Taxpayers will foot bill for expert in Derry Township murder case
A Westmoreland County judge on Friday authorized spending $9,700 of taxpayer money to hire an expert to analyze nearly 100,000 computer images connected to a Derry Township murder case. Walter Cable, 26, of Greensburg, is one of two men charged with criminal homicide for the 2017 death of 34-year-old Ronny...
Westmoreland County judge to consider Upper Burrell’s request to redistrict voting precincts
Westmoreland County officials said Friday it will begin work in March to potentially redistrict two voting precincts in Upper Burrell. Attorneys for the township and county appeared before Common Pleas Court Judge Harry Smail Jr. to address a lawsuit filed last week by Upper Burrell and 20 of its residents...
Western Pennsylvania girls officially join the Boy Scouts
Sarah Lenhart has been a Boy Scout in all but name for a long time. She started participating about eight years ago, when her older brother joined Boy Scout Troop 372 in Ligonier. She’s been part of the troop ever since. “I honestly did more, I think, than my brother,”...
State police uncover marijuana growing operation, seize 82 plants in Armstrong Township
State police said they seized 82 marijuana plants and 13 one-gallon bags of marijuana on Thursday when troopers stumbled upon a growing operation in Indiana County. Troopers went to a home on Route 156 in Armstrong Township around 2 p.m. Thursday to arrest Scott Ryan Wilson, 52, on a domestic...
Greensburg woos developers for downtown hotel project
Greensburg officials have long wanted a downtown hotel, and they’re done waiting for developers to come to them. The city and the Greensburg Community Development Corp. are directly reaching out to developers, with a request for proposals for a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. The city was recently in talks with...
Trump’s State of the Union to focus on ‘choosing greatness’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is ready to deliver his State of the Union speech following a roller-coaster will-it-or-won’t-it-happen ride. His topic is to be “choosing greatness.” White House officials say Trump is not expected to dwell on the government shutdown or on the looming Feb. 15 deadline for a...
Judge in Roger Stone case says she’s considering gag order
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday cautioned longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone not to treat the charges against him like a public relations campaign or book tour, and said she may issue a gag order in the case. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she had already...
Trump suspends arms treaty to focus on China, Russia threats
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is pulling the plug on a decades-old nuclear arms treaty with Russia, lifting what it sees as unreasonable constraints on competing with a resurgent Russia and a more assertive China. The move announced Friday sets the stage for delicate talks with U.S. allies over potential...
‘Empire’ actor says account of attack has been consistent
CHICAGO — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett said Friday that he has been “consistent on every level” with the police during their investigation into what he says was a racist and homophobic attack on him in downtown Chicago earlier this week. In his first public comments since he says two masked...
Man gets 48-year sentence after fatal argument over popcorn
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A man who got in an argument with his cousin over popcorn and struck him in the head with a baseball bat has been sentenced to 48 years in prison for manslaughter. The Montgomery Advertiser reports 29-year-old Richard Wilson was sentenced Thursday in Johnny Waits’ 2016 death....
Rivers Casino Pittsburgh unveils massive event spaceVideo
Models dressed as tables glided across the polished floors as Rivers Casino Pittsburgh unveiled its new event center. One had Caesar vegetable rolls with Caesar sauce on the side as well as vegetable garden salad with sauce at the bottom. “Yes, they are called strolling tables,” Andrea Kleinrock-Marmion, Rivers’ vice-president...
Plum painter charged with home improvement fraud by Greensburg police
A Plum contactor is accused of taking a $1,250 down payment in 2018 for a painting project in Greensburg that he never started. Michael Cerniglia, 54, was charged with home improvement fraud by Greensburg Patrolman Regina McAtee this week. McAtee alleges in an affidavit that Cerniglia, operator of Michael’s Painting,...
