Westmoreland category, Page 867
North Huntingdon police response team trains at Norwin schools
The North Huntingdon Police Department emergency response team is conducting training and walk-through drills at all seven of Norwin School District’s buildings. Police issued an alert at about 3 p.m. Thursday to inform residents of the training and that there is not a need for alarm when seeing police at...
Tarrs woman accused of forging prescriptions for oxycodone pills
A Tarrs woman is accused of forging two painkiller prescriptions at an East Huntingdon doctor’s office where she worked as a medical assistant, according to court papers. Davina Lee Potoka, 44, allegedly wrote the prescriptions for herself for 120 oxycodone pills each, state police said. Potoka is charged with acquisition...
Unity bank robbed, state police search for suspect
State police at Greensburg are searching for a man who robbed the First National Bank on Route 30, east of the Route 981 intersection, in Unity on Thursday. The man entered the bank just before 11 a.m. and gave a teller a threatening note that demanded money, police said. He...
Droves of shoppers line up for grand opening of Aldi near Mt. PleasantVideo
A festive atmosphere pervaded the grand opening of the newest Aldi grocery store in Westmoreland County, as dozens of eager shoppers lined the sidewalk and braved temperatures in the low 20s early Thursday morning. The Aldi fans were there not only to see the gleaming new store in East Huntingdon...
Westmoreland school officials to form legislative action committee
Westmoreland County public school officials are forming a committee to present a common front when they address legislative issues that affect local education. The planned Westmoreland County Committee On Legislative Action, or COLA, is expected to include representatives from the county’s 17 public school districts, three associated career and technology...
Judge limits evidence allowed in alleged Hempfield rape case
Statements that a Hempfield woman made — and later recanted — to police and medical personnel that she was raped last year cannot be used against the man she initially accused, a judge ruled on Thursday. Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy Krieger also said prosecutors will not be able to...
Irwin OKs lawsuits to enforce rental ordinance
Irwin officials plan to crack down on landlords who are not complying with the borough’s tenant registry and inspection ordinance enacted last year. Borough council has authorized borough solicitor Zachary Kansler to file lawsuits against property owners to enforce the local rule requiring the inspection of rental units for a...
Greensburg Salem votes to keep any tax increase below state limit
In a ritual that marks the beginning of budget season, the Greensburg Salem School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to keep any tax increase for 2019 to the limit set by the state. This limit, established by the state’s Act 1 Index, prevents the board from raising taxes more than 2.72...
North Huntingdon to hire 4 cops to replace retirees
North Huntingdon is looking to hire four police officers, a move that will cost about $227,100 in salaries to replace several officers who retired in the past two years. The hirings will return North Huntingdon’s police force to its full complement of 30 officers, said Jeffrey Silka, township manager. He...
Family, 7 pets escape from Jeannette house fireVideo
A family of three and their seven pets were temporarily displaced when an electrical fire damaged their Jeannette home Wednesday evening. Robert Rundle said he’d been gone just 15 minutes from the home in the 300 block of Margaret Street when his wife, Magi, called at about 7 p.m. with...
Derry Township’s Torrance State Hospital marks centennialVideo
Patients, staff and retirees from Torrance State Hospital gathered in the public mental hospital’s once grand auditorium Tuesday for a worship service to mark the beginning of the institution’s centennial year. Torrance chaplain, the Rev. Cletus Hull, led the group of about 150 in a service of prayer and thanksgiving...
Judge gives Pershing Square hi-rise owner time to make elevator repairs
A judge on Wednesday gave the owner of Pershing Square Apartments in downtown Greensburg until July to repair or replace two unreliable elevators that have left several elderly residents trapped. “Why is this taking so long?” District Magistrate Chris Flanigan asked Greensburg attorney Matt Schimizzi at a brief hearing. “It’s...
Mt. Pleasant man charged with selling fatal blend of heroin, fentanyl
State police have charged a Mt. Pleasant man with selling a fatal blend of heroin and fentanyl. Ricky Fosbrink, 34, allegedly sold the drugs that killed Christopher Phillip Biller, 35, on Jan. 22, 2017. Biller was found dead in a friend’s apartment, according to court papers. Investigators found a syringe...
