Westmoreland category, Page 93
Palmer airport expansion project beginsVideo
After several years of planning for expanding the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport terminal, work has begun on the foundation for what is expected to be a $22 million project. A former hangar that was used as a warehouse adjacent to the Unity airport terminal has been demolished, and construction workers...
Sewickley Township man to serve jail sentence for vehicle assault
A Sewickley Township man who pleaded guilty last year to running a down a man outside a Hempfield townhouse three years ago was ordered Tuesday to serve at least seven months in jail. Bradley A. Cook, 24, in August 2023 pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault by vehicle...
Suspect pleads guilty in credit card skimmer scam set up in grocery stores
One of two men charged last summer in a multicounty fraud scheme that employed skimmer devices on grocery store card readers pleaded guilty Tuesday in Westmoreland County. Thomas Fuchs, 34, whose last address was listed as in Pittsburgh, was ordered to serve one to two years in prison for his...
Greensburg police sell guns long held in storage at station
Greensburg police are selling four long guns that were seized in a criminal case years ago, said police Chief Charles Irvin. City council on Monday unanimously approved selling the firearms to Hufftown Highpower in South Greensburg for $1,660. Irvin said the guns were ordered by a judge to be used...
Hempfield Area to tackle 1 of 3 roof replacements, test pool ahead of high school renovation
As Hempfield Area moves forward with a nearly $281,000 roof repair at Fort Allen Elementary, the district also plans to address projected million dollar roof projects at two of its other schools next summer. The school board voted Monday to hire Garland Company Inc. to replace the roof covering Fort...
Historic North Huntingdon bridge in poor condition, slated for replacement
PennDOT is planning to replace a bridge on Leger Road in North Huntingdon that has historic significance but is in overall poor condition. The project is slated for construction in 2026. It will involve a 5-mile detour, sending traffic over sections of routes 30 and 993 and Brownstown Road. According...
Coroner: Unity woman died of head, torso injuries after fall into sinkhole
Elizabeth Pollard died of head and torso injuries, according to Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson, who released the 64-year-old Unity resident’s preliminary autopsy report Monday. Pollard was searching for her cat Dec. 2 behind Monday’s Union Restaurant in Unity when he ground gave way beneath her, and she fell straight...
Deadline nears for registering for state health insurance coverage for 2025
The 430,000 Pennsylvanians who use Pennie, the state-operated marketplace for health insurance, must make a decision by Dec. 15 which plan they want in 2025. Pennie is an option for those meeting federal poverty income guidelines and it gives people the chance to be able to get affordable health care...
Greensburg man sentenced to jail for decades-old sex crimes against children
A Greensburg man was ordered to serve nearly one year in jail after he pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted two young girls two decades earlier at multiple locations around Westmoreland County. Morton William Thomson Jr., 66, was charged in December 2022, more than 20 years after his...
Former teacher avoids jail for possession of child porn
A former Indiana County high school teacher who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography this fall avoided a jail term Monday. Charles Kirkland, 33, of Derry Township was ordered to serve 14 years on probation even as a Westmoreland County prosecutor argued that he should spend at least three...
Tourism grants awarded to Westmoreland businesses, attractions
Since Julia Taneja and her husband opened a luxury boutique hotel at a renovated coal baron mansion in Greensburg nearly two years ago, they’ve attracted visitors from throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. A $19,000 grant from revenue generated by Westmoreland County’s 5% hotel room tax will...
Vote for local high school artists in ‘Paint the Plow’ contest
High school students across the state have decorated winter snow plows, and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials want the public to vote on their local favorites. The annual Paint the Plow contest is part of PennDOT’s annual campaign drawing awareness to winter driving safety. Students were asked to create a...
‘I’m a wreck, but I’m alive’: North Huntingdon karate teacher hurt in crash focuses on recovery, is grateful for support
Elizabeth Lindsay opened her eyes and saw her brother sitting at her hospital bedside. She had been unconscious for about three weeks in August, recovering from a life-threatening motorcycle crash that month. “I think I wanted to understand what had happened,” said Lindsay, 39, of Greensburg. “I didn’t want to...
