Westmoreland category, Page 584
Man involved in standoff that closed Norwin schools charged with carrying fake sheriff badge
A North Huntingdon man taken into custody Monday after a standoff with state parole agents showed Monroeville police a fake “state police deputy badge,” when questioned for allegedly breaking into a truck last month, according to court papers. Randolph Eugene Dillinger, 54, was charged last week by Monroeville police on...
Kim Ward becomes 1st woman to serve as majority leader in Pennsylvania Senate history
State Sen. Kim Ward made history Thursday as fellow Senate Republicans appointed her as the state legislature’s first woman to serve as majority leader. Ward, of Hempfield, replaces Sen. Jake Corman, who has been appointed Senate president pro tempore. “I’m very, very honored today to have been chosen as the...
Latrobe man charged with rape accused of lewdness, assaulting prison guard
A Latrobe man accused of raping a woman hours after his release from the Westmoreland County Prison last week was awaiting arraignment Thursday on new charges of exposing himself to a nurse at the Hempfield lockup and assaulting a prison guard. Zackery D. Kimmick, 30, was returned to the prison...
Westmoreland County reports record 207 new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County on Thursday saw 207 new coronavirus cases, a record number. Two new deaths were also reported, which follows six that were added on Wednesday. The total number of deaths in the county because of the virus stands at 131. Pennsylvania, as well as some neighboring counties, have seen...
PNC grant will fund return of Delmont library’s butterfly garden and much moreVideo
When Delmont Public Library officials and supporters were able to raise enough money to build a new library, the celebration came with a small caveat. To prep the property for construction, they’d have to temporarily do away with the grant-funded butterfly garden built just a few years earlier. But, thanks...
Southwestern Pa. juried art exhibition opens at Ligonier museum
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts celebrates a milestone, with the opening of its 25th regional juried exhibition on Friday at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art-Ligonier Valley. Featuring 60 works by artists from 19 counties in the southwest region of the state, the exhibition will continue through Jan....
Virus outbreak slows ballot count in Westmoreland County
A coronavirus outbreak in the Westmoreland County Elections Bureau is slowing the provisional ballot count as officials scrambled Thursday to find additional volunteers to complete the work as the deadline to certify results from the Nov. 3 election nears. Commissioner Doug Chew said six county workers affiliated with the Elections...
2 men arrested in Southwest Greensburg on illegal gun charges
Two men are being held without bond in the Westmoreland County Prison on weapons violations after police said they were found illegally in possession of guns in a Southwest Greensburg home. Jamie Rayques Espy, 32, of Southwest Greensburg, and Kyra Malik Seifullah, 21, of Warren, Ohio, were charged this week...
Irwin’s Victoria Piekut feels like a winner even without Miss USA crown
Victoria Piekut didn’t come home from Memphis with the Miss USA crown, but she said she still feels like a winner. The Irwin resident and reigning Miss Pennsylvania USA competed in pageant activities that culminated Nov. 9 with Asya Branch, the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Mississippi USA,...
Jeannette aims to demolish 4 blighted homes
The tall brush, broken windows and loitering at four abandoned West Jeannette homes soon will be a memory. City council unanimously approved on Thursday spending $34,500 to demolish four blighted buildings on an otherwise well-kept street. The South 12th Street homes have been targets of break-ins recently after a Murrysville...
Region’s veterans support praised by Army artificial intelligence director at CMU — a Norwin gradVideo
s The military’s efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence in military operations is focused on developing capabilities to support the soldiers, the director of the Army’s Artificial Intelligence Capabilities said Wednesday during Veterans Day ceremonies in North Huntingdon. A graduate of Norwin High School, Ret. Col. Douglas Matty spoke Wednesday to...
Penn-Trafford School District reports 7 new coronavirus cases
Penn Trafford School District has reported seven new coronavirus cases among staff and students this week, bringing the total number of cases in the district this year to 41. Here’s a breakdown of the new cases: • Two students at Penn Trafford High School; • Two student and one staff...
