Patrick Varine stories, Page 9
Work crew strikes gas line near Monessen High School
Monessen High School was evacuated after contractors accidentally struck a gas line Thursday morning, according to county emergency officials. Westmoreland County 911 received a call around 10:20 a.m. that a crew working near the high school had damaged a gas line connecting the school to the main Peoples Natural Gas...
Mike Tyson headlines next Steel City Con in Monroeville
Attendees at next month’s Steel City Con in Monroeville will have a chance for an autograph or photo op with one of the legends of the boxing world. Mike Tyson will be among the celebrities appearing at the convention, set for Aug. 8-10 at the Monroeville Convention Center. In addition...
Heat index may jump above 100 degrees; rain coming this weekend, forecasters say
Extreme heat is back with temperatures expected soar past 90 degrees Thursday, according to Jared Rackley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon. Pockets of the region could see a heat index — that’s how hot it feels taking the humidity into account — above 100 degrees on...
Monroeville area: Car cruise, upcoming festivals, Steel City Con, more
Car cruise The Rev’d Up Car Cruise will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 27 in Monroeville. It will be at 101 Mall Blvd., and the afternoon will feature new and vintage cars, food trucks, live music and more. Those seeking to display a car can register...
Murrysville seeks funding help to upgrade Route 22 signal coordination
Murrysville officials want to upgrade the adaptive system used to coordinate Route 22 traffic lights through the town’s commercial corridor. “The system we have in place is about 12 years old, and we think it’s run its course,” Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico told council at its meeting this week....
Staffing agency owner sentenced after employing, harboring illegal workers
A Belle Vernon man was sentenced to more than two years in jail and must pay a $3.6 million fine after pleading guilty to running a temporary staffing agency that provided workers who were living illegally in the United States. Federal prosecutors said Andy Ha, 28, also failed to pay...
Pittsburgh man charged with selling crystal meth, illegal firearm in North Huntingdon
A Pittsburgh man is charged with selling methamphetamine and an AR-15 rifle to an informant, according to North Huntingdon police. Chad T. Chamberlin, 51, of the city’s Bloomfield neighborhood, was charged with drug possession with intent to deliver, and possession of a firearm with an altered manufacturing number. In May,...
Mine-related sinkhole opens in Monessen
The 3-by-3-foot steel plate on State Road in Monessen may not look like much, but what it covers underground is much larger. Monessen officials have issued an emergency declaration in order to address a 12-by-15 hole caused by mine subsidence. “It almost looks like one of the old mine ‘portal’...
Irwin man charged with more than 100 counts of child pornography possession
An Irwin man has been charged with possession of more than 100 images and videos of child pornography, state police said Monday Joshua D. Ward, 34, of Third Street, is charged with 110 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material and criminal use of a communication device, according to...
No injuries in Route 981 crash in Derry Township
Route 981 has reopened after a multi-vehicle crash Monday morning in Derry Township. First responders were called to the intersection of Route 981 and Lee-Valley Road around 7:21 a.m. for a report of a three-vehicle crash. Mutual Aid Ambulance spokesman Shawn Penzera said no one was injured in the crash....
Disc golf course proposed for Murrysville Community Park
Murrysville Council will consider whether to add a disc golf course to Murrysville Community Park. “It’s an extremely fast-growing sport, and it’s been on a real upward trajectory since covid,” said Dan Flanigan, a disc golf course designer with the Professional Disc Golf Association, which oversees leagues and tournaments across...
Murrysville residents report unpermitted solicitation
A pest-control company is pestering Murrysville residents. “We’ve had some issues lately with companies soliciting who do not have a permit,” Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said at council’s latest meeting. “In particular there’s a pest-control company, Moxie, that we’ve had issues with lately, and it’s also been difficult to...
Nonprofit’s ‘Frog Week’ a leap into education, improving habitat
AAron Capouellez wants people to know everything they can about how to create, maintain and foster nurturing habitats for Pennsylvania’s frogs and toads. But he doesn’t want them to know where those habitats are, necessarily. It’s one of the odd contradictions of amphibian conservation and a bit of a catch-22...
