Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 120

About a quarter of all Westmoreland County’s registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary election. County elections officials said turnout among Democrat and Republican voters was a bit higher than the overall total suggested. The 25% that was reported included nonpartisan and independent voters not permitted to cast ballots. Elections...

A Youngwood mother on Wednesday was ruled competent to stand trial for her alleged role in her own mother’s assault that occurred as she attempted to watch a televised Pittsburgh Steelers preseason football game two years ago. Delores Amorino, 42, told a Westmoreland County judge she wants a trial for...

This week’s primary victory for Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held sets up a race in November between an incumbent awaiting retrial on public corruption charges and a retired district judge. But the two-term Republican’s pending legal woes won’t be a campaign issue, Democrat James Albert said Wednesday. “His legal issues...

As Westmoreland County Republicans waited until late Tuesday to learn which two GOP candidates will seek to reclaim the party’s majority on the board of commissioners, Democrats have known since February that incumbents Gina Cerilli and Ted Kopas will be on the ballot this fall. Cerilli and Kopas were unopposed...

Sherry Magretti Hamilton, Westmoreland County’s incumbent Register of Wills, defeated a former office deputy Tuesday in the Republican primary and will face a current staffer this fall in her bid for a second term in office. Hamilton, 42, a lawyer who previously served as a Hempfield supervisor, won the GOP...

Westmoreland County voters for the third time in the last 12 years will choose between Democrat Tom Murphy and Republican Frank Schiefer to run the office that oversees all local property records. Schiefer, 38, of Hempfield, finished first among three Republican candidates for the right to challenge Murphy, the incumbent...

Westmoreland County’s nearly 236,000 registered voters head to the polls Tuesday to select from among 483 candidates running in 443 races. Voters will cast primary ballots to nominate candidates for state judge, county offices including commissioner, judge and sheriff, as well as school boards, local city and borough councils and...

Embattled Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held will continue his campaign for a third term in office. Held, while still defending himself against pending criminal charges of public corruption, on Tuesday defeated three Republican challengers to win the GOP nomination for sheriff. According to unofficial results, Held received 32.8% of the...

Biochemist Doug Chew and Sean Kertes, chief of staff to retiring Westmoreland County Commissioner Charles Anderson, were nominated Tuesday as the Republican candidates who will seek to reclaim the GOP majority at the courthouse. Kertes and Chew finished atop the Republican primary for county commissioner, besting a field of seven...

A tuxedo-draped mannequin toppled onto the head of a Greensburg woman shopping with her son at a men’s clothing store in Westmoreland Mall last year, causing her ongoing head and vision injuries, according to a two-count lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County. Melinda Scalzo alleges in court papers the weight from...

The family of a Jeannette man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Excela Health and one of its doctors claiming he died from an allergic reaction to medication given during a heart procedure in 2017. According to the lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County, the five children of John P....

Derry Borough’s former mayor, who is awaiting trial on charges he brandished a gun at four teens in a local park, will be refunded $18,000 after a judge on Monday reduced his bond. Kevin Gross, 38, claimed he needed the cash to help pay living expenses and legal fees related...

A Republican candidate for Westmoreland County commissioner apologized Monday for automated campaign telephone calls sent out after midnight. About 33,000 calls on behalf of John Ventre were expected to be made Sunday afternoon, but some were not received until well after bed-time and into early Monday. “It obviously didn’t go...

Tuesday’s primary election might be the last that use the touch-screen voting system that has been in place in Westmoreland County since 2005. The county last week received proposals from four companies to sell new computerized machines that will allow for the generation of a verifiable paper trail to meet...

Westmoreland County Transit Authority bus fares will remain unchanged as the agency continues to deal with revenue declines related to state funding cuts and the ongoing loss of riders. Authority officials have approved a new $12.4 million operating budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, balanced by the transfer of about...

Six lawyers are seeking two vacancies this year on the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas. Democrats Michael Stewart, Jessica Rafferty and Matt Schimizzi, along with Republicans Wayne McGrew, Kyle Baxter and Justin Walsh are each running in both party primaries on May 21. The top two vote-getters in each...

Westmoreland County’s Common Pleas Court hasn’t seen a full roster of judges in more than a year. That is expected to change starting in January 2020, after two judges are elected this fall to replace Richard E. McCormick Jr. and Anthony Marsili, who retired. Six lawyers — three Democrats and...

A Donora man was convicted of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend last year. Following a three-day trial that ended Wednesday, a Westmoreland County jury found Travis Magash, 33, guilty of aggravated assault, strangulation and simple assault for his role in a violent attack against his girlfriend. Danielle Rose Thompson, 25, told...

Eight Belle Vernon Area High School students cited this month for underage drinking can attend the prom Friday night, a state appeals court ruled. The state’s Commonwealth Court issued that order late Thursday afternoon as school district lawyers challenged a county judge’s ruling from earlier this week that halted the...

Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members on Wednesday hired an architect to design a new administrative and storage facility for the utility’s sewer operation, a move criticized by a former county controller for not seeking alternate proposals. The $225,000 contract was awarded to DLA+ Architecture to design and develop...

A Greensburg man will serve up to 10 years in prison for the armed robbery of a Jeannette convenience store. Clinton Young III, 25, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of robbery and other related offenses in connection with the June 30 heist at a CoGo’s store on Harrison Avenue....

Republican John Ventre, during an election forum Tuesday night in Greensburg, said “liberals who kill unborn babies” are not welcome in Westmoreland County. Ventre was one of six Republicans and one Democrat running for Westmoreland County commissioner who participated Tuesday night in the forum at the Greensburg Garden & Civic...

Westmoreland County will use a Harrisburg law firm to investigate a harassment complaint against county Commissioner Gina Cerilli. Jail warden John Walton last month accused Cerilli of misrepresenting facts associated with a state grand jury investigation into human trafficking that involved a jail guard. Walton said Cerilli used the false...

A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday halted the expulsion of eight Belle Vernon Area High School students cited this month for underage drinking at a charity event. The preliminary injunction granted by Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr. means the students will be allowed to return to school next week...

The six candidates seeking two judicial vacancies on the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas combined to spend more than a half-million dollars during this spring’s campaign season, most of which came from their own family accounts. According to campaign finance reports filed in Harrisburg, three Democratic candidates, attorneys Michael...