Westmoreland category, Page 556
Water rates unchanged in new Westmoreland municipal authority budget
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County water rates will remain unchanged for the third straight year under a 2021-2022 operating budget approved Wednesday. Authority board members unanimously voted to adopt the nearly $104 million budget that allocates about $7.3 million for routine capital improvement projects and maintenance of the water and...
Greensburg woman charged by police with stabbing boyfriend
A Greensburg woman is accused of stabbing her boyfriend with a kitchen knife during an argument last weekend, city police said. Laura M. Piper, 29, is charged with aggravated assault, harassment and simple assault after the incident Sunday morning at the Eastmont Estates apartment complex, according to city police. She...
Gas line replacement underway in Youngwood
Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania has started replacing gas lines in Youngwood in a project that is expected to last until April. Spokesman Lee Gierczynski said the project completion date will be dependent upon the weather. The work replacing more than 9,800 feet of underground pipeline got underway this week, he...
Greensburg little food pantries get lots of winter usage
People tend to stay indoors more in the winter, but Rick Steele is hoping folks will take a walk to one of Greensburg’s three little food pantries to drop off a few supplies. The need is just as great in cold weather as it is in warm weather, said Steele,...
Westmoreland County adds 173 covid cases, 12 deaths
Westmoreland County had 173 coronavirus cases and 12 deaths added to its totals Wednesday. The county now has 23,624 cases and 553 deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of the newly reported cases, 93 are confirmed and 80 are probable. The county’s seven-day average of new cases dropped...
Patient at Penn Township nursing home charged with sexual assault
Police this week charged a 68-year-old patient at a Penn Township personal care home with sexually assaulting another patient. Daniel Gross is charged with indecent assault in connection with the Dec. 30 incident at Golden Heights Personal Care Home along Route 130. A nurse’s aide completing patient room checks before...
Penn Township police charge man with transmitting obscene photos of ex-girlfriend
Penn Township police this week charged a McKeesport man with posting partially nude photographs of woman on social media. Det. Brad Buchsbaum charged Shawn Himich Jr., 24, with 12 counts each of dissemination of intimate materials and illegally transmitting obscene and sexual materials. Buchsbaum said in court documents the woman,...
Farm show provides latest win for youth rabbit competitor from AcmeVideo
Krista Skovira is having a “hoppy” new year with her win at the state farm show rabbit competition. The 14-year-old Acme girl topped the junior division this month in the rabbit skill-a-thon during the virtual show. Skovira showed rabbits with success at past regional, state and national events, sometimes competing...
Norwin alters attendance boundaries for 4 elementary schools for next school year
Some Norwin elementary school students will attend different schools in the fall because of the district’s decision to change the attendance areas of its four elementary schools. The school board this week approved the redistricting plan to achieve what officials said would be a better balance in enrollment among the...
Westmoreland events include art exhibit, meeting
Meetings • The Western Pennsylvania Kidney Support Groups will host an online support group meeting from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 24. The group enables anyone with chronic kidney disease, transplant recipients and candidates, and caregivers to meet and share common experiences. Registration is required by Jan. 23. To register,...
Greater Latrobe students to return to classrooms beginning MondayVideo
Greater Latrobe students will be able to return to the classroom beginning Monday, after more than a month of full-time remote learning. The school board voted Tuesday to allow elementary students to return to school five days per week. Students in grades 7-11 may resume a hybrid model, with half...
Norwin OKs housing authority deal for payments in lieu of taxes
The Norwin School Board put its stamp of approval on a deal to split about $11,150 a year with the taxing bodies of Irwin and the county for the next 40 years in return for not challenging the non-profit charitable status of the developer of a proposed 50-unit complex for...
Medical expert approved for New Kensington man’s murder defense
A judge on Tuesday ruled that defense lawyers for a New Kensington man facing a potential death sentence for the death of a 2-year-old can hire a medical expert to evaluate and potentially refute prosecution evidence at his upcoming trial. Keith Dale Lilly Jr., 31, has been in the Westmoreland...
