Jeff Himler stories, Page 15
Search on for missing New Derry man; car found unlocked, police say
State police are searching for a missing New Derry man whose parked car was found Wednesday in Derry Township, three days after he was last seen. State troopers said they don’t suspect foul play in their search for 63-year-old John J. Dofollo. He was reported missing by family members when...
Motorists stranded in Laurel Ridge ice storm get warm welcome from Fairfield couple
A Fairfield Township couple provided sanctuary to motorists stranded by an ice storm Sunday evening on Laurel Ridge, earning thanks in return for their hospitality. The ice-slicked surface of Route 271 left a Greyhound bus and dozens of other vehicles stuck for several hours on the western slope of the...
Derry nonprofit plans park concerts, looks to boost pool activities, invigorate borough
A group of Derry community boosters wants no moss to grow in Mossback Park, the town’s gathering spot for seasonal festivities. Increasing the number of events at the South Chestnut Street site is one of the goals of the Friends of Derry, a new nonprofit group dedicated to promoting community...
Failing private wastewater treatment prompts $10.8M Donegal Township sewage project
Failing private sewage systems have led to excess levels of ammonia and fecal coliform bacteria in Donegal Township’s Minnow Run. To help clean up that stream, whose waters ultimately wind up in Indian Creek and the Youghiogheny River, the township is preparing to construct its first-ever public sewage system. Tom...
Latrobe Municipal Authority hikes rates, asks customers for voluntary water conservation
Latrobe Municipal Authority customers will see a 50-cent hike in usage and debt service rates beginning Saturday and increases in sewage rates two months later. The authority meanwhile is asking customers to voluntarily conserve water since drought conditions have left levels below normal in its reservoir. A recent spate of...
Latrobe, Mutual Aid officials in talks to return ambulance, crew to city hall
Talks are underway for Mutual Aid EMS to once again house an ambulance and crew at Latrobe’s city hall after the service has been without a station in the city for nearly two years. Mutual Aid moved its equipment and personnel out of bays at the city building in April...
Unity man dies after Ligonier Township head-on crash on Route 711
A Unity man who was severely injured in a head-on collision Monday in Ligonier Township has died. Colin Keough, 18, who lived on American Legion Road, was pronounced dead Tuesday in the intensive care unit at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, according to Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees. Keough...
Union Mission building in Derry Township expands to offer longer-term transitional shelter
The Union Mission’s emergency shelter for homeless men was at 108% capacity last year, with cots supplementing its 24 beds. Next month, the faith-based organization will open a new long-term shelter that is expected to relieve pressure on emergency shelters in Westmoreland County. “There are folks using emergency shelters where...
2 adults, 5 children injured in crash on Route 711 in Ligonier Township
Two adults and five children were injured Monday morning after a two-vehicle crash between a Porsche and a Chevrolet Suburban on Route 711 in Ligonier Township, according to Ligonier Valley police Chief Mike Matrunics. The head-on collision occurred at about 8 a.m. when one of the vehicles apparently crossed the...
Area fallen soldiers remembered 81 years after Allied landing craft sank off coast of Italy
When Allied forces landed on the Italian coast at Anzio 81 years ago, they began a four-month battle that left some 7,000 of their 100,000 troops dead. That toll included 58 soldiers from the Keystone State — several residents of Westmoreland and Allegheny counties among them — who never made...
Johnstown man sentenced to life without parole in 2020 fatal shooting of IUP student
A Johnstown man will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole in the October 2020 shooting death of an Indiana University of Pennsylvania student at an off-campus apartment. Terrion Gates, 22, was convicted in September of second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to robbery in the incident at the...
Iron Horse Bridge rehab seen as ‘linchpin’ in effort to expand trails — and Connellsville’s economy
The Great Allegheny Passage bike trail between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md., has been a boon for communities that sit along it — and business owners hope a nearly $4 million study will provide a blueprint for boosting its impact in the region. A key component of the study will be...
Some Unity residents look forward to easier ride on proposed Route 981 realignment
Unity resident Tracy Lemmon is among those who are eagerly awaiting construction of a new alignment for Route 981 that PennDOT is planning south of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. “I’m actually very anxious for it,” she said during Thursday’s public display of plans for the second section of the Laurel...
