Patrick Varine stories, Page 114

Delmont officials are seeking bids for the first phase of a proposed $4.85 million project to address sewage overflows. As part of a consent order finalized with the state Department of Environmental Control in late April, borough officials have proposed relocating and replacing a gravity line and a force main...

Here are a few upcoming events in the Murrysville area: Basket raffle to benefit kidney transplant patient Export Floral will hold a basket raffle to benefit a former employee, Stacey McKay Campbell, who is in need of a second kidney transplant. The basket is worth more than $275, and the...

If the last few plants from your summer garden are still hanging on, it’s time to bust out the row covers. That is literally the first piece of advice — “take steps now to protect tender plants” — in the National Weather Service’s preparedness section, for a frost advisory starting...

Millions of dollars in grants are on the way for Pennsylvania’s fire departments and ambulance agencies struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. About 90 Westmoreland County fire departments are getting more than $2 million. Fourteen EMS agencies in the county are set to receive about $210,000 total. That includes Murrysville Medic...

While homecoming is a tradition at high schools and colleges across the U.S., there’s not likely to be anything traditional about it this year, given the additional health and safety guidelines in place during the coronavirus pandemic. At Franklin Regional, the homecoming ceremony Friday night, including crowning of the queen...

Delmont residents passing by the Rose Wigfield Parklet in recent weeks may have noticed a stone pillar, with a small glass fixture set into a spherical opening, has been moved to a much more prominent spot. While it certainly bears little resemblance to its modern cousins, the pillar controlled traffic...

The most recent state data show fewer than 250 people in the Penn-Trafford Star’s coverage area have had confirmed cases of coronavirus since the start of the international pandemic in March, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The health department on Monday released data showing 242 confirmed cases of...

The most recent state data show less than 160 people in the Murrysville Star’s coverage area have had confirmed cases of coronavirus since the start of the international pandemic in March, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The health department on Monday released data showing there were 159 confirmed...

Franklin Regional officials have updated the district’s attendance procedures to give students more academic flexibility, if parents choose to keep them home over potential covid-19 symptoms. The district has come in for criticism from some parents since the start of school, for encouraging students to stay home if they think...

A Pittsburgh-area man who was reported missing Saturday evening in Keystone State Park in Derry Township was found Sunday night, a state police spokesman said. Search dog teams, dive crews and state police spent Sunday searching for Donald A. Metzger, 39, of Ross. He was found Sunday, Trooper Steve Limani...

When Jocelyn Blystone of McMurray was diagnosed with breast cancer a little less than three years ago, the 33-year-old Zumba instructor found a tremendous amount of support in the community of people attending her classes. “They really rallied around me, and we decided to put this hobby to good use,”...

School districts throughout the region are asking families to act with an abundance of caution when it comes to students exhibiting potential covid-19 symptoms. If a student is showing any of the 13 symptoms closely associated with the virus, districts are asking parents to keep them home. That didn’t work...

Murrysville Halloween parade canceled The Rotary Club of Murrysville-Export has officially canceled this year’s Halloween parade due to health and safety concerns associated with the coronavirus pandemic. Library will host car parade for ‘Queen of Storybooks’ The Murrysville Community Library will recognize retiring children’s services librarian Carol Siefken with an...

Over the summer and at previous Murrysville Council meetings, Chief Administrator Jim Morrison noted that the municipality will need to identify new revenue sources to provide the same level of services residents now enjoy. That extends to emergency services as well, and council on Wednesday discussed a proposed ordinance to...

The borough and fire department will go ahead with the borough’s annual Halloween parade, set for Friday, Oct. 30, but the post-parade socializing and hot dogs at the firehall will not take place this year for health and safety reasons. Registration for the parade will begin at 5 p.m. outside...

Export officials gave their forestry consultant the go-ahead Tuesday night to have herbicide applied to the understory of borough property off Borland Farm Road as they begin a timber management program. “We got good feedback from lumber companies, and we’re ready to move forward,” forestry consultant Dave O’Barto told council....

If an earthquake happens and nobody feels it, did it really occur? Not if it turns out to be a mine collapse. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a 2.9-magnitude tremor early Tuesday, centered in an area east of Gray Station Road in Derry Township, was actually the collapse of...

Franklin Regional school board member Gary English, who took office in January, submitted a letter of resignation on Monday prior to the board’s committee-of-the-whole meeting. English has clashed with board President Herb Yingling and other board members on a range of issues including procedure at meetings, the way public comment...

After announcing the weeklong closure of Level Green Elementary School on Wednesday, Penn-Trafford school officials notified Sunrise Elementary parents Friday that a staff member had tested positive for covid-19. Close contacts — defined by the state Health Department as a person who was within 6 feet of a person with...