Jeff Himler stories, Page 26

Greensburg officials are considering eliminating off-street parking requirements for downtown businesses to spur development. City Solicitor Zachary Kansler is drafting a proposal to change parking guidelines because the requirements are “one of the biggest impediments to development,” he said. The planning commission will review the proposed changes Aug. 23. Authors...

A Marion Center, Indiana County woman who was reported missing yesterday has been located and is safe. Sheila M. Rowley, 60, was located early Thursday morning, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department bloodhound team and a state police aviation patrol unit joined in the search Wednesday...

A boy was in stable condition after he was shot Wednesday evening in Stowe Township, according to Allegheny County Police. The shooting was reported to county 911 dispatchers shortly after 7 p.m. near Sixth and Ridge streets. First responders found the boy shot in the arm, police said. He was...

It was literally a tall order, but a local artist, a forklift company and staff of an auto repair shop combined efforts to make sure an iconic lumberjack stands head and shoulders once again above motorists driving along Route 119 in Greensburg. Standing more than 20 feet tall, the fiberglass...

A section of Lowber Road in Sewickley Township will be closed beginning Monday as crews from CSX Transportation perform maintenance on a railroad crossing. Depending on weather conditions, the road is set to close at 7 a.m., between Sutersville and Cool Springs roads. The closure is expected to continue through...

Carson Anderton donned a pint-sized lab coat and, for a short time, became Dr. Mario, a character from the Super Mario Brothers video game universe. The 3-year-old Penn Township boy also has explored the diversion to be found in a play toolbox and has bonded with another tot over toy...

Paving of a section of Fourth Street in Youngwood will result in a single-lane restriction beginning Tuesday for motorists headed south on Route 119 through the borough. Depending on weather conditions, the lane restriction is expected to be in place from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 4....

Tributes to those who have died as a result of military service since 9/11 will be featured Aug. 5 as part of a Fallen Heroes Run and Military Appreciation Day in Hempfield. The fifth annual motorcycle run organized by Monroeville-based nonprofit Operation Vet NOW is dedicated to the memory of...

Shelters in Westmoreland County were providing a roof and a bed for 74 homeless people in January, an increase from 56 people a year earlier. Those figures need to be expanded to represent all local people who are struggling with housing instability, according to Toni Antonucci, a committee member of...

(Editor’s Note: This is part of a series about Westmoreland County residents who have been honored as Hometown Heroes.) Walter Krautz Greensburg 1919-1986 Walter Krautz survived the jungle, but the sacrifices he made during a World War II mission behind enemy lines in Southeast Asia didn’t end once he was...

Pittsburgh police have arrested a suspect in a double stabbing Friday afternoon in the city’s East Liberty neighborhood. The stabbings were reported at 3:15 p.m. in the 6400 block of Centre Avenue. One female victim, who had superficial wounds to her arm, provided officers a description of a female suspect...

Police were justified in their fatal shooting of a man armed with a machete in a July 2 domestic incident in Ligonier Township, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole W. Ziccarelli said Friday. Westmoreland County detectives said Robbie Thomas Saunders, 59, aggressively approached two Ligonier Valley Police Department officers and was...

A Trafford man who was wanted on a warrant was arrested early Friday after a stolen license plate was discovered in his vehicle at Pittsburgh International Airport, Allegheny County police said. Dashawn Evans, 41, was charged with receiving stolen property and multiple traffic citations after police arrived at the airport...

A Johnstown couple has been charged in connection with the shooting death of a man whose body was discovered July 14 along an Indiana County road. State police have charged Justin Allen Green, 41, with homicide and robbery in the death of Daryl Vincent Lee Jr., 44, of Johnstown. Green...

Mosquitoes collected by the Allegheny Health Department in Mt. Oliver Borough and in the nearby Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Beltzhoover and South Side Slopes have tested positive for West Nile virus. The infected mosquitoes were collected on July 11 as part of the department’s Vector Control Program. County health officials said...

GetGo has set Aug. 16 as the planned opening date for its new Cafe + Market convenience store and gas station that is nearing completion on Greensburg’s South Main Street. Constructed on a lot formerly occupied by the closed Family Video store, just north of Euclid Avenue, the GetGo store...

Pennsylvania Turnpike travelers will see a 5% toll hike in January, continuing a 15-year trend of annual rate increases by the Turnpike Commission. The new toll rates are scheduled to take effect Jan. 7, equaling the most recent percentage increase, imposed earlier this year. Next year, the most common toll...

Veterans and their survivors are invited to attend a claims and enrollment fair Tuesday at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, to learn about benefits that have been expanded to cover more people who were exposed to toxic substances during military service. The Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System is sponsoring...

The First Commonwealth building at the southeast corner of Greensburg’s Pittsburgh and Main streets could be filled with a mix of 60 apartments and Airbnb units while the Barclay Building just to the north might house an entertainment or event venue. A neighboring three-story building to the south once occupied...

West Point Little League defeated visiting Latrobe 11-6 in the inaugural Ray Mello Classic softball game. The Mello Classic honors one of the local Hempfield-based league’s founding fathers and, fittingly, will be held annually on Father’s Day weekend. Organizers hope to expand next year’s event into a tournament involving multiple...

Greensburg Salem residents should see exterior improvements underway at the district middle school and at Offutt Field at about the time students are returning to classes for the fall semester. The school board this week awarded contracts to Hempfield-based C. H. & D. Enterprises for constructing a new outdoor basketball...

State Street will close Friday at Route 981 in Mt. Pleasant Township as construction continues on a new roundabout at that intersection. State Street is expected to remain closed through late July as crews from Walsh Construction Company complete a connection between the street and the roundabout that is set...

Reimagining the potential of downtown Greensburg took another step forward Monday. A group of national commercial real estate experts toured prominent vacant properties that long have bedeviled economic growth in the city’s business district. “They had some very general questions,” said Greensburg Councilman Randy Finfrock, who met with the group...

Shelby Frick, at 17, has witnessed doctors performing a rotator cuff surgery and she’s heard about ground-breaking medical research directly from the lips of Nobel laureates. The rising senior at Greensburg Salem High School had those experiences in June while attending a three-day Congress of Future Medical Leaders near Boston....

Ambulance crews that provide life-saving intervention are themselves in need of life support, industry officials said. Insufficient funding is one of the primary factors that prompted the abrupt closure of the Jeannette EMS ambulance service a week ago, said Randy Highlands, director of operations. It’s an outcome he fears other...