Patrick Varine stories, Page 148

Patrick Varine
Patrick Varine
Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Youth chorus group will host ‘Summer Singers’ camp in August
The Pittsburgh Youth Chorus will host its annual “Summer Singers” day camp Aug. 5-9 at the Pittsburgh Opera headquarters in the city’s Strip District neighborhood. The camp is for children ages 7-10, and will teach fundamental vocal skills along with hosting fun activities and special guests. Children are encouraged to...
Joy Riders kick off biking program at Cedar Creek Park for people with limited mobility 
Carol Storez of West Newton gets out of the house often enough. But at 87 years old, she’s not exactly ready to hop on a Huffy and pedal around Cedar Creek Park in Rostraver. “I can’t ride a bike myself anymore,” she said. Now she doesn’t have to: Storez was...
State police prepare to host Sunny Day Camp for children, adults with special needs
The state police’s annual Camp Cadet summer program offers children a chance to meet and interact with law enforcement. A few years ago, a trooper in the Lancaster area decided that opportunity should also extend to children and adults with special needs or disabilities, and the Sunny Day Camp program...
Fairfield man worked long hard hours, but always made time for family
Many of A.J. Liberoni’s childhood memories of her father, William Williams, are of how hard he worked to provide for his family. “He ran a bulldozer at the Conemaugh Generating Station, and he’s run it in freezing temperatures so he could provide for us,” said Liberoni, a Latrobe resident. “He...
Westmoreland food bank seeks to expand ‘senior food box’ program 
Hunger-Free Pennsylvania Executive Director Sheila Christopher is happy 1,300 Westmoreland County seniors take advantage of the food boxes available each month through the group’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program, or CSFP. Unfortunately, it represents only 10% of the county’s eligible seniors, and Christopher, along with county food bank CEO Jennifer Miller,...
FBI seeks leads in 1994 murders of Beaver County girl, 2nd from Ohio
A quarter-century has not abated the FBI’s desire to find out who killed Sarah Boehm and Kathryn Menendez and left their bodies in an Ohio park. Boehm was 14 when she was last seen alive leaving her Rochester Township home in Beaver County on July 14, 1994. Her body was...
Dump truck overturns in Rostraver
One person was reported injured Friday after a dump truck overturned on Tyrol Boulevard in Rostraver. The crash, which was reported at 6:45 a.m. at 200 Tyrol Boulevard, according to Westmoreland County 911 dispatchers, included a fuel spill as well. A post on the Rostraver-West Newton Emergency Services Facebook page...
Irwin woman receives national award for infection prevention efforts
Terri Lee Roberts of Irwin has made infection prevention her life’s work, and that work was honored recently with the 2019 Heroes of Infection Prevention Award for Education, presented by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Roberts is a senior infection preventionist at the Patient Safety Authority...
Vendor applications for Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival due next week
Organizers for the Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival are accepting vendor applications through July 15. The festival will be Aug. 17, noon to 8 p.m. along Washington Avenue in the borough. Vendor applications are available at ExportPennsylvania.com. The cost is $50, and can be made payable to the Export...
Another Pittsburgh GBK gang member sentenced on drug distribution charges
A Pittsburgh-area gang member was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison on drug distribution charges, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said on Tuesday. Brett Rodgers, 33, of Pittsburgh, was sentenced to 16 years and eight months after pleading guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to distribute crack...
Penn-Trafford grad will join Shinedown onstage at KeyBank Pavilion 
When hard rock band Shinedown takes the stage Wednesday at KeyBank Pavilion, Penn-Trafford High School alumni from the late ’90s and early 2000s will see a familiar face onstage. Josh Sturm of Murrysville, a 2000 Penn-Trafford graduate, will join the band onstage after a brief stint filling in for bassist...
Heinz Field to host job fair for veterans, spouses
A job fair for Pittsburgh-area veterans will be held July 11 at Heinz Field on the city’s North Shore. The free event for veterans, military spouses, transitioning military, reservists and National Guard members will include more than 50 employers. The event, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is hosted by...
