Renatta Signorini stories, Page 130
Police: Export man seriously hurt in motorcycle crash
An Export man was seriously injured Tuesday after being thrown from a motorcycle during a crash, state police said Thursday. Daniel H. Loughner, 35, was taken to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville after the crash on Kennedy Avenue at 1:16 a.m. Troopers said Loughner was traveling at 45 mph near...
Westmoreland County Prison inmates charged with hiding drugs in peanut butter jar
Two inmates at the Westmoreland County Prison were arrested this week after county detectives said they hid paper containing synthetic marijuana inside a jar of peanut butter, according to court papers. Jail guards found the paper inside a cell occupied by Dameon Jerod Hill, 30, and Allen Coker III, 25,...
Florida woman arrested in Westmoreland County, charged with vehicle break-ins, fraud
A Florida woman allegedly involved in a group that targets affluent suburbs for thefts and financial crimes is facing charges in Westmoreland County after cashing a stolen check at a Hempfield bank, according to state police. Emily Elizabeth Helmer, 31, of Bradenton, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of dealing in...
Harbor Freight Tools set to open Rostraver store
Harbor Freight Tools will open a new location in Rostraver Township on Dec. 7 at 8 a.m., according to company officials. The first 500 customers at the store at 120 Finley Road will receive a free tape measure. The store is in a building that previously housed a Kmart, which...
Jeannette firefighters to be outfitted with body armor
Jeannette firefighters are getting body armor to protect them during calls where violence might be a factor, said Fire Chief Bill Frye. The department is getting 18 vests at $875 each for paid and volunteer firefighters. Frye said the department’s relief association is footing the bill of more than $13,000...
Police: Father charged after 2-year-old shoots mom in Derry Township
A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot his mother in the leg this month as she tried to take a loaded weapon out of his hands in Derry Township. On Tuesday, state police charged the father, David Vincent Marghella Jr., 25. Trooper Steve Limani said the weapon was left unsecured Nov. 1...
Jeannette hemp plant reopens, but employee pay issue remains
A hemp-drying facility in Jeannette reopened over the weekend after ventilation was added. Current and former employees, however, still say they have not been paid for weeks of work. Patriot Shield Security was permitted to reopen on a temporary basis after an inspection late Friday, said Bill Whetzel, the city’s...
Voting open for PennDOT ‘Paint the Plow’ contest
Voting opened Monday for the best student-created design on PennDOT snowplow blades this winter. Eight finalists from high schools in the department’s four-county District 12 area are vying for votes in the Paint the Plow contest. The theme this year is “Don’t Rush in Ice and Slush.” Students from the...
Jeannette: Hemp drying facility could reopen under certain conditions
If Patriot Shield Security addresses odor complaints at their hemp drying facility in Jeannette, the company will be permitted to resume operations on a temporary basis, said city solicitor Tim Witt. “That needs to immediately be brought into compliance before anyone operates in that building again,” he said. The company...
Police: Latrobe woman sexually assaulted 2 teen boys
A Latrobe woman is accused of sexually assaulting two teenage boys — the first starting in 2004 and the second in 2016, according to state police. Shanda Rae Hitchcock, 33, was arrested Thursday on charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and related offenses....
1 hospitalized after crash involving school bus, SUV in West Newton
One person was flown by medical helicopter to a hospital Friday after a two-vehicle crash involving a school bus and an SUV in West Newton, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. Firefighters freed a person from the SUV in the crash just before 9 a.m. on East Main Street, the...
Jeannette man sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for online drug purchase
A Jeannette man was sentenced Thursday to 15 months in a federal prison for ordering drugs online to distribute locally along with weapons violations, according to U.S. Attorney Scott Brady. James Robert Czachowski, 22, was ordered to spend three years on supervision after being released from prison. He pleaded guilty...
Ligonier Valley police seek attempted homicide suspect
Ligonier Valley police are looking for an Allegheny County man charged with attempted homicide for allegedly shooting at a woman in Ligonier Township on Monday. An arrest warrant has been issued for Michael J. Harris, 29, of Munhall, who police said directed the shots at the woman as she was...
