon. After previously announcing the program would be phased out because of a lack of enrollment and the retirement of the district’s longtime high school French teacher, the Penn-Trafford School Board decided last week to continue the program,...
Devoted firefighter, Greensburg business owner, family man escaped WWII captors in bold move
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series about Westmoreland County residents who have been honored as Hometown Heroes. The program honors local military and non- military heroes by displaying photos on decorative banners in area communities. Joseph S. Schworer Jr. Hempfield 1916-2002 Joseph Schworer considered himself lucky to be...
Out & About: Latrobe Art Center serves up ‘Taste of the Neighborhood’
Offer a group of people a dozen things to eat and everyone will have a different favorite. So it was at the annual Taste of the Neighborhood: Pizza, Brews & More, on April 14 at Latrobe Art Center. The overflow crowd spilled out of the center onto Ligonier Street with...
Hempfield seventh graders celebrate ‘Day of Service’
Students at Hempfield Area School District’s Wendover Middle School got to take a break from classwork to spend time helping those in need through a “Day of Service” event organized by seventh grade teachers. During their school day, 120 students across five homerooms replaced their usual classes with three service...
Greater Latrobe students participate St. Xavier conservation project
Greater Latrobe students exercised their green thumbs on the site of the former Saint Xavier Academy in Unity during a Capstone program project. Patrick Roberts teaches the Latrobe Capstone students and is on the board of directors for the Westmoreland Land Trust. The Trust recently purchased the St. Xavier property...
Hempfield community members, students gather for Earth Day volunteering
Rainy weather and cool temperatures didn’t stop Hempfield residents on Earth Day from helping to keep their environment clean and refreshed. According to Marissa Haynes, Hempfield’s interim director of parks and recreation, residents arrived as early as 7:30 a.m. to drop off tires at the township’s Hands On Hempfield event...
Home destroyed by fire, 3 injured in Hempfield
A house in Hempfield burned down and three people living there were burned early Saturday morning, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Three residents of the single-family home were taken to UPMC Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh with burns suffered in the fire, which started at 12:45 a.m., the dispatcher...
Westmoreland Cleanways accepting many types of plastics for those lacking curbside recycling
Westmoreland Cleanways has diverted about 4,000 pounds of plastics from landfills in the couple months since it started collecting them. Executive director Mike Skapura said the new program has been well received by members of the public who are now permitted to drop off plastics marked with a recycling symbol...
‘Yukon Sourdough’ added to Westmoreland Airshow 2023 attractions
The Air North DC-3 “Yukon Sourdough” will be added as an attraction in the Shop ’n Save Westmoreland Airshow in June 2023. Produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corp. in 1942, the transport aircraft flew mostly in Canada, merging into instruction and training use until it was sold in 1963. During...
Westmoreland transit approves fleet upgrades
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s aging fleet of paratransit vehicles is getting an upgrade. Board members approved a $1.4 million purchase of 11 small buses for the system’s Go Westmoreland shared-ride system that provides door-to-door transportation to elderly and handicapped passengers. The purchase comes nearly a year after the authority...
Mt. Pleasant students are ‘Freezin’ for a Reason’ to fund field trips
Students milled around the Mt. Pleasant Area High School swimming pool parking lot Friday, watching members of the Hecla Volunteer Fire Department raise the truck hoses to begin spraying the tarps placed on the grass field below. Some of the students shivered as the wind picked up and they were...
Fire official: Murrysville volunteer suffers heat exhaustion while battling house fire
A Murrysville firefighter was taken by ambulance for treatment of heat exhaustion Friday while battling a blaze that caused minor damage to a home along Cole Road in Murrysville. That’s according to Cody Paiano, deputy chief with the neighboring Sardis Volunteer Fire Department. The Murrysville volunteer’s condition wasn’t immediately available....
