Patrick Varine stories, Page 117

Patrick Varine
Patrick Varine
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Franklin Regional band will boogie in place at disco-themed halftime show
New Franklin Regional Senior High School Band Director Larry Silvestri thought the toughest part of his new position would be answering thousands of questions from band members. “When I was assistant director, I could walk down the hall with no problem,” Silvestri said with a laugh. “Now all I do...
Pa. Turnpike stretch will close early Sunday morning for bridge work in Plum
The Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed between the Allegheny Valley (Exit 48) and Pittsburgh (Exit 57) interchanges from midnight through 5 a.m. on Sunday. Drivers will not be permitted to continue through the area after 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29. The five-hour closure is necessary so work crews can...
Pittsburgh police: 14-year-old boy grazed in Sheraden shooting
Pittsburgh police are investigating a shooting Friday evening in Sheraden that left a teen wounded, in stable condition. Officers responded to a SpotSpotter alert for more than a dozen shots fired around 6:15 p.m. on the 3000 block of Landis Street, where they found a 14-year-old boy who’d suffered a...
PennDOT to close Ekastown Road in Buffalo Township on Wednesday for pipe replacement
Ekastown Road in Buffalo Township will close during the day Wednesday, Sept. 2, PennDOT officials announced . The closures, from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will allow work crews to replace a failing pipe by Palko’s Tavern, between Obringer Lane and Fleming Road. A posted detour will take motorists to...
PennDOT postpones Route 28 restrictions between Millvale, Highland Park Bridge that were set for weekend
Nighttime roadwork on Route 28 that was set for the weekend has been postponed. PennDOT had scheduled work between the Millvale and the Highland Park Bridge interchanges, but it has been postponed as the result of rain that is forecast. The work is part of an $11.5 million improvement project,...
Power back on for most, but not all, after heavy storm damage; New Ken area still affected
Duquesne Light and West Penn Power are continuing to make progress restoring power to several thousand customers throughout the region after heavy storms and high winds knocked out power to more than 40,000 on Thursday evening. Duquesne Light reported about 1,900 customers still without power as of 10 p.m. Friday...
Power still out for some in region after storms slam Southwestern Pa. 
An evening of high winds and strong rain downed trees and wires across Southwestern Pennsylvania on Thursday, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses throughout the region. “We had a good line along the (storm) boundary that produced a lot of wind,” said John Darnley, observation program leader...
Fayette County priest charged with sexually assaulting 11-year-old boy
A 65-year-old priest who worked in Fayette County is charged with the sexual assault of an 11-year-old altar boy in the early 2000s. Father Andrew M. Kawecki of Scottdale faces two counts of indecent assault and one count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse in connection with a series of incidents...
Murrysville-Export Rotary marks 75 years of ‘Service Above Self’
Lane Neff can remember making orchid corsages for her father and his fellow Murrysville-Export Rotarians during the Easter season. She remembers her father buying buckets worth of golf balls for its hole-in-one fundraisers, and she remembers when several club members took out personal loans to create Haymaker Park in the...
Murrysville equine center hosts meditation sessions with horses 
After two decades of serving as manager for nearly 60 horses at the Rock Creek Park Horse Center in Washington, D.C., it would seem like managing four horses would be a breeze for Amber Power. “I had 45 people on staff at Rock Creek Park,” the Murrysville resident said as...
Pair of alligators stolen from White Township pet store
Stealing alligators is not for the faint of heart, especially when it’s a 6-foot female and a 4-foot male. State police, nonetheless, are seeking information about the pair, stolen Aug. 8 from an outdoor enclosure at Pearce’s Pet Place in White Township, Indiana County. The reptiles, valued at about $2,000...
President of Private Industry Council of Westmoreland-Fayette stepping down
Longtime Private Industry Council of Westmoreland-Fayette President and CEO Tim Yurcisin will step down this fall after 21 years in the role and nearly four decades with the PIC. Yurcisin has helped shepherd the nonprofit corporation from a $10 million budget when he took over to a $23 million budget...
