Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 125
Westmoreland receives grant to rehab blighted homes
Westmoreland County got a $100,000 state grant to rehabilitate blighted homes and to install modifications to assist disabled residents. The Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund grant will provide money to the county Redevelopment Authority and Lank Bank accessible housing program for low- and moderate-income residents. Officials said previous...
Jury selection concludes in Scottdale man’s assault trial in connection with May 2016 accident
Jury selection ended Monday for the trial of a Scottdale man accused of injuring a young family of four three years ago in a Mother’s Day car wreck near Youngwood. Matthew Murphy, 27, is charged with 13 counts, including three felony offenses of aggravated assault by vehicle, in connection with...
Trial to start for Ligonier Twp. doctor accused of child sexual assault
Testimony is expected to begin Tuesday in the sexual assault trial of a Ligonier Township doctor charged with having improper contact with a teen. Prosecutors contend Dr. Roy C. Monsour, 65, had repeated sexual contact with the teen between 2009-14. Jury selection was completed Monday for the trial before Westmoreland...
Everybody who lived in Mt. Pleasant Borough knew Bill Gratzinger
There wasn’t a resident in Mt. Pleasant Borough who Bill Gratzinger didn’t know. Through his jobs as the town’s police chief and also as the head of the local volunteer fire department, Gratzinger made sure his neighbors were safe and protected. They were jobs he took seriously long after he...
Bethany United Methodist Church thanks police, firefighters with fundraising mealVideo
It’s been more than 50 years since the Latrobe Fire Department Good Friend’s Hose Company No. 5 served as a temporary home to the Bethany United Methodist Church during a long-ago renovation. But members still recall the advice from firefighters. “They told us that if the fire whistle went off,...
2 shot in Northview Heights section of Pittsburgh
A man and woman were wounded Sunday morning in a shooting in the Northview Heights section of Pittsburgh. Police officials said officers responded to reports of shots fired on the 800 block of Mt. Pleasant Road shortly before 2 a.m. Officers found a woman shot multiple times in the lower...
Infant girl found dead in East Huntingdon under ‘suspicious’ circumstances
State police are investigating the “suspicious” death of an infant girl Saturday night at an East Huntingdon housing complex. Officials said police responded to a housing complex at Gurley Drive and found an unresponsive child. She was pronounced dead at the scene. State police spokesman Steve Limani said the infant...
Brownstown Road in North Huntingdon reopened
Brownstown Road in North Huntingdon was reopened Saturday afternoon. The roadway had been shut down for two days as cleanup crews worked to repair damage caused from a tree felled during Thursday’s heavy rains. Township officials said a portion of the road was closed off to traffic near the municipal...
Ligonier Wiffle Ball tourney raises thousands for diabetes research
Joe Ladisic knew he had to be in Ligonier on Saturday to pay tribute to his wife, Rachael, who died in May after a lifetime battle with Type 1 diabetes. With his wife’s name emblazoned on his chest, Ladisic, 35, of Greensburg threw the first pitch in a fundraising effort...
Former Hempfield veterinarian seeking ARD in records copying case
A Penn Township woman charged with stealing records from a Hempfield veterinarian clinic will ask to be enrolled in a prison diversion program next month. In court documents filed Wednesday, the lawyer for Katherine Marraccini, 26, said she will seek admission to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first-time, nonviolent...
Youngwood mom blames daughter in assault of grandma during Steelers game
A Youngwood mother seeking to have her criminal charges dismissed has blamed her teenage daughter for the brutal attack of her grandmother as they watched a Pittsburgh Steelers preseason game on TV two years ago. In court documents filed this week, the lawyer for Delores Amorino, 42, said his client’s...
Repairs begin on crumbling section of Westmoreland courthouse parking garage
Emergency work to repair crumbling ceiling concrete above the upper parking level of the Westmoreland County Courthouse started this week. County commissioners are expected to approve a nearly $70,000 contract later this week to pay for the construction work to install and fortify support beams needed to fix damage in...
