Tom Balya News Today

The tree outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse is 23 feet tall. It is covered with bright lights and red bows. Nearby stands a blue and white menorah in a silvery frame. These aren’t unusual for the season. Symbols of Christmas and Hanukkah are everywhere. But these types of holiday displays

A holiday display outside the Westmoreland County Courthouse on Main Street in Greensburg is something passersby may not have seen in years. A 23-foot Christmas tree and a menorah in a frame were donated and placed last week. Commissioner Sean Kertes said he asked Public Works Director Greg McCloskey to

It is with sadness and frustration that I witness my country’s role in supporting the apartheid government of Israel. It seems that we champion human rights everywhere on the planet except for the Palestinian people. Their plight over the last 75 years is like no other group. They were displaced

Westmoreland County’s board of commissioners already has seen change. It came in August when Democrat Ted Kopas was appointed to the board to replace Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, who resigned to take a job as a worker’s compensation judge. Kopas joined first-term Republicans Sean Kertes and Doug Chew as the

Ted Kopas didn’t need directions to get to work Tuesday morning. Kopas, a Democrat who lives in Hempfield, was sworn in to office as a Westmoreland County commissioner. He takes over the minority role on the county’s board of commissioners from Democrat Gina Cerilli Thrasher, who left office a day

Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes has amassed more than $181,000 in his bid for a second term, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday. Kertes was the top fundraiser among the five Republican candidates seeking two nominations in the May 16 primary and, in the six-week period between mid-March and

To Rob Ritson, public service is an “intimate responsibility.” When people seek a public official’s help, it’s typically with concerns about their homes, neighborhoods and communities, he said. It’s personal. “In that moment, they don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat,” said Ritson, who has been a key player

Richard “Dick” Vidmer was a fighter, whether it was on the football field as a star quarterback for Hempfield Area High School and the University of Michigan, as a Westmoreland County commissioner from 1985 to 1999, or as one who engaged in an almost 40-year battle — both public and

It’s a last stand of sorts for Democrats in Westmoreland County. The once-dominant political party in November will try to hold on to its last vestiges of power as Republicans seek to claim every elected office at the courthouse. Four row office seats are up for grabs Nov. 2, including

Paul Peirce | Tribune-Review A Black Lives Matter sign damaged by vandals early Thursday along Barclay Street in Greensburg. City police said two Black Lives Matter and four Biden-Harris signs were targeted overnight. Courtesy of Barbara Mabry Photograph of a suspect defacing a Black Lives Matter sign on Barclay Street in Greensburg about 1:30 a.m. Thursday. Anyone with information is asked to call city police at 724-834-3800.   TribLIVEs Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news y...