Megan Tomasic stories, Page 38
Hempfield student captures life during pandemic, submits journal to Heinz History Center
Mary Planic is hopeful her journal will one day help people researching the coronavirus pandemic. Planic, a 15-year-old sophomore at Hempfield Area High School, created the journal of day-to-day life starting when stay-at-home orders were issued by Gov. Tom Wolf this spring to help curb the spread of the virus....
Aftermath of Trump rally in Butler was ‘nothing like Omaha’ owner of bus company says
The aftermath of a rally held Saturday evening by President Donald Trump in Butler has garnered local and national attention after some say supporters were left waiting in the cold for buses to take them back to their vehicles. The event, held at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport, was compared to...
Former Rivers Casino GM tapped for finance role at Live! Casino Pittsburgh
The former general manager of Rivers Casino has been tapped by operators of the soon-to-be-opening Hempfield casino as director of finance. Craig Clark, who has more than 26 years of experience in the gaming industry, will oversee the finance departments at the 100,000-square-foot facility that is under construction at the...
2 facing charges after police say they made meth in Indiana County home
Two people are in jail after state police said they were manufacturing methamphetamine inside an Indiana County home. Christopher L. Falcone, 43, of Vintondale, Cambria County, and Santana R. Crusan, 31, of Robinson were arrested Friday and are awaiting arraignment at the Indiana County Jail. State police executed a search...
Kim Ward says state Senate reelection is about helping people of Westmoreland County
Kim Ward feels like she’s fought this battle before. For the past eight months, the Republican state senator from Hempfield worked to push legislation that will help health care workers and the public during the coronavirus pandemic, efforts that mirror actions she took in the 1980s when the AIDS pandemic...
Tay Waltenbaugh bids to take his community action to Harrisburg as 39th District Senator
After 29 years at the helm of Westmoreland Community Action, Tay Waltenbaugh knew it was time for a change. Waltenbaugh, who spent most of his adult life dedicated to human services work in Westmoreland County, retired as executive director last year knowing he was not ready to stop working completely....
Hempfield supervisors approve preliminary budget with no tax hike, schedule special meeting
Hempfield supervisors this week approved a preliminary budget that does not increase property taxes for the 31st consecutive year. The proposed $13.4 million budget was unanimously approved by supervisors during a public meeting Monday, said township Manager Jason Winters. Supervisors have been discussing the budget for months after the coronavirus...
Signs installed at Live! Casino PittsburghVideo
Weeks before Live! Casino Pittsburgh is scheduled to open at Westmoreland Mall, crews are working on finishing touches that will wrap up a years worth of construction. Signs featuring the trademark red Live! were installed to the side of the former Bon Ton department store in Hempfield on Wednesday, marking...
Alien invaders welcome at North Huntingdon homeVideo
It might be time to break out the tin foil hats — an alien invasion is taking place in North Huntingdon. Three silver aliens with glowing green eyes stand at the ready, two holding toy guns, in a neighborhood along Dianthus Street, their spaceship glowing red, white and blue. It’s...
Hempfield to continue with hybrid model of learning
Students in the Hempfield Area School District will continue to follow a hybrid model of learning as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the county. During the school board’s first in-person meeting in months, members voted 8-1 to follow the current plan, which has elementary students attend in-person classes five...
Hempfield Area School District reports more cases of coronavirus
The Hempfield Area School District reported several new coronavirus cases Monday. One teacher each at Harrold Middle, Hempfield Area High and Maxwell Elementary schools, along with a student at West Hempfield Elementary and three teachers with Hempfield Area Cyber Academy, reported positive tests over the weekend and on Monday, said...
Week in review: Fall resurgence of covid-19, election day around the corner and police reformVideo
Pennsylvania is seeing a fall resurgence in cases of covid-19, Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said this week. The statewide percentage of positive cases has risen to 4.3%, the highest it’s been since August, officials said, and about a third of the state’s 67 counties have...
