Matthew Santoni

The youngest of the family changed his name to Emilio Café but still went into the same business.

Post-Gazette Says Health Plan Order Contempt Bid Is Moot - Law360 The publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says it is complying with a court order to put its newsroom employees back on a union-sponsored healthcare plan, so a request from the National Labor Relat...

The Post-Gazette says it is finally complying with a 3rd Circuit order to rewind newsroom employees' health insurance to a union-backed plan they had in 2020. Coverage will start March 1 - about two months before the publisher says they will shut down the paper: www.law360.com/articles/243...

I have followed along with protests and been in the middle of actual riots, always as a journalist and observer, and I know thousands more people have done the same. This is stupid and dangerous and it is wrong to shitpost in celebration of a violation of the First Amendment.

Bondi Elevates Pa. US Atty Amid Appointments Scrutiny - Law360 The first assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania is being retained and elevated to full U.S. attorney, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced Thursday, though the appointmen...

Troy Rivetti, who prosecuted Tree of Life shooter Robert Bowers, has been appointed US Atty for Western Pennsylvania - but he’s not been nominated for Senate confirmation and his appointment is only for 120 days, or else he could face the same disqualification as Alina Habba or Lindsey Halligan:

Steelers Sue Organizer Over Alleged Unpaid 'Fan Cruise' Fees - Law360 The Pittsburgh Steelers sued an event organizer over a now abandoned fan cruise series, alleging the company failed to pay sponsorship fees and tarnished the team's reputation by associating it with a...

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed a sponsorship deal for a 2026 "Fan Cruise," but are now suing the organizer for $3M after it never paid for the rights and canceled the cruise, Elaine Briseño reports for @law360.bsky.social: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...

Harsh but fair, and I include my own work as a baby PG County reporter in that assessment.

NLRB Pushes Contempt For Pittsburgh Paper's Defiance - Law360 The ailing Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is still defying the Third Circuit's order to restore newsroom workers it railroaded in collective bargaining to their old healthcare plan, the National Labor Relati...

Time is running out for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which announced it would close in May as a result of court orders to go back to an old labor contract while bargaining a new one, but the NLRB wants the paper held in contempt for continuing to ignore that order, Braden Campbell reports:

I guess it's a side-effect of subscriptions (no ads!) being aimed at law firms, businesses and regulators. There at least used to be an option where you got a certain number of free articles if you clicked through from a social media link but I don't know if that's still true.

Well he hands you a nickel
And he hands you a dime
Then he goes into default
And you charge interest for your time
Then he absconds with your funds and locks the doors
No, I ain't gonna lend to Maggie's Farm no more

Lender Says Distillery Partner Diverted Funds Meant For Bills - Law360 A minority owner of Pittsburgh-based Maggie's Farm distillery allegedly took $10,000 from the business for his own venture with the help of an employee and a partner from Maiello Brungo Maiello, accor...

A part-owner of Maggie's Farm distillery allegedly took $10K from the business just before announcing its shutdown this summer, and a lender with $1.9M in bills said it should have dibs on that money. The distillery has reopened but the co-owner has allegedly started a competing business:

(This complaint taught me the word "cacophemism" - the opposite of a euphemism, where an innocuous term is made more filthy. Apologies to anyone who has to deal with me working that into future conversations.)

Judge's 'Grudges' Book, Obscenities Spur Conduct Complaint - Law360 A Pennsylvania magisterial judge has been charged by the state's Judicial Conduct Board with professional misconduct, including keeping a "book of grudges" and a desk calendar with sexually explicit j...

A Pa. magistrate judge who kept an "ancient, leatherbound tome" as her "book of grudges" and slung obscenities like "cuntrageous" is facing a formal ethics complaint from the state Judicial Conduct Board: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...

Pa. Board Can't Review Court Firing Over 'FAFO' Freebies - Law360 UK The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board lacks jurisdiction to review an Adams County probation officer's firing over passing out stress balls with the irreverent acronym "FAFO" on them, since it did no...

A probation officer & union steward was fired by the Adams Co. court for passing out freebies with "FAFO" on them during a fight to retain the union, but the PA Labor Relations Board can't review it b/c it doesn't fit a narrow exemption to the courts' unfettered authority over hiring/firing:

Ex-Media CEO Wants Family's Finances To Explain Sale Push - Law360 The ousted CEO of a company publishing newspapers in Pennsylvania and Ohio wants financial records from his family members on the board of directors, to search for reasons why they were exploring the ...

