Westmoreland category, Page 410
E-scooter bill would clear way for more Pennsylvania cities to join Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh last year became the first city in Pennsylvania to legalize low-speed electric scooters and, as part of a two-year pilot, Spin e-scooters became available to rent for use on city streets. Now, a bill moving through the state Senate would allow select Pennsylvania cities, including Greensburg and New Kensington,...
Delmont mayor breaks 3-3 deadlock in appointing new council member
Delmont Mayor Alyce Urban is empowered to break a tie vote, if one should come up at a council meeting. But in six years, she hasn’t been called on to do so. Tuesday night, she had to do it twice in order to fill the seat vacated by her husband,...
Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre postpones ‘Aqualung’ show at The Palace
Martin Barre, the longtime guitarist for progressive rock band Jethro Tull, has postponed his upcoming concert at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre: “Aqualung” 50th Anniversary Tour, originally set for 8 p.m. Thursday, has been rescheduled for 8 p.m. March 23. All tickets for the original performance...
Bill Palmer resigns as Greater Latrobe school director; Rhonda Laughlin returns as appointee
Local optometrist Dr. Rhonda Laughlin is returning as an appointee to the Greater Latrobe School Board after an absence of just a few months. The board this week selected Laughlin by a 7-1 vote to fill a seat vacated by the Feb. 4 resignation of veteran school director Bill Palmer....
Youngwood man accused of rape
A Youngwood man was arraigned Wednesday on state police accusations that he bound a woman’s hands and raped her for hours last month, according to court papers. Brandon Robert Giron, 22, is charged with kidnap, rape, unlawful restraint and related offenses. Troopers said they were notified Jan. 21 by the...
Trucker on turnpike accused of driving erratically arrested for DUI, heroin possession
A truck driver from Latrobe accused of refusing to allow other motorists on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to pass and leading troopers on a 10-mile pursuit was arrested Tuesday, accused of driving under the influence, possession of heroin and multiple traffic charges, state police said. A trooper had to maneuver to...
Westmoreland happenings: Backyard birding workshop, turkey dinner, comedy night
Church news • Norwin Alliance Church will host a men’s pizza and wing fellowship night at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the church, 10585 Farview Drive, North Huntingdon. Former North Versailles police officer Emmit Green will be the guest speaker. Reservations requested by Feb. 14. Reservations: 724-864-1570. • The Caring...
Herminie woman hospitalized after Hempfield crash
A Herminie woman was hospitalized Tuesday after state police said she was involved in a one-vehicle crash in Hempfield. Marie L. Kane, 86, was traveling on Route 136 around 9:30 a.m. when troopers said she lost control after being unable to stop for another vehicle that was waiting to turn...
Jersey Jerks slated for Westmoreland airshow flyover; passenger fare set at $5K
A bird’s-eye view of Westmoreland County will be available this summer from the passenger seat of a vintage single-engine airplane — for a price. For a suggested donation of $5,000 apiece, two passengers can tag along with members of the Jersey Jerks aerial team when they complete a flyover of...
New Kensington, other northern Westmoreland towns report delays getting road salt deliveries
Municipalities across northern Westmoreland County are reporting issues with getting timely road salt deliveries from a new supplier under a state contract in which they participate. Officials in New Kensington, Lower Burrell and Vandergrift said they have had issues receiving deliveries from Compass Minerals, the supplier for Westmoreland and other...
911: 3 vehicles involved in multiple collisions on Route 30 near Adamsburg
Police and EMS were on the scene of a multi-car crash on Route 30 just south of Adamsburg on Tuesday night. The eastbound lanes of Route 30 reopened shortly after 11 p.m., following multiple crashes an hour earlier in the area where the highway is carried over Edna Road in...
Judge says no evidence Westmoreland DA favors the famous
A Derry Township man will serve three days in jail for driving his Dodge Charger 120 mph on Route 22 while drunk nearly two years ago after a judge rejected a defense argument that prosecutors gave preferential treatment to a local celebrity and unfairly rejected a bid by a “blue...
