Westmoreland category, Page 695

Recognized for their high performance and willingness to improve, two Hempfield middle schools were named Schools to Watch by the Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education. Awarded to Harrold and West Hempfield middle schools, Schools to Watch is a recognition program based on four main criteria: academic excellence, developmental responsiveness,...

Westmoreland County transit officials Monday said they support the continued delay of a new funding method that could have gutted local paratransit operations for low-income, elderly and disabled residents. “We are relieved,” Westmoreland County Transit Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said. “There is no way we would have been able...

Community members may have thrown their last pitch last summer at a Grapeville ball field after residents say members of the fire department sold the land. The field, at 1260 Toledo St. in Hempfield, has been a staple in the community and is utilized by an adult coed team, said...

A family of four was displaced and a firefighter was transported by ambulance when a Monday afternoon blaze destroyed an Export garage and extensively damaged an adjoining home. The blaze was reported just before 1:30 p.m. on Arthur Street. The garage was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, according to...

A North Huntingdon woman is accused by Westmoreland County detectives of obstructing the prosecution of child rape allegations against her husband, according to court papers. Kelley Jo Wilbanks, 40, was charged Friday with hindering prosecution, child endangerment and obstructing law enforcement. John M. Wilbanks, 38, was arrested Oct. 29 by...

A Westmoreland County Prison inmate accused earlier this month of smuggling Suboxone and synthetic marijuana through the mail was charged again Thursday after jail guards said they found him with more contraband. Hugh J. Hawkey Jr., 44, was charged by county detectives with manufacturing, possession and delivery of a controlled...

All lanes are open again on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Donegal, though drivers should be cautious of crews working on the shoulder to clean up after a tractor-trailer overturned Monday morning, according to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Nobody was hurt in the crash, which happened between the Donegal and Somerset...

Live Christmas trees can be recycled starting Thursday at several locations around Westmoreland County. Trees that are recycled will be chipped into mulch and spread at community parks, rather than taking up space at a landfill if they are thrown out with the trash, according to Westmoreland Cleanways. One tree...

Latrobe appears to be on track for some major improvements to its Amtrak passenger station, with construction eyed for a possible 2020 start date. Amtrak discussed the proposed improvements, meant to better serve passengers with disabilities, in an interview with the Tribune-Review nearly two years ago. Latrobe officials were encouraged...

One person was injured Sunday evening in a hit-and-run collision on Route 22 in Delmont. A Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said the mishap happened at around 7 p.m. at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard. A bicycle fell from one of the cars in the wake of the collision, leading bystanders...

Westmoreland County’s longest-serving judge, and one of its most experienced on the criminal court bench, will take on a new assignment in January. Common Pleas Judge Rita Hathaway, who for the past 16 years has presided over criminal cases, will shift to the civil division as part of a reorganization...

Staff at the Westmoreland County Transit Authority has grown by more than 600% over the last month as the agency continues to gear up for its takeover of bus and paratransit services on Jan. 2. What was once primarily an administrative organization with 18 employees, the authority has transitioned to...

Three vo-tech schools that serve 11 school districts in Westmoreland County and the Alle-Kiski Valley have received close to $82,000 in grants from the state Education Department. Lenape Technical School received $40,675, Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center received $49,999, and Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center received $16,930. The...

Fallout from the teen sex trafficking scandal of the late Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted pedophile who hanged himself in a New York City jail cell, continues to plow a path of destruction. Manhattan jail guards face federal criminal charges related to Epstein’s death and an alleged subsequent...

Rather than being filled with desks, chairs and books, a second-floor room at Jeannette McKee Elementary School has shelves of pants, racks of shirts and skirts, boxes of new tennis shoes, hats, gloves and some toiletries. The former classroom was converted this year into the Jeannette McKee School Closet, where...

The last Saturday before Christmas, typically the biggest shopping day of the year, was expected to attract nearly 148 million consumers online and at brick-and-mortar stores this year. The National Retail Federation projected that increase over last year’s Super Saturday turnout of about 134 million because of this year’s abbreviated...

A Hempfield man suffered minor burns to his hands while attempting to remove equipment from his burning garage Saturday morning, firefighters said. The block building, which contained woodworking equipment, was a total loss, according to Midway-St. Clair Fire Chief Rich Kepple. A township fire investigator will look into the cause...

A stolen briefcase containing payroll documents from an Excela Health employee this fall left the personal data of 1,800 workers at risk, hospital system officials confirmed. Authorities said they were notified around 6 a.m. Oct. 8 of the theft of a briefcase from an unlocked car parked outside a home...

A car crash closed Union Cemetery Road in Unity Township Friday night, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The road, which closed between McCullough Road and Auction Barn Road before 10 p.m., was reopened before 12 a.m. One person was freed from a vehicle and was in the care of...

A New Kensington-Arnold School District special needs student was left alone on a W.L. Roenigk school bus at the Clairview School in Greensburg on Friday, school and bus company officials said. The driver was immediately fired, a Roenigk official said. It was the second time in 10 days that a...