Megan Tomasic stories, Page 30

The Whitney-Hostetter Volunteer Fire Department will cease operations as it merges with the nearby Youngstown fire department, officials announced Monday. The newly formed Youngstown-Whitney Volunteer Fire Department will continue to be known as Station 39. The merger, announced on the Youngstown department’s Facebook page, was a years-long process, according to...

Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners are hosting an information session this week about covid-19 vaccines. The goal of the session, hosted by Commissioners Doug Chew and Sean Kertes, is to help residents understand vaccine development. Scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the event will feature Dr. Sharon Riddler, a professor...

More than a year after Hempfield leaders began the process of creating a single department, the North Hempfield station has become the first chartered member of the Hempfield Township Fire Department. During a meeting last week, supervisors unanimously authorized an agreement of acquisition with the North Hempfield Volunteer Fire Company...

Tucked into a quiet corner of Seton Hill University’s campus is a now empty space that once bustled with visitors hoping to get a peek at the shrine for St. Philomena. The shrine, protected by a triangular structure made of stainless steel and limestone, was erected on land originally owned...

Young anglers have a chance to try their hand at trout fishing this weekend during the statewide Mentored Youth Trout Fishing Day. Scheduled for Saturday, anglers age 15 and younger will have the opportunity to hit lakes and streams across the state prior to the opening of trout season on...

Two people were injured after a tree fell onto a car Friday, a North Huntingdon dispatcher confirmed. The incident, which occurred in the 2700 block of Morris Avenue in North Huntingdon, involved one vehicle. Crews responded to the area around 11:35 a.m. According to the dispatcher, both people were taken...

Real estate professionals with the U.S. Postal Service are searching for “alternate quarters” after the post office in the Hempfield village of Wendel shuttered last month, officials said. The post office, located at 369 Wendel Rd., closed Feb. 13 because the Postal Service lost its lease on the building, officials...

In honor of his time as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, Arnold Palmer’s name will live on at a California training center. Palmer, who died in 2016, was a Latrobe native and professional golfer who served as a yeoman in the Coast Guard from 1951-53. Now, yeoman trainees...

Hempfield is hiring a fire inspector. During Monday’s meeting, township supervisors unanimously voted to advertise for the position. The successful applicant will be responsible for inspecting commercial properties to ensure there are no fire related issues, according to township manager Jason Winters. The person hired will be a township employee...

After last year’s ceremony was largely upended due to the covid-19 pandemic, leaders with Seton Hill University are working to ensure the class of 2020 will be celebrated during the 2021 commencement ceremony. In a letter sent to members of the Seton Hill community, university President Mary Finger said, “While...

Rescue 14 EMS in Adamsburg will officially close next week as part of the station’s merger with Greensburg-based Mutual Aid Ambulance Service. Hempfield fire Chief Tony Kovacic confirmed the entity will stop responding to calls on April 1, when Mutual Aid will take over. Township leaders also are in the...

Hempfield Area School Board unanumously agreed to raise the hourly pay rate for nurse assistants in the midst of the the covid-19 pandemic, from $17.90 per hour to $19.90 per hour. “Nurse assistants are critical to the operation of our schools, especially during a pandemic,” said Superintendent Tammy Wolicki. “We...

A Wisconsin man is facing charges in Westmoreland County after police say he drove to Vandergrift to meet with a minor. Ethan William Haley, 22, was arrested Monday after Vandergrift police found him with a teenage boy, whom Haley told police he had driven from Wisconsin to meet, according to...

For Shannen Stolkovich, participating in the Westmoreland Interscholastic Reading Competition is more than just an opportunity to show her competitive side. The event, which includes students from districts across the region, also is a way for the 16-year-old junior at Greensburg Salem High School to touch on a childhood passion...

As Pennsylvania officials work to roll back the number of covid-19 vaccine providers in an effort to streamline the process, several businesses across the region have learned they are slated to no longer receive first doses. Efforts to curtail the number of providers began in February, when Acting Secretary of...

More than 5,000 appointments for the covid-19 vaccine will be available next week through two area Mainline Pharmacy Group locations. Bushy Run Pharmacy, in Penn Township, and Blairsville Pharmacy, in Indiana County, have appointments available for those who qualify in phase 1A of the state’s vaccination plan. This phase includes...

The Luxor Volunteer Fire Department station in Hempfield will close this weekend as officials merge with nearby Bovard Fire Department. Hempfield Fire Chief Tony Kovacic confirmed during Wednesday’s supervisors meeting that the station “will stop responding” to calls starting Saturday. Those calls will be covered by the Bovard and Hannastown...

Several hundred gizzard shad fish were found dead in Saint Vincent Lake this week, officials with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission confirmed. An officer from the Southwest Regional Law Enforcement office was notified Monday of the fish kill, according to Mike Parker, spokesman for the commission. Parker said the...

Fewer students expressed interest in attending Hempfield’s cyber program next school year compared to those currently enrolled. Initial results from a survey sent to parents last month show 130 students across the district are interested in attending the Hempfield Area Cyber Academy or Edgenuity, which allows students to complete courses...

Hempfield Area School District will buy 500 new Chromebook laptops for use by next year’s high school students. During Monday’s school board meeting, board members unanimously voted to authorize the business office to advertise and seek proposals for the purchase of the Chromebooks. Board member Sonya Brajdic was absent from...

Leaders in the Hempfield Area School District have laid out a schedule for when high school students will return to in-person classes five days a week. Starting March 26, senior students will be the first to fully return as part of the phased reopening. They will be followed by the...

Seven people were displaced after a fire broke out in a Hazelwood home Thursday afternoon. Crews with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire responded to row houses on the 200 block of Glenwood Avenune around 1:40 p.m. where they were able to quickly extinguish a two-alarm fire, according to Pittsburgh Public...

American history essay winners announced Two Penn Township area students were named winners of the 2020-21 American History Essay Contest hosted by the Phoebe Bayard Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Trixie Lim, a sixth-grade student at Aquinas Academy, and Chloe Walton, an eighth-grade student at Penn Middle School, were...