Early Pittsburgh punk band Little Wretches release album recorded in 2001 
When Robert Wagner got into the music business, he didn’t know how to hook up a microphone. He hadn’t even been to a live concert. But he knew it was something he wanted to continue for the rest of his life. “I know some of these people are going get...
Sardis Road reopens in Murrysville following crash near municipal building 
Emergency crews transported a female patient from the scene of a one-car crash late Friday morning on Sardis Road in Murrysville. The crash, which was reported shortly before 11:30 a.m. near the Murrysville municipal building, involved an SUV which struck the guard rail before getting stuck on it, according to...
3 injured in Unity motorcycle crash
Three people are believed to have been injured and a small stretch of Route 982 was closed following a motorcycle crash Thursday night in Unity Township, according to Westmoreland County 911. The crash happened just after 9 p.m. near the intersection of Route 982 and East Mill Street. Latrobe police...
Group stages protest, march in downtown Greensburg 
A group of about 40 people held a protest Thursday evening at the corner of Main and Otterman streets in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The group held up signs and chanted slogans invoking victims of police violence in cases such as those that led to the deaths...
Pittsburgh tech company adds ultraviolet disinfection robots to its portfolio 
Most people think of ultraviolet light as the main reason for wearing sunscreen. Chris Proud, CEO at Safe Space Technologies in Pittsburgh, sees it as another weapon in the battle against the coronavirus. Safe Spaces’ parent company, Miller Process, focuses on collaborative robots, networking services and automation for a variety...
Murrysville scales back capital project plans amid pandemic’s financial effects
The effects of the covid-19 pandemic have thrown budgets of all types into upheaval, and Murrysville is no exception. On Wednesday night, Finance Director Diane Heming detailed how the municipality’s five-year capital-improvement plan was scaled back in light of pandemic-related financial projections, including a sharp decline in state money raised...
Police: Penn Hills woman ran through airport security checkpoint, tossed water on TSA agent
A Penn Hills woman was arrested by county police Aug. 19 after tossing water on a TSA agent and running unchecked past the Pittsburgh International Airport’s security checkpoint. Allegheny County police said Brandi L. Bailey, 32, of Penn Hills, threw water on a TSA agent when asked for her identification...
Educators hope to attract more adult students to free machining courses 
When Ken Pedder was in high school, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do as a career. “I really had no direction or plans,” Pedder said. Eventually, he applied to Central Westmoreland Career & Technology Center. He was looking to follow somewhat in the footsteps of his father, a...
Mt. Pleasant school officials turn down PTO offer to buy, install air conditioning at elementaries
Mt. Pleasant school officials appreciate an offer from the parent-teacher organization to buy air-conditioning units for its three elementary schools, but according to the school board president, it’s one project too many right now. “Any new work done in these classrooms could delay the work already being done in the...
Delmont prepares for $4.85 million project to address sewage overflows
Delmont officials are proposing to replace two sewage lines and possibly construct a large holding tank to help deal with sewage overflows and infiltration and inflow of storm water into its sewage system. As part of a consent order finalized with the state Department of Environmental Control in late April,...
Pa. to spend $10M on surplus produce, milk, more from farmers for struggling families 
The demand to get nutritious food to struggling families may have slowed slightly since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, but not much: At its Aug. 10 distribution day, Westmoreland County Food Bank officials estimate they served about 1,000 families. To continue that effort — and to lend a hand...
Bill to create Purple Heart coin series gains traction in Congress 
Josh Marino suffered a traumatic brain injury when an enemy mortar exploded a few feet away from him during his 2007 deployment to Baghdad. In the moment, he had no idea what had happened. “At the time I thought, ‘Man, those cannons we have on base are really loud. They’re...
Export’s Ethnic Food & Music Fest a go; Delmont’s Apple’n Arts Festival, Pilgrimage canceled
In a season of cancellations, Export’s annual Ethnic Food & Music Festival is sticking to its guns and will go on this weekend. The event is set for noon to 9 p.m. Saturday along Washington Avenue. Councilwoman Melanie Litz said the relatively small size of both the borough and festival...


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