Patrick Varine stories, Page 140
Westmoreland food bank sees steady supply of volunteers amid pandemic
Sizable unemployment numbers due to the coronavirus shutdown in Western Pennsylvania have meant longer lines at area food banks. Those same numbers, however, also have translated to a larger pool of volunteers to help out, which is welcome news to Westmoreland County Food Bank Executive Director Jennifer Miller, who said...
Turner’s adds ‘Star Wars’-themed milk for May the 4th Be With You DayVideo
Turner Dairy Farms is adding a little intergalactic flavor to its specialty milk line, changing the labels on its Birthday Cake Milk in recognition of the annual unofficial Star Wars holiday, May the Fourth Be With You Day. Turner’s will sell Blue Banthamilk on a limited basis. And yes, the...
Murrysville council looks at options for slowing Wiestertown Road traffic
With a horse stable down the street, and increasing development at Murrysville Community Park raising the number of cars driving on Wiestertown Road, council members plan to boost the police presence there. Concerns about drivers speeding on the single-lane rural road near the park aren’t new. A previous iteration of...
Gov. Wolf: Northcentral, northwestern Pa. to be among first to reopen for business
Residents of northcentral and northwestern Pennsylvania are projected to be the first in the state to be released from Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order, and many retail stores in those areas should be able to reopen, under a statewide plan released Wednesday night. Wolf wants to begin easing some pandemic...
Conservancy preserves 27 acres of South Huntingdon farm land on Earth Day
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy members weren’t able to hold the signing ceremony they’d hoped for. Nonetheless, they were able to preserve nearly 30 acres of Westmoreland County farm land on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The farm, in South Huntingdon, will be part of the conservancy’s Farmland Access Initiative, which...
Murrysville staff begins pandemic-related adjustments to 2021 budget
Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison has noted several times over the years that he and the municipal staff take a cautious approach to the annual budget. “We are a conservative bunch here, and the numbers reflect that,” he said. “However, there are so many things that are unpredictable at this...
Franklin Regional earns another ‘Best Communities for Music Education’ award
Classes may not be meeting in person and buildings may be closed, but there is still plenty happening in and around the Franklin Regional School District: • The district earned a “Best Communities for Music Education” designation from The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation for its commitment to...
Murrysville teen shifts nonprofit’s aim to encourage front-line health care workersVideo
When Anup Nadesan and Joseph Bonfiglio started a tennis nonprofit called My Ground Strokes last summer, their goal was to teach the game to children with developmental disabilities. Through a partnership with East Suburban Citizens Advocacy and the Rashid Hassan Elite National Tennis Academy, both based in Murrysville, My Ground...
Former Latrobe shelter dog nominated for national Hero Dog awardVideo
When Grace Coleman began bringing her dog Penny to her office, she hoped it would help brighten her co-workers’ days. She never expected the spaniel mix, adopted from Action for Animals in Latrobe, to become one of the most effective employees at Crisis Center North, which works with domestic violence...
Rotary members living out ‘Service Above Self’ motto during pandemic
The Rotary International motto is “Service Above Self.” So it only makes sense that members of the Murrysville-Export Rotary Club are doing what they can to help others in the community. Club members on April 17 delivered lunch to staff at Redstone Highlands in Murrysville, “to show appreciation for the...
Franklin Regional nurse wins state association’s Excellence in School Nursing Award
As Franklin Regional Middle School nurse Beth Frydrych was about to be recognized with a statewide award, she found herself forced to reinvent her role as the coronavirus pandemic made its way into Western Pennsylvania. “It’s all new, and who knows what will come up?” asked Frydrych of Murrysville, who...
Murrysville awards contract for summer road work
Murrysville council awarded a $1.2 million contract to Tresco Paving for the municipality’s 2020 overlay program. This year’s program includes just over 8 miles of roadwork, and the bid from Plum-based Tresco came in below engineering estimates, council President Dayne Dice said. Roads on the list include: • Old William...
