Deb Erdley stories, Page 25
American Legion oratorical, essay contests open to high school students
Westmoreland County high school students looking for college scholarships might want to sharpen their public speaking and essay skills for the 2020 Pennsylvania American Legion oratorical and essay contests. The contests are open to all county students in grades 9-12, including home school and charter and private school pupils. Applications...
Impeachment rules the day, but Pennsylvania lawmakers push bipartisan initiatives
Impeachment proceedings continue to divide much of the country and seemingly the whole of Congress, with predictable partisan stances sounding loudly in the overarching narrative. Firmly in President Trump’s corner has been U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a first-term Republican from Peters, Washington County, who has repeatedly dismissed the process as...
Robert Morris University to celebrate expansion
Robert Morris University will break ground on an expansion to its John Jay Center for the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science on Tuesday at the university’s Moon Township campus. The $5 million expansion, which is being underwritten by grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, will include new engineering...
Volunteer firefighter was a role model of devotion to community service
Jim Smith was a volunteer firefighter’s fireman. When the Southwest Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department was ready to retire its 1932 Mack fire truck, Mr. Smith, a longtime member of the company, and fellow volunteer firefighter Tom Gressman stepped forward to buy it. James E. Smith of Greensburg died Tuesday, Nov....
Holocaust survivors to speak at Seton Hill Kristallnacht Remembrance service
Three Pittsburgh area Holocaust survivors will speak at the annual Kristallnacht Remembrance Interfaith Service at the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education and the Office of Campus Ministry at Seton Hill University on Tuesday. The service marks 81 years since Kristallnacht, the infamous “night of broken glass” November 9-10, 1938,...
Excela launches expanded cardiology services with new team of specialistsVideo
When nearly 100 patients left Excela Health System last year to undergo minimally invasive heart valve replacements not offered through its Westmoreland County hospitals, officials knew it was time to stop the bleeding. It is now “game on,” Excela acting CEO John Sphon said after the recruitment of four specialists...
Pennsylvania tax revenues for 1st quarter at 6.1% above pre-recession peak
At least we’re not Ohio. A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts that looks at state tax revenues at the end of the first quarter of 2019 found they were up 13 percent across the nation since their pre-recession peak in 2008. “The results mean that states collectively had...
5 union-endorsed candidates win election to Mt. Pleasant School Board
When the Mt. Pleasant Area School Board meets on Dec. 5, a new majority may offer a different perspective on long-stalled teacher contract talks. That’s when five new board members, all of whom were endorsed by the Mt. Pleasant Education Association, will be sworn in during a reorganization meeting. Incoming...
Trump nominates Scott Hardy to federal bench in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh lawyer W. Scott Hardy was nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court bench in Pittsburgh, Trump administration officials announced Wednesday. The 48-year-old Allegheny County Republican is a shareholder at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, where he focuses on labor and employment matters. Hardy was among 10...
Citing voter approval, Marsy’s Law supporters call on ACLU to drop challenge
Advocates are calling on the ACLU of Pennsylvania to drop its lawsuit against a proposed crime victims’ rights amendment to the state constitution after unofficial election results showed voters approved it 3-1 Tuesday. The amendment, which passed the General Assembly twice in the last two years, was scheduled to become...
Stewart, Walsh win Westmoreland judicial race; Bononi, Scherer get second terms
Westmoreland County voters Tuesday tabbed Democrat Michael Stewart II and Republican state Rep. Justin Walsh to fill two seats on the Common Pleas Court. Stewart, 37, of Hempfield, a Democrat who won both the Democratic and Republican nominations in the spring, and Walsh, 47, of Rostraver, a two-term state lawmaker...
Marsy’s Law amendment hanging by a thread as election nears
The unprecedented, multimillion-dollar campaign to pass a referendum to include victims’ rights in the Pennsylvania Constitution is hanging by a legal thread, even before voters head to the polls Tuesday. The amendment, known as Marsy’s Law, has percolated through the General Assembly for two years. It passed the Legislature by...
