Deb Erdley stories, Page 4
Blairsville-area woman held in boyfriend’s shooting death
A Blairsville-area woman was jailed without bail Saturday in the Indiana County Jail on charges of stemming from the Friday evening shooting death of her boyfriend. State Police from Indiana County say Matraca Lynn Vrana, 28, was arraigned Saturday afternoon before District Magisterial Judge Christopher Welch on charges of voluntary...
Senators call for transparency in nursing home staff vaccination reports
A pair of U.S. senators say the Biden administration must do more to provide families with easily accessible information on covid-19 vaccination rates among nursing home staff and residents. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Senate Finance chair, and Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey, D-Scranton, who chairs the Senate Committee on Aging, want the...
The heroes of Flight 93 live on as visitors flock to National Memorial
At first, they worried their story would be lost. The families of the passengers and crew members of United Flight 93 knew they held a precious piece of American history. The efforts of 40 people who lost their lives on a rural Pennsylvania mountaintop thwarting a terrorist plot to crash...
Hallowed Ground: Families of those on Flight 93, the Shanksville community and others forged resolve to see national memorial come to life
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‘Hallowed ground’: Families of those on United jetliner, Shanksville community and others forged resolve to see Flight 93 National Memorial come to lifeVideo
Fate threw them together. Two decades later, the unlikely coalition of Flight 93 family members, residents of Somerset County and the National Park Service that worked for years to preserve the story of what happened aboard that United Airlines jetliner will meet this week at the Flight 93 National Memorial,...
Mutual Aid Ambulance named Mt. Pleasant Township EMS provider
Repeating a scene that has become more common in recent years, another municipality — Mt. Pleasant Township — is turning to Mutual Aid Ambulance Service to provide coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Township supervisors last week unanimously approved a resolution that calls for Greensburg-based Mutual Aid...
Schools prepare for a mixed bag as kindergarten enrollment numbers bounce back
Nicole Roberts Bitar was encouraged to see the numbers ramping up for kindergarten registration in the New Kensington-Arnold School District this summer. Last year, the district was among many across the U.S. that saw kindergarten enrollment decline unexpectedly as families weighed their options: Should they send their 5- and 6-year-olds...
Pit Take BBQ to host firefighter fundraiser to mark 20th anniversary of 9/11
Pit Take BBQ in Greensburg will host a hog roast from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sept. 12 to benefit Friends of Firefighters. The charity, which promotes mental health and wellness support services to members of the Fire Department of New York, was formed 20 years ago in the wake...
Bethel Park man, Rostraver native competes in Paralympic Triathlon in Tokyo this week
Eric McElvenny never shied away from a challenge. This week, the 38-year-old Bethel Park father of three will face a new one. The Rostraver native will take to an international stage as a member the U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team in Tokyo. Like the Summer Olympic competitions that wrapped up there...
The Digital Foundry takes shape in a bid to tap the digital world to remake New Kensington
The digital world is colliding with the real one, only this time it’s not on a movie set but on the gritty streets of New Kensington. Workmen are setting the steel for The Digital Foundry at New Kensington, the brainchild of a coalition brought together by Penn State New Kensington...
Pitt Greensburg officials break ground on new Life Sciences facility
Calling it a game-changer, officials at the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg broke ground Friday for the school’s long planned Life Sciences Building on its Hempfield campus. The $19.3 million, 32,000- square-foot sustainable building is scheduled to be completed in November 2022. Beginning in January 2023, it will house the school’s nursing program...
Casey calls for calm in the wake of the withdrawal from Afghanistan
Calling the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan a painful spectacle, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, is calling on Americans to turn down the blame game and concentrate on assisting those trying to escape the Taliban. Casey said his office alone logged 280 calls about the collapse of Afghanistan as of Wednesday...
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey pitches infrastructure, services for the elderly and children
The bipartisan infrastructure bill pending in the U.S. House likely will become law by mid-October, predicts U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. The Scranton Democrat, on the road in Pennsylvania during the August congressional break, on Thursday told Tribune-Review editors and reporters the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that already passed the...
