Patrick Varine stories, Page 44

Four Franklin Regional swimmers have been named to the 2022-23 National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association’s high-school All-American list, placing them among the top 100 in the nation in four categories. “We had a very good season,” said FR swim coach Vic Santoro. “Our medley relay were state champions, and our...

A Fayette County man was charged with two counts of luring a child after police said he asked two children at Whitsett Park to get into his truck. State police from Belle Vernon were contacted about 7:30 p.m. July 27 for a report of a shirtless man who called two...

A 5-year-old Delmont boy who liked to sing country music and play with monster trucks died a torturous death at the hands of his adoptive parents, authorities said Friday. Lauren E. Maloberti, 34, and Jacob N. Maloberti, 33, of Delmont are being held without bail on homicide charges in the...

Email news briefs and event information to pvarine@triblive.com. Franklin Regional parking passes Franklin Regional school officials have mailed student parking-pass applications, which can be completed and returned to the high school office by Aug 9. Forms can be placed in the front-lobby drop box. Parking passes are currently available to...

Mike Franciscus grew up in Penn Hills but he had to travel all the way from Arizona to attend his first Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. “I have family here, plus it’s kind of a bucket list thing for me,” said Franciscus, who arrived with Belinda Rhodes, a friend from Sacramento,...

When Pittsburgh Steelers players are hanging out at the end of a day at training camp, even a game of Uno can get amped up quickly. “Everything you can get competitive about, it’s going to happen,” said offensive tackle Kevin Dotson. “Everybody’s trying to win. That’s part of what’s great...

Mick Jagger is turning 80 on Wednesday, and Pittsburgh radio station WYEP is celebrating with a collection of new, local band covers of classic Rolling Stones tunes. “Pittsburgh’s Got Moves Like Jagger” will air throughout the day Wednesday, and a full hour special of Pittsburgh artists’ covers will air at...

Police are investigating the death of a North Versailles man whose body was found Monday morning in a parking lot off of Route 30. Officers were called to a parking lot on the 1700 block of Lincoln Highway in North Versailles just after 7 a.m. They arrived to find the...

Officials from Eat’n Park are proposing a 1,400-square-foot addition to their Murrysville location that will expand the dining room and add a drive-thru window. “We’re looking to do several things,” said Jesse Stock, Eat’n Park’s director of design and construction. “One is the addition of the pickup window. Right now...

Joe Hnath of Murrysville is making his mother proud at a pretty rapid rate these days. Hnath, 24, is on the autism spectrum and was diagnosed at age 2 with Asperger’s Syndrome. His mother, Lisa, is a volunteer education advocate with the nonprofit East Suburban Citizen Advocacy, which is dedicated...

Murrysville author Nina Damato and Kiski Area graduate and artist Rebecca Ehalt Svetina will host a book signing to mark the release of their new children’s book on July 22. “The Extraordinarily Ordinary Kittens,” released in mid-June, tells the story of Damato’s two adopted blind cats, Bocelli and Louise Braille,...

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Music night at Newhouse Park The Delmont Recreation Committee will host a music night July 27 at Newhouse Park. The committee will host a 5 p.m. community picnic with live entertainment by Flyin’ Oaks and Company. Red Barn Winery will be on...

School Road in Murrysville remained closed late Thursday morning after a car sheared a utility pole just south of Nob Hill Road. Murrysville police said the call came in about 9:30 a.m. and noted the male driver was not hurt when his car left the road, struck a utility pole...

Murrysville leaders will likely vote on an ordinance to regulate fracking injection wells at next month’s council session. Injection wells accept the wastewater, brine and byproducts of unconventional drilling operations, releasing the fluid into porous underground rock formations. Similar to the fracking ordinance Murrysville put in place several years ago,...

(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December. If you have a...

A Canonsburg man has been indicted by a federal jury, charged with shooting America’s national bird this past spring in Mount Pleasant in Washington County. Rodney Thomas, 50, was charged with violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, accused of shooting and killing a mature bald eagle with an...

A former Delmont man was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison following a guilty plea on charges of possession of child pornography, according to Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan. Joshua K. Minehart, 47, was initially charged in 2019 following an investigation by the U.S....

A Derry Borough man convicted of producing, possessing and distributing child pornography was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday, according to Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan. Michael Wilson, 44, of Derry, was sentenced to 20 years in prison followed by 15 years supervised release....

Carnegie Museum of Natural History officials may catalog the existence of invasive plant species in Western Pennsylvania. But that doesn’t meant they like them, or want them here. With $225,000 in hand from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, museum officials will embark on a campaign later this year in partnership...

Most of the time, Darryl Audia of Greensburg is encouraging his art students at Greensburg Salem High School to follow their creativity and see where it takes them. This month, Audia’s own creativity will be on display at an exhibit of his artwork, “Pieces of a Whole,” at DV8 Espresso...

Southwestern Pennsylvania saw another $1 million lottery winner on Thursday, when a Mt. Pleasant Township store sold a $1.06 million Match 6 Lotto ticket. The ticket, sold at S&S Corner Market on Apollo Street, matched all six winning numbers: 4-10-11-19-20-45. The store earns a $10,000 bonus for selling the ticket....

Hempfield farmer Alquin Heinnickel is happy to be a link in the local production chain for craft brewers in Western Pennsylvania. Last year, he and other Westmoreland County farmers grew about 40 acres of barley that ultimately was converted into about 75,000 pounds of malt in nearby Butler County. Attendees...

Two Franklin Regional Middle School students took their knowledge of history all the way to the National History Day competition’s national level last month. Humna Anzaar and Symal Bukhari took first and third place, respectively, at the National History Day state-level competition, earning spots at the nationals, held June 12...