Jeff Himler stories, Page 93
Greensburg Salem debates use of pandemic funding to restore librarians
Greensburg Salem School District officials are debating using federal pandemic relief money to temporarily cover restoration of recently eliminated librarian positions, which aren’t otherwise provided for under the 2021-22 budget, set to be approved Wednesday with no tax increase. According to district Business Manager J.R. Dzurica, Greensburg Salem received about...
Greater Latrobe OKs 1 mill tax hike, hears more concerns about future of foreign languages
Greater Latrobe School Board this week finalized a $57.7 million budget and 1-mill tax hike for 2021-22. It also heard continued concerns about a planned shift to online instruction for French and German language classes beginning in 2022-23. The tax increase, to 85 mills, would add $27 to the average...
Photo challenge focuses on importance of Pennsylvania pollinators
Photographers of all ages are invited to focus on some of the smallest, but most vital, players in the ecosystem by participating in the Pennsylvania Pollinator Photo Challenge. Contestants have until Aug. 13 to submit electronically a high-resolution image of a pollinator taken somewhere in Pennsylvania. The contest is sponsored...
Greater Latrobe staffers get new administrative roles at senior high, Mountain View Elementary
Greater Latrobe School District students will see some new but familiar faces in school offices this fall. Chad Krehlik, assistant principal at the senior high school, will take on a new role beginning July 1 as principal at Mountain View Elementary School. Krehlik has served with the district for 15...
Westmoreland airport authority OKs DeNunzio’s restaurant lease
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority on Tuesday approved a new lease with DeNunzio’s Italian Chophouse for the terminal restaurant space at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, despite a request from county Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher to delay the action. Thrasher questioned how the authority calculated the terms of the lease and...
Latrobe restricts on-street parking of RVs, trailers, boats, sets fine
Latrobe Council on Monday amended an ordinance to prohibit parking of recreational vehicles, unattached trailers and boats along city streets for extended periods. Residents are allowed to park RVs on the street in front of their property for up to 72 hours. An out-of-town visitor can park a similar vehicle...
Latrobe seeks federal rescue funds
Latrobe applied to the state Department of Community and Economic Development for the first of two years of fiscal recovery funding under the federal American Rescue Plan. City Manager Michael Gray said the city should receive about $419,000 in each of the two years, but guidelines for use of the...
Latrobe’s summer paving costs under budget; intersection work nearing an endVideo
Latrobe will spend $20,000 less than expected on its summer paving project, according to City Manager Michael Gray. But that work isn’t expected to take place until paving is complete on key downtown intersections undergoing improvement as part of a separate PennDOT effort. City council on Monday awarded the summer...
Greensburg Salem grad’s robotic farmhand keeps cattle fedVideo
If Brad Carr has his way, the time-consuming chore of feeding farm animals will be a thing of the past. For his recent senior project, the 2021 Greensburg Salem High School graduate created and programmed a prototype robot to automatically handle that task twice a day at his grandparents’ Lone...
Latrobe Little League gets replacement shed, field upgrade with help from Pittsburgh Pirates, othersVideo
Latrobe Little League players are fully equipped for this season’s games, thanks to some major league help. League officials welcomed representatives of Pirates Charities to Latrobe’s Legion Keener Park ballfield Friday to unveil a new equipment storage building and additional improvements. The work was made possible with the donation of...
Unity seeks funding for upgrade of Route 30 intersection, replacement of 4 bridges
Unity officials hope to leverage state and federal funding to help improve a hazardous intersection on Route 30 and to replace four deficient bridges. Township supervisors on Thursday authorized Dan Schmitt of engineering consultant Gibson-Thomas Engineering to apply for a grant from PennDOT’s Automated Red Light Enforcement funding program. They...
‘Happy ending for everyone’: Unity family to move flock to end chicken fight with township
A Unity couple is taking steps to move a flock of 20 hens and roosters from their home along Range Street, which would end a zoning chicken fight with township officials. Jeff Kuhns on May 26 filed a land-use appeal in Westmoreland County Court, seeking to reverse a decision by...
