Deb Erdley stories, Page 27
October events planned for Pennsylvania Wine Month
Wine lovers unite. If you needed an excuse to imbibe, now you have one. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is partnering with the state Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Winery Association to promote October as Pennsylvania Wine Month. And they are asking residents to help celebrate it. Don’t know...
After a fading romance with the Democratic Party, Mt. Pleasant became Trump country in 2016Video
Pride, patriotism and service are literally at the heart of Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania . A towering obelisk, topped with a statue of a World War I doughboy, looms over the traffic diamond at the heart of Main Street. Off to the right, a fountain bubbles in the midst of a...
Pugs and more pugs race, revel at PugtoberfestVideo
David Godin could not envision himself owning a dog — singular. That was before his wife, Kim, decided they needed a pug. On Saturday, the Somerset County man who never saw himself owning a dog found himself proudly introducing his family’s five pugs to a reporter who stumbled on the...
Allegheny County launches flu shot clinic Monday
The Allegheny County Health Department will launch a walk-in flu shot clinic at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30 at 425 First Ave. in Pittsburgh. Officials said patients can enter the Immunization Clinic via Cherry Way and proceed to the fourth floor. It is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4...
Sen. Bob Casey labels Trump call ‘a textbook abuse of power’
Calling President Trump’s request that the Ukrainian president investigate former Vice President Joe Biden “a textbook case of abuse of power,” Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, on Wednesday called on his colleagues to hold the president accountable and came out firmly in support of a formal House impeachment inquiry. Speaking to...
Wolf, Fetterman call for legalization of marijuana
Citing the results of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s 67-county listening tour on marijuana legalization, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday called on Pennsylvania lawmakers to begin working toward the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of the drug. Wolf said 44,407 Pennsylvanians weighed in on the issues either at town halls...
WCCC to host Medicare 101 for baby boomers
Westmoreland County Community College is reaching out to what may be the country’s largest market— aging baby boomers. With 10,000 members of the generation set to turn 65 every day across the United States through 2030, Medicare is on more minds than ever. WCCC is partnering with APPRISE, the Pennsylvania...
Sen. Lindsey Williams to host addiction resources open house in Brackenridge
Narcan demonstrations, safe prescription disposal bags, recovery specialists and family counselors are among the resources that will be available from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday when state Sen. Lindsey M. Williams, D-West View, hosts a free Addiction Resource Open House at Pioneer Hose Company in Brackenridge. A spokeswoman for...
Pa. bill dangles student loan forgiveness for volunteer firefightersVideo
A year after a lengthy report documented growing holes in Pennsylvania’s network of volunteer firefighters, advocates hope a package of bills designed to help recruitment and retention gains traction in Harrisburg this fall. Citing SR 6, a report that found the number of active volunteer firefighters had declined from more...
Penn State professor’s discovery sets off Shakespeare tweetstorm
William Shakespeare and John Milton collided in the Twitterverse this month in a bang-up that set off a trans-Atlantic tweetstorm over a 400-year-old book. The discovery that Milton — he of “Paradise Lost” fame — likely was the owner of a 1623 Shakespeare first folio and made extensive notes in...
Study: Pa. college grads have 2nd-highest average student debt load in nation
College graduates in Pennsylvania shouldered the second-highest average student debt load in the nation in 2018, a new survey found. According to the Institute for College Access and Success survey of 2018 college graduates, only Connecticut graduates, who shouldered an average debt of $38,669, fared worse than their Pennsylvania counterparts,...
Sen. Bob Casey cites Tree of Life massacre as he calls for gun bills voteVideo
Calling gun violence a uniquely American problem and citing last year’s massacre of worshippers inside a Pittsburgh synagogue, U.S. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, took to the floor of the Senate in an emotional 25 minute speech, imploring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call for a vote on a federal gun...
Victim advocate seeks statute of limitation input from abuse survivors
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro ignited a firestorm last year when he released his grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse and now lawmakers are learning just how hard it is to clear the smoke with regard to survivors. Pennsylvania Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm announced Wednesday she is seeking testimony...
