Jeff Himler stories, Page 31
PennDOT work to trigger road closures in Ligonier Township, Rostraver
Portions of Route 259 in Ligonier Township and Lenity School Road in Rostraver are scheduled to close Monday morning for PennDOT road and bridge projects. Route 259 is set to close beginning at 7 a.m. between Austraw Road and McCurdy Trail while PennDOT crews replace a cross pipe over a...
Police, New Alexandria officials investigate $88K in missing borough funds
State police are investigating after $88,000 went missing from New Alexandria’s coffers. The probe comes after borough council in March fired Chuck Ferry from his role as secretary-treasurer. Ferry could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, the small municipality of about 400 people is tightening its belt as it copes...
Westmoreland Redevelopment Authority considers infrastructure for vacant Derry site
More than halfway into a six-month contingent agreement to sell a former Derry Borough industrial site, the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority may install internal roads and utilities to help lay the groundwork for attracting new occupants. “If we were able to sell the property and the developer was going to...
Westmoreland County OKs $1M increase to contract for rebuilt courthouse garage
The Westmoreland County Commissioners on Thursday agreed to pay a $1 million increase, making the new price $8 million, for the recent demolition and reconstruction of the county courthouse plaza and the parking garage underneath it. The increase resulted from several unanticipated work items and costs that exceeded the original...
Bricks fall from Uniontown building, triggering street closure, detour
A section of Morgantown Street in Uniontown was closed to traffic on Thursday, April 11 after bricks fell from a vacant building. No injuries were reported when the bricks fell shortly before 1:45 p.m. at Nos. 12 and 14 Morgantown St., according to a Fayette County 911 supervisor. The bricks...
Ligonier Valley Police Commission receives proposal for new station location; anonymous donor would foot $1.8 million of the bill
The Ligonier Valley Police Commission is mulling a proposal for a new $2 million police station that apparently would be funded largely through a donation. Ligonier Township resident Greg Sullenberger, who said he is a former state trooper, presented a general proposal for constructing a new police station near the...
Monessen pair charged in theft of credit cards while man was preaching at Smithton church
Two Monessen residents are accused of stealing a lay worship leader’s wallet while he was leading services at a Smithon church. “It was kind of a wake-up call for us,” said Hope Memorial Lutheran Church Pastor Becky Dittenhafer. The theft was reported March 10 and on Tuesday state police filed...
Latrobe hires 2 police officers, OKs purchase of new handguns
Latrobe bolstered its police ranks Monday by hiring two new officers. Joining the force and increasing the number of patrol officers to nine will be David Antal, a 2013 Kiski Area School District graduate, and Brady Sherback, a 2018 Greater Latrobe School District alumnus. Antal will be joining the Latrobe...
Derry Area hires alumna to fill vacant elementary principal role
A Derry Area graduate is set to return to the school district to take on leadership of its elementary school. The school board on Thursday hired Milissa McLain to fill the vacant position of elementary principal. A member of the Derry Area Class of 1998, she’ll head the administrative staff...
Muons will take center stage for Saint Vincent students studying eclipse
While people gather at Saint Vincent College Monday to watch the solar eclipse, a group of students from the college will be watching for muons. A group of about 15 students from the Unity campus will drive north Monday morning to Erie’s St. Mark’s Seminary, where they’ll witness the eclipse’s...
1 sent to hospital after excavator falls on cars in Unity
At least one motorist was taken to a local hospital to be checked out after an excavator slipped off a trailer and onto two cars Wednesday afternoon in Unity. No major injuries were reported in the crash that happened shortly after 4:30 p.m. at Route 981 and Monastery Drive. The...
Lincoln Highway program focuses on Hill District’s pioneering ambulance service
Those who visit Unity’s Lincoln Highway Experience museum Saturday can learn about a groundbreaking ambulance service that started in 1967 in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. North Huntingdon resident Andrew Blenko will offer the presentation “Freedom House Ambulance Service: A Lincoln Highway Pioneer” at 1 p.m. The cost is $5 per person,...
