Westmoreland category, Page 666
Norwin teachers make face shields for ambulance service, school nurse sews masks
Two Norwin teachers with experience on their school’s 3D printer, recently produced 40 plastic face shields for a local ambulance service. The shields were delivered last week to North Huntingdon EMS/Rescue and were put in use by the emergency medical technicians and paramedics, according to Jared Schultz. Schultz is a...
Former Greensburgers enduring ‘stay at home’ in RomeVideo
Being quarantined at home for protection from the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t have to be all that bad — particularly if the view includes St. Peter’s Basilica at Vatican City in Rome, a former Greensburg couple said. “In order to leave the house, you have a ‘self-declaration’ on a piece of...
Web chats slated to help Westmoreland parents adjust to students’ virtual learning
Parents, as well as children, are adjusting to the reality of virtual learning at home, since the coronavirus pandemic closed Pennsylvania schools for the remainder of the academic year. The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit has planned a series of weekly online chats in May to help area parents better navigate this...
Masked man who police say planned to rob North Huntingdon bank gets prison sentence
A man who police say wore a rubber mask depicting a heavily wrinkled, middle-aged man as part of a failed bomb plot and bank robbery in North Huntingdon could serve up to two years in jail. Luke Joseph Dell, 35, of Ohio pleaded guilty Tuesday to terroristic threats and bomb...
Excela Health considers return to elective surgeries while stressing safety
Excela Health is moving cautiously toward resuming elective surgeries after state health officials on Monday gave conditional approval for such procedures. State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said hospitals and surgical centers could once more perform elective procedures as long as they would remain capable of handling a potential...
County officials ‘knocking on wood’ Westmoreland Manor remains virus-free
As nursing and personal care homes have been the hardest hit by the coronavirus throughout the country and state, precautions put in place have so far enabled the 400-bed Westmoreland Manor to be spared, officials said Tuesday. The county-owned nursing home, the largest of the 66 nursing home or personal...
Greensburg police charge 2 women with promoting prostitution
A Rhode Island woman charged this month with prostitution told Greensburg police a city woman paid for her to fly to Western Pennsylvania for a visit and to “make some money,” police said. Greensburg police this week arrested Nicole Vickers, 28, on charges that she was promoting prostitution following an...
East Suburban clinic reports data breach affecting 500 patients
East Suburban Sports Medicine Center, an athletic training and physical therapy center with branches in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, announced a data security breach that affected more than 500 Pennsylvania residents. Last spring, two patients told center officials that, when they ran a Google search for their names, the results...
North Huntingdon woman raises money for Excela staff who saved her husband from covid-19
After her high school sweetheart spent 20 days hospitalized on a ventilator, Karyl Nicholas of North Huntingdon was relieved to finally talk to him by phone. The day the tube was removed — April 19 — is a bright spot in what has been nerve-wracking weeks for the family of...
Support group, fundraiser updates in Westmoreland County
Support groups Sage’s Army Inc. is hosting these online support groups via Zoom: • Coffee Break, 4-6 p.m. every first Friday of the month, beginning May 1: For women who have family members or friends struggling with addiction. Meeting ID is 946 202 392. Log on at zoom.us/j/946202392. • Grief...
Mt. Pleasant Area students rally to save prom amid pandemic
As seniors grapple with the idea of missing out on graduation and other end-of-the-year events as the coronavirus spreads across Western Pennsylvania, a group of Mt. Pleasant Area students decided there was one event they weren’t willing to miss — prom. In the days following an announcement that the school’s...
Hempfield Area reschedules graduation, cancels prom
Hempfield Area students will have to wait almost two more months to receive their diplomas after school officials pushed graduation to July amid the coronavirus pandemic. Graduation is rescheduled for July 18 rather than the original May 29 date, according to a letter from the district. July 19 will act...
Westmoreland County adds 6 new coronavirus cases, no additional deaths
Westmoreland County added six more coronavirus cases on Tuesday as the county’s total inched toward 400 cases. The 383 Westmoreland cases are among the now 43,264 covid-19 cases diagnosed across the state since the first cases were reported March 6. Westmoreland County saw its first case April 5. Since then,...
