Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 15

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,”...

Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners on Thursday rejected what likely was the final push before the Nov. 5 election to have at least one drop box at the courthouse for mail-in ballots. Commissioners Doug Chew and Sean Kertes declined to consider a proposal to allow voters to drop off ballots without...

With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, Unity’s Joyce Jacobs was one of hundreds of people who lined up Wednesday to cast their ballots at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg. Jacobs, a 53-year-old Trump supporter, said she never cast a mail-in ballot before. But this year...

The two candidates seeking to represent Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District couldn’t be further apart on key issues. Three-term Republican incumbent Guy Reschenthaler has become a key member among the GOP’s power structure in the U.S. House, serving as deputy whip and an attack dog pushing his party’s agenda that he...

Westmoreland County government retirees will receive a 3.4% cost-of-living raise in 2025. The county’s retirement board on Tuesday approved the increased benefit for the 1,400 former employees who in 2024, for the first time in 13 years, were denied raises. “We’re not supposed to give raises out every year, but...

A Wilkinsburg man was ordered to serve up to 10 years in prison for his role in a drug deal thwarted by undercover state agents in the parking lot of a North Huntingdon convenience store. Harry E. Randall, 29, pleaded guilty to felony counts of conspiracy and drug possession after...

Westmoreland County Transit Authority board members last week ratified a three-year labor deal with the union that represents nearly 50 bus drivers and mechanics. The deal ends what had been contentious negotiations over the past five months that had seen one proposed deal scuttled by a vote of rank-and-file members...

Elon Musk told an Allegheny County audience Sunday that democracy is in peril. Musk brought his super PAC sponsored tour through Pennsylvania to the Roxian Theater in McKees Rocks to enlist support for former President Donald Trump and promote voter registration and mail-in balloting ahead of the November election and...

Lauren Elliott suspected the worst when she listened to a voice message left for her last week by a Westmoreland County detective. When she was told the reason for the inquiry, her worry turned to anger. Elliott was among the handful of voters contacted last week as part of an...