Westmoreland category, Page 548

Sunrise Elementary School in the Penn-Trafford School District is closed after two more people in the building tested positive for the coronavirus. That brings the total active case count to three within 14 days, according Superintendent Matt Harris. The school was notified Friday morning of the new cases, Harris said...

If Franklin Regional officials had not made the move to remote instruction the week following Thanksgiving, nearly 60 people with either a positive covid-19 test or a potential exposure would have come back into the senior high school, according to the superintendent. “During those days, from Nov. 26 through Dec....

A record-breaking storm that left parts of the region under 9 inches of snow did not stop Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine from making it into Excela Health’s hands. Officials received it Thursday, as expected. They anticipate administering it to the first employees on Friday. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carol Fox said...

Twenty-one nonprofit emergency medical service departments are in line to receive $15,000 covid-relief grants as part of a new round of awards unveiled Thursday by Westmoreland County commissioners. Officials said nearly $400,000 remaining from grants earmarked for nonprofit agencies will be used to fund the program. “We are under a...

A handful of Westmoreland County government department heads were handed substantial raises Thursday, a move commissioners said was related to their work during ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The biggest pay hike was given to Solicitor Melissa Guiddy, who has seen her salary increase by about 70% since she was hired in...

Police are seeking a Mt. Oliver man wanted in connection with the Dec. 5 shooting death of a North Huntingdon woman. An arrest warrant has been obtained for Jerrel Marquis Ingram, 32, of Mt. Oliver. Allegheny County detectives said 22-year-old Madison Gilroy of North Huntingdon died of injuries sustained during...

Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to grant a fifth consecutive extension to renew firearms carry permits through March 31 couldn’t have been more timely, according to Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert. The previous extension was set to expire Dec. 31 and Albert said his two deputies assigned the “appointment only” permit...

The coronavirus has been good for Westmoreland County’s bottom line. Commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a $339.7 million budget for 2021 that does not raise property taxes in part because federal covid relief money held back to pay for personnel and other expenses related to the ongoing pandemic. Property taxes...

A 69-year-old West Newton woman is facing multiple criminal charges after police said she removed her mask inside a Rostraver liquor store and deliberately coughed on employees and liquor bottles, claiming she had covid-19. Township police charged Leona V. Warman with four counts each of reckless endangerment and simple assault...

Westmoreland County added 397 additional covid cases and 9 new deaths Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported. The additional deaths bring the county’s death toll to 326. There have been 122 deaths attributed to the disease this month in the county. The county ranks as the 12th-highest death toll...

Food insecurity is an ongoing problem in the Pittsburgh region, made much worse by the covid-19 pandemic. Area food banks have responded by redoubling their efforts while facing new challenges. With pandemic restrictions putting many American breadwinners out of work or reducing their hours, food banks this year have been...

North Huntingdon could lose its $30,000 grant for covid-related expenses because township officials are thumbing their noses at state public health mandates designed to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. County Commissioner Doug Chew said Wednesday during an online forum that the county is bound by contract to distribute federal CARES...

North Huntingdon property owners will not have to pay more in real estate taxes in 2021. The commissioners on Wednesday approved setting the tax rate at 11.55 mills for the $14.7 million general fund budget. Commissioner Jason Atwood was the lone opposition to setting the tax rate at 11.55 mills;...

A Greensburg man will be paroled from the county jail next month after he pleaded guilty to the strangulation and assault of his live-in girlfriend. Kevin M. Reese, 29, was charged in September in connection with the attack at his Eastmont Estates apartment in which police said he injured his...

Citing “an alarming increase in covid-19 cases” and yet another surge expected to peak in January, Pennsylvania acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega on Wednesday urged colleges and universities to delay the start of their spring semester. Ortega also suggested colleges and universities use virtual instruction as much as possible....

Westmoreland County commissioners are expected to settle a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year by a former employee claiming she was fired by new Republican Recorder of Deeds Frank Schiefer after he took office in January. The $27,500 settlement includes no admission of wrongdoing, officials said Wednesday. The lawsuit was...

A small 3D printing company in East Huntingdon got some high-tech upgrades this year thanks to the U.S. Army. Tronix3D equipped its machines with cloud-connected sensors, allowing the company to collect and share precise data about its manufacturing processes. The company was one of the first to test the new...

The number of patients hospitalized in Westmoreland County because of the coronavirus jumped 27% in the last few days — from 131 patients on Saturday to 166 on Wednesday, according to state data. That’s a 55% increase from Nov. 30, when the county reported its first triple-digit patient count. Excela...

We’ve all heard of ways to help food and beverage industry workers through the second round of pandemic shutdowns: order takeout, buy gift cards and post positive reviews on social media. That’s good as far as it goes, said Downtown Greensburg Project founder Jessica Hickey, but it doesn’t help everyone....