Westmoreland category, Page 298
Murrysville company FlexScreen begins licensing its technology with automated manufacturing line, wins ‘BIG’ awardVideo
Eight years ago, Joe Altieri was in his Plum garage trying to perfect a new, flexible, easy-to-install window screen. Today, he is the owner of FlexScreen, a multimillion-dollar Murrysville company that earned an investment from “Shark Tank” host Lori Greiner. It opened its seventh manufacturing facility last June in New...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: Jan. 27-29
Cards and collectibles The annual Joe’s Sports Card & Collectible Show returns to Westmoreland Mall this weekend. For more than a decade, the show has offered attendees the opportunity to buy, sell and trade cards, memorabilia, action figures, gaming products and other items. Vendors will be set up in the...
Vendors at Greensburg antiques show share a passion for the past
Jeff Poole’s grandmother would never let him into her china closet. Today, however, Poole is in everyone else’s china closet, as owner of On the Diamond Antiques in Ligonier. An Irwin resident, Poole was watching the snow swirl outside the Greensburg Country Club on Thursday afternoon as he and other...
Ex-Greensburg police chief resigned upon arrest on federal drug charges
Shawn Denning is out of the Greensburg police station and off the city payroll. Mayor Robb Bell confirmed Thursday that Denning “resigned immediately” as Greensburg’s police chief when he was arrested Tuesday at City Hall on federal drug charges. Denning, 41, of Delmont is accused of acting as a go-between...
Westmoreland public defender staff shortage leads to canceled hearings
Ongoing staffing issues in the Westmoreland County Public Defender’s Office resulted in criminal cases being postponed Thursday at a Jeannette district judge’s office. Judge Joe DeMarchis said all five cases scheduled before him had to be canceled after his office was notified there were not enough attorneys on duty to...
Dunkin’ in Lower Burrell to open in March; Youngwood location eyed for summer
The former First National Bank in Burrell Plaza in Lower Burrell is getting a much-needed facelift with a colorful Dunkin’ façade previewing the opening of the popular coffee, doughnut and snack shop. The Lower Burrell Dunkin’ likely will open in March, said Chelsea Halker, marketing manager of Heartland Restaurant Group,...
Hempfield Area plans to add 2 school police officers
Two additional school police officers are headed to Hempfield after the district received over $360,000 in state grant funding. Seven full-time officers will patrol the halls thanks to the School Mental Health & Safety and Security grant. The new officers will be stationed at Stanwood and Maxwell elementary schools. “We...
S.C. man pleads guilty to sexual contact with 8-year-old Hempfield girl
A convicted sex offender from South Carolina was ordered to serve up to seven years in prison for having improper sexual contact via online messages with an 8-year-old Hempfield girl nearly eight years ago. David B. Poplin, 36, was originally charged by the Pennsylvania State Police in August 2015, a...
West Penn Power maintenance workers vote for union
Eleven building maintenance workers at West Penn Power Co. of Greensburg and Potomac Edison of Williamsport, Md., have voted to join a union, the National Labor Relations Board said. The NLRB in Pittsburgh said that the workers voted 11-0, with one vote being challenged, to join the Utility Workers Union...
Latrobe couple to serve probation for helping juvenile group home runaway
A Latrobe couple has been ordered to serve probation for assisting a 17-year-old runaway from a juvenile group home in 2021. Eric L. Mallin, 52, and his wife, Michele, were charged with corruption of a minor based on accusations they gave the teen a place to stay before they drove...
Winter storm rips into mobile home, topples trees, wires in Derry Township
Wednesday’s winter storm ripped through Derry Township during the afternoon hours, toppling trees and utility lines and damaging buildings. Areas of the township were pummeled by high winds roaring down from Derry Ridge to the east, said Bradenville Fire Chief Mark Piantine. “We had a lot of trees and wires...
