Westmoreland category, Page 632

The lawyer for suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez said evidence collected by police during an investigation into sexual assault allegations were the product of an illegal search and should be barred from use by prosecutors in an upcoming trial. Vazquez, 28, has been in jail since September, when he...

Westmoreland Cleanways temporarily is halting drop-off of electronics at its Pleasant Unity recycling center because of a covid-19-related shutdown of a company that processes the items. Executive Director Ellen Keefe said Thursday that Westmoreland Cleanways learned the out-of-state electronics processor shut down because of a suspected covid-19 infection. She stressed...

Westmoreland County commissioners have had enough of paying out large sums of money to settle lawsuits filed against other elected officials. “We’re sending a letter to all of our row officers and elected officials telling them we want to hold them accountable,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes. Those comments came Thursday...

When Norwin High School conducts its commencement ceremonies for almost 400 seniors Friday night, there likely will be more than 250 people — graduates and guests — gathered at Knights Stadium for each of the two sessions. Although Westmoreland County is in the green phase of the state’s covid-19 restrictions...

Greensburg Garden Center will hold its popular butterfly release on Aug. 8. This year’s event will include two separate release sessions, to accommodate social distancing concerns. Release times will be 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Lefevre Butterfly Garden behind the center’s headquarters at 951 Old Salem Road. A...

The Ligonier Valley School District approved plans Monday for a series of virtual Family Town Hall Sessions that will begin Monday, June 29. Sessions will explain options for students and families for the 2020-21 school year reopening, discuss health and safety concerns and allow for questions to be raised. The...

Westmoreland County has 15 new covid-19 cases and no additional deaths, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Thursday. The countywide case total is now 578, with 38 deaths, according to the department. There have been no reported coronavirus deaths in Westmoreland County since May 18. It was the fourth day...

The Rev. Martin de Porres Bartel, a former president of Saint Vincent College, was elected the 12th archabbot of Saint Vincent Archabbey, a community of Benedictine monks that founded the college in 1846. Bartel, 64, succeeds Archabbot Douglas R. Nowicki, who resigned upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75...

A section of Lowber Road in Sewickley Township will be closed beginning Monday for maintenance of a railroad crossing, according to PennDOT. The closure, near the intersection of Sutersville Road, will begin at 8:30 a.m. and is expected to continue through 3:30 p.m. Wednesday as a CSX crew works at...

While mile-long lines of cars outside the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank are not the norm these days, the need to provide food to struggling families in Southwestern Pennsylvania remains. “We’ve been in response mode to the crisis for the last three months, and we continue to see a higher...

Members from the nonprofit group Feeding the Spirit are used to sitting down with nearly 100 people each week for their annual free meal at Otterbein United Methodist Church in Greensburg. Since the covid-19 pandemic began, that hasn’t been an option — but it didn’t stop the nonprofit’s members, who...

A Trafford councilman is under fire for making a comment he deemed a joke about Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine’s gender on Gov. Tom Wolf’s Facebook page. Wolf on his Facebook page Sunday wished a happy Father’s Day to all Pennsylvania dads. Zack Cole, a Republican councilman who chairs...

An Allegheny County man was sentenced Wednesday to serve life in prison without parole for a 2017 fatal shooting in Jeannette. Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee, 31, of Penn Hills, was convicted in January of first-degree murder for the April 13, 2017, daylight shooting of Michael Wilson on Clay Avenue. Police said Wilson,...

November’s general election in Westmoreland County will likely look much different than the relative calm of this month’s primary as a slate of incumbent lawmakers finally will face challenges. The county’s elections board on Wednesday precertified primary results. Barring any unexpected protests, they become official July 1. No write-in candidates...

A registered nurse was hospitalized late Tuesday after Greensburg police said a mental health patient stabbed her with a pen, according to court papers. Susan Barkley, 41, is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail. She is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, escape and resisting arrest. Officers...

A former Scottdale woman was left with a serious eye injury last year after she was attacked by two people she didn’t know, according to testimony. Shyanne Hawk, 20, of Derry had a baseball bat to protect herself during the fight Jan. 8, 2019, outside her Scottdale home, but testified...

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Wednesday reported 11 new covid-19 cases and no additional deaths in Westmoreland County. This brings the case total to 563, with deaths remaining at 38 in the county. This marked the third time in four days that the county saw double-digit increases in cases...

A PennDOT project adjusting 11 traffic signals to improve traffic flow on about 3 miles of Route 30 in Hempfield is expected to get underway this summer. Spokesman Jay Ofsanik said officials from Bronder Technical Services Inc. are meeting with project managers soon. The adaptive traffic signal system will allow...

One motorist was taken to a local hospital for treatment following a three-car collision Tuesday at the Mountain Laurel Plaza off Route 30 in Unity. The crash happened at about 12:40 p.m. in an intersection near the plaza’s main entrance. Firefighters used hydraulic tools to remove a jammed door and...

Hempfield restaurant owner Greg Cammerata was shocked when he learned he had to close his business for two weeks after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus. “People were coming out; everything was great,” the IronRock Tap House owner said, noting the restaurant was open for dine-in services for only...

At least one worker at Westmoreland Manor has tested positive for the corona­virus as state-mandated testing at the county-owned nursing home started this week. Officials said the employee, who was not identified, does not provide direct care of residents at the Hempfield facility. Westmoreland Manor management “immediately implemented steps to...

Jennifer Filak will return to Queen of Angels Catholic School in North Huntingdon as the principal, succeeding Sandra Stonebraker, effective July 1. Filak, of Pittsburgh, began her Catholic education career at Queen of Angels in 1999 as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher. For the past 14 years, she was a...