Jeff Himler stories, Page 142
East Huntingdon detour marks start of PennDOT bridge work
Traffic is being detoured on Chaintown Road in East Huntingdon this week, as PennDOT road crews begin the first of three in-house bridge improvement projects this construction season. Others are planned beginning in July in Ligonier Township, and in September in Hempfield. PennDOT hopes by December to complete replacement of...
Saint Vincent to showcase student projects, art demos
Student research and artistic talent will be on display April 24 during Saint Vincent College’s 16th Annual Academic Conference. Open to the public, the conference is scheduled for 2:30 to 7 p.m. in the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion on the college campus in Unity. Admission is free. The...
Greater Latrobe high school eyes project-based learning classes
Greater Latrobe Senior High School students will learn two skill sets at once in a pair of proposed mash-up courses with a cross-curricular reach. The school board on Tuesday will consider adding six courses for the 2019-20 school year — including “Astronomy With English” and “Current Issues With Statistics,” each...
Model planes signal approach of Westmoreland air show
Members of the Laurel Highlands Model Airplane Club arranged a display of model planes Friday at Greensburg’s East Pittsburgh Street Shop ‘n Save supermarket. It’s the second year for the display, which promotes the Westmoreland County Airshow that the grocery chain sponsors. This year’s models are based on World War...
CMU staffer accused of shooting video up students’ skirts
A Carnegie Mellon University staffer is accused of using a cell phone to shoot video up the skirts of two women waiting at a Pittsburgh bus stop. Campus police have charged Edward H. Jones Jr., 72, of Pittsburgh, with two misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy stemming from his alleged...
Bolivar firefighters plan egg hunt, Family Night
All children up to age 13 are invited to fill their Easter baskets Sunday at the Bolivar Fire Company’s annual egg hunt. The hunt begins at 2 p.m. at the fire station, 516 Market St., Bolivar, but those attending should plan to show up early to register. All ages will...
Waffle breakfast benefits Norwin Rotary youth club
The Norwin Middle School Interact Club will hold its first waffle breakfast Saturday in downtown Irwin. The meal will be served 9 a.m. to noon at the Masonic Hall, in the 400 block of Main Street. The breakfast includes waffle with choice of toppings, sausage, coffee and juice. The cost...
42 Unity garage roof trusses collapse, no one injured
Forty-two wooden roof trusses collapsed and splintered this week during construction of Unity’s new public works garage. No one was hurt when the 80-foot-long trusses fell — some on Sunday and the remainder on Monday morning, township officials said. Construction was halted on the main portion of the concrete block...
Storm water strategies to be shared in Latrobe
Area residents who want to prepare for a potential repeat of last year’s heavy rainfalls may want to attend a storm water management presentation April 30 in Latrobe. Set for 1 p.m. in the city council chambers, the Westmoreland Conservation District program will offer strategies homeowners can consider to address...
Brother Norman Hipps stepping down as Saint Vincent College president
Brother Norman Hipps plans to step down as the 17th president of Saint Vincent College in June, at the end of his ninth year in the role. Hipps, 75, was first affiliated with the Catholic liberal arts and sciences college in Unity in 1972, when he joined the faculty as...
Route 119 ramp to close for repairs in New Stanton
Motorists headed south on Route 119 from Youngwood toward Uniontown will encounter a short detour beginning Monday in New Stanton. PennDOT announced it will close for repairs a ramp and exit drivers normally use to continue south on Route 119. The ramp — at the interchange with the Toll 66...
Greater Latrobe foundation plans inaugural dinner
The Greater Latrobe Partners in Education Foundation will celebrate its seven years of supporting school district programs at the organization’s first annual Loyal & True Dinner. Set for May 13 in The Conference Center at Saint Vincent College’s Fred Rogers Center, the 6 p.m. dinner will highlight the impact of...
Recycling event targets tires, West Nile virus
Area residents can rid themselves of potentially harmful scrap tires at a reduced price on Saturday. Unity-based Westmoreland Cleanways will knock $1 off its normal fees for recycling worn tires in an effort to get them out of backyard scrap piles, where they can fill with rainwater and serve as...
