Renatta Signorini stories, Page 137
New playground for Greater Parkview Church daycare is immediate hit with kids
The Stafford house was the place to be for children growing up in one Greensburg neighborhood. With six siblings and a pool, the West Pittsburgh Street home was always a busy place. “All of the kids hung out here,” said Dorothy Gerhardt. “It was fun growing up here.” Now, that...
Police: $33K worth of heroin, fentanyl seized from McKeesport home
More than $33,000 worth of heroin and fentanyl was seized from a McKeesport home Friday and two people were arrested, according to the Allegheny County Police. Camille Ann Pruitt, 27, of McKeesport, and Tyjior Leslie Brown, 18, of Pittsburgh, are facing drug and conspiracy charges. Authorities served a search warrant...
Charges against Steelers’ Anthony Chickillo withdrawnVideo
Charges against Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo were withdrawn Wednesday in Fayette County court. Chickillo, 26, was arrested Oct. 20 by state police on accusations that he assaulted his girlfriend at Nemacolin Woodlands in Wharton Township. District Attorney Richard Bower said both parties decided not continue with prosecution after 90 minutes...
Westmoreland Register of Wills race pits office holder against longtime office worker
The race for Westmoreland County register of wills pits the incumbent against one of the office’s longtime staff members. Democrat Katie Pecarchik, 51, is challenging Sherry Magretti Hamilton, 42, a Republican who is in her first four-year term. Pecarchik, a Hempfield resident, questions how much time Magretti Hamilton spends at...
Jeannette man identified as victim of fatal shooting
An aspiring rapper who was a father of two died Monday night in a shooting in Jeannette that left two people wounded. Mariell McGowan, 29, of Jeannette was fatally shot about 5:30 p.m. on Cuyler Avenue, just a few doors down from his mother’s home and a block from the city...
Greensburg physician pleads guilty to unlawful prescribing, money laundering
A Greensburg physician pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to unlawfully dispensing buprenorphine, also known as Suboxone or Subutex. Nabil Jabbour, 68, of Hempfield, also pleaded guilty to health care fraud and money laundering, according to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady. Jabbour operated clinics on Harvey Avenue in Greensburg and East...
3 charged in shooting death of Brutus, a pit bull mix found dead in North HuntingdonVideo
Three people were arrested Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of a dog that was found over the summer muzzled and tied to a North Huntingdon railroad post. Ashley Nichole Kunkle, 30, her mother Sandra D. Cancino, 55, both of Yukon, and her boyfriend Anthony Keith Harper, 28, of...
Police seek suspect accused of breaking into 2 Westmoreland Mall stores
State police are looking for a man who they said broke into two stores at Westmoreland Mall. The suspect pried open the back doors of Leggings Park and Icy Roll 2.0 at the Hempfield mall just before 6:30 a.m. Friday, according to troopers. The man unplugged security cameras and stole...
Former Jeannette Glass site officially sold to Elliott Company
After years of local government control, Elliott Company now officially owns the former Jeannette Glass site. Groundbreaking for the company’s planned cryogenic pump test stand will take place Dec. 3. The Westmoreland Industrial Development Corp. in March 2018 approved a resolution authorizing the sale of the 13-acre property to Elliott...
3 Westmoreland locations collecting prescription medication for Take Back Day
Three police departments in Westmoreland County will be participating in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Take Back Day initiative on Saturday. The departments will be collected unused, unwanted or expired prescription medication in the nationwide effort to prevent those pills from ending up in the wrong hands. The administration holds two...
Police: Driver under the influence of cocaine in Salem crash that killed 1, injured 2
State police accuse a former New Alexandria man of being under the influence of cocaine during a fatal crash in Salem over the summer. Brian Keith Clemons, 42, of Normantown, W.Va., was arrested Wednesday in connection with the Aug. 10 crash on Route 22. He is charged with homicide by...
Volunteers pull about 300 tires from Yough River
Sixty-five volunteers pulled about 300 tires from a 4-mile stretch of the Youghiogheny River on Sunday, according to Westmoreland Cleanways director Ellen Keefe. But there is still more work to do. “We are definitely planning to do this next year,” she said. “This will become an annual event it looks...