Murrysville area: Fairview Park picnic, senior-care talk and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Fairview Park Old Fashioned Picnic The historic Fairview Park, which was once home to the region’s only amusement park that catered to Black families, will hold its 23rd annual Old Fashioned Picnic on Aug. 16. This year will also mark the park’s...
Penn State Master Gardeners will host Hempfield open house
Penn State Master Gardeners invite the public to a free open house at their demonstration gardens in Hempfield. The open house will be 9 a.m. to noon July 19 at the Penn State Extension’s Donohoe Center, 214 Donohoe Road in Hempfield. Visitors can walk through more than a dozen demonstration...
Monroeville area: Library events, vehicle charging station opens, quilt show, more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bkikel@triblive.com. Quilt show The Quilt Company East’s “Under the Sun” quilt guild show will be held at Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish, 245 Azalea Drive in Monroeville. It will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 17-18, and 10 a.m....
Standing-room-only crowd gets detailed look at plan for Homer City natural gas plant
Members of the public got their first detailed look Wednesday evening at what would be the largest natural gas-fired power plant in the U.S. if it’s built: a 3,200-acre project in Homer City, Indiana County. Representatives from Homer City Redevelopment were on hand alongside officials from local trade unions and...
Rotaract Club will install ‘peace pole’ in Delmont’s Newhouse Park
Members of the Delmont-Salem Rotaract Club will install a peace pole” in Delmont’s Newhouse Park later this summer. The small monument, supported by Rotary and Rotaract clubs across the globe, is an eight-foot pole on which “May peace prevail on Earth” is inscribed in eight different languages. That is surrounded...
‘A superpower for energy’: Homer City power station developers to present site plans
Developers will present plans Wednesday for a $10 billion, 3,200-acre, natural-gas power plant in Indiana County. The former Homer City Generating Station, once a coal-fired plant, is being proposed to provide the electricity required for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Members of Homer City Redevelopment Group will host an open...
Greensburg Salem students help decorate CD Warehouse’s vinyl section
Mike Casper always has some vinyl records lying around. “We get a lot of vinyl donated, and a lot of times people will bring things in they don’t have the (record) sleeves for anymore and we can’t do much with those,” said Casper, an employee at CD Warehouse in Hempfield....
Dick’s Diner in Murrysville to be featured as 1 of ‘America’s Best Restaurants’
Jim Fox III remembers sitting down to a table at Dick’s Diner as a child with his father, even though his dad was the founder of the popular Fox’s Pizza chain. The family recognized the appeal of a small-town diner like Dick’s. Today, Fox owns the restaurant, which will be...
AAA will host Monroeville event to replace peeling, illegible license plates
AAA East Central will host an event in Tuesday in Monroeville for drivers to replace license plates that have begun peeling. In Pennsylvania, drivers can be pulled over and fined up to $100 for an illegible license plate, defined as a plate where one or more characters cannot be recognized...
Murrysville area: Baseball history speaker, car show, Delmont Daze and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Baseball history presentation A guest speaker from the Heinz History Center will come to Murrysville on July 21 to give a talk on the history of Pittsburgh Pirates baseball. It will be at 7 p.m. at the Sampson/Clark Homestead, 5332 West Pike...
Monroeville area: Butterfly count, vehicle charging station opens, quilt show, more
PPG to host annual butterfly count The 25th annual North American Butterfly Count will take place from 9-11:30 a.m. July 12 in Monroeville. The event is organized by the North American Butterfly Association. Anyone interested in participating can meet at the PPG Monroeville Business & Technology Center at 440 College...
Pittsburgh man accused of stealing hundreds of identities to make Lowe’s, Giant Eagle purchases
A Pittsburgh man is charged with more than 200 counts of felony identity theft after authorities said he made $100,000 in unauthorized credit card purchases at area Lowe’s and Giant Eagle stores, then sold the merchandise. Cornelius P. Tucker, 33, of the city’s Hill District neighborhood, assumed the identities of...
