Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 2
Former Royer’s department store building in Greensburg set for demolitionVideo
Preparations are underway to demolish the former Royer’s department store building on Main Street in Greensburg. The three-story building has been vacant for decades. Over the past 10 years, its condition has significantly worsened, making it impossible to rehabilitate, according to officials. The Westmoreland County Land Bank purchased the building...
Lawsuit filed in fatal 2020 turnpike bus crash moved to Westmoreland County
A consolidated lawsuit filed in the aftermath of a 2020 bus crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Mt. Pleasant that killed five people and injured about 60 will be litigated in Westmoreland County. The state Supreme Court, in an opinion issued last fall, sided with lawyers for two dozen plaintiffs...
Westmoreland County overtime costs top $7.2 million in 2025
Overtime has paid off in a big way for some Westmoreland County workers. A TribLive analysis of overtime paid to county employees in 2025 found that for some, working additional hours has more than doubled their annual pay. One senior staffer, who has worked as a corrections officer at the...
‘Deep negotiations’ ongoing for 2nd carrier at Palmer airport amid Spirit cuts, official saysVideo
Talks have intensified with a potential second commercial airline to fly out of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, Westmoreland County officials said Thursday. But those negotiations for expanded service face stiffening headwinds as the airport’s longtime carrier scales back its local footprint. The cuts come amid growing industry consolidation...
Jury deadlocks in trial of Hempfield man accused of rape of mentally disabled woman
A Westmoreland County jury deliberated more than seven hours Thursday and was unable to reach a verdict in the trial of a Hempfield man charged with the rape of a mentally disabled woman. Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio declared a mistrial in the case against Dennis Hertzog, 58, who prosecutors...
Spirit drops Orlando service from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Spirit Airlines is pulling the plug on its long-running Orlando service from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport next month, a move that leaves the Unity airfield without its most popular year-round destination. The discount carrier confirmed Wednesday it has removed the Florida destination from its schedule effective April 15. The following...
Hempfield man on trial in rape of mentally disabled woman
A Westmoreland County jury is expected to begin deliberations Thursday morning in the case of a Hempfield man accused of raping a woman with an intellectual disability in late 2022. Dennis Hertzog, 58, is on trial on charges of rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and aggravated indecent assault. The charges...
Westmoreland commissioners to revamp airport authority board
The board that oversees operations at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity is poised to be significantly revamped through a series of new appointments Westmoreland County commissioners are expected to vote on this week. Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew said they will appoint four new members to the nine-person...
Judge rejects Westmoreland sheriff’s request to halt inmate transports
A lawsuit that sought to reverse a court order issued two decades ago requiring the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department to transport jailed inmates to preliminary hearings was dismissed Tuesday. Common Pleas President Judge Christopher Feliciani issued a one-paragraph order that terminated the legal action filed in January by Sheriff James...
Westmoreland deputy sheriffs appeal court ruling to dismiss lawsuit
Ten Westmoreland County deputy sheriffs have appealed a federal judge’s decision to toss out a lawsuit claiming they were harassed and improperly investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police. The lawsuit, filed last year, alleged members of the sheriff’s office fugitive apprehension unit were targeted by frivolous accusations of impropriety by...
7 men plead guilty in interstate robbery scheme at Pa. rest stops
A group of seven men who used a phony lottery win to lure and rob motorists at Pennsylvania service plazas and truck stops pleaded guilty Monday in Westmoreland County. The men — six from Ohio and one from Tennessee — admitted to stealing cash and jewelry from drivers in Dauphin,...
Former Greensburg officer Regina McAtee, convicted in drug case, fights to keep city pension
A retired Greensburg police officer convicted in a federal drug trafficking scheme is appealing a decision that rescinded and forfeited a portion of her pension. The lawyer for Regina McAtee claims the Greensburg police pension commission erred this month when it ordered she return more than $75,000 in retirement benefits...
