Westmoreland category, Page 303
Westmoreland plastics firm to expand to build parts for Amtrak Airo trains
Amtrak’s upgraded passenger trains, expected to be put into service later this decade, will have a Westmoreland County connection. Roechling Industrial Mt. Pleasant, a machine plastics company that has operated in the county since 1981, has been tapped to produce interior ceilings, door motor cases and other projects for the...
Get the Led Out brings annual 2-night Led Zeppelin tribute to GreensburgVideo
Paul Hammond wasn’t enthralled by Led Zeppelin’s music when he first heard it about age 4. But first impressions don’t always last. Now 57, Hammond has been playing in a Led Zeppelin tribute band for 20 years. Philadelphia-based Get the Led Out will play its annual two-night stint at the...
Stratigos Banquet owner buys defunct Banquets Unlimited for $406,000
The owner of a popular North Huntingdon banquet hall has expanded his business by buying a closed Irwin banquet facility in bankruptcy court and plans to renovate it in hopes of reopening it in April or May. Harry Stratigos, owner of Stratigos Banquet Centre on Colonial Manor Road, acquired Banquets...
Expanded labs, updated tech greet students at Pitt-Greensburg’s new Life Sciences Building
Natural lighting and artificial patients are among the features that have students and faculty excited about the new Life Sciences Building at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Members of the Pitt-Greensburg community got their first glimpse inside the latest addition to the Hempfield campus during an open house Monday...
New Alexandria man to serve probation for scuffle with Jeannette police
A New Alexandria man who claimed he was a victim of excessive force during an incident last year with Jeannette police was ordered Monday to serve one year on probation. David Vucish, 50, was charged with resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and other offenses in connection with an...
Work day extended for Westmoreland’s Park Police leaders; department raises cash for 2nd dog
Top administrators with Westmoreland County’s Park Police will begin working longer days this year. The county’s salary board Monday approved extensions of the work day by an additional 30 minutes this year and another half-hour in 2024 for Park Police Chief Henry Fontana, the department’s two captains, one lieutenant and...
Donegal mine worker airlifted after arm is caught in machinery
A worker at the Rustic Ridge mine in Donegal was injured late Monday when his arm became trapped in a mining machine, according to emergency officials. Emergency crews were called to the mine on County Line Road shortly after 9 p.m. for a report that a 22-year-old worker’s arm was...
State police looking for Unity Lowe’s theft suspect
State police are seeking help from the public to identify a man who apparently had a sweet tooth when he stole $4,400 worth of merchandise from the Lowe’s store in Unity. Troopers said the man stole miscellaneous candies along with 18 Mastercard prepaid cards, a DeWalt battery charger and a...
Penn Township wards to change in 2023
For some residents of Penn Township, the new year might bring changes to their local voting ward, polling place and township commissioner. Township officials approved an updated ward map, adjusting boundaries of the municipality’s five wards to correspond with data from the 2020 U.S. Census. The map goes to county...
Export Historical Society applies for grant to convert coal mine entrance
Export Historical Society officials are hoping to work with the borough, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation and the Society for Mining and Metallurgy Exploration to create a historical area at one of the few bituminous coal mine sites able to be safely viewed by...
Western Pa. technical schools among recipients of $1.2M in state equipment grants
Parkway West Career & Technology Center Executive Director Darby Copeland was frank about educators’ ability to keep their students on the cutting edge of technology. “Like all schools, none of us has a big bucket of money laying around,” Copeland said. That made it all the more important for Copeland...
Cabaret Theatre hosts Irwin reading of new ‘Gatsby’-inspired musical
It’s widely accepted in the literary world that writer F. Scott Fitzgerald stole ideas and actual words from his wife, Zelda — including lines that went into his widely acclaimed novel, “The Great Gatsby.” Two Westmoreland County theater veterans have imagined Zelda Fitzgerald’s role in the creation of the novel...
