Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 5

An afternoon trailer fire at Pittsburgh International Airport resulted in no injuries and no service disruptions, officials said Saturday. The fire was reported just after noon in the construction site at the airport. “Airport crews have extinguished the fire, which was contained to a single trailer near the parking area...

A federal judge has rejected an injunction request filed by the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of three striking unions against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. If granted, the injunction would have forced the newspaper to allow workers to return to the job as negotiations and legal actions continue. Newsroom and...

Roads throughout Western Pennsylvania were closed or saw traffic restrictions as a result of early morning storm that dumped an inch or two of snow throughout the region. Emergency dispatchers in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties reported numerous crashes. Route 30 near Greengate Center in Hempfield was among the roadways where...

Westmoreland County’s new register of wills and judge were sworn in to office Tuesday at the courthouse in Greensburg. Jon Wian, 43, of Delmont, was installed as the head of the county row office where wills, estates, adoptions and guardianships are filed. Both Wian and Common Pleas Court Judge Matt...

Spirit Airlines will resume daily flights next week from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity to Florida. That announcement is expected to help reverse financial losses that began last fall amid a reduced flight schedule as the facility’s lone commercial carrier worked through bankruptcy concerns. “This will help,” said Westmoreland...

The lawyer for a New Kensington man facing a potential death sentence told a Westmoreland County judge Monday a defense-hired expert must review medical evidence before the case can proceed to trial. Keith Dale Lilly Jr., 35, has been in jail without bond since his arrest in 2020 on charges...

A Westmoreland County judge on Monday dismissed hundreds of child pornography charges against a Hempfield man identified in a sting operation by an online Texas-based civilian vigilante group. The continued prosecution of Thomas James Hibbard, 62, had been in question since late December when Judge Tim Krieger ruled evidence collected...

A plan to halt the transport of some criminal defendants to hearings at local magistrate offices was put on a temporary hold Friday after intervention from a Westmoreland County judge. Sheriff James Albert this week issued an edict that would have limited his department’s workload starting next week in response...

Fresh on the heels of Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday celebration in 2024, local officials are looking to the forward to the nation’s Semiquincentennial. The celebration will actually begin this spring at Historic Hanna’s Town in Hempfield to commemorate what history experts tout as one of the first signs of U.S....

Westmoreland County voters this year will elect a new register of wills to serve an abbreviated term that runs through the end of 2027. Jon Wian, 43, of Delmont was appointed by Gov. Josh Shapiro and confirmed this week by the state Senate to run the courthouse office where wills,...

A Westmoreland County jury on Wednesday sided with police officers who used force to subdue a New Alexandria man who was found wandering through a Unity neighborhood two years ago. After nearly three hours of deliberations, the jury convicted Denton Krapf of one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest in connection...

A Westmoreland County judge told an Arnold teen he should look to new Vice President JD Vance for inspiration. Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani said Vance’s story portrayed in his book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” and a subsequent movie adaptation showing the vice president’s difficult upbringing was something Ikquan Hassain Amid Lynn,...

Westmoreland County’s newest row officer and a judge could be sworn later this week after the Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday confirmed both nominations from Gov. Josh Shapiro to fill the vacancies. Republican Jon Wian, 43, of Delmont takes over the Register of Wills, the office where wills, estates, adoptions and...

An Arnold teenager who has been in jail for the past three years as he awaited trial for the attempted murder of five people in 2021 pleaded guilty Monday to lesser charges. Ikquan Hassain Amid Lynn, 18, told a Westmoreland County judge it was in his best interest to admit...

Bill Mohler can see hard times coming. Co-owner of Sendell Volkswagen, east of Greensburg, Mohler said President Trump’s expected 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada will have a dramatic impact on his business. “It will mean the price of cars and parts could go up 25%,” Mohler said...

Westmoreland County prosecutors contend a long simmering period of discord between a New Florence woman and her mother provided a motive for her killing in late 2023. According to a court filing, investigators believe the Dec. 11, 2023, fatal shooting of 71-year-old Alice Robson was the culmination of years of...

The lawyer for a Murrysville woman who, along with her mother, is accused of taking more than $4 million of a relative’s inheritance, told a Westmoreland County judge the case against his client has no factual basis. “Their theory is not supported by the evidence,” said defense attorney Paul Ellis...

A Greensburg man was ordered to serve up to 40 years in prison for the rape of a child. James Dickant Jr., 35, was convicted of nine counts in a nonjury trial in October in which prosecutors claimed he had repeated sexual contact with a young child over a period...

A Westmoreland County judge said Wednesday the New Year’s Eve road rage killing three years ago of a Rostraver woman was “one of the most callous, senseless, arrogant cold-blooded killings with malice” that he has seen. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani sentenced Anthony Hairston, 29, of Belle Vernon, to...

A Hempfield man was ordered to serve up to eight years in prison for a brutal attack against a woman nearly three years ago. Cody J. Mattei, 34, pleaded guilty in November to felony counts of strangulation, aggravated assault, victim intimidation and a weapons offense in connection with 2022 incident...

Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center, plagued for more than two years by staffing and other issues, may be getting more oversight, if county commissioners get their way. Commissioners, who account for a half of the board that oversees the eight-bed secured facility for juvenile offenders, said they want monthly updates...

Westmoreland County’s Register of Wills Office could be getting a new leader as part of a deal reached between Gov. Josh Shapiro and the state Senate to fill dozens of vacancies throughout Pennsylvania. The governor this month nominated Jon Wian, chief of staff to Republican Commissioner Sean Kertes, to serve...

Nearly 122,000 Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers have been urged to conserve water as work crews identify leaks and service line breaks that resulted from last week’s cold snap. Officials said the frigid winter temperatures and this weekend’s thaw stressed the water system’s infrastructure and supply. Water line breaks...

Westmoreland County directs $2.6 million annually to support Arnold Palmer Regional Airport near Latrobe, but a drop in commercial flights over the past five years has left the facility “bleeding” money. Today, the once-thriving airport loses money every month it operates. As the new year gets underway, the county airport...