Murrysville Star category, Page 116
Franklin Regional gets update from its ‘back-to-school task force’
The Franklin Regional school board will hold a special meeting in July to lay out plans for how education will work in the 2020-21 school year. That meeting date has not been set yet, but members of the district’s back-to-school task force updated the board Monday night on their work....
Franklin Regional passes $61M budget with 2.54-mill tax hike
Franklin Regional school directors voted 6-3 Monday to adopt a 2020-21 budget with a 2.54-mill tax increase. Despite expenditure reductions related to special education funding, fewer commissions on tax collections and no change in insurance premiums, which were expected to rise, the $61.6 million budget stands with the tax hike....
Franklin Regional hires new assistant superintendent from Greater Latrobe
Franklin Regional School District will have several new administrators in the 2020-21 school year, including a new assistant superintendent. The school board hired Robin Pynos on Monday. Pynos, a Duquesne University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania alum, comes to Franklin Regional from the Greater Latrobe School District, where she served...
Franklin Regional school board members butt heads over meeting procedures
Franklin Regional Superintendent Gennaro Piraino decided in early June that he’d had enough of school board members arguing and talking over one another in public meetings. “Maybe I’m overstepping my bounds, but I’m a member of this team of 10,” Piraino said. “Right now, what is happening week after week...
Franklin Regional graduation officially postponed until July
Franklin Regional graduates may have had a chance to do a drive-thru “graduation,” but if the real thing is going to happen, it won’t be until July. School district officials announced over the weekend that plans for a traditional graduation ceremony will be postponed until July 24. “Though we strongly...
More than 100 turn out for Murrysville Black Lives Matter support walkVideo
Aryanna Hunter admitted she wasn’t sure what to expect Sunday after she organized a peaceful Black Lives Matter support walk through Murrysville. But after the three-hour event, Hunter said she was astonished with the turnout and support. “I thought I might be the only woman standing on a corner by...
Naturalist resumes free wildlife programs in Murrysville’s trails and parks
There are plenty of hotly-debated aspects of the covid-19 pandemic, but one that seems to have been embraced by most people is the notion that being outside is a healthy, relatively low-risk behavior. No one is happier about that than Susan Miller of Plum, who recently resumed her monthly outdoor...
Murrysville Black Lives Matter protest set for Sunday
Aryanna Hunter of Murrysville wasn’t able to attend Pittsburgh protests against police brutality over the past week. An Army veteran, Hunter works as head of the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Veteran Services, and wanted to rally support in her hometown as well. She’ll get to do it this weekend...
Many Westmoreland taxpayers not noticing extended discount period
Many Westmoreland County residents aren’t taking advantage of this year’s extended discount period for property taxes, and it’s causing headaches for local tax collectors. Earlier this spring, the county commissioners extended the deadline for the 2% property tax discount — which usually ends in April 30 — through Aug. 31...
Murrysville Recreation Department details summer plans, programs
The Murrysville Recreation Department is venturing into summer events as Westmoreland County continues making its way through the “green phase” of the state’s covid-19 reopening plan. Concerts The “Tuesdays at Townsend” concert series will resume June 23. Free concerts at Townsend Park will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8...
Delmont officials look to address improper dumping at Shields Farm
Delmont officials will place a gate restricting access to the borough dump site on the Shields Farm property during weekdays to prevent what police say is a mounting issue with garbage dumping. “It’s getting to be a real problem,” Chief T.J. Klobucar said. “We’ve issued some citations recently, and we...
Delmont’s Apple’n Arts Festival looking at options for 2020 event amid coronavirus concernsVideo
Officials from the annual Apple’n Arts Festival are getting a little bit antsy. The event regularly draws thousands to Delmont in the fall, and with the region having shifted into “green status” in the state’s phased covid-19 reopening plan, festival organizers were looking for some direction from the borough on...
