Your local forecast for Monday and Tuesday

Today, isolated showers and thunderstorms after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Tonight, mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. South wind around 7 mph.

Tuesday Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2:00 pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 89. Southwest wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Continue reading

The race to contain malaria

Two new medical discoveries are raising hopes of containing malaria – the mosquito-borne parasitic disease that each year infects more than 200 million people and claims an estimated 660 thousand lives. Meantime, the World Health Organization is warning about dire consequences if a drug-resistant form of malaria spreads beyond southeast Asia.
Continue reading

Study: Marijuana could help blood sugar problems

Marijuana has been used for centuries to relieve pain, improve mood and increase appetite. A new study finds that the herb also has a positive effect on blood sugar levels, suggesting it could be helpful in diabetes control.

Researchers analyzed data collected from more than 4,600 patients who completed a drug-use questionnaire and provided blood samples. Nearly half had never used marijuana, about 2,000 others had used it in the past and the rest were current users.
Continue reading

New Book, ‘Is College Worth It?’

is-college-worth-itLATROBE, PA – Saint Vincent College is identified as one of 43 “Schools Worth Attending” and “offers a rigorous liberal arts curriculum, with particularly strong programs in politics and theology” in a new book by former U.S. Secretary of Education William J. Bennett.

Saint Vincent, one of eight private schools listed, is described as “set in one of the most scenic areas of Pennsylvania.” It is noted that Saint Vincent “offers generous scholarships for undergraduates: a 3.0 grade point average and 1000+ on the SAT will qualify you for $15,000 per year.”
Continue reading

Registration now open for Summer Day Camp in Career Exploration

GREENSBURG, PA – High school students interested in exploring career options should register for Quest 2013: Finding Your Future. Sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Quest 2013: Finding Your Future is a series of summer day camps that allow high school students to learn about their interests and abilities and find out about a variety of related college majors. This is the fifth year for the program, which continues to grow in popularity with regional teens.
Continue reading

CASA of Westmoreland wins free visual communications makeover

casa-contest-winner“After a month of voting, we are thrilled to announce that CASA of Westmoreland won our local MetamorphoSIGN contest,” said Jim Jubert, owner of FASTSIGNS of Greensburg. “CASA gives a lot back to the community and now it’s their turn, we couldn’t be happier to provide them with a visual makeover.”

Celebrating their grand opening, FASTSIGNS of Greensburg held a MetamorphoSIGN contest for local businesses and organizations to enter and rally votes to win a free visual communications makeover. The winner was announced May 2 during the grand opening event and was presented with the $2,500 prize.
Continue reading

Suspect says Boston attack was Muslim payback

Law enforcement sources say the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect scrawled a note on the boat where he was hiding, calling the blasts revenge for U.S. attacks on Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Police found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in the boat in a backyard in suburban Boston, four days after the April 15 bombings killed three people and wounded more than 260.
Continue reading

Pressure still on Obama concerning IRS scandal

Lawmakers and fiscally conservative leaders are vowing to keep up the pressure on the White House to see why it may have been involved with the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups. Conservative leaders say the IRS scandal confirms their worst fears about a federal government they see as too big and too powerful.

A large number of Republican members of Congress and Tea Party leaders from across the country gathered outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday to criticize the Internal Revenue Service and the Obama administration over allegations the tax agency targeted Tea Party groups for special scrutiny. Conservative lawmakers called on Congress to dig deep to find out who made the decision to single out the groups seeking non-profit tax exempt status. Republican House Speaker John Boehner said House committees would stop at nothing to get to the truth.
Continue reading

Obamagate – Will Obama’s agenda be derailed?

Just four months after his inauguration for a second four-year term, Barack Obama finds himself on the defensive in three controversies that threaten to derail his political agenda. Obama may be on the verge of joining a long list of his predecessors who ran into severe political problems in their second terms in office. Some are comparing Obama to Nixon.
Continue reading

Not all women with need preventive mastectomies

Actress and U.N. goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie is in the spotlight for her decision to undergo a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer, even though she is cancer free. The actress announced her decision, and her surgery, in an article she wrote for The New York Times. Jolie’s decision was based on a genetic test she had — and other options available to women facing a breast cancer risk.
Continue reading