Murrysville Star category, Page 137
Delmont library officials closer to funding new buildingVideo
In just more than four years, Delmont Public Library officials, board members and patrons have raised about two-thirds of the $1.5 million they’ll need for a new building. Donations have ranged from $10, donated by a local elementary school student, to a $200,000 pledge from an anonymous local family, to...
Eleven FR junior wrestlers qualify for state tournament spots
Eleven members of the Franklin Regional J.O. Wrestling program have qualified to compete in the Pennsylvania State Championship Wrestling Tournament. On Feb. 17, Franklin Regional hosted the Area 3 state qualifier tournament with youth wrestlers from 19 school districts competing for spots in the state championship tournament. That championship is...
Murrysville thrift store board president confident order will be lifted
Murrysville Christian Concern thrift store officials thought they’d hit a low point in early 2018, when nearly the entire board of directors resigned in the wake of concerns among store volunteers and one board member that the nonprofit was not using enough of its revenue for charity purposes. That changed...
FTMSA: Murrysville-backed bond will save customers $400,000
Murrysville council back a $12 million bond issue by the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority as the authority addresses a host of issues with its system and its new chairman said customers can expect another rate hike further down the road. “We know that we’ve got way more than $10...
Medic One officials will present ‘Stop the Bleed’ program focused on early trauma treatmentVideo
When Alex Hribal roamed the halls in 2014 slashing at classmates and district employees with two large knives, first responders acted quickly and were able to ensure no lives were lost. That was due in no small part to the emergency medical equipment they carry for treating trauma, including things...
Murrysville council will consider backing FTMSA’s $12 million bond
Murrysville council on Wednesday night will discuss backing the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority’s $12 million bond issue and accept easements from two local property owners for storm water improvements. FTMSA officials are asking council to back the bond issue, $10 million of which will be used to tackle ongoing...
Lawrenceville landscape artist will discuss ‘plein air’ painting at ESAL meeting
There’s really no big secret about how Ron Donoughe got into the plein air art movement — he wanted to be a painter, and he also wanted to be outdoors. “It wasn’t a big fad when I started with it in the 1980s,” Donoughe siad. “But there were some painters...
Delmont Farmer’s Market will return to the borough this summer
After spending a summer next door in Salem Township, the Delmont Farmer’s Market is coming back to the borough in 2019. Vendor Amanda Bank told borough council members she and market patron Alice Heasley plan to organize the market in its original location, the Rose Wigfield Parklet on Greensburg Street....
Franklin Regional delays contracts on elementary consolidation project
Franklin Regional school board members did not award contracts Monday for the estimated $54 million construction project to consolidate its elementary schools onto one campus. The agenda for the board’s committee-of-the-whole meeting Feb. 4 listed “awarding of prime contracts for the Sloan Elementary Additions & Alterations Project and the New...
Franklin Regional will replace turf, track for 2019-20 school year
Franklin Regional students will have a freshly-turfed field next school year as part of a $1.78 million district capital improvement plan approved for 2019-20. The $1.2 million project, which includes the football field as well as resurfacing the surrounding track, accounts for the bulk of next year’s capital improvement plan....
Murrysville Woman’s Club plans fashion-show fundraiser for April
The annual Murrysville Woman’s Club Spring Fashion Show fundraiser will take place April 13 at the Lamplighter Restaurant. It will begin at 10 a.m., with a breakfast buffet and fashions from Chico’s in Monroeville, modeled by members of the club. There will also be a wine basket raffle and a...
Franklin Regional cheerleaders post top-20 finish at national competition
Franklin Regional varsity cheerleaders returned to the Universal Cheerleaders Association’s National Competition for the first time in the past three seasons this year, and coaches Courtney Shovel and Nikki Ziringer liked the results. “We set a pretty clear goal at the beginning of the season: qualify for nationals,” she said....
Franklin Regional students prepare to stage ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’Video
Last year, as “Young Man with Clipboard” in Franklin Regional’s production of “42nd Street,” junior Jonah Hartman only had one line to worry about: “Yeah.” On the afternoon of Valentine’s Day, he was dangling at the edge of a faux skyscraper window-ledge, pleading with the woman his character loves during...
