Patrick Varine stories, Page 32

Patrick Varine
Patrick Varine
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Westinghouse volunteers set $43K donation record through ‘Feed the Hungry’ program
Retirees and former employees of the Westinghouse corporation who want to commit to volunteer service can join the Service Uniting Retired Employees nonprofit, or SURE group, which has been cultivating community service projects for more than three decades. SURE’s latest “Feed the Hungry” campaign marked its 10th year, and donors...
Unity baker nearly makes semifinal round in Cake Boss’s ‘Greatest Baker’ contest
When Mary Ellen Raneri of Unity started helping her mother with Facebook livestreams of her cooking, she certainly wasn’t expecting the page to rack up nearly 70,000 fans. And she definitely wasn’t expecting those fans to help her make all the way to the quarterfinals of “The Greatest Baker,” a...
Murrysville area: Comedy night fundraiser, Mardi Gras celebration, library tax help and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Comedy night will benefit trail projects An evening of stand-up comedy next month will benefit Westmoreland Heritage Trail and Five Star Trail projects. It will be from 6-10 p.m. Feb. 10 at Colton Hall, 3100 Blocks Road in Penn Township’s Claridge neighborhood....
Monroeville area: Watershed session, upcoming public meetings
Here are news briefs from the Monroeville and Pitcairn area: Watershed meeting The community is invited to the first “visioning” session for the Turtle Creek Watershed and Airshed Communities, set for 6-8 p.m. Jan. 25 in Monroeville. The meeting will feature a presentation by May Torpey, sustainability coordinator for citizen...
$1.8 million winning lottery ticket sold in Murrysville
Pennsylvania Lottery officials will stop in Murrysville Friday morning to present a $1.8 million check to a recent Cash 5 winner. Highway foreman Dennis O’Neill, 55, of Monroeville, purchased the winning ticket on New Year’s Eve at the Murrysville Shop’n Save. O’Neill told lottery officials he plans to continue working...
Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce reschedules annual prayer breakfast
Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce officials will reschedule their annual prayer breakfast following predictions of snow accumulation on its original date of Friday morning. It has been moved to Friday, Feb. 23 at Stratigos Banquet Centre in North Huntingdon. “We understand that rescheduling may pose challenges for the many who were...
3 men, including an ex-police detective, plead guilty to manufacturing ‘hit kits’ using untraceable ghost guns
A Bedford County man is the third person to plead guilty to involvement in the manufacturing and sale of “hit kits,” consisting of an untraceable “ghost gun” built from synthetic plastic polymer, along with a threaded barrel, silencer, ammunition and latex gloves. Wayne Farabaugh, 55, of New Paris, pleaded guilty...
Eastbound I-70 reopens between Arnold, Smithton following multi-vehicle crash
The eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 reopened to traffic around 5 p.m. following a multi-vehicle crash Tuesday afternoon, state police said. The eastbound lanes between Exit 44 (Arnold City) and Exit 49 (Smithton) were closed because of the accident, which was reported at 3:43 p.m around mile marker 46, according...
Monessen fighter Michael Moorer to be inducted into International Boxing Hall of Fame 
Anytime you’re part of a group of fighters that includes Muhammad Ali, you’re doing something right. Michael Moorer is one of only four boxers, including Ali, to win the heavyweight world title three times, and he was the first southpaw to become heavyweight champ. Born in Brooklyn, Moorer, 55, moved...
Pitt Ohio to donate semi-trailer to Forbes Road school in Monroeville
Students in Forbes Road Career & Technology School’s diesel technology program get plenty of experience working on the massive trucks that haul goods back and forth across the country. The difficulty is those trucks are often from the mid-1990s. “There’s none of the modern controls or emissions technology, and there’s...
Man killed in car crash in Slippery Rock
A Slippery Rock man died of injuries sustained in a two-car crash Friday on Harmony Road that also sent three people to local hospitals, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. Police said Charles S. Raisor, 71, was fatally injured when the car he was riding in crossed the center line...
‘Monticello Lights’ raises more than $24,000 for charity, Delmont recreation board
It was indeed a happy new year for both the Delmont Recreation Board and the organizers of the annual Project Bundle Up, after both received checks for more than $12,000 from the Monticello Lights fundraiser in Delmont. Residents of the borough’s Monticello neighorhood have held the decorating contest since 2020,...
