Westmoreland category, Page 390
Sewickley watershed group seeks leader
The Sewickley Creek Watershed Association is seeking a new leader: an environmentalist who would work for about 20 hours a month for the nonprofit that seeks to conserve and improve the 168-square-mile watershed that stretches from Greensburg south to Lowber. “It really must be someone who cares about the environment,”...
Librarians, parents weigh in on Hempfield’s library book policy as some titles are questioned
What one family decides is a book worth studying may be a material that another family finds offensive. The balancing act school districts play in the process was spotlighted this week when Hempfield Area School Board members heard from district librarians regarding text selection, as officials consider tweaking a policy...
Iconic Scottdale home focus of $2 million restoration
A decade after opening South Broadway Manor in Scottdale as a bed and breakfast, Pat Hill has begun transforming a second iconic home a few blocks away. Abandoned and gap-toothed, with two missing porch pillars, the three-story, 115-year-old limestone mansion called Greystone Manor by its former owner, Richard Campbell, has...
Greensburg Salem High’s Critter Cruise helps kids get to know diverse speciesVideo
An albino axolotl piqued the curiosity of many a fourth-grader Friday as it rested enigmatically in its tank at Greensburg Salem High School. A type of salamander that originated in Mexico, it was among 20 species of amphibians, reptiles, arachnids, insects, birds, fish and mammals displayed for fourth-graders from adjacent...
Central Westmoreland County fire departments dispatched to house fire in Salem
Multiple fire departments responded Friday to a house fire in Salem, according to a dispatcher for Westmoreland County 911. The fire was reported at about 3:30 p.m. along the 100 block of Story Road, the dispatcher said. It took firefighters about 30 minutes to put out the fire. No one...
Vandergrift woman’s trial set to start later this month in homicide of Greensburg man
Jury selection in a 2018 Vandergrift fatal shooting is set to start April 20. Attorneys on Friday set the date for trial to begin for Ashley Croft, 38, of Vandergrift. She is charged with homicide in the death of John Edward Smail, 31, of Greensburg, at her apartment on Oct....
Philly’s Boat House Row brings ‘yacht rock’ to Irwin’s Lamp TheatreVideo
Put on your Sperrys and Ray-Bans and sail away to the smooth sounds of yacht rock. Boat House Row will cruise from Philadelphia to The Lamp Theatre in Irwin for a show at 8 p.m. April 15, celebrating the soft rock that filled the airwaves in the late 1970s and...
Bingo fundraiser returns for Greensburg Hempfield Area Library
After a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic, the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library’s annual bingo fundraiser is set to return next month. The Lucky 7th Annual Bingo Benefit — a fundraiser for Greensburg Hempfield Area Library is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. May 15 at the West Point Fire Hall, 100...
State police accuse former Hempfield woman of abusing infant son
Two days after arresting a 35-year-old Hempfield man on accusations of abusing an infant boy in his care, state police arrested the child’s mother Friday on an identical charge. Danielle R. Thompson, 28, who has no fixed address listed in court documents, was arraigned Friday on a charge of child...
Latrobe banana split fest set to return to 3-day format; pageant contestants sought
Organizers of Latrobe’s Great American Banana Split Celebration plan to return to a three-day format this year as they seek entrants for the annual Banana Split Princess Pageant. “We want to bring back everything we had from 2019,” said Briana Tomack, president of the Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of...
Greensburg’s Palace Theatre adds accessible seating options
More accessible seating has been added at The Palace Theatre in downtown Greensburg. Eight new locations are available at the front of the theater near the stage, along with existing spaces at the back of the theater, to provide additional options to patrons with special seating needs. The new accessible...
Excela raises $30,000 in financial contributions, supplies, to aid relief efforts in Ukraine
Excela Health raised about $30,000 in financial contributions and supplies to aid humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine, the health system said this week. The two-week fundraising campaign allowed Excela to provide more than $6,000 in basic medical supplies, along with $25,000 in cash raised through various donations. “We are proud...