Guilty plea entered in Greensburg woman’s fatal overdose
An Allegheny County woman pleaded guilty to supplying the fatal dose of heroin used in the overdose of a Greensburg woman in May 2019. Britnee R. Clark, 41, of Avalon was one of three people charged in connection with the death of 59-year-old Roxanne Gongaware, whose body along with drug...
NTSB: Speed, road conditions played big role in fatal Mt. Pleasant turnpike crash
The driver of a tour bus involved in a deadly 2020 Pennsylvania Turnpike crash likely was traveling at unsafe speeds on a wet road, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB’s unanimous adoption of the drafted probable cause came more...
Troopers: Hempfield woman accused of cutting boyfriend with knife in altercation after DUI crash
A Hempfield woman was arrested this week on aggravated assault and drunken driving charges after state police say she cut her boyfriend’s hand with a knife and punched him during a Jan. 31 argument when she crashed her SUV. Jessica L. Fink, 39, is accused of driving erratically after departing...
Greensburg police: 2 men jailed on multiple charges after 8-mile chase, crash
Two men inside a stolen car that led Greensburg police on an 8-mile pursuit early Tuesday through the city and north on Route 119 before crashing into an embankment near Crabtree were ordered to jail on numerous criminal, traffic and theft complaints. Darnelle L. Wade, 37, of New Kensington and...
Greensburg Civic Theatre stages multi-award-winner ‘Rent’
Edward Bostedo loves “Rent” so much that he has a lyric from the musical tattooed on his leg. When Greensburg Civic Theatre needed a director for its upcoming production of the multiple award-winner, he applied right away and was accepted. Though the Delmont resident has been directing community theater for...
Asbestos issues drive up costs for demolition of Franklin Regional elementary
The bulk of Franklin Regional School District’s capital plan for the coming school year is demolishing the former Heritage Elementary School, although the cost has gone up substantially after asbestos was discovered in the building. A little less than half of the $2.25 million capital budget for the 2022-23 school...
How the Huey helicopter made its way to Lynch Field
It came by police escort, not air. The 1966 U.S. Army Huey helicopter retired at Lynch Field has been there since the mid-1990s, a product of the vision of late Greensburg Fire Chief Edward Hutchinson. He and fellow firefighter Lou Battistella picked it up in September 1995 in Washington, Pa....
Pa. mine cleanup funding seen as game-changer
Pennsylvania could clean up the vast majority of the state’s abandoned mines and the pollution caused by them with a $245 million federal allocation annually for the next 15 years, a Westmoreland County conservation official said. “This pot of money has the potential to make one of the largest impacts...
Intersecting histories of Lincoln Highway, Saint Vincent College topic for museum talk
Saint Vincent Drive serves as the main entrance to the same-named college and archabbey from modern Route 30, also known as the Lincoln Highway. The interwoven histories of the highway and Saint Vincent’s neighboring educational and monastic communities will be explored in a Feb. 12 program at the Lincoln Highway...
Covid-19 surge at Westmoreland jail eases, inmate transports to resume
Transportation of inmates to court hearings will resume Wednesday as the number of coronavirus cases at the Westmoreland County Prison continues to decline. Common Pleas Court President Judge Rita Hathaway rescinded a court order issued in late January that halted inmate transfers amid a wave of new cases that saw...
North Huntingdon man, now 19, seeks to move armed robbery case to juvenile court
A now 19-year-old man should be prosecuted in juvenile court for a 2020 armed robbery of two men in Mt. Pleasant, a psychologist told a Westmoreland County judge. Dr. Michael Crabtree, a professor at Washington and Jefferson College who was hired by the legal defense team, said Elijah Chaabane’s life...
Deputies seize cache of ammunition, firearms from Sewickley Township man’s mobile home
Six days before state troopers arrested a 39-year-old Sewickley Township man on rape charges, county sheriff’s deputies seized more than a dozen handguns, rifles and shotguns from his home, according to court documents. Steven K. Stemmler, who resides in the KOA Campground on Waltz Mill Road, was arraigned Thursday on...
Small plane makes emergency landing at Arnold Palmer airport; no injuries reported
No injuries were reported when a small plane made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff Monday morning at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. The chartered plane carrying nine passengers and three crew members experienced smoke in the cockpit about 20 miles into its flight, according to Gabe Monzo, executive director of...