Work begins to stabilize subsidence-prone portion of Hempfield village
Workers were busy Wednesday drilling a hole in a yard near the top of the hill on Bovard’s Price Street. They were preparing to stabilize one of about 100 targeted homes in the Hempfield village by injecting cement-like grout to fill a section of the abandoned Keystone Coal and Coke...
Bridge rehab to trigger traffic restrictions on I-70 in Rostraver, South Huntingdon
Single-lane restrictions are planned this week in both directions on a stretch of Interstate 70 in Rostraver and South Huntingdon. Daily restrictions will be in place between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for at least two days — beginning on Wednesday, if weather permits. The lane closures will affect traffic...
Iwaniec Memorial Race at Saint Vincent College to help police target drunken driving
Organizers hope to raise $100,000 to help curb drunken driving through the 15th annual Trooper Iwaniec Memorial Race, set for April 20 at Saint Vincent College. The event, known as Takeoff 2024, will also feature children’s races, beginning at 9 a.m. on the college’s Unity campus. Participants in 5K or...
About $528 million in Southwestern Pa. roadwork detailed by PennDOT
About $528 million will be spent on more than 100 road projects across four Southwestern Pennsylvania counties this year, state transportation officials said Monday. The work includes everything from reconfiguring a highway interchange in Rostraver to improving traffic signal features at nearly 50 intersections. The projects represent a combined cost...
Youth-run West Newton trail eatery sets April opening, plans expanded summer hours
The Outpost River’s Edge Eatery, a youth-operated restaurant along the Youghiogheny River and the Great Allegheny Passage trail in West Newton, will open for its fourth season Saturday, April 6. Initial hours will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, with plans for an expanded daily operating schedule...
Bridge, road work set to restrict traffic in Greensburg, Rostraver
Single-lane restrictions are scheduled to begin Monday for PennDOT road projects in Greensburg and Rostraver. Westbound traffic will be restricted to a single lane on Route 136, between Hamilton and Lincoln avenues, during work on the bridge over Route 30 in Greensburg. The work, expected to continue through early May,...
Former Pittsburgh company provided steel for Baltimore’s Key Bridge, other landmark structures
It took seconds for Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge to collapse into Baltimore’s Patapsco River Early Tuesday after it was struck by a cargo ship. But it took five years to construct the 1.6-mile-long bridge in the 1970s, and a major part of that process began in the Pittsburgh area....
Middle school league draws teams from 6 area districts to compete in bots combat
Freeport Area Middle School claimed the King of the Ring title last year and is hoping to repeat that feat May 17, when teams from six schools across the region pit their tech-based creations against each other at Indiana Area Junior High. It’s the second year the Freeport Area school...
Murrysville abandoned gas well to be plugged; state officials assessing thousands more
When Pamela Schrank’s family moved into their Murrysville home last May, she was told an old gas well at the edge of some woods on their property had been capped. That wasn’t the case, according to state environmental officials — a fact Schrank found out last fall when she was...
Live Casino site for Greater Latrobe chamber’s inaugural expo and conference
Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold its inaugural Connect Conference and Expo April 11 at Live Casino Pittsburgh, in Hempfield’s Westmoreland Mall. The event is set for 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the casino’s top level and will include booth displays by area businesses and organizations,...
Gift baskets to be featured during Latrobe’s April Shop Hop
Visitors who check out deals and services Wednesday at 10 downtown Latrobe merchants will have a chance to win gifts as part of April’s Shop Hop event. Guests who visit participating merchants between 4 and 7 p.m. will be entered in a Spring Fling basket raffle, with a chance to...
Neighbors oppose special exceptions for 2 Unity homes housing college students
About a half dozen neighbors told the Unity zoning hearing board Tuesday that they don’t want the panel to clear the way for a township couple to continue operating two rental homes for Saint Vincent College students in the township’s Lawson Heights residential neighborhood. The panel’s decision is at least...
As garbage collection costs rise, Latrobe seeks options for next waste hauling contract
Latrobe passed along to residents a 2% hike in garbage collection fees charged this year by the city’s hauler, Republic Services, and the city is anticipating another 2% hike in 2025, under a contract extension with the service provider. Looking further down the road, officials are considering more flexible options...
