Patchy fog before 9 AM, then sunny with a high near 68. Mostly clear Wednesday night, low around 35. Fog and some frost early Thursday, then dry and sunny with highs from 63 to 68 through Monday. Friday night is the coldest, near 32. Forecast from the National Weather Service.

Full Murrysville Forecast (National Weather Service)

TribLive looks at how teacher pension payments are squeezing school budgets across the region. At Franklin Regional, the district's share of state pension (PSERS) costs has grown from a little over $2 million a year in 2011 to nearly $11 million this year, close to 15% of its $75.3 million budget. The state now reimburses about half of those costs, down from roughly 65%. The district's contribution rate dipped slightly this year, but it is projected to keep climbing through the 2033-34 school year.

Read more @ TribLive

Xodus Medical, the patient-positioning company that brothers Craig and Mark Kaforey started in Murrysville in 1993, has agreed to be acquired by global medical technology firm STERIS for about $2.1 billion, TribLive reports. The company, now based in Upper Burrell, is best known for its Pink Pad foam positioning system and has facilities in five other states, the Netherlands and Shanghai. The deal is expected to close by Dec. 31.

Read more @ TribLive

School districts across the region are still struggling to find enough substitute teachers, and Franklin Regional is feeling the pinch too, TribLive reports. The district has a new recruiting partnership with EduStaff, and each of its schools relies on three to four dedicated building substitutes who report every morning and fill in wherever they are needed. Statewide, more than 80% of districts report a substitute shortage, according to the Pennsylvania Principals Association.

Read more @ TribLive

Long before Murrysville had a name, George Washington camped here. In late November 1758, a 26-year-old Colonel Washington, then an officer serving the British in the French and Indian War, set up a temporary camp on a hill about a mile south of today's Route 22, near where Round Top Road and School Road South run now. His Virginia troops and Hugh Mercer's Pennsylvania men, roughly 2,500 soldiers in all, rested there for a few days as General John Forbes's army pushed west along the new Forbes Road toward Fort Duquesne. Washington's own orderly book simply calls the spot Washington's Camp, and General Forbes issued orders from it before the army moved on and found the French fort already burned and abandoned. A state historical marker put up in 1960 still notes the site along Route 22 at Laird Road, so keep an eye out next time you drive by.

Learn more: Historical Marker Database, Forbes Road (Washington Camp) marker
National Archives Founders Online, Washington's 1758 Orderly Book

Tucked along Wiestertown Road, the Westmoreland Conservancy's 28-acre Walter Reserve is one of the wildest corners of Murrysville, and a little stream there is lined with pawpaw trees, one of only two places pawpaws are known to grow in town. In spring, the streambank also holds the only trout lilies on any conservancy property, and a vernal pond sits near a hilltop wildflower meadow. A free circular lot sits right on the road, about halfway between Evans and Hilty roads, with a loop trail. It's hunting season, so wear blaze orange.

Plan a visit: Westmoreland Conservancy