PennDOT to unveil latest plans for Route 981 realignment
Plans for the second, northernmost section of PennDOT’s Laurel Valley Transportation Improvement Project will be displayed for public comment Thursday at the Pleasant Unity fire hall. The open house session is set for 5 to 7 p.m. at 135 John George St. in the Unity Township village. The Laurel Valley...
Independence, WVU health systems partner for newborn ICU at Westmoreland hospital
Westmoreland Hospital’s unit for newborn babies in need of intensive care now is under the management of West Virginia University Medicine’s Children’s Hospital. It’s a switch from the Greensburg hospital’s previous relationship with UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Announced Tuesday, the partnership began Jan. 1 and has overseen at least...
Snowfall is prelude to 3 days of dangerously cold temperatures
Snow falling on Sunday in Southwestern Pennsylvania was the prelude to an arctic blast with sub-zero temperatures expected early this week. National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Modzelewski predicts 2 to 4 inches in parts of Westmoreland County and between 1 and 3 inches in Allegheny County with 5 to 9...
Man in critical condition after shooting in Forest Hills
Allegheny County police are investigating a shooting that wounded a man Saturday evening in Forest Hills. The man was taken to an area hospital in stable but critical condition, police said. The man was found by first responders after the shooting was reported at about 6:45 p.m. in the 100...
Bellevue crash kills 2 drivers, injures 2 others; authorities ID 1 driver
Two men were killed when the vehicles they were driving crashed early Sunday on Ohio River Boulevard in Bellevue, according to Allegheny County police. The men were found dead at the scene by first responders, police said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified one of the drivers as Israel...
Former Jehovah’s Witnesses member convicted of raping child in Butler County
A Butler County man has been convicted of raping a pre-teen child as a result of a statewide grand jury investigation of members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith. A Butler County jury on Friday found Shaun Sheffer, 46, of Harmony guilty of three counts each of rape and indecent assault,...
Paid Unity fire duty crews get go-ahead after successful 6-month trial
Firefighters from the Lloydsville and Crabtree stations in Unity had a head start last year when they answered a weekday call for a car crash on Donohoe Road. “We had a crew out the door within 30 seconds, they were on the scene within three minutes, and they had the...
Ligonier Valley Police Commission to ‘start from square one’ in naming citizen member
Ligonier Valley residents will have to wait until at least Feb. 11 to learn who will represent Ligonier Township as a citizen member on the police commission. The Ligonier Valley Police Commission’s vote in December to reappoint Scott Gongaware as the citizen member was ruled invalid by a Westmoreland County...
Mondays mean volunteering at hospital for 99-year-old Greensburg woman
A maintenance worker at the former Jeannette District Memorial Hospital was confused when he saw Rosemary Kindelan’s familiar face in the building on a Friday. “He threw his hands up in the air and said, ‘Don’t tell me it’s Monday,’ ” Kindelan recalled. Kindelan, who turned 99 on Dec. 27,...
Judge rules appointment to Ligonier Valley Police Commission invalid
Ligonier Township resident Scott Gongaware’s recent reappointment as a citizen member of the Ligonier Valley Police Commission was invalid, according to Westmoreland County Judge Harry Smail Jr. Smail on Monday barred Gongaware from participating in Tuesday’s meeting of the regional police commission as the judge granted a preliminary injunction on...
Unity proposes guidelines for ATV trails, limiting solar farms to conservation zone
Potential solar farms would be confined to the eastern edge of Unity, in the vicinity of Chestnut Ridge, under a zoning ordinance amendment proposed by township officials. If approved, the change wouldn’t affect the existing case of Joseph Stas and GreenKey Solar, whose plan to develop a solar panel array...
Independence Health looks to cut losses, crunch data to improve bottom line, patient care as 3rd year begins
Independence Health cut its operating losses by close to 50% in 2024, but those losses remain in the eight-figure range, prompting leaders of the regional health system to further reduce expenses. Excela and Butler health systems combined in 2023 to create a third, albeit smaller, health care giant in a...
