Quincey Reese stories, Page 2

Red high heels will hit the pavement in downtown Greensburg next week as the community gathers for the Blackburn Center’s 14th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. The event, slated for April 26, is part of an international movement launched in 2001 that raises awareness of gender-based violence. Though...

Greensburg residents stopping in the city’s downtown businesses this month may start to notice a pattern: vibrant hand-painted wooden chairs displayed in the storefronts. The trend is no coincidence. Seventeen Greensburg Salem High School art students spent about a month decorating chairs to be put up for auction in advance...

Students and parents flocked to Trafford Elementary School April 5 to celebrate completion of a new $255,000 playground. The former playground was about two decades old when it was torn down in 2023 due to safety concerns. District officials said the stairs and decking of the playground presented a tripping...

Hempfield Area School District’s students might get home earlier next academic year. The school board will vote next week on whether to make an adjustment to the district’s arrival and dismissal schedule. The adjustment would place the high school and middle school students on the same schedule — shifting the...

Renovation projects. Teacher recruitment and retention. Student performance. Open communication with the community. These are the priorities for the five candidates running for four open spots on the Hempfield Area School Board this year. Two candidates are incumbents — Jerry Radebaugh and Scott Learn. The newcomers are Cory Thoma, Lindsay...

Christina Gongaware Noga knows her late sister would be proud that money raised in her memory is helping combat food insecurity at Greensburg Salem’s Hutchinson Elementary. Gongaware Noga launched the Ashley Gongaware Kertes Fund last year on behalf of her sister, who died unexpectedly at age 36 in March 2023....

Hempfield’s High Park Volunteer Fire Department is coming out of retirement and merging with the West Point station on the opposite side of the township. Westmoreland County Orphan’s Court approved the merger this week, according to court documents. The joint station will be operate under West Point’s name and location...

Seton Hill student Nora Ozimek knew in high school she wanted to pursue a career in science. But even Ozimek, a junior studying biology and chemistry, admits that reading through research papers and journal articles is not her favorite task. The aspiring research and development scientist was one of a...

The Penn Township commissioners will vote next week on hiring a recreation director to replace its former volunteer recreation board. The commissioners voted in December to advertise the recreation director position with a salary between $45,000 and $65,000 depending on qualifications, said township Secretary/Manager Mary Perez. She said four people...

Penn-Trafford sophomore Abby Rayman and her team of fundraisers generated more than $18,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, exceeding the $10,000 goal she set in February. A national nonprofit with a branch in Pittsburgh’s South Side, the society supports advocacy, families facing cancer diagnoses and research for a cure....

Penn-Trafford High School student Annabelle Aquino grew up playing sports with her brothers, Joey and AJ, in the sprawling backyard of her family’s Harrison City home. “My mom always wanted us to go outside,” said Aquino, 17, a junior. “All my neighbors are guys, so we just played sports all...

A former Indiana Township resident was sentenced Wednesday to two decades in prison for receiving material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, according to federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh. Cam John Zmenkowski, 28, persuaded a minor to send him nude and sexually explicit images and videos from August to September...

Reflecting on a decade of providing weekend meals and snacks to families at three Hempfield Area elementary schools, the Rev. John Smaligo could not hide his emotion. What started in February 2015 as an effort to support about 40 Hempfield Area students has more than tripled in size. Eleven Greensburg-Hempfield...

Carrie Nelson is proud to help prevent and address abuse, neglect and exploitation of elderly Westmoreland County residents. But when the county Area Agency on Aging lost 75% of its protective services care managers in the summer of 2022, Nelson, as executive director, was put in a difficult position. “We...

Penn-Trafford High School’s upcoming performance of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” has taken senior Isaiah Cordera back to his childhood. Having grown up watching the film, Cordera is excited to bring the character Charlie to the stage during the show’s debut weekend, April 4 to 6. “It’s a really fun...

As the covid-19 pandemic eased and Canon-McMillan School District reopened its doors in August 2021, elementary student Camille Postlewaite told her parents she did not want to return to in-person classes. “That was what she wanted to do, and we’re not big on, ‘Well, you’re going to do it this...

Wayne Walters can still recall the enormous logistical challenge of handing out thousands of paper packets of classwork to Pittsburgh Public Schools students in 2020. The covid-19 pandemic had taken hold in the region. Schools closed buildings, students were left to learn online, and educators scrambled over how best to...

SummerSounds, a free outdoor concert series at Greensburg’s St. Clair Park, will feature several tribute bands and Sudanese pop-funk rock fusion in its lineup this year. The concert series amassed a combined attendance of 28,500 people and drew more than $1 million in economic impact to Greensburg last season, co-founder...

Trafford authors Lori Jakiela and Dave Newman will give a talk on April 3 about the influence of their small towns on their literary works. The married couple live in Trafford, Jakiela’s hometown. Newman grew up in Irwin. They will read excerpts of their work before delivering their talks. A...

The Downtown Greensburg Project will bring back its Vintage Market series for a second season starting Saturday. The market series will take place about once a month until October at a handful of locations throughout the Greensburg area. Each event will feature a variety of vendors selling vintage and handmade...

Former Hempfield Area guidance counselor and high school boys basketball coach Bill Swan will receive about $8,000 while on paid sick and personal days until his retirement goes into effect in June, according to a separation agreement obtained by TribLive. Swan was placed on paid administrative leave from his coaching...

Westmoreland County high school students interested in pursuing a health care or trade school education upon graduation will have another option available to them this summer. Fayette County-based Laurel Technical Institute will launch its first semester of classes at its new Penn Township location in May, with the fall semester...

Hempfield Area school board will see at least two new faces next year, as veteran members Paul Ward and Diane Ciabattoni are opting not to run for reelection. Board President Jerry Radebaugh and Vice President Scott Learn will seek another term, according to Westmoreland County records. The former Westmoreland County...

Greensburg Salem High School social studies teacher Matthew Boe has watched as a fundraiser for children with cancer has become a part of the district’s culture. The district launched its Mini THON in 2015 through a student’s senior project. A Penn State graduate, Boe is well acquainted with the idea...

About 200 high school students gathered at Independence Health System’s Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg Friday to learn about jobs in the medical field. Students from at least six Westmoreland County school districts — Greensburg Salem, Greensburg Central Catholic, Hempfield Area, Jeannette, Penn-Trafford and the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center...