Franklin Regional school board set to vote on 2.54-mill tax hike next week
There have been some tweaks to Franklin Regional’s proposed final 2020-21 budget but, for taxpayers, it remains largely the same. Despite expenditure reductions related to special education funding, fewer commissions on tax collections and no change in insurance premiums, which were expected to rise, the $61.31 million budget stands with...
Overdoses continue to drop in Westmoreland, but traffic deaths jump 50%
Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha’s 2019 annual report released Monday showed an expected decline in drug overdose deaths for the second consecutive year, but it also disclosed a dramatic 50% increase in traffic fatalities. The local traffic deaths, which jumped from from 18 in 2018 to to 27 in 2019,...
Contractor: All but 4 Sloan Elementary classrooms will be ready for 2020-21 school year
Construction officials for Franklin Regional’s Sloan Elementary project anticipate that all but four classrooms will be ready in time for the start of the 2020-21 school year. “The majority of the classrooms will be completed, with the exception of the additional kindergarten classrooms on the far right side of the...
2 more coronavirus cases, no new deaths reported in Westmoreland County
Two new covid-19 cases and no additional deaths were reported Thursday in Westmoreland County. The countywide case total is now 455 with 38 deaths, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. County Coroner Kenneth Bacha reported 32 coronavirus deaths, less than the state’s number, but Bacha’s office has not updated...
Shady Side Academy students win Emmy award
Eight Shady Side Academy students can call themselves Emmy winners after the school’s WSSA-TV Film Club earned a trophy in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) 2020 Mid-Atlantic High School Production competition. The Student Emmy was awarded for a short-form video, “Grateful for Our Teachers,” which features...
Westmoreland green phase: No temp checks at courthouse, offices opening
Westmoreland County is moving to green status on Friday, meaning courthouse visitors won’t need a temperature check to enter, and some restrictions on access to row offices will be lifted. Gov. Wolf announced last week that Westmoreland would be joining other counties in southwestern Pennsylvania in moving from the yellow...
Murrysville man accused of possessing child porn
A 45-year-old Murrysville man is accused by state police of downloading dozens of images of child pornography to his home computer. Daniel E. Bozym Jr. is charged with 28 counts of possession of child pornography and single counts of possessing photographs of a child performing a sex act and criminal...
Delmont Public Library will reopen June 1 with social distancing restrictions in placeVideo
“What?!? It’s a real book?!?” Delmont librarian Denni Grassel’s humorous exclamation in a video posted to YouTube (watch the video below) was the official signal that the Delmont Public Library will be reopening on June 1, with some new procedures in place. Among the new guidelines: • Only 25 people...
Lower Burrell man identified as motorcyclist who died in Murrysville crash
A motorcyclist died Wednesday when his vehicle collided with a car along Route 380, about one-quarter mile west of the Route 366 intersection in northern Murrysville, police said. The Westmoreland County coroner’s office identified the motorcyclist as Gregg A. Leipertz Jr., 24, of Lower Burrell. Leipertz was pronounced dead at...
Court denies appeal of Murrysville’s fracking ordinance
A local citizen group’s challenge of Murrysville’s unconventional drilling ordinance has been struck down in court. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Harry F. Smail denied an appeal by the Murrysville Watch Committee, which challenged an earlier decision by the Murrysville Zoning Hearing Board. Smail pointed to a November 2019...
Student art projects for local seniors a ‘two-fer’ for Franklin Regional art teacherVideo
Franklin Regional High School art teacher Lori Mozina found a way to brighten the days of residents at two local senior homes in addition to getting her students their required community service hours. National Art Honors Society members, along with a large group of high school art students, created photos,...
Delmont, Murrysville farmers markets will open with some restrictions this season
Annual farmers markets in Delmont and Murrysville will open in June, but with some special measures in place to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. • In Delmont, the market will be open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. beginning June 13, and will add a curbside pickup...
Memorial Day ceremonies shortened this year in Murrysville, Delmont, Export
Memorial Day will be a bit more low-key than in previous years for residents in Murrysville, Export and Delmont, due to restrictions in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus. “They will be very limited this year, with the roll call and no speakers, and we’ll be keeping to social...
