Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 102

Robert Prah Jr. has been campaigning for more than a year, and he’s got the Army-green notebook to prove it. Prah, a Democrat from Rostraver, will appear on the ballot during a special election March 17 to fill the remaining nine months of the vacant state House seat representing the...

A new four-year labor deal with Westmoreland County’s largest unions was approved Thursday that gives raises to workers but also imposes a surcharge on employees who use tobacco. Commissioners ratified the deal with the Service Employees International Union Local 668 and SEIU HealthCare Pennsylvania, which represents courthouse employees and nursing...

The 2020 tourism plan for Westmoreland County includes more than $834,000 in new projects and reserves a large purse for what officials hope one day will be spent on an agressive marketing campaign to lure tourists — and their wallets. Projects include upgrades to county parks, financing for the annual...

A Westmoreland County jury Thursday convicted a New Kensington woman of helping her cousin avoid capture and disposing of the handgun prosecutors say was used to kill a city police officer. Jurors deliberated seven hours over two days before finding Lisa Harrington, 33, guilty on four counts of hindering the...

Eric Davanzo, the Republican candidate for the vacant state House seat in the 58th District, announced Wednesday he received a series of endorsements leading up to the March 17 special election. Davanzo, 53, said he received endorsements from the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association; the Fraternal Order of Police, Frank J....

The jury in the trial of a New Kensington woman charged with helping her cousin avoid capture following the 2017 shooting death of police Officer Brian Shaw deliberated late into the night Wednesday but did not reach a verdict. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway sent the jury...

A series of witnesses told a Westmoreland County jury on Tuesday that the cousin of the man convicted of killing New Kensington police officer Brian Shaw was in and out of a nearby city home the shooter ran to after the 2017 murder. Michael Luffey, 35, one of a group...

For Warren and Pat Lupson, there was no question they would appear in a Greensburg courtroom for yet another appeal by the man serving three consecutive life sentences for murdering their daughter and two young grandsons in Jeannette. The Lupsons, as they did in 1995 for the trial and again...

Cash-strapped Westmoreland County might soon get some relief to its budget crunch with a land deal to sell 110 acres in Hempfield. Under details revealed Tuesday, the vacant land would be sold to the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. — which would pay $2.4 million for property to be used...

Westmoreland County voters will have multiple opportunities over the next month to view and test new touch-screen computer systems that will be used to cast ballots for the first time this spring. Elections officials this week announced demonstration sessions will be conducted in Latrobe, Murrysville and New Stanton. “I think...

A Greensburg man pleaded guilty Monday to using his SUV as a weapon against a romantic rival. The case against Seth M. Vanderella, 27, was the second time in less than two years that he admitted causing injuries to another person using a vehicle. On Monday, Vanderella pleaded guilty to...

As police fanned out across the region in the hours and days after the fatal shooting of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw in search of his killer, the gunman’s cousin spirited away and disposed of the suspected murder weapon, prosecutors told a Westmoreland County jury Monday. Assistant District Attorney...

Westmoreland County Transit cut overtime costs by 42% in February, easing a budget crunch that impacted the agency during the first month after it took over operations of its fixed-route and shared-ride para transit services from a private contractor, officials said. The transit authority saw overtime for drivers reach more...

A nearly $1.7 million construction and resurfacing project at Westmoreland County Transit’s park-and-ride lot in North Huntingdon will begin in mid-March, temporarily forcing hundreds of daily commuters to catch the bus about a mile away at a vacant Allegheny County store lot. Transit authority board members last week approved a...

The balance of political power in Rostraver shifted recently when two of the township’s commissioners changed their political affiliations from Democrat to Republican. In January, board Chairman John Lorenzo, who was elected in November as a Democrat, and Henry Boldyzar Jr., whose current four-year term started last year, switched parties...

The director of Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center resigned this week — a month after he was injured during an altercation between two teens at the facility. Controller Jeff Balzer, who serves as chairman of the county’s juvenile detention board of directors, confirmed Friday that Carlos Alejandre, who has served...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court won’t hear the appeal of a Johnstown man convicted of killing a good Samaritan who who tried to intervene in a 2016 Latrobe robbery. In a one-sentence order released this week, Supreme Court justices said they won’t consider the appeal filed by Austin Krinock, who was...

A Jeannette man wants attempted murder charges against him dismissed because he was not present when a man and juvenile were wounded during a robbery at a Sutersville home. Police contend Aaron Brown, 27, provided the weapons used in the Nov. 16, 2018, incident and, as a result, was charged...

A new lawyer for suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez wants a Westmoreland County judge to set a bond that would allow the former All-Star to leave jail as he awaits trial on child sex charges. Vazquez, 28, was charged last summer with statutory sexual assault and other offenses in...

Robert Prah, a Democrat seeking the vacant state House seat for the 58th District in next month’s special election, picked up an endorsement this week from the Service Employees International Union. Prah, 38, of Rostraver, is the director of Military and Veterans Affairs at California University of Pennsylvania. He’s a...

The man sentenced to death this month for murdering New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw on Tuesday contended Westmoreland County jurors reached a faulty verdict because of his “Muslim-sounding name” and because they were intimidated by a heavy law enforcement turnout during trial. Defense attorneys Tim Dawson and James Robinson...

The lawyer for a former Franklin Regional High School student convicted of a cyberattack that disrupted more than a dozen computer systems throughout Westmoreland County in late 2016 told a judge it was all just a prank. Defense attorney Lyle Dresbold said Michaela G. King uploaded a computer program she...

A Mt. Pleasant man was sentenced Monday to serve up to six years in prison for a hit-and-run crash last year that resulted in the death of an elderly Hempfield man. Jonathan A. McElroy, 43, pleaded guilty to charges of causing an accident involving death, tampering with evidence, making false...