Franklin Regional school board expected to award Sloan project bids next weekVideo
Franklin Regional school board officials are expected to award bids Monday night for a project that will see the renovation of Sloan Elementary School and the construction of a second elementary building on the Sloan property, off Sardis Road in Murrysville. Bids were opened on Feb. 12 for the project,...
Delmont council holds off on one-way designation for alley
Delmont Council this week tabled until March a decision on whether to designate a small alley as one-way. Shaun Blackham of Delmont, who lives across Spring Alley from Trinity United Church of Christ, said Tuesday he doesn’t understand why it needs to be designated as one-way. “I’ve basically maintained it...
Franklin Regional students create ‘virtual art’ using grant-funded VR consolesVideo
Thanks to a grant from the FR Panther Foundation, Franklin Regional students now have a chance to step inside their artwork. A $6,300 grant from the foundation funded the purchase of two HTC Vive virtual reality consoles, which art teacher Denielle DeSantis is using in her classes. “Prior to this,...
Delmont residents look to form ‘visionary committee,’ will meet Wednesday
Several Delmont residents are looking to form a “visionary committee” as they prepare for the arrival of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail in the borough. Annamarie Stackiewicz of Delmont said those interested in forming the committee would be meeting for the first time at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Delmont...
Delmont seeks bids for 2019 road program
Delmont officials will seek bids for a 2019 road program that includes parts of West Pittsburgh Street, Stotler Drive, Cupp Way and Greensburg Street. Borough council members voted unanimously to advertise the road program at their Feb. 12 meeting. In order of priority, the sections proposed include: • The remainder...
Murrysville church mission trip is eye-opening experience
Virginia Hamm of Murrysville knew French, so she was fairly confident she’d be able to get by on her church’s mission trip to Haiti. That was before she noticed the Haitian children she spoke to were disguising giggles, particularly when she said her name. “I kept trying, but I kept...
Franklin Regional students create ‘virtual art’ using grant-funded VR consolesVideo
Thanks to a grant from the FR Panther Foundation, Franklin Regional students now have a chance to step inside their artwork. A $6,300 grant from the foundation funded the purchase of two HTC Vive virtual reality consoles, which art teacher Denielle DeSantis is using in her classes. “Prior to this,...
FR superintendent will throw out first pitch at Pirates game in April
The Pittsburgh Pirates will recognize Pennsylvania Association of School Administrator’s Superintendent of the Year, Franklin Regional’s Gennaro Piraino, at their April 5 game against the Cincinnati Reds. Piraino will throw out the first pitch prior to the 7:05 p.m. game. Piraino was chosen as PASA’s 2019 Superintendent of the Year...
Heritage trail committee will meet on Valentine’s Day in Salem Township
The Westmoreland Heritage Trail board of directors will meet on Valentine’s Day. The public meeting will be at 7 p.m., Feb. 14 at the Lamplighter, 6566 William Penn Highway in Salem Township. The next phase of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail, connecting Murrysville and Export, is projected to be complete by...
Window screen company has gone from Plum garage to nationwide successVideo
When Joe Altieri began seeking a way to make a better window screen in his Plum garage, he was just looking to improve on what was century-old technology. “The current patent on window screens dates back to 1907,” Altieri said. “So you have 100-year-old technology on modern windows.” Altieri, 43,...
Murrysville will retrofit 13 more ponds to comply with state’s pollution reduction plan
In December, Murrysville council voted to partner with the Westmoreland Conservation District in retrofitting a half-dozen detention ponds so that they will hold more storm water for a longer period of time, part of the municipality’s state-mandated pollution reduction plan. Now, they will need a dozen or so more. Part...
FTMSA seeks Murrysville’s backing for $12 million bond issue
Newly-appointed Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority board member Bob Mitall hopes $10 million will be enough to address the issues in the authority’s sewage system. But he isn’t sure. “Those of us with some experience doubt that $10 million will be enough to solve these problems,” Mitall told Murrysville council...
