Patrick Varine stories, Page 141

When Ryan Mickey of Penn Township was in middle school, he remembers getting together with his cousins during the holidays. “We had our little iPods, and we’d make these little two-minute videos,” Mickey said. The 18-year-old’s early interest in multimedia is paying off: Mickey’s three-minute short film, “Mirror Image,” was...

Stewart Copeland wasn’t satisfied simply being the drummer for international pop sensations The Police. Following the band’s breakup in the mid-’80s, Copeland went on to compose film and television soundtracks, collaborated in a band with Phish’s Trey Anastasio and Primus’s Les Claypool (the supremely weird Öysterhead project) and recorded music...

Mid-October means homecoming for many of the high schools in western Pennsylvania. Franklin Regional will celebrate homecoming at its Friday night football game against McKeesport. But first, the district will mark the occasion with its annual homecoming bonfire. This year’s bonfire is set for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in...

Franklin Regional Thespians Club students are working to strike a fine balance between the hard-R frights of Francis Ford Coppola’s vision of Dracula and the occasional unintentional camp of the original Bela Lugosi film. It’s not always possible, according to director Richard Sunny. “There are some parts of the script...

A litter of kittens and an adult cat were abandoned during the weekend near a large trash bin in a Hempfield shopping complex. The people accused of leaving the animals behind were caught on camera and investigators are working to learn their identities. The animals were found behind the Greengate...

Generally speaking, the floral industry is invested in making people happy. On Oct. 23, a handful of flower shops in western Pennsylvania will open with the goal of making as many people happy as possible, helping the Society of American Florists to promote “Petal It Forward.” “We’ll give out two...

After four months of testimony and comments from residents, the public hearing for Murrysville’s first proposed fracking well pad is complete, and council members will likely take a vote at their second November meeting. Both Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration — now doing business as Olympus Energy — and the...

Dave Muraco’s initial idea in starting up Grind 24/7 was to give Murrysville baseball players a local place to train and exercise. But when the business opens, he will be doing much more. Through a partnership with a Philadelphia bat company, he will also be raising money for cancer research....

When Gary Wuslich returned to western Pennsylvania for his uncle Brando Sachet’s funeral in December 2018, he began thinking about the veterans’ memorial stationed outside the former American Legion on Kennedy Avenue in Export. “Between my father, my aunts and uncles, I think we have four or five names on...

Export officials voted in 2017 to largely part ways with Latrobe engineering firm Gibson-Thomas, opting to share engineering services with neighboring Murrysville. But, as the borough begins implementing the consent agreement hammered out over the summer between the Franklin Township Municipal Sanitary Authority, Export, Murrysville and others, they will bring...

As part of the Navy’s signature outreach program, Baldwin native Shawn Purcell will have a chance to perform in the Pittsburgh area for the second time as a member of the U.S. Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble. The group will play an Oct. 23 concert at Hempfield Area High School....