Westmoreland category, Page 879
Hempfield woman announces bid for Register of Wills
A Hempfield woman said Friday she wants to run the courthouse office where she has worked for the last 15 years. Katie Pecarchik, 50, announced she will be a candidate for Register of Wills, the office that oversees estates, wills, adoptions records and marriage licenses. She serves as a deputy...
Westmoreland Happenings: Week of Jan. 14
Classes/programs • A still life painting workshop with Doreen Currie is planned 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 26 in Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley, One Boucher Lane and Route 711 South. Cost: $30, attendees are required to bring their own materials. Reservations required by Jan. 23 at 724-238-6015...
Injuries reported in head-on crash in Murrysville
Firefighters pulled two people from their vehicles Friday after a head-on crash in Murrysville, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. The crash occurred just before 2 p.m. at the intersection of School Road and Foxwood Court. School Road was closed for about an hour. One person was flown to UPMC...
Musher makes the most of snow in Forbes State Forest
Musher Cameron Maak, 58, of Jennerstown, guides her dogs along a trail near the warming hut in Forbes State Forest on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. Mushing is a sport that uses dogs as a means of transportation, and Maak focuses on sled dog racing with a team made up of...
Derry sisters charged with neglecting emaciated horses, dogs, cats
A Derry Township woman who had animal cruelty charges against her dropped in 2016 is now accused of the same after humane agents seized emaciated and sick horses, dogs and cats from her property in November. Faun Dillon was arraigned this week on more than 200 charges, including aggravated cruelty...
Cops: Mt. Pleasant woman was on drugs when she struck Walmart worker
State police allege a woman was under the influence of multiple unprescribed drugs, including methadone and methamphetamine, last month when she drove into a row of shopping carts and seriously injured a Walmart employee in East Huntingdon. Ronalee M. Bailey, 40, of Mt. Pleasant was arraigned this week before District...
North Huntingdon police looking for man who became irate at motelVideo
North Huntingdon police are looking for a man who became irate after being refused a motel room Saturday because he didn’t have cash to pay for it. Investigators said the man left Hiland Terrace Motel on Route 30 around 6:30 a.m. and a clerk locked the door behind him. When...
Cops: Man breaks into ex-girlfriend’s home, takes possessions, including cat
A 20-year-old Herminie man was stalking his ex-girlfriend, broke into her Hempfield home and took several of her possessions — including her cat, state police allege. Shane Matthew Morrison Jr. is charged with burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and harassment. His bond was set at $50,000, unsecured. According to information...
Jeannette to add more surveillance cameras current ones already pay off for police
Jeannette police plan to add more surveillance cameras to Clay Avenue after the ones recently installed assisted in a stolen vehicle investigation last month. City council approved buying six more cameras that will be affixed to utility poles at intersections along the street, said police Chief Shannon Binda. “Our intersections...
Cops: Man leaves marijuana in Uber, arrested when he tries to get it back
Instead of recovering around two pounds of marijuana he left behind in an Uber, an Allegheny County man found himself under arrest in North Huntingdon when an undercover state trooper posed as the driver of the ride-sharing service. State police on Wednesday arrested Malik Rasaan Mollett, 21, of Wilkinsburg, after...
Westmoreland seeks grant for drug court
Westmoreland County will seek a $30,000 state grant to help pay for the drug court program. Commissioners announced Thursday they will apply for the funds from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. “It will help out and reimburse our general fund for the program,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli said. The grant...
State to recognize centennial of Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township
Sandra Ewing Robertson is a third-generation resident of Torrance, a village in Derry Township, and was raised in the shadow of Torrance State Hospital — which this year marks 100 years of caring for and treating patients with mental illness. “I think it’s a good thing the state is recognizing...
Latrobe man sentenced for hospital assault
A Latrobe man will serve up to three years in prison for assaulting security guards in the behavioral health unit of Excela Heath Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg. Christopher Daykon, 33, pleaded guilty Friday to charges of aggravated assault in connection with two incidents in September 2017. Police said Daykon, a...
