Renatta Signorini stories, Page 16
Hempfield plans new museum for volunteer fire stations
Hempfield is planning to establish a committee that will be tasked with the creation of a museum for the township’s volunteer fire stations. Township Supervisor Doug Weimer made the suggestion last week as he and fellow supervisors unanimously approved a declaration of intent with Grapeville for the station to become...
Pike County man to serve up to 23 months in jail for 2020 sexual assault
A Northeastern Pennsylvania man was taken out of a Westmoreland County courtroom in handcuffs Friday after being handed a jail sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl five years ago. Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced David Stone, 62, of Dingmans Ferry in Pike County, to six to 23 months in the...
Hempfield officials make plans to spend $7.5M surplus
Hempfield officials are reallocating $7.5 million in surplus funds after higher than expected revenues in recent years. Township supervisors this week approved a plan to use the money to buy public works equipment, pay off fire trucks and foot the bill for a second road paving project, among other priorities....
Latrobe man convicted in stepbrother’s drug overdose death gets second chance from court
A prosecutor, a defense attorney and a judge worked together Friday to fashion a sentence that they hope will help a man who has struggled with a drug addiction — which led to the death of his stepbrother — get a second chance. Stephen A. Piper could have been sentenced...
Monessen man receives prison sentence for stabbing attack
A Monessen man was sentenced Friday to state prison for stabbing a man at an apartment complex where they lived in 2023. The victim of the attack declined to testify during the sentencing hearing for Robert W. Varner, 62, but the fact that he didn’t waive a mandatory two- to...
2 men sentenced in robbery of vape cartridges
Two men were sentenced to two years less one day on probation Friday for their roles in what police said was a robbery of $5,000 worth of vape cartridges. James Walter Ryan, 23, of Penn Township, and Kasean Lamar Dillard, 21, of Pittsburgh, both previously pleaded guilty to lesser charges...
Police suspect deaths of Crabtree couple were murder-suicide
State police believe two deaths stemming from a shooting in Crabtree nearly a year ago were the result of a murder-suicide. In a report issued Thursday, troopers identified Marie Southern, 61, as the victim. She was found wandering on Brown Lane in early April and appeared confused, troopers said. It...
Standoff resolved in Monessen after police attempt to serve search warrant
A Brownsville man is behind bars after police said he shot at another man in Monessen late Thursday. Investigators said when they attempted to serve a search warrant early Thursday at a home near the shooting they learned Jay Din R. Eleam, 21, was reportedly hiding in an attic, possibly...
Greensburg teen escapes after alleged assault by man she met on social media
Investigators believe a Philadelphia man was intending to traffic a 13-year-old Greensburg girl when he paid for an Uber to drive her 280 miles across the state, where, police said, he sexually assaulted her. The girl managed to escape, and police on Thursday arrested Angel Lopez, 19, on 14 felonies...
2nd pedestrian struck March 11 while in crosswalk in Indiana Borough dies
A second pedestrian hit by a truck in Indiana Borough this month has died. Loretta Ann Reeger, 68, of Clarksburg, died Saturday at Conemaugh Memorial Hospital, according to her obituary. Borough police said they are continuing their investigation into the March 11 crash. A driver from Alliance Properties Group in...
Hempfield couple say goodbye to flood-prone home — with help from township, state and feds
Rob and Lori Upholster are going to be in the market for a new place to live. After enduring 13 floods inside their Hempfield home in the past 29 years, they are on the brink of getting federal funding to alleviate the situation and demolish their house. It’s emotional for...
Hempfield farmland OK’d for housing plan
Hempfield supervisors voted 3-2 this week to allow a change in zoning on 100 acres of farmland that could clear the way for a residential development. The vote came after a 70-minute public hearing during which nearly a dozen residents opposed the change, some vehemently, citing concerns about increased traffic,...
Hempfield plans $1.7M road paving program
Twenty-five roads around Hempfield are set to be paved this year. Township supervisors on Monday awarded Tresco Paving Corp. a $1.69 million contract for this year’s paving program. Those roads are spread throughout Hempfield in Fort Allen, West Hempfield, the southern part of the township and the Westmoreland Mall area....
