Patrick Varine stories, Page 133

Patrick Varine
Patrick Varine
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
TribLive Taste Test: Pop Tarts Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel 
Salted caramel. Chocolate-chip cookies with sea salt. It’s tough to go wrong with a combination of salty and sweet. Which is why the TribLive Taste Test team figured the new Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel flavor of Pop Tarts would easily get a nice high score, especially when compared to what we’ll...
Newlonsburg associate pastor retires following 37 years of service
For the first time in nearly four decades, Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church will have a new associate pastor following the retirement of the Rev. Marion Silbert on Jan. 31. A Western Pennsylvania native, Silbert is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and Princeton Theological Seminary. She joined Newlonsburg in...
Opus 2 Orchestra prepares for winter concert in Trafford
Members of the Opus 2 Orchestra are gearing up for their winter concert set for Feb. 22 in Trafford. “An International Affair: Music from Around the World” will begin at 4 p.m. at Christian Life Church, 900 Seventh Street Ext. It will feature musical styles from different countries including Soon...
Delmont library captures $40,000 grant for solar panels, geothermal system
Delmont Public Library officials were excited when they broke ground on a new building in mid-November. Now they will have an additional $40,000 to help install solar panels and other “green” features. The library received a West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund grant, which will go toward the purchase of...
Franklin Regional fifth-graders explore a variety of career paths
When Olivia Hamilton of Murrysville was younger, she spent a lot of time with her father working on cars. “I knew I didn’t want to be a mechanic, but I remember thinking that welding sounded pretty cool,” she said. She may not have had that career path chosen by fifth...
Pittsburgh Zoo brings ‘Radical Reptiles’ to Murrysville 
Is it cold blooded? Does it have scales? If so, it might have been in the gymnasium at Mother of Sorrows School on Friday as students learned all about “Radical Reptiles” at a program presented by the Pittsburgh Zoo’s Zoomobile. Zoo conservation education specialist Katie Campbell, along with Connor Bamrick...
Cops: Traffic stop yields more than 500 stamp bags, 22-gram crack rock
A McKeesport man and an Indiana woman face drug charges after state police said they discovered more than 500 stamp bags of heroin and crack cocaine during an Indiana County traffic stop Wednesday. Shortly after noon, state police said, they pulled over an SUV on Laurel Road in Armstrong Township...
Hosanna House marks 30th anniversary with year-long celebration
Hosanna House in Wilkinsburg will bring a little bit of classic ’70s funk and soul to its 30th anniversary celebration this year, along with a host of other events to mark the nonprofit’s third decade of providing health and human services to more than 40,000 people annually. An Aug. 7...
Pittsburgh adoptee to compete in Animal Planet’s ‘Puppy Bowl XVI’ 
An adoptee from Animal Friends in Ohio Township has once again reached the pinnacle of puppy professional athletics: a spot on the roster for Animal Planet’s “Puppy Bowl XVI,” which will air at 3 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2. Kenny was one of a litter of puppies transferred...
North Huntingdon native Ashley Puckett prepares to release debut country album 
Ashley Puckett of North Huntingdon was having fun taking guitar lessons and enjoying herself while performing at her high school, at the Norwin’s Got Talent show and eventually at local gigs with the band This Cowgirl Met a Punk. Puckett, 28, didn’t realize she was laying the groundwork for her...
West Newton woman loved arts, crafts and the ocean
Shirley Cantini couldn’t dip her toes in the ocean often enough. “She just loved the beach,” said her daughter, Cindy Achtzehn of Madison. “We went to Myrtle Beach every year when I was younger. And we had a camping group that was my family, my brother-in-law and some good friends....
Donations pour in for New Alexandria teen struggling to recover from medical emergency
A New Alexandria teen who earned three livestock ribbons at the 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Show is struggling to recover after undergoing cardiac arrest and hemorrhagic shock. In early January, Autumn Zundel, 13, was diagnosed with an anterior mediastinal mass between her heart and lungs, after going to UPMC Children’s Hospital...