Party lines define Pennsylvania congressional delegation take on impeachment
Party lines were starkly visible Thursday as five Western Pennsylvania congressmen weighed in on the impeachment resolution that narrowly passed in the U.S. House, 232-196. Mike Kelly of Butler, John Joyce of Hollidaysburg, and Guy Reschenthaler of Peters — like 191 other House Republicans — voted against continuing the impeachment...
Proposed Pa. hate crimes package would up penalties, extend protections
After months of painstaking work and reaching out to stakeholders across Pennsylvania, State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, Wednesday introduced a package of four hate crimes bills. The bills, said Frankel, are designed to increase penalties, provide better reporting and police training and protect the rights of hate crimes victims....
Abuse survivor calls on Greensburg Diocese to support window of opportunity for clergy abuse claims
A clergy sexual abuse survivor whose testimony sent a Greensburg diocesan priest to prison stepped forward Tuesday to blast the church for opposing a law that would allow adults with old claims to sue the church. Josh Kiley, the 37 year-old man whose tale of sexual abuse as a 10-year-old...
Watchdog group concerned over Pitt reports on primate injuries, deaths
An Ohio-based research watchdog group has filed a complaint asking the USDA to sanction the University of Pittsburgh for the deaths of two primates and the injury of a third in its animal research programs. Stop Animal Exploitation Now, or SAEN, cited reports that Pitt submitted to the National Institutes...
Excela Westmoreland ranked among top regional facilities in U.S. News & World Report
Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital won honors as Best Regional Hospital-Pittsburgh, according to U.S. News & World Report. The Greensburg hospital was one of 569 hospitals of the nearly 4,500 reviewed to rank among the Best Regional Hospitals in a state or metro area based on their performance in delivering complex...
Cost no object for Westmoreland commissioners on buying new voting machines
Chuck Anderson, the outgoing Westmoreland County commissioner, said he wanted to ensure county residents had the best voting system available before he leaves office in December. The $7.1 million touch screen/scanner system he and fellow Commissioners Ted Kopas and Gina Cerilli approved this month will cost $30 per voter —...
Trump defense narrative unfolds as conservative supporters gird for impeachment
President Trump’s supporters in Western Pennsylvania seeking solace from the unfolding impeachment inquiry got a harsh dose of reality and strategy from political commentator Dinesh D’Souza. While Senate Republicans condemned the process and a group of House Republicans stormed a hearing room where impeachment witnesses were testifying, D’Souza joined a...
Agencies for handicapped sue over state regs forcing community participation
A Greensburg sheltered workshop that serves more than 100 intellectually challenged adults is suing the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services to overturn regulations that would force their handicapped clients out into the community at least a quarter of the time. The Westmoreland County Blind Association joined the Rehabilitation and Community...
Speculation on Dick’s CEO’s presidential aspirations stirs political waters
Twitter is afire with reports that Ed Stack, billionaire CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods, might run for U.S. president through a third-party bid. Stack, who has homes in Sewickley and North Palm Beach, Fla., made national headlines when he halted the sale of semi-automatic weapons and destroyed a cache worth...
After Tree of Life shooting, lawmakers and activists fight for tougher hate-crime lawsVideo
The attack at Tree of Life synagogue hit close to home for state Rep. Dan Frankel. “I grew up in this community,” the 62-year-old Democrat said. “I went to Tree of Life for bar mitzvah.” Frankel’s district includes Squirrel Hill. He lives four blocks from the synagogue that suffered the...
Lawmakers, activists fight for tougher hate-crime laws
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Challenge to victims’ rights amendment heads to Commonwealth Court
A state appellate court will hear arguments Wednesday in Harrisburg in a suit seeking to bar Pennsylvania from counting votes in the Nov. 5 referendum on a crime victims’ rights amendment. Civil liberties advocates say Marsy’s Law, the proposed amendment that has attracted widespread support from victims’ rights groups and...
Shapiro, other attorneys general detail proposed $48 billion national opioid settlement
The nation’s three largest drug distribution companies and two drug companies have agreed to a tentative national settlement of opioid lawsuits valued at $48 billion, including $22 billion in cash and $26 billion in the form of treatment drugs and delivery services, a team of attorneys general announced Monday. Pennsylvania...
