Westmoreland category, Page 531
Murrysville native recruits fellow MIT students, others to battle social isolation among seniorsVideo
Bhav Jain, 19, of Murrysville knows how he felt during the early stages of covid, forced to return home from his freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to learn from home. But even now, back in Boston to finish up his sophomore year, Jain is still thinking the...
No injuries in Greensburg apartment fire on Grant StreetVideo
Multiple fire departments from central Westmoreland County responded to a fire that damaged four apartments Friday afternoon in Greensburg, according to 911 dispatchers. “We had a lot of damage,” Greensburg Fire Chief Tom Bell said. “The homeowners are both alive and we got two cats out as well.” The call...
12 Westmoreland polling places moving, including longtime one in Wyano home
Editor’s note: This story was amended March 20, 2021 to reflect the correct municipality where the one remaining residential polling place is located. Twelve polling places are being moved to new locations in Westmoreland County for the May primary, including one that has been in a Wyano home since the...
Ruffs Dale bassoonist, 17, earns Friday Evening Music Club’s Gardner Scholarship
Until Walter Vinoski was 11, he couldn’t have told you what a bassoon even was. Now the 17-year-old Yough senior is the Friday Evening Music Club’s 2021 Mildred Gardner Scholarship Competition winner, earning $1,000 through this year’s virtual competition. He is a member of the Westmoreland Youth Symphony Orchestra and...
Westmoreland discount tire recycling event meant to help curb West Nile virus
Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling is teaming with the Westmoreland Conservation District’s West Nile virus program to offer a discount on tire recycling. The program is meant to help clear away scrap tires before they collect water and become a potential warm-weather breeding ground for mosquitoes that can transmit the virus....
Ex-Greensburg attorney disbarred by Pennsylvania Supreme Court
A Greensburg attorney who admitted in 2019 to stealing nearly $50,000 from a fraternal organization has been disbarred by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The state’s highest court this week issued a two-sentence order barring Donald Blake Moreman, 60, who lives in Bullskin, Fayette County, from practicing law in the state....
Covid cases jump in Allegheny, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania
More covid cases were reported Friday in Allegheny County than at any point in the past 10 days, according to the most recent health department data. An additional 346 cases were announced Friday, bumping the county’s seven-day average up to 262. That’s the highest level for that metric since March...
2 people escape Southwest Greensburg house fire
Two Southwest Greensburg residents escaped injury early Friday after a smoke detector alerted them to a fire in a bedroom and they fled their house, according to firefighters. Multiple area departments responded to the fire on the 400 block of Oakland Avenue at 3:35 a.m., according to Southwest Greensburg fire...
Stage Right’s operetta a safe pandemic haven for veteran Greensburg actor
The cast of Stage Right’s “The Pirates of Penzance” includes an actor who has traded the bright lights of the big city — at least temporarily — for the safety of his home town. “I came back to Greensburg last March to do a show at Stage Right that, obviously,...
Petition to rename Route 981 after late state Rep. Mike Reese gains traction
An online petition to rename a state highway after the late state Rep. Mike Reese has rocketed towards it goal of 2,500 signatures in short order. Mt. Pleasant resident Nick Molitor created the petition on Change.org, where more than 2,200 people have already shown their support. He never met Reese,...
Voice of Westmoreland demands better covid vaccine plan in countyVideo
Members of the Voice of Westmoreland delivered a petition to county commissioners Thursday demanding a coronavirus vaccine registry and distribution sites in rural areas and for minority communities, among other concerns. The 375 signatures had been gathered since Saturday, said Bob Mason, a Trafford resident and member of the grassroots...
Female jogger in Murrysville claims man solicited her twice for sex
A Murrysville man was charged by police with stalking this week after a female jogger reported he twice approached her in recent months and solicited her for sex. Mark A. Loesch, 49, was charged via mailed summons with two counts each of stalking and criminal attempt to solicit prostitution by...
Westmoreland commissioners select in-state company to handle mail-in ballots
Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday selected a Blair County company to handle printing and sending its mail-in ballots for the spring primary. Elections director JoAnn Sebastiani said she checked with officials in six regional counties that used NPC, Inc. during the general election and got a good response about the...