Westmoreland Airport Authority Director Gabe Monzo undergoes liver transplant
Gabe Monzo had a good reason for missing the Westmoreland County Airport Authority meeting Tuesday morning. He was in Pittsburgh, undergoing a life-renewing liver transplant through the UPMC Center for Liver Diseases. Family and friends reported on social media Tuesday evening that Monzo and a niece, who donated a portion...
Latrobe tries parking restrictions near elementary school
Parking restriction signs soon will go up as part of an effort to help ease traffic concerns at Latrobe Elementary School. City council approved a trial that will prohibit parking on the south side of Cherry Street for the block between Ligonier and Pine streets, and on the north side...
Bridge, slide repairs top $200M in road work this construction season
PennDOT expects to spend more than $200 million to fix the region’s roads and bridges this construction season. In addition to ongoing projects, PennDOT District 12 officials are slated to seek bids for $122 million in new construction projects, which will include resurfacing of 126 miles of highways and repairing...
Penn-Trafford grad pursues book on former West View Park
Mike Funyak, a 2011 Penn-Trafford High School alumnus who works in the amusement park industry, is looking for material for his proposed book about Allegheny County’s long-gone West View Park. Located in the North Hills from 1906-77, the park made an impression on Funyak through his mother, Rosanne, and her...
‘Idlewild’ author researching book on Western Pennsylvania’s lost amusement parks
Area amusement parks have provided visitors thrills and summertime memories for more than a century. Pittsburgh-based writer and historian Jennifer Sopko hopes to reclaim some of that legacy for parks that have vanished from the Western Pennsylvania landscape. She is seeking stories, photos and documents for a proposed book on...
2 health care leaders receive Greensburg Salem alumni honorsVideo
Several members of the Greensburg Salem High School Class of 1977 gathered for an impromptu reunion Friday to help honor two of their classmates. Albert J. Novak Jr. of Hempfield and Dr. Susan Manzi of Wexford were honored as the school’s 2019 Distinguished Alumni at a dinner presented by the...
Safety concerns prompt indoor graduation for West Mifflin
West Mifflin Area School District is set to begin renovation of its high school stadium in May. But safety concerns are the more important factor prompting officials to hold the school’s June 6 graduation ceremony inside the auditorium, according to district Superintendent Mark Hoover. “While we know many of you...
Indiana County woman found dead as her house burns
Indiana County Coroner Jerry Overman has identified a woman found dead Friday morning by crews battling a fire at her Rayne Township home. Betty Ann Coleman, 77, was found dead in the kitchen as firefighters searched the home along Route 119, according to Overman. Investigators aren’t sure why she was...
Pair jailed on drug charges after Indiana traffic stop
A traffic stop in Indiana Borough Thursday resulted in two men being jailed for allegedly having more than 300 bags of heroin, Indiana Borough police said. Amir Mithcell, 21, of Wilkinsburg, already was wanted by authorities when Indiana police made the stop at about 10 a.m. in the 300 block...
Nonprofit: Don’t forget aesthetics in Brewery Bridge redo
Officials with the nonprofit Latrobe Community Revitalization Program hope there will be an allowance for aesthetics when new side barriers are installed as part of a replacement of the Brewery Bridge on Ligonier Street in 2021. Executive Director Jarod Trunzo said the nonprofit is working with Latrobe and Westmoreland County...
Arsonist believed to be setting fires along Derry Ridge in Westmoreland County
A serial arsonist is believed to be on the loose along Derry Ridge in Westmoreland County, a forest fire specialist with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry said Friday. A remote fire Thursday in Derry Township where police and military helicopters were called in to direct...
State lawmakers tour attractions in Laurel Highlands, Westmoreland County
The transportation-themed Lincoln Highway Experience museum in Unity played host Thursday to a group of special visitors: Members of the Pennsylvania House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee, who are on a tour of Laurel Highlands attractions. The committee leaders, Republican Chairman David Millard, of Bloomsburg, and Democratic Chairman Mark Longietti,...