Greensburg police chief’s arrest shocks community
Federal drug charges filed against Greensburg police Chief Shawn Denning caught community members by surprise Wednesday. Westmoreland County Park police Chief Henry Fontana, who worked 22 years as a Greensburg police officer and detective, had no indication Denning was being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. “I’m as shocked as...
Hempfield Area School District sets timeline for 2023-24 budget process
The Hempfield Area School District has established a timeline for its 2023-24 budget process that may or may not introduce a tax increase for district residents. According to the timeline shared during the Hempfield school board’s Monday night meeting, the district must adopt a proposed general fund budget by May...
Former Jeannette school director fined by Pa. Ethics Commission
A former Jeannette City school board member was hit with a civil penalty by the State Ethics Commission, according to an order released Wednesday. Karen A. Welshons failed to file complete and accurate statements of financial interest for 2018 and 2019 when she was a school director. She was ordered...
City Brewing expanding warehouse at Westmoreland Innovation Center
City Brewery Co. is expanding its warehouse space at the former Sony Corp. plant outside New Stanton and will add more than 20 jobs at the site, the Regional Industrial Development Corp. of Southwestern Pennsylvania said Wednesday. The La Crosse, Wis.-based company brews beer at the former Latrobe Brewing Co....
Westmoreland happenings: Designer purse bash, safe driving class, stuffed chicken dinner, more
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...
Greensburg police chief out, charged with drug distribution
Greensburg Police Chief Shawn Denning is off the job after he was arrested by federal officials who claim he was the go-between for interstate drug deals, even providing menus and prices of available substances. Denning is charged with two counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine and three...
Greensburg Salem senior organizes Holocaust Museum Remembrance Night
Greensburg Salem senior Lillian Gatons learned something disquieting during an elective course at the high school on the Holocaust. “People are starting to think the Holocaust wasn’t real and aren’t learning about it,” she said. “That made me want to create a night dedicated to people who lost their lives...
Unity woman pleads guilty to assaults against teens, nurse
A Unity woman was ordered to serve five years on probation after she pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaults against a high school student in 2019 and an attack of a hospital nurse a year later. Susan Barkley, 44, previously served nearly two years in jail and at a mental health...
Westmoreland DA says catalytic converter theft ring probe ongoing
Three Chicago men charged this week with stealing catalytic converters from dozens of businesses and individuals in Westmoreland, Allegheny and Fayette counties are likely part of a larger theft ring that is still active, investigators said Tuesday. “The brazen acts of these suspects not only cost innocent drivers and business...
Hempfield Area school board changes meeting structure
The Hempfield Area school board is making slight changes to the way its two monthly meetings operate. Beginning February, the month’s first meeting will serve as a pre-agenda, non-voting meeting, during which board directors will discuss issues. The month’s second meeting will then act as a voting meeting, during which...
Judge laments behavior of Rostraver elected officials
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday made it clear he is frustrated with the ongoing dispute among elected officials in Rostraver who are at odds amidst a court-ordered ban of one commissioner from attending some government meetings in person. “I didn’t come up with this solution. I just agreed to...
Prosecutors: Former Latrobe man was methamphetamine distributor
A former Latrobe man was sentenced earlier this month to five years in a federal prison in connection with drug trafficking activity involving methamphetamine across the region. Joshua Birrell, 40, was ordered to spend four years on supervised release after the prison term. Prosecutors said he was one of several...
Family seeks to buy guitar that late Irwin guitarist sold
Family and friends of an Irwin guitarist who died of cancer last year are hoping to buy back a guitar he sold several years ago to keep as a family remembrance. The problem for those who want the guitar back is that the late Jacob “Jake” Hursh sold it around...
Surveillance work leads police to Western Pa. catalytic converter theft suspects
A Porsche Panamera, cellphone records and a mobile tracking device helped police arrest three Chicago men over the weekend who they believe are behind $200,000 worth of catalytic converter thefts, according to court papers. The three suspects — Christian Buie, 31; Antonio D. Johnson, 42; and Harold T. Wade, 29...