Summer brews to be featured at Greensburg Craft Beer Week
After five years of providing beer lovers with an opportunity to try the latest local brews, Greensburg Craft Beer Week is undergoing changes. This year, the 10-day event will focus on summer brews, with a move from its normal September time slot to June. In addition, the event will kick...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: April 8-10
Get your Kix The hard-rock, glam-metal band Kix will take the stage at 8 p.m. Friday at The Lamp Theatre, 222 Main St., Irwin. The band’s 1988 release, “Blow My Fuse,” went platinum, with the power ballad “Don’t Close Your Eyes” peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100....
Hempfield moves forward with borrowing plan for school construction
Hempfield Area School Board members are moving forward with a bond issuance that will cover the costs of a multi-million dollar high school project. The board voted unanimously this week to issue a bond that will not exceed $156 million. Funds will be used to tear the school down to...
Former Westmoreland County commissioner Richard Vidmer dead at 77
Richard “Dick” Vidmer was a fighter, whether it was on the football field as a star quarterback for Hempfield Area High School and the University of Michigan, as a Westmoreland County commissioner from 1985 to 1999, or as one who engaged in an almost 40-year battle — both public and...
Murrysville woman sentenced for role in 2019 shooting
A Murrysville woman was sentenced to time served Thursday in connection with a 2019 shooting. Sandra Lee Cline, 52, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy count. She was one of five people arrested after the August 2019 shooting that injured a Monroeville man. Two counts of aggravated assault were dismissed as...
SUV theft suspect apprehended in Indiana County, back to Greensburg for arraignment, police say
An Indiana County man wanted in Greensburg for stealing a woman’s vehicle as she pumped gas this week was arraigned Thursday on multiple criminal charges and ordered held in the the Westmoreland County Prison after failing to post $25,000 bond. City police Chief Shawn Denning said Darryl L. Higgins, 38,...
Easter egg hunts, meals planned around Westmoreland County
Easter-related events happening around Westmoreland County: Bolivar An Easter egg hunt will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Bolivar Volunteer Fire Company, 516 Market St. The event is open to children up to age 13. For more information, call Heidi Speidel at 724-676-4714. Bradenville A free Easter meal...
Troopers: Hempfield man accused of abusing infant
State police arrested a 35-year-old Hempfield man Wednesday, accusing him of abusing an infant boy in his care last year, according to court documents. Matthew Anson Nathaniel Davis, who lives in Carbon, was arraigned on a charge of child endangerment and ordered held in the county jail on $150,000 bond....
Greensburg’s Dv8 coffee shop gets ‘shot in the arm’ with new ownership
Drink a Mexican Volcano, and you never know what might happen. Zack Dreskler went from enjoying the signature beverage at Dv8 Espresso Bar & Gallery in Greensburg to owning the place. A longtime customer, Dreskler took over from former owners Kim and Patricia Elliott-Rentler in early April. The couple, who...
Greensburg Salem School Board eyes air conditioning additions, locker room upgrade
The Greensburg Salem School Board is considering an update of the district’s high school locker room facilities and bringing air conditioning to classrooms at the middle school and Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary. The board’s April 13 agenda will include a request for quotes for the locker room improvements. “We should...
PennDOT plans I-70 closure in Speers, lane restrictions farther east
Work on the Interstate 70 corridor will detour motorists in Washington County and restrict traffic to the east in Westmoreland County. A full closure of I-70 in both directions in Speers is scheduled Thursday and Friday, beginning at 8 p.m. each day and continuing until 6 a.m. the following morning....
Penn Township man accused of killing father, aunt facing competency exam after tantrum in court
A Westmoreland County judge on Thursday ordered a competency exam for a Penn Township man accused in a double homicide following his removal from a courtroom after shouting obscenities and insults at a sheriff’s deputy. Neal M. Hubish, 41, was in the courtroom for a few minutes before he grew...
Westmoreland courthouse garage project underway, demo to begin in May
Jackhammers are pounding away this week, grinding out planters that line the wall outside county commissioners’ offices along the front edge of the Westmoreland courthouse annex on Main Street in Greensburg. Upstairs, court proceedings continue amid the noise. “It’s really hard to hear,” Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio said as...
