Joe Napsha stories, Page 96
Jeannette native helping students of military personnel killed or disabled
A Jeannette native is spearheading efforts to raise money for educational scholarships for families of military service people who have died or have been disabled while on active duty. Michael Popella of Grove City founded the Folds of Honor of Western PA Chapter after meeting the national organization’s founder, Lt....
North Huntingdon officials cry foul on backyard chicken ordinanceVideo
The months-long debate over keeping chickens in North Huntingdon residential areas will continue after the commissioners rejected a proposed change to the rules on Wednesday. Commissioners cried foul on adopting an ordinance that would allow residents to obtain a permit to have four hens in a residential district if they...
Beaver County woman arrested for allegedly luring Illinois boy, 15, from his home to hers
A Rochester woman accused of taking a teenage boy from his home to Beaver County last month was arrested Wednesday night in McKeesport by the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department, police said. The suspect, Lilandra Redman, 20, was found at a home in the 2900 block of Versailles Street, McKeesport, at...
Problems plague Norwin online instruction
Norwin’s online education program for students not in class has some technological glitches that are preventing them from receiving instructions, school officials acknowledged. Students are having difficulty accessing the online courses, a problem that randomly occurs, Norwin Superintendent Jeff Taylor said in a statement. The district’s online academy teachers have...
‘Amazing’ race slated on Westmoreland Heritage Trail
Fans of the CBS adventure reality television show “The Amazing Race” will get to duplicate some of trials of that challenge — albeit locally instead of globally — in a race along the Westmoreland Heritage Trail in the Trafford and Murrysville areas on Oct. 10. The Amazing Trail Race challenges...
Norwin board members call on Wayman to resign over ‘offensive’ Facebook postings
Four Norwin School Board members this week asked a fellow member to resign over his Facebook postings that several board members and residents have condemned as being racist and offensive. Brian Carlton, board president, initiated the call for Robert Wayman, a retired teacher, to resign for his statements on private...
Pa. warns jobless: Apply for $1,800 checks before money runs out
For some of Pennsylvania’s 616,000 jobless workers, an $1,800 lump-sum check for six weeks of unemployment may never be in the mail because the special unemployment aid could be used up before they get the money, state Labor department officials warned Monday. The likelihood the state will be unable to...
Trump vehicle parade, rally at Irwin Park set for Sept. 20
Supporters of President Donald Trump are planning a flag-waving vehicle parade along Route 30 in Irwin and North Huntingdon on Sunday, followed by what organizers say will be a three-hour rally at Irwin Park. The parade of vehicles will organize at 10 a.m. at Norwin Hills Shopping Center on Route...
Police: Aliquippa man shot near IUP campus, suspect soughtVideo
An Aliquippa man shot early Sunday morning multiple times during a late-night party at an apartment complex about a mile from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus was reported in critical condition at a Pittsburgh hospital, state police at Indiana said. The 19-year-old victim, who was not identified, is expected...
Irwin hosts craft show and karaoke charity event
Irwin was a hopping place Saturday afternoon with music and crafts for the 13th Annual Sing For Their Supper event and the Downtown Irwin Fall Craft Show. Karaoke singers at the C. Harper Family Courtyard at The Lamp Theatre helped to raise money for the Westmoreland County Food Bank. Restaurants...
Couple left homeless as fire destroys home in Marguerite, Unity TownshipVideo
Debra Stewart was sitting with family members in the side yard of her home in the Unity village of Marguerite on Saturday afternoon when they heard a hissing sound, then saw thick black smoke pouring out of the bottom of her mobile home. By the time they could get to...
Seton Hill’s ‘Labor of Love’ gives back to communityVideo
Seton Hill University basketball player Taylin Tyler got up early Saturday morning and joined about 300 of her classmates, faculty, staff and alumni in doing a variety of community service tasks at about 35 sites on campus and at nonprofit organizations in the Greensburg, Latrobe and North Huntingdon areas. “We...