Planned emergency drills at Jeannette schools canceled after ‘potential threat’
An emergency drill planned Wednesday in the Jeannette City School District was canceled after secondary school students were dismissed early Tuesday because of a potential threat, according to Superintendent Matt Jones. A new date for the drill will be announced soon, Jones said in a letter to parents. The critical...
18th-century Hempfield log house being donated to Historic Hanna’s Town
A late 18th-century log house in Hempfield will be moving 7 miles to join other buildings at Historic Hanna’s Town. Westmoreland Historical Society Executive Director Lisa Hays said the house and funds associated with the move are being donated by the LeFevre estate. “It will help us to create, in...
Westmoreland commissioners authorize $7.1 million purchase of new voting equipment
Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday authorized the purchase of $7.1 million worth of new voting equipment. They are hoping a promise from the state, which mandated counties purchase new equipment with verifiable paper trails, to reimburse part of the cost comes through. Gov. Tom Wolf last year called for the...
Lloydsville, Marguerite firefighters honored for Route 30 rescue
Nine volunteer firefighters from two Westmoreland County companies were honored by the county commissioners Thursday for their quick action far from home. The firefighters, from Lloydsville and Marguerite departments, were traveling in a convoy Oct. 3 to Maryland, where they planned to attend the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. It was...
Laurel Highlands school cleared after bedbug found in student’s belongings
Laurel Highlands High School students are prohibited from carrying any type of bag into the school building until Tuesday after a bedbug was found there, according to Superintendent Jesse Wallace. The bedbug was found in the belongings of a student at the school on Friday, according to a letter posted...
Competency evaluation sought for Delmont man accused of shooting at neighbor
An attorney for a Delmont man accused of trying to kill his neighbor is seeking a judge’s permission to have his client evaluated to determine if he is competent to stand trial. Attorney James Crosby wrote in a motion filed in Westmoreland County court Wednesday that he has “serious concerns”...
Defense witness says Jeannette murder victim likely didn’t die from blood loss
A forensic pathologist testifying for the defense told jurors Wednesday there was not enough blood at a Jeannette murder scene for the victim to have died there from blood loss. “I don’t think, looking at those scene photographs, that there was nearly enough blood” to cause the death of Khalil...
State police seize $8.6 million worth of drugs over 3-month period
About $4.2 million worth of cocaine and $950,000 in heroin and fentanyl were taken off Pennsylvania streets by state troopers between July 1 and Sept. 30, according to police. That equals 192 pounds of cocaine, 23 pounds of heroin and 14 pounds of fentanyl, troopers said. Pennsylvania State Police released...
Westmoreland high schoolers discuss mental health issues at ‘Slam the Stigma’ eventVideo
Test scores, social media and other pressures seem to be weighing on the minds of Westmoreland County high schoolers. Students at a few districts are doing something about it and they hope others will follow in their footsteps by creating clubs that address mental health and wellness inside school walls....
Man accused of indecent exposure outside Westmoreland Mall
Charges were filed Monday against a Hempfield man who state police said was seen touching himself outside of Westmoreland Mall. Brennan Touchet, 29, is charged with indecent exposure, open lewdness and disorderly conduct. Two women reported seeing Touchet allegedly performing what appeared to be a sex act on himself in...
Man found dead in Irwin creek died from apparent heart attack
An Irwin man found dead in a creek in August died from an apparent heart attack, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office. Kenneth R. Rhodes Sr., 56, was found Aug. 10 in Tinker Run Creek near the amphitheater in Irwin Park after someone spotted a body in the water,...
Violent-intruder drill held in Greensburg
A violent-intruder drill Monday in Greensburg was the result of about five years of preparation by the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety and Westmoreland Casemanagement and Supports, Inc. Public safety officials used the drill as a way to gauge the response to a situation at the agency’s offices at...
Annual Fire Prevention Day planned outside Westmoreland Mall
Fire trucks will be on display Tuesday night outside Westmoreland Mall for the area’s annual Fire Prevention Day. Firefighters will be stationed at the Hempfield mall on Route 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. with lessons about fire safety and live demonstrations. Organizer’s at last year’s event estimated that more...