Never Forget Walk will make stop in Shanksville ahead of 9/11 20th anniversary
The foundation that sponsors a 537-mile fundraising trek to pay tribute to the heroes of 9/11 will have a breakfast event Saturday in Shanksville to honor the first responders who heeded the call to respond to the crash of United Flight 93 the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. The annual...
Helping Shelter animals was Hempfield girl’s birthday wish
Charlotte Porath is weaving a web of love for furry creatures great and small. The Hempfield girl has two cats, Bella and Bonkers. And she always has to stop and pet all of the neighborhood dogs and cats when she goes out walking with her mother and 22-month old brother,...
Seton Hill program to help teachers handle topic of genocide
Teachers tackling the tough topic of genocide in high school classrooms will be able to take advantage of a two-week institute at Seton Hill University next summer. University officials said the school recently was awarded a $174,426 competitive grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to underwrite the summer...
Artists to chalk portraits of passengers, crew of Flight 93 as part of 9/11 20th anniversary events
Ambassadors and park rangers tell visitors to the Flight 93 National Memorial repeatedly, “It’s all about the heroes of Flight 93.” Those would be the men and women aboard the United jetliner who made America’s first stand in the war on terror in the skies above Somerset County on Sept....
Slippery Rock launches new College of Health Professions
Citing growing workforce needs and the popularity of a series of graduate health care and health information programs, the Slippery Rock University council of trustees approved the creation of a new College of Health Professions. The academic unit that will officially begin operating next fall will provide a central home...
U.S. Senate bill calls for beefing up federal regulations on nursing homes
Nearly 18 months after covid-19 began to cut a broad swath through the nation’s nursing homes — killing 184,000 elderly and disabled residents and care workers — the U.S. Senate is weighing a bill to update federal policies and oversight of such facilities. The bill, dubbed the Nursing Home Improvement...
Limited options hamstring vaccine status verification, leaving it up to honor system
Providing — and verifying — proof of covid-19 vaccine status largely comes down to the honor system. And this could prove problematic with calls for proof of vaccination status growing among employers, entertainment venues, restaurants and colleges. There is no national database of vaccine recipients. Record keeping varies from state...
‘Down, not out’: Latrobe’s Dainty Pastry Shoppe looks to rebound from fire likely sparked by lightningVideo
Authorities are speculating a fire Thursday night that gutted much of the Dainty Pastry Shoppe in Latrobe may have resulted from a lightning strike. “We won’t know for sure until we get in there. The State Police Fire Marshal is coming back Monday, but it looks as though the fire...
Child safety advocates launch billboard campaign against Sen. Kim Ward
Child sexual abuse prevention advocates are making good on their promise to keep the heat on state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward for her refusal to advance a bill giving adult survivors of child sexual abuse their day in court. This week, they took their battle to the Hempfield Republican’s...
Duquesne University invokes mask mandate as students head to campusVideo
Citing a troubling increase in covid-19 infections regionally, Duquesne University announced Wednesday it is invoking a temporary mask mandate, effective Friday. The Pittsburgh university, which has required covid-19 vaccines as a condition of attendance this fall, said officials are requiring all individuals on campus to mask indoors, both in public...
Former state prison in Hempfield scheduled for sheriff’s sale
A former state prison in Hempfield is scheduled to be sold at a Westmoreland County Sheriff’s sale on Sept. 7 as part of a mortgage foreclosure seeking payment of $5.6 million. The sheriff’s sale notice is the most recent chapter in the ongoing saga of the former prison located on...
9/11 families challenge Biden to release classified reports or avoid 20th anniversary ceremonies
Nearly two decades after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a group of survivors who lost loved ones and first responders afflicted with lingering illnesses are asking President Biden to avoid ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the attacks next month. About 1,800 who lost loved ones as well as first responders...
