Patrick Varine stories, Page 92
Kiski traffic stop yields unlicensed gun, drugs
Two men were arrested Saturday night after Kiski Township police say they were driving a car with marijuana and an unlicensed gun inside. Police conducted a traffic stop shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday night along Route 56 near McKinstry Hill Road. The vehicle’s occupants, Clevon Helton, 21, of Pittsburgh and...
Franklin Regional students prepare to stage ‘The Little Mermaid’ in March
Getting into character generally isn’t a huge challenge for Franklin Regional senior Haylee Phillips. Unless that character is Flotsam, an evil eel in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” Then it’s a little trickier. “I get to wear heelies, so I can skate around,” said Phillips, 17, referring to tennis shoes with...
1 in custody following brief standoff in Export
One person was taken into custody by state police around 11:30 p.m. Friday after a brief standoff in Export. State police and Murrysville police closed a small part of the lower section of Italy Road in the borough while responding to a domestic situation. Police were called to Italy Road...
Coroner: Warren County man killed in Madison crash
A Warren County man was killed Friday night after his car veered off the road and collided with a tree in Madison, according to the Westmoreland County coroner. John D. Kelly, 73, of Sugar Grove Township was the lone occupant of the vehicle when it crashed in the 300 block...
Murrysville Watch Committee makes final appeal to challenge fracking ordinance
After being rebuffed by the state’s Commonwealth Court in its appeal of a challenge to Murrysville’s unconventional gas drilling ordinance, members of the Murrysville Watch Committee will appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Committee attorney John Smith filed a petition this week asking for the state’s highest court to consider...
1 in critical condition following shooting in Mt. Washington neighborhood
One person is in critical condition following a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington neighborhood, according to police. Officers responded to Craighead Street, between Iberia and Eureka streets, shortly before 7:30 p.m. for a ShotSpotter alert. They found a male victim had been shot. He was transported to a local hospital,...
Southbound I-79 in Franklin Park area reopens after crash closed it for hours
The southbound lanes of Interstate 79 reopened shortly before 5 p.m., following a multi-vehicle crash between the I-279 and Mt. Nebo Road exits in the Franklin Park area. Emergency personnel were on scene shortly after the crash was reported around 3 p.m., according to PennDOT officials. PennDOT officials are advising...
Liquor control enforcement officer charged with sex crimes against 2 pre-teen girls
A Pennsylvania State Police liquor control enforcement officer has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting two girls in Cambria County. Scott Berdine was arrested Thursday and faces 10 charges related to multiple incidents in which he is accused of sexual offenses against two children outside of his regular work...
Murrysville area: Easter drive-thru, new school offices, art show entries, more
Submit news, briefs and event listings to pvarine@trib live.com. Murrysville to host Easter drive-thru Murrysville Recreation Department will host an Easter drive-thru from 3:30-5:30 p.m. April 13 at the municipal building on Sardis Road. Families can wave to the Easter Bunny and Yellow Chick and receive a treat bag while...
Police: Penn Hills man caught with fentanyl, crystal meth following traffic stop
A Penn Hills man wanted on assault charges was in possession of fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine when he was pulled over for a traffic stop on Tuesday night, according to police. Iedoniae K. Cole, 29, of Newfield Road in Penn Hills was pulled over just before 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday...
Nature club will host winter botany hike at Keystone State Park
When M.J. Seipler of Penn Township goes out into the woods, she always wants to know more about what is around her. “It’s nice to know about the birds and plants, the creatures who share the Earth with us,” Seipler said. “And we’re lucky in a place like Pennsylvania where...
Murrysville council hears pitch for acid-mine remediation project
Murrysville and Export have the unfortunate distinction of being home to two of the largest mine water sources in the Turtle Creek Watershed. That is not through any fault of their own. Long-abandoned mine activity, combined with the natural flow of stormwater, has resulted in the slow leakage of various...