Wolf secures voting machine funding; Westmoreland won’t use new system until 2020
Westmoreland County officials said Tuesday’s announcement from Gov. Tom Wolf about securing state funding for the purchase of new voting systems throughout Pennsylvania will not impact a revised timeline here. “The only thing that may change is they (county commissioners) may pick a machine to purchase this year but it...
Westmoreland commissioners expected to approve settlement with county jail visitor
Westmoreland County commissioners are expected to approve a $7,500 payment to settle a complaint from a woman who said she was injured last year while visiting an inmate at the county jail. Solicitor Melissa Guiddy said Tuesday the county received a notice of an intent to file a lawsuit earlier...
Motorist sues North Huntingdon, PennDOT, claiming road conditions caused accident
The survivor of a fatal North Huntingdon traffic accident last year is suing the township and PennDOT. Robert E. Leonard Jr. of Trafford claims in a lawsuit filed last week in Westmoreland County that injuries he sustained in the April 20, 2018, crash on Route 993 could have been avoided...
Westmoreland delays election machine purchase
Westmoreland County officials said Monday the planned purchase of new voting equipment this summer will likely be delayed after state lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf failed to agree on funding for election system upgrades throughout Pennsylvania. “We were on track to make a decision this summer, but we’re on hold...
State delays change to Westmoreland’s paratransit system
A proposed state change local officials said could devastate Westmoreland County’s paratransit system for low income and elderly riders has been delayed. Gov. Tom Wolf late last week signed legislation authorizing a six-month study of the plan approved last year giving oversight of the state’s medical assistance transportation program to...
Private Industry Council’s new leader strives to give back to community
Working at the Private Industry Council was the only work Shujuane Martin has known. Fresh out of California University of Pennsylvania where she starred on the basketball court, Martin started her career in 2003 as a caseworker at the tri-county agency based in Hempfield that helps low-income families navigate through...
Judge refuses to have online criticisms of Greensburg dentist practice removed, allows lawsuit to move forward
A Westmoreland County judge Friday refused to grant an injunction that would have forced the removal of online social media posts a local dentist claims are libelous. Common Pleas Judge Chris Scherer, in a four-page opinion, said the injunction request from Three Rivers Dental Group in Greensburg could ultimately have...
Hempfield man wants new trial, claims self-defense strategy was ignored
A Hempfield man serving a 40-year prison sentence for the attempted murder of his girlfriend in 2011 is asking for a new trial. Lawrence Redman, 51, was in court on Thursday for an appeal hearing. He contends his former lawyer ignored his instructions to argue self-defense during his trial. “My...
Hempfield man accused of threatening church leader asks for bond reduction
A Hempfield man jailed on charges that he made threatening, racially explicit telephone calls to a Penn Township church wants a Westmoreland County judge to make it cheaper for him to be released from custody. Mark Eugene Ray, 59, contends the $50,000 bail that is keeping him behind bars should...
Elderly contractor wants charges dropped in Greensburg apartment rehab case
The lawyer for an 85-year-old contractor awaiting trial on charges that he accepted money to rehabilitate a Greensburg building three years ago but did not finish the job said in court on Thursday that the criminal charges should be dismissed. “This is basically a civil dispute. He lost his zoning...
Westmoreland GOP commissioner candidates to keep separate campaigns
The two Republican candidates for Westmoreland County commissioner have not agreed to unify their campaigns but will maintain a dialogue as they take on incumbent Democrats Gina Cerilli and Ted Kopas this fall. Republicans Sean Kertes and Doug Chew met for two hours Tuesday night with county GOP officials. They...
Prosecutors: Charges should stand in alleged attack over Steelers game volume
Westmoreland County prosecutors said that criminal charges should stand against a Youngwood woman because she actively assisted her daughter in a brutal multi-day attack against her elderly grandmother as they fought over the volume of a Steelers’ broadcast. In court documents filed Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Dupilka argued that...
Westmoreland judge defends ruling overturning rape conviction
A Westmoreland County judge Tuesday defended his decision to give a new trial to a Unity man accused of repeatedly raping a teen-aged girl for three years. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger issued a three-page opinion in which he said evidence presented against Bruce Palmer, 34, during trial last...
