Jeff Himler stories, Page 89
Revolutionary War reenactors to fire up Living History Weekend at Compass Inn
Proctor’s Militia, a local Revolutionary War reenactment group, is returning to Laughlintown’s Compass Inn Saturday and Sunday for the site’s final Living History Weekend of the summer. Activities will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Scott Henry of Greensburg, captain of the unit,...
Tree falls on house in Murrysville
Firefighters responded Thursday night to Windgate Drive in Murrysville, where a tree fell on a house. There were no injuries reported, according to a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher. Crews responded at about 9:15 p.m. near the intersection of Stonecroft Street. Murrysville Volunteer Fire Co. 1 reported in a social media...
Man shot multiple times in Clairton
Allegheny County police are investigating a shooting Thursday evening in Clairton that sent a man to a local hospital with multiple wounds. The shooting was reported to county 911 dispatchers at about 6:45 p.m. in the 400 block of Halcomb Avenue. First responders found a man had been shot multiple...
Greater Latrobe increases pay to compete for substitute teachers
Greater Latrobe School Board this week approved a list of 76 substitute teachers and also increased their pay rate to stay competitive with neighboring districts. The board bumped daily pay for day-to-day substitutes from $90 to $110. Greater Latrobe business administrator Dan Watson said many other area districts already have...
Trauger Fire Department adds interest to loan from relief association; audit catches shortage
Trauger Volunteer Fire Department didn’t pay enough interest on two loans from its affiliated relief association, and other procedural requirements for borrowing about $9,700 were missed, according to a state audit. Once alerted to the problems with the loans, the department corrected them, according to state Auditor General Timothy DeFoor....
Doctors petition Greater Latrobe to reconsider mask-optional plan for schools
About a dozen local physicians have asked the Greater Latrobe School Board to switch to a mask requirement for the coming fall semester. Parents remain divided over the district’s existing policy to make their use optional. Dr. Elizabeth Cutrell, a pediatrician with a practice in Unity who is the mother...
Penn-Trafford, support staff union divided over contract terms, fact-finder’s recommendations
Penn-Trafford School District and a union representing 83 support staffers remain at odds over contract terms after the district rejected recommendations in a fact-finding report. Wages are among the issues where the two sides differ. The Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ contends that its members who are charged with...
Penn-Trafford makes masks optional inside district schoolsVideo
Wearing face masks will be optional this school year for Penn-Trafford students, staff and visitors inside district buildings. The school board adopted its policy Monday after hearing from residents on opposing sides of the issue. Assistant Superintendent Scott Inglese said the district will look into the possibility of seating students...
Farmers market at Keystone State Park sees resurgence under new management
The Keystone Farmers Market at Keystone State Park is regrouping this season under new management, following a year in hiatus during the covid-19 pandemic. Samantha Matter, who manages the market for the Friends of Keystone State Park volunteer organization, said participation by vendors was spotty at the beginning of the...
Unity to display plans for Wimmerton intersection upgrade
Unity officials are planning a Sept. 20 meeting to get public input on potential improvement of the intersection of Route 30 and Wimmerton Boulevard. The open house meeting is scheduled from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the township municipal building on Beatty County Road. Township Engineer Dan Schmitt said...
Latrobe historical society to screen film portraying community in 1937
In a two-part program, Latrobe Area Historical Society will present a documentary film produced in 1937 that depicts the people and places of the community in the period before World War II. Originally sponsored by Latrobe’s public school system, the silent black-and-white film includes images of local schoolchildren, businesses and...
Arnold Palmer airport gets $2.3M to offset covid-related costs
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is set to receive a federal grant of more than $2.3 million to help cover covid-19 mitigation costs. The money from the U.S. Department of Transportation may be used to reimburse pandemic-related expenses including staffing, cleaning costs and janitorial services, U.S. Rep. John Joyce (R-Blair County)...
Greensburg Salem approves mask ‘recommendation’ for new school year
When Greensburg Salem students and staff head back to class for the fall semester, they’ll have a choice on whether to wear masks inside schools. Some school board members, however, are concerned parents won’t realize students have that flexibility. As several parents voiced their objections to governmental mask mandates, the...
