Patrick Varine stories, Page 139

Patrick Varine
Patrick Varine
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
AMVETS, American Legion, VFW host honor roll ceremonies for Veterans Day 
Michael Jackson of Export, a retired first lieutenant with the U.S. Army Special Forces, was quick to distinguish Veterans Day from its sibling holiday, Memorial Day. “It’s about service today,” Jackson said at an early Veterans Day ceremony Saturday morning at the Frank Kapusta American Legion post in Export. “We...
Hempfield train derailment halts Pittsburgh-Harrisburg Amtrak service 
Amtrak will not provide passenger rail service on Saturday between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg due to Friday’s multi-train derailment in Hempfield, according to a company spokeswoman. Three Norfolk Southern Corp. freight trains were involved in the derailment, which happened about three miles east of Greensburg. The crash derailed 50 shipping containers,...
‘Mini grant’ program for local watershed groups accepting applications
The teachers and students that Wendy Kedzierski works with through Allegheny College’s Creek Connections program are now able to keep a much more accurate eye on water quality in local streams, thanks to a partnership between local conservationists and the energy industry. The water monitoring kits were purchased through a...
Incumbents hold steady in Penn Township, Penn-Trafford elections
Incumbents held steady in contested races for Penn Township commissioner, while it was smooth sailing for school board candidates in the general election. First Ward Republican incumbent Jeffrey Shula came away with a commanding win, taking 71.6% of 862 votes over Democratic challenger Bill Leonard. Incumbent Republican Lisa Rose Zaucha...
Export officials hope to relocate vets monument in the spring
Export officials hope to move the veterans memorial at the former American Legion on Kennedy Avenue closer to the borough’s downtown in the spring. “We want to shoot for April,” said Councilman John Nagoda. “It going to probably be easier than we thought.” With 2020 marking the 75th anniversary of...
Penn Borough council: Zero candidates, 15 write-in votes
The 15 write-in ballots cast in Penn Borough could decide who fills three vacancies on council — although just who that will be has yet to be decided. No candidates appeared on the ballot. According to unofficial results of Tuesday’s election, four candidates each received three write-in votes: incumbent council...
State grant to help fund turn lane for Route 22 development in Murrysville
Murrysville officials secured a grant that could be worth up to nearly $971,000 to help pay for construction of a westbound turn lane on Route 22 to accommodate plans for a 46-acre mixed used development that will include the expansion of Dedicated Nursing Associates. The developer, Bushy Run Investments, is...
Several races unopposed; newcomer joins Murrysville council
While candidates in the Franklin Regional school board race were anxiously anticipating the first returns in Tuesday’s election, it was business as usual for Export council members John Nagoda, Joe Ferri, David Silvis and Vince Harding, who held their regular monthly meeting despite all being up for reelection. Export council...
Pennsylvania Turnpike plans full ‘cashless’ transition by late 2021
By late 2021, the 552 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be fully converted to a “cashless” tolling system, turnpike commission officials said this week. After a pair of pilot conversions — including on Turnpike 66 in Westmoreland County — the remaining sections of the east-west mainline, the Northeastern Extension...
Export officials propose 2020 budget with no tax hike
Export officials will vote next month on a 2020 budget that holds the line on taxes at 14 mills. Borough council voted Monday night to advertise the $659,000 budget, which has a projected surplus of more than $10,000. Council has not raised taxes for more than a decade, and its...
Murrysville church taking nominations, donations for ‘A Soldier’s Christmas’ program
Gordon Israelson of Murrysville knows the importance a handwritten note can hold for a soldier stationed overseas. “Mail is kind of always a big deal,” said Israelson, who was stationed in Germany from 1969 to 1972 with the U.S. Army. “A long-distance call to Europe back then was amazingly expensive.”...
Veterans Day activities planned for Saturday
On Saturday, the White Valley AMVETS will join the Export, Delmont and Murrysville American Legions and the Delmont VFW to sponsor Veterans’ Day ceremonies at two local cemeteries, and honor rolls throughout the three towns. The itinerary will be:8 a.m., ceremony at Eastview Union Cemetery, East Pittsburgh Street in Delmont8:30...
