Westmoreland category, Page 6

Commissioners moved forward a rezoning plan Penn Township has eyed in recent years to diversify the municipality’s tax base. The areas for the proposed changes were identified in a 2023 economic development study. The first phase of the rezoning, which the township has worked through in recent months, is in...

Hempfield Area junior Jacob Shepler didn’t have much time to react when he saw a vehicle poised to run over his sister’s friend at the Evergreen Drive-In. The 17-year-old went with his gut reaction. “I just jumped in front of it,” the Hempfield resident said, “and I started waving my...

Former mental health counselor Stephen Kuniak is no stranger to parents who are concerned that their child plays too many hours of video games. Much to the surprise of most parents, Kuniak, a professor and Greensburg resident, believes video games can actually foster positive mental health among children — if...

Breast cancer couldn’t stop Dianne Miller from becoming the strongest she has ever been. In fact, the devastating disease is what drove her to pump some iron. After a lumpectomy for Stage 1 cancer in 2023, the 68-year-old from Ligo­nier didn’t require chemotherapy but opted into a weightlifting study offered...

Church news • The First Thursday worship service and luncheon will resume Thursday, Sept. 4, at Zion’s Lutheran Church, 140 S. Pennsylvania Ave., Greensburg. Worship will be at noon and lunch will be at 12:30 p.m. in the social room. Cost: $5. Festival • The Trafford Oktoberfest will be held...

The Derry Township supervisors have set a hearing Tuesday to accept public comment about a solar farm proposed just north of New Alexandria. The hearing is set for 5:30 p.m. at the municipal building, 5321 Route 982. It will follow the supervisors’ regular 5 p.m. voting meeting. A neighbor has...

The state will pump almost $12 million into an abandoned mine subsidence program in North Belle Vernon beginning next week. A slurry mixture of grout will be injected under about 140 homes in the neighborhood, which lies atop an old coal vein and the voids that were caused by mining...

After a 43-year career in highway construction, Hempfield resident Bob Miner Jr. wants to give back to the skilled trades industry and his lifelong home, Westmoreland County. Miner, 70, started the Robert Miner Family Foundation in 2023 alongside his wife and daughter after selling his company, Donegal Construction. The foundation...

Nighttime closures are planned during the first week of September for eastbound on- and off-ramps on Interstate 70 at North Belle Vernon. Detours will be in place when the ramps are closed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Sept. 6, PennDOT said. While traffic is barred from...

An attempt to get a felony charge thrown out in a North Huntingdon crash that seriously injured a woman last year failed on Friday. Judge Michael Stewart II ruled that prosecutors presented enough evidence to show that Nolan Mullen, 22, was driving recklessly on July 7, 2024, and that the...

A reward has been increased to $5,000 for information that helps police find a wanted man accused of causing an explosion by putting a pipe bomb in a lawnmower. State Trooper Steve Limani said police are hoping that offering more cash will push someone to come forward with information about...

Pennsylvania’s power grid is faltering more than ever. The state saw 71 significant power outages last year, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said in its annual reliability report, pushing a decades-long trend of rising service disruptions to new heights. About 2.9 million customers faced outages, which was the highest number...

As an engineering manager for QAI Aerospace, Ashley Sieber isn’t short on stories from flight paramedics whose aircraft receive services from the White Oak-based aviation company. Cystic fibrosis — a genetic disease that impacts the lungs, pancreas and other organs — is sometimes a part of those stories. That’s why...

Madeline Buchek joined the Marines during World War II and was a vibrant, stylish and witty woman. Frank Rutkowsky Sr. served his country in the Army and was a respectful, independent man who took pride in his appearance. Neither deserved to be demeaned by two Westmoreland Hospital nurses and have...

After 14 years of declining enrollment, Westmoreland County Community College may be starting to reverse the trend. As of the first day of classes, enrollment is up nearly 1.9%, or 42 students, compared to the first day of the 2024-25 academic year. And that doesn’t account for students taking late-start...

After nearly a quarter-century in operation, the Penn-Trafford Area Recreation Commission will close its doors. The nonprofit’s five governing bodies — Penn Township, Penn Borough, Penn-Trafford School District, Manor and Trafford — voted in recent weeks to dissolve the organization, with Penn Township commissioners casting the final approval last week....

The question of whether a three-megawatt solar power array should be built on farmland about a mile from Ligonier Valley High School goes to the Ligonier Township supervisors now that a planning panel Thursday recommended its approval. The Ligonier Township Planning Commission recommended that the supervisors approve Chicago-based SunVest Solar...

You think summer’s over? Not yet! Even if Labor Day is the unofficial end of the season, there’s still a whole weekend to enjoy the warmth and summer vibes. Here are a few suggestions: Bon Journey at Hempfield Park Cap off the Hempfield Park summer concerts with a bang this...

The fear Monroeville Patrolman Craig Huhn felt when he was shot twice in 2023 was not just for his own life, but those of his wife and their two sons if he didn’t survive. “I relive the moment I was shot every single day,” he said Thursday during the sentencing...

A woman testified Thursday that she heard Charles E. Ream admit to killing 22-year-old Samantha Lang, bolstering the prosecution’s case against him in the 2007 homicide. Ream’s admission came in 2010 or 2011 while he was smoking crack at a Derry Township mobile home with a few other men, said...

The attorney representing a Philadelphia man who authorities believe intended to traffic a 13-year-old Greensburg girl said Thursday he expects his client to plead guilty in the case. If that happens, Angel Lopez, 19, is likely facing mandatory sentences on at least some of the charges against him, according to...

Sandra Finley drove to the Greensburg Garden & Civic Center recently to play bridge, and when she arrived, she noticed that the plaque recognizing the building’s founders was missing. “I didn’t know what happened,” Finley said. She was initially concerned that the Westmoreland Cultural Trust was no longer interested in...

Fundraisers • The Western Pennsylvania region of the Antique Automobile Club of America will host its 61st annual Paul P. Bell Memorial Antique Auto, Custom and Street Rod Show 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at Legion Keener Park, 1658 Catherine St., Latrobe. Entry fee: $15 at the gate....

Allegations of misconduct aired this week against a former Westmoreland County prosecutor and the New Kensington Police Department could be difficult to prove, according to a legal expert. Saint Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said Thursday that defense attorneys for a former Pittsburgh man not only have a high...

Firefighters in Southwestern Pennsylvania will have more training options available to them upon the expansion of a burn building at Westmoreland County Community College’s Public Safety Training Center in South Huntingdon. The center — nestled in between corn fields, the Youghiogheny River and industrial buildings in the rural township —...