Harris vice presidency marks several ‘firsts’
When Alyson Holt pursued a degree in electrical engineering, she was keenly aware of how few fellow students looked like her. “Women were 6% of the students,” said Holt, 48, of Murrysville. Holt came from a family full of technology careers — both grandfathers were engineers, and her grandmother and...
Ligonier ice carvings prepared ahead of time to cope with pandemicVideo
The sound of chainsaws will be missing from this weekend’s Ligonier Ice Fest, but the carvers are busy working at DiMartino Ice Co. in Jeannette. Ice sculptures typically carved in Ligonier Diamond Park during past events are being prepared ahead of the annual winter festival. Ice carver Jared McAlister said...
New director comes to Latrobe Art Center from job at Bushy Run
There’s a debate in business circles on whether it’s good or bad to be the first to interview for a job, but being number one worked for Michael Tusay — the new executive director at Latrobe Art Center. “He was actually our first in-person interview,” board member Katie Miller said....
Penn-Trafford/Jeannette area logs 63 new covid cases
The Penn-Trafford-Jeannette area had 63 confirmed new covid cases in the last six days, a slight dip from the week prior, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Since the pandemic began in March, the six ZIP codes covering most of the three communities have seen a total...
Mt. Pleasant Township man accused of assault, threatening others at gunpoint
State police arrested a 19-year-old Mt. Pleasant Township man on charges of assaulting a woman and threatening four people with a handgun after they came to his home over the weekend to check on the woman’s welfare. Blade L. Cole is charged with simple assault, making terroristic threats, harassment, illegal...
Hempfield leaders looking at ways for spring musical to go on
The show must go on — at least as much as it can given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Officials with Hempfield Area School District are considering ways high school students can participate in the spring musical while adhering to social distancing guidelines and ensuring safety is maintained for students and...
Jeannette woman accused of burning water service crew with sulfuric acid
Police arrested a Jeannette woman Tuesday on charges she poured sulfuric acid drain cleaner in a Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County pipe, burning three workers who were restoring her water service, according to court papers. Deborah Samulski, 61, is charged with weapons of mass destruction, risking a catastrophe, reckless endangerment...
Westmoreland County covid cases down 40% from same point in December
Westmoreland County has six more covid-related deaths and 198 cases Tuesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The new figures bring total deaths in the county to 541 and total cases to 23,451. Thus far in January, there have been 4,118 covid cases and 118 deaths reported. As compared...
Cash 5 ticket worth $373K sold in Murrysville
A winning Cash 5 ticket worth more than $373,000 was sold at the Giant Eagle store in Murrysville, Pennsylvania Lottery officials announced Tuesday. The jackpot winning ticket matched all five balls drawn, 2-11-12-30-32, on Saturday. The store at 4810 Old William Penn Highway earns a $500 bonus for selling the...
Norwin to keep any tax hike to 3.9% or less
Under a resolution the school board approved this week, the Norwin School District will not raise real estate taxes for the 2021-22 school year by more than 3.9% — the state-determined inflationary index. As a result of the intention to limit any tax hike to 3.9%, a homeowner in North...
Bell Township fire claims life of 80-year-old man weeks after blaze
An 80-year-old man has died after he suffered injuries during a fire at his Bell Township home last month, according to his obituary. Bernerd Andrew Zanavich died Friday at UPMC Mercy hospital, where he was taken following the Dec. 28 fire. His 52-year-old son, Frank R. Zanavich, also died in...
Ligonier Valley school staff get covid vaccine; doses pending for Greater Latrobe teachers, staff
Greater Latrobe School District expects to have the majority of its staff receive the first dose of the Moderna covid-19 vaccine before the end of January. Meanwhile, neighboring Ligonier Valley School District confirmed the better part of its staff already has been vaccinated against the virus that has disrupted in-person...
