Westmoreland category, Page 311
Judge rules Jeannette police arrest supported by evidence
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 approves 2023 budget with no tax increase
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 will cut ties with renowned pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht
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...
Greensburg police arrest man accused in home invasion, seek 2nd suspect
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...
2nd Light-Up Night set at Hutchinson Elementary, supports PTA and volunteer programs
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....
Westmoreland happenings: Live Nativity, Christmas concerts, 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...
New Stanton nixes overnight work at warehouse project
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...
Resonance Works’ ‘Amahl’ stars Victory Brinker in first full opera role
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 to launch human service grant program
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...
Westmoreland officials kick off effort to target blight at Greensburg building set for demolition
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...
Defense: Former Pirates pitcher was humiliated when he was forced to walk like a woman at sex assault trial
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...
20 years after daughter’s murder, former Monessen man in court, accused of violating sex offender sentence terms
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,...
Westmoreland to kick off blight blitz with Advance Furniture demolition in Greensburg
A six-story building that housed one of Greensburg’s first department stores more than a century ago soon will be only a memory. It originally featured the J.W. Pollins and Son’s dry goods and furniture business and the Galbraith and Jamison grocery store when it opened in 1903 at 221 S....
Derry Township teacher arraigned on child porn charges
A Derry Township man who works as a teacher in Indiana County has been charged with four felony charges related to child pornography. Charles Allen Kirkland, 31, is charged by state police with two counts of child pornography and one count each of disseminating photos or film of child sex...
Murrysville cooking instructor publishes cookbook
Patty Irrgang of Murrysville has worked as an independent fashion designer and as a space manager in the University of Pittsburgh’s academic provost office. She also has spent nearly a half-century providing the food while tailgating at Pitt football games. During that time, she built up quite a recipe repertoire....
$1M Mega Millions ticket sold in Rostraver
Someone who purchased a Mega Millions lottery ticket in Rostraver is $1 million richer. A ticket sold at the Shop ‘n Save supermarket at Willowbrook Plaza matched all five white balls, but not the yellow Mega Ball, in Friday’s Mega Millions drawing, according to Pennsylvania Lottery officials. The officials noted...
MAWC lifts boil water advisory for Hempfield, Unity
A boil water advisory issued over the weekend to about 4,500 Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers in Hempfield and Unity was lifted Monday afternoon. The authority said no contamination was found during tests of water lines affected by a leak that drained a water storage tank serving the area,...
Allegheny jail officer suspended after crash, DUI charges in North Huntingdon
A Penn Township man arrested last week in connection with a North Huntingdon drunken-driving crash that left another motorist seriously injured is suspended without pay from his job at the Allegheny County Jail. A county spokeswoman said Dwight D. Edwards has worked as a corrections officer at the jail for...
Woman accused in robbery slips handcuffs, found driving stolen truck, officers say
An Allegheny County woman arrested in a robbery at a Hempfield store Saturday is accused of slipping out of a handcuff at the state police station and stealing a pickup before being stopped on Route 22 in Murrysville, according to court papers. Kristy R. Zalac, 33, of Liberty is being...
Holiday sale brings out shoppers at Bushy Run Battlefield
Bill and Karen Gourdie were ready for the rush. The owners of Bushy Run Winery brought 30 cases to sell Sunday afternoon for the fourth annual Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society Christmas sale. “They’ll probably be all gone by the end of the day,” Karen Gourdie said. Husband Bill serves...
Victory Brinker joins Latshaw Pops for holiday show at The Palace
“America’s Got Talent” veteran Victory Brinker will reunite with the Latshaw Pops Orchestra for “The Sounds of Christmas,” set for 3 p.m. Sunday at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. The precocious opera singer, now 10, made her first appearance in the orchestra’s annual holiday concert in 2021. “Our orchestra was...
‘It wasn’t easy,’ but Jeannette holds line on taxes
Jeannette Council passed a 2023 spending plan Thursday that does not include a property tax increase. The $5.9 million budget includes plenty of spending cuts as the city saw revenues decrease. Chief fiscal officer Ethan Keedy attributed the decrease to a lower amount of earned-income tax funds that could be...
Hempfield Area’s proposed college lit class sparks debate over appropriate material
After months of debate over the availability of library books, some curriculum books are on the hot seat at Hempfield Area High School. During last week’s school board meeting, several parents voiced concerns over books intended to be included in a proposed college literature course for seniors. The directors approved...
Pan Am Flight 103 parents say bomber’s arrest ‘bittersweet’
Shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, Glenn and Carole Johnson of Hempfield received the call they had been awaiting for more than three decades. The U.S. Justice Department told them Sunday the man who built the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, finally...
Volunteers sought for new Jeannette recreation board
Jeannette is creating a recreation board that, council members hope, will be made up of volunteers interested in providing activities for all city residents. Council gave an initial approval Thursday to an ordinance establishing the board. The ordinance must pass a second vote before it is official. People already are...
