Renatta Signorini stories, Page 126
Extension granted for Pa. driver’s licenses expiring this month
An extension was granted for Pennsylvanians whose driver’s licenses, photo identification cards and learner’s permits are expiring this month. Expiration dates from March 16 through May 31 are extended to June 30, PennDOT announced Friday. Driver’s license centers statewide have been closed since March 16 amid the coronavirus pandemic. May...
United Way, Eat’n Park partner with Jeannette schools to provide meals during pandemic
Thousands of meals distributed in the Jeannette City School District are providing families with extra food during the coronavirus pandemic. Superintendent Matt Jones said the food, provided through the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, are appreciated by the community. “They’re providing those meals, especially on...
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit coordinates 3D mask-making project for county public safety workersVideo
A few area educators have become mask manufacturers in a matter of weeks. The group was on track to make 300 plastic 3D printed masks by Friday with no signs of stopping, said Tim Hammill, Westmoreland Intermediate Unit curriculum services director, who is coordinating the project among three county school...
Unity Giant Eagle worker tests positive for coronavirus
A Giant Eagle store in Unity was sanitized and reopened after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, the grocery chain announced. The employee was last in the Mountain Laurel Plaza store along Route 30 on Thursday. The case was confirmed Monday, according to information posted on the company’s website....
North Huntingdon woman raises money for Excela staff who saved her husband from covid-19
After her high school sweetheart spent 20 days hospitalized on a ventilator, Karyl Nicholas of North Huntingdon was relieved to finally talk to him by phone. The day the tube was removed — April 19 — is a bright spot in what has been nerve-wracking weeks for the family of...
Westmoreland Community Action survey to gauge coronavirus-related needs
Westmoreland Community Action is seeking input about community needs during the coronavirus pandemic. The results of an online survey will help the organization create services that could help. Nearly 1.6 million Pennsylvania workers have filed unemployment claims since mid-March, when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered closures of some businesses and schools...
Confiscated note unravels drug scheme at Westmoreland jail, investigators report
A sheet of paper left in the Westmoreland County Prison library helped investigators unravel a yearlong scheme that used mail to deliver drugs to the Hempfield lockup, officials reported in court documents. Corrections officers listened to inmate phone conversations to intercept pieces of mail, and county detectives staked out the...
3 new Westmoreland coronavirus deaths bring toll to 30
Three new deaths in Westmoreland County related to the coronavirus have been reported by Coroner Ken Bacha. All three were women, bringing the death toll to 30, according to statistics updated early Monday. Bacha has said the majority of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care homes....
Man suspected in attempted homicide of S.C. cop wanted for vehicle thefts in Westmoreland
State police are looking for a 39-year-old man described as armed and dangerous in connection with vehicle thefts in Westmoreland County. Troopers in Greensburg said Brian Joseph Stoltie is wanted in South Carolina for the 2019 attempted homicide of a police officer. Stoltie has ties to Westmoreland and Fayette counties,...
Jeannette school teachers, staff plan car parade to see students from afar
Jeannette City School District teachers and staff members will get to see some of their students in person Saturday for the first time in six weeks. A car parade will wind through the city as an opportunity for district employees to see students, albeit from a safe distance. The parade...
1 more coronavirus-related death reported in Westmoreland County
The Westmoreland County coronavirus death toll stands at 27, according to the coroner. A woman’s death was added to a total that is being provided by Coroner Ken Bacha, who said the majority of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care homes. He is being notified of...
Emergency repair at Route 30 sinkhole near Greensburg-Hempfield border wrapping up
Repair work is coming to a close at a huge sinkhole that opened up next to Route 30 at the Greensburg-Hempfield border in July after heavy rains. PennDOT spokesman Jay Ofsanik said the emergency repairs cost about $4 million and should be finished next month. Crews reached depths of 45...