Hempfield awards $730,000 demolition contract for former SCI Greensburg prison
Work could start in about 60 days after Hempfield supervisors awarded a demolition contract to tear down the former SCI Greensburg prison, said township manager Aaron Siko. Supervisors unanimously voted Monday to pay Ritenour and Sons Construction Co. $732,000 to remove hazardous material from the buildings and demolish them. The...
Wind gust damages roof of Duquesne building already set to be torn down
A roof on a Duquesne University building was damaged Monday during high winds, TribLive news partner WTAE reported. A piece of the roof on Mendel Hall on Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Bluff neighborhood landed on the street and sidewalk below. The building, which houses athletic offices, was already scheduled for...
Monessen man charged in early morning shooting
A Monessen man is charged attempted homicide in connection with a shooting last week that left a woman hurt. Monessen police believe Jamont Anthony Minnie, 34, pulled the trigger at 1:30 a.m. outside a private club in the area of Knox Avenue and 10th Street. The woman, who is in...
Visitors welcome as structural work to protect iconic Fallingwater continues
Fallingwater isn’t a typical house, so renovations are anything but normal. When architect Frank Lloyd Wright pushed the envelope in the 1930s with his revolutionary home design, wedged into a stream in Fayette County, he may not have been thinking about how the iconic house would be preserved 90 years...
Cause of 2024 Jeannette fire that killed 5 cannot be determined, investigators say
The cause of a fire last year in Jeannette that claimed five lives has been ruled undetermined, police Chief Derek Manley said Friday. A state police fire marshal has spent the past year sifting through evidence from the March 20, 2024, blaze on Guy Street. Family members and friends gathered...
69-year-old man found dead, 40 cats rescued from Ligonier Township home
A 69-year-old man was found dead and about 40 cats were rescued from a home in Ligonier Township. The man, who was not identified, was found dead after police were asked to do a welfare check Monday evening, according to Coroner Tim Carson. The death is not considered suspicious. Jen...
Remains found in North Carolina linked to former Westmoreland resident
Remains found in North Carolina in 2022 have been linked to a woman who has ties to Westmoreland County. Sharon Johnston told the Anson Record last week that officials in Anson County said DNA results indicate the remains of an unidentified woman belong to her daughter, Amber Rae Johnston. Anson...
Schedule set for demolition of Homer City power plant towers
Preparations are underway for the expected demolition Saturday morning of the stacks and towers at the former Homer City Generating Station. The operation will be weather dependent. It could be delayed for hours or days if weather conditions including wind speed and barometric pressure are not favorable. The old coal-fired...
Memorial observance honors 5 victims of Jeannette house fire 1 year ago
Miranda John has found ways to honor the memories of her four children and fiancee over the past year. There have been balloon releases on each of their birthdays. She has donated baskets of items to Westmoreland Hospital for newborns who share the birthdays of Kyson, 7; Kinzleigh, 6; Keagan,...
Driver who crashed into trooper’s car may have been drinking, police say
State police believe a 78-year-old Mt. Pleasant man was impaired by alcohol when he crashed into a trooper’s patrol car parked along the berm during a traffic stop on Route 119 in Fayette County. The trooperhad pulled over a Chevrolet Trax over March 8 at 7:40 p.m. for traffic violations...
Woman shot in wrist outside Monessen private club
A 23-year-old woman was shot in the wrist outside a private club Thursday in Monessen, according to authorities. City police and Westmoreland County detectives are investigating the shooting that was reported at 1:30 a.m. on Knox Avenue. The woman was taken to Penn Highlands Mon Valley Hospital and flown by...
Grapeville latest station to come under wing of Hempfield fire department
Grapeville Volunteer Fire Company is ready to take the plunge. Hempfield supervisors are set to vote Monday on a declaration of intent with the fire station. If approved, it will start a process for the station to become “nonchartered” that will end with Grapeville’s finances being managed and paid by...