Grove City College seniors write full-length musical, ‘Antigone & the King’
Grove City College students could be forgiven for not recognizing the name of the musical playing on the Little Theatre of Pew Fine Arts Center at the end of the month. That’s because the full-length musical “Antigone & The King” was written by two Grove City students, Noah Gould and...
Carnegie Museum will partner with Pitt, Boston University to study climate-change effects
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the University of Pittsburgh and Boston University will partner on a three-year collaborative research project to study the effects of climate change and invasive plants on trees and wildflowers. The three entities were awarded a $646,000 National Science Foundation grant to study “phenological mismatches...
Westmoreland County animal response team hosts training for regional firefighters, EMTs 
About two years after the Westmoreland County Animal Response Team formed, its members were called out to fire in Ligonier . CART Coordinator Lori Mozina thought it was odd, since the fire company was equipped with an oxygen mask suited to treat pets. “They had one at the station, but...
Crash closes outbound side of Liberty Tunnels
A crash has closed the outbound side of the Liberty Tunnel in Pittsburgh, PennDOT officials announced Sunday morning. The crash at the entrance of the southbound/outbound side of the tunnel happened at 9:45 a.m. Drivers are advised to find an alternate route, PennDOT officials said. Additional information was not immediately...
Hempfield junior ‘approaches service the same way she approached sports’ 
When Gianna Richason came home from volleyball practice during her sophomore year and told her parents she was quitting, they weren’t sure what to think. “The summer before that year, I had jaw surgery and couldn’t do anything for three months,” said Gianna, 17, of Hempfield. “I came back to...
Driver in critical condition after crashing into Downtown Pittsburgh wall
A driver is in critical condition after crashing into a wall coming off the Liberty Bridge at Forbes Avenue on Saturday morning. Pittsburgh police responded to a report of a single-vehicle collision at about 8:10 a.m. just off the bridge. The vehicle crashed into a wall on the inbound side...
Route 130 reopens in Penn Township following 2-vehicle crash 
A two-vehicle crash shut down Route 130 in Penn Township for more than four hours Saturday afternoon, according to authorities. The crash, involving a car and a pickup truck, was reported at 12:20 p.m. on Route 130 near Hungry Hank’s Pizzeria, a 911 supervisor said. “We had one patient in...
McKeesport shooting victim in critical condition
A 29-year-old man is in critical condition following a shooting early Saturday morning in McKeesport, according to police. McKeesport officers were dispatched to the 1400 block of Maple Street just after 2:15 a.m. Saturday for a report of shots fired. They arrived to find a 29-year-old man with multiple gunshot...
Innocence Institute founder will discuss overturning convictions in Murrysville
In 1989, Drew Whitley was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Seventeen years later in 2006, with the help of the Innocence Institute at Point Park University, he was exonerated and freed. One of the people who helped establish Whitney’s innocence will be the featured...
Donora library to host Heinz history center’s traveling World War II exhibit
In the run-up to the 75th anniversary of World War II’s ending this fall, the Donora Historical Society and Donora Public Library will co-host the traveling World War II exhibit from the John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. For historical society volunteer Mark Pawelec, it’s a chance not only to...
National survey shows contradictory attitudes toward flu vaccine
Pennsylvania has nearly 40,000 confirmed flu cases so far this season, yet 43% of respondents to a nationwide survey said they won’t get a flu shot. In the survey of 1,226 Americans, conducted by Qualtrics, 74% of those who were not planning to receive a flu vaccination said it was...
Registration open for girls youth lacrosse teams
Registration for the Franklin Regional Youth Lacrosse girls team is open at Frylax.com. Registration is planned for 12U and 14U teams. The group is particularly looking for new fifth and sixth-grade players and have opened registration for fourth-grade girls interested in “playing up” with the 12U team. Younger girls can...
House passes package boosting human trafficking penalties 
In the wake of human trafficking cases in Westmoreland and Butler counties, legislation strengthening existing state protections against the illegal practice recently passed in the state House. A bill from Rep. Marci Mustello, R-Butler, would increase penalties for anyone knowingly patronizing a victim and anyone connected to trafficking victims. “Whether...


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