Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 17

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...

Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials said the water and sewer utility has recovered more than $826,000 that was stolen in what it called a “vendor impersonator scheme.” The authority was targeted in June by scammers who posed as a vendor awaiting payment for work as part of the agency’s...

John Novotnak knew he needed help. The U.S. Army serviceman whose eight-year career included a tour of duty in Iraq, struggled after he was discharged from the military in 2008. Novotnak, 43, of North Huntingdon was charged in 2022 for the second time with drunken driving when he finally concluded...

A Westmoreland County prosecutor said rehabilitation was not a viable option for a Delmont man convicted this year of the attempted sexual assault of a woman. Assistant District Attorney Mike Pacek, during a sentencing hearing Tuesday for Brandon J. Pyle, 28, argued that his lengthy history of inappropriate and criminal...

A Seward man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges relating to attempted sex with an underage girl. Anthony Ronald Laughard, 43, was charged last year following an undercover sting operation conducted by the state police. According to court records, Laughard made contact with a person through online communication he believed to...

A Bolivar man was sentenced Tuesday to serve 10 to 20 years in prison for the repeated sexual assaults of a young girl. Jerry Boring, 60, was convicted by a Westmoreland County jury in April of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault in connection with accusations...

It can be tough to determine exactly where the presidential candidates stand on the issues after being barraged by headlines, rallies, campaign events and political ads. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making personal appeals, having visited the Pittsburgh region more than any place in the...