Report: 14-year-old girls charged with setting 4 fires in McKeesport
McKeesport police say two 14-year-old girls kept a notebook of properties they wanted to burn down, and the list included four houses where fires have been set in recent months. According to the Trib’s news partner WPXI, the two teens have been charged with four counts each of arson and...
Franklin Regional sets potential dates for prom, graduationVideo
Tonight students from Franklin Regional would have been at their prom. But school district officials are hoping it can still happen, having set potential dates for a postponed prom and graduation ceremony. “We want these things to happen for you guys,” said high school Principal Ron Suvak in an address...
Homewood homicide suspect, from Clairton, arrested by U.S. marshals in New Jersey
A Clairton man wanted in connection with a Homewood homicide was arrested Friday by U.S. marshals in New Jersey, according to Pittsburgh police. Sanders Barber, 44, was taken into custody by marshals and New Jersey State Police, on a Pittsburgh arrest warrant. Barber was charged April 8 with the fatal...
Franklin Regional will implement pass/fail grading system for remainder of academic year
The Franklin Regional School District will implement a pass/fail grading system for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, but school board members had a lengthy discussion about its merits and shortcomings. “I would rather our teachers focus on creating assignments and lessons to engage students instead of focusing on...
Giant Eagle to convert Parkway Center store to curbside pickup, delivery only
Giant Eagle announced Friday that it will convert its Parkway Center Mall location near Green Tree into a curbside pickup center, allowing the grocery giant to increase pickup and delivery orders its employees fill. “As we’ve been piloting creative solutions to increase our curbside pickup and delivery capacity, we have...
Pennsylvania’s ‘masks in public’ order manifests in a variety of ways in Western Pa.
Alyson Holt’s house in Murrysville is starting to fill up with 3D printers. Her husband, Gary, already had two and recently ordered a third. These days, they are humming steadily, creating moldable face masks using polyactic acid plastic, the most common material for 3D printing. The Holts are using a...
Murrysville to reduce number of monthly planning meetings
Murrysville officials are hoping that reducing planning commission meetings from two to one per month will make it easier for the commission to achieve a consistent quorum to conduct business. The seven-member commission was only able to hold one monthly meeting during at least six months of 2019, according to...
Murrysville will likely delay construction of park amphitheater
With live concerts an unlikely scenario in the near future, and a group of consultant proposals that missed the mark, Murrysville officials are likely to hold off on plans to build an amphitheater at Murrysville Community Park. “We received five (consultant) proposals, and to say the least, I think we’re...
Delmont hikes sewage rates by $6.50 per month
Delmont Council voted to raise its portion of monthly sewage rates by $6.50 as the borough implements one state consent order while continuing to negotiate another. Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to institute the rate hike, which brings the borough’s portion of sewage revenue to $35 per month, per household....
Franklin Regional board opts not to add ‘sunset clause’ for Sloan bond payments
Franklin Regional school board director Ed Mittereder compares the district’s construction-related bond debt to a series of car payments. “We all look forward to the day when we pull that last coupon and make that last payment,” Mittereder said. “That sigh of relief comes the following month, when the money...
Duquesne streaming ‘A Little Friday Night Music’ series featuring alumni, facultyVideo
Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music may not be open to students at the moment, but school officials are making sure both students and the public have access to the music created by those who’ve passed through its halls. On Friday nights the past few weeks — Good Friday...
Franklin Regional board votes to restart Sloan construction project
The Franklin Regional School District will restart the Sloan “elementary campus” project later this month despite concerns by four of its nine school board members. “There’s really no certainty when a good time to move forward is,” said board member Gary English. “I think we should err on the side...
Delmont will hold April council meeting with arrangements for online access
Delmont council will hold its monthly meeting at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday at the borough building, and while the public is permitted to attend to the extent that social distancing is still possible, the borough has provided links and contacts to either view or listen to the meeting. Members of the...
