Patrick Varine stories, Page 139
Franklin Regional plans ‘back-to-school task force’ to plan for 2020-21 year
As of early May, there’s just no telling what education in Pennsylvania could look like in the fall. Whatever form it takes, and whatever may happen during the 2020-21 school year related to the coronavirus, Franklin Regional school officials want to be prepared. “Right now none of us have a...
Planned power outage set for Forbes Trail area of Murrysville on Thursday morning
West Penn Power officials are planning a brief outage in the Forbes Trail area of Murrysville on Thursday morning. The planned outage will be from about 9 a.m. to noon, in order to upgrade facilities. If the weather does not cooperate, the outage will be rescheduled for Friday. Anyone with...
State police unable to hold memorial ceremony to mark 115th anniversaryVideo
State police take May 2 of each year to remember and honor troopers who have died in the line of duty with a ceremony in Hershey. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, an in-person ceremony wasn’t possible in 2020, the Pennsylvania State Police’s 115th anniversary. Instead, police officials created a tribute...
Export Council’s May meeting delayed 1 week
Export officials will hold their May council meeting a week later than usual. The May 12 meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Export Volunteer Fire Department social hall, the former American Legion building, 5778 Kennedy Ave. Council did not hold an April meeting....
Franklin Regional adopts proposed budget with 2.54 mill tax hikeVideo
The Franklin Regional school board adopted a proposed $61.5 million budget for the 2020-21 school year that includes a 2.54 mill tax hike. The budget includes a nearly $3 million funding gap that will be plugged, for now, with money from the district’s various fund balances, some of which are...
Export native takes over Naval Air Force Atlantic commandVideo
Export native and Navy veteran Rear Adm. John Meier was placed in charge of six nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, 54 air squadrons, 1,200 aircraft and 43,000 officers, enlisted and civilian personnel on May 1. Meier relieved Rear Adm. Roy Kelley during a change-of-command ceremony for the Naval Air Force Atlantic. Kelley,...
Mail-in ballot requests approach 1 million ahead of Pennsylvania’s June 2 primary
Nearly one million Pennsylvanians have opted to vote by mail in the June 2 primary, and state officials are hoping to provide the funding and framework to grow that record-setting number significantly higher before the deadline. “Did I mention that we’re encouraging everyone to vote by mail?” Secretary of State...
Adapting: Dance students, teachers adjust to life during coronavirus pandemicVideo
Editor’s note: Adapting is a regular series spotlighting the ways the global coronavirus pandemic is changing the everyday lives of people in Western Pennsylvania. Nine months ago, Isabel Ganovsky and her fellow senior dance majors at North Carolina’s Elon University started planning their senior thesis project. “We chose to create...
Murrysville school plans ‘drive-thru graduation’ for kindergarten students
The drive-through service model is working well for restaurants and some other businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, so Mother of Sorrows School officials in Murrysville thought: why couldn’t it work just as well for kindergarten students making the transition to first grade? The school, on Old William Penn Highway, will...
May is National Lyme Disease Awareness MonthVideo
With the prospect of quarantine measures slowly being lifted across the state in the coming weeks, many Pennsylvanians are relishing the prospect of getting outside and enjoying warming spring weather. Unfortunately, not only will they have the specter of the coronavirus hanging in the air, they’ll also have tick nymphs...
American Lung Association switches anti-tobacco ‘Day at the Capitol’ to virtual rally
Given the coronavirus pandemic, the American Lung Association and the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco are shifting their annual “Day at the Capitol” rally to a virtual town hall meeting on May 5. “Lung health has never been more important in Pennsylvania,” said Deborah Brown, American Lung Association Chief Mission...
Murrysville men launch White Valley DistillingVideo
Jim Battaglia grew up hearing stories about how his grandfather used to do some distilling back in the day. “He’d make an additive for farm equipment, but he was also known to make a pretty good whiskey, from what I understand,” said Battaglia, a Murrysville resident. In a roundabout —...
