Jeff Himler stories, Page 109
Pandemic prompts tweaks to the 2020 Derry Railroad Days festival
Derry’s annual Railroad Days festival is on schedule next month, but some changes are in store because of pandemic concerns. Organizers have eliminated two activities that traditionally lead up to the event — a “hobo picnic” with food and entertainment, usually held on the Thursday before the festival, and a...
Pennsylvania litter cleanups resume during pandemic reopening phase; volunteers needed
Greensburg-based nonprofit Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is partnering with PennDOT and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to recruit volunteers for a statewide litter pickup campaign this fall. The Pick Up Pennsylvania effort is particularly needed since a similar campaign planned last spring suffered a double-whammy from the covid-19 pandemic. “It...
Latrobe promotes police sergeant, praises officers who helped with federal drug bustVideo
The Latrobe Police Department on Monday recognized the promotion of one of its members, to the rank of sergeant, and the contribution of several other city officers to the indictment of 25 suspects in a regional drug-trafficking bust. Ron Keslar was promoted from detective to sergeant in a pinning ceremony...
Grant will help Latrobe rehab Ligonier Street underpass; 2 others need work
Grant funding will allow Latrobe to renovate just one of three railroad underpasses that need attention. Council on Monday awarded close to $112,000 worth of contracts for rehabilitating the underpass that carries Ligonier Street beneath the Norfolk Southern Railway. City manager Mike Gray said the structure on Ligonier Street —...
Westmoreland Cleanways rejoins area sites offering electronics recycling
Westmoreland Cleanways and Recycling will resume collection of electronics for recycling on Monday at its site near Pleasant Unity, in Unity Township. Electronics such as televisions, computer-related items and printers may be dropped off during the center’s regular operating hours: noon to 5 p.m. Mondays, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m....
Musicians from Western Pa., other states booked for Latrobe’s virtual banana split festival
Musicians from the region and beyond are lined up for Tuesday’s virtual Great American Banana Split Celebration in Latrobe. Because of pandemic restrictions on large gatherings, the annual festival this year won’t have any public participation in downtown Latrobe. Instead, it will feature a day of entertainment and activities streamed...
More than 30 weigh in on Unity debate about backyard chicken regulations — some pro, some con
Unity’s supervisors on Thursday heard from more than 30 residents debating whether township zoning regulations should be changed to provide greater allowance for backyard chickens on smaller properties. Jeff and Kristin Kuhns are appealing a zoning violation notice stemming from the 20 chickens they’re raising on less than the minimum...
Restaurant, tavern industry association meets in Hempfield, hopes for rollback of covid-19 restrictionsVideo
Westmoreland County restaurant and bar operators say the state’s limit of 25% indoor occupancy for dining establishments unfairly targets them as being responsible for the spread of the coronavirus. About 40 local industry members gathered Thursday at Ferrante’s Lakeview restaurant in Hempfield to share tales of how the state pandemic...
Grant adds water tank, litter carrier to Bradenville firefighters’ all-terrain vehicleVideo
Bradenville firefighters respond to an average of at least 20 brush fires per year on Derry Ridge. Recent improvements to their utility task vehicle mean they’ll have more water and other resources at hand when they’re called to the next emergency on the Derry Township ridge. A $12,500 grant from...
Volunteers give Trafford fence a makeover
A handful of volunteers answered the Trafford Business Association’s call for helping hands Saturday morning at 427 Cavitt Ave. In a little more than four hours, they brightened up the block by improving a fence on the property of Klassy Bar and Grill. The ad hoc work crew cut and...
Greensburg Salem administrator to take on principal role at Mountain View Elementary
Greater Latrobe School Board looked to neighboring Greensburg Salem School District to fill a vacant elementary principal slot. The board on Tuesday agreed to hire Lindsay Scarpo, associate principal at Greensburg Salem’s Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary, to serve as the new principal of Greater Latrobe’s Mountain View Elementary. Scarpo, who...
Greater Latrobe secondary students to begin fall with partial online instruction in revised plan
Greater Latrobe’s latest fall instructional plan calls for elementary students to return to their classrooms five days per week while secondary students will begin the academic year under a hybrid model that will provide just two days per week of in-person learning. The school board approved the plan Tuesday. Originally,...