Blackburn Center, Murrysville library to host program on human trafficking
It might be hard to imagine that something like human trafficking goes on in Westmoreland County. But human trafficking cases do not always involve international intrigue, with mysterious shipping containers hiding women who will be delivered into the hands of U.S. sex traffickers. Sometimes they are much simpler, though no...
Lawyer for Westmoreland County doctor says feds cherry picked prosecution, conviction
The attorney for a Harrison City doctor convicted this week on charges he illegally distributed controlled substances said the government is “cherry picking” cases involving physicians who prescribe opioid painkillers. “The manner in which the government is (prosecuting such cases) is like throwing darts blindfolded at a dartboard,” said Pittsburgh...
Police: Greensburg nurse diverted fentanyl, other medication from hospital
A Greensburg registered nurse was arrested Tuesday for allegedly diverting prescription medication while she worked at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital, according to court papers. Julie Dawn Zetkulic, 43, is accused by the state Attorney General’s Office of taking narcotic pain relievers from the hospital’s pharmacy over a four-month period. She...
1 hurt when PennDOT truck, passenger vehicle crash on Route 30 in Ligonier Township
One person was hospitalized after a crash involving a passenger vehicle and a PennDOT plow Wednesday afternoon in Ligonier Township, according to PennDOT. Route 30 eastbound was closed for about 40 minutes as firefighters worked to free one person who was trapped in a vehicle, according to a Westmoreland 911...
Police: Ligonier Township homeowner admits to setting own house on fire
A Ligonier Township man told authorities he smoked methamphetamine before allegedly setting fire to his rented home, according to court papers. Brian W. McVicker, 54, had a lighter in his hand when authorities arrived after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday at the house, located behind the Washington Furnace Inn along Route 30,...
Monessen shooting case begins despite defense claims of misconduct
A Westmoreland County judge refused to grant a mistrial or dismiss the cases against two men charged in connection with a shooting on a Monessen street despite defense attorneys alleging a clear case of prosecutorial misconduct. Testimony in the attempted murder and conspiracy case against Joseph Heath, 29, and Rashawn...
Joy Riders program will provide bike rides to people with limited mobilityVideo
As soon as Karen Primm of Smithton saw the video — about an Australian man who designed a tandem bicycle with a wheelchair in the front, so that his disabled wife could go out on rides with him — she knew she needed to bring something similar to Pittsburgh. Luckily...
Police: Driver was drunk during head-on crash in Murrysville that left man seriously injured
A Delmont woman is accused of being drunk at the time of a head-on crash Friday in Murrysville that left a man seriously injured. Lane J. Weiner, 56, had two cold 12-packs of Bud Light that had been opened in the back seat of her car at the time of...
Westmoreland happenings: Jan. 16 and beyond
Classes/programs • Saint Vincent College, 300 Fraser Purchase Road, Latrobe has planned days of observances to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: — Mass of Celebration will be held 12:05 p.m. Monday in the Mary, Mother of Wisdom Chapel. Following the Mass, a dream center...
Westmoreland County seeking 30 participants for citizen workshop
The Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety is looking for 30 citizens to participate in a workshop aimed at mitigating hazards. The workshop will be held Feb. 19 and March 19 from 7-9 p.m. at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus. Citizens will only be required to attend one of...
Severe weather in 2018 leads to increased Latrobe fire calls
Latrobe firefighters responded to a near record 1,018 alarms in 2018 — second only to a record 1,101 calls the volunteer department answered in 2004. “We got through it, but I hope it slows down a little,” fire Chief John Brasile said of last year’s emergency volume. In each of...
Greater Latrobe eyes 2.36-mill cap on potential tax hike
Greater Latrobe School Board is considering setting a 2.36-mill cap on a potential property tax increase for the 2019-20 school year. That maximum hike, which would raise an estimated $802,400 in additional revenue for the district, is in line with an adjusted 2.9 percent Act 1 index limit determined by...
