Westmoreland category, Page 613
Westmoreland County adds 11 new covid-19 cases
Westmoreland County had 11 new covid-19 cases Thursday, according to the state Department of Health. The county’s cases count is now 1,925. All of the newly reported cases are confirmed. There have now been 1,858 confirmed cases and 67 probable cases in Westmoreland County. No new coronavirus-related deaths were reported,...
Sheriff’s deputies arrest man accused of sexually assaulting Greensburg girl
Greensburg police got an assist Thursday from the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department in a week-long search for a convicted child abuser wanted on a new complaint. Police Det. Charles Irvin obtained an arrest warrant last week for Paul A. Chamberlain, 32, a former city resident whose last known address was...
Hempfield high school student tests positive for covid-19
A Hempfield Area High School student recently tested positive for the coronavirus, the district announced. The student, who was not identified, was last in school Sept. 1, according to a letter from Superintendent Tammy Wolicki. The district was notified Tuesday of the positive test results. District officials worked with the...
Red Sand Project activities call attention to human traffickingVideo
On Saturday morning, volunteers will be in front of the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg filling sidewalk seams and cracks with red sand. Hosted by the Westmoreland County Human Trafficking Task Force and Blackburn Center, the activity starting at 9 a.m. is part of the annual Red Sand Project initiative...
Fayette County woman killed in New Stanton crash
A 44-year-old woman was killed in a one-vehicle crash in New Stanton early Thursday, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office. Deputy Coroner Sean Hribal pronounced Susan M. Clawson of Uniontown dead at the scene of the 1 a.m. crash in the roundabout off Rachel Drive, the coroner’s office reported....
Scottdale middle-schooler wins $10,000 scholarship
Addison Jordan is only 12 years old, but the Scottdale resident has big plans for college — and $10,000 to help her achieve them. Round Room LLC, a Verizon retailer and parent company to TCC and Wireless Zone, awarded $10,000 to five lucky students nationwide, including Addison. “I want to...
Plans displayed online for bridge replacement over Route 30 in Hempfield
PennDOT is proposing to replace a bridge in Hempfield that dates from the 1960 opening of the Route 30 bypass around Greensburg. Because of social distancing guidelines related to the covid-19 pandemic, plans for the East Pittsburgh Street bridge project won’t be displayed in the usual in-person open house format....
Bushy Run Lions Club hold annual broom sale in new location
The Bushy Run Lions Club will hold its annual broom sale at a new location Sept. 17-19. The sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of Schramm Farm and Orchards Store on Harrison City-Export Road in Penn Township. The club will sell household,...
State grant will help stabilize historic New Florence iron furnace
The Ligonier Valley Historical Society plans to use a state grant to help preserve a 19th-century hot-blast iron furnace in New Florence. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Laurel Hill Furnace produced 750 tons of metal during its first year, 1855, and continued in operation for about a...
Woman injured in 5-vehicle pileup in I-70 in Hempfield
A woman was injured in a five-vehicle crash in a construction zone on Interstate 70 in Hempfield, according to an official with the Hempfield Fire Department. The crash involved two tractor-trailers, a tri-axle truck and two passenger vehicles. It was reported just after 5 p.m., according to Westmoreland County 911....
Greensburg man headed to jail for shooting into neighbors’ homes
A former Greensburg man will serve at least 20 months in jail for firing a rifle into the homes of two neighbors last year. Joshua Dowell Miller, 27, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure and a misdemeanor reckless endangerment count in...
Iwin police chief resigns; acting chief named
Irwin council named a veteran police officer as the borough’s acting chief after the chief of seven years resigned last month. Chief Roger Pivirotto’s resignation was effective Aug. 20, but he will remain an employee until Dec. 2, Shari Martino, borough manager, said Wednesday. Council accepted Pivirotto’s resignation on Sept....
VP Mike Pence stops in Westmoreland, rallies pro-life voters at Murrysville church
Anti-abortion activists from across the region gathered Wednesday at Cornerstone Ministries in Murrysville as Vice President Mike Pence addressed the kick-off of the Susan B. Anthony List’s campaign to engage pro-life voters in Pennsylvania. The visit to the large, nondenominational church marked Pence’s third appearance with the group. Long a...
