Westmoreland category, Page 74
Jeannette man receives prison sentence for child porn possession
A Jeannette man was ordered Tuesday to serve up to up to 52 months in prison for the possession and dissemination of child pornography. Anthony J. Cortazzo IV, 38, pleaded guilty in December to 11 felony counts in connection with an investigation launched last year after a former girlfriend reported...
Police detail events leading up to woman’s shooting death in Rostraver
Robert S. Chaplin was standing in the yard, flailing his arms and yelling, when police arrived at his Rostraver home for a reported shooting Feb. 5, according to township police Officer Brian Dove. Dove testified Tuesday that a distraught child shouted to arriving officers, “Mum’s in the basement.” That’s where...
United Steelworkers vote down ATI contract
ATI and United Steelworkers are still without a contract. A tentative agreement was reached Feb. 28, just hours before the most recent contract was set to expire. But it failed to pass a union vote Monday. ATI spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said company leadership is disappointed the union vote was unsuccessful....
Greensburg adds 2 new police officers
Greensburg council hired two new full-time police officers Monday. Jacob Fazekas and David Judy will be paid about $56,000 each. Fazekas had been working in Jeannette and Judy was in Trafford, said Greensburg police Chief Charles Irvin. Both were expected to start work in Greensburg this month. They were sworn...
Norwin hires new board secretary; school police officer retires
The Norwin School Board has a new secretary and the district’s superintendent has a new excutive assistant. The school board Monday hired Leslie DeZorzi as the board secretary and as executive assistant to Superintendent Natalie McCracken at a salary of $59,000, prorated for the remainder of the school year. DeZorzi...
Purchase of 26 new golf carts for Mt. Odin approved by Greensburg City Council
Greensburg will buy 26 new golf carts for Mt. Odin Golf Course from a New York-based vendor. City council on Monday unanimously approved the $166,400 bid from Nutall Golf Courses. The new golf carts will replace some from the 1990s at Mt. Odin off Tollgate Hill Road. Two bids were...
Appeal in Loyalhanna triple murder case identifies potential new suspects
New attorneys for a former Loyalhanna business owner on death row for the murder of his sister, mother and elderly aunt in 2009 claim they have identified two other men as the potential killers. The evidence, they say, bolsters arguments that a new trial is warranted. Kevin Murphy, 64, of...
Theft case against Latrobe attorney is postponed
A Westmoreland County judge Monday delayed a trial for a Latrobe attorney accused of bilking a jailed client. Acting on a defense request, Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio approved the two-month postponement of the theft case filed against attorney John Allen Roth. The defense said the delay was to await a prosecution...
Murrysville elevates in-house staff to community development director
Murrysville Council has named municipal engineer technician Emily Mallisee as the new director for community development. “She’s been with us in an engineering role, but she’s been handling some things on the development side,” Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said. “As you know, we haven’t had a community development director...
Scottdale heart transplant patient: Recovering ‘each day, one day at a time’
Thirteen-year-old Marshall Fee of Scottdale is the rare person who will celebrate a birthday twice in one year. While his regular birthday is in October, his second commemorates the day he received a new heart — which has given him hope for a full life. Fee, who had suffered from...
Greensburg Salem School Board weighs restricting livestream service to monthly voting meetings
Greensburg Salem School Board could reduce its livestreaming capacity for public meetings following a vote by the school board this week. Because of low livestream meeting attendance and difficulties finding staff to operate equipment, the board will decide Wednesday whether to restrict livestreaming to its monthly voting meeting. The motion...
Greensburg eyeing 26 new golf carts for Mt. Odin course
Greensburg is looking to add some new golf carts to its Mt. Odin Golf Course fleet. City council is set to vote Monday on financing for the $170,000 needed to buy 26 golf carts that will replace aging ones. “We have some that are from the 1990s,” Mayor Robb Bell...
Westmoreland happenings: Irish history program, senior citizen news, more
Church News • Greensburg Church of the Brethren hosts a night of fun and fellowship for individuals and groups with developmental disabilities from 5 to 7 p.m. Mondays at the church, 554 Stanton St., Southwest Greensburg. Dinner is included. Participants must be accompanied by a family member or caregiver. Donations...
