Norwin Star category, Page 25
Norwin stuns defending champion Hempfield in Class 6A softball semifinals
To Norwin, the signs were there. Two ladybugs landed on a player’s shoulder. When the team arrived at Gateway, players found a heads-up penny at the entrance and picked it up. And don’t forget about the four-leaf clover coach Brian Mesich had in his pocket the whole game. “This had...
Norwin board grapples with covering $7.8M deficit
Even with a 6.8% property tax increase, Norwin School District will have to use $4.8 million of its reserves to balance a proposed $91 million budget for the 2024-2025 school year. If it foregoes the tax hike, the district would deplete its reserves from $9.7 million to $1.9 million to...
North Huntingdon man charged after police find inappropriate photographs on his cellphone
A North Huntingdon man is free on $25,000 bail after authorities said he instructed a 7-year-old girl to take an inappropriate photo of herself on his cell phone while they were at a Bible study. Allegheny County Police said they are are trying to identify several other girls who were...
Norwin grad Sydney Lokay has breakout season, helps Westminster softball win 1st PAC title in 19 years
By the time they reach college, most athletes have been playing their chosen sport for some time. Likely more than a decade. The skills, mechanics and muscle memory required to succeed are there. The athletes are programmed to perform. But sometimes the mind can short-circuit that programming and restrict performance....
North Huntingdon seeks new rules for backyard chickens
North Huntingdon officials may have put the battle over backyard chickens behind them after setting in motion more stringent requirements for raising poultry in a neighborhood. The township commissioners last week authorized advertising an ordinance that would require property owners to have at least 1 acre of land if they...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of May 19, 2024
ALLEGHENY COUNTY Churchill Jessalynn Oliver sold property at 3725 E. Rural Ct to Brenda Gregg for $130,000. Edgewood Estate of Carol Richards sold property at 300 Dewey Ave. to Karina Steren for $330,000. Forest Hills Estate of Josephine Pasquarelli sold property at 27 Greenwood Road to Tyler Mock and Madeline...
Norwin grad combines career, travel, nomadic lifestyle
A North Huntingdon native has found that she can feel at home anywhere in the world, even when she’s thousands of miles away from the hills and rivers of Western Pennsylvania. Kayla Ihrig has used her husband’s native Netherlands as a base for the past five years while branching out...
Norwin notebook: Baseball, softball players earn all-section honors
The Big 5/6 Conference, which covers the top two classifications in WPIAL sports, released its all-section softball and baseball teams. Westmoreland County first-team picks from the lone Class 6A section included Norwin senior shortstop Bailey Snowberger and senior utilty player Brooklyn Kotch and Hempfield sophomore third baseman Lauren Howard, senior...
Norwin trails group seeks seeks regional committee
A Norwin area group that is promoting the creation of a network of hiking and biking trails in that area wants to form a regional transportation committee to work toward that goal. The nonprofit Friends of Norwin Trails has asked officials in Irwin, North Irwin and North Huntingdon to appoint...
Seneca Valley seizes momentum after dropping 1st set to zoom past Norwin in boys volleyball quarterfinals
Seneca Valley overcame a slow start Thursday night at Norwin to advance to the semifinals of the WPIAL Class 3A boys volleyball playoffs. The fifth-seeded Raiders, who used a balanced offense in the quarterfinals to eliminate No. 4 Norwin, 3-1, by scores of 22-25, 25-17, 25-20 and 25-17, will face...
Irwin church to hold Community Meal
The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 502 Main St., Irwin, is offering residents nourishment in a hot meal, fellowship and a sense of community at its Community Meal program at 6 p.m. May 20 in the church’s Fellowship Hall. The doors will be open at 5 p.m. for the church’s...
Pittsburgh Riverhounds, developers plan $30M sports complex in North Huntingdon
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer club is working with two North Huntingdon business partners in planning a $30 million sports complex on township-owned property off Route 30, they announced Thursday. Five outdoor fields and a multi-purpose indoor facility will be built over the next six years at the 42-acre parcel. The...
Norwin plays mistake-free softball in win over Pine-Richland
Brookelyn Kotch has a message for her Norwin teammates. “Thank you.” Kotch, who managed just two strikeouts, scattered six hits and didn’t walk anyone, and the Knights’ defense played flawlessly as No. 5 seed Norwin advanced in the WPIAL Class 6A softball playoffs with a 3-1 quarterfinal-round victory over No....