South Side man charged in fatal Homewood shooting
Pittsburgh police arrested a 20-year-old South Side man Thursday in connection with a fatal shooting April 22 in Homewood. Darryn Hobson is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, carrying a firearm without a license and reckless endangerment, according to police. Two men were shot April 22 on the 7000 block...
State appoints ‘temporary manager’ for covid-stricken Beaver nursing home
State officials have entered into an agreement to appoint a temporary manager at the Beaver County long-term care facility where more than 50 people have died from covid-19. The Long Hill Co., based in Shelton, Conn., became the temporary manager for the Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in mid-April, according...
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy debuts ‘Parks on the Go’ digital education program
Each year, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy educates people of all ages about the value of healthy habitats and the relationship between humans and nature through public programs at the Frick Environmental Center. This year is no different, but the delivery mechanism is changing with the establishment of the Parks on...
Charley Family Shop’n Save donates $50,000 in food vouchers to Westmoreland food bank
A local grocery store owner is pitching in to help residents in need get food amid the coronavirus pandemic. Charley Family Shop’n Save officials presented $50,000 in food vouchers to the Westmoreland County Food Bank earlier this month, in the form of 2,500 vouchers valued at $20 each. “It’s a...
Belgian citizens urged to eat fries and save the economy
It’s rare that eating twice-fried potatoes more often can actually help a nation’s economy. But with 750,000 tons of potatoes sitting in Belgian warehouses as restaurants remain shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic, the head of Belgium’s potato growers’ union has asked his countrymen to step up their consumption. The country...
Public safety officials: Don’t hesitate to call 911 over covid-19 concern
Pittsburgh-area medical personnel and public safety officials don’t want residents hesitating to call 911 if they have an emergency, especially if that hesitation is out of fear of going to a hospital during the coronavirus pandemic. “We don’t want anyone making their personal health situation worse by not calling 911...
East Suburban clinic reports data breach affecting 500 patients
East Suburban Sports Medicine Center, an athletic training and physical therapy center with branches in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, announced a data security breach that affected more than 500 Pennsylvania residents. Last spring, two patients told center officials that, when they ran a Google search for their names, the results...
Delmont library organizes ‘May the Fourth Be With You’ virtual trivia night
Delmont Public Library employees will mark the unofficial Star Wars holiday, “May the Fourth Be With You,” with an evening of virtual trivia. Teams or individuals will have a chance to earn a $10 or $20 gift card to Kings Family Restaurant by placing first or second after answering 20...
Customs officials: 1,600 counterfeit Roku remotes seized en route to Butler County
Customs and Border Protection officials operate by a simple philosophy: the more popular something is, the more likely that someone in the world is busy creating a counterfeit version. So with millions of Americans streaming billions of television shows and movies amid the coronavirus quarantine, customs officials in Pittsburgh were...
Tune in to livestreamed performances by local and national artistsVideo
Artists, entertainers and musicians are continuing to bring their art to fans through a variety of livestreaming platforms on both a local and national level. Concert promoter Live Nation has created Live From Home, a virtual music hub that features hundreds of performances to choose from. This week, the free...
Murrysville family prints mask extenders for area medical personnelVideo
Typically, the 3D printer in Jason Cyprowski’s Murrysville home is more of an entertaining curiosity. “My daughters made cookie cutters, and my son’s made some little toys with it,” Cyprowski said. These days, however, it’s getting a much more rigorous workout creating mask extenders for area medical personnel. “After learning...
No bird-banding this year at Powdermill because of coronavirus concerns
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory, whose efforts have helped researchers uncover information about avian migration patterns, population shifts, productivity and more. For the first time in six decades, however, spring migration won’t be documented by the bird-banding operation at the Powdermill Nature Reserve...
Murrysville Area Soccer Association cancels spring season
Murrysville Area Soccer Association officials have canceled the spring 2020 in-house and travel-team season. PA West Soccer, the sanctioning body for MASA, announced last week that it was canceling all spring competitions. “MASA is currently working with its website administrator regarding the processing of refunds for the spring 2020 season...
