Volume 114 No. 116 UESDAY AY 3, 2016 Newsstand Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain showers. Highs in the lower 60s. Lows in the mid 40s. Partly sunny, then mostly cloudy with a 60 percent chance of rain showers.
Highs in the lower 60s. Lows in the lower 40s. Today Tomorrow Political Cartoons; Commentary; Guest Editorial. See Page 4 Inside Classified 14-15 Comics 13 Crossword 13 Entertainment 8 Editorial 4 Lifestyles 6 Local News 1,3,5 Lottery Results 3 Obituaries 2 Sports 9-12 Sudoku 13 TV 8 Weather 5 Blairsville moves into tie with LV, Homer- Center atop District 6 Heritage Conference baseball standings; GL edges Penn-Traf- ford for fourth straight section win while DA eliminated from WPIAL playoff con- tention despite defeating Greensburg Salem; Nathan Smith takes West Penn Stroke Play for eighth time in 12 years; LV softball team routs Bishop McCort in non-conference play; Pens hold off Caps to take series lead; Cubs rough up Pirates, 7-2 See Pages 9-11 Latrobe Bulletin CLUTTER! NOW ONLINE at: LatrobeBulletinNews.com CLEAR THE Advertise your Garage Sale in the Latrobe Bulletin! Call 724-537-3351 Annual Day of Giving underway The Pittsburgh Day of Giving a 16-hour online giving event created to increase philanthropy in the local region began at 8 a.m. today, May 3, and will continue until midnight, and Westmoreland County residents can participate to support their favorite local nonprofits and get an extra bang for their donated buck, with pro-rated matches for their donations.
Donations for nonprofit organizations in Westmoreland County will be accepted through www.westmorelandgives.org (which will take you to givingday.pittsburghgives.org). Donors can click on by at the top of the website or use the search bar provided to find the organization they wish to support. Westmoreland County organizations have a $50,000 match pool provided by the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County and its donors. Contributions to Westmoreland County nonprofits will be matched on a pro-rated basis. Participating organizations will receive all contributions made through the website, less a 5.99-per- cent credit card and technology fee, plus the matching portion.
There is no limit to the amount a nonprofit may raise on Day of Giving. However, the match pool is capped at $1,000 per donor per organi- zation. Any individual or business can make a credit card donation to a nonprofit participating in Day of Giving. Only MasterCard, Visa or AmEx donations can be accepted. No donations will be accepted via check, charitable gift cards, pre-paid gift cards, cash, donor-advised funds or stock.
Discover donations will not be accepted. The card- holder must make the donation, as no donations will be accepted by third parties. The minimum gift per organization is $25. Donations are 100- percent more information about the event, visit givingday.pittsburghgives.org/faq. Derry council unsure if county authority will buy sewer system BY NICK CAMMUSO Bulletin Staff Writer Derry Borough Council is waiting for an answer one way or another regarding the possible sale of the borough municipal authority to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County.
Council again discussed the matter during a work session on Monday, but president Chad Fabian said unknown whether the county authority is going to extend an offer to purchase the sewer system. got nothing, information-wise. We just have to wait and he said. Last month, Municipal Authority of Westmore- land County board members agreed to borrow $220 million, with a significant portion to be used to buy up to three area sewer systems. County authority manager Chris Kerr told Trib Total Media that talks are ongoing with three unspecified municipalities; he added that a July deadline is in place to finalize the purchases.
waiting to find out what the offer is, if going to make an said councilman Tom Lipinski, who, along with Al Checca and Barry Holden, is a member of the municipal authority review committee. they give us an offer, look at it Fabian said opinions are mixed among residents he has talked to regarding a possible sale. can tell you now, most of the borough is 50-50 on he said. people would like to see us sell it and the other half is like, losing one of Derry Holden mentioned the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland recent bump in rates and concerns about water quality. Lipinski, meanwhile, feels the borough authori- current infrastructure is Allen Skopp, who is a member of both council and the Derry Bor- ough Municipal Authority (DBMA) board, said the authority has made system upgrades in recent years.