Penn Township grant will help absorb costs of stormwater improvements
A new state grant will help Penn Township in its ongoing struggle to overcome the effects of stormwater on the storm sewers of the Harrison Park neighborhood. The Growing Greener grant of $70,000, awarded by the state Department of Environmental Protection, will go toward the design, permitting, surveying and management...
Jury finds Latrobe man guilty of second-degree murder in 2016 fatal robbery
It took a Westmoreland County jury just one hour Thursday afternoon to convict a Latrobe man of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his friend. The jury of eight men and four women found Zachary McGrath guilty in the Jan. 20, 2016, shooting death of Daniel McNerny in front...
Hempfield man, formerly state director of UFO group, enters Westmoreland commissioner race
A Hempfield man accused in a national magazine article of making racially insensitive statements on social media announced Thursday he will seek a position on the Westmoreland County board of commissioners. John Ventre, 61, a Republican, said his candidacy will focus on improving the county’s finances and criticized the current...
4 women testify Greensburg chiropractor assaulted, harassed them
When a teenage girl started going to a Greensburg gym in 2015, she looked up to the chiropractor who was training her in power lifting. But as the weeks and months went on, Moses Jevicky, 36, of Greensburg, started to get progressively inappropriate, making comments about her body parts and...
Mt. Pleasant Twp. store owner to fight corruption chargesVideo
A Mt. Pleasant Township grocery store owner, accused of racking up millions of dollars in illegal profits by selling stolen items, waived his preliminary hearing Thursday and opted to proceed to trial. But don’t read too much into the decision, his lawyer warned. “There is no plea agreement,” said Francis...
Officials visit Hempfield to announce grant to promote school-business ties
As state and local officials toured Hempfield Area High School on Thursday, they saw students working with high-tech manufacturing machinery and discussing detailed business plans they’d designed and enacted themselves. State Labor and Industry Secretary W. Gerard Oleksiak said he was impressed, and that he hopes a $126,050 grant to...
Woman, cat safe after fire breaks out at Greensburg apartmentVideo
Linda Erickson wasn’t sure what the loud noise was that she heard Thursday morning from inside her Greensburg apartment. But when a neighbor started banging on her door on Park Street around 9 a.m., she raced down the steps of her second-floor unit amid heavy smoke, leaving behind her 5-year-old...
WCCC nursing professor honored as outstanding teacher
There is no question that longtime Westmoreland County Community College nursing professor Rebecca Gediminskas has the respect of her students and her peers. For the third time in 20 years, they honored her as WCCC’s Outstanding Teacher of the year. Gediminskas, of Irwin, previously received the award, which faculty present...
Jeannette police start using electronic ticketing system for traffic violations
Lead-footed drivers and other traffic scofflaws are getting a speedy response from Jeannette police, who are now using an electronic ticketing system that cuts down on the time needed to complete traffic stops. For the last month, officers have used a new system that improves their safety and lessens downtime...
County leaders see comprehensive plan as key to bringing young blood into a graying Westmoreland
More millennials could soon call Westmoreland County home if things called for in a new comprehensive plan adopted by county commissioners come to fruition. The plan, presented during Thursday’s 2019 State of the County luncheon, aims at making Westmoreland more attractive to young professionals by upgrading downtown areas and creating...
5 people displaced by Thursday morning fire that spread to attic of Greensburg home
Five people were displaced by a fire that damaged the second-floor bedroom and attic of a house in the 500 block of Mt. Pleasant Street, Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell said. Firefighters from multiple companies battled the blaze into early Thursday morning as it spread from the bedroom to the...
Staffer for Westmoreland Commissioner Charles Anderson seeking boss’ post
Sean Kertes, chief of staff to Westmoreland County Commissioner Charles Anderson, said Wednesday he wants his boss’ job. Kertes, 32, of Greensburg formally announced he will be a candidate for county commissioner, seeking to replace Anderson who will retire at year’s end after more than 11 years in office. “Having...
