Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 105

Glenn Levtzow apparently had a scheduling conflict Friday morning when he was due in court to be sentenced for his role in a friend’s overdose in 2017, a Westmoreland County prosecutor said. “He had better plans today. He is out smoking meth, according to the probation department,” Assistant District Attorney...

Westmoreland County Republicans selected a union carpenter making his first run for public office as the GOP’s candidate in a special election for the Pennsylvania State House 58th District seat. Eric Davanzo, 43, of South Huntingdon was nominated Thursday night to run against Democrat Robert Prah in the March 17...

A Pittsburgh man charged last summer with discarding 50 bricks of heroin during a police chase through North Huntingdon avoided a jail sentence when a Westmoreland County judge said he could be a strong example to children he mentors. Laplez Cummings, 35, pleaded guilty Thursday to drug charges, reckless endangerment...

Convicted in the theft of more than $110,000 in public money, South Greensburg’s former borough secretary was ordered to serve an additional year in jail on Thursday. Dennis Lee Kunkle Jr., 55, originally pleaded guilty in October 2018 to six counts for embezzling government funds for his personal use and...

Westmoreland County Democrats will have new leadership in this presidential election year after the party committee’s top two officials resigned in the last month. Party chairwoman Rachel Shaw notified committee members this week she will step down Jan. 27 for professional reasons. The committee’s vice chairman Paul Adams resigned in...

A Unity man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges he provided the drugs used by two men who fatally overdosed more than two years ago in Derry and Hempfield. Police said Jesse Hudspath, 27, shared 50 bags of fentanyl-laced heroin with two friends who died in their homes. Malachai E. Mundorff,...

A Hempfield man will serve up to 23 months in jail for exposing himself to two 10-year-old girls in Greensburg last summer. Ronald Wineland, 61, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of corruption of minors and a misdemeanor count of indecent exposure in connection with the incident on Aug....

Westmoreland County’s first property tax increase in 15 years will stand after commissioners on Wednesday said they will not make changes to the 2020 budget. Newly seated Republican commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew said a comprehensive review of the county’s $341 million budget adopted last month by the previous...

A Johnstown man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges he robbed a Latrobe convenience store last March. Police said Cory J. Lonsinger, 38, wore a hooded sweatshirt, gloves and had his face covered with a black bandana when he threatened a clerk at the Lloyd Avenue BP gas station on March...

A Greensburg man will serve up to three years in prison for exposing himself to a woman in his home. James W. Sanders, 36, formerly of Latrobe, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four misdemeanor offenses in connection with an incident last April 3. According to court records, police said Sanders lured...

A New Stanton man serving a 40-year prison sentence for the hit-and-run death of a man jogging on Christmas Eve in 2016 claims he was improperly convicted of murder. In an appeal filed Tuesday, Matthew Ramsay claims evidence against him during a three-day jury trial in March was insufficient to...

Westmoreland Transit Authority paid out about $12,500 in overtime wages for the first week in January after it assumed control over bus and paratransit services from a private contractor. Officials said scheduling procedures that had been in place for years as well as a driver shortage required the agency to...

A Vandergrift man awaiting trial on charges that he killed his 5-week-old baby last year claims he broke no laws and that his case should be dismissed. Owen LaBrenn Copney, 27, was charged last March with felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with the death of...

A judge on Thursday rejected a request from Derry Borough’s former mayor to dismiss assault charges related to accusations he threatened children with a loaded gun. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani ruled testimony presented during a preliminary hearing last year established enough evidence that Kevin Gross’ actions...

A grandmother took the witness stand Thursday and said her grandson — a man on trial for a brazen daylight murder in downtown Jeannette — was in Florida at the time of the fatal shooting. Shirley Muhammad testified her paternal grandson, Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee, 30, of Penn Hills, was in Orlando...

Assault charges against a Greensburg man accused of threatening to shoot his live-in girlfriend last year can be prosecuted, a Westmoreland County judge has ruled. Chad Neil Snyder, 33, was charged with two counts each of simple assault and making terrorist threats after police said that on Nov. 8, 2018,...

A judge has rejected an appeal from the former owner of a Latrobe day care who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for endangering the welfare of children by allowing a convicted sex offender access to the minors at her business. Lisa Knecht, 59, of Derry, was convicted in 2015...

A woman whose former boyfriend was fatally shot nearly three years ago in Jeannette told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday that she can identify the alleged killer by a tiny mole on his left cheek and by his stride. Sharnell Jackson testified she was in Jeannette on April 13, 2017,...

Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday in the murder trial of a Penn Hills man accused of killing a man in Jeannette. A 12-member jury and two alternates were seated Monday at the Westmoreland County Courthouse to hear evidence in the case against Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee, 30. He is charged...

Westmoreland County commissioners said Monday they still plan to reopen the county’s 2020 budget in hopes of nixing a 2.4% property tax increase, but they concede there isn’t much time left to do so. State law allows a newly constituted board of commissioners to recast budgets approved by the previous...

The getaway driver who participated in three armed robberies in late 2018 in East Huntingdon and Scottdale will serve up to six years in prison. William Nathan Lint, 36, of Connellsville, pleaded guilty Friday to robbery and other offenses in connection with heists at three local business over a five-day...

Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members on Friday unanimously approved a new $105.2 million budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year that keeps water and sewer rates at their current levels. The budget year, which begins in April, will be the second consecutive year the authority has held the line...

The new part-time solicitor for the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s office will have a higher salary than his predecessor but still earn about $25,000 per year less under a restructuring approved Thursday. The county’s salary board, which includes all three commissioners and Controller Jeffrey Balzer, voted to increase the salary for...