Mathematician rose to highest security levels as analyst for Pentagon
Dale Peters was a soft-spoken, quiet man. But to say the retired mathematician who rose to the highest security levels in the Pentagon as a government analyst was a man of few words would be a mistake, said his wife, Monte Schenk Peters. “He loved to read. He loved ‘Jeopardy!’...
Pittsburgh lobbyist faces additional charges in unfolding fraud investigation
Authorities filed additional felony charges Tuesday in an unfolding fraud investigation into a Pittsburgh lobbyist who cast himself as “the Robin Hood” of Washington, D.C. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said agents from his office have filed 22 new counts of theft by deception, forgery and fraud against lobbyist Joseph...
Excela launches program for grieving children
Dale Cordial knows the kind of grief young children experience with the loss of a parent. He saw it in his granddaughter’s eyes. Chloe Hall, who will be 5 next month, lost her mother, Jamie Cordial Hall, 16 months ago. Cordial’s daughter and the vibrant 38-year-old mother of two died...
Neighborhood children had a friend, champion in Hempfield’s ‘Nanny T.’
Jean Rae Todaro never had to think twice when she heard the ominous public service announcement: “It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?” They were always in the downstairs rec room of her Hempfield Township home, playing pool or watching TV. “We’d have 10-12 kids downstairs every...
Volunteers join forces to rehabilitate Greensburg park and playground
Dozens of volunteers, wearing work gloves and carrying shovels descended on the Coulter Park and Playground in Greensburg Friday evening for the start of a two-day rehabilitation project spearheaded by Central Westmoreland Habitat for Humanity and Thrivent Financial’s Building on Faith 2019 initiative. Work at the park on the corner...
Pennsylvania wine, liquor sales continue to set new records
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is toasting a new retail sales record. The agency that operates more than 600 state stores statewide, and licenses more than 20,000 beverage alcohol producers and retailers, posted $2.67 billion in retail sales for wine and spirits in the fiscal year ending June 30 ....
Officials to unveil markers for J. Edward Hutchinson Memorial Bypass
Greensburg area first responders won’t soon forget legendary fire chief J. Edward “Hutch” Hutchinson. But just in case, they will have an official section of roadway to remind them of the region’s longest-serving fire chief. State and local officials will gather at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Westmoreland Chamber of...
Pitt Greensburg to gather data for national health research project
A big data research project that experts say may change the face of medicine in the next decade is headed to Westmoreland County. The National Institutes of Health project dubbed “All of Us” seeks to collect health data from one million Americans over the next five years. It is coming...
Volunteers to revitalize Greensburg neighborhood park
Officials with Central Westmoreland Habitat for Humanity are taking a leap of faith that their partnership with Thrivent Financial’s Building on Faith 2019 initiative will draw 100 or more volunteers this weekend to revitalize a Greensburg neighborhood park. Volunteers will meet at the Coulter Park and Playground on the corner...
Former state prison in Hempfield scheduled for sheriff’s sale
A sprawling former state prison that sits on 96 acres along Route 119 in Hempfield is scheduled to be sold at a Westmoreland County sheriff’s sale in January. Notice of the sale that went out Tuesday cited an action by First Commonwealth Bank of Indiana, Pa., to foreclose against Verdant...
Westmoreland dispatcher’s story figures in new 9/11 book
Today, he’s a supervisor in the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety’s emergency dispatch center. On Sept. 11, 2001, John Shaw was a young dispatcher in the newly opened 911 center. It was 18 years ago that he took a 78-second call from Edward Felt, a passenger on United Airlines...
Pa. House of Representatives to pare 63 staffers through buyout
In the category of “let’s make government act more like a business,” PennLIVE reported the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is primed to shed 63 employees under a new buyout deal. Employee buyouts have become increasingly popular in recent years by businesses looking to pare their payrolls. Such deals typically offer...
