Patrick Varine stories, Page 6
Drivers frustrated with improvements at intersection of Golden Mile Highway, Saltsburg Road
The new traffic layout where Route 380 and Golden Mile Highway meet in Murrysville was intended to ease passage for trucks that must cross the highway on their way to a fracking well pad just up the road. And while it might be more accommodating to truck traffic, it appears...
Delmont the latest community to start deer-culling program
Four deer hunters will get a chance to wait for their quarry in the confines of Delmont’s Shields Farm this fall. Council voted to begin a deer management program on the Shields Farm property, 145 acres that belongs to the borough but is technically in Salem. “A couple members of...
Murrysville area: Apple’n Arts, homecoming bonfire and more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Apple’n Arts Festival The 2025 Apple’n Arts Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 4 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 5 at Shields Farm in Delmont. It is at Contact Place. Parking is $10 per car....
Monroeville area: Blood drive, Heritage Day festival, live music, more
Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bkikel@triblive.com. Heritage Day Monroeville Historical Society will host its annual Heritage Day from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 27 at the McGinley and McCully Homes, 2381 McGinley Road. Activities will include guided tours and interactive demonstrations, pony rides, farm animals,...
Mt. Pleasant man faces charges in friend’s drowning death at Deep Creek Lake
A Mt. Pleasant man has been charged in the death of a Greensburg man this past winter, after the two fell through the ice at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland while riding a side-by-side. Officers with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said Ricky A. Wise, 59, of Mt. Pleasant...
Portion of Arona Road closed because of water main break
PennDOT closed a portion of Arona Road between Route 30 and Wendel Road in North Huntingdon because of a water main break Tuesday afternoon. Fire crews from Strawpump VFD arrived to find the road flooded near the Route 30 side. “Our foreman said the open ditch where the gas company...
East Huntingdon man identified as mobile home explosion victim
Authorities have identified the man killed in a mobile home explosion Saturday in East Huntingdon as William P. Lubovinsky, 82. The Greensburg-based fire marshal for the Pennsylvania State Police continues to investigate what caused Lubovinsky’s home to explode. Firefighters from multiple communities responded to the blaze about 4:15 p.m. at...
Benezette elk viewing areas unaffected by weekend fires
A wildfire Saturday in Benezette it isn’t expected to impact tourism in the self-proclaimed “Elk Capital of Pennsylvania.” In north central Pennsylvania, visitors regularly flock to Elk County to observe the animals, and fall is particularly popular for viewing the annual elk rut. The game commission maintains multiple elk viewing...
Murrysville neighbors concerned with lack of progress at multi-phase development
Diane Daugherty of Murrysville has been looking out her back window at a construction site for the past three years. She doesn’t think the developers should be starting a new project until they finish the current one. Daugherty voiced her objection at Murrysville Council’s recent public meeting, speaking against a...
Concert will help support East Palestine residents affected by train derailment
Former steelworker, longtime Pittsburgh-area labor activist and musician Mike Stout wanted a way to formalize relief efforts for those affected and displaced by the 2023 East Palestine train derailment. The freight train derailment on Feb. 3, 2023, in the village near the Pennsylvania state line included 11 cars transporting hazardous...
Pirates’ Paul Skenes joins Gary Sinise Foundation to serve lunch, give aid to local first respondersVideo
Paul Skenes is usually serving up fastballs, not baked beans. But the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher swapped his rosin bag for an apron and serving spoon on Thursday morning, helping members of the nonprofit Gary Sinise Foundation present a grant and serve lunch to firefighters and paramedics in Monroeville at the...
Artists think big, paint small at ’24 Minis’ exhibit in Tarentum
Even if you’re painting a life-size depiction of baby birds, you don’t need a huge canvas. That’s part of the reason why Murrysville artist Betty Trout decided to focus on multiple families of robins in her backyard as the subject of her entry in the “24 Minis” exhibit at the...