Greater Latrobe’s virtual pandemic-themed play honored with a Telly Award
Greater Latrobe Drama Club’s innovative approach that allowed the show to go on for last fall’s high school play was recognized with a Telly Award. The club and Headspace Media, the Latrobe firm that filmed the play “”Love… No Barriers” for an online presentation during the covid-19 pandemic, received a...
Greater Latrobe eyes proposed 1-mill tax hike, projected 2% increase in insurance costs
Greater Latrobe School Board next week will consider final approval of a proposed 2021-22 budget, including a 1.17% increase in spending and a 1-mill property tax hike meant to cover a projected revenue shortfall of $345,000. On Tuesday, the board also will look to renew district insurance coverages, with an...
Month-long food drive begins at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Visitors to Arnold Palmer Regional Airport will have an opportunity to donate non-perishable items to the Westmoreland County Food Bank during a food drive through July 10. Three marked collection bins will be placed in the terminal at the airport in Unity beginning Thursday. Most needed items include: peanut butter;...
Market, storytime attract all ages to Latrobe’s Legion Keener Park
Warm weather on Tuesday enticed local residents to explore activities at Latrobe’s Legion Keener Park. Children enjoyed a story time while patrons browsed the town’s weekly farmers market. About 90 kids combined attended two story sessions, sponsored by Adams Memorial Library and WQED as part of Latrobe’s Mister Rogers Family...
Meal deals offered during inaugural Greater Latrobe Restaurant Week
Officials with the Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce hope to provide a delicious week in the neighborhoods for those who visit Latrobe and surrounding communities this week. The chamber kicked off the inaugural Greater Latrobe Restaurant Week on Monday, modeling it after similar promotions in Greensburg and Pittsburgh....
GO Laurel Highlands seeks images for annual photo contest
Visitors to the Laurel Highlands expressed an increased interest in exploring the region’s outdoors this past year, amid the social distancing that was a priority during the height of the covid-19 pandemic. Wherever their interests have led them, visitors and residents alike who captured images of their surroundings will have...
Ligonier’s Bethlen Communities reopens wellness center, makes changes at 100 yearsVideo
A new chapter has begun in the 100-year history of Ligonier’s Bethlen Communities. Founded by the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America, the nonprofit’s mission long ago shifted from caring for the orphans of miners killed in a 1907 explosion in Rostraver to serving the needs of more than 180 older...
Latrobe party supply shop set to expand with move to former church outreach center
Paper Heart Affairs, a Latrobe party supply shop, is preparing for expansion, with a move around the corner to a former church outreach center. Emily Pasqualino is planning a moving sale at the store’s current location, 337 Main St., from Wednesday through Saturday, June 12, during the town’s Mister Rogers...
Saltsburg Canal Days festival returns with parade, fireworks, cookie contest
The annual Saltsburg Canal Days festival is back this weekend after going on hiatus in 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic. The event, which features a parade, entertainment, vendor booths and fireworks, will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday and continue at noon Sunday. The largest annual happening in Saltsburg, it celebrates...
Passenger numbers soar at Arnold Palmer airport; air show proceeds likely to disappoint
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport closed May 2021 with the highest passenger numbers during that calendar month that it has seen in six years. But the Unity airport also ended the month with an air show that was hampered by poor weather and ticket sales that turned out to be less...
Latrobe’s Mister Rogers Family Days expands to weeklong format
Latrobe again will celebrate the legacy of native son Fred Rogers with activities and entertainment in the town where the iconic television host grew up. Inspired by the classic “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” series and today’s animated “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” show, weeklong activities from Monday through June 12 will include a...
Latrobe will celebrate Fourth of July with fireworks, inaugural car cruise
Latrobe won’t have a Fourth of July parade this year but is planning a number of holiday activities for July 3, including fireworks and a car cruise. The inaugural Fourth of July Celebration car cruise is set for 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Stadium parking lot. The...
Unity’s return to Latrobe-area rec board official; planners look for program growthVideo
Latrobe-GLSD Parks and Recreation is getting a new name, along with an additional municipal member — Unity Township. Officials from the township, the City of Latrobe and Greater Latrobe School District this week signed a 10-year agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, solidifying their new recreational partnership. The agreement restores Unity...
