Megan Tomasic stories, Page 75

Almost $1 million was given to Pennsylvania colleges to help end sexual assault on campuses, including ones in Westmoreland County and Western Pennsylvania. Originally started by President Obama as a national movement, “It’s On Us PA,” headed by Gov. Tom Wolf, has donated almost $3 million in grants to colleges...

School districts across Westmoreland County are banding together to have their voices heard on the state level. Through the Committee on Legislative Action, or COLA, local superintendents will learn how proposed bills and laws could affect education in the county. The group, started by the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit — a...

Thousands of people squeezed into the pews of Central Baptist Church, excitement building as others lined the walls and the overflow crowd spilled out the doors onto Wylie Avenue in the Hill District. Martin Luther King Jr. stood in the sanctuary, preparing to give a highly anticipated speech to Pittsburgh...

Bill Driscoll never thought he’d be able to hunt again, let alone clear snow from his driveway. As an active member in the community and Navy veteran who served in Desert Storm, Driscoll, 52, enjoyed coaching wrestling, working at a power plant and spending time outdoors. But a multiple sclerosis...

A missing 11-year-old girl has returned home, according to Pittsburgh police. Ava Scott went missing on Thursday. She had last been seen around 2 p.m. when she walked away from Clayton Academy in the city’s Perry North neighborhood. Police said around 8 a.m. Friday that Scott “has been located and...

Several reports of car break-ins in Greensburg are being investigated, police said. According to a post on the department’s Facebook page, break-ins have occurred over the past few days in the Academy Hill area of the city. Surveillance footage taken 2 a.m. Thursday shows three people wearing hoods walking up...

Anyone traveling by rail this weekend is encouraged to check Amtrak’s schedule as officials make some of the first cancellations ahead of the expected winter storm. The storm has caused cancellation of several Pittsburgh-area trains on Sunday. The Pennsylvanian Service, from New York to Philadelphia to Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, has...

Don’t be sad, Pittsburgh, that the Steelers never made the playoffs this season. Now you have another reason to root against the hated New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. If the Patriots lose this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Goodwill will offer a 30 percent discount...

“Don’t Stop Believin’” will help ring in the first fundraiser of 2019 for the annual Relay for Life of Norwin. On Feb.1, Bon Journey, a Bon Jovi and Journey tribute band, will take the stage at Antonelli’s Event Center in Irwin, raising money for the fight against cancer. Safety Last,...

William Vaglia remembers his mom donning the Cub Scouts uniform and taking him to his meetings, a uniform she recently dusted off for her young nephew. “Not a lot of 70-year-old grandmothers get into uniforms and do the Cub Scouts thing,” Vaglia said. But Patricia McDonald always strived to go...

More millennials could soon call Westmoreland County home if things called for in a new comprehensive plan adopted by county commissioners come to fruition. The plan, presented during Thursday’s 2019 State of the County luncheon, aims at making Westmoreland more attractive to young professionals by upgrading downtown areas and creating...

Living Treasures Wild Animal Park is doing something different with this year’s $15,000 in tourism grant money — they’re bringing in rare, popcorn-scented animals known as binturongs. Owner Tom Guiher was prepared to pick up the three Southeast Asian animals Wednesday after nearly $475,000 was awarded to local tourism-based businesses...

Residents in the Mt. Pleasant area are about to have another health and fitness option. Planet Fitness is set to open its doors this fall at the former Big Lots location along Crossroads Plaza Road next to Save-A-Lot and Tractor Supply Co. in East Huntingdon. The 10,000-square-foot gym will offer...

Families in a South Union neighborhood awoke Tuesday to sirens and flashing lights as fire trucks and ambulances responded to a house fire that killed a young brother and sister. RyLeigh, 7, and Gunner Weasenforth, 5, were pronounced dead at the South Mt. Vernon Avenue home, Fayette County Coroner Phillip...

Landslides and washed out roads have plagued counties across the region since early last year, and Lowber Road in Sewickley Township is not immune. At the intersection of Lowber and Cool Springs roads, a gaping hole has impacted water lines, commute times and garbage pickup for several residents — a...

John Plischke often found himself in nature either hunting or fishing — but mainly surrounded by mushrooms. As founding member and past president of the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club, Plischke worked to bring other mushroom fanatics together as one of the first fungus-based organizations in the area, but not without...

After a Crescent Township man died this week from injuries sustained in a snowboarding accident at Seven Springs, officials from the popular Western Pennsylvania resort stress that safety is “paramount” for its guests. Matthew Camacho-Cook, 35, died Thursday at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, where he was taken Dec....