PennDOT cites safety issues with Route 30 median barrier plan in North Huntingdon
North Huntingdon resident Tony Janczewski isn’t happy that the median barrier proposed for a stretch of Route 30 in the township could add two miles to his daily trip to work. According to Route 30 improvement plans displayed last week at the Hartford Heights fire station, Janczewski would have to...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of May 12, 2024
ALLEGHENY COUNTY Chalfant Dennis Syska sold property at 301 Greenfield Ave. to Aviedaleen Rozina Carden Miller and Maleena Matilda Escalera for $164,000. Churchill Jessica Buitrago sold property at 3310 Longbow Drive to Daniel Mankin and Kyrnan Matthias for $352,500. Mary Ann McClain sold property at 3318 Scathelocke Drive to Finnbarr...
Free outdoor concerts bring Irwin community, businesses, artists together
Borough groups and businesses are taking advantage of the warm weather to bring a summer full of music to Irwin’s downtown. “We wanted to please a variety of crowds with different types of music, so we branched out this year with some acts little different from what we’ve done in...
Norwin boys capture Section 3-3A volleyball title with narrow win over Penn-Trafford
It took every bit of energy and drive Thursday night for Norwin to hold off Penn-Trafford’s relentless energy and drive in the final regular-season boys volleyball match and escape with a marathon 3-2 victory that clinched the WPIAL Section 3-3A championship. “It’s good to be able to win the section...
North Huntingdon man accused of rape
A North Huntingdon man was arrested and jailed Wednesday on rape and sexual assault charges. Township police said Shon M. Harrity, 47, sexually assaulted a girl for two years. The allegations were reported to investigators this week by a family member of the accuser, according to court papers. Harrity is...
Depth carries North Allegheny girls, Drew Griffith leads Butler boys to WPIAL 3A team titles
As a former computer science teacher, North Allegheny coach John Neff built a nifty spreadsheet to keep a running score of the WPIAL team track championship. “This is why it looks like I’m on my phone all the time,” he said with a laugh. When Neff checked the numbers late...
East suburban real estate transactions, week of May 5, 2024
ALLEGHENY COUNTY Chalfant Jaron James McClain sold property at 292 Brighton St. to Jeffrey O’Kelly and Gwen Elizabeth Pearson for $115,000. Mary Renwick sold property at 303 Lynnwood Ave. to DN Team Holdings 1 LLC for $5,000. Edgewood Karla Cepeda sold property at 129 W Swissvale Ave. to Keldin Sergheyev...
Norwin notebook: Knights clean up at county meet
Two team titles. A three-time winner. Five individual champions. Norwin track and field had a blast at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championships at Latrobe. The Knights cleaned up at the medal stand. Junior Melani Schmidt won the 200- and 400-meter dashes and ran the anchor leg of the 400-meter...
‘A lot more than usual’: 11 sets of twins in Norwin’s class of 2024
Norwin High School senior Julia Walko remembers the time her track coach, Brian Fleckenstein, penciled in her sister to run in a relay in a track meet. “Coach Fleckenstein entered Jenna by mistake,” said Julia Walko. It’s not that Julia was upset at being bumped by her sister, the problem...
Hempfield wins sloppy game vs. Norwin with walk-off single
A cloud of dust settling around him after an exciting finish on his home baseball diamond, Adam Hess was preparing to rake the pitcher’s mound when he was called over for an interview. He set down the rake and jogged toward the dugout. Moments earlier, Hempfield walked off Norwin. Before...
Norwin baseball team rides up-and-down regular season into playoffs
A three-game losing streak — the product of a Section 2-6A sweep by Mt. Lebanon — stung in the short term, but it did not deter Norwin baseball from its long-range goals. After the Knights lost Game 3 at home, second-year coach Craig Spisak held his chin high and showed...
Norwin area: Elks donates to Autism Society; AARP to host card party and more
Norwin Elks donates to Autism Society Those who participated in the Norwin Elks’ Autism Car Cruise helped a good cause because the Elks was able to donate $5,000 from the proceeds of the car cruise to the Autism Society of America Westmoreland County Chapter, said Gary Ed of North Huntingdon,...
