Patrick Varine stories, Page 100
Police: Westmoreland County Community College student arrested after attacking teacher
An adult student was arrested at Westmoreland County Community College’s Mt. Pleasant campus on Tuesday, after state police say he tried to stab a teacher with a screwdriver. State police responded to WCCC’s Advanced Technology Center in East Huntingdon shortly after 2:30 p.m. for a report of an assault. When...
Nonprofit will mark holiday with 24-hour ‘Vet-A-Thon’ featuring veteran stories, experiences
When members of the nonprofit Veterans Breakfast Club were brainstorming ideas for Veterans Day, one member suggested a 12-hour livestream illustrating the group’s mission of preserving veterans’ stories and sharing them with future generations. “We brought it to our board and they said, ‘Great – let’s make it 24 hours!’”...
Derry native chosen for program that trains federal government’s ‘top managers’
For Derry native Kelly DeGraff, it’s no cliché to say that being a federal employee is about making a difference. For the past two decades, she has done just that as director of the insurance and mitigation readiness division at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There, she works as a...
Export council may institute rental license fee, regular inspections
Export officials will look into an update to the way rental inspections are conducted in the borough that has the upshot of helping to plug a roughly $60,000 gap in the 2022 budget. Mayor Joe Zaccagnini asked council members to authorize solicitor Wes Long to draft an ordinance which would...
Murrysville council considers balanced $9.5 million budget for 2022
Murrysville Finance Director Diane Heming presented council members with a balanced $9.5 million budget for 2022 that does not call for a property tax increase, but does include revenue from hikes to both the earned income and real-estate transfer taxes. Council enacted its first tax bump since 2007 on Wednesday...
Murrysville: Egyptology program, Veterans Day activities, zoo speaker, more
Submit news briefs and event information by emailing pvarine@triblive.com. • • • Delmont ministry seeks food donations for Thanksgiving dinner Delmont-based nonprofit Seed Ministries is seeking food donations for its annual Thanksgiving dinner, held this year on Nov. 18 at Covenant Care Ministries in Southwest Greensburg. They are seeking 10-12...
Export council will consider $734,000 budget with no tax hike for 2022
Export officials next month will consider a 2022 budget with just under $734,000 in expenditures that will potentially use a combination of updated rental ordinances and un-designated funding to plug a gap of about $14,500. Initial revenue projections for 2022 were about $657,000. Mayor Joe Zaccagnini proposed updating the borough’s...
Murrysville teen pushes through chronic illness, pain to set state powerlifting records
Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would...
Murrysville Council approves 1st tax hike since 2007 on earned income, real-estate transfer taxes
Murrysville Council voted unanimously Wednesday to bump its share of the earned income tax from 0.5 to 0.7%, and its share of the real-estate transfer tax from 0.5% to 1%. It is the first municipal tax hike since 2007. Finance Director Diane Heming said she anticipates the move will bring...
Seton Hill students join UN’s Millennium Fellowship, plan to promote sustainability
Students from Seton Hill University are nearly finished with a series of leadership training sessions as part of the Millennium Fellowship, a semester-long program sponsored by the United Nations Academic Impact and Millennium Campus Network. “After we finish our training, we’ll teach that to the other fellows,” said senior Ariana...
Incumbents hold off write-in challengers in Penn-Trafford school board race
All three incumbents in the Penn-Trafford school board race earned new terms on Tuesday, and the current warden of the Westmoreland County Prison will join them after earning a school board seat in the district’s Region II. In Region I, incumbent Republican Martin Stovar took nearly 83% of the vote....
Lemak, Lingg, Stepanovich and Dice come out on top in Murrysville council race
Two incumbents and two first-time candidates earned four-year terms on Murrysville council out a field of six in Tuesday’s municipal election. Newcomer and Republican Jason Lemak was the top vote-getter with 3,407 votes, followed by fellow first-timer and Republican Jamie Lingg (3,323), and incumbent Republicans Carl Stepanovich (2,996) and Dayne...
