Patrick Varine stories, Page 55

Whether it’s 300 miles of roads in Hempfield or just one square mile in Export, the responsibility for public works crews in winter is the same — keep the roads safe and passable in bad weather. That also means finding a place to store thousands of tons of salt, especially...

Parents and children stopped by the Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg on Sunday morning to created Valentine-themed crafts during a free “I Heart Art” event. Volunteers typically help host at least one such event monthly at the museum on North Main Street....

Police said a man is in stable condition after an overnight shooting in Pittsburgh’s Terrace Hill neighborhood. Pittsburgh police were called to the area of Allequippa and Kirkpatrick streets around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, where they found a man with wounds to his head and chest. EMS transported the man...

A fire that broke out early Sunday morning at Elizabeth Forward High School caused extensive damage and forced the district to close the high school until further notice, Superintendent Keith Konyk said. The fire was contained to the auditorium side of the high school, Konyk said in a letter to...

When Jacinda Floyd first heard about the “College Now” program at Westmoreland County Community College during her freshman year at Franklin Regional Senior High School, she said she “kind of overlooked it.” “I was thinking, ‘I’m a freshman and have a lot of time to go before college,’” Floyd said....

The Pittsburgh Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute has been approved as the city’s first Black-owned, state-certified pre-apprentice program for the skilled trades. The APRI’s “Breaking the Chains of Poverty” program is designed to help people build the skills necessary to earn a career in the building and construction...

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Delmont library to present Emily Dickinson program Guest Jim Arnold will present “Judge Tenderly of Me,” a program about the life of poet Emily Dickinson. It will be at 4:30 p.m. March 2 at the Delmont Public Library, 77 School Street. The...

Export officials would like their freshly-paved streets to stay in that condition. So, in addition to efforts to coordinate local utility construction with street work, they are also considering an ordinance that strengthens the requirements for restoring streets following utility work. During a discussion about the use of federal grant...

An excess of the additive that gives natural gas its “rotten-egg” smell caused more than 300 calls to Westmoreland County 911 since Tuesday night, reporting an odor of natural gas, according to Peoples Natural Gas officials. Calls began coming in to Westmoreland County 911 around 9 p.m., according to a...

The McKees Rocks Bridge will close for three hours Wednesday starting at noon. Traffic will be detoured to the West End Bridge between noon and 3 p.m. Work crews from Brayman Construction and Advantage Steel & Construction will close the bridge in both directions as they perform pavement marking. It’s...

If you are a cashier, you’d better not overcharge Murrysville resident Mary Bach. She will find out, she will take your store to court — and she likely will win. Bach, 78, recently won a $100 district court judgment against Walgreens in Murrysville after she discovered the store was imposing...

In voting down a rezoning request and indicating concerns about a second one, Murrysville council members Wednesday showed a reluctance to carve out exceptions when it comes to development in the municipality. Council first held a discussion about a proposal to re-zone 54.6 acres near Murrysville Community Park from rural-residential...

There’s still a good bit of fundraising to go, but a grant of more than a half-million dollars has the Allegheny Land Trust halfway toward its goal of acquiring 95 acres of property in Monroeville for conservation. “We’re able to use this grant as the first step for this land...

Woman’s club to host annual fashion show The Murrysville Woman’s Club will host its annual Spring Fashion Show at 10 a.m. March 25 at the Lamplighter Restaurant in Salem. A breakfast brunch will be followed by the show, featuring Fashions by Marge Predmore. Club members will be hosting a basket...

Last year’s inaugural Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books brought 50 authors, 25 poets and more than 2,000 attendees together to celebrate the magic of literature and poetic prose. This year, with a new location at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in the city’s East Liberty neighborhood, festival organizers are seeking to...

From marbles to movie tributes, Westmoreland County students made all the right moves when it came to creating a Rube Goldberg-style machine for the annual Westinghouse Chain Reaction Contraption contest. Teams from Hempfield Area and Franklin Regional high schools took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, in the...

Did you grow a tomato in your garden last year that you really loved? If so, it’s easy to keep that crop going by saving seeds from your harvested fruit. Seed savers of all types will be on hand, with everything from fruits to vegetables to native plants and flowers,...

A bus driver in the Greensburg Salem School District has been fired after being accused of inappropriate communication with students, according to the driver’s employer. DMJ Transportation Safety Coordinator Mark Kraynick said the driver was recently fired after an internal investigation. Greensburg Salem officials said the issue, which began with...

A woman is dead and another person is in critical condition following a shooting late Monday afternoon in Ellwood City, city officials told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. Ellwood City police are investigating the shooting, which took place shortly after 5:15 p.m. Monday along First Street, Mayor Anthony Court told WPXI....

Snow was tapering off throughout the region Tuesday morning after rain turned into a mix of snow and icy glaze in some areas, leaving behind cold temperatures, according to National Weather Service meteorologists. “There’s a frontal boundary moving through with some warmer air aloft, and a colder surface temperature,” NWS...

Paul Metzler of Murrysville isn’t confident that truckers will voluntarily limit their use of “jake brakes” on the stretch of Route 22 situated down the hill from his home in Manordale Farms. “Between the ribbed concrete that the highway is made of and the increase in trucks that all use...

As she works her way through the design of her largest mural to date, Florida artist and Export native Christina Donahoe is also lining up partners in the project, which would cover a popular spot for graffiti on a William Penn Highway underpass in Murrysville. “I’ve been in touch with...

Thanks to federal American Rescue Plan funding, the Westmoreland County Food Bank is awaiting the delivery of a new produce truck. But they’re not waiting to start Mobile Market events that the truck will help foster. “We decided we didn’t want to wait to get this going, so we’re putting...