Duo from renowned Russian dance troupe will perform in Delmont 
World-renowned Russian dance and music ensemble Barynya will bring two of its members to Delmont on Aug. 2. The free performance will be at 6 p.m. at St. John the Baptist de la Salle Chuch, 497 Athena Drive. It is being presented through a grant from the Westmoreland County Bureau...
Greensburg nurse ‘was always a friend to the underdog’
Carmella Neil helped found a church in Delmont, played violin, cared for thousands of people during her nursing career and made two trips to China in her 70s and 80s. “She was pure love, she was fair and she was always a friend to the underdog,” said her son, David...
Deutschtown Music Festival brings more than 300 bands to 30 venues on North Side 
It might seem that, after six years of organizing the Deutschtown Music Festival, the logistics would get easier. But when more than 300 bands and 30-some venues are involved, it’s always a challenge, according to organizer Ben Soltesz. “It keeps getting bigger,” said Soltesz, 46, of Pittsburgh’s Spring Hill neighborhood....
Export officials keep busy with projects throughout borough
A ribbon-cutting for the next phase of the Westmoreland Heritage Trail is officially scheduled for the Export Ethnic Food & Music Festival on Aug. 17, council member said recently. But the trail isn’t the only improvement project happening in the borough this summer. Council ran down a list of projects...
Franklin Regional grad biking across U.S. to help provide access to clean water
Kara Ingersoll and her family moved all the way across the country only to have her hop a bike and head 3,500 miles back to her hometown of Murrysville. Actually Ingersoll, 21, is part of a six-person team cycling from northern California to New York City, raising money as members...
Fire rips through Derry home, ignites fireworks 
No one was injured when fire tore through a Derry home Tuesday night, igniting fireworks contained inside. Firefighters responded after a fire was reported after 9:30 p.m. at 144 N. Ruby St. They knocked down the blaze in about 20 minutes, despite the fireworks going off and a hydrant that...
Forecasters predicting a hot and rainy Fourth of July
According to the National Weather Service, the flashes of light in the sky this Fourth of July are just as likely to be lightning as they are to be fireworks. As sustained hot weather continues, forecasters are predicting a 40% to 70% chance of daily and evening thunderstorms through Saturday...
Penn State master gardeners will host open house in Hempfield
A little over a year ago, master gardeners from the Penn State Extension in Hempfield planted a garden to test the truth of plants traditionally labeled as “deer-resistant.” At this year’s Penn State master gardeners open house July 13, attendees will be able to see for themselves. “There’s been a...
Ex-Pirates slugger Bobby Bonilla made another $1.19 million
Today isn’t former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Bobby Bonilla’s birthday, but just like every July 1 for the next 16 years, he has nearly 1.2 million reasons to celebrate. Thanks to a deferred contract put in place when Bonilla was released by the New York Mets following the 1999 season, Bonilla...
Russian Chicago cover band returning to Pittsburgh area in October 
After packing St. Clair Park in Greensburg on Friday night, Russian band Leonid & Friends is already making plans to bring the classic pop-rock sound of Chicago back to the Pittsburgh region. The band will play Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale on Oct. 22. Tickets are $34 to $50, and...
Murrysville opens ‘destination playground’ and splash park 
Murrysville public works crews had to battle a soggy spring to get it finished, but municipal officials cut the ribbon on their “destination playground” and splash pad on Saturday morning at Murrysville Community Park. Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison wasn’t waiting to cool down, volunteering as the first person to...
Rescuers continue search for sunken car in Loyalhanna Creek, while Yough search canceled
Water rescue crews returned to Loyalhanna Creek in northern Westmoreland County Saturday to look for a car that was reported submerged during heavy rains Friday. Meanwhile, North Huntingdon police said a second search in the county, for kayakers reported to be distressed in the Youghiogheny River, was called off. A...
Russian band covering Chicago tunes packs SummerSounds in Greensburg 
Friends of SummerSounds Chairman Gene James knew people from New York, Maryland and Virginia who were traveling to Greensburg on Friday evening to watch Leonid & Friends, a Russian band covering hits by American pop group Chicago. But it was nearly impossible for him to point them out in a...


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