Murrysville takes public input on spending federal covid relief dollars
Murrysville officials wanted to hear from ideas from the public about how to use a little more than $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan relief funding at their Feb. 16 meeting. Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said the municipality had received an initial payment last July, and the second will...
Monroeville girl trains for National Ninja League championships
Nya Scott wants to be a ninja world champion, and this spring, the 7-year-old Monroeville resident will get the chance. But it’s not the ancient Japanese martial art of ninjutsu. Scott is a member of the Iron City Ninjas, who train to run obstacle courses that test their physical endurance...
Western Pennsylvania residents look to preserve region’s mining historyVideo
On an unusually warm day in what would normally be the dead of winter, melting snow perfectly illustrated why an old Pittsburgh Coal Co. mine in Fayette County is now called “The Ruins.” “Nature takes a backseat to industry, but it always wins out in the long term,” said Rachel...
South Fayette teen’s song to debut on Pittsburgh radio on Friday
As a 14-year-old, Aleia Snider of South Fayette was excited to be meeting “American Idol” standout Gabby Barrett after one of Barrett’s performances at the South Hills Village Mall a few years ago. “I her her through my dad (Star 100.7 FM DJ) Bubba Snider,” she said. “After hearing that...
Sinkhole opens up along Route 136 in west Hempfield
A sizable sinkhole opened up on Thursday afternoon along the 3200 block of Route 136 in Hempfield. “My employees spotted it and let me know about it this morning,” said Joe Maher, owner of West Hempfield Self Storage. “There’s an old mine shaft about 25 feet down. This area was...
Murrysville area: Art show, library programs, wellness checks, more
Submit news, briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Franklin Regional fined for chemical discharge The Franklin Regional School District recently paid a $7,000 fine to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, after mop water containing floor finish and floor-finish stripper was poured down a janitorial sink connected to the stormwater...
Greensburg fighter wins MMA title in Ohio Combat League
Greensburg got itself a mixed-martial arts champion in January. Mataeo Garner captured the Ohio Combat League’s light heavyweight championship Jan. 29, fighting in the amateur division at 204 pounds. The 24-year-old Greensburg resident won a unanimous decision in the third round against Dayton, Ohio, fighter Darryl Booker. At 5-foot-9, Garner...
Customs agents helped guarantee pest-free petals for Valentine’s Day
Earlier this week, people who received a bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day were typically looking for the card. But earlier this year, when Customs and Border Protection officers received them, they were looking for pests, because the U.S. has become more reliant on importing flowers from overseas growers in...
Franklin Township sewage authority finalizing system-wide flow model as part of state consent order
The Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority is wrapping up work on a flow model of its entire system, the next milestone in its consent order with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The authority has been conducting smoke-and-dye testing for illegal connections as well as video inspection of all its...
Decades after forming Prince cover band, CAPA alumni lead tribute concert at Kelly Strayhorn Theater
Once up a time nearly four decades ago, Dwayne Fulton of Pittsburgh and his Creative and Performing Arts High School classmates Brian Edwards and Stan Howard started a band with the lofty goal of covering music by funk and R&B legend Prince. In the 1980s, Howard changed his first name...
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit offers free course to help bolster substitute teacher ranks
On a school day in November, Allegheny Valley School District officials had 11 teachers off work and only one substitute to call in. The district was considering using some of its American Rescue Plan funding to help bring in additional substitutes, serving as yet another example of a district struggling...
New York jazz trio’s newest songs named for Pennsylvania disaster townsVideo
To call Moppa Elliott’s approach to music composition “loose” might be an understatement. The Pennsylvania native is a music teacher at Information Technology High School in Long Island City, N.Y., and the bassist for jazz collective Mostly Other People Do the Killing, which will perform in Pittsburgh on Feb. 23...
Maryland man pleads guilty after selling U.S. nuclear data to undercover FBI agent
A Maryland man who worked at Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after prosecutors say he delivered restricted data on the design of U.S. nuclear warships to an undercover federal agent he believed was representing a foreign government. Jonathan Toebbe, 43, of Annapolis, used...