Fire chief: No one inside vehicle submerged in Unity lakeVideo
No one was inside a suspected stolen car found submerged in a Unity lake on Tuesday morning, according to Crabtree Fire Chief Bill Watkins. Firefighters, paramedics and state police responded to Dom Lake near Crabtree shortly before 10 a.m. when the vehicle was spotted, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher....
Westmoreland Community Action survey to gauge coronavirus-related needs
Westmoreland Community Action is seeking input about community needs during the coronavirus pandemic. The results of an online survey will help the organization create services that could help. Nearly 1.6 million Pennsylvania workers have filed unemployment claims since mid-March, when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered closures of some businesses and schools...
Latrobe eyes short-term loan while extending deadlines for tax, garbage payments
Latrobe is considering a short-term loan to cover operational costs after granting extra time to tax- and rate-payers feeling the financial pinch of the covid-19 pandemic. Falling in line with extended deadlines set for county tax payments, council agreed to accept city property tax payments at the 2% discount rate...
Car parade brightens life for Greensburg nursing home during shutdown
Bob Ross had no idea when he’d get to see his mother again. The Hempfield man faithfully visited 96-year-old Ileen Osterwise at the Greensburg Care Center two or three times a week. During his last visit to the nursing home on March 12, Osterwise, who has Alzheimer’ Disease, had been...
Levin makes good on promise to help former employees
When Robert Levin’s attempt to rescue his family’s former furniture store empire collapsed last month, the former CEO of Levin Furniture promised he wouldn’t forget the 1,200 workers left hanging when Art Van Furniture filed for bankruptcy. Concerned that hundreds of employees who had worked for Levin Furniture for decades...
Scenic Beam Rocks area in Forbes State Forest defaced by spray paint vandals
Officials are seeking information on vandals who spray painted graffiti at a popular natural overlook, Beam Rocks, along the border of Somerset and Westmoreland counties in Forbes State Forest. A hiking trail off Laurel Summit Road leads to the sandstone outcroppings — some 90 feet tall — that provide adventurers...
Westmoreland prison population cut by almost 30%
The Westmoreland County Prison inmate population has been reduced by nearly 30% over the past month as jail officials continue to tighten restrictions designed to prevent a potential coronavirus outbreak. Warden John Walton on Monday told members of the prison board there are 176 fewer inmates than incarcerated a month...
Murrysville family prints mask extenders for area medical personnelVideo
Typically, the 3D printer in Jason Cyprowski’s Murrysville home is more of an entertaining curiosity. “My daughters made cookie cutters, and my son’s made some little toys with it,” Cyprowski said. These days, however, it’s getting a much more rigorous workout creating mask extenders for area medical personnel. “After learning...
Confiscated note unravels drug scheme at Westmoreland jail, investigators report
A sheet of paper left in the Westmoreland County Prison library helped investigators unravel a yearlong scheme that used mail to deliver drugs to the Hempfield lockup, officials reported in court documents. Corrections officers listened to inmate phone conversations to intercept pieces of mail, and county detectives staked out the...
Hempfield homes evacuated after construction crews strike gas line, no injuriesVideo
About 20 Hempfield residents were evacuated from their homes Monday as a precaution after an unidentified construction crew reportedly struck a gas line, according to Westmoreland County dispatchers. The incident occurred just before noon along Millersdale Road. No injuries were reported. The residents were evacuated as a precaution while the...
3 new Westmoreland coronavirus deaths bring toll to 30
Three new deaths in Westmoreland County related to the coronavirus have been reported by Coroner Ken Bacha. All three were women, bringing the death toll to 30, according to statistics updated early Monday. Bacha has said the majority of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care homes....
Herman Dupre, of Seven Springs fame, dies at 87
Herman K. Dupre, a winter sports pioneer behind the growth of Seven Springs Mountain Resort, died Saturday, April 25. He was 87. A cause of death had not been made public. Dupre’s death was confirmed in a Facebook post by Seven Springs resort. ”The Seven Springs family is saddened by...