Western Pa. farmers markets to open with covid-19 twists, precautionsVideo
There will be no Saturday morning chatter among friends picking up produce and other goodies at the Lynch Field farmers market in Greensburg. Exercisers won’t stream out of the Aerobic Center to get in line with empty reusable bags. Instead, shoppers will stay in their vehicles in the parking lot...
Westmoreland County adds 1 new coronavirus death, toll rises to 26
A man died of the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, bringing the death toll to 26, officials said Thursday. The death was added to a list that is being provided by Coroner Ken Bacha, who has said the majority of the county’s deaths are tied to nursing and personal care homes....
2 arrested in Jeannette shooting that left both injured
Two men were arrested this week in connection with an August shooting in Jeannette that left both injured. City police and Westmoreland County detectives said James Winston Smith, 42, of Jeannette, was in an alley behind North Third Street when he fired a handgun at James McClinton IV, 34, of...
Sen. Kim Ward plans telephone town hall to talk about coronavirus
State Sen. Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, will hold a telephone town hall Wednesday afternoon about the coronavirus pandemic in Westmoreland County. Ward said she will be joined by Coroner Ken Bacha and Excela Health emergency medicine Dr. Heather Walker at 2:40 p.m. Constituents can listen to the discussion by phone or...
1 more coronavirus death reported in Westmoreland
Officials said late Monday that a woman died from the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, bringing the death total to 25. The death was reported to the coroner’s office and added to the total Coroner Ken Bacha is providing on his department’s website. He is being notified of virus-related deaths sooner...
Evidence of possible squatter found at abandoned Jeannette house that caught fire
Firefighters found evidence of a squatter living in an abandoned Jeannette house while extinguishing a fire there Friday night, said Fire Chief Bill Frye. The Lavelle Street blaze appears to have started in a second-floor bedroom. A state police fire marshal and Jeannette officers are investigating the cause, Frye said....
2 cited in Westmoreland in accusation of violating stay-at-home order
State police cited two people for violating Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order after troopers said they were found drinking at a friend’s Bell Township home, according to court papers. Kara Lee Lawson, 27, of Bell and Scott James Renwick, 28, of Loyalhanna were cited for violating the Disease Control and...
4 more coronavirus-related deaths reported in Westmoreland
Three more men and another woman have died from the coronavirus in Westmoreland County, bringing the death toll there to 24, officials said Monday. Coroner Ken Bacha said three of the most recent deaths came from a personal care home where no deaths had been reported. The fourth death happened...
Officials taking closer look at Westmoreland inmates’ medical conditions for possible release
Westmoreland court officials plan to meet Monday to go through a list of about 70 jail inmates who have diagnosed medical conditions that could make them susceptible to the coronavirus. But it’s unclear how many will be eligible for release. “The medical condition is only one factor,” District Attorney John...
Westmoreland leaders ‘not giving up’ on trying to get more specific info on coronavirus cases
County officials’ hopes to share more details with the public about the locations of Westmoreland’s confirmed coronavirus cases are in limbo. Commissioner Sean Kertes said Friday that the nondisclosure agreement the state department of health is requiring in exchange for the information is a significant roadblock. “They’re making it almost...
New Jeannette city clerk has an eventful first month on the job
Nathan Bish didn’t get to ease into his first day as Jeannette’s new city clerk. Instead, he and Mayor Curtis Antoniak declared a public health state of emergency in the city because of the coronavirus pandemic and shut down city hall and other facilities. The proclamation was the “first thing...
Nurse N’at brings faces of Pittsburgh-area front line workers to the publicVideo
A Pittsburgh-area registered nurse is bringing the faces of the front lines to the community, in hopes that their support will help the region’s nurses push through the daily work related to the coronavirus pandemic. Dena Strano of Plum has been collecting photographs of nurses wearing items from the online...
Cause of Jeannette fire believed to be accidental
Jeannette Fire Chief Bill Frye believes a fire that damaged three homes this month was accidental. Frye said Thursday that he believes the April 9 blaze was electrical and started in the space behind a wall on the first floor of the Gaskill Avenue home. No one was there at...
