Westmoreland category, Page 774
Storm knocks down trees in North Huntingdon
North Huntingdon firefighters were able to remove a tree that fell onto a house off of Route 993 in the village of Shafton Tuesday evening. The fallen tree dragged down wires onto Washington Avenue at about 6:15 p.m., according to emergency dispatchers. Additional details were not available. During the same...
Judge: New Stanton teen competent to stand trial for murder of mother, brother
A Westmoreland County judge Tuesday ruled a New Stanton teen charged with the murder of his mother and younger brother is competent to stand trial. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani said a mental health evaluation of now 17-year-old Jacob Remaley determined he can adequately cooperate and participate with his...
North Huntingdon slide repair, Smithton rail crossing upgrade prompt detours
PennDOT plans to close a section of Route 993 in North Huntingdon to repair a landslide and a segment of Route 981 in Smithton for replacement of a railroad crossing. The North Huntingdon closure is set to begin Aug. 8 and is expected to continue through late September. While Plum...
2 more businesses coming to Greensburg’s South Pennsylvania Avenue
Two businesses have announced their imminent arrival on Greensburg’s South Pennsylvania Avenue, bringing more development to a street that’s seen a resurgence this year. The Trendy Bunny children’s clothing boutique will open in the rear of 136 S. Pennsylvania Ave., with the entrance on McKeon Way, this fall or winter....
Wanted Pittsburgh felon stopped by deputies near Youngwood Park ‘N Pool
A man who was pulled over by Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies in Youngwood was ordered held without bail Tuesday after authorities discovered he was wanted on a federal warrant for possessing a large amount of fentanyl. Sheriff’s Deputy John Dixon and Sgt. Irvin Shipley were in an unmarked vehicle about...
Russian song and dance ensemble Barynya visits Ligonier Valley LibraryVideo
Mikhail Smirnov was playing music in a Russian restaurant in Long Island, N.Y., in 1991 when a dancer came in and asked for a job. The owner told Smirnov and the musicians to play dance music for her. The first dance they performed together was the folk dance Barynya. Since...
Man accused in 5 robberies in Allegheny, Westmoreland arrested in South Carolina
A West Mifflin man accused in five 2017 gas station and convenience store robberies in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties was arrested Tuesday in South Carolina by the U.S. Marshals Service. Bennie J. Carter, 54, is accused of being the getaway driver in an alleged conspiracy with three other suspects, according...
Man accused of exposing himself in Latrobe park
A Derry Township man is accused of exposing himself to three boys and a 16-year-old girl last month at Legion Keener Park in Latrobe, according to court papers. Jesse Phillip Hollick, 61, is charged with open lewdness and public drunkenness. Latrobe police said the girl, who was babysitting the boys,...
Cops: Former EMT serving probation for 2016 sex assault accused of new rapeVideo
A former Greensburg assistant deputy fire chief and paramedic recently accepted into a probationary program for the 2016 sexual assault of a female co-worker was taken into custody Tuesday by city police for allegedly raping a mentally challenged woman. Parker A. Foster Jr., 54, is charged with rape, indecent assault...
Police: Passenger found dead in car during Jeannette traffic stop
A woman’s suspicious death Friday is under investigation by Jeannette police and Westmoreland County detectives, according to police Chief Shannon Binda. April J. Claiborne, 31, of Ligonier, was found dead in the front passenger seat of a vehicle during a 7:48 a.m. traffic stop at the intersection of Lowry Avenue...
Loyalhanna Conservation Corps expands Laurel Ridge trail for hikers, rescue crewsVideo
Ligonier Township native Josh Fitz has spent many summers camping with his family in nearby Forbes State Forest. The 20-year-old West Virginia University student, who is focusing his studies on global environmental change, returned to the forest this summer for work instead of leisure — helping to improve hiking trails...
Murrysville fracking well hearing focuses on truck traffic
The ongoing public hearing for the proposed Titan fracking well pad off Bollinger Road focused on traffic most recently, but members of the community who want to comment on the project will have to wait, as the hearing stretches into its third month of Murrysville council meetings. Monroeville driller Huntley...