Lawsuit: Pennsylvania officer coerced 2 women into sex to avoid arrest
ASHLEY — Two women who say they were coerced into sex with a Pennsylvania police officer have filed a federal lawsuit alleging he violated their constitutional rights. The Citizens’ Voice reports 29-year-old Mark Icker, of Dickson City, is facing sexual assault, official oppression and related charges alleging he pressured the...
Trump health chief asks Congress to pass drug discount plan
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s top health official asked Congress on Friday to pass its new prescription drug discount plan and provide it to all patients, not just those covered by government programs like Medicare. The plan would take now-hidden rebates among industry players like drug companies and insurers and...
Palestinians, Israeli troops clash in West Bank, Gaza
JERUSALEM — Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops skirmished Friday as hundreds demonstrated against violence by Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and thousands more against a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade in the militant Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. In Gaza, mass demonstrations along the perimeter fence with Israel have been a weekly...
Deer Lakes postpones plays until next weekend
Due to the inclement weather, Deer Lakes School District has postponed this weekend’s performances of, “You Can’t Take It With You.” The play is rescheduled to be at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 to 10 in the high school auditorium, 163 East Union Road, West Deer. Admission is $8....
Port Authority’s ConnectCard kiosks repaired; free rides end Friday afternoon
Two days of free rides using the Port Authority of Allegheny County public transit system came to an end Friday afternoon. With temperatures climbing and the authority’s ConnectCard kiosks no longer malfunctioning, regular fare collection resumed at 2 p.m., said Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph. The outdoor kiosks had malfunctioned...
Pittsburgh police arrest 2 men suspected in Downtown burglaries
A Pittsburgh police officer arrested a man suspected in a Downtown burglary Friday morning after spotting him near the scene of another heist. Stephen Lamm, 48, of Johnstown, is charged with both burglaries, one at a business on Liberty Avenue and one at a business on Wood Street. A second...
Parents accused of abandoning 3 children in Greensburg home to avoid arrest
A Greensburg couple allegedly abandoned their three children — a 16-year-old boy and 5-year-old twins — for more than a week to avoid being served arrest warrants, Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department deputies allege in court documents filed Friday. Ryan J. Mason, 39, and Destany Stamps, 36, were arrested at a...
‘Empire’ actor defends himself in 1st comments since attack
CHICAGO (AP) — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett is disputing rumors circulating on social media that he has been less than cooperative with the investigation into a racially-charged attack in which he says two masked men beat him and wrapped a rope around his neck in downtown Chicago. In his first...
Appeals court upholds DUI suspension of Jeannette man who claims he was passenger
A state trooper’s word was enough to justify the 2016 drunken driving arrest of a Jeannette man who claimed he wasn’t behind the wheel at the time, a three-judge panel ruled this week. Trooper Kimberly Zubovic’s statement to Trooper Thomas Dohey, the arresting officer, that Richard McBeth appeared intoxicated provided...
State awards funding for Armstrong transportation projects
Nearly $765,000 in state funding will be coming into Armstrong County for transportation projects, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday. The money from the Multimodal Transportation Fund is included in $44.5 million being used on 50 highway, bridge, transit, aviation, bike and pedestrian projects in 23 counties. PennDOT evaluated applications and...
The tips are coming back to Hershey’s Kisses
The Hershey’s Kisses tips are on their way back, thanks, in part, to an inquisitive Greensburg baker. Debbie Sheetz noticed when she was making peanut butter blossoms for Christmas the missing tips. She contacted the company. “Who thought my concern for Hershey and the Kisses would have such an impact?”...
PWSA faces 161 criminal charges for lead water line violations
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Friday charged the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority with potentially endangering the health of 161 households by failing to notify residents when the agency replaced lead water lines. Shapiro said investigators found no evidence that anyone working for PWSA intended to harm Pittsburgh residents,...
Irwin martial arts expert inducted into hall of honor
An acclaimed martial arts expert from Irwin has been inducted into a martial arts hall of honor — at the age of 25. “It was quite an honor,” said John Morgart Jr., who was inducted into the Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Honor last weekend in Atlantic City, N.J....
