Patrick Varine stories, Page 113
Murrysville police sergeant has house full of police dogs
If someone breaks into Scott Kettren’s house, they’re in a for a “ruff” time. The Murrysville Police sergeant’s Penn Township residence is home to not one, but two, police dogs. While Argos, the 13-year-old Belgian malinois who served as the department’s police dog for a decade, enjoys his retirement, Magnus...
Apple’n Arts organizers discuss 2021 festival options with Delmont council
Apple’n Arts Festival organizers will present a scaled-down version of the annual fall event after being asked by Delmont council members to offer a proposal for 2021. “We haven’t yet sent out applications for vendors,” organizing committee member Brandy Walters said. “What we’re hearing is that a lot of craft...
Apple Hill Playhouse property sold to Washington County developer
The Apple Hill Playhouse property at 275 Manor Road in Salem has been sold to a Washington County corporation. Westmoreland County deed records from June 25 show the property, which previously belonged to the theater’s executive artistic director Pat Beyer, was sold for $150,000 to Manning Properties LLC, based in...
News and briefs in the Murrysville area: July 13, 2021, and beyond
Police to host National Night Out on Aug. 3 The Murrysville Police Department will host the annual National Night Out event from 4:30-8 p.m., Aug. 3 at the police station, 4200 Sardis Road. National Night Out brings police and community residents together under positive circumstances for an evening of conversation...
Farmers market kicks off return of public events at Bushy Run Battlefield
The Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society’s monthly farmers market returns July 24, from 8 a.m. to noon. Market dates are the fourth Saturday of the month, and will also take place Aug. 28 and Sept. 25. There is no pre-registration required, nor any set-up fees for vendors. However, no animals,...
‘Loki’ season finale breaks the Marvel multiverse wide open
Editor’s note: “Loki” spoilers through season 1, episode 6. For all time. Always. “All time” is now on the table following the season finale of “Loki” on Disney+. Marvel head Kevin Feige wasn’t kidding around when he said that this series would forever alter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After battling...
Eat’n Park, Turner Dairy Farms partner to create Smiley Cookie Milk
Turner Dairy Farms in Penn Hills has taken its milk plenty far off the beaten path in the past, with flavors ranging from strawberry to chocolate-banana to the “Star Wars”-themed blue “Blue Banthamilk.” Its latest offering comes as part of a partnership with local mainstay Eat’n Park: Smiley Cookie Milk,...
Massive boost in state education funding is not much help to Franklin Regional
Pennsylvania’s 2021-22 education budget includes the largest funding increase for public education in the state’s history, some $416 million. That is little consolation to Franklin Regional school officials, however, who found themselves again raising taxes to the state’s Act 1-mandated limit for the coming year, or risk cutting programs and/or...
R.K. Mellon Foundation to invest $1M in companies’ best ‘social-impact’ ideas
The Richard King Mellon Foundation is looking to invest $1 million in three companies whose members can pitch the best ideas for making a social impact in areas like economic development, economic mobility, health and well-being and environmental conservation. The social-impact investment competition will ask for-profit companies to submit ideas...
12-year-old missing from Arlington found safe
A 12-year-old boy last seen Monday in Pittsburgh’s Arlington section has returned home safely, police said. Pittsburgh police detectives had sought the public’s help to find Kirill Matveev, who went missing at about 4 p.m. Monday. Police posted to social media just before 9 a.m. Wednesday that Matveev was located....
Murrysville officials examine how federal covid relief funds can be spent
Murrysville will be eligible for about $2 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan, meant to help offset the financial strain of the covid-19 pandemic on local and state governments. Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said half the funding should arrive by the end of July, with the...
Summer Bible camp in Murrysville incorporates foam swords, battle strategyVideo
Summer Bible camps often employ a theme or center themselves around a particular activity each year. But what about a summer Bible camp where participants duke it out on the field of battle with foam swords, spears and shields? Enter Push the Rock’s Stronghold Foam Sword Fighting Ministries, which will...
Murrysville recreation officials seeking volunteers to help with ‘Pipeline Purge’ race
How many times can you climb Townsend Park’s daunting “Heart Attack Hill” in two hours? That’s what Murrysville Recreation Department officials want to find out at the Townsend’s Pipeline Purge race, set for July 17 at the park, located just off Twin Oaks Drive. “They will be running a one-mile...