Members of the Block family had explored selling their media company back in 2024, according to Ohio litigation from Allan Block over his disagreements with that process. That suit settled soon after: www.law360.com/articles/185...

The paper got temporary relief from Justice Sam Alito, who temporarily stayed the Third Circuit's orders while the PG considered an appeal to SCOTUS. The high court, after further consideration, undid that stay Wednesday.
www.law360.com/articles/242...

The Third Circuit had found PG Publishing - an arm of Block Communications - had bargained in bad faith when its offers would have taken away job protections & let work to be farmed out, so it ordered the parties back to the table. An earlier injunction had said to roll back terms imposed in 2020.

Pittsburgh Paper To Close In Midst Of Legal Woes With Union - Law360 The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced plans to close after nearly 240 years, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted Justice Samuel Alito's stay of a Third Circuit order making the comp...

Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court put the Post-Gazette back on the hook for restoring pre-2020 working conditions and going back to bargaining w/ its newsroom union, the paper's publishers announced they would be shutting down in May: www.law360.com/articles/242...

"The Ninety-Five Feces."

Most likely the assignment was the mundane/typical "go find the first baby of the New Year and interview the exhausted new parents," and it got the new angle when the interview revealed the origin of the name. But I will always accept J. Jonah Jameson as an alternative explanation.

That's AKA "working local news the day after New Year's," though.

Airbus Sued Over Fatal Helicopter Crash In New Jersey - Law360 The families of a pilot and a news photographer killed in a helicopter crash while working for a Philadelphia television station have sued helicopter manufacturer Airbus, along with companies that mai...

The families of a Philadelphia news helicopter pilot & photographer sued Airbus & others over a 2023 crash in NJ, claiming the aircraft had a fault-prone hydraulic system & no backup: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...

ICYMI: Supreme Court Justice Alito stayed Third Circuit orders requiring the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to restore newsroom workers' pre-2020 working conditions & healthcare -- orders that had ended a three-year strike. Union members tell Law360's Emily Brill they are still working & waiting:

Ex-Derailment Deal Admin Will Pay $17M To End Contempt Bid - Law360 The ousted administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio will pay $17.25 million to resolve claims that it mishandled the distribution of payo...

BREAKING - The former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600M settlement over the East Palestine derailment will pay $17.25M back into the settlement fund, to resolve the plaintiffs' lawyers' request to hold it in contempt for overpaying some claimants: www.law360.com/articles/242...

Algoma filed suit in Canada to get out of its contract to purchase iron ore from U.S. Steel until 2027, citing the Trump tariffs on Canadian steel as making the deal unprofitable, while the company also seeks to shift away from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces.

U.S. Steel Can Arbitrate $22M Canadian Contract Spat - Law360 Canadian steelmaker Algoma Steel Inc. must arbitrate its bid to break off its contract for buying iron ore from U.S. Steel Corp., since the contract contains a clause bringing all disputes to an arbit...

U.S. Steel got a federal judge to compel arbitration with Algoma Steel Inc. over the struggling Canadian steelmaker's bid to get out of buying U.S. iron ore - finding the contract applied Pennsylvania law so the Canadian courts didn't get first dibs: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...

Pa. Justices Affirm County's Loss Over Election Inspections - Law360 Pennsylvania's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that the state's top election official could order voting machines to be yanked from service, closing one chapter on the tome of litigation that...

In a per curiam order - no opinion explaining the interpretation of the law - The @supremectofpa.bsky.social upheld a ruling that the state can "decertify" voting machines that had unauthorized inspections after the 2020 election, though it didn't add more sanctions against Fulton County, PA:

The Third Circuit still won't let the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette out of an injunction requiring it to restore contract conditions - including a union-backed health plan - to pre-strike status, @law360.bsky.social's Emily Brill reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...

"Taken to the extreme, the president could use this method to staff the United States attorney's office with individuals of his personal choice for an entire term without seeking the Senate's advice and consent."
www.law360.com/articles/237...

"I guess I just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one," Trump said.

... Except the court that DQ'd Alina Habba from staying as NJ's U.S. Attorney explicitly ruled that out, finding only one 120-day "interim" term is allowed by law.

Ex-Derailment Deal Admin Faces Irked Judge In Contempt Bid - Law360 The ex-administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment met skepticism as it admitted to a federal judge Friday that it had made some mistakes in d...

The ex-administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600M settlement over the East Palestine derailment tried to explain why it assumed everyone filing a personal injury claim started w/ $25K - including the class counsel's own alleged promises - but faced a tough judge: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...