Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 19
New guards hired at Westmoreland jail as inmate population rises
Westmoreland County’s Prison Board on Monday approved the hiring of nine new corrections officers to ensure the facility remains fully staffed heading into 2025. Warden Steve Pelesky said the additional guards were needed to rebound from several resignations and retirements of staff in recent months. The facility employs more than...
Westmoreland Register of Wills Office rebounds from year of disarray
On a quiet Friday afternoon, Westmoreland County register of wills staffers worked as usual to process court filings and waited on customers. It was like any other day at the courthouse — but a far cry from the disorganization and disarray that plagued the court-filing office for more than a...
East Huntingdon man to serve up to 20 years in prison for sexual assault of child
A former custodian and janitor at the Mt. Pleasant Area School District will serve at least eight years in prison after being sentenced this week for repeated sexual assaults of a child over a 10-year period. Jeffrey D. Miller Jr., 50, of East Huntingdon was charged last year with eight...
MAWC says inventory finds 3% of water system has lead service lines
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials said they suspect just 3% of its water system contains lead service lines and have started to notify impacted home and business owners of its findings. An inventory of the system’s more than 123,000 customers revealed more than 4,000 properties could be serviced by...
Westmoreland’s fired deputy purchasing director testifies courthouse boss initiated alleged theft scheme
Westmoreland County’s former deputy director of purchasing told a judge her boss said he and his five department employees were authorized for additional pay in August 2023. Kristen Coyne claimed she didn’t learn those pay hikes had actually been rejected by county officials until both she and her boss were...
New Kensington man sentenced in kidnapping case called ‘a single woman’s worst nightmare’
A New Kensington man convicted of kidnapping a woman he met online in 2022 was sentenced to serve five to 10 years in prison for what a Westmoreland County prosecutor called a chilling crime. “This defendant is more dangerous than anyone else I could imagine. The facts of this case,...
Lawyer says attempted murder charges against East Huntingdon man a result of police cover-up
The lawyer for an East Huntingdon man wounded in a shootout with police said Wednesday attempted murder charges filed against her client are nothing more than an attempt by officers to cover up what she called a botched investigation. Defense attorney Jill Devine said James R. Miller Jr., 62, rejected...
Sewickley Township man to serve jail sentence for vehicle assault
A Sewickley Township man who pleaded guilty last year to running a down a man outside a Hempfield townhouse three years ago was ordered Tuesday to serve at least seven months in jail. Bradley A. Cook, 24, in August 2023 pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault by vehicle...
Suspect pleads guilty in credit card skimmer scam set up in grocery stores
One of two men charged last summer in a multicounty fraud scheme that employed skimmer devices on grocery store card readers pleaded guilty Tuesday in Westmoreland County. Thomas Fuchs, 34, whose last address was listed as in Pittsburgh, was ordered to serve one to two years in prison for his...
Greensburg man sentenced to jail for decades-old sex crimes against children
A Greensburg man was ordered to serve nearly one year in jail after he pleaded guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted two young girls two decades earlier at multiple locations around Westmoreland County. Morton William Thomson Jr., 66, was charged in December 2022, more than 20 years after his...
Former teacher avoids jail for possession of child porn
A former Indiana County high school teacher who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography this fall avoided a jail term Monday. Charles Kirkland, 33, of Derry Township was ordered to serve 14 years on probation even as a Westmoreland County prosecutor argued that he should spend at least three...
Tourism grants awarded to Westmoreland businesses, attractions
Since Julia Taneja and her husband opened a luxury boutique hotel at a renovated coal baron mansion in Greensburg nearly two years ago, they’ve attracted visitors from throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. A $19,000 grant from revenue generated by Westmoreland County’s 5% hotel room tax will...
Norvelt VFD dedicates new fire station
After more than 80 years at its old station, including one expansion in the 1970s, the Norvelt Volunteer Fire Department celebration a move into a new station on Sunday. The department’s fleet includes: three full-size fire engines; squad and brush trucks, each built on a pickup chassis; and a utility...
Handmade holiday crafts featured at West Overton Village Makers Market
Evalee Toby was looking for a hobby as the world sat and waited out the coronavirus pandemic. So she gathered some wood, watched some YouTube videos and through trial and error learned to craft handmade decorative blocks. Four years later, it’s become a business. “I wish I had been a...
Police say 3 shot in Mt. Oliver
Three people were injured in a shooting Saturday night in Mt. Oliver. Allegheny County police said first responders received reports shortly after 9:20 p.m. of a shooting in the 200 block of Brownsville Road and when they arrived on the scene found several spent casings on the ground outside of...
Jeannette celebrates the season with parade, craft show
Amanda Skiffington said she’s ready for the holiday season. Skiffington and her 8-year-old son, Levi, were among the crowds that gathered Saturday afternoon in downtown Jeannette for the city’s Sparkle of Christmas celebration with a parade down Clay Avenue and a holiday craft show at the American Legion. “We’re here...
Westmoreland jury convicts Pike County man of sexual assault of teen at Keystone State Park
A Northeastern Pennsylvania man was convicted Wednesday of the sexual assault of a teenaged girl four years ago at Keystone State Park. David Stone, 62, of Dingmans Ferry in Pike County, was found guilty of two misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and corruption of a minor in connection with allegations...
Westmoreland commissioners, row officers to receive 3.4% raises in 2025
Westmoreland County’s elected officials will again receive raises in 2025. The commissioners and row officers are slated to see their paychecks jump next year by nearly 3.4%, nearly mirroring the hikes received this year and once again prompting one official to call for a cap on future raises. “This is...
Ohio man pleads guilty to stalking of Flyleaf singer
An Ohio man jailed since May after he was accused of stