Westmoreland category, Page 45
Civil War book wins Gettysburg roundtable award for Penn Township author
Penn Township author Ron Kirkwood spent 17 days in 2022 at the National Archives in Washington, DC, scouring hundreds of pension files for the stories of Civil War soldiers and their families. Kirkwood, 70, a Michigan native, worked more than four decades as a newspaper and magazine editor — for...
Here are 5 things to do in Westmoreland this weekend: June 27-29
June is wrapping up, and next week will be a short week for many. But there’s still lots going on all around Westmoreland County. Here are a few things you can do this weekend to close out the month. Ligonier Valley Bluegrass Festival Get ready for a full weekend of...
Mama Duck, duckling inflatables set to pump up crowds at Idlewild and SoakZone
Jase Wiarda occasionally calls a company with a pressure washer to give his rubber duck a bath. “It’s a weird phone call to make,” he said. “People think it’s a prank.” That is, until they realize their services are being sought to clean the “World’s Largest Rubber Duck” — a...
Route 30 eastbound reopens after multi-vehicle crash shut it down for hours in Southwest Greensburg
Route 30 eastbound reopened near the Route 119 interchange after a crash early Thursday evening shut it down for hours. The 5:30 p.m. wreck involved multiple vehicles, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Southwest Greensburg firefighters reported in a social media post that the crash involved a tri-axle truck...
Plans progress for Westmoreland human services hub
Westmoreland County’s plan for centralized hub to house its human services programs received a $500,000 boost from a Pittsburgh foundation. Commissioners this week accepted a grant from the Eden Hall Foundation that officials said could help pay for relocation of hundreds of employees and social service programs to one location....
Westmoreland commissioners say opioid settlement funds needed but won’t cover prior costs
Westmoreland commissioners said the roughly $2.6 million doled out Thursday from legal settlements with major drug makers and distributors will not even come close to covering the damages the county sustained from the opioid addiction crisis. The money was awarded to agencies and nonprofits aimed at drug treatment, recovery and...
11th annual United Way Build a Bike sees 600 bikes built for local children
United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania held its 11th annual Build A Bike event over three days this week, assembling 600 bikes for children and tapping the power of 300 volunteers. “It goes beyond the two wheels, into the classroom” said Amy Franz, United Way regional vice president, highlighting the social,...
Greensburg Salem passes 2.5-mill tax hike after contested vote, executive session
The Greensburg Salem School Board approved a $53 million budget Wednesday with a 2.5-mill tax hike for the 2025-26 school year. The average property owner with a median assessed value of $17,200 would see a $38 annual increase in their tax bills with a 2.5-mill tax jump — bringing the...
Greensburg man receives modified sentence for 2023 hit-and-run
A Greensburg man’s sentence was modified Thursday to 20 months of probation in connection with a 2023 hit-and-run that left a woman seriously hurt. Christopher M. Degnan, 46, was ordered to spend 90 days on house arrest with electronic monitoring. He was arrested months after police said he hit a...
Perking up: How the arrival of a coffee shop can get a small town buzzing
Avonmore has long chased an economic renaissance that never quite arrived. If anything, the dream of a bustling business community slipped further out of reach when the town’s rolling mill closed in 2019, taking more than 100 jobs with it. But the borough has a coffee shop among its small...
OnlyFans performer pleads guilty to extorting $24K from North Huntington man in online scheme
A North Carolina woman was paroled from the Westmoreland County Prison on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to operating an online theft and extortion plot last year against a North Huntingdon man. Prosecutors said the scheme had the victim paying nearly $24,000 over several months to a woman who investigators...
Gambling regulators approve bans for 15 scofflaws who join 1,390 others who can’t bet in Pa.
Three people who left children unattended while they gambled at Philadelphia-area casinos were among those banned from gambling at casinos, using online betting sites or video gaming terminals in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday placed a total of 15 people on its involuntary exclusion lists. There are...
