Jeff Himler stories, Page 84

A 21-year-old man will serve 50 to 100 years in prison for the attempted murder of two state troopers last year while they were driving him back to the state prison in Indiana County. Indiana County President Judge William J. Martin imposed the sentence Monday on Simere Maurice Alford. In...

Penn Middle School and Harrison Park Elementary in the Penn-Trafford School District will be closed through Friday after students at each school tested positive for the coronavirus. Students will receive remote instruction during that time. Penn-Trafford Superintendent Matthew Harris said Monday the closures are in keeping with covid-19 pandemic guidelines...

Fewer Pennsylvanians have applied so far this year to the state’s home heating assistance program than last year, but the need is still there. As of Wednesday, close to 230,000 people had sought assistance with heating bills through the 2020-21 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. That’s down from the roughly...

The Unity supervisors have hosted a community holiday celebration near the township municipal building, complete with a Christmas tree, since 2009. This year, in keeping with pandemic precautions, those attending stayed in their cars, greeted with a wave from Santa before dropping off letters to the jolly old elf and...

The Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet demonstration team is slated to return to Unity for next year’s air show at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Headquartered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Va., the Raptor previously participated in the Shop ’n Save Westmoreland County Airshow in 2016. The Raptor provides...

Financial contributions leveraged by a state tax credit program will help the Westmoreland County Blind Association renovate part of its South Greensburg center to better meet the needs of the disabled adults it serves. The organization this week was awarded $46,500 through Pennsylvania’s Neighborhood Assistance Program. Three area financial institutions...

Allegheny County Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with a fatal November shooting in Wilkinsburg. Elyzah Cecil King-Bradley is charged with criminal homicide in the death of Emanuel Deshawn Johnson, 35, who was found dead inside a vehicle after county police responded to the shooting shortly before 8...

State grants will help to upgrade traffic signals at intersections in Penn Township and in Penn Hills. PennDOT’s Automated Red Light Enforcement program has awarded $325,000 to Penn Township, to replace an obsolete traffic light at Route 130 and Route 993 (Walnut Street). Penn Hills will use its grant of...

For the first time, paid parking will be introduced at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport — although plenty of free spaces will remain. A new ticketing system for a preferred parking lot closest to the terminal at the Unity airport could be in place early next year, said Gabe Monzo, executive...

Money made available through a Pennsylvania tax-credit program will help the Westmoreland County Food Bank install a needed sprinkler system at its warehouse and offices in Salem. The food bank this week was awarded $15,200 through the Neighborhood Assistance Program. The program is providing a tax credit to PNC Bank,...

Pandemic precautions mean kids may not get to sit on Santa’s lap this year. But there are several area options for families to have a drive-thru encounter with the jolly old elf, in a socially distanced take on the holiday tradition. Unity Instead of its usual Deck the Tree holiday...

Things are expected to get ugly Dec. 12 in the village of Crabtree. But that’s just fine with Julie Watkins and Kathy Kuhns. They’re organizing the second annual St. Bartholomew Church Ugly Christmas Sweater 5K and 2-Mile Walk for 11 a.m. that day. About 150 participants came from as far...

Students at Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center will move to full-time remote instruction on Monday as Westmoreland County has experienced several weeks with a “substantial” level of covid-19 transmission and cases have been on the rise. Full remote instruction also is underway or imminent at the three school districts...

PennDOT will hold a virtual meeting this month for the public to review and comment on plans for the northern section of the proposed Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project. The project proposes an alternate, improved alignment for 11 miles of the Route 981 corridor, between Route 819 in Mt. Pleasant...

A state loan of $2.25 million could bring more than 100 new jobs to the RIDC Westmoreland industrial complex near New Stanton. The low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority to the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania will help with a proposed $5.6 million renovation. The work...

Greater Latrobe School Board has voted to switch to full-time remote instruction for all students from Friday through Jan. 18, as covid-19 cases in Westmoreland County continue to rise. The district had most recently been offering students the options of either in-person instruction five days per week or full-time remote...

A staff member at Greater Latrobe Senior High has died of complications of covid-19, according to the school district. Superintendent Georgia Teppert stated in an email sent to district faculty and staff on Thanksgiving Day that district officials learned Terri Sherwin, a senior high secretary, died Wednesday evening from covid-19...

The Diocese of Pittsburgh has suspended in-person Masses at eight churches in East Pittsburgh neighborhoods after a member of the parish clergy team tested positive for a covid-19 infection. The suspension, which extends through Dec. 4, affects churches in the newly formed St. Joseph the Worker Parish — including St....

Westmoreland County remained in the “substantial” level of covid-19 transmission this week, as it has been for more than a month. As health officials expressed concern about the transmission risk related to Thanksgiving holiday travel and gatherings, Westmoreland ended the most recent seven-day period with a case level of 321.2...

A Monday evening fire at an East Pittsburgh apartment complex displaced residents of three dwellings and injured one of them. The man suffered from smoke inhalation and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to C.J. Kaminsky, chief of the Rivers Edge Fire Department. The cause of the...

The Jeannette community is mourning the loss of Dana Hall, a secretary at Jeannette City School District, who died over the weekend of covid-19 complications. Jeannette football Coach Roy Hall said that his sister-in-law was last at work a week and a half ago, before she became ill. The 55-year-old...

School districts in Westmoreland, Armstrong and Allegheny counties have until 5 p.m. Nov. 30 to switch to full remote instruction or affirm that they are complying with the state’s covid-19 safety measures. Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine announced the new directive Monday for all public schools...