Patrick Varine stories, Page 125

UPMC Shadyside is among 21 hospitals that will receive shipments of remdesivir, the antiviral medication that FDA officials have authorized for emergency use to treat covid-19 patients. The Department of Health distributed the second shipment of the investigative antiviral medication on Friday: 1,548 doses of medication were sent to 21...

One of Pennsylvania’s four original area codes finally is getting a little too crowded. The state Public Utility Commission announced Thursday the 814 area code would be assigned a new overlay code of 582. The change also means residents who never needed to dial more than seven digits to make...

In 2014, Lisa Popovich of Penn Township would never have guessed she’d now be in her fourth year as a Penn-Trafford School District nurse. She certainly wouldn’t have guessed that she’d be receiving one of the Highmark Foundation’s Advancing Excellence in School Nursing Awards. “This was never on my radar,”...

With Westmoreland County shifting into the state-designated “yellow phase” with regard to the covid-19 pandemic, Delmont officials are taking steps to slowly reopen the borough. “With the county moving into yellow status as of Friday, I think you can reopen the office if that’s your desire, with the CDC social...

Delmont council extended the discount period for residents to pay real estate taxes, but also found out this week that their financial position is relatively strong amid the economic fallout from the covid-19 pandemic. Council unanimously approved a resolution extending the 2% discount period through Aug. 31. Taxes will then...

A private Facebook group that has gained more than 90,000 members in the past month is planning a protest Friday in Harrisburg against Pennsylvania’s quarantine measures to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. ReOpen PA, described as a non-partisan group “for residents of Pennsylvania to organize and work towards...

Franklin Regional School District officials have a couple of tentative dates for the Class of 2020’s commencement ceremony but, whether they work out or not, administrators want to recognize their senior students. Franklin Regional Senior High School will host a “Celebration of Our Seniors” at 6 p.m. June 5, the...

When Penn State Extension officials made online courses free during April, public interest was overwhelming. “We would’ve filled Beaver Stadium with students,” said Extension Director Brent Hales. “We had over 109,000 people sign up.” There was so much demand — it initially crashed extension servers, Hales said — that officials...

A Pleasant Unity man has been arrested and charged with threatening Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, officials in York County announced Tuesday. Rocco Anthony Naples, 28, faces a third-degree felony charge of threats and other improper influence in official and political matters and related misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and harassment,...

When the Pennsylvania primary arrives next month, several thousand Murrysville voters will find themselves part of two new precincts, and figuring out which can be tricky. The Newlonsburg and Sardis precincts — the two biggest in Westmoreland County — were broken into four parts. Murrysville political committee members were hoping...

Nineteen students in the Tribune-Review’s coverage area were announced among the winners of $2,500 National Merit Scholarships. Winners were selected from more than 15,000 candidates. In June and July, an additional 4,100 college-sponsored National Merit Scholarships will be announced. Here are the winners, their hometown mailing addresses and (high schools):...

As the weather begins to warm, plants begin to grow far and wide, and not just in Western Pennsylvania’s widespread forests. Gardens throughout the state are beginning to take shape, as gardeners prepare their soil, water seedlings and prepare for another growing season. In Murrysville, the local branch of Plant-Based...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized a shipment of 1,200 capsules of an unapproved medicine shipped from Hong Kong to Pennsylvania. Working out of the Port of Harrisburg, agents seized the Lingua Qingwen capsules en route to an address in Union County, in the central part of the state....

Donna LaMonaca of Windber has been a volunteer at the Saint Vincent de Paul Family Kitchen in the Altoona-Johnstown area since she was a child. When they called her last month to say they weren’t able to distribute all of the donated milk they had on hand, she got an...

Fire department volunteers are among the first responders in their communities, and with Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday, Delmont librarian Denni Grassel approached members of the borough fire department with an idea. “She mentioned that moms are kind of like the ‘first responders’ of the household,” Delmont Fire Chief...

What’s a school librarian to do with no students in the buildings? Take the books to the kids, of course. “Our theory was: they’re staring at a screen all day, and when we offered them the possibility of checking out e-books, the thought was ‘Oh, more screen time,’” said Franklin...

Spring leaf and yard waste collection will kick off this weekend in Murrysville. Republic Services will collect leaf and yard waste left at the curb the night before May 9 and 16. To schedule a pickup, call Republic at 877-788-9400. For those with a fire pit or burn barrel, the...

The form education may take in the next few months remains up in the air, but community organizations are still seeking applicants for scholarships: • The Murrysville-Export Rotary Club has extended the application deadline for its Westmoreland County Community College scholarship through May 15. Applications will be accepted from graduating...

Murrysville Council granted the Franklin Regional School District’s request to allow trucks leaving the Sloan Elementary construction project to use Crowfoot Road as they haul material off-site. Project engineer John Frydrych of Civil & Environmental Consultants said the request was needed as a result of a 16-foot grade spanning the...

Murrysville officials are proposing some adjustments to the year’s budget and eliminating late-payment penalties for real-estate taxes, in light of anticipated impacts from the covid-19 pandemic. “We figure as we go into May, June and July, we’re going to start seeing the effects of unemployment, and that will be revenue...

As of early May, there’s just no telling what education in Pennsylvania could look like in the fall. Whatever form it takes, and whatever may happen during the 2020-21 school year related to the coronavirus, Franklin Regional school officials want to be prepared. “Right now none of us have a...