New West Point Little League scoreboard to honor Hempfield’s Eddie Coletta
When Matt Maiers saw an opportunity to honor Hempfield’s Eddie Coletta, he jumped at it. Maiers is leading the effort to raise money for a new West Point Little League scoreboard that will bear Coletta’s name. Coletta spent several years volunteering at the organization where his daughter, Emma, now 18,...
Residents at North Huntingdon care facility test positive for coronavirus
Dozens of residents at a North Huntingdon care facility tested positive for coronavirus this month, officials announced. Transitions Healthcare posted on its Facebook page that 60 residents had contracted the virus in October. Nine have since recovered and officials said they “anticipate and hope that 51 of the residents will...
Hempfield Area adds additional covid cases, board members discuss next steps
Hempfield Area School District is seeing a rise in reported coronavirus cases, with six more students and two staff members testing positive for the virus, school officials said. In a letter posted to the district website Monday, Superintendent Tammy Wolicki said four of the students attend the high school, one...
3 Baldwin-Whitehall buildings closed after staffer tests positive for covid-19
Three Baldwin-Whitehall schools are closed for the remainder of the week after a substitute teacher tested positive for covid-19, district officials announced Monday night. McAnnulty Elementary School, Whitehall Elementary School and J.E. Harrison Education Center are temporarily shuttered Tuesday through Friday after the substitute teacher worked in all three schools,...
Hempfield casino ready for Nov. 24 opening
The $150 million casino under construction at Westmoreland Mall is slated to open Nov. 24, pending approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, officials announced Monday. The casino, located in the former Bon-Ton department store at the Hempfield facility, will feature 750 slot machines and 30 table games along with...
Hempfield Area High School to remain closed early this week
Hempfield Area High School will remain closed early this week after two more students tested positive for covid-19, officials said. Students who were originally scheduled to return to in-person classes Monday following a five day closure after three students tested positive for the virus last week will now continue with...
Penn-Trafford High School closed after 2nd coronavirus case there
The high school is the latest building to close after a spate of coronavirus cases were reported in the Penn-Trafford School District. Superintendent Matthew Harris, in a letter to parents Friday, said school officials were notified that a staff member at the high school tested positive for coronavirus. This is...
Rostraver man named chair of board for national pharmacy organization
A Rostraver man will head the board of a national specialty pharmacy organization focused on elevating patient care and creating a fair and competitive business environment. Michael Einodshofer, 46, was named chairman of the board for the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that’s...
‘Miracle baby’: Greensburg boy receives heart transplantVideo
For years, Gene Salvio had two suitcases sitting in his Greensburg home — one filled with summer clothes, the other with winter clothes — in case he got the call that his now 11-year-old son, Nico, would need to go to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for a heart transplant....
Hempfield residents asked to give input on 2 proposed township parks
Hempfield residents have an opportunity to give their input on two proposed parks for the township. A survey, posted on the township’s website and Facebook page, allows residents to give their opinion on conceptual plans for parks slated for Walden Court Drive and at a property along Route 136 near...
Allegheny, Westmoreland surpass 2010 census response rates
Despite months of uncertainty surrounding the end date for the census, self-response rates in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties have surpassed 2010 rates. According to a census map, about 72% of people have responded in Allegheny County compared to 71.3% of people a decade ago, while 73.1% of people in Westmoreland...
Hempfield Area kindergarten students return to full-day classes next week
Full-day kindergarten will resume next week as Hempfield Area School District leaders ease into the second phase of their reopening plans. During a committee of the whole meeting this week, Superintendent Tammy Wolicki announced kindergarten students will attend full-day sessions starting Oct. 13. Kindergarten students have been attending half days...
Westmoreland, Monroeville mall daily hours to increase by an hourVideo
Westmoreland and Monroeville malls soon will extend their hours, which were reduced over the summer to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Shoppers will have an extra hour Monday through Saturday starting Oct. 16, said Stacey Keating, spokeswoman for Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL Properties, which owns both malls. Hours...
