Westmoreland category, Page 181
Yough students sweep Paint the Plow contest
Students at Yough High School swept PennDOT’s District 12 Paint the Plow contest, winning Fan Favorite and Judges’ Pick. This year’s theme was “seat belts are always in season” and students painted on a plow blade a cougar, the school’s mascot, buckling a seat belt amid changing weather. Students participated...
Greensburg man sentenced for inappropriate contact with girl
A Greensburg man was sentenced Thursday to seven years on probation in connection with inappropriate contact with a girl. Tracy Higdon, 50, pleaded no contest child endangerment. Other charges, including aggravated indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, were dismissed. Higdon was arrested in March 2021 after...
Unity man sentenced to state prison for drug, gun possession
A Unity man was sentenced Thursday to five to 10 years in a state prison for having drugs and a gun at the Hostetter Hotel. Jerome W. Thorton II, 33, pleaded guilty to prohibited possession of a firearm and possession with intent to deliver. He was ordered to pay $3,000...
North Huntingdon closes section of road extension after it slides into creek
North Huntingdon has closed a section of a road off Route 993 in the Ardara neighborhood because part of the roadway slid into a creek that is a tributary of Brush Creek, North Huntingdon said Thursday. Pine Hollow Road Extension was closed between Pine Hollow Road in North Huntingdon and...
Cost overruns, supply delays push back opening of Westmoreland Transit Authority garage
Cost overruns and construction delays are likely to push back the scheduled opening of Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s new storage complex in Hempfield for at least several months. Transit officials had planned for the $7.4 million, 16,000-square-foot garage and storage facility to open in February. It sits on a 10-acre...
Salvation Army expands healthy options as food assistance need grows
Capt. David Bender compares it to Black Friday when about 50 local residents line up outside the Salvation Army of Allegheny Valley for its Thursday food pantry and community luncheon. Doors are open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but most of the take-home food is gone by 11:30 a.m....
Future brides search for options at Greensburg wedding show
It’s been a whirlwind since Christmas for Tatum Tocco and her fiance, Steven Whiteman. The Jeannette couple became engaged over the holidays and are planning an October wedding. They were among the hundreds of future brides and grooms who explored options for their impending nuptials at Cavanaugh’s Bride Show at...
Greensburg Restaurant Week returns with range of options from sit-down to delivery
Diners can enjoy an eclectic array of menu options by sampling the specials offered at 14 area eateries during Greensburg Restaurant Week. Beginning on Monday and continuing through Jan. 28, those options will include fig and port wine duck breast at Morelands in South Greensburg, shrimp tacos at Tapped Brick...
Hempfield moves Weatherwood Community Park, municipal complex projects forward
The first phase of its Weatherwood Community Park construction project is set to get underway in Hempfield. Officials will vote Monday to advertise the construction bid for the first phase of the park project, which will be completed in tandem with a new municipal complex. “We’re always trying to look...
Ski resorts, slopes get busy with influx of snow and wintry weather
Ali Kander knew it was going to be cold, but family tradition is family tradition. “I learned to ski when I was 5, and she’s 5,” Kander said while pointing to her daughter, Elle, as the mother-daughter duo from Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood prepared to make their first runs of...
PA Cyber students make no-sew blankets for charity on MLK day
While many students had a day off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, students with The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School were hard at work. PA Cyber students across the state spent Jan. 15 volunteering on charity projects — part of the online school’s initiatives to celebrate MLK Day by encouraging...
Westinghouse volunteers set $43K donation record through ‘Feed the Hungry’ program
Retirees and former employees of the Westinghouse corporation who want to commit to volunteer service can join the Service Uniting Retired Employees nonprofit, or SURE group, which has been cultivating community service projects for more than three decades. SURE’s latest “Feed the Hungry” campaign marked its 10th year, and donors...
