Westmoreland category, Page 550

Excela Health officials plan to administer their first doses of Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine to staff in Westmore­land County on Friday, officials said. “We have requested 6,000 doses,” Excela spokesperson Robin Jennings said. Excela officials have conducted an internal survey among staff about the vaccine. Employees will not be required to...

Coronavirus cases continue to mount at Westmoreland County Prison, with eight additional inmates testing positive for the virus Saturday, bringing the total number infected to 114, according to interim Warden George Lowther. Lowther said two units at the Hempfield facility remain in lockdown in an attempt to limit the virus...

Pennsylvanians can vote online for the state’s River of the Year, and Susan Huba would like to see a Westmoreland County waterway win the award. “This is a great opportunity,” said Huba, executive director of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association. The association helps manage Loyalhanna Creek, one of the Department of...

Officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Health said there were 666 new cases of covid-19 in Westmoreland County over the past two days. Monday’s report from the department said 371 new cases were added Sunday, 285 confirmed through PCR tests. Of Monday’s 295 new cases, all were confirmed. Westmoreland County’s...

Not surprisingly, requests for assistance from the Bethlehem Project are up substantially this year. A partnership between Blessed Sacrament Cathedral and Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg, the Bethlehem Project provides funds for emergency shelter or rental support, along with assistance to residents of three Westmoreland County shelters as...

Murrysville council members will vote Wednesday on a storm water ordinance update that, according to engineering technician Emily Mallisee, largely goes beyond county and state requirements. “All of these are basically enhancing the rules and regulations we already have in place,” Mallisee said. “Our regulations weren’t too stringent, but they...

A new ax throwing site will replace the former Payless ShoeSource store in Westmoreland Mall. Valhalla Indoor Axe Throwing plans to open early next year near the indoor entrance to Live! Casino Pittsburgh. The facility will be the second location for franchisee Jim Ristway, who also runs the company’s Hempfield...

Norwin-area businesses are collecting donations of food and money to help charitable organizations. The Kenny Ross Automotive Group is collecting nonperishable food at its Subaru and Mazda dealerships on Route 30 in North Huntingdon, its Ford dealership on Route 30 in Hempfield and its Ford dealership on Library Road, Castle...

Dr. Carol Fox is worried about the holidays. She watches the rising coronavirus caseload in Westmoreland County and keeps daily tabs on the numbers that are impacting Excela Health, where she is chief medical officer. As the toll from family visits over Thanksgiving becomes more clear, she said she is...

A misty morning on the Youghiogheny River has earned a Latrobe woman an award in the Pennsylvania Parks and Forest Foundation’s “Through the Seasons” photo contest. Clare Kaczmarek, 68, won the Judges’ Choice award in the contest’s “Motion” category for her photo of the river running through a bed of...

The onslaught came all at once. One day, the coronavirus patient load was just as low it had been all summer. Then in mid-October, as the leaves began to change, days at work abruptly shifted. “It was all of a sudden,” said Dave Whipkey, paramedic and logistics director at Mutual...

For some local business owners, the expanded state health and safety orders that went into effect Saturday were another punch to the gut, during a year in which they’ve already absorbed plenty of body blows. At Jioio’s Restaurant in Greensburg, owner Tony Jioio is buckling down for a tough holiday...

The start of the coronavirus pandemic in March was nothing like the current surge. There was uncertainty back then as the virus quietly crept into the community, said Dr. Heather Walker, assistant director of the emergency department at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg. But now, the alarms are sounding...

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 568 new cases of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County. It is the third-straight day the county reported at least 500 cases. On Thursday, 505 cases were posted, followed by a record daily high of 657 on Friday. Nine additional deaths were reported...

State police Trooper Stephen Limani laughed recalling a dozen years ago at the start of the Westmoreland County Shop With a Cop program when the only worry was raising the $50 for each of the 20 children planning to go Christmas shopping at the Walmart in Unity. This year, Limani...

Greensburg company Advanced Fire will host a holiday Toys for Tots drive through Dec. 20 at its location on West Drive, just off Route 30. The drives, taking place at 15 of its sites, is run through CertaSite Serves, parent company CertaSite’s charitable arm. “At our core, CertaSite’s purpose is...

The Unity supervisors have hosted a community holiday celebration near the township municipal building, complete with a Christmas tree, since 2009. This year, in keeping with pandemic precautions, those attending stayed in their cars, greeted with a wave from Santa before dropping off letters to the jolly old elf and...

Irwin Borough property owners will pay about 15% more in real estate taxes next year. The 2021 budget of $4.79 million raises taxes three mills. Irwin Council approved the budget Wednesday, which raises the tax rate from 20 mills to 23 mills. Two of the three additional mills will be...

Westmoreland County officials said Friday that most business at the courthouse in Greensburg will be conducted by appointment only through the end of December. Commissioners said all county offices will continue to operate during the three-week period of new restrictions announced earlier this week by Gov. Tom Wolf amid the...

Tim Hartman gets a bit wistful when he talks about the ’80s. “It was a new dawn of pop culture,” said Hartman, co-owner of Cash-In Culture, a store that celebrates his passion for the past. With his love of the era comes a love of malls. A self-described “retail hound,”...

A few hours after Gov. Wolf announced new covid limits for indoor gatherings to 10 people Thursday, North Huntingdon officials essentially thumbed their nose at him, saying anyone can attend their public meeting on Dec. 16. “It they (residents) want to come, they can come and speak,” said Zachary Haigis,...

The Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts office is going modern. The office, which oversees all criminal court filings, on Friday unveiled it’s own app. In September, county commissioners approved a $15,000 contract with OVC LLC, a private firm that specializes in the creation of mobile apps for law enforcement, public...

A Greensburg woman was sentenced to up to 14 years in prison for the sale fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a woman in her Greensburg home in February. Jamie Lynn Dickant, 35, pleaded guilty to counts of drug delivery resulting in death and three other drug-related charges in connection with the...