5,000 covid-19 vaccine appointments to open at 2 pharmacies in Penn Township and Indiana Co.
More than 5,000 appointments for the covid-19 vaccine will be available next week through two area Mainline Pharmacy Group locations. Bushy Run Pharmacy, in Penn Township, and Blairsville Pharmacy, in Indiana County, have appointments available for those who qualify in phase 1A of the state’s vaccination plan. This phase includes...
Last call: Hempfield’s Luxor fire department to permanently close this weekend
The Luxor Volunteer Fire Department station in Hempfield will close this weekend as officials merge with nearby Bovard Fire Department. Hempfield Fire Chief Tony Kovacic confirmed during Wednesday’s supervisors meeting that the station “will stop responding” to calls starting Saturday. Those calls will be covered by the Bovard and Hannastown...
Boosters donation funds new Norwin baseball scoreboard
Two years in the making, Norwin is getting a new scoreboard for its high school baseball field. Like so many things over the past 12 months, plans to install a new scoreboard at the high school field were postponed because of covid, said Ronald Awenowicz, president of the Norwin Baseball...
Cold snap kills several hundred fish in Unity’s Saint Vincent Lake, state says
Several hundred gizzard shad fish were found dead in Saint Vincent Lake this week, officials with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission confirmed. An officer from the Southwest Regional Law Enforcement office was notified Monday of the fish kill, according to Mike Parker, spokesman for the commission. Parker said the...
Allegheny, Westmoreland counties covid cases, deaths stable; Pennsylvania surpasses 12% fully vaccinated
In Pennsylvania, the number of people vaccinated from the coronavirus has continued to climb, while covid cases and deaths have remained relatively stable. In Allegheny County on Thursday there was a slight uptick in new cases and hospitalizations. Westmoreland County saw a decrease in cases and one new death. And...
Delmont library officials seeking donations to provide universal access to Outdoor Learning Center
Delmont Public Library officials want anyone and everyone to be able to enjoy their Outdoor Learning Center, slated to open June 5. And, while it is already set to include solar bird baths, bird houses and the reestablishment of the library’s outdoor butterfly garden, a fundraising campaign is underway to...
North Huntingdon OKs plans for Kenny Ross Mazda dealership move
North Huntingdon officials have approved site plans for a new Kenny Ross Mazda dealership along Route 30 that will be built adjacent to Kenny Ross Subaru. Township commissioners also approved plans to consolidate two parcels on the site, which previously was a nursing home, across an alley from the existing...
Westmoreland water authority offers site for mass vaccine, but no takers
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is offering its warehouse in New Stanton as a site for covid-19 vaccinations. The site is close to a Pennsylvania Turnpike exit and has plenty of parking. The only problem is that the large providers — UPMC, Allegheny Health Network, Giant Eagle and others...
Murrysville council may open the door for its 1st tax hike since 2007
Murrysville officials could be on the path to raise taxes for the first time since 2007. Council this week gave the OK to advertise an ordinance that would empower it to raise the local share of the earned income tax by up to 0.5%. Currently, a 1% earned income tax...
Excela Health to open North Huntingdon vaccine clinic; to give 2K shots daily by appointment
Excela Health is upping its capacity to provide coronavirus vaccine by opening a clinic at an empty building in North Huntingdon. The clinic will begin operations Thursday at the former Galaxy Fitness building near Excela Square at Norwin, Chief Medical Officer Carol Fox said. Staff members will be able to...
Hempfield man arrested on rape, sexual assault charges
State police Wednesday arrested a Hempfield man on charges of rape and sexual assault stemming from an incident last summer. Robert T. Kubinsky, 21, was arraigned on charges of rape of an unconscious victim and sexual assault after a woman reported she had been assaulted July 5 at Kubinsky’s residence...
Police arrest Latrobe man for assault, threatening woman with box cutter
A Latrobe man was arrested early Wednesday by city police on charges of assaulting and choking his girlfriend and then threatening her with a box-cutter knife as she ran from his home, according to court papers. Brian A. Ray, 34, was arraigned on charges of harassment, false imprisonment, terroristic threats,...
