Westmoreland category, Page 297
Greensburg police chief’s arrest shocks community
Federal drug charges filed against Greensburg police Chief Shawn Denning caught community members by surprise Wednesday. Westmoreland County Park police Chief Henry Fontana, who worked 22 years as a Greensburg police officer and detective, had no indication Denning was being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. “I’m as shocked as...
Hempfield Area School District sets timeline for 2023-24 budget process
The Hempfield Area School District has established a timeline for its 2023-24 budget process that may or may not introduce a tax increase for district residents. According to the timeline shared during the Hempfield school board’s Monday night meeting, the district must adopt a proposed general fund budget by May...
Former Jeannette school director fined by Pa. Ethics Commission
A former Jeannette City school board member was hit with a civil penalty by the State Ethics Commission, according to an order released Wednesday. Karen A. Welshons failed to file complete and accurate statements of financial interest for 2018 and 2019 when she was a school director. She was ordered...
City Brewing expanding warehouse at Westmoreland Innovation Center
City Brewery Co. is expanding its warehouse space at the former Sony Corp. plant outside New Stanton and will add more than 20 jobs at the site, the Regional Industrial Development Corp. of Southwestern Pennsylvania said Wednesday. The La Crosse, Wis.-based company brews beer at the former Latrobe Brewing Co....
Westmoreland happenings: Designer purse bash, safe driving class, stuffed chicken dinner, more
Submissions from nonprofit organizations for Briefly Speaking can be emailed to Carol Pinto-Smith at cpinto-smith@triblive.com or mailed to Briefly Speaking, 210 Wood St., Tarentum, PA 15084. Include a complete address and daytime phone number. Submissions are due at least two weeks before the event. Each announcement is printed once; there...
Greensburg police chief out, charged with drug distribution
Greensburg Police Chief Shawn Denning is off the job after he was arrested by federal officials who claim he was the go-between for interstate drug deals, even providing menus and prices of available substances. Denning is charged with two counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine and three...
Greensburg Salem senior organizes Holocaust Museum Remembrance Night
Greensburg Salem senior Lillian Gatons learned something disquieting during an elective course at the high school on the Holocaust. “People are starting to think the Holocaust wasn’t real and aren’t learning about it,” she said. “That made me want to create a night dedicated to people who lost their lives...
Unity woman pleads guilty to assaults against teens, nurse
A Unity woman was ordered to serve five years on probation after she pleaded guilty Tuesday to assaults against a high school student in 2019 and an attack of a hospital nurse a year later. Susan Barkley, 44, previously served nearly two years in jail and at a mental health...
Westmoreland DA says catalytic converter theft ring probe ongoing
Three Chicago men charged this week with stealing catalytic converters from dozens of businesses and individuals in Westmoreland, Allegheny and Fayette counties are likely part of a larger theft ring that is still active, investigators said Tuesday. “The brazen acts of these suspects not only cost innocent drivers and business...
Hempfield Area school board changes meeting structure
The Hempfield Area school board is making slight changes to the way its two monthly meetings operate. Beginning February, the month’s first meeting will serve as a pre-agenda, non-voting meeting, during which board directors will discuss issues. The month’s second meeting will then act as a voting meeting, during which...
Judge laments behavior of Rostraver elected officials
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday made it clear he is frustrated with the ongoing dispute among elected officials in Rostraver who are at odds amidst a court-ordered ban of one commissioner from attending some government meetings in person. “I didn’t come up with this solution. I just agreed to...
Prosecutors: Former Latrobe man was methamphetamine distributor
A former Latrobe man was sentenced earlier this month to five years in a federal prison in connection with drug trafficking activity involving methamphetamine across the region. Joshua Birrell, 40, was ordered to spend four years on supervised release after the prison term. Prosecutors said he was one of several...
Family seeks to buy guitar that late Irwin guitarist sold
Family and friends of an Irwin guitarist who died of cancer last year are hoping to buy back a guitar he sold several years ago to keep as a family remembrance. The problem for those who want the guitar back is that the late Jacob “Jake” Hursh sold it around...
