Westmoreland category, Page 812
Police: Latrobe students use vape pens to smoke marijuana
Latrobe police are warning parents after some Greater Latrobe School District students were taken to the hospital for allegedly using vape pens, also known as e-cigarettes, to smoke marijuana, said police Chief John Sleasman. “We believe that marijuana is of a very high potency level,” Sleasman said. “The system or...
Norwin High School Prom
Norwin High School had its prom Friday night. Here is a photo gallery of the highlights....
Greater Latrobe Senior High School Prom
Greater Latrobe Senior High School had its prom Friday night. Here is a photo gallery of the highlights from the grand march....
Hempfield area roads to be repaved in $1.8 million project
Several Hempfield area roads will soon have a new face thanks to a $1.8 million project, said township Manager Jason Winters. Expected to start mid-summer, the project will address roads around the Berger Plan, Lexington Acres and near Luxor, Midway and Tanglewood and the Union Cemetery. Crews will replace stormwater...
Greensburg Salem High School prom 2019
Greensburg Salem High School had its prom Friday night. Here is a photo gallery of the highlights from the grand march....
Unity hearing spotlights vehicle emissions debate
A standing-room-only crowd gathered Friday morning to hear lawmakers, state officials and industry representatives debate the future of vehicle emissions testing at a hearing of the state Senate Transportation Committee in Unity. Officials from the Department of Environmental Protection and PennDOT argued federal regulations prohibit Pennsylvania from making major changes...
Unity adds $105K to public works garage project, awaits new trusses
Unity Township Supervisors this week approved more than $105,000 in extra construction on the township’s replacement public works garage. But major work on the building was on hold pending replacement of roof trusses that collapsed in two stages after they were installed last month. The building is being erected on...
Cops: Ligonier woman arrested hours after heroin OD victim resuscitated
Hours after Mutual Aid Ambulance paramedics resuscitated a Ligonier Township woman from a suspected heroin overdose Thursday, Ligonier police acquired a search warrant and arrested a 37-year-old woman for allegedly supplying the drugs, according to court documents. Robin D. Gowin was arrested after Sgt. James Friscarella and police dog Kilo...
Derry Area School Board eyes 2.8-mill tax hike
Kevin Liberoni was the sole school board member to vote against Derry Area School District’s tentative 2019-20 budget of just under $37.7 million, citing opposition to a proposal to raise property taxes to 90.6 mills. That 2.8-mill hike would cost the average residential property owner an additional $34.16. “Somebody has...
West Newton Avenue of Flags on display for 25th year
Volunteers on Friday helped assemble the 25th annual West Newton Cemetery Avenue of Flags, a Memorial Day tradition. More than 350 full-sized flags are given by a family member in honor of a local veteran who has passed away. About 40 students from the Yough High School student council, along...
Delmont man gets prison time for molesting girl
A Delmont man will serve up to 10 years in prison for sex crimes against a girl. Alberto Marton, 46, pleaded guilty Friday to 10 charges related to the sexual assaults of a now 13-year-old girl who claimed she was repeatedly molested for nearly two years. Police said Marton repeatedly...
Monessen mayor’s absence prompts call for law change to boot AWOL elected officials
The prolonged absence of Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw has prompted a proposal to change the Pennsylvania constitution to allow the removal of elected municipal officials for lack of attendance at public meetings. “For more than a year, the Monessen mayor has not attended city council meetings. Local government cannot operate...
Derry music students, parents urge district to replace retiring choral teacher
Derry Area School Board members are considering raising taxes by 2.8 mills in the district’s pending 2019-20 budget, but not for money to replace two retiring music and English teachers or to fill a part-time art position. Eight music students and a few adults voiced their opposition at Thursday’s school...
1891 German biography of Saint Vincent founder finally translated into English
In an 1854 letter to the archbishop of Munich, the Rev. Boniface Wimmer said the monastery that he had founded near Latrobe eight years earlier sometimes felt like Noah’s ark. “All sorts of creatures from everywhere gather under our roof,” he wrote. “Often, too, useless guests come, who disappear after...
Celebration of missing Unity woman Cassandra Gross’ life planned in Crabtree
Friends, relatives and family friends of missing Unity woman Cassandra Gross are invited to a celebration of her life Saturday in Crabtree. Several people are expected to share memories of Gross, who has been missing since April 7, 2018, starting at 1 p.m. at Marian Hall, said her mother Kathe...
2 Westmoreland apartment complexes named in lawsuit over disability access
Ann Sloan was surprised to learn that the owner of the Hempfield apartment complex where she lives is being sued by the federal government for discriminating against disabled renters by building units that have “significant accessibility barriers.” “Everything is fine for me,” said Sloan, who uses a walker to get...
WCCC honors grad who directed police response at Parkland school shooting
It was Valentine’s Day, and Clyde Parry was sitting in his police chief’s office in Coral Springs, Fla. An officer breathlessly announced he’d heard an active shooter was at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Suddenly, phone lines blew up at the department as desperate calls went out for help. Within...
Greensburg Recreation department introduces four new programs
Greensburg’s new recreation program manager has introduced four new programs for the summer, including options that could appeal to the young and old. “I’ve seen a lot of these types of programs implemented in other parks and recreation departments that I’ve worked for, and they were really successful,” said Lydia...
Miniature Ligonier Valley Rail Road featured in model train tourVideo
The Ligonier Valley Rail Road is rolling over the track once more — in railroad historian and hobbyist Bob Stutzman’s Latrobe basement. The original railroad operated from 1877 to 1952, hauling freight and passengers 16 miles between Ligonier and Latrobe. Stutzman’s scaled-down version, featuring O-gauge cars that are 1⁄48 as...
Avonmore man accused of killing bulls with crossbow cited for damaging apartment
A man accused of shooting four bulls with a crossbow on a Loyalhanna Township farm during St. Patrick’s Day weekend was cited for causing a disturbance inside an Avonmore apartment house where he lives, state police said. Shaun D. Ross, 60, was cited Thursday for criminal mischief and disorderly conduct...
Westmoreland County schools score nearly $1.4 million in state security grants
Pennsylvania awarded $40 million in new school safety grants, with 10 Westmoreland County school districts, two Career and Technical Centers and the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit among 234 recipients sharing in the largesse. State lawmakers established the competitive grant program in the wake of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting...
Almost 40 businesses raising money for woman injured in Hempfield crash
Local businesses have joined a growing effort to raise money for Cait Tracy, who was injured in a car crash Sunday night that killed two other passengers. What started as a fundraiser at the Hempfield location of Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard has spread to almost 40 restaurants and...
Police: Facebook friend request led to beating of New Stanton woman
A Pittsburgh man who police said befriended a New Stanton woman on Facebook is accused of beating her and stealing her laptop and notebook, according to court papers. Brian Craig Wilkinson, 45, of the city’s Greenfield neighborhood, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the March 25 incident. He was being...
Cops: Man who fought North Huntingdon police had empty stamp bags, suboxone
A Trafford man accused of fighting North Huntingdon police in a convenience store parking lot this week is also charged with possessing 176 empty stamp bags, a package of Suboxone and hypodermic needles, according to court documents. Michael J. Lapaglia, 29, of Trafford was ordered held in the Westmoreland County...
Attorney for Turtle Creek man seeks to try 2 overdose death cases separately
It would be unfair for an Allegheny County man accused in two 2017 drug overdose deaths to have one trial for both cases, his attorney argued Thursday. Demetrius Bernard Christmas, 30, of Turtle Creek, is seeking to have separate trials in connection with the deaths of Paul Lucas, 21, of...
