Patrick Varine stories, Page 71

Last Friday, the back room at John Meier & Sons Hardware in Murrsyville probably looked very similar to its early days — an extended family gathering around the table for lunch, before heading back out for one more afternoon at the store. In the 1970s, it wasn’t unusual for Sue...

Coaches are quick to explain that sports can help teach a young person about life. And it’s not just a clichéd path to motivation. “We talk about sports at the Heinz History Center in the way you’d expect, but also about its importance to understanding history,” said chief historian Anne...

Franklin Regional High School held its Commencement ceremonies Graduating students proceed to the stadium field during the procession for the Class of 2022 commencement ceremony on Friday....

A man accused of bringing a woman from Alabama to Pittsburgh to prostitute her was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Thursday, according to U.S. Department of Justice officials. Anthony Juskowich, 23, who was living in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood at the time of his arrest, brought the victim...

An Emsworth man is facing federal charges after engaging an FBI agent he believed was a 14-year-old girl with sexual advances, photos and videos. Thomas Kastory, 31, of Emsworth, was charged with knowingly attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. There were a series of text and...

Westmoreland Heritage Trail officials will delay applying herbicide to the woods along the trail until after a festival this weekend. “We posted signs last Friday to perhaps do the spraying this week,” said trail president Stan Rudge. “But our maintenance chairman had forgotten about the Trail Towns Festival happening, so...

Email news briefs for the Star to reporter Patrick Varine at pvarine@triblive.com. Chalk art festival in Delmont (CANCELED) The Delmont Visionary Committee will host a Chalk Art Festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 11 at the Shields Farm...

One person is in critical condition and another in stable condition following a stabbing incident Thursday night in Pittsburgh’s Arlington Heights neighborhood, city police said. Officers were called to the 3000 block of Arlington Avenue near Cordell Place just before 9:45 p.m., for a report that two people had been...

The superintendent for the Monessen School District was charged with indecent exposure and open lewdness after police say she was discovered in a state of undress with a man in the parking lot of a county-owned apartment complex. Charleroi Regional Police were called to the Nathan Goff Jr. Apartments on...

Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew’s chief of staff Heather Cordial is leaving her post for a position with the state Department of Environmental Protection. Chew announced on Sunday that Cordial will be replaced by Bob MacPherson of Sewickley. “Heather always had a smile in the commissioners’ suite, and she’ll be...

Every few months — but especially as winter rolls over into spring and warmer weather — a particular topic pops up in Murrysville-area social media posts and comment threads: the areas where the Westmoreland Heritage Trail crosses major roads. “Somebody is going to die sooner rather than later,” said Diana...

Pennsylvania state police say modern DNA testing and genealogy methods allowed them to close a 42-year-old Mercer County cold case and provide closure to the victim’s family. The remains of Edwin Rodriguez, of Chicago, Ill., discovered in 1980 in Wolf Creek Township, were positively identified and returned to his family,...

A 12-year-old girl is in critical condition after being hit by a car Saturday night while riding a hoverboard in South Huntingdon. Emergency responders were called to the intersection of Sixth and Osborne streets just after 7:15 p.m. Police said the girl was riding a hoverboard with a kart buggy...

Pittsburgh Police are looking for a McKeesport man charged with a fatal shooting March 19 in Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats neighborhood. Police issued an arrest warrant for Zahvair Palmer, 22, on charges of criminal homicide, robbery and weapons violations. Palmer is accused of fatally shooting Adam Cloud, 29, of New...

A Pittsburgh man was arrested Saturday night, charged with brutally assaulting a postal worker and then barricading himself inside his Brookline home. Mt. Lebanon police were dispatched to Dorchester Avenue and Good Way just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday for a report of a man who had assaulted a U.S. postal...

As Memorial Day draws closer each year, Ronald Kaiser of Franklin Park always thinks of Anthony Herbert. Kaiser and Herbert grew up together in Herminie. Kaiser went on to a career in advertising, and Herbert went on to become one of the most decorated enlisted veterans of the Korean War....

A reported multi-vehicle crash that shut down Ardmore Boulevard briefly on Saturday afternoon turned out to be relatively minor, fire officials said. The crash was reported shortly after 12:30 p.m. along Ardmore Boulevard near Braddock Road in Forest Hills. The road had reopened as of 2:30 p.m., according to Allegheny...

New Kensington police are seeking information about the driver of a car seen May 4 in the city. A social media post asked for information about a blue Honda Civic, seen outside of the New Kensington Denny’s on Tarentum Bridge Road (Route 366) around 5:30 a.m. on May 4. Police...

A man and woman from New Kensington face drug charges after police say they found about a pound of suspected cocaine and guns during a raid at an apartment late last month. New Kensington police worked with narcotics agent Wes Biricocchi from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Drug Task Force to...

There are plenty of job openings in the local economy right now, but Vangura Surfacing Products in North Huntingdon doesn’t really have many positions open for an applicant without opposable thumbs. So when a fawn wandered through an open bay door Friday morning, shop supervisor Russell Shirley knew it wasn’t...

Police are seeking information on two missing siblings from Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood. Sisters Rosie, 11, and Bayjai Germany, 13, were last seen at their home in Hazelwood. Rosie is 4-feet-6-inches tall, with black hair and brown eyes. Bayjai is 5-feet-4-inches tall, also with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with...