Greensburg’s Yumzio Bistro planning move downtown
A Greensburg restaurant is hoping to find new eaters by moving up the street to a new location. Yumzio closed at 640 North Main St. on Sunday. It will open within a week, though the date isn’t certain, less than a mile up the road in a basement space in...
London calling: Hempfield band preps for season, England tripVideo
Members of the Hempfield Area High School band, long known for selling hoagies to raise money, have a big goal this school year — to sell 1,000 sandwiches each to pay for a trip to London to perform in its New Year’s Day parade. “We started selling hoagies in February,”...
Pittsburgh man sentenced in drug possession case in Westmoreland County
A Pittsburgh man was sentenced Monday to serve up to six years in prison for possession of heroin found during an early morning traffic stop last year in Salem. Nicholas Antonio Miller, 31, of Brookline, pleaded guilty to two felony drug counts and one misdemeanor offense. His vehicle was pulled...
Westmoreland wants to expand program to help curb drug use by jail inmatesVideo
Westmoreland officials want to expand a pilot program at the county prison to give soon-to-be-released inmates medicine that blocks the effects of illegal drugs. Over the past year, 44 Westmoreland County Prison inmates volunteered to participate in the program to receive counseling and potentially injections of Vivitrol. So far, 16...
Former employee at North Huntingdon auto parts store accused of burglary, theft
A former employee at a North Huntingdon auto parts store was arrested for burglary after a security camera caught him entering the store after hours late Saturday, according to township police. Stephen M. Wray, 40, of North Huntingdon and a former employee at Spitz Auto on Route 30, was arrested...
Penn Township man accused of entering woman’s home, taking photos of bedroom
A 53-year-old Harrison City man was arrested on multiple stalking and harassment charges after police said he entered a woman’s home and texted her photographs of her bedroom and a day later smeared dog feces on a friend’s car, according to court documents. Lawrence W. Lauer III was arraigned Monday...
Hempfield doctor wants to withdraw plea in overdose death
A Hempfield doctor scheduled to be sentenced Monday for prescribing a patient a fatal dose of methadone wants to withdraw his no contest plea entered in March. Edgar Peske, 80, in court documents filed last week, contends his conduct did not cause the 2015 death of Nicole Henderson, 30, of...
Army veteran is Fort Ligonier’s first artist in residenceVideo
Throughout the grounds of Fort Ligonier, there are images of women in roles — comforting, nurturing, hunting — they have assumed in times of war past and present. They are the creation of the fort’s first artist-in-residence, Elise Wigle-Wells, Army veteran and lecturer in Saint Vincent College’s art department. Wigle-Wells,...
Every child gets a chance to be a child in Southwest Greensburg Adaptive BaseballVideo
Andrea Baer, team manager for Southwest Greensburg Adaptive Baseball, was trying to get her team psyched to play the Susan Yadamec Dance Co. team on Sunday. Baer’s team comprises about 20 children ages 5-18 with physical, cognitive and behavioral disabilities. As they gathered at home plate for a team photo,...
Mass at Steelers training camp seeks health, ‘successful completion’ of season
The Pittsburgh Steelers can consider themselves prayed up and ready to go for 2019. On Sunday, team executives, staff and fans gathered at Saint Vincent Parish for the annual Mass for Steelers training camp. The basilica dominates the Unity campus of Saint Vincent College, where the Steelers began their annual...
Underground scans help peel back history at Laughlintown’s Compass InnVideo
The Ligonier Valley Historical Society is taking a downward glance in order to look back in time at its historic Compass Inn Museum in Ligonier Township. A team from local Markosky Engineering visited last week with devices to scan below the ground beside and behind the restored 1799 stagecoach stop...
Kecksburg UFO Festival celebrates … something … that fell from the sky in 1965
A smalltown festival devoted to paranormal phenomena is not going to hold too many surprises, given the subject matter. So to see a young man striding with a sense of purpose in full Army regalia at the 2019 Kecksburg UFO Festival on Saturday — well, it didn’t seem all that...
Peyton’s K9s raises over $11,000 for K9 units across the countryVideo
Peyton Estochin already knows what she wants to be when she grows up — a K-9 handler for a police department. The 7-year-old McKeesport resident is already well on her way to making that dream a reality. Peyton’s K-9s, a nonprofit organization founded in 2018, has 1,445 likes on Facebook...