Latrobe native chosen to lead Michigan State University 
The Spartans are getting a Wildcat in the administration. Michigan State University officials announced recently that Greater Latrobe High School alum Kevin Guskiewicz was elected to serve as the university’s next president. Guskiewicz, a 1984 Wildcat graduate, will begin his term in early March, university officials said. The university’s board...
District attorney: Arnold shooting victim was 1 of 3 people who broke into Fourth Avenue home
A Pittsburgh man who was shot and killed Friday night was one of three people who police said broke into an Arnold home just before the shooting took place. Allen L. Austin Jr., 29, was pronounced dead after being found about 6 p.m. Friday in the 1600 block of Cherry...
Landslide closes Beaver Grade Road in Moon
State transportation officials announced that Beaver Grade Road in Moon would be closed Saturday morning due to a landslide. PennDOT officials made the announcement just after midnight Saturday morning. A portion of the road between Duckhorn and Montour Run roads will be closed until further notice. The detour from south...
Delmont starts calculating how to implement stormwater authority fees
Delmont officials were already behind the eight ball a bit when it came to stormwater. The borough is a party to two state consent orders, one that specifically addresses stormwater making its way into the borough’s sewage system. In addition, its status as a borough meant there were some extra...
Got turkeys in the yard? The Pa. Game Commission wants to know
Got turkeys in your yard during the early morning hours? The Pennsylvania Game Commission wants to know. The commission is seeking the public’s help in its annual turkey brood survey, taking stock of the game bird’s overall health in Pennsylvania. “It is the largest turkey project we’ve ever conducted, with...
Murrysville library to host talk on Pittsburgh’s steel-making history
In the 1880s, the first steel mill was built in Pittsburgh. By the 1950s, the city’s top export had helped power the Industrial Revolution and supplied crucial materials during World War II. But why Pittsburgh? Susie Toman, a docent and educator with nonprofit Rivers of Steel, will explain at a...
Dolly Parton Imagination Library expands Western Pa. footprint
Reading Ready Pittsburgh has a pretty simple goal, according to Executive Director Mary Denison. “We’re just trying to get as many books to as many kids as we can,” she said. So it made perfect sense for the regional nonprofit to partner with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which mails free...
Elementary students invited to enter ‘Litter Hawk’ youth award program
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is accepting submissions through the end of January for its annual “Litter Hawk” Youth Award Program. Students in kindergarten through grade 4 are invited to submit a poster, fifth-graders can submit an essay and sixth-graders can submit a video. The theme for this year’s contest is “Open...
Pittsburgh’s autonomous tech will take the stage at annual CES convention in Las Vegas
Autonomous technology in Pittsburgh will be the focus, at least for an afternoon, this week at the world’s largest annual tech event. Members of four Pittsburgh-area companies will step onto a Las Vegas showroom stage Tuesday at the 2024 International CES for a panel discussion on “Building Approachable Autonomous Technology...
Wilmerding receives funding to demolish 3 blighted properties
Wilmerding code officer and Fire Marshal Al Hussey doesn’t have any specific plans for the property at 109 Middle Ave. But he sure was glad to find out the borough would be able to tear it down in the near future. “It’s literally leaning on Angie’s Restaurant next door,” Hussey...
Delmont to purchase choking prevention devices for borough, police 
Delmont officials will equip their borough staff and police department with a device designed to save choking victims. Borough council voted unanimously to approve the purchase of LifeVacs. The device, created in 2016, uses a tight-fitting mask and suction to dislodge an item stuck in a person’s throat. LifeVacs have...
Penn Hills artist takes top visual art spot in ‘Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh’ art contest
Lee Price couldn’t figure out why his Cal U drawing and painting instructor didn’t seem to like him, at least not until the end of the semester. “He said he was hard on me because he saw potential,” said Price, 41, of Penn Hills. Price ended up going into the...
Penn Hills artist takes top visual art spot in ‘Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh’ art contest
Lee Price couldn’t figure out why his Cal U drawing and painting instructor didn’t seem to like him, at least not until the end of the semester. “He said he was hard on me because he saw potential,” said Price, 41, of Penn Hills. Price ended up going into the...


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