Why a stream near Monroeville Mall is glowing bright blue
In the valley below Monroeville Mall, a small stream that starts in Penn Hills winds its way downhill alongside Stotler Road, before breaking southeast and following the road that bears its name, Thompson Run. As the stream nears a bridge carrying Thompson Run Road over top, the water has an...
Monroeville area: Old William Penn closure, fall book sale, Heritage Day and more
Old William Penn closure Old William Penn Highway between Duff Road and Evergreen Drive will be closed through the end of September as work crews demolish the existing Parkway East bridge over the road, PennDOT officials announced. Traffic will be detoured. East of the closure, drivers will turn north onto...
Vigil for Franklin Regional student set at Murrysville church
A candlelight vigil is planned Thursday night in memory of Tayson Foltz, the Franklin Regional student who was found dead outside the senior high school last weekend. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church, 4600 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville. Family members said in...
Route 22 side streets in Murrysville will close for signal-control repairs
Drivers in Murrysville will be detoured briefly on Friday, as work crews repair a traffic signal control box that was damaged in a crash where Manor and Mellon roads meet Route 22. Murrysville Chief Administrator Michael Nestico said crews will begin repairs around 7:30 a.m. Friday morning. The work is...
Suspect in rigged lawn mower explosion in Salem arrested in Indiana County
A Westmoreland County man charged with rigging a lawn mower to explode has been arrested in Indiana County. James Sever, 54, of New Alexandria was taken into custody early Tuesday evening, according to state police. An off-duty trooper reported seeing Sever about 7 p.m. along Hoodlebug Trail in Center Township....
Greensburg Civic Theatre kicks off 74th season with ‘Seussical’
If the “Seussical” musical was a person, it would surely be related to Mallory Grantz’s Monroeville family. “This is the fifth time in our family that one or more of us has been involved in ‘Seussical,’” said Grantz, 39, who will direct a production of the show to kick off...
Wilkins man sentenced in connection with fatal 2024 North Versailles crash
A Wilkins man has been sentenced to less than a week in jail for his role in a fatal crash in early 2024. Aaron J. Butler, 21, was sentenced last week to three to six days in jail after entering a guilty plea in connection with the April 7, 2024,...
Franklin Regional has counseling options in place after student suicide
Flowers were left at the entrance to Franklin Regional Senior High School on Monday, a gesture of sympathy after a student committed suicide behind the school early Sunday morning. Franklin Regional officials said resources from Westmoreland County Behavioral Health as well as the University of Pittsburgh’s youth counseling service will...
Toypalooza show heads to larger venue at Monroeville Convention Center
Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. In the arts and entertainment industry, it leads to all kinds of things from film sequels and reboots to band reunions to the relaunch of once-beloved products. For D&E Collectibles owner Bobby Eisel, it has led to the steady growth of Toypalooza, the annual vendor...
Acid mine water treatment plant project gets $2M boost from state grant
An acid mine water remediation project, first pitched to Murrysville officials three years ago, has received $2 million in support from the state Department of Environmental Protection. As part of more than $5 million in mine-related grant funding, the department awarded $2.1 million for the Murrysville Area Watershed Association to...
Time running out to claim federal tax credits on energy-efficient improvements
Chad Warhold, owner of plumbing, heating and air conditioning company Warhold Mechanicals in North Huntingdon, is expecting to add some last-minute jobs to his calendar between now and the end of the year. That’s because in addition to tax credits for solar energy installation, tax credits for homeowners who upgrade...
Murrysville area: Art show, band community night and more
Email news briefs and email listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Rotary Oktoberfest The Murrysville-Export Rotary Club will host its annual Oktoberfest German festival from 3-8 p.m. Sept. 20 at White Valley Park. The afternoon will include German food, beer and wine, pizza, barbecue and refreshments, live music by The Kosmix, therapy horses...
New grant, same goal: Monroeville officials to expand Saunders Station trailhead area
Monroeville officials will pivot from planning a new Valley Park bridge to expanding the Saunders Station access area for the Westmoreland Heritage Trail. “We accepted a grant to build a new bridge over Turtle Creek, and the feasibility of that is beyond the original scope of the project,” Graziani said...