Hempfield to reexamine attendance policy
Hempfield Area school board members could change their attendance policy in an effort to ensure students are engaged in real-time learning after several teachers reported a higher number of students failing courses, district officials said. As the policy stands, if a student is engaging in their work, regardless of whether...
Mt. Pleasant, Franklin Regional schools register covid-19 cases
Norvelt Elementary students will return on Thursday and Franklin Regional Senior High will remain open after district officials were notified that a student in each building had tested positive for coronavirus. Mt. Pleasant Area School District officials were notified Nov. 9 that a Norvelt student had tested positive. The school...
Derry Township assault victim hid inside van until troopers arrived
State police responding to a domestic assault in Derry Township early Wednesday said the victim fled her home and hid inside a van until troopers arrived. Jordache R. Larrabee, 31, of Derry Township, was charged by with assaulting, choking and threatening the woman during the 1:23 a.m. incident along Torrance...
Greater Latrobe School Board eyes bond refinancing, $200K savings
Greater Latrobe School District could save more than $200,000 by refinancing bonds issued in 2016 to help build the new Latrobe Elementary School. The school board this week set parameters for refinancing no more than $10 million of the bonds to take advantage of lower interest rates. “To be considering...
Delmont will vote on $1.7 million balanced budget next month
Delmont officials will advertise a $1.7 million balanced budget for 2021 that does not call for a tax hike. Following two public budget workshops, council voted Tuesday night to advertise its 2021 budget. Taxes will remain at 18 mills. This year’s budget is about a half-million dollars larger than the...
Greensburg Salem elementary teacher tests positive for coronavirus
A teacher at Nicely Elementary in the Greensburg Salem School District tested positive for the coronavirus, administrators said Tuesday. “We have contacted faculty and families whose children may have been in close contact with this teacher to inform them of the situation and to recommend quarantine and testing,” Superintendent Gary...
Sloan Elementary architects discover damaged fire walls not up to code
In early 2017 while discussing a facilities study that outlined more than $70 million in improvements the Franklin Regional School District would need over the next decade, former board member John Koury said previous school directors had “a Band-Aid mentality” when it came to maintenance. The current board saw an...
Westmoreland County sees 2nd-highest report of new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County saw 138 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the second highest total since the pandemic began in March. The new cases — 89 confirmed and 49 probable — bring the county’s total to 5,431, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The county’s previous of 148 was set on...
St. Vincent de Paul readies new Jeannette store for opening next weekVideo
The clothing racks are filling in and items are being priced for sale — the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store’s new Jeannette location is getting ready to reopen. After more than 10 months of being closed when the faith-based nonprofit was forced out of its Clay Avenue location in...
Manor library offers online readings, free fall craft bags for children
The Manor Public Library’s preschool program is well attended and, when it was forced to go on hiatus as the coronavirus pandemic locked down much of the country, children’s library assistant Melissa Paris immediately began thinking about how to keep things going. “Our biggest goal was to keep kids engaged...
3 students test positive for covid-19 at Hempfield Area High School
Three Hempfield Area High School students tested positive for coronavirus over the past two days, according to Superintendent Tammy Wolicki. The new cases bring the district total to seven positive cases and three presumptive cases, when someone has been tested but is awaiting results, for the period between Oct. 28...
Woman accused of twice assaulting Ligonier Valley police officer
A 31-year-old Latrobe woman is accused of twice nearly running over a Ligonier Valley policeman who was trying to arrest her for violating a protection from abuse order last weekend. Amanda Jury was arraigned Sunday on two counts each of aggravated assault on a police officer and fleeing and eluding...
1 extricated from overturned vehicle on Route 119 in East Huntingdon
A person was extricated by firefighters from an overturned vehicle Wednesday morning after a crash on Route 119. The crash was reported around 7:30 a.m. on the northbound side of the highway in East Huntingdon, near the exit for Route 819, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The dispatcher could...
