Turnpike to close
The Pennsylvania Turnpike will close between the Irwin and New Stanton interchanges from midnight to about 6 a.m. Sunday.
All eight lanes of the nearly eight-mile stretch will be closed as PennDOT crews set steel girders for the new Center Avenue overpass.
The work was originally scheduled for last weekend but postponed by the PennDOT contractor.
Eastbound traffic will be forced off the turnpike at Irwin and directed around the construction site via Route 30 east and Turnpike 66 south. Westbound traffic will exit at New Stanton and take Turnpike 66 north to Route 30 west to re-enter the turnpike westbound at Irwin.
The new overpass, expected to be ready for traffic by Thanksgiving, will carry a realigned Center Avenue over the turnpike to a new four-way intersection with Arona Road and North Center Avenue.
The realigned Center Avenue will replace a section of Old Center Avenue, between Westinghouse Drive and Arona Road, that was closed permanently Feb. 26.
Masontown
Plea deal reached
in vehicular homicide
A 19-year-old Masontown man accused of the vehicular homicide of a 90-year-old driver waived his preliminary hearing Thursday and reached a tentative plea agreement.
Borough police said Jeffrey W. David was speeding when he allegedly caused the April 12 death of Vaone "V" Benucci, of Masontown.
David also was cited for five alleged traffic violations for the crash near Benucci's home.
A state police crash reconstructionist observed tire marks from David's Plymouth Acclaim in the oncoming lane on River Avenue and concluded that David was traveling about 40 mph in a 25-mph zone, according to the criminal complaint.
David is free on bond while awaiting arraignment in Fayette County Common Pleas Court.
Uniontown
Appeals court
denies stay request
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected prosecutors' request for a stay so they can appeal Joseph Nara's murder pleas to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The circuit court in May upheld a lower court's finding that Nara's federal due process rights were violated when he entered two guilty pleas to first-degree murder because he was mentally incompetent.
Nara, 56, of Uniontown, is serving a life sentence for the 1984 shootings of his common-law wife, DeLorean Churby, 23, and her mother, Virginia Ruth Churby, 61, at a Georges mobile home.
A spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office said earlier this month that prosecutors would appeal the May ruling.
On Tuesday, the circuit court said it would not grant a stay in the case because there was nothing preventing prosecutors from preparing to take the case to trial within 120 days while preparing its appeal.
Nara, an auto body worker with a seventh-grade education, claimed he shot the women because he was distraught about DeLorean Churby's alleged affair with a state trooper.
Uniontown
PennDOT releases
work plan
PennDOT District 12 announced the following tentative work plan for the week, beginning Monday. All maintenance activities are conducted on a weather-permitting basis. Motorists should drive with caution throughout all work areas and be alert for signed work zones requiring the usage of headlights.
= Wing wall repairs will be performed to the bridge on Route 4044, Johnson Hollow Road.
= Signs will be updated, downed signs will be replaced, and work orders will be addressed on various state routes throughout Fayette County.
= Bridge debris removal will take place on Route 4006, New Salem Road and Route 201, Fayette City.
= Patching activities are scheduled for Route 51, Flatwoods, Spillway Lake area; north of Perryopolis, Route 2017, Maple Summit Road; Route 4010, Searights Herbert Road; and Route 1041, Chaintown Road.
= Shoulder patching will occur on Route 1002, Dawson-Banning Road, and Route 1006, Sprote Road.
= Slide repairs will take place on Route 4046, Rehoboth Church Road.
= Road widening activities will be performed on Route 3006, Smithfield-New Geneva Road.
= Pipe flushing activities are scheduled for Route 2011, Dinnerbell Road.
PennDOT has a 24-hour toll free number for residents to call to report any road maintenance concern or to report locations of dead deer on state highways. The number is 800-FIX-ROAD (800-349-7623).