Forbes trauma program brings accessible care to patients
Forbes Hospital in Monroeville marked the 10th anniversary of its trauma program in October 2023. Prior to the program’s opening 11 years ago, patients in the eastern portion of Southwestern Pennsylvania who suffered severe injuries relied on medical helicopters to take them to the nearest trauma centers — stationed in...
Norvelt VFD dedicates new fire station
After more than 80 years at its old station, including one expansion in the 1970s, the Norvelt Volunteer Fire Department celebration a move into a new station on Sunday. The department’s fleet includes: three full-size fire engines; squad and brush trucks, each built on a pickup chassis; and a utility...
Handmade holiday crafts featured at West Overton Village Makers Market
Evalee Toby was looking for a hobby as the world sat and waited out the coronavirus pandemic. So she gathered some wood, watched some YouTube videos and through trial and error learned to craft handmade decorative blocks. Four years later, it’s become a business. “I wish I had been a...
Coal, once king in Pennsylvania, leaves behind abandoned mines that pose concerns
Coal mining’s roots in the Pittsburgh area run deeper than the foundations of American democracy. Since the mid-1700s, years before the Declaration of Independence, Pennsylvanians have mined 250,000 acres of land for coal, pulling more than 15 billion tons of the fossil fuel from the earth, according to the state...
Jeannette celebrates the season with parade, craft show
Amanda Skiffington said she’s ready for the holiday season. Skiffington and her 8-year-old son, Levi, were among the crowds that gathered Saturday afternoon in downtown Jeannette for the city’s Sparkle of Christmas celebration with a parade down Clay Avenue and a holiday craft show at the American Legion. “We’re here...
Unity woman, victim of sinkhole tragedy, remembered for dedication to family, concern for neighbors
It wasn’t uncommon for neighbors to see Elizabeth Pollard out and about, walking with her 5-year-old granddaughter, tending to her flower garden and hosting a popular stop for neighborhood children during Halloween trick-or-treating. Family members said Pollard’s pride and joy was helping to raise her granddaughter after tragedy struck the...
Trafford man accused of harassing uncle, pocketing $10K over bogus property investigation
A Trafford man is accused of extorting money from his elderly Murrysville uncle. Joseph Calisti, 40, is accused of defrauding the man of more than $10,000 in purported legal fees in a scheme authorities say involved a bogus claim the uncle’s properties were under investigation by state environmental officials. Investigators...
CNX Resources to acquire Apex, gain 36K acres in Westmoreland County
Natural gas company CNX Resources Corp. will expand into Westmoreland County in a $505 million deal. CNX announced this week it will acquire Pine-based Apex Energy II LLC — a move that will add about 36,000 acres in Westmoreland County to CNX’s scope. It will also earn CNX 8,600 acres...
‘They got it all’: Burglar wipes Penn Township jewelry store of inventory before Thanksgiving
Ron Duvall knew something was wrong the minute he approached the door of his jewelry store in Penn Township last week. Owner of Valmax Jewelers in the township’s Penn Crossing shopping plaza, Duvall pulled the keys to the building from his pocket only to realize the door was already unlocked....
Talked about for 3 decades, new Norvelt fire station to be dedicated
Norvelt firefighters no longer have to fold in the side mirrors of their engines to get the vehicles in and out of their station. They now have four larger truck bays at their disposal in a new station in Mt. Pleasant Township that is more than double the size of...
‘Part of history going down’ as tower at former Fort Pitt Brewery razed in West JeannetteVideo
Colleen Ott stepped into the cold from her West Jeannette home Friday morning to get a good look at history happening on her street. She raised her cellphone to take a picture of an eight-story brick tower at the former Fort Pitt Brewery site being torn to pieces. She’s been...
Penn-Trafford video production class telethon unites community to support Make-A-Wish
It’s crunch time for Penn-Trafford High School’s video production class. The class of 26 students is in the final days of piecing together its 4½-hour broadcast raising money for Make-A-Wish — a nonprofit that grants experiences to children with critical medical conditions. “We’re putting a puzzle together, but we’re missing...