‘We had so many plans’: Hempfield man mourns wife, a school van driver, after fatal crash
Harry Davis wasn’t surprised to hear others speak about his wife’s kindness after she was killed Friday morning. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Davis said. “From being around her, I know how she is with other people and (how she) wanted to help people.” Rene Davis, 60, of Hempfield was killed...
Westmoreland commissioners approve new labor deal, suspend work rules for nonunion staff
Westmoreland commissioners last week ratified a new labor deal for the county’s largest municipal police force and issued the temporary halt of a hiring policy that officials claim has skewed hiring and pay scales throughout the government. The commissioners approved a five-year contract with the Park Police Association of Westmoreland...
Pitt-Greensburg charity basketball game benefits the Welcome Home Shelter
Pitt-Greensburg students may have won the competition against faculty and staff on the gym floor, but a local homeless shelter was the ultimate victor when it received a donation of $1,250 from the school’s annual Charity Basketball Game. The event, now in its 18th year, was organized by the Student...
5 years after covid struck, Pennsylvanians assess the pandemic’s impact
Five years ago this month, Pennsylvania’s chief executive scrambled to manage a global health crisis for which no one in the world was prepared. As leader of the nation’s fifth most-populous state, then-Gov. Tom Wolf found himself winging it like everyone else. He had no playbook for covid-19. “It looked...
Forum covers the ‘roses and thorns’ of Hempfield firefighting
Creating an “inviting environment” was the theme at Hempfield Township’s second annual fire forum Saturday morning. The first forum took place last year to smooth over concerns, answer uncertainties about the state of the fire department and clarify the “nonchartered” process, where a fire station goes under the direct management...
Greensburg Salem raises money for student activities with ‘Mr. GS’ competition
Greensburg Salem held its Seventh annual “Mr. GS” competition Friday evening, raising money for student activities at the high school. Audience members paid for tickets to choose who they wanted to win the event. Nine seniors competed in various events: Cooper Dann, Logan Dunkerley, Wesley Heverly, Logan Lewis, Ethan Miller,...
Projectiles launched, zombie art composed at annual Shaler Area STEAM competition
Teams from 16 schools applied their knowledge and creativity in a series of challenges Friday during an annual STEAM competition hosted by Shaler Area High School. The competition, which began several years ago with just six schools, features a daylong sequence of science, technology, engineering, art and math trials in...
Jeannette man’s murder convictions, life sentences vacated over debunked fire science
A former Jeannette man serving three life prison sentences for the first-degree murders of his wife and two young children in 1993 is entitled to a new trial, a Westmoreland County judge ruled Friday. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani vacated the convictions and sentences of James Young, 57, who...
Police seek owners of collectible coins recovered during shoplifting, gun theft, drug arrest in Unity
State police arrested a Cook Township man Friday on a shoplifting charge and found him in possession of a gun they say was stolen and 63 collectible coins they believe could be linked to a local theft. Police said they found the coins and a silver bar in 26-year-old Alexander...
Local groups take financial worries out of prom season
Hidden behind the glitz and glam of dresses, suits, pictures, flowers and all things that makes prom night magical is the realization of how quickly the expenses can add up. For the students and families worried about the cost as prom season approaches, there are groups in the area that...
Officials say flights to Fort Lauderdale to resume from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Direct flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will resume in May, the Westmoreland County Airport Authority announced Friday. Spirit Airlines will initially operate two weekly flights to the south Florida city, a move officials said will return profitability and jobs to Westmoreland County’s lone commuter airport....
Hempfield woman driving school bus van dies after tractor-trailer strikes 2 vehicles; Greensburg Salem student driver injured
Rene Davis was remembered Friday for the dedication and care she demonstrated as a school bus driver serving the Greensburg Salem School District. Davis, 60, of Hempfield was killed Friday morning when her school bus van was struck by a tractor-trailer that ran through a red light on Route 22...