Westmoreland provisional ballots discovered after primary won’t be countedVideo
Seven provisional ballots submitted at a Unity poll during the June primary and discovered this summer won’t be counted. Westmoreland County officials rejected those ballots Wednesday after they were formally opened by a reconstituted provisional board. The ballots were found to have been improperly handled at the polls when they...
Jeannette pharmacy enters into price gouging agreement with Pa. attorney general
A Jeannette pharmacy has entered into an agreement with the state Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office to avoid a potential $13,350 civil penalty and reimburse customers who were overcharged for N-95 masks and hand sanitizer at the start of the pandemic. The attorney general’s office filed the signed assurance compliance...
Jeannette fire chief marks blighted properties to help save lives, procure funding
Red spray paint is appearing on blighted, vacant Jeannette buildings not as an act of vandalism, but as a safety precaution for first responders. The markings — a square containing either an X or a slash mark — alert emergency crews to dangers inside, such as a collapsed floor or...
Delmont Historical Society to host log house cleanup dayVideo
With a host of plans for the log house at Shields Farm, the recently formed Delmont Historical Society will hold a Sept. 19 cleaning day to spruce up the inside and outside. Society member Vicki Walters said the public is welcome to come help clean the house’s interior, as well...
Westmoreland County reports 7 new coronavirus cases
Westmoreland County added seven new covid-19 cases to its total Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The newly reported cases bring the county’s total to 1,914 since the first case was reported March 19. There were no new deaths reported, keeping the county’s total at 49, where it’s...
Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival joins list of pandemic-related cancellations
The Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival annually draws about 80,000 visitors to its South Huntingdon “kingdom,” but not this year. Organizers canceled this year’s festival, citing health and safety concerns related to the covid-19 pandemic and state guidelines that limit large gatherings. Featuring games, shows, a horseback joust and vendors that offer...
Delmont modernizes burning ordinance to accommodate backyard fire pits
Delmont council members updated the borough’s burning ordinance to make better accommodations for the fire pits seen in many yards and driveways. After receiving questions from residents about whether the borough regulated small, contained backyard fires, Councilman Bill Marx looked at borough code and discovered it was a bit outdated,...
Police: Derry Township man assaulted woman, tried to set her on fire
A Derry Township man was ordered held in the county jail without bond on charges he assaulted a woman and then attempted to set her on fire during an argument Tuesday. State police charged Paul Staschak, 44, with aggravated assault, harassment, indecent assault, reckless endangerment, simple assault, making terroristic threats...
Jeannette police dog donations could be used for purchase of new vehicle
A significant chunk of money donated to the Jeannette Police Department’s police dog program could be put toward a new vehicle for Officer Jim Phillips and police dog Arees. Phillips made the pitch to city council Tuesday to contribute $30,000 toward the possible purchase as his 2011 Ford Explorer, that...
Debate rises over proposed North Huntingdon backyard chicken rules
After several North Huntingdon residents asked the municipality to permit chickens in residential neighborhoods, township officials appeared split over implementing rules that would allow hens to be raised on parcels less than a quarter acre. During an hour-long public hearing Tuesday, about a dozen residents supporting a proposed ordinance to...
Kentucky poet’s view of home inspires Ligonier gallery exhibition
A chance meeting between a Ligonier resident and a former Kentucky poet laureate led to a new exhibition at the Main Exhibit Gallery in Ligonier. Helen Sitler of Ligonier, retired from the English department of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, attended a book fair in Lexington, Ky., where she met poet...
Norwin, Franklin Regional recognized for Special Olympics
Norwin and Franklin Regional high schools are among nine in Pennsylvania to be nationally recognized as a Special Olympics Unified Champion Banner School for their commitment to inclusion in sports, academics, and extracurricular activities. “Receiving this distinction as a Unified Champion School shows that Norwin has made inclusion a priority...
