Murrysville Star category, Page 125
Franklin Regional Middle School welcomes vets for annual Veterans Day assembly
For more than a quarter-century, members of a Franklin Regional Middle School eighth-grade performing arts class have welcomed veterans to the school annually to honor their valor and sacrifice at a Veterans Day assembly. That tradition will continue with this year’s assembly at both 8:30 and 10 a.m. Nov. 8...
Historical society rebuilding former one-room Murrysville schoolhouseVideo
About 175 years ago, a short stroll into the woods behind the Sampson-Clark Toll House in Murrysville would bring the one-room Murrysville schoolhouse into view. The original school was built around 1836. In 1929, the family who’d purchased the property discovered the school’s original foundation. By that time, it had...
Franklin Regional will hire part-time secretary to help with Right-To-Know requests
Franklin Regional officials will hire a part-time confidential secretary to help handle the increased number of Right-To-Know requests the district has received. The Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Act, also known as the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law, is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of...
Alex Hribal’s appeal rejected in Franklin Regional rampage
A Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday upheld the 60-year prison sentence for Alex Hribal, the Murrysville teen convicted of wounding of 20 teens and a security guard during a 2014 knife rampage at Franklin Regional High School. A three-judge panel rejected the appeal from Hribal, 22, who claimed the sentencing...
Franklin Regional crowns homecoming royalty
Seniors Kara Soles and Riley Smith earned their spot as royalty in the Class of 2020 at Franklin Regional’s homecoming celebration on Oct. 18. The Panther football team lost, 31-14, to McKeesport, but it was all smiles among the home crowd at halftime during the homecoming festivities....
Franklin Regional officials praise expanded student-assistance program
Franklin Regional support services Director Jennifer DiFulvio began seeing what she called a “pretty significant need” in student referrals across the district’s buildings in 2015. DiFulvio said counselors were “doing a large amount of work, meeting with students and connecting them with resources. We saw the need for some additional...
Murrysville hires attorney to help develop ordinance addressing 5G antennas
Murrysville will hire a Pittsburgh attorney to help develop an ordinance regulating small wireless towers in the municipality. “Some municipalities have looked at it as a money grab, charging exorbitant permit fees,” Chief Administrator Jim Morrison told council members. “Others have chosen not to regulate it, which I do not...
Dedicated Nursing Associates expansion could include traffic improvements in Murrysville
Murrysville council amended its traffic improvement plan Wednesday to accommodate development along Route 22 that includes an expansion of the Dedicated Nursing Associates business. “Improvements will be necessary to Manor Road and possibly Route 22,” Chief Administrator Jim Morrison told council members. “A right-hand turning lane on Route 22 westbound...
Fairview Park kicks off capital campaign, marks 75th anniversary in 2020
In 1945, a group of black church leaders from Allegheny and Westmoreland counties set out to create a place where they could come together and enjoy themselves. With segregation restricting the places African-Americans could go, the Monongahela Valley Sunday School Association created Fairview Park in Salem Township. At one time,...
Murrysville Council delays vote on renewing animal-control contract with Hoffman Kennels
Murrysville delayed a vote Wednesday night on the two-year renewal of an animal-control contract with Hoffman Kennels. Gary Hoffman, who owns and operates the Delmont-based business, proposed a $10 hike on individual calls as well as his monthly service fee. Hoffman also proposed reducing the number of days he patrols...
Franklin Regional readies for homecoming this FridayVideo
Mid-October means homecoming for many of the high schools in western Pennsylvania. Franklin Regional will celebrate homecoming at its Friday night football game against McKeesport. But first, the district will mark the occasion with its annual homecoming bonfire. This year’s bonfire is set for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in...
Franklin Regional students balance gore, goofiness with production of ‘Dracula’Video
Franklin Regional Thespians Club students are working to strike a fine balance between the hard-R frights of Francis Ford Coppola’s vision of Dracula and the occasional unintentional camp of the original Bela Lugosi film. It’s not always possible, according to director Richard Sunny. “There are some parts of the script...