Surveillance work leads police to Western Pa. catalytic converter theft suspects
A Porsche Panamera, cellphone records and a mobile tracking device helped police arrest three Chicago men over the weekend who they believe are behind $200,000 worth of catalytic converter thefts, according to court papers. The three suspects — Christian Buie, 31; Antonio D. Johnson, 42; and Harold T. Wade, 29...
Water, sewer rates to remain steady as part of new MAWC budget
Water and sewer rates will remain steady as part of a new budget approved by Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members. The $110.4 million spending plan for the 2023-24 fiscal year includes $6 million in expense increases that authority officials blame on rising costs to operate the water and...
Greensburg Night Market plans 3 winter dates at Live Casino Pittsburgh
Fans of the Greensburg Night Market won’t have to wait until spring to enjoy another installment of the popular shopping, dining and entertainment event. The market is partnering with Live Casino Pittsburgh at Westmoreland Mall to host three winter night markets in the casino’s new event space. More than 40...
Greensburg Country Club hosts art council’s annual antiques show, sale
Antiques dealer and appraiser John Mickinak eats dinner at a chestnut wood table handmade by monks from Saint Vincent Archabbey. He’ll offer another for the annual antiques show and sale that benefits the Southwestern Pennsylvania Council, from Jan. 27 to 29 at Greensburg Country Club. “Many people are not aware...
Area couples wait longer to adopt from pandemic-curtailed pool of newborns
The stars were aligned when Rob and Samantha Lauricia added a baby boy, Sal, to their family last February. After a little more than a year of preparation and paperwork, the Irwin couple became eligible to adopt a child on Jan. 19, 2022. When they welcomed Sal into their home...
Sculptures, favorable weather help draw large crowd for Ligonier Ice Festival
The Ligonier Ice Festival had the perfect blend of elements working in its favor this past weekend. The rain held off, and temperatures were brisk but not bitter cold for late January. Add to that no competition from a Steelers playoff game, and the result was thousands of people walking...
Murrysville Council approves 2nd fracking well operation on Plum border
Murrysville Council last week unanimously approved what will be the municipality’s second unconventional gas drilling operation on a property straddling the border with Plum. Canonsburg-based Olympus Energy is seeking to build the Hermes unconventional gas drilling well on a 147-acre property just southwest of the Rolling Fields Golf Club, on...
Excela Westmoreland receives statewide recognition for patient safety
Excela Westmoreland Hospital is one of 21 hospitals across Pennsylvania to be honored through the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania’s annual Excellence in Patient Safety Recognition program. The program, which started three years ago, celebrates top-performing hospitals with low rates of health care associated infections, such as central line-associated...
Greensburg Central Catholic alumni to be honored at auction
A Navy submarine officer, an English teacher at a school for migrant children and an attorney whose nonprofits have served thousands of children form the latest class of distinguished alumni of Greensburg Central Catholic High School. The 2023 Distinguished Centurions are: Lt. Comm. Christopher Jessel (Class of 2004) of Norfolk,...
Laurel Highlands Pour Tour 3.0 adds new craft beverage makers
Craft beverage makers in Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties usually join the Laurel Highlands Pour Tour to increase traffic and increase sales at their establishments. For Shane Hissem, owner of Tap-It Brewery & Grill in Mt. Pleasant Township, it was the other way around. As more customers found the new...
Out & About: The Westmoreland’s Art on Tap 2.0 showcases local flavors
For Jen and Scott Orris of Hempfield, the Jan. 13 Art on Tap 2.0 at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art was more than just a relaxing end to the work week. The evening kicked off Jen’s 50th birthday celebration, which also included a private party the following night at...
Hempfield junior firefighters — tomorrow’s firefighters — undergo critical training
Fifteen-year-old Kayden Lawther stood in her firefighter’s bunker gear Saturday in Hempfield’s future fire department headquarters, learning with other junior firefighters how to use a large tarp to cover furniture or create a chute to drain thousands of gallons of water poured onto a burning house. What would motivate seven...