Man ID’d in pedestrian-car crash in Monroeville
A Pitcairn man was identified as the victim of a pedestrian-vehicle accident Wednesday night in Monroeville. Thomas Risko, 32, was pronounced dead at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at an area hospital, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner said. Risko was struck just before 6 p.m. at the intersection of Broadway Boulevard and...
Driver killed when tree falls as his vehicle passes by in Washington County
A driver in Washington County was killed when a tree fell on his vehicle during a severe storm Wednesday afternoon, officials said. Floyd Gregory Stephen, 53, of Follansbee, W.Va., was dead at the scene in Canton Township. According to the Washington County Coroner’s Office, the wreck occurred shortly before 2:30...
Car charging stations, ramp equipment among electric additions eyed at Arnold Palmer airport
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority wants to reduce the carbon footprint at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport by replacing some diesel-powered aircraft ramp equipment with electric-powered models. The authority also wants to install charging stations for those who drive electric cars to the airport, at routes 981 and 30 in Unity....
Arnold Palmer airport director optimistic after Spirit flights remain cancel-free so far this week
After a week of mostly canceled and delayed flights, Spirit Airlines’ service improved dramatically this week at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Spirit, the sole commercial carrier at the Unity airport, “had definite issues,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority. But he expressed confidence at the...
Citizens Bank set to close Ligonier, New Kensington, Ross branches
Citizens Bank is set to close branches in Ligonier Borough, Ross Township and New Kensington by early December. Bennett Griesmer, spokesman for Citizens Financial Group, confirmed the New Kensington branch, at 901 Fifth Ave., is slated to close Nov. 17, while additional closures are set for Dec. 7, at the...
Latrobe council meeting postponed due to lack of quorum
Latrobe Council’s monthly voting meeting has been postponed to Aug. 23 because the seven-member panel lacked a quorum to hold the session as regularly scheduled, on the second Monday of the month. The postponement was attributed to “reasons beyond our control” in a posting Monday on the city’s Facebook page....
Mock military engagement attracts all ages to anniversary event at Bushy Run BattlefieldVideo
Fred Lucas traveled from Bloomington, Ind., to help lead Graham’s Company of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment into battle in Penn Township. He joined dozens of other reenactors who converged on Bushy Run Battlefield Saturday and Sunday to replay the two-day 1763 engagement between British and American troops and their...
Turnpike crash near Donegal sends Florida man to Pittsburgh hospital
A Florida man was taken to a Pittsburgh trauma center after the truck he was driving overturned Saturday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Donegal, according to state police. Police said speed was a factor when Courtney Mills, 26, of Orlando, lost control of his westbound truck at 2:30 p.m. just...
Masks recommended, not required, at weekend Masses in Greensburg Diocese
Wearing of masks is recommended, but not required, for those attending Masses this weekend in the Greensburg Catholic Diocese, while covid-19 transmission in Westmoreland County has risen to a substantial level. Covid protocols will be a topic for discussion at Monday’s meeting of a diocesan committee that formed to address...
Remembering fallen of 14th Quartermaster focus of bike runVideo
Spc. Frank Keough of North Huntingdon was short but mighty, according to his sisters. At 5 feet, 5 inches, “He was always the smallest, but it didn’t stop him,” according to Denise Samuels of Irwin, one of eight siblings who grew up in the large Keough clan. “He was the...
Truck overturns, closing Interstate 70 westbound at New Stanton
The westbound lanes of Interstate 70 were closed for several hours in the vicinity of the Pennsylvania Turnpike interchange in New Stanton after a tractor-trailer overturned Saturday morning. The rig overturned on the off-ramp from the turnpike to I-70 shortly before 10 a.m., a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said. No...
Reenactment of 18th century battle returns to Bushy Run this weekend
After a year’s hiatus because of pandemic conditions, reenactors will gather this weekend at Bushy Run Battlefield in Penn Township to restage the clash between British and Native American forces that took place on the site in August 1763. The British victory at Bushy Run helped lift a Native American...
