Megan Tomasic stories, Page 42

Weeks before students are expected to return to school, some districts are scrapping reopening plans in an effort to match state guidance and to account for spikes in coronavirus cases. At least two area districts, Franklin Regional and Bethel Park, drastically altered health and safety plans school leaders worked on...

As in-person counting efforts kick off across the country for the decennial census, bureau officials are working to keep staff and members of the public safe from the coronavirus. “Participation in 2020 census interviews should present a low risk of transmission of covid-19,” according to the Census Bureau. In-person enumerators...

Hempfield plans to proceed with fall sports despite Gov. Tom Wolf’s recommendation they be delayed until 2021. In a letter posted on the district’s website, Superintendent Tammy Wolicki wrote school officials plan to move forward with their athletic health and safety plan passed by the board in June. The plan...

The public has its first chance to tour the new dealer school at Westmoreland Mall this weekend, which is slated to produce employees for the casino under construction at the Hempfield facility. From 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, those interested in the school can speak with experienced table game dealers...

The Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania issued a warning regarding potential phishing scams related to the census. The census, which determines how federal funds are distributed along with the number of congressional seats each state is allocated, has been sending emails encouraging people to respond to the once-a-decade survey...

Thousands of Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure participants may not be gathering in Schenley Park this year, but event organizers are not letting that stop their mission. The race, which typically draws 15,000 people to the Flagstaff Hill section of the park, will celebrate its 28th year virtually, said...

Hempfield Area School District has a new assistant superintendent for the 2020-21 school year. Kimberlie Rieffannacht was approved unanimously by the school board this week for the assistant superintendent of elementary education position. The job was previously held by Matthew Conner who was named assistant superintendent for secondary education last...

Local communities could be left scrambling after the Census Bureau confirmed there will be one less month to collect population counts vital for determining how federal funds are dispersed and the number of representatives each state has in Congress. The final date for collecting the once-a-decade survey is Sept. 30...

Hempfield Area School District officials laid out additional details regarding a proposed reopening plan that will be voted on next week. During a special meeting Monday, district officials discussed ways to handle positive coronavirus cases that may occur if classes begin through a blended approach starting Aug. 27. According to...

In an unprecedented move, leaders with the Census Bureau are cutting short in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census, efforts that largely impact hard-to-count populations. The decision, reported by NPR, moves the deadline for in-person census surveys from Oct. 31 to Sept. 30, potentially leaving some communities with uncounted residents...

For the second time this year, Mutual Aid Ambulance Service is expanding into new territory. The Greensburg-based company is now the exclusive provider of emergency medical services for the 44 square miles of Bullskin in Fayette County. Bullskin supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to implement the changes to the area that...

The Census Bureau is making one last effort to contact people who have not yet responded to the once-a-decade survey by sending out emails. Households in low-responding census tracts will receive an email from 2020census@subscriptions.census.gov encouraging people to fill out the form online, as well as informing them why the...

Several Pennsylvania commissions are denouncing an executive memorandum signed by President Donald Trump last week that seeks to bar people who are in the United States illegally from filling out the census, the once-a-decade survey that determines federal funding and congressional seats. Trump, who signed the memorandum July 21, said...

A Pennsylvania lawmaker is calling for the elimination of “unnecessary” taxes on legal sportsbook operators. Regulated sports betting operators are required by the Internal Revenue Code to pay a 0.25% federal excise tax on all wagers as well as a $50 annual tax for every employee engaged in receiving bets,...

A manufacturing company hoping to set up shop in Hempfield’s Westmoreland County Technology Park II is in the final phases of purchasing almost 11 acres of property. According to Jason Rigone, executive director of the county’s Industrial Development Corporation, Red Fish, which represents the start-up company Fossil Industries, reached a...

Marijuana manufacturing and processing facilities wanting to open up shop in Hempfield are restricted to specific areas of the township. During Monday’s public meeting, supervisors voted to limit where the facilities can open to agricultural, light industrial and heavy industrial zones by special exception. It was one of several changes...

Power was expected to be restored by about 6:30 a.m. to the last of the homes affected by Monday’s storm-related outages, according to the West Penn Power website. There are about 40 customers without electricity in Westmoreland County and less than 10 in Allegheny County, after storms rolled through the...

When Dick Thornburgh witnessed the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act 30 years ago, he knew his son’s life would be changed forever. The Pittsburgh native and former Republican Pennsylvania governor was the U.S. attorney general at the time. Leading the Justice Department, he was integral in working out...

Hempfield supervisors are looking to create a nonprofit organization that would assist with funding for the township’s fire department. Supervisors are expected to take the first steps in creating the Hempfield Township Fire Relief Association, which will be a charitable wing to support the volunteer fire service. “A nonprofit corporation...

Cries from across the country claiming constitutional rights are being stripped away by mask requirements might not be as valid as some people think. Mask requirements, put in place to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, are being challenged with lawsuits claiming they violate the Americans with Disabilities Act....