Jeff Himler stories, Page 87

Hempfield Area High School is closed Tuesday through Friday after three students tested positive for the coronavirus. School administrators were notified of the positive cases over the weekend, according to a letter to parents from Superintendent Tammy Wolicki, posted Sunday on the district website. During the five-day closure, all students...

Loyalhanna Watershed Association is going online with its 36th annual art auction, a major fundraiser for the organization based near Ligonier. The benefit event, slated Saturday through Oct. 24, features 24 nationally known and local artists. In recent years, it has drawn close to 200 people to the Latrobe Country...

Jacobs Creek Watershed Association is partnering with West Overton Village, taking up residence at one of the historic site’s restored buildings while working to improve a stream on the property. The watershed group in August moved its headquarters from an office in the Scottdale Borough building to a former worker’s...

Unity Township is looking for a replacement auditor after a member of that elected board resigned and took on a new role as the township’s part-time code enforcement officer. The township supervisors on Thursday accepted the resignation of Greg Fumea from the three-member board of auditors and hired him to...

Ligonier Township was awarded a $42,500 state grant toward the cost of renovating the former Ligonier Beach swimming pool and restaurant as a recreational site. “It’s nice that we got this funding, but it wasn’t the total amount we wanted,” said Terry Carcella, township manager. While township supervisors have yet...

Mt. Pleasant Area students next month will be able to double the number of days they receive in-person instruction from district teachers. The school board voted at a special Wednesday meeting to modify the district’s hybrid instructional model, allowing students to report to classrooms four days per week instead of...

Westbound motorists looking to leave Interstate 70 at the Yukon exit will have to jump off earlier, at the neighboring Madison exit, when reconstruction of the Yukon off-ramp begins Monday . The ramp in South Huntingdon is slated to close at 12:01 a.m. and is expected to remain closed through...

A student at Mountain View Elementary School tested positive for coronavirus, but the school will remain open for in-person classes. Greater Latrobe School District Superintendent Georgia Teppert reported the positive test result in a letter to district parents posted on the district website. She said district officials were notified of...

Area craft breweries and distilleries will join a mix of food offerings and live music Friday and Saturday for the Loyalhanna Watershed Association’s first Oktoberfest. Based at the Watershed Farm, on the western outskirts of Ligonier, the event is taking the place of the organization’s Brewfest, introduced last summer but...

Students at Derry Area’s middle school and high school could return to classrooms full-time this month, according to a revised health and safety plan approved by the school board. The board voted 5-2 Thursdayto provide in-person instruction for secondary students five days per week, beginning Oct. 12, or on the...

Greater Latrobe elementary students soon will be able to sleep in a little longer. Superintendent Georgia Teppert announced student arrival times at the district’s three elementary schools will be pushed back by about 40 minutes, beginning Oct. 12. Elementary buses have been arriving between 8:20 a.m. and 8:40 a.m., Teppert...

Volunteers are needed more than ever while area organizations cope with the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic. The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania has responded by organizing its first Week of Caring, running through Oct. 10. More than 700 volunteers have signed up to participate in 75 in-person and virtual...

Derry Area School Board is expected to consider a full-time return to in-class instruction for secondary students at its meeting tonight. Superintendent Eric Curry said his proposal to the board is based on the advice of local medical professionals who also have provided guidance for neighboring Greater Latrobe School District....

Pennsylvania’s 814 area code, the largest geographically, is getting a second overlay code, to ensure a sufficient supply of phone numbers for residents and businesses there. The new code — 582 — eventually will require dialing a 10-digit number to reach a party in the large area that extends from...

Latrobe Council members have had the choice of attending their meetings in person or via a remote online connection during the past several months of the coronavirus pandemic. Whether, or how, that policy should continue once the health crisis is over has divided council as it considers a proposed ordinance...

Officials with Pennsylvania’s West Nile virus control program reported the first positive case of the virus this year among mosquitoes sampled in Westmoreland County. The case was identified in a sample taken the second week of September in Greensburg — as the seasonal virus surveillance and testing program was approaching...

Latrobe residents should expect to see their first bills for the city’s new storm water management fee next year, but city officials are considering an extended due date for payment. At its October meeting, city council will consider amending its storm water code ordinance to move the billing date to...

Pennsylvania’s unemployed eventually will submit compensation claims on a weekly basis instead of every other week. But that planned shift, and arrival of online dashboard access to unemployment compensation account information, are on hold while the state Department of Labor & Industry catches up with a backlog of pandemic-related claims...

Detective Sgt. John F. Swank Jr. often dealt with grim circumstances during his 19 years with the Greensburg Police Department. Yet, the 51-year-old Greensburg man, who died Saturday in the emergency room of Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital, will be remembered for his upbeat personality. “As good of a cop as...

A couple who had to be cut from their overturned Honda crossover vehicle and a male motorist in a van were taken to a local hospital after being involved in a collision Sunday morning on Route 22 in Salem. The crash was reported just before 10:30 a.m., at the intersection...

Six National Guard members arrived Sunday morning at Westmoreland Manor and began assisting with testing for covid-19 infections at the nursing home. They are expected to remain at the home at least until Tuesday. The Guard members responded to a request for help Thursday by county officials, following a spike...

The stage at Irwin’s Lamp Theatre, silent during the past months of covid-19 pandemic restrictions, will awaken with a sermon and songs Sunday morning. Grace Collective, a newly formed independent church, has rented the theater for its second large gathering of members, in a service set to begin at 10...