Judge denies bond for New Kensington teen accused of shooting
A Westmoreland County prosecutor told a judge a 17-year-old New Kensington youth coerced witnesses, concocted a plot to shank a corrections officer and made threats against police officers while in jail. Logan J. King was charged in connection with a September shooting outside the Valley Royal Court apartment complex in...
Intervala expands at former Westmoreland Sony site, plans to hire 45 workersVideo
The former Sony site in East Huntingdon once hummed with television production; today, it is finding new life as a high-tech anchor thanks to a $6 million expansion by electronics manufacturer Intervala. The company, which moved into the RIDC Westmoreland Innovation Center near New Stanton in 2021, announced Thursday it...
Judge weighs evidence of past violence in Rostraver homicide case
Prosecutors say a Westmoreland County jury should hear evidence that a man charged with the murder of his live-in girlfriend last year in Rostraver has a history of violence against women. A former girlfriend testified during a pretrial hearing Wednesday that Robert Chaplin assaulted her and threatened her at gunpoint...
Bill Mazeroski’s run for office: A Pirates legend at the center of a political turning point
More than two decades after Bill Mazeroski’s famous home run in the 1960 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates legend was at the center of what many believe was the beginning of the end of Democratic control of Westmoreland County politics. In the spring of 1987, Mazeroski, then a Hempfield resident,...
Donora man sentenced for 2022 Rostraver home shooting; will be part of federal time in different case
A Donora man was ordered to serve at least four years in state prison for firing shots at a Rostraver home. But in reality, Tre Robert Goins, 31, should be in prison for more than a decade, once his sentence in a different case is factored in. Goins pleaded guilty...
Mother of slain Arnold man demands names of accomplices at sentencing
Phyllis Williams demanded to look into the eyes of the man convicted of murdering her son six years ago as she directly asked him to reveal who else was involved in the fatal shooting. “I am a grieving mother who lost my only son, who was a wonderful son and...
Westmoreland juvenile center to double capacity as $1M security project wraps
A long-discussed plan to double capacity at Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center is expected to accelerate in the coming months, officials said Monday. Director Rich Gordon told members of the county’s juvenile detention board that a nearly $1 million project to replace doors and locks throughout the Regional Youth Services...
Monroeville man sentenced to prison for robbery of guns, cash from Unity home
A Monroeville man was sentenced Friday to serve at least six years in prison for the robbery of guns and cash from a Unity home more than two years ago. Myles F. Kacin, 20, pleaded guilty in September to felony counts of robbery, conspiracy, aggravated assault and connected offenses in...
Police say N.J. man exposed himself, made ethnic threats at Forbes Hospital
A New Jersey man is accused of threatening and exposing himself to staff on Valentine’s Day at a Monroeville hospital and damaging equipment in an examination room. Matthew Doherty, 32, was charged with indecent assault, making terroristic and ethnic threats, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief in connection with the Feb....
Trafford man sues Westmoreland Country Club over injury
A hazard near the 18th green at Westmoreland Country Club was more than just a penalty for a poor shot, according to a lawsuit filed this week. Matthew D. Zegarelli of Trafford claims he was injured when he stepped into a hole from a sprinkler head hidden under overgrown grass...
Less than a day after Westmoreland Transit OKs $64K for tariffs, Supreme Court strikes them down
Less than one day after the Westmoreland County Transit Authority board agreed to pay an extra $64,000 in tariffs for a new fleet of buses, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Trump exceeded his authority in imposing the trade duties. The board met Thursday to authorize the payment to cover...
Unity man pleads guilty to threats against personal care home worker
A Unity man pleaded guilty Wednesday to threatening the life of a personal care home worker last year. Ryan D. Hoover, 35, told a Westmoreland County judge he was under the influence of drugs when he barged into the Kelly’s II Personal Care home in Unity on Sept. 25 and...
Westmoreland water authority says harsh winter weather stressed system
Arctic winter conditions that set upon Western Pennsylvania over the past month have the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County working overtime. Snow and freezing temperatures in late January and early February resulted in hundreds of water line breaks, leaks, frozen pipes and longer work hours for the crews assigned to...