Latrobe centenarian surprised with birthday paradeVideo
Audrey Spangler found several birthday surprises waiting for her Monday evening when she stepped outside her apartment at Laurel Highlands Village, an independent senior living community in Latrobe. Family and friends geared up to celebrate the Philadelphia native’s 100th birthday in a big way, despite pandemic-related restrictions on social activities....
State grants will help update water, sewer lines in Ligonier, Mt. Pleasant townships
Ligonier and Mt. Pleasant townships will receive state grants totaling about $760,000 for water and sewer improvements. The three grants, awarded by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, were announced Monday. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will receive $302,430 to extend a water line to 19 households in Ligonier Township. The...
Derry VFW taking donations for flagpole at Veterans Memorial Bridge
Derry Borough soon may have a new patriotic landmark, with the help of local veterans and the public. The town’s Chestnut Ridge Veterans of Foreign Wars post is accepting donations toward installation of a U.S. flag and pole alongside the Veterans Memorial Bridge. The flag will be flown atop a...
Head trauma reported in Lower Burrell motorcycle crash
Emergency crews were dispatched to assist a victim with heavy head trauma following an accident involving a motorcycle Friday night in Lower Burrell. The crash was reported shortly before 10 p.m. on Greensburg Road. It temporarily shut down traffic on a section of the road between Dutchman Run Road and...
Pittsburgh girl struck by vehicle at Route 28 exit ramp in Harmar
A 16-year-old Pittsburgh girl was airlifted by medical helicopter to an area hospital after being struck by a vehicle Friday afternoon on Hite Road in Harmar. The incident was reported shortly before 4 p.m. at the southbound off-ramp of Route 28 at Hite Road. Harmar Township Police Chief Jason Domaratz....
Unity to hold special meeting regarding backyard chickens
Unity supervisors will hold a special meeting Thursday regarding whether backyard chickens should be allowed in residential areas and on any properties of less than 2 acres. The supervisors agreed to schedule the informational session — set for 6 p.m. in the pavilion behind the township building — after dozens...
Potential covid-19 exposure closes Compass Inn Museum, cancels militia re-enactment
The Compass Inn Museum in Laughlintown and the adjacent Ligonier Valley Historical Society headquarters are closed for two weeks because an employee may have been exposed to the coronavirus. The precautionary closure will be in effect through Aug. 28. The employee did not come into contact with museum visitors since...
Unity Township lobby to reopen soon, with renovation nearing end
Soon residents will be able once more to enter the Unity Township office building during business hours, as renovation of the lobby is nearing completion. “Hopefully, within the next week, we’re going to have the renovations done and the building will be open for people to come in,” according to...
Unity postpones debate on backyard chickens, cites pandemic restrictions
Unity residents were told to wait Thursday when they tried to give the township supervisors their two cents on a local debate about backyard chicken regulations. On the advice of Solicitor Gary Falatovich, the supervisors declined to take comments about chickens at their regular monthly meeting. They deferred discussion on...
Unity family appeals backyard chicken violation, want birds classified as petsVideo
Kristin Kuhns and her husband, Jeff, say the chickens they keep in their Unity backyard provide their family with companionship as well as eggs, and they want township officials to ease up on regulation of the birds. After a neighbor in the Lawson Heights neighborhood complained about the Kuhnses’ 20...
Volunteers sought for spruce-up Saturday at Trafford restaurant
The Trafford Business Association is asking volunteers to lend a hand Saturday morning with a beautification project at a local restaurant that is in transition. Association President Larry George plans to cut and install cedar boards to put a new face on a chain link fence fronting an unused section...
Authority OKs $5.8M in contracts for Arnold Palmer airport terminal, runway expansions
The Westmoreland County Airport Authority is moving ahead with interior and exterior improvements at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, at a cost of about $5.8 million. The authority this week awarded contracts for expanding the passenger holding room and for continuing widening and strengthening of the runway at the Unity airport....
Latrobe delays vote on underpass rehabilitation
Rehabilitation of Latrobe’s railroad underpasses will have to wait a few weeks longer, as city council this week tabled awarding bids for the project. City manager Mike Gray suggested council act on three contracts — for concrete repairs, painting and electrical work — during a special meeting to be held...
