Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 9

Westmoreland County will reopen its program to assist low-income renters with monthly bills and housing costs. Finance director Meghan McCandless said the county has allocated the final $80,000 left over from the program along with another $727,000 earned through bank interest over the last three years again offer rental assistance...

Westmoreland County President Judge Christopher Feliciani recused himself Wednesday from presiding over a bail hearing for a Latrobe lawyer jailed on charges that he stole money from a client. The judge cited a conflict of interest related to pending legal matters that involved an alleged personal relationship between attorney J....

Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County water customers are being asked to conserve water as drought conditions take hold throughout Pennsylvania. Conservation efforts are voluntary, and municipal authority officials said there is no immediate expectation mandatory cutbacks of water use will be required. “It’s not panic time. It’s nothing like that,”...

A former police chief accused of sexually assaulting a patient at an addiction treatment facility will be tried on the charges, a Westmoreland County judge ruled Tuesday. Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio rejected a defense claim that the case against former Ligonier Valley police Chief John Berger was defective. The...

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg students Sadiki Raessa and Brionna Woodson were anxious to cast their first votes in a presidential election. Raessa, 22, of Lancaster and Woodson, 21, of Philadelphia learned Tuesday their votes will not count. Both were among the 39 voters whose provisional ballots were rejected by...

Westmoreland County is doubling down on knocking down blighted properties this year. Commissioners this month approved demolition of an additional 13 dilapidated properties and, in doing so, signaled an expansion of a wide-ranging effort to reduce what is estimated to be as many as 1,500 blighted buildings throughout the county....

The prosecution of a man accused in the fatal shooting last year of the owner of Mogie’s Irish Pub in Lower Burrell has again been delayed. Nathan Salem, 45, has been in custody without bond since Dec. 21 after he was charged with criminal homicide and first-degree murder in the...

A Westmoreland County jury after more than two hours of deliberations Thursday night convicted a Belle Vernon man of third-degree murder for a road rage killing nearly three years ago in Rostraver. Prosecutors contended Anthony Hairston, 29, was guilty of the first-degree murder and the intentional killing of 59-year-old Holly...

Westmoreland County on Friday will begin counting an estimated 1,200 provisional ballots cast at the polls on Election Day. County officials said it appears nearly 83% of Westmoreland’s more than 255,000 register voters cast ballots during the November presidential election. According to unofficial totals, more than 211,000 ballots were cast....

Three factors emerged within the numbers behind Donald Trump’s victory Tuesday in Pennsylvania. Muted turnout in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city, and growing support for the former president in rural and urban centers combined to help pave the way to Trump’s victory. Also contributing was diminished backing for Vice President...

Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler is expected to win a fourth term in Congress as vote totals continued to be tallied Tuesday night. According to unofficial results from the district’s five counties, as of 10 p.m., Reschenthaler had received 64% of the vote with Democratic challenger Chris Dziados receiving...

Bill Bretz had few options to further his political interests while a senior majoring in political science at Saint Vincent College. It was 1993. He was a Republican. “My professor told me that if I wanted to do anything in politics, I would have to change my party registration,” said...

Voters throughout the nation may have to wait days to learn whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes, election officials say. But Pennsylvania is literally the keystone state to decide who wins the White House once Tuesday’s votes are counted. “Please be...

There was a unity rally planned for political party leaders in Westmoreland County Friday, but only one side came to the event. The noon observance was planned late Thursday after an entry in Mt. Pleasant’s Halloween parade this week depicted political violence. Organized by Westmoreland County Democrats and Mt. Pleasant...

Reconstruction of a now demolished bridge in North Irwin could begin next year after Westmoreland commissionerssigned off on a financing deal that will allocate more than $5.8 million in state funds to complete the project, which has seen little movement over the last decade. County and local officials have sought...

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series examining where presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump stand on the biggest issues. Today’s segment focuses on foreign policy. ——— Foreign policy is one of the key issues for voters in the presidential election, as the conflicts in the Middle...

A Monessen woman was ordered on Wednesday to serve two years on probation for what police said was assault against an unborn child. Brooke Linn, 18, was charged last month with one felony count of aggravated assault of an unborn child, simple assault and reckless endangerment in connection to an...

A Saltsburg man will serve up to five years in prison for causing a fatal crash four years ago in Derry Township Martin J. McKnight, 47, pleaded guilty this week to a felony charge of vehicular homicide for his role in a two-vehicle crash on Sept. 15, 2020. Police said...

Former President Bill Clinton will make three appearances Tuesday in Western Pennsylvania as the race for the White House reaches the homestretch. Clinton is scheduled to appear at events at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus and in McKeesport and Johnstown on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign. It’s a race...

A Hempfield man faces up to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to attempting to hire a hitman to kill his sister. Police said Peter Cute, 64, met with undercover detectives and offered to pay them $1,000 to murder his estranged sister, who he claimed prevented him...

The most expensive Senate race in America is coming down to the wire in Pennsylvania. Three-term Democratic incumbent Bob Casey is attempting to fend off a challenge from Republican businessman David McCormick in a race that could tip control of the chamber. With just days until the Nov. 5 election, the...

A Monroeville man was sentenced up to 15 years in state prison for his role in a shooting two years ago that left two men wounded in the parking lot of a now-shuttered Rostraver restaurant and bar. Darius Ronnel Hunter, 29, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of aggravated assault...

A South Carolina man pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting to state troopers in the backyard of a Mt. Pleasant Township home with a giant seashell. Police said two officers sustained mild injuries when they were attacked while responding to a call from neighbors Aug. 31, 2022, about a naked man...

Police dogs are being used in the Westmoreland County Election Bureau and other courthouse offices to sniff out potential threats including drugs or explosives that could arrive among the thousands of mail-in ballots and other items arriving daily. “There were reports across the nation of elected officials receiving fentanyl-laced mail,”...