Sloan project opponents take 4 of 5 seats on Franklin Regional School Board
The race for five Franklin Regional School Board seats appears to have been dominated by a single issue: the Sloan “elementary campus” project. Candidates who banded together under the banner of “Restore Taxpayer Trust” took four of the five contested seats. They were steadfast in their opposition to the Sloan...
Greensburg counselor aims to connect clients with disabilities to the community 
Toward the end of his nine years as a certified nursing assistant, Elliott Howe had begun noticing recurring back pain. “I enjoyed it, but I was having a lot of back issues because of the labor,” Howe, 30, of Greensburg, said of his work. About the same time, two of...
Washington Township man sets state record for largest green squash
It’s the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Or rather, it’s the great green squash! Whatever it is, it’s officially the largest of its kind in Pennsylvania — and it was grown in Washington Township by the Yohe family. “This is my fourth year growing them,” Jay Yohe said. “My father was...
Penn-Trafford Drama Guild courts cynical politics with ‘The Mouse That Roared’ 
A tiny, fictitious European-ish nation starts a phony war with the United States — in the hopes that they can immediately surrender and the Americans will pay to rebuild their country and economy. That might sound a bit political for a high school play, but it’s nothing new for the...
Pivik Elementary hosts Halloween parade 
Halloween was so popular at Plum’s Pivik Elementary that the elementary school’s parade had to wind from the gym to the cafeteria so that everyone’s parents had a chance for photos. From the standard ghosts and goblins to inflatable T-Rexes and unicorns, there was no lack of creativity or cuteness....
Murrysville Cantata Choir to present 2nd annual ‘Patriotic Thanksgiving’ concert
The Murrysville Cantata Choir will present “A Patriotic Thanksgiving” concert Nov. 10 in First Presbyterian Church, Murrysville, and will also perform the concert a week later in Heinz Chapel in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. “We were very pleased by the warm reception that last year’s concert received and we look forward...
Franklin Regional youth football teams will play for two championships this weekend
When Big East Youth Football League teams get together for four championship games this weekend in Vandergrift, squads from Franklin Regional will have a chance to win half of them. The Franklin Area Midget Football Association’s 7/8 and 11/12 teams will go up against Gateway and McKeesport, respectively, on Saturday...
California lab develops test for ‘tick-borne relapsing fever’
The series of events that happen inside the human body when someone is bitten by a disease-carrying tick is immensely complex. Spiral-shaped bacteria from the Borrelia family can lead to a variety of medical conditions including the notoriously difficult-to-diagnose Lyme disease. A recent report in the medical journal Healthcare also...
State legislation would expand first-responder tax credit to the county level
This April, state Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, donated $16,000 of his state salary to fire departments in his 54th District. Brooks wants to continue helping first responders with House Bill 1839, which would authorize counties to issue a property tax credit to active firefighters or emergency medical responders. The bill...
Franklin Regional Panther Foundation gets $18,000 donation, plans 2020 fundraisers
The Franklin Regional Panther Foundation has big plans for 2020, which were bolstered in late October by the announcement of an $18,000 donation from a local car dealership. Officials at the nonprofit foundation received the donation from Robert Thomasson, general manager for Spitzer Toyota in Monroeville. It will help fund...
Delmont library officials will break ground next month on new building
Delmont Public Library officials will break ground on a brand-new building on Nov. 16. Following a roughly four-year capital campaign, library officials raised just over $1 million through grants and community donations that will help fund a new, 4,150-square-foot library with multiple eco-friendly “green” features. “It’s amazing and phenomenal,” said...
Family offers $50,000 to match donations for new Delmont library
Delmont resident Bill Lendl and his family value their local public library and want to see it thrive. That’s why Lendl announced a matching fundraising challenge, where he agreed to match community donations up to $50,000, which will be put toward the building fund for the new Delmont Public Library....
‘Sinkhole Sundae’: Pittsburgh immediately memes the Port Authority bus
Once it was established that no one was injured Monday when a Port Authority bus fell partially into a sinkhole in downtown Pittsburgh during the morning commute, the jokes and memes started rolling in on social media. At least one local business, Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream, decided to take advantage...


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