Julia Maruca stories, Page 16
Boat sinks on Allegheny River off the North Shore
No one was injured when a boat sank and leaked fuel in the Allegheny River on Friday afternoon, according to Pittsburgh police. A Pittsburgh hazmat crew responded to the 500 block of North Shore Drive just after 5 p.m. to put up booms around the sinking boat and contain the...
Boy, 16, arrested after another boy shot in Hazelwood
Pittsburgh police arrested a 16-year-old boy after another boy was found with a gunshot wound to each leg in Hazelwood on Friday afternoon, police said. Adedjai Edwards of McKees Rocks is charged with aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a minor and carrying a firearm without a license. Police...
Pennsylvania under statewide drought watch
The entire state of Pennsylvania is now under a drought watch as of Friday afternoon, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The department issued the watch after a meeting of the Commonwealth Drought Task Force. A drought watch is the lowest and least severe of three possible types...
A fresh face for firefighters: Refurbishment of North Hempfield station underway
A nearly 50-year-old fire station along Route 66 in Hempfield will have a new facade — and a completely refurbished interior — by mid-autumn. Renovations at the North Hempfield Volunteer Fire Department Station 501 started in May and are projected to be complete by the end of October. The township...
Latrobe parade brings large crowds to celebrate Fourth of July
Large crowds gathered on Tuesday morning in downtown Latrobe to celebrate Independence Day at the town’s annual Fourth of July parade. During this year’s Greater Latrobe 4th of July Celebration, which began at 10:30 a.m., children caught candy tossed from parade floats, and families cheered in red, white, and blue...
3-year-old shot in Robinson
A 3-year-old boy was shot in the 100 block of Village Drive in Robinson Township, according to Allegheny County Police . Police found the boy with what appeared to be a graze wound from a gunshot to his leg around 2 p.m. Friday. The boy was taken to UPMC Children’s...
Independence Health System lays off 53 employees
Independence Health System laid off 53 employees this week, bringing the total number of positions eliminated this year to 226. The changes come in the wake of significant financial losses and a financial credit rating downgrade for part of the health system. Formed by the merger of Butler Health System...
Credit rating agency says Butler Health System is backsliding further financially
Butler Health System’s credit rating was downgraded this week. The system, which combined with Greensburg-based Excela Health at the beginning of the year to form Independence Health System, had its rating downgraded three notches from A to BBB on June 26. Excela and Butler Health are rated separately. Fitch previously...
Doctors emphasize caution amid poor air quality in Western Pa.
Western Pennsylvania’s current poor air quality, caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires, can do more than make you cough — it can exacerbate existing health conditions and irritate the lungs, according to respiratory experts. The particles carried in the smoke can irritate lung passages and make it more difficult for...
Hempfield to purchase former state prison site, demolish buildings
Hempfield will buy the former SCI Greensburg state prison and plans to work with the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation to demolish the complex. Supervisors on Monday approved spending $3.5 million to buy the 96-acre property on Route 119 between Youngwood and Greensburg. The medium-security prison was originally built to...
Chemo drug shortages hit cancer treatment centers across Pittsburgh region
The chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and carboplatin have become difficult for hospital systems across the country to access in recent months, disrupting cancer treatments and leading health care providers and patients to worry about the future. According to the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, platinum drug shortages, including cisplatin and carboplatin, were...
Yukon fire company celebrates 100 years with upcoming carnival
An unusual wheeled contraption sits idle in the wood-paneled basement of the Yukon Fire Hall. The device — a century-old metal fire engine cart designed to be pulled by a car — has been maintained in good condition, though it’s no longer on active duty. Built in 1923, when the...
4 cats die in North Huntingdon house fire
Four cats died in a house fire Tuesday afternoon in North Huntingdon, according to Circleville fire Chief Craig Cochenour. Several township fire departments, police and EMS responded to the blaze on Drop Road around 3:20 p.m. No one was home when the fire started. No nearby homes were damaged, and...
Remaining United Methodists look to religious life after disaffiliations
ERIE — As a fourth-generation United Methodist and pastor’s daughter, Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi’s roots in her faith run deep. Presiding over the disaffiliation of more than a third of the congregations from the United Methodist Church’s Western Pennsylvania Conference was personal. “It’s friends, family, persons that were formerly part of...
4 charged with trespassing at Century III site, posting footage online
Four people were charged with felony trespassing for sneaking inside of the former Century III Mall property, according to the West Mifflin Police Department. Christopher Cross, 27, Brody Lones, 23, and Drake Pierce, 22 all of the New Lexington, Ohio area, and Kenlein Ogletree, 21, of Clairton, were identified through...
Juneteenth celebration in Greensburg park showcases community organizations
Under a shady grove of tents and trees, locals gathered on Sunday in St. Clair Park in downtown Greensburg as part of a larger, weekend-long celebration of Juneteenth. For nonprofit leader Ronel Baccus, the Juneteenth event was also a celebration of reaching out to Greensburg and the region as a...
Westmoreland Airshow a family affair for Latrobe locals, visitors
Lisa Hartman wasn’t always a fan of the Shop ‘n Save Westmoreland Airshow. As a child, she would visit the air show with her dad, but “hated it,” she said. When her own daughter Olivia got involved with Air Force Junior ROTC in high school back in 2016, she gave...
Air quality warning issued for Mon Valley
Young children, elderly people, and people with respiratory problems were advised by the Allegheny County Health Department to limit outdoor activities Sunday due to poor air quality. The health department issued an Air Pollution Warning for the Mon Valley for Sunday and all of Monday. According to the department, the...
Great weather brings record numbers to Westmoreland Airshow
The skies were clear and the temperature in the mid-70s on Saturday. Perfect conditions to draw a crowd to the opening day of the Shop ’n Save Westmoreland Airshow. And did it ever draw a crowd. “This is huge. This is probably the biggest turnout we’ve ever had, and probably...
Some Western Pennsylvania United Methodist churches make split official at conference
ERIE — The Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church is now more than a third smaller after a solemn and at times emotional meeting completed a more than yearlong process of disaffiliation for some congregations. There were 298 churches in the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist...
Solar farm, backyard chicken regulations go into effect in Hempfield
Hempfield residents now have two new rulescovering very different topics — solar power generation and poultry. Supervisors approved the ordinances on keeping chickens and on solar energy systems at a meeting in late May. The regulations set specifics for where solar farms can be located and allow backyard chickens in...
Despite financial turbulence, Independence Health CEO holds optimistic perspective for merged system
The CEO of the merged Excela Health and Butler Health systems is committed to keeping the organization’s five hospitals operating, despite currently enduring millions of dollars in losses. “We are taking a look at all the assets across the system. Every one of the five hospitals is very important to...
Penn-Trafford district budget includes no tax increase
The proposed Penn-Trafford School District budget for the 2023-24 academic year includes no tax increase, but dips in to the fund balance to pay a $700,000 shortfall. Taxes in the Allegheny County portion of the district will actually decrease, according to district officials. The budget, tentatively adopted in May, will...
Hempfield high school project cost rises to $132 million
“Hyperinflation” has driven the Hempfield Area High School revitalization project to an estimated cost of $132 million, according to new details shared by school officials and engineers at a town hall meeting. Originally estimated in January 2022 to cost between $97.4 million to $109.9 million, the project aims to keep...
Dementia, Alzheimer’s have out-sized impact on Black community, leaders say
As senior pastor at Destiny of Faith Church, the Rev. Brenda Gregg often listens to the struggles of her congregants and offers support. Sometimes, she hears about their troubles even before their doctors do. “One of the things we believe that the church is a trustful entity in the neighborhood....