Full steam ahead: Whiskey Throttle Fair on tap for Westmoreland Fairgrounds this weekend
Westmoreland County natives Mike Morelli and Justin Lilienthal are throwing the biggest party of their lives this weekend. They are planners of the first-ever Whiskey Throttle Fair — featuring bands, car and bike shows, tattoo artists and food vendors — at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township this Friday...
Westmoreland happenings: History program about electricity, flea market, more
Fundraisers • The used bookstore at the YWCA of Westmoreland County, 424 N. Main St., Greensburg, has added evening hours on Mondays. Hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and the first Saturday of each month. Proceeds benefit YWCA programs. •...
Hear ye, hear ye: Hanna’s Town seeks reduced speed
Motorized vehicles and paved roads didn’t exist when Historic Hanna’s Town was settled in 1773. Fast forward 252 years and the modern transportation environment is juxtaposed against the centuries-old historic site that was Westmoreland County’s first government seat. The contrast is causing problems for thousands of visitors who must cross...
Westmoreland County launches grant program to increase access to online services
The Westmoreland County commissioners are expected to launch a grant program this week to provide funding to help low-income residents access the internet. Commissioners are slated to vote Thursday on the proposal to establish a digital technology grant program. They also are expected to award three $15,000 grants to local...
Jeannette school district property owners to pay 1.1% more next school year
Jeannette City School District property owners will pay about 1.1% more in taxes for the 2025-26 school year. In a 5-3 vote Tuesday, the school board approved raising property taxes by 1 mill. The new tax rate will be 90 mills. The 1-mill increase will cost the average property owner...
Hempfield Area hires administrator as assistant superintendent departs for Greater Latrobe
Hempfield Area Superintendent Mark Holtzman will reunite with a former Beaver Area colleague following a vote by the school board this week to hire a new administrator for the district. Emily Sanders will assume her post as Hempfield’s deputy superintendent this summer. She comes to the job after three years...
Former Tribune-Review business, real estate writer Ron DaParma ‘could cover anything’
Ronald L. “Ron” DaParma, a longtime business editor and business writer for newspapers in McKeesport, Greensburg and Pittsburgh, had the ability to cover a broad spectrum of topics, whether it was real estate, Pittsburgh’s banking behemoths, small business, or steel mill operations and the steelworkers who labored in those factories....
Norwin School Board members critical of removal of archived YouTube videos
A Norwin School Board member and several residents are questioning the removal of archived school board meeting videos from the district’s official YouTube page. Administrators were not able to provide a specific reason at this week’s school board meeting why several livestreamed recordings of 2024 school board meetings — and...
Victim’s father offers no forgiveness for brother charged in nephew’s fatal overdose
Daniel Rebosky told a Westmoreland County judge Tuesday he will not forgive his brother for the role he played in his son’s 2021 overdose death. “God teaches us to forgive, but I cannot forgive Michael Rebosky because he let this happen,” Daniel Rebosky said during a sentencing hearing for his...
Greensburg man arrested after crash at GetGo
A Greensburg man was arrested Monday after running from a two-vehicle crash on South Main Street that left another driver seriously injured, according to city police. Officers said Collin M. Hays, 34, appeared to be intoxicated when he was apprehended. Police were called to the crash at the GetGo entrance...
Hempfield promotes public works employee to new operations manager post
Hempfield supervisors on Monday created a new position in the public works department aimed at maintaining the township’s fleet and tracking maintenance on vehicles. The board hired current public works employee Jonathan Shrum as operations manager. He will be paid an annual salary of $65,000 in the new role. “I...
Car wash planned for Route 30 near Greengate Centre
A vacant building along Route 30 in Hempfield is going to be torn down after township supervisors on Monday approved plans to build an automatic car wash there. The building across Route 30 from Greengate Centre once held law offices. It will be replaced by Clean Express Auto Wash. The...
Norwin approves tax hike and $39.5 million bond issue for high school projects
Norwin School District property owners will see a 4.67-mill tax hike for the 2025-26 school year, following a 5-4 school board vote Monday night to approve the budget. The budget projects expenditures at $95.48 million, but anticipates revenue received at only $93.35 million. The tax hike is the maximum allowed...
