Patrick Varine stories, Page 2

Officials from Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage will host an open house Tuesday in Murrysville for the Appalachian Reliability Project, which will add pipeline and carrying capacity in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The project involves updates to existing compressor stations and other natural gas facilities in Westmoreland, Armstrong and Greene counties, including...

State police have identified an 83-year-old Greensburg woman as being the wrong-way driver who caused a multi-vehicle crash Wednesday on Route 30 in Hempfield. Nancy Duva entered the eastbound lanes of the divided highway going west in Subaru Crosstrek around 5:15 p.m., causing the crash just past the Cedar Street...

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. Used book sale The Murrysville Community Library and local branch of the American Association of University Women will host their annual used book sale May 1-3. The sale will be from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 1 and 2, and 9:30...

Franklin Regional Thespian Club adviser Richard Sunny didn’t need to give most of his cast much background on “Little Women,” the club’s spring production. “Most of them have been asking me to do this since they were freshmen,” he said with a laugh. Louisa May Alcott’s classic story of the...

Monroeville council will see some changes after this year’s elections, with second-term mayor Nick Gresock finishing his time with the municipality and multiple council seats in play. Four seats are open on council, however only one of those seats will have multiple candidates vying for it in the May 20...

School district seeks sponsorships Gateway School District officials are seeking sponsors for numerous facilities throughout the district. Individuals or businesses interested in sponsorships can email Jeremy Tepper at jtepper@gatewayk12.org. Divine Mercy Academy cheer camp Registration is open for Divine Mercy Academy’s Saber Summer Cheer Camp, which will be held from...

A third person has pleaded guilty to involvement in a credit-card fraud scheme which cost a regional car-rental company more than $500,000. Tai Jauna L. Jones, 29, of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, after prosecutors said she provided credit...

Rising charter school payments and growing retirement costs have Hempfield Area school officials exploring how to offset a 2025-26 budget deficit that stands at more than $5 million. District business manager Paul Schott said expenditures for next year are up by nearly $7.3 million over 2024-25. “Without the impact of...

Board members of Hempfield Area School District voted unanimously — although reluctantly in some cases — to shift the start and end times for school next year. “I think this is the better option. But I still feel bad,” school board member Diane Ciabattoni said. The start and end of...

A Pitcairn man accused of robbing the Monroeville Burger King where he’d been fired a few months earlier now faces federal weapons charges. Yamin A. Harris, 30, of Pitcairn was arrested Dec. 29, 2024, after police said he returned to the Burger King on Broadway Boulevard — where he worked...

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com. National Day of Prayer event The National Day of Prayer will be observed locally with a May 1 program at the Delmont Volunteer Fire Department hall, 2360 Route 66 in Delmont. It will be at 7 p.m. This year’s theme is “Pour...

It’s probably an understatement to say that Luca Bertucci had some strong motivation to raise money for cancer research funding. After in-patient chemotherapy during his sophomore year of school following a cancer diagnosis, Bertucci rang his cancer-free bell last fall and is in remission. Bertucci had been stricken with Burkitt’s...

When Jesse Torisky was a student at Evergreen Elementary, there were no smart boards or smart phones. There was a lot more chalk, and a lot more paper. But Torisky, who today is president of Autism Pittsburgh, got a chance to return to his former school on April 4, and...

Email news briefs and event listings to pvarine@triblive.com or bkikel@triblive.com. Car show to benefit pet adoptions The Head Turners Pittsburgh car group will host a May 4 car show from 12-4 p.m. at the Community College of Allegheny County’s Boyce Campus. The cost for car registration is $10. Proceeds will...

Monroeville council members approved a voluntary drug treatment facility for the former Independence Court building on Center Road. Pyramid Healthcare was seeking conditional use for the inpatient treatment center. Pyramid was founded in 1999 in Altoona, and today has more than 80 facilities in eight states, including three in Allegheny...

Route 30 has been reopened after a crash late Wednesday that shut down the eastbound side of the highway in Unity. First responders were called to a stretch near Johnson Road shortly before 8 p.m. for an overturned truck, according to a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor. The truck sheared a...

An Ohio man pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to bringing an underage girl and two adults to Monroeville to work as prostitutes, according to court documents. Donte L. Cole, 40, of Euclid, Ohio, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to sex trafficking of a child and coercion of...

Salem residents are invited to take part in a township-wide clean-up day on May 17. Township residents can bring one pick-up truck load or two car loads of items to dispose of at the township building, 244 Congruity Road. The clean-up is for township residents only, and proof of residency...

The body of a Monroeville man who went missing while kayaking in Tennessee has been recovered, authorities said. News station WTVF reported that the body of Don Slusser, 73, of Monroeville, was discovered in Percy Priest Lake, just east of Nashville. Slusser and his wife were camping at the Seven...

Email news briefs and event information to pvarine@triblive.com. Panther student earns $200,000 scholarship Franklin Regional student Nathan Snyder, in the center, was recently awarded the U.S. Navy NROTC Scholarship, valued at $200,000. It provides full tuition at participating universities and colleges, supporting students who aspire to become commissioned naval officers....

To an untrained eye, the five Gateway students working their way around a shooting arc at the Trafford Sportsmen’s Club are simply taking aim and trying their best to target the clay pigeons shooting across their field of vision. But Mike Buvalla, coach of the newly formed Gateway Skeet Club,...

To a passerby, it probably looked like the volunteers wandering a soggy Murrysville meadow one morning this week were just pushing muddy sticks into the ground. In actuality, they were planting three dozen hybrid chestnut trees, part of a much larger planting that will help bring nature back to a...