Fire destroys home in Bell Township
A home in Bell Township caught fire Saturday evening. A blaze started around 5 p.m. at a house at 125 Johnston St., said Westmoreland County dispatchers. About 12 fire companies responded to the house that was fully involved. 911 distatcher said the Bell Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief described the...
Norwin senior citizens could get property tax break for volunteering at schools
Senior citizens in Norwin School District could get a tax break for volunteering in the district. The school board this week tasked school administrators with researching how the district could create what state law calls a “senior tax reduction incentive volunteer exchange” (STRIVE) program. School Board President Matt Thomas said...
Saint Vincent College eyes next step in wetlands rehab, improved stream quality
Before the arrival of the 21st century, Loyalhanna Creek ran orange through Latrobe. That was before a system of wetlands was developed next to the Saint Vincent College campus to treat water draining from abandoned mines and remove some of the iron pollutants that discolored the creek downstream. The wetlands...
Repair planned for sinkhole along Route 30 in Unity
A sinkhole along the eastbound lanes of Route 30 in Unity is slated for repair in an effort led by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Cordoned off by orange snow fencing, the sinkhole is about 15 feet from the southern edge of the highway, near the intersection of Fred Rogers Drive,...
Ice festival opens in Ligonier
Artists from Jeannette’s DiMartino Ice will be in Ligonier on Saturday and Sunday with tools — including chainsaws — to shape multiple blocks of ice into eight giant outdoor sculptures. The carving is just element of the Ligonier Ice Festival continuing through the weekend. New sculptures will be created beginning...
Unity baker nearly makes semifinal round in Cake Boss’s ‘Greatest Baker’ contest
When Mary Ellen Raneri of Unity started helping her mother with Facebook livestreams of her cooking, she certainly wasn’t expecting the page to rack up nearly 70,000 fans. And she definitely wasn’t expecting those fans to help her make all the way to the quarterfinals of “The Greatest Baker,” a...
Judge demands that Allegheny Health Network turn over records related to Jeannette killing
A Westmoreland County judge is demanding that Allegheny Health Network hand over medical records for a man who was killed in September 2022 in Jeannette. Judge Timothy Krieger on Friday issued a rule to show cause for why the records custodian at the health system should not be held in...
Westmoreland County looks to data to improve human service efforts
The concept behind the movie “Moneyball” is coming to Westmoreland County government. Data and analytics will become a central component of how and where the county Human Services Department spends its money and crafts future programs. Human Services Director Rob Hamilton said officials will spend the next year integrating data...
Greensburg Salem seeks committee to navigate potential construction upgrades
A refresh of building interiors, plumbing and HVAC repairs, landscaping and ADA compliance are only a few out of the many items on Greensburg Salem School District’s laundry list of potential construction projects. The list, divided up by school building and urgency, was presented to the public at a facilities...
Aspiring Educators program draws interest of high schoolers looking to become teachers
A dozen Westmoreland County high school students are getting a head start on becoming educators as the state looks for ways to contend with a teacher shortage. Adi Belanger has been interested in pursuing teaching as a career, so the Central Westmoreland Career & Technology Center’s new Aspiring Educators program...
Greater Latrobe board to tour schools after pausing pricey plan to revitalize facilities
Greater Latrobe School Board members who last month halted plans for at least $182 million in proposed construction and renovations are scheduled to tour the district’s five schools Saturday to look at building needs. “I feel some of the board members just need to have the opportunity to walk through...
Westmoreland County workers reject contract offer, intend to strike
After months of failed contract negotiations, members of a union representing more than 500 Westmoreland County employees plan to notify the county Monday of their intent to go on strike in 10 days. Union members rejected the county’s latest proposal on Thursday, according to a news release from Service Employees...
Train hits disabled vehicle on tracks in Derry Township
A freight train hit a disabled vehicle early Thursday evening on the railroad tracks in Derry Township, a Westmoreland County Public Safety supervisor said. A woman, who was not identified, got out of the vehicle and was walking around when firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after the accident at...