That includes the replacement of several thousand feet of 1920s-era clay pipe, he said. Laurel Faith in Action awards Photo by Ernie Sistek Accepting awards from Laurel Faith in Action at its Annual Celebration of Community last Fri- day at the Fred M. Rogers Center at St. Vincent College (SVC) are professor Sara Hart and (right) SVC President Brother Norman W. Hipps, OSB, who accepted an award on behalf of SVC, along with Jason Lillie and (second from right) Adelphoi Village President Mark Mor- timer, who accepted an award on behalf of Adelphoi Village.
Students from SVC and Adelphoi Village regularly volunteer for Laurel Faith in Action projects in the local community. BY MARYANN GOGNIAT EIDEMILLER For The Bulletin Mental Health America (MHA) of Westmoreland County will present its 2016 Innovations Awards to four individuals and one group at annual recognition dinner Wednesday at the Ramada Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center in Hempfield Township. Although each made different contributions in the com- munity, their focus has been the same. bring mental health into the conversation of the MHA executive director Laurie Barnett Levine, LSW, said. Since 1964, MHA of Westmoreland County has worked to fight the stigma associated with mental illness.
Their outreach includes educational programs that advo- cate for an understanding of the challenges of depression, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. MHA provides support groups, referrals, suicide awareness and preven- tion programs, a drop-in center and other services. tag line is that there can be no health without men- tal Levine said. we want to encourage people to understand that mental health is an integral part of over- all health, and our Innovations awards and recognitions dinner are opportunities to publicize The event will be co-hosted by Jennifer Miele, vice president of marketing and communications for Excela Health, and Ashley Dougherty, a meteorologist with weather team. Miele has emceed past din- ners, and this year she will be receiving the Innovations Award for Community Advocacy.
addition to all of her responsibilities with Excela Health, she has been supportive of MHA and human serv- ices Levine said. was instrumental in having Excela donate the time of their media professionals to help MHA to create a video, and in other ways she con- tinues to be involved in and supportive of many important Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Stephen Limani, who handles public relations for Troop A in Greensburg, is receiving the Prevention Award for his daily commitment to community service. of the things that he does in prevention is the Shop With A Cop program that he started in 2009 for needy Levine said. program creates a cul- ture of supportive relationships with children and the police, and gives children an understanding that good MHA to hold annual recognition dinner Wednesday Ligonier will not hinder watershed tax exempt application BY AMY FAUTH Bulletin Staff Writer Ligonier Borough Council will not stand in the way of the Loyal- hanna Watershed pursuit to gain tax exempt status with the county, borough and school district for a parcel of land in the bor- ough. The unanimous decision came down at a special meeting of coun- cil Monday.
LWA Executive Director Susan Huba attended the meeting to state her case for tax exempt status, something that has been denied in the past, although neither Huba, who with the LWA at the time of the denial, or council, knew why it was denied. Huba told council members that the organization is seeking tax exemption with the Westmoreland County Tax Bureau and a hearing is scheduled on Thursday. Although the municipality or school district can object, generally the two taxing bodies abide by whatever decision the county makes. The irregularly sized plot of land, which Huba said is located along Route 30 near the office of dentist Dr. Timothy Holloway, provides pub- lic access to the Loyalhanna Creek for fishing.
In addition, the small parcel currently has signage on it and some old monitoring wells for the nearby gas station, which is now owned by GetGo. The parcel one of 20 parcels owned by the association came to LWA in 1997. Huba told council not all of their parcels are tax exempt, but most are. Two properties, the Loyalhanna Watershed Farm, where the headquarters is, and the parking lot leased by the Ligonier Country Market, are not tax exempt because they both involve revenue activities. This parcel, Huba explained, make any money and is pri- marily for public use.
