Deb Erdley stories, Page 6

Covid-19 is still a threat in Pennsylvania nursing homes even as vaccination rates climb and the number of new infections decline, acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Alison Beam said this week. Although state officials designated nursing home residents and health care workers a top priority for vaccination when the first...

Ligonier officials joined more than 362 municipalities and 24 counties across the state, signing onto resolutions asking the General Assembly to pass a bill outlawing gerrymandering. The small borough in Eastern Westmoreland County last week joined only two other Westmoreland municipalities—North Huntingdon and Trafford— that have gone on record in...

It may not be a federal holiday yet, but a coalition of Westmoreland County organizations will mark Juneteenth with a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation with a rally next week. The event, dubbed “Unity in the Community,” will be held from 2-5 p.m. Friday at St. Clair Park in Greensburg....

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education says there are no plans to delay or postpone next month’s scheduled vote that could be one of the final steps in consolidating six state-owned universities into two institutions. System spokesman Cody Jones said Thursday that officials remain on target...

Pennsylvania’s newest lawmakers, state Reps. Leslie Rossi, R-Unity, and Abby Major, R-Ford City, are breaking molds with every step they take. The two, who won special elections last month to fill unexpected vacancies, were sworn into office Monday in Harrisburg. They are the first women to represent, respectively, the 59th...

The hotly contested 2020 elections opened more than a few eyes to the importance of the ballot box. Rebecca Wyss, a recently retired metallurgical engineer, said, for her, it underscored the need for a nonpartisan conversation about the process. As she cast about for kindred souls, Wyss learned the League...

Jim Brewster, the McKeesport Democrat, has vivid memories of going to bed in December 2011 in his Allegheny County home and waking up to find his 45th Senate District had been moved across Pennsylvania to the Poconos. Strange things can happen when politics collides with the need to resketch district...

He came to town with a flourish. It was the late 1980s and word spread quickly through the Westmoreland County Courthouse that famed defense attorney F. Lee Bailey was in the building. He was due to appear before Judge Charles Loughran to defend his legal acumen. The dapper lawyer —...

Duquesne University on Thursday joined a group of Western Pennsylvania colleges that will require covid-19 vaccines for all students returning to campus this fall, but policies remain varied depending on the university. The American College Health Association, which represents health and wellness professionals at 550 U.S. colleges and universities, recommends...

Survivors of clergy child sexual abuse turned up the heat this week on state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, depositing a pouch of silver coins on the Hempfield Republican’s desk and labeling her a “Judas.” Ward’s failure to schedule a Senate vote on a bill that would provide a day...

A progressive grassroots organizing group that fielded 26 candidates in municipal and school board races in five counties, including Westmoreland, is celebrating putting 22 candidates on the fall ballot. It may seem small, coming at the end of a low-participation primary that featured thousands of ballot openings in municipalities and...

The Richard King Mellon Foundation on Thursday announced its largest ever grant — $150 million to Carnegie Mellon University. Half of the historic investment — $75 million — will go toward the construction of CMU’s long-awaited, cutting-edge $210 million science building on Forbes Avenue, adjacent to the Carnegie Museum in...

Unofficial returns Wednesday showed Republican Leslie Rossi holding a 2-1 lead in the special election to fill a vacancy in the 59th legislative district, even as the final count for four of 41 precincts in Westmoreland County remained unreported. Unofficial returns from the district that spans 42 precincts in eastern...

Voters in the 59th Legislative District appeared to be on their way to choosing their first female lawmaker in Tuesday’s special election. Unofficial returns in Westmoreland County with 37 of 41 precincts reporting showed Republican Leslie Rossi with 63% of the vote, compared to about 34% for Democrat Mariah Fisher...

Voice of Westmoreland was among the wave of “pop-up” progressive groups that spread like dandelions in the wake of the election of Donald Trump. Many doubted VOW, as the group has come to call itself, would ever be a force in politics. In a county that leans decidedly red, they’ve...

Seven candidates, including four incumbents, are seeking nomination to four seats on the Mt. Pleasant Area School Board. All cross-filed on the Democratic and Republican tickets in the May 18 primary. Incumbent board members on the ballot this year include Allison A. Brooks, 37; Brad Coppula, 46; Eric Poole, 43;...

In yet another sign that the world is beginning to reopen from the covid-19 pandemic, Bishop Larry Kulick of the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg celebrated Mass without a mask Sunday for the first time in more than a year. The occasion was a visit to the Saint Vincent Basilica Parish...

The Spaghetti & Steakhouse, a landmark on Route 22 in Murrysville for more than 50 years, was destroyed Sunday in an early morning fire. The restaurant that has fed generations of local families and survived the pandemic was a total loss. A dispatcher for Westmoreland 911 said a caller reported...

Spaghetti & Steakhouse, a landmark on Route 22 in Murrysville for more than 50 years, was destroyed Sunday in an early morning fire. The restaurant that has fed generations of local families and survived the pandemic was a total loss. A dispatcher for Westmoreland 911 said a caller reported the...

Hempfield Township is going to the dogs — literally. The Hempfield Parks and Recreation Department cut the ribbon on its first dog park on Saturday. The long-awaited facility got high marks from dog owners who showed up for an inaugural run. It includes two fenced-in off-leash runs for dogs 35...