Westmoreland category, Page 2
Sprinkler leak closes 8 classrooms at Greater Latrobe Junior High
Some classrooms at the Greater Latrobe School District will be closed Thursday after a sprinkler system malfunctioned. All students should still report to school, Superintendent Kim Rieffannacht said in a letter to families. The problem affects the junior high building. Students and teachers from eight impacted classrooms will learn in...
Funeral arrangements set for Yough High School students killed in crash
Felicity Martini was quite the prankster, one of her siblings remembered Wednesday. One time years ago, when older brother Lewie Martini was showing her some martial arts moves, she sneaked a ketchup packet up her sleeve and pretended to be hurt during the roughhousing, he remembered. The ruse was busted...
Former Derry woman sentenced for sex with teen
A former Derry Borough woman was sentenced Tuesday to serve at least a year in prison for having sexual relations with a teenage boy. Kristen Locher, 34, now of Cambria County, pleaded guilty last summer to felony counts of statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and a weapons offense. Prosecutors...
Jeannette schools will have new busing provider starting this fall
Jeannette City School District will be switching transportation providers for the 2026-27 school year. School directors this month approved a contract with Myers Transportation, Inc. that will run through 2031. Superintendent Matthew Jones said the move would save at least $43,000. “That would be a significant savings for the district...
Westmoreland County LGBTQ+ proclamation request rejected again by commissioners
Westmoreland County commissioners are expected to approve seven proclamations at this week’s public meeting — including honors for an Olympic medalist and a retiring airport executive — while continuing to face criticism for their refusal to formally recognize the LGBTQ+ community. Ash Franzetti of Greensburg said she cannot understand why...
Hempfield updates zoning confining data centers to industrial zones
Hempfield hasn’t received any proposals for a data center, but the township is ready if it does. Supervisors this week approved updated zoning to permit data centers only in industrial zones, said planning manager Matthew Pernelli. “There are multiple concerns with data centers, but like with anything, there’s pros and...
Derry Township man says gallows in front yard are ‘part of history,’ not meant to invoke lynchings
Drivers traveling along Uschak Road in Derry Township pass a rather eye-catching landmark as they near the road’s northern terminus. A gallows pole — a wooden scaffold with an elevated beam and a noose hanging from it — stands in the front yard of township resident Bryan Piper. It has...
Pennsylvania Game Commission bear study aims to collar 160 animals per yearVideo
On a biting morning with a dusting of snow on the ground, a doctor and his assistants crowded around a patient in the woods. They checked her vitals, prodded her, weighed her and monitored her heartbeat with careful precision. This was no ordinary patient. The doctor was a Pennsylvania Game...
Westmoreland County gambling revenue funds 1st-of-their-kind police vehiclesVideo
Gambling revenue generated in Westmoreland County is helping two local police departments add one-of-a-kind vehicles to their fleets. More than $1.3 million in state grants were awarded this month for infrastructure and public safety projects, funded by tax revenue from Pennsylvania’s legalized casino industry. The latest round of awards comes...
Ligonier Township want ad: volunteers needed for Ligonier Beach cleanup, $15 million to make into parkVideo
Ligonier Township is looking for a lot of volunteers willing to give of their time, energy, talent and tools to clean up the site of the former Ligonier Beach that local officials want to convert into a premier municipal park. Supervisors Chairman John Beaufort said Tuesday they’re hoping to have...
Valley Green Drive in Hempfield to close for upgrade
Part of Valley Green Drive in Hempfield is set to close starting Monday. The road will be replaced as developers continue work building houses at the former Valley Green Golf & Country Club. Don Tarosky Jr., a partner with Valley Green Westmoreland LLC, said motorists will not be able to...
Hempfield high school renovation bids come in about $30 million lower than projectedVideo
Hempfield school board members were pleased to find out Monday night that base bids for a renovation project at the high school came in tens of millions of dollars lower than a projected price tag of nearly $150 million. At its meeting next week, the board potentially will vote to...