Franklin Regional school board will see 4 new members
One incumbent and three first-time candidates came out on top of a field of six candidates in the Franklin Regional school board election on Tuesday night, according to unofficial results. Additionally, retiree Diana Altieri Hand, 60, won election as the sole candidate running for a two-year term for the seat...
4 chosen for Delmont council
Three incumbents and one newcomer took the top spots for four Delmont council seats in Tuesday’s municipal election. Incumbent Republican Stan Cheyne was the top vote-getter with 470 votes, followed by incumbent Republican Pam Simpson (450), incumbent Republican Andrew Shissler (437) and newcomer Republican Jeff Cunningham (416). “I’m excited to...
Incumbent Urban wins another term as Delmont mayor
Republican incumbent Alyce Urban earned another term as mayor in Delmont, beating out Libertarian challenger Nate Jobe, 453-193, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election. Urban, 74, a former council member appointed to the mayor’s seat in 2014, ran on a platform of preserving the police department, which recently relocated...
Salem senior home residents taken to Delmont fire hall after problem with heating system
About 40 residents and staff members were moved from Ark Manor senior living facility in Salem to the Delmont Volunteer Fire Department on Tuesday night after a problem with the heating system, a move that emergency officials hope is temporary. “We’re trying to get the heat temporarily back on in...
5 candidates vie for 4 open seats on Delmont council
Five candidates will compete for four open seats on Delmont Council in the Nov. 2 election, each with their own ideas for the future of the borough. “With input from the citizens of Delmont, council needs to identify issues and plan to correct them as we move into the future,”...
Incumbents face newcomer, write-in challengers in Penn-Trafford school board race
In the Penn-Trafford School Board race, long-serving incumbents will go up against a newcomer who took the top spot in his primary race, and three first-time candidates who were compelled to start write-in campaigns by what they felt was an unresponsive board. “A lot of things are happening that I...
Franklin Regional Thespian Club gives patrons two plays for the price of one with ‘Nooses Off’
After a school year in which the Franklin Regional Thespian Club put on a virtual play in the fall and a spring production with a cast of only seven, director Richard Sunny said he’s nearly forgotten what it was like to rehearse with a sizable group of actors. So naturally,...
Pittsburgh police: Man flees from crash through North Side park, nearly hits officers
A man was arrested Friday evening after Pittsburgh police accused him of fleeing a crash scene and driving through a North Side park. According to a release from Pittsburgh Public Safety, officers responded around 6:50 p.m. to a report of a vehicle hitting a tree in the 300 block of...
Chairman for Pitt board of trustees, Thomas Richards, dies at 66
Thomas E. Richards, chairman of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, died Thursday night after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 66. After graduating from Pitt and earning a master’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Richards spent a 45-year career in the tech industry, including nearly two...
Compass Inn hosts spooky storytelling, pumpkin carving contest
Knox Lipinski was having a tough time picking out his favorite pumpkin on Friday night. Knox, 7, of Latrobe was at the Compass Inn’s sixth annual Pumpkin Carving Contest, which takes place this weekend during the inn’s Halloween Hauntings Storytelling event. He finally settled on a large pumpkin that, upon...
TribLive Taste Test: What’s our favorite of the top Halloween treats?Video
This year, the National Retail Federation anticipates Americans will spend more than $10 billion on Halloween-related purchases. Its 2021 Halloween survey also showed that more than 95% of respondents are planning to purchase candy. But what kinds are we buying? According to trade publication Candy Industry — and to any...
Delmont man, 21, charged with dealing drugs out of apartment complex
A 21-year-old Delmont man faces drug charges after police said a search of his apartment turned up more than 3 1/2 ounces of marijuana, 60 grams of THC vapor cartridges and more than 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana “wax.” Delmont Police Chief T.J. Klobucar said his department had been contacted...
Murrysville proposal to hike earned-income, real-estate transfer taxes spurs debate
Murrysville resident Larry Schultz said he’s surprised the municipality has gone 14 years without a tax hike. “I appreciate how blessed Murrysville has been, based on their very sound spending and management,” he told council members recently. Schultz supported a potential 0.2% bump in the municipality’s share of earned income...