In 2015, the association paid $2,242.17 in total taxes (to the county, borough and school district). The portion of that was $435.50. money that been put towards another program or said Huba. When asked by council president Jim McDonnell what the pelling for a total tax exemption, Huba cited several items from the Pennsylvania statute governing tax exemptions, but specifi- cally mentioned, Section A of PA Statute 5020-204, No. 9.
It reads, real property owned by one or more institutions of purely public charity, used and occupied partly by such owner or own- ers and partly by other institutions of purely public charity, and neces- sary for the occupancy and enjoyment of such institutions The association encompasses 300 square miles of property and 2,500 miles of streams in Westmoreland County. In addition to this par- cel, the LWA is also seeking tax exemption on two other properties one the former Luther Miller property and the other, the former ABC Motel property for new creek access near Diner. Neither of these parcels are used for any revenue-based activity. BY AMY FAUTH Bulletin Staff Writer Four days after a natural gas pipeline explosion rocked the quiet countryside in Salem Township, residents are eager to get back to some sense of normalcy. Residents who were initially evacuated within a quarter-mile radius of the explosion have since been allowed to return to their homes.
Local busi- nesses shuttered after the blast have reopened. However, the immediate area surrounding the explosion site remains inaccessible and is being guarded by security guards as utility companies and PennDOT crews work to restore service, and repair damaged sections of Route 819, which has been closed from Route 22 to Boggs Hollow Road since Friday. Crews from Spectra Energy Corp. and federal investigators from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration are still searching for answers as to what caused the massive explo- sion that left multiple homes damaged, one leveled and 26-year-old James Baker hospitalized in UPMC burn unit. condition was upgraded from critical to fair on Monday.
Friends of Baker told a Channel 11 reporter that he is a 26-year-old newlywed who recently under- went ankle surgery. Baker began the first of many surgeries he will need Monday at UPMC HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Motorists will get to go faster, up to 70 mph, on nearly 1,000 miles of Pennsylvania highway once transporta- tion crews complete work they began this week posting signs with the new speed limit. State transportation officials said Monday the 70 mph signs will be posted on 396 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and 400 miles of five state highways. in addition to about 200 miles where the speed limit rose to 70 in 2014.
Roadways that will get the new 70 mph signs include sections of Interstates 79, 80, 99 and 380 and US 15. The speed limit will rise on all remaining sec- tions of the turnpike system that are now posted at 65 mph, including extensions in southwestern Pennsylvania, officials said. Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards said agency officials studied factors such as speed, traffic data and the physical characteristics of the highways before deciding where it would be safe to raise the speed limit. Areas that did not qualify for the increase had crash histories, work zones, heavy or weaving traffic or other characteristics that made a higher limit less safe, officials said. About three dozen states already have speed limits of 70 mph or higher.
Pennsylvania lawmakers allowed the higher speed limits in a 2013 law that also raised motorist taxes and fees in an effort to deliver more than $2 billion extra per year to transporta- Pennsylvania to add 70 mph speed limit to nearly 800 miles WCCC trustees approve insurance providers, rates The Westmoreland County Community College (WCCC) board of trustees held a special meeting Monday to approve providers and rates for group health care benefits, including medical, dental, vision, death and dismemberment and long-term dis- ability. Benefits Network, the college's healthcare con- sultant conducted a competitive bid process and after evaluating all bids, the college recommended Highmark for medical insurance, United Concordia for dental, Vision Benefits of America for vision, and Boston Mutual for death and dismemberment and long term disability. Dick Dickert chaired the meeting. In attendance by phone were James Boggs, Gene Ciafre, Dr. Dirk Matson, Kala Mologne, Leia Shilobod, Jess Stairs, Doug Weimer and John Wright.
The resolution passed unanimously. Neighborhood affected by blast slowly returning to normal (See Pennsylvania on Page 3) (See Neighborhood on Page 3) (See Ligonier on Page 3) (See MHA on Page 3) (See Derry on Page 3).
