Jeff Himler stories, Page 2

Motorists on Interstate 70 can expect to encounter daytime lane restrictions in Rostraver and South Huntingdon beginning Wednesday, as work continues on reconstruction of the Route 51 interchange and improvement of an adjoining section of the interstate. Single-lane restrictions for both eastbound and westbound traffic are planned between the Route...

Amtrak is looking to make improvements to its station at Greensburg beginning in 2026, while upgrades at the Latrobe station are set to get underway this year. The station projects, which include improved features for handicapped accessibility, come as Amtrak is planning to expand its passenger service between Pittsburgh and...

Home gardeners looking to add some local color to their flower beds might choose the purple blossoms of tall larkspur or the broad yellow petals of the wood poppy. They’re two of the more than a dozen new species featured in this year’s native plant sale at the Brandywine Conservancy’s...

The Ligonier Township Supervisors will have a second chance at their meeting Tuesday to fill a vacant seat on the township’s five-member governing panel. Eight people met the supervisors’ April 4 deadline to submit letters of interest for the appointment, but the supervisors were unable to reach an agreement on...

Latrobe is ramping up for its takeover of garbage hauling services in the city next year, with moves to fill a new administrative post and to strike a deal on used collection containers. City council this week promoted Melanie McGregor, an hourly sanitation department clerk, to the new salaried role...

A long-awaited update of Latrobe’s Amtrak station is expected to get underway in the weeks ahead. City officials reported project representatives have been checking with the Pennsylvania One Call System to determine the location of underground utilities in preparation for beginning construction. “I’m thrilled it’s finally going to happen,” Jarod...

House hunters such as Bruce and Brenda Babich are up against a perfect storm of low inventory, rising home costs and unfriendly mortgage rates. That’s becoming the norm in the Pittsburgh housing market, which historically has been viewed as affordable. “They’re not staying on the market long,” said Bruce Babich,...

Lindsay Mattock began a new chapter of her life in mid-January when she took on the role of executive director of the Ligonier Valley Library and returned to her Westmoreland County roots. A native of Norvelt and a 2000 graduate of Mt. Pleasant Area High School, Mattock spent the past...

The closure of the Pyrex cookware plant in Charleroi brings to an end 132 years of manufacturing at that facility, but the regional footprint of the glassmaking industry is far more widespread and earlier in origin. In 1797, James O’Hara and Isaac Craig opened their Pittsburgh Glassworks at the foot...

A Philadelphia man accused of trafficking crack cocaine and a highly potent opioid is in the Westmoreland County jail following his arrest Wednesday night, shortly after he arrived in Latrobe via Amtrak. Latrobe police, Westmoreland County detectives and agents of the state Attorney General’s Office combined efforts to take Brendaon...

Independence Health System is laying off 151 employees as it looks to cut costs. Kelly Skoloda, chief marketing and communications officer for the financially challenged regional health care provider, confirmed the staff cuts Wednesday in a statement mirroring a message sent to employees by the system’s president and CEO, Ken...

The business day ended earlier than expected Thursday afternoon when an SUV crashed into the office of Pinnacle Auto Sales in Hempfield. The driver and sole occupant of the SUV was taken by ambulance for treatment at a hospital, firefighters said. There were no other injuries in the crash reported...

Motorists on the Interstate 70 corridor in Rostraver can expect to drive on a radically revamped Route 51 interchange by the time the PennDOT construction season comes to an end. To the west on the interstate, a phased four-year reconstruction of the Arnold City interchange, also in Rostraver, is just...

It can take as many as 150 volunteers to help run the midsummer Westmoreland County Arts and Heritage Festival, and Executive Director Diane Shrader is looking to sign up some of those unpaid workers at a Friday event in Greensburg. The festival is one of more than two dozen organizations...

Organizers of the annual Trooper Kenton Iwaniec Memorial Race at Saint Vincent College hope to raise $100,000 through this year’s April 12 event. That’s enough to purchase 200 breathalyzers — to help law enforcement agencies crack down on those who get behind the wheel while drunk in Pennsylvania. The family...

A personal care home opening in Unity may have the most luxurious — and expensive — suites in Westmoreland County. April 1 will mark the debut of The Fountains at Latrobe, after about 10 months of construction and interior preparations. The Fountains’ flat monthly fee for a standard suite begins...

Oliver Sparks’ Eagle Scout project is for the birds — literally. The Ligonier Valley High School senior recently attained the top Scouting rank by updating and augmenting boxes that support nesting by various bird species at the Powdermill Nature Reserve’s Avian Research Center in Ligonier Township. “There were bird boxes...

Ligonier Township is seeking applicants for appointment to a vacant supervisor seat following the resignation of D. Scott Matson. Matson, who was nearing the end of his second term on the township board, abruptly announced his decision to step down and left the meeting room near the beginning of the...

If the Ligonier Country Market opens as planned May 17, it will be in violation of township regulations. After tabling the matter for two weeks, township supervisors on Tuesday approved a special event permit for the seasonal market. But they said the market also is subject to a 2008 conditional...

A Fayette County teen was killed in a motorcycle crash Sunday afternoon in Springfield Township. County Coroner Dr. Bob Baker said his office pronounced 17-year-0ld Nicholas Herman of Springfield Township dead after responding to the crash at about 4:15 p.m. Additional details of the wreck weren’t immediately available from authorities....

When Latrobe police interview someone at their station or they’re held in the city’s lockup they will be recorded using new microphones that are among the improvements planned this year, police Chief Richard Bosco said. Officers already wear body cameras at all times, including when they’re conducting interviews at the...

Mike Ruminski was drafted into the Army in June 1967 and volunteered to serve on long-range patrols when his unit was shipped to Vietnam. “Usually, we were on patrol for three or four days at the most, and then we’d come back to base and be off for a week...

A Pittsburgh firm is harnessing artificial intelligence to make it easier for military aircraft to land on ships at sea. Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, another company is working on a skin patch that automatically doses diabetic patients with insulin. Presenters at a weekend AI conference at Saint Vincent College in Unity...

State police are investigating a report of missing opioid pills at a Hempfield assisted living home. The potential theft was reported after an inventory audit by staff at Mountain View Senior Living revealed 24 oxycodone pills were missing. The pills were taken from the home on Nature Park Road sometime...

Indiana Borough police arrested a New Kensington man accused of assault and making terroristic threats while displaying a gun Saturday evening during the IUPatty’s student celebration held annually in the community. Police said Adisun Lee Jackson, 22, who is not a student at local Indiana University of Pennsylvania, refused to...