Mt. Pleasant, McClure roads to close for interchange reconstruction in Fayette
Sections of Mt. Pleasant Road and McClure Road in Fayette County will close on March 30 as PennDOT prepares to reconstruct the interchange. Mt. Pleasant Road will be closed between Prittstown and Airport roads. McClure Road will be closed between Route 119 and Mt. Pleasant Road. Closures are expected to...
Police seek timeline of fiery crash that killed 4 Yough High School studentsVideo
State police are trying to track where four Yough High School students were in the hours before they were killed in a fiery crash in Sewickley Township, said Trooper Steve Limani. The last communication with someone in the car was at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, two hours before the crash was...
March Madness ups threat of problem gambling, especially for younger men
March Madness tipped off this week, a collection of 67 single-elimination basketball games that not only will crown a champion in 2½ weeks but also draw billions of dollars in sports bets. Young men are particularly at risk of developing gambling problems, experts say. According to a 2024 survey conducted...
State police report fewest arrests, most DUIs in 5 years during 2026 IUPatty’s weekend
State police made 36 arrests — the lowest number reported from the past five years — around the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus this weekend during the three-day, unsanctioned IUPatty’s celebration. Police made 77 arrests last year, 62 in 2024, 47 in 2023 and 71 in 2022, according to state...
Westmoreland transit to reshuffle Pittsburgh service for NFL Draft
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority will operate bus service into Pittsburgh during next month’s NFL Draft. Executive Director Alan Blahovec said plans are being formulated to restructure the timing of commuter routes into Pittsburgh for the first two days of the draft. “We’re hoping to finalize plans within the next...
Hempfield’s ‘Tornado Kid’ Tyler Tubbs reflects on viral video 15 years later
Tyler Tubbs was 15 years old, a freshman baseball player at Hempfield Area High School, when a video he recorded of an EF2 tornado touching down March 23, 2011, in his Fort Allen neighborhood went viral. Now, the 30-year-old project manager lives in Hagerstown, Md., with his wife and two...
Murrysville council focuses on specifics of stormwater-fee credit program
Murrysville officials continued to hammer out the shape of a credit program for the town’s recently imposed stormwater fees, with much of the focus on larger, commercial properties. “I think my biggest concern remains that, under the current proposal, it’s not really incentivizing nonresidential property owners all that much to...
Coroner IDs 4 Yough students killed in car crash; community grieves losses
Mourners gathered Sunday at an impromptu creekside memorial in Sewickley Township to honor four Yough High School students killed in a car crash early Saturday morning. Many cried or stood solemnly at the picturesque site. Some left flowers, photos and other keepsakes near the creek bank, still scattered with broken...
College-in-high school programs offer ‘head start’ to aspiring educators
When aspiring teacher Ainsley Martin enrolls at Pitt-Greensburg in the fall, she will have six education credits under her belt with the help of a program launched by one of the university’s professors. Martin, a senior at Southmoreland High School, has known that she wants to become a teacher since...
2 years after Jeannette fire claimed 5, family works to give back with nonprofit
The 5 Angels Memorial Fund serves several purposes. At its core, the nonprofit is a vehicle to remember the five lives lost March 20, 2024, in a Jeannette house fire. Tyler J. King, 27, and four of his children — Kyson, 7; Kinzleigh, 6; Keagan, 3; and Korbyn, 1 month...
4 dead after fiery crash in Sewickley Township; coroner says victims’ identities being determined
The Westmoreland County Coroner on Sunday released the names of four teens killed in a fiery car crash in Sewickley Township early Saturday morning. The coroner identified them as Brady D. Hunker, 15, of Herminie; Rocco A. Zugai, 18, of West Newton; Felicity M. Martini, 15, of Yukon; and Kylee...
‘Art in Bloom’ returns to Westmoreland Museum of American Art
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is ushering in spring with one of its most popular annual programs, “Art in Bloom,” which tasks floral designers with creating displays inspired by artworks in the museum’s collections. The exhibit will be on display March 25-29 along with several special events. “Visitors can...
Combating youth suicide tilts increasingly toward early intervention
A suicidal child or teenager may never talk of taking their life. Parents, peers and teachers might not even know they’re living with mental illness. Despite younger generations showing greater openness to discussing mental health struggles, fears of punishment or social exclusion remain, experts say. Even at medical appointments, minors...
