Westmoreland category, Page 628

Franklin Regional school directors voted 6-3 Monday to adopt a 2020-21 budget with a 2.54-mill tax increase. Despite expenditure reductions related to special education funding, fewer commissions on tax collections and no change in insurance premiums, which were expected to rise, the $61.6 million budget stands with the tax hike....

Franklin Regional School District will have several new administrators in the 2020-21 school year, including a new assistant superintendent. The school board hired Robin Pynos on Monday. Pynos, a Duquesne University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania alum, comes to Franklin Regional from the Greater Latrobe School District, where she served...

Franklin Regional Superintendent Gennaro Piraino decided in early June that he’d had enough of school board members arguing and talking over one another in public meetings. “Maybe I’m overstepping my bounds, but I’m a member of this team of 10,” Piraino said. “Right now, what is happening week after week...

Franklin Regional graduates may have had a chance to do a drive-thru “graduation,” but if the real thing is going to happen, it won’t be until July. School district officials announced over the weekend that plans for a traditional graduation ceremony will be postponed until July 24. “Though we strongly...

Students at Greater Latrobe School District’s Mountain View Elementary and other children in Unity will benefit if the township lands a grant to update the school’s playground. The township applied for a state grant that would cover 80% of the projected $167,000 cost, according to solicitor Gary Falatovich. He said...

A 26-year-old Youngwood man who led state troopers on an 11-mile chase at speeds over 100 mph was arrested Sunday after his motorcycle broke down. William D. Rettinger was riding his motorcycle into oncoming traffic when he passed the intersection of Pine Drive and South Center Avenue in Hempfield at...

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Monday reported two new covid-19 cases and no additional deaths in Westmoreland County. The countywide case total is now 492 with 38 deaths, according to the department County Coroner Kenneth Bacha reported 32 coronavirus deaths, less than the state’s number, but Bacha’s office has...

A 40-year-old woman who state police said was left for dead along Jacobs Creek survived a violent attack at the hands of a Mt. Pleasant man, according to court papers. Charles Paul Etling, 39, told investigators he dragged the woman off the side of White Bridge Road near the creek...

Hotels in Westmoreland County are expected to stray from national numbers depicting a ravaged travel industry following the coronavirus pandemic, making way for close to a full recovery and leaving room for future growth, local leaders said. Nationally, occupancy rates could plummet by 28% this year, a drop that is...

Ball gowns are hanging in closets across the country, unworn due to the pandemic-related shutdown of schools and cancellation of much-anticipated spring proms. For many young women, a lot of time and expense goes into choosing the perfect dress for prom. Not being able to wear it can be both...

Westmoreland County on Sunday reported three additional covid-19 cases, increasing the total number of cases to 490, according to state health officials. No new deaths from the virus were reported by the state or county coroner. The state continues to report 38 coronavirus-related deaths. Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha continues...

Five people were injured, two seriously, Saturday in a head-on collision on Route 31 in South Huntingdon Township, according to fire officials. Yukon Fire Chief Mark Kite Sr. said two drivers were flown to an undisclosed Pittsburgh hospital after the 3:10 p.m. wreck in the Mendon area of the township....

One person was seriously injured Saturday in a two-vehicle crash Saturday along Dutch Hollow Road in South Huntingdon Township, dispatchers reported. The crash occurred at 2:54 p.m. in the 100 block, a dispatch supervisor said. One of the vehicles involved was a motorcycle. Firefighters were setting up a landing zone...

One person was seriously injured Saturday when a motorcycle collided with a van on Route 982 in Derry Township, according to dispatch reports. The accident occurred about 2:45 p.m. at the intersection of Route 982 and Industrial Boulevard. Fire departments were establishing a landing zone to fly the injured person...

A 34-year-old Derry man faces drug charge after authorities say they seized 13 pounds of marijuana, $2,000 and drug paraphernalia hidden throughout his house. Anthony Gigliotti was arrested after a search of his East Second Avenue home late Thursday. Sgt. James Friscarella and his police dog assisted members of the...

Westmoreland County on Saturday had four new covid-19 cases reported, increasing the total number of coronavirus cases to 487, according to Pennsylvania health officials. No new deaths from the virus were reported in Westmoreland. State officials continued to report 38 deaths, while county Coroner Kenneth Bacha reports 32 deaths as...

State police in Greensburg say a missing 81-year-old Westmoreland County man reported missing was found safe Saturday. Troopers had said they were looking for Merle Harr of Unity who was last seen on Route 982 in Unity, near Latrobe, about 1 p.m. Friday....

Norwin is planning commencement ceremonies for about 400 students at Knights Stadium on June 26 by dividing them into groups with different time slots. That is because of the prohibition against having more than 250 people at a single gathering while Westmoreland County is in the green phase of covid-19...

While the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy works on its plans for tours inside the Fallingwater house in Mill Run, Fayette County, the grounds will reopen Saturday with self-guided and guided private tours. The iconic Frank Lloyd Wright home has been closed since March 15 because of covid-19 restrictions. However, the Conservancy...

There are plenty of hotly-debated aspects of the covid-19 pandemic, but one that seems to have been embraced by most people is the notion that being outside is a healthy, relatively low-risk behavior. No one is happier about that than Susan Miller of Plum, who recently resumed her monthly outdoor...

Aryanna Hunter of Murrysville wasn’t able to attend Pittsburgh protests against police brutality over the past week. An Army veteran, Hunter works as head of the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Veteran Services, and wanted to rally support in her hometown as well. She’ll get to do it this weekend...