Greensburg Salem School Board considers 4.7-mill cap on potential tax increase
Greensburg Salem School Board will decide Wednesday whether to place an upper limit on any potential real estate tax increase it may consider to help balance the 2023-24 district budget. The district is required by state law to abide by a cap on any tax hike unless it drafts and...
$19.5M Life Sciences Building set for debut at Pitt-Greensburg campus
The University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg plans to unveil its new Life Sciences Building this week, as the spring semester gets underway at the campus in Hempfield. An open house for the campus community Monday will be followed Thursday by a 4 p.m. public dedication ceremony and walk-through of the two-story...
2 injured in Route 22 wreck in Derry Township
Two motorists were injured in a two-vehicle crash Sunday afternoon on Route 22 in Derry Township. A man and woman were taken by ambulance to an area hospital after their vehicle overturned in the wreck, according to Bradenville Fire Chief Mark Piantine. The woman was trapped and had to be...
Police seek suspect in attempted kidnapping in Ligonier Township
Ligonier Valley police are searching for a motorist who is a suspect in an attempted kidnapping Sunday morning in Ligonier Township. According to police, the male driver attempted to abduct a female jogger at gunpoint shortly before 10 a.m. on Route 381 in Rector. The suspect ordered the jogger to...
Rip Van Winkle painting brings folktale to life
With his tattered clothing, long fingernails and bewildered look, Rip Van Winkle awakes from his 20-year slumber in an imaginative painting that hangs at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg. For children who might not know the tale, it can be entertaining to let them interpret the artwork,...
Out & About: The Westmoreland’s Late-Night Thursday toasts to 2023
The New Year’s weekend got an early start at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, with the Dec. 29 edition of Winter Lights Late-Night Thursdays. “New Year’s Cheer” was the theme as the doors stayed open late for guests to enjoy the annual holiday-season illumination of the museum’s...
Rob Ritson, Sen. Ward’s chief of staff, on his local impact
To Rob Ritson, public service is an “intimate responsibility.” When people seek a public official’s help, it’s typically with concerns about their homes, neighborhoods and communities, he said. It’s personal. “In that moment, they don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat,” said Ritson, who has been a key player...
Jeannette’s Skeptik Innovations gains notice in car customization worldVideo
There’s no denying the influence of the “Fast & Furious” movie franchise on American car culture. The action films sparked interest in both street racing and vehicle customizations. Steve Molans was one of those who took notice, as a high school kid in Jeannette back in the early 2000s. Now...
Stanovich family members from Export served during Korean War
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series about Westmoreland County residents who have been honored as Hometown Heroes. When Robert Stanovich graduated from high school in 1954 in Export, there weren’t a ton of jobs to be had, so he opted for military service. “He signed up along with...
No one injured in Madison house fire
Fire crews were called to a home in Madison early Saturday evening to extinguish a fire on Main Street. The fire broke out around 5:30 p.m. according to a Westmoreland County dispatcher. Everyone inside the home go out safely, and crews were still working to put out the fire about...
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert announces bid for 2nd term
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert is running for a second term. Albert launched his campaign with an announcement Saturday afternoon to a gathering of about 200 supporters and local officials at Greensburg’s Pizza Siena restaurant. Albert, 73, of New Alexandria, said he’s overcome hurdles that remained from the previous two-term...
Latrobe Police Department plans to use $152K grant
Latrobe police department’s computer system will be getting $152,000 upgrade this year. The department is planning to buy 17 Dell desktop computers including a computer for the evidence room to use for organizing and inventory, and a computer for the department’s Commonwealth Law Enforcement Assistance Network. The network runs criminal...
Resident, firefighter hospitalized in Greensburg house fire
The sole resident of a Greensburg home and a responding firefighter were hospitalized following a Friday night blaze that severely damaged the dwelling. Crews were called to the home in the 600 block of Jack Street at about 11:30 p.m. and found that the resident was trapped inside, according to...
