Westmoreland category, Page 290

It seems as if — at least this holiday season — what was old is new again at Westmoreland Mall. On a December afternoon, the mall is buzzing with happy shoppers, hungry food court patrons and cheerful Christmas tunes. Children wave to their parents from the Christmas train, a kiosk...

Greensburg Council this week finalized a 2023 city budget of about $13 million without increasing taxes. City property owners will continue to pay real estate taxes totaling 27.05 mills. That amount includes 1 mill each to help support the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library and to cover public safety expenses that...

More than 250 vehicles lined up Thursday evening for a spin around Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary during the school’s second annual Light-Up Night. In addition to festive lights and inflatable figures, visitors to the Southwest Greensburg school were greeted by holiday characters, Christmas music performed by school and community groups...

More than $8 million in federal covid-relief funds will be used to pay annual subsidies that, in prior years, were paid for from the county’s general operating budget, Westmoreland commissioners said Thursday. The earmarking of American Rescue Plan funds to the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, Westmoreland County Community College and...

A 16-year-old Monessen boy has been charged as an adult in the fatal shooting last month of another Monessen teen. Terry Newton is charged with criminal homicide in the death of Amari Altomore, 16, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli announced Thursday. Newton, who was not in custody as of...

Eastbound traffic on Interstate 70 will be restricted to a single lane Friday near the Yukon and Madison interchanges in South Huntingdon and Sewickley townships. PennDOT officials said the restriction will be in place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., depending on favorable weather. It will allow crews from Trumbull...

An appeals court has overturned two sexual assault convictions against a former part-time Mt. Pleasant police officer, saying the cases were prosecuted in the wrong county. A three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled allegations levied by two women who claimed they were sexually assaulted by John Brown, 49,...

Veterans buried in 10 cemeteries in Hempfield, Irwin, North Huntingdon and Penn Township will be honored Saturday with wreaths on their graves as part of a national program. Volunteers with the North Huntingdon Chapter of Wreaths Across America will lay 2,880 wreaths on the graves of veterans buried in Union...

The latest in a series of Family Fun Nights at the Greensburg YMCA will include holiday-themed activities. “Merry and Bright” is the theme of the event, from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, which will feature a visit from Santa. Kids who attend also will have an opportunity to create their...

Sheila Walton dabbed tears from her eyes as she told a Westmoreland County judge that the Ohio truck driver who initiated a fatal rear-end collision two years ago on Interstate 70 in South Huntingdon changed her family forever. Walton’s 27-year-old son, Dillon Walton of New Stanton, was killed as he...

A Greensburg man convicted earlier this year for his role in the rape of a 5-year-old boy had his 168-year prison sentenced reduced on this week. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani overturned one of 22 convictions against Charles Jason Hunter, 36. Defense attorneys claimed prosecutors mislabeled one...

Todd Harris’ well-wishing bellows and bell ringing can be heard throughout a Hempfield parking lot when he’s on duty. The Greensburg man is dedicated to volunteering for The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign, ringing a bell so much during his shifts that he hears it in his sleep. He is...

A city man who Jeannette police said attacked another man with a flashlight this week turned himself in Thursday. Authorities had sought information on his whereabouts after a warrant was issued for his arrest. The wounded man was taken to a hospital for numerous face and head injuries, police said....

A Westmoreland County judge this week ruled that Jeannette police had the legal authority to detain and charge a New Alexandria man after a car crash last year near a school. David Vucish, 50, claims police used excessive force during the May 11, 2021, incident and sought to have criminal...

Latrobe will use about $100,000 of federal covid relief cash to balance its 2023 budget. The $7.1 million spending plan council adopted this week doesn’t include a property tax increase. Latrobe City Manager Terry Carcella called the budget “conservative” as officials attempted to contain spending and said officials were unsure...

Westmoreland County is cutting ties with renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht. The county commissioners Thursday are expected to approve a one-year contract with Wecht’s former assistant to do autopsies for Coroner Tim Carson and rent the autopsy suite at Westmoreland’s forensics center in Hempfield. Wecht, 92, has worked as...

A man wanted in connection with a home invasion and robbery Tuesday night in Greensburg is in custody. Police Chief Shawn Denning said Patrick Lee Rosenberry, 29, surrendered after police pinpointed his location and surrounded a residence on Arch Avenue. Rosenberry is accused of breaking into a home on Alwine...

Staff at Hutchinson Elementary School are inviting local residents to attend the school’s second annual Light-Up Night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. A new tradition at the school in Southwest Greensburg, the event will feature a drive-through display of holiday lights and inflatables, student musical performances and surprise guests....

Submissions from nonprofit organizations for Briefly Speaking can be emailed to Carol Pinto-Smith at cpinto-smith@triblive.com or mailed to Briefly Speaking, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084. Include a complete address and daytime phone number. Submissions are due at least two weeks before the event. Each announcement is printed once; there...

Night construction work won’t be allowed at the site of a 1 million-square-foot warehouse being built along the New Stanton-Hempfield border. The New Stanton Zoning Hearing Board this week denied a request from builder Layton Construction Co. for a zoning variance to allow work after 9 p.m. and before 6...

Victory Brinker of Unity has been singing opera arias since she was 6. Now 10, the “America’s Got Talent” veteran is taking on her first full opera role as the title character in “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Brinker will sing the role on the first two nights of the...

Westmoreland commissioners said Tuesday the county will award $3 million in grants to help fund mental health and other human services programs in 2023. The grant program will be paid for with a portion of the county’s $105.4 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds. “We decided early on we...

It was a bittersweet moment for local officials Tuesday as they contemplated the impending demolition of a 119-year-old building on Greensburg’s South Main Street. “I’m a bit torn, a bit heartbroken,” said Brian Lawrence, executive director of the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority, as he stood across the street from the...

When former Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez was on trial for statutory sexual assault of a teenage girl last year, the Westmoreland County judge on the case forced the 6-foot, 3-inch Venezuelan man to demonstrate the way the victim walked — including swaying his hips in front of the jury...

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani must have had a feeling of deja vu Monday when John Bright stood before him. Two decades ago, Feliciani was a court-appointed attorney representing the Monessen father as the man pleaded guilty to mis­using burial funds donated for his murdered 8-year-old daughter. Bright,...