Megan Tomasic stories, Page 67

A Hempfield Township road was reopened Wednesday after being closed since February. Route 3101, also known as Keystone Avenue, closed Feb. 7 so a bridge running over Jack’s Run could be replaced, according to PennDOT. A posted detour took drivers from Route 119 South to Route 3099, or Willow Crossing...

More than $43,000 was handed out to nine Westmoreland County fire departments Saturday in the form of new turnout gear, college tuition reimbursement and physicals. Part of the $4.3 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant, or SAFER, which was awarded to Westmoreland County fire departments in September...

Hempfield area students can soon bring their app ideas to fruition, thanks to a new program offered at the middle schools. App Creator by Project Lead the Way teaches eighth grade students how to design, code and program an application that is used on smartphones, aimed at solving real world...

At least one incumbent is out of the Hempfield Area School Board race. Eleven candidates fighting for five open seats ousted Paul Adams, who in this week’s primary received almost 9% of the votes on the Republican ballot and over 10% on the Democratic ballot. “I think there’s some very...

Two newcomers are fighting for a spot on Hempfield’s Board of Supervisors and are set to face two incumbents in the general election. Scott Graham and Daniel Kremer, both Democrats, will compete against Republican incumbents Tom Logan and Doug Weimer in November. “I feel very good,” said Graham, who received...

Hempfield Area School District officials are trying to limit the number of positions cut in a proposed budget for the 2019-20 school year. Last week, school board members unanimously passed a preliminary budget that cut six positions, including five paraprofessionals and one building aide, but did not raise property taxes....

Hempfield Area middle schools will soon offer a field hockey program for girls. During Monday’s school board meeting, members voted 6-3 to implement a field hockey team at the middle-school level, adding teams to Harrold, Wendover and West Hempfield middle schools. School board members Scott Learn, Paul Ward and Christopher...

PennDOT employees from Allegheny County were honored Monday for their work in quickly reopening Route 30 after a portion of the road in East Pittsburgh plummeted about 40 feet down a steep hill in April 2018. The 10 employees were awarded the Governor’s Awards for Excellence for “exemplary service to...

Eleven people were charged over the past several days in a roundup of people from Cambria, Indiana and Westmoreland counties suspected of making and using methamphetamines, police said. Lead by state police in Indiana, the investigation led police to what they said was an active meth lab in the Vintondale,...

Hempfield Area School Board candidates have one thought ahead of Tuesday’s primary — property taxes. With 11 people vying for five empty seats, candidates are looking to make changes to the board, increase security at schools and improve the budget that has sent property taxes on the rise over the...

Howard and Frances Loflin were the “classic American couple,” according to daughter Stephanie Mulligan. “All of our friends tell me that my parents showed them what true love and marriage was like when they grew up in homes that didn’t have love,” Mulligan said. Meeting in kindergarten in Oberlin, Ohio,...

Long-discussed fire and police issues have six candidates at odds for two open supervisor seats in Hempfield. The debate over how to fill empty volunteer positions in the fire departments and an upcoming New Jersey-based Insurance Services Office Inc., or ISO, rating has dominated board discussions the past few months....

A soon-to-be open medical marijuana dispensary in Westmoreland County is looking for employees. RISE Latrobe, which will be located on on Beatty Country Road in Unity Township, is hosting a job fair to find eligible employees for hourly retail staff, including patient care specialists and shift supervisors. On Thursday ,...

Hempfield is kicking off its Summer Concert Series with the grand opening of its new amphitheater this weekend. Normally filled with kids playing sports and families enjoying the walking trail and pavilions, Hempfield Park will be home to bands, food trucks and lawn chairs. Work on the Hempfield Smail Auto...

The Hempfield Township Parks and Recreation department was nationally recognized by the United States Air Force. According to Aaron Siko, parks and recreation director, the Air Force is allowed to use township facilities at no charge, including fields, pavilions and the athletic complex. The Air Force uses the facilities for...

Several Westmoreland and Allegheny county schools were awarded grants recently as part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s School Breakfast Initiative. The initiative, which is providing more than 150 schools with grants up to $5,000 this year, is aimed at giving students a healthy breakfast. About $592,000 in grants were given to...

Several Penn-Trafford School District alumni are up in arms over a perceived racist video of an active shooter drill at the high school. The video, posted on Twitter, shows a man — who some believe was serving as the active shooter — wearing what appears to be a keffiyeh, or...

With their K’NEX pieces in tow, four Hempfield elementary school students are set to build a functioning crane during Friday’s statewide competition in Harrisburg. The K’NEX State Competition, a yearly event that uses the toy construction system, requires students to build a crane that can move three objects at least...

Fewer buses will be used next year to shuttle Hempfield Area students, continuing a trend of the past four years. Budget cuts and decreasing student enrollment led to 44 buses being allotted for the district next year, six fewer than were used last year. The change will impact high school...

Patricia Walker did not know she was opening doors for future generations when she stepped foot on a train that would take her to San Antonio, Texas, in 1950. The then 17-year-old made a decision about her life — rather than follow in the footsteps of a lot of young...

A new track could be in Hempfield Area School District’s future, but it all boils down to the undersurface. A test done by Advantage Engineers will tell school directors if the undersurface of the track is crumbling and needs replaced, said Sonya Brajdic, school board president. “We already did one...

A new system could make communication easier among teachers and parents at Hempfield Area School District. Remind, an application that can be used on a smartphone or through a district email, would allow teachers to interact with students in specific classes, send reminders for homework or notify parents in case...

Hempfield Area School District’s proposed 2019-20 budget would reduce six positions — five paraprofessionals and one building aide — and saves district residents from yet another property tax increase. School board members voted unanimously to move forward with a budget of more than $98.1 million budget. The budget sets taxes...

While officials work to steer development in Hempfield, they want to maintain some of the charm from the once-sprawling farming landscape when miles of grain fields and pastures were dotted by small patch towns. Years of commercial and residential development has permanently altered much of that landscape, large swaths of...

Latrobe police are warning parents after some Greater Latrobe School District students were taken to the hospital for allegedly using vape pens, also known as e-cigarettes, to smoke marijuana, said police Chief John Sleasman. “We believe that marijuana is of a very high potency level,” Sleasman said. “The system or...