‘On the Move’ in the Murrysville area for the week of July 8, 2021
Here are just a few of those in the Star’s coverage area who are “on the move” in one way or another. Submit listings to pvarine@triblive.com. The Murrysville-Export Rotary Club chose winners in its “End Plastic Soup” art contest for fourth and fifth graders are Franklin Regional and Mother of...
News briefs in the Murrysville area for the week of July 8, 2021
‘Tuesdays at Townsend’ concert series continues July 20 The Murrysville Recreation Department’s “Tuesdays at Townsend” free outdoor concert series will continue with a performance by Detention. It will be from 6:30-8 p.m. July 20 at the park, 130 Townsend Park Court in Murrysville. Food will be available from the Mobile...
Review: ‘Loki’ takes several new forms as season finale nearsVideo
Editor’s note: “Loki” spoilers through Season 1, Episode 5. We all knew Marvel’s Phase 4 was going to get weird. But can you imagine if they’d gone with their original plan and made “Loki” the first original Marvel series on Disney+? Even with the reshuffled series, we still got plenty...
R.K. Mellon Foundation announces $2.6 million grants to stimulate ‘new-economy’ jobs locally
The R.K. Mellon Foundation has a few goals aimed at helping people get jobs — and it’s got the money to get started. Targeting what foundation Director Sam Reiman calls “new-economy jobs,” the foundation is providing $2.6 million spread out over 16 grants. “With our new strategic plan, we are...
Year of virtual events highlights career opportunities for court reporters, captioners
At a time when large numbers of people are taking a critical look at their careers after more than a year of massive economic upheaval during the covid-19 pandemic, Community College of Allegheny County professor Mary Beth Johnson has a suggestion: court reporting. “I’ve taught court reporting for 45 years,...
East End Kids group preps for outdoor musical performance in Monroeville
As more and more areas of the large-event economy kick back into motion, live theater performances, whether plays, musicals or dance, are having a harder time than others. For Larry Cervi, former owner of the Larry Cervi School of Performing Arts in Monroeville, it presented a unique opportunity for his...
Allegheny County Council paves the way for the return of Picklesburgh
The Allegheny County Council paved the way Tuesday evening for Pittsburgh to become Picklesburgh once again. Council unanimously granted a temporary license to the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to bring the festival to the city’s Andy Warhol Bridge from Aug. 18-23. “Every year, it gets better and bigger,” Council President Pat...
East End arts groups, restaurants will again host Hotline Ring collective fundraiserVideo
Before the pandemic, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty was partnering with restaurants in the neighborhood to host Neighborhood Happy Hours. That group switched gears amid pandemic restrictions, joining with six other local arts organizations to host a virtual fundraiser, Hotline Ring, that brought in $130,000. This year, the...
Penn Township vacant house fire cause under investigationVideo
Police continue to investigate a house fire Monday afternoon in Penn Township’s Level Green neighborhood. Nearly a dozen fire companies were called to the home near the intersection of First Street Extension and Drakulic Lane, and more companies continued to arrive as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. A Penn...
2 flown from motorcycle crash in South Huntingdon
One of two people transported by medical helicopter following a July 5 motorcycle crash in South Huntingdon has died, according to emergency officials. First responders were called to the intersection of Route 31 and Nichols Lane for a report of a motorcycle crash shortly after 1:30 p.m. Two patients, Dennis...
Pittsburgh police respond to multiple fireworks incidents on Fourth of July
Pittsburgh Police with the city’s Fireworks Task Force spent a good bit of time in the Hazelwood area on the Fourth of July, where they responded to 32 fireworks complaint calls and issued multiple warnings. Overall, the task force responded to 158 complaints overnight, with some resulting in minor fires...
Historic Hanna’s Town marks July 4th with reading of the Declaration of IndependenceVideo
American colonists drafted plenty of documents before the Declaration of Independence. In a fledgling Westmoreland County that, officially speaking, was only two years old in 1775, citizens drafted the Hanna’s Town Resolves, a response to the battles of Lexington and Concord during the Revolutionary War. “Resolved unanimously, That there is...