Police: Unity man sexually assaulted teen girl, bought her heroin
A Unity Township man was jailed Thursday on state police allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl and bought her drugs. Michael Alan Rager, 33, is charged with statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, child endangerment, corruption of minors and indecent assault. The girl told police she was...
Police: Jeannette man wanted for cutting off court ankle bracelet had crack cocaine
A Jeannette man wanted for cutting off his court-ordered electronic monitoring ankle bracelet was found Wednesday with drugs and cash at his house, according to police. Jermayne Michael Ramsey, 24, is charged with flight to avoid apprehension and drug offenses. Jeannette police and agents from the state attorney general’s office...
Texas man accused of gun violations after arrest in Washington Township parking lot
A Texas man was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail on gun violations after he was spotted in the parking lot of a Washington Township concrete supplier in the middle of the night, according to police. Bayron Ivan Lopez, 27, of Houston, was arrested at 12:35 a.m....
Mt. Pleasant library earns educational designation through state program
The Mt. Pleasant Free Public Library recently was recognized as a PA Forward Star Library, joining a few others in Westmoreland County that have achieved the designation in the past. Mt. Pleasant library director Brian Dawson said officials there have been working toward the designation for awhile. “We are all...
Frigid temperatures can’t cool enthusiasm for Hempfield mini casinoVideo
The gaming facility being built at Westmoreland Mall might be licensed as a so-called mini casino, but officials said there won’t be anything small about it. “Let us assure you, there is nothing that is second class about this facility,” said Joe Weinberg, managing partner and CEO of resort and...
Blair County mother reported missing arrested on drug, child endangerment charges
Charges were filed Tuesday against a Blair County woman who, along with her two children, was reported missing and possibly in danger with her father-in-law, but were later found safe in Indiana County. Trooper Cliff Greenfield said Alicia Rose Brumbaugh, 31, of Imler, is charged with child endangerment, drug possession...
Police: Youngwood man locked out of bar after threat to kill patron with sledgehammer
A Youngwood man allegedly tried to attack a bar patron with a sledgehammer Saturday in an effort to get “street justice,” according to state police. Michael Paul Davis, 37, is charged with aggravated assault, burglary, criminal trespass and related offenses in connection with the 1:30 a.m. incident outside Delaney’s Pub...
WCCC to host workshop on flooding issues for municipal leaders
Flooding can cause problems for property owners, infrastructure and municipal budgets. State Sen. Kim Ward wants municipal leaders to have tools they need to prevent those issues and respond to them after heavy rains, which have become more common during the past couple of years. “When flooding happens, municipalities are...
2 hurt in crash on Route 30 in Unity
Two people were hurt, one seriously, after a car ran a red light last week on Route 30 in Unity and crashed into another vehicle, according to state police. Robert S. Mayer, 55, of Jeannette, was driving an Infiniti I30 east just before 11 p.m. Wednesday when he ran a...
Missing Blair County mother, 2 kids found in Indiana County
A Blair County woman and her two children were found safe in Indiana County Tuesday morning after state police said they were missing and possibly in danger, according to Trooper Cliff Greenfield. A motorist spotted a black 2005 Chevrolet Avalanche Alicia Rose Brumbaugh, 31, and her children Maverick, 1, and...
Police: Greensburg man shot at neighbors’ homes through attic window
A Greensburg man was being held in the Westmoreland County Prison without bail after police said he shot at two neighbors’ homes from the attic of his apartment. Joshua Aaron Dowell-Miller, 26, is charged with discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. Police were...
Mercury passing between sun and Earth
Mercury will pass between the sun and Earth today, but the rare event may be blocked by Southwestern Pennsylvania’s cloudy skies. Mingo Observatory live-streamed the event, according to the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh’s Facebook page. A planned event at Nicholas E. Wagman Observatory in Deer Lakes Regional Park was...