Fayette man jailed on child abuse charges involving 2-year-old
A 29-year-old Fayette County man has been jailed for allegedly abusing a young child, state police at Uniontown said. The suspect, Dustin R. Lilley of Connellsville, is accused of injuring a 2-year-old child in Bullskin Township, police said. The child had to be treated at Children’s Hospital pf Pittsburgh. Lilley...
Iwin police chief resigns; acting chief named
Irwin council named a veteran police officer as the borough’s acting chief after the chief of seven years resigned last month. Chief Roger Pivirotto’s resignation was effective Aug. 20, but he will remain an employee until Dec. 2, Shari Martino, borough manager, said Wednesday. Council accepted Pivirotto’s resignation on Sept....
Debate rises over proposed North Huntingdon backyard chicken rules
After several North Huntingdon residents asked the municipality to permit chickens in residential neighborhoods, township officials appeared split over implementing rules that would allow hens to be raised on parcels less than a quarter acre. During an hour-long public hearing Tuesday, about a dozen residents supporting a proposed ordinance to...
Norwin, Franklin Regional recognized for Special Olympics
Norwin and Franklin Regional high schools are among nine in Pennsylvania to be nationally recognized as a Special Olympics Unified Champion Banner School for their commitment to inclusion in sports, academics, and extracurricular activities. “Receiving this distinction as a Unified Champion School shows that Norwin has made inclusion a priority...
Pennsylvania to send 5 weeks of $300 checks to eligible jobless
Pennsylvania will start distributing $1,500 in federal unemployment compensation to those without a job since the beginning of August because of the covid-19 pandemic. “Everybody who is currently receiving unemployment (compensation), with very few exceptions, will qualify for that benefit,” state Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Tuesday. Unemployed...
Sing for Their Supper and Crafts planned
Downtown Irwin will be the site of the 13th annual Sing for Their Supper and Craft Show, an annual fundraiser for the Westmoreland County Food Bank, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 12. Those who think they have a great singing voice can entertain by singing along with a...
Pa. to distribute $300 weekly jobless benefit checks next week
The state said it will start next week to distribute the $300 weekly checks the Trump administration approved as the replacement for the $600-a-week benefits the jobless received before that funding expired at the end of July. The money from the federal Lost Wages Assistance program will be distributed to...
North Huntingdon to hold hearing on backyard chickens ordinance
The debate about keeping chickens in North Huntingdon’s residential areas will continue. Township commissioners scheduled a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Town House, 11279 Center Highway, to hear another round of what has been heated discussion on the subject, including where residents can have chickens and how...
Mine cleanups in Cook, Fawn townships among those targeted by state program
An abandoned mine drainage treatment system meant to remove pollution from a tributary of the Loyalhanna Creek near Rector will be replaced and a highwall at the popular Tour-Ed Mine and Museum in Fawn will be made safer via a state program. “It’s a win-win all around,” said John Wenzel,...
Heavy rains don’t dampen enthusiasm of Trump supporters ahead of Westmoreland rallyVideo
Frequent and sometimes heavy rains Thursday could not keep supporters of Donald Trump from flooding Arnold Palmer Regional Airport hours before the president’s scheduled campaign rally. Drenched crowds stood in line at the Unity airport waiting to board buses to take them to a fenced-in holding area in front of...
Walat’s tavern co-owner in Somerset County found dead inside his bar destroyed by fire
The owner of a popular Somerset County tavern along Route 30 west of Jennerstown was found dead inside the building that was destroyed by fire early Wednesday, state police said. Martin Walat, a co-owner of Walat’s, a bar atop Laurel Hill Summit in Jenners Township, was discovered in the bar...
Pa.: Jobless must wait at least 3-4 weeks for promised $300 in assistance
For some 86,800 unemployed workers in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, the $300 check the Trump administration promised in early August probably won’t be in the mail for another three or four weeks, state officials said. The computer system the state Department of Labor & Industry will use to distribute the...
Norwin’s first hybrid school day went well, students say
The first day of class at Norwin Middle School for Avery Waszo was similar to her final day last school year — it was online. “It went well. There was not too much work,” said Avery, a 12-year-old seventh grader from North Huntingdon. Avery was one of 5,300 district students...