Murrysville police, Franklin Regional partner to emphasize school bus safety
Drivers who are too busy or careless to stop for a school bus may find themselves on the wrong end of a pricey traffic ticket later this month. Murrysville police will partner with the Franklin Regional School District to promote National School Bus Safety Week from Oct. 21 to 25....
Plenty of art shows coming to Murrysville this fall
Art enthusiasts will have more than enough places to go in Murrysville during the next month, with art shows and standing exhibits all over the municipality. On Oct. 18 and 19, the Murrysville Woman’s Club will sponsor its annual art show at Redstone Highlands. It will run from 10 a.m....
Murrysville historian, Freeport Theater Festival founder to receive St. Clair Awards
Local historian Charles Hall is one of two recipients of this year’s Arthur St. Clair Historic Preservation Awards, presented by the Westmoreland Historical Society. Hall has documented the history of the Murrysville area through books and articles. His writing has been published by the Murrysville Historical Preservation Society and elsewhere....
Delmont mulls options for Shields Farm cabin
Difficulty finding suitable, period-appropriate lumber and the cost of doing so has Delmont officials considering their options when it comes to the log cabin on East Pittsburgh Street. Borough council has been seeking to replace several old, damaged logs on the cabin for a couple years, but the road has...
Traffic-light control box damaged in Murrysville crash
Murrysville police are continuing to advise residents and motorists to avoid the intersection of Route 22 and Berlin Farm Road after a crash on Tuesday damaged a control box containing the operating equipment and power source for the intersection’s traffic light. “It is a very extensive repair,” department officials responded...
Plenty of spooky fun planned for Murrysville, Delmont and Export residents
Looking for some spooky fun this Halloween season? There are plenty of seasonal events taking place in the Star’s coverage area. Here are just a few: • Kings Family Restaurant off of Route 66 in Delmont will host a trunk-or-treat event from 6-7 p.m. on Oct. 21. There is no...
Florists plan to ‘Petal It Forward’ to spread positivityVideo
Generally speaking, the floral industry is invested in making people happy. On Oct. 23, a handful of flower shops in western Pennsylvania will open with the goal of making as many people happy as possible, helping the Society of American Florists to promote “Petal It Forward.” “We’ll give out two...
Carnegie Mellon professor will dive into the ‘dark web’ in Murrysville
For most, the phrase “the dark web” conjures up images of hackers hunched over their computers in a darkened room, making illegal transactions or worse. Officials from the local U.S. Attorney’s office announced the prosecution of two Israeli citizens in May who were charged with facilitating the sale of drugs...
Chili Oktoberfest in Murrysville adds cornbread category
Murrysville Recreation Director Carly Greene is proof that you don’t have to spend months perfecting a chili recipe in order to make a tasty pot of the good stuff for her department’s annual Chili Oktoberfest. “One year we didn’t have enough entries,” she said. “The night before, I went to...
Fracking well hearing wraps up in Murrysville; decision expected in NovemberVideo
After four months of testimony and comments from residents, the public hearing for Murrysville’s first proposed fracking well pad is complete, and council members will likely take a vote at their second November meeting. Both Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration — now doing business as Olympus Energy — and the...
Murrysville baseball trainer partners with Philly bat company to fund cancer researchVideo
Dave Muraco’s initial idea in starting up Grind 24/7 was to give Murrysville baseball players a local place to train and exercise. But when the business opens, he will be doing much more. Through a partnership with a Philadelphia bat company, he will also be raising money for cancer research....
Effort under way to move Export veteran monument to ‘more prominent place’Video
When Gary Wuslich returned to western Pennsylvania for his uncle Brando Sachet’s funeral in December 2018, he began thinking about the veterans’ memorial stationed outside the former American Legion on Kennedy Avenue in Export. “Between my father, my aunts and uncles, I think we have four or five names on...
Export burnishing its image with trail opening, downtown projects
Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas had what he considered a good problem when he stopped by the Export Borough council meeting on Tuesday night. “It’s really great to pull into Export and not be able to find a place to park,” Kopas said. With a freshly paved Washington Avenue alongside...