Sen. Bob Casey lobbies for CHIPS funds at semiconductor manufacturer in Youngwood
A $280 billion pot of federal funding was made available last year when the federal CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law, and at least one Westmoreland County manufacturer is ready to expand rapidly if it can gain access to some of those funds. Powerex Inc. said it could...
Audits find issues with 5 Westmoreland fire department relief associations
Five Westmoreland County fire department relief associations were found to be out of compliance during audits by the state Auditor General, according to reports released Friday. The reports were among 42 examinations of fire department relief associations statewide in 25 counties. Relief associations provide support to the departments and receive...
Work on bridges will restrict traffic in Jeannette, North Huntingdon, Hempfield
Staggered daytime single-lane traffic restrictions will be in place beginning Monday on roads in Jeannette, North Huntingdon and Hempfield as PennDOT continues ongoing preservation of nearly two dozen bridges throughout Westmoreland County. Traffic will be affected between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day. Restrictions are scheduled Monday on three...
Murrysville mayor sues Westmoreland elections bureau after being left off 2023 primary ballot
Murrysville Mayor Regis Synan was looking forward to another election season in which he was the sole candidate running for the office. He was surprised to find out that, according to the Westmoreland County Bureau of Elections — but contrary to Murrysville’s Home-Rule municipal charter — he still is mayor...
Earth Day cleanups planned in Hempfield
Hempfield will be among the outdoor sites where spring cleaning will occur on Saturday, which is celebrated as Earth Day. The township is planning a community-wide cleanup during which residents can dispose of their household recyclable items, tires, and scrap metal at the municipal building at 1132 Woodward Drive, or...
Coast Guard calls off search for lost boat with Murrysville native aboard
After searching more than 200,000 square nautical miles, U.S. Coast Guard officials and their Mexican counterparts have called off the search for three American sailors, including a Murrysville native, whose boat was last seen April 4. Kerry O’Brien, a 1989 Franklin Regional graduate, left Mazatlán, Mexico the morning of April...
Diocese of Greensburg presents 23rd Salt and Light Awards
Recipients of this year’s Communities of Salt and Light Awards, bestowed by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg, are “folks who have really lived the mission of Catholic Charities, the diocese and the Catholic Church itself,” said Bishop Larry Kulick. Presented for the 23rd year, the awards recognize individuals...
Some Westmoreland polling locations changed
Westmoreland County’s election board on Thursday approved location changes for in-person voting on May 16 at precincts in Irwin, Lower Burrell and Monessen. In Irwin’s third and fourth wards, the polling location will be moved from the First Presbyterian Church that is currently undergoing renovations to the First United Methodist...
Recycling event set at Yukon landfill
MAX Environmental Technologies will accept unwanted electronics and a limited number of tires from area residents at its Yukon landfill on Spring Street from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The event is for residents only. Drop-offs from businesses or commercial operations will not be accepted. Residents can bring up to...
Greensburg Salem Middle School students back in class after water break; damaged areas sealed off
Greensburg Salem Middle School students were scheduled to return to the school for in-person instruction on Friday, for the first time since a water break closed the building on Monday. District officials had been waiting on results from air quality testing before having students return to the school. “Air quality...
Hempfield proposes more changes to middle school assignments
Hempfield Area School District directors are expected to revise a plan for next year’s middle school assignments based on responses from a parent survey. Students from neighborhoods of Youngwood, Edgewood Manor and Timber Ridge Court who were previously expected to move to Wendover Middle School will remain at West Hempfield...
Westmoreland OKs courthouse drop box for mail-in ballots
Westmoreland County’s elections board Thursday authorized the installation of a drop box for mail-in ballots at the courthouse for the two-week period before the May 16 primary. The board, which consists of two Common Pleas judges and Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, voted 2-1 to install a single drop...
Greensburg Salem, Derry, Norwin tops in Envirothon competition
High school students from across the county gathered Thursday at Twin Lakes Park to test their knowledge of the natural world during the 2023 Westmoreland Envirothon competition. With each high school having entered at least two teams, about 125 students rotated among six stations in the park, which is east...
