Patrick Varine stories, Page 75

A Derry Borough man has been indicted by a federal jury on nine counts related to sexual exploitation of minors, U.S. Justice Department officials announced Tuesday. According to the indictment, Michael Wilson, 43, persuaded or coerced multiple minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct in order to create photos and...

Editor’s note ‘What’s That?’ is a recurring feature in the Tribune-Review’s Westmoreland Plus edition. If there’s something you’d like to see explored here, send an email to gtrcity@triblive.com. In 1878, Michael and Obediah Haymaker drilled a hole in Murrysville, hunting for oil. Instead, they found gas, inadvertently turning the Westmoreland...

Aren’t Peeps bad enough on their own? Apparently not, if TribLive Taste Test guest host Anthony Varine is involved. This week, with Easter on the way, we try out one of the many variations on Peeps. When last we encountered this marshmallow monstrosity, the Taste Test team was sampling sour...

Firefighters are on the scene of a row house fire that broke out Monday night in Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood. Allegheny County 911 officials said fire crews were called to a residence near the intersection of Locust and Van Braam streets Uptown, near UPMC Mercy Hospital. The Pittsburgh Fire Fighters Twitter...

Pittsburgh police have arrested a man in connection with an April 2 shooting on Pittsburgh’s South Side that left another man in critical condition. Julyan Richards, 25, who was not listed with an address in court records, has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. Shortly...

The westbound Cranberry exit ramp from the Pennsylvania Turnpike will close at 7 p.m. Monday night and reopen Tuesday morning as work crews remove a disabled tractor trailer from the ramp, turnpike officials announced Monday. The closure of the westbound Exit 28 ramp will be from 7 p.m. Monday night...

Work has begun on the site of the former Penn Monroe in Monroeville, after a proposed development there stalled several years ago. Key Development has proposed anchoring the property with a grocery store along with a bank, sit-down restaurant and drive-through restaurant. Steve Panko, representing Key Development, told Monroeville planning...

Eleven students from the Franklin Regional School District found themselves wading into Loyalhanna Creek last week, learning about fly fishing courtesy of the Forbes Trail chapter of Trout Unlimited. “It’s our opportunity to recruit our replacements,” said chapter member Larry Myers. “We need someone in the future to continue with...

There are men and women who take the sport of fishing seriously, with that approach reflected in photographs of their catches. Mike Ruane, 47, of Murrysville is not one of those people. He might be serious about his fishing — but not about his photos. You can catch him yelling...

Kiski Township police arrested a Murrysville woman Thursday afternoon who they said was walking in front of oncoming traffic on Route 156 just north of Avonmore for the second time this month. Police said they were called to Route 156 near Adair Road where they found Janne D. Hussak, 31,...

An Uptown man is facing a federal indictment, accused of robbing three Downtown Pittsburgh banks between Jan. 31 and Feb. 8. Calvin Leavy, 67, of Pride Street, was arrested Feb. 8 in the Midtown section of the city, police said. They said Leavy had taken a Port Authority bus after...

The Franklin Regional School District’s curriculum committee called a special meeting earlier this week, at which its members voted to “unpause” the teaching of Marjane Satrapi’s 2004 graphic novel “Persepolis,” set during the Iranian Revolution. The committee voted 3-0 — school director and committee member Traci Eshelman Ramey was not...

A man is in the hospital in serious condition following a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Arlington Heights neighborhood Thursday afternoon, according to police. Pittsburgh police were called to the 3000 block of Cordell Place around 4:15 p.m. and arrived to find a man who had been shot in the leg. He...

Construction crews doing sidewalk repair and street work at the closed intersection of Wood Street and Sixth Avenue now have some additional work to do, after a stolen vehicle crashed into the closed intersection Thursday morning. Just before 10:30 a.m., Pittsburgh police responded to the 300 block of Sixth Avenue...

Submit news, briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Woman’s club scholarships, fundraiser event • The Murrysville Woman’s Club is accepting applications for at least three non-traditional scholarships of $3,000. Applicants must be residents of Westmoreland County, 21 years or older and must demonstrate financial need. They must be currently enrolled...

Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would...

It’s been a while since Andrew Evans needed to worry about being picked on at school. “I was an out-of-shape kid, and in ninth grade, I got really tired of it and decided to go down to an MMA gym and start training,” said Evans, 19. On April 16, the...

When he was teaching himself to play guitar at 12 years old, Matthew Kamenicky imagined being in a rock ’n’ roll band someday. What he couldn’t have imagined was that, not long after forming the rock group Steel Mill Rising, he’d be getting a call from an ESPN official asking...

While she typically works with oil paints, Penn Township artist Rita Haldeman found herself drawn to soft pastels, composed of pigment, water and a small amount of chalk or artificial binder. “Pastels have the most beautiful luminosity and vibrant color,” she said. “They create new colors in a different way,...

DNA evidence from a welding glove left at the scene of a 2020 burglary in Delmont led to the arrest of a Washington Township man on Monday. Jesse T. Noble, 26, was charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and possession of instruments of crime in connection...

The national recognition of Vietnam War veterans this week is a way of showing appreciation to a group who likely did not get the welcome home they deserved, a Westmoreland County veterans affairs official said. “The Vietnam War veterans came home to a different welcome than previous generations,” said Matt...

No one was injured when a small plane skidded on the runway Monday morning at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, according to emergency officials. “His gear collapsed as the plane was landing,” said airport executive director Gabe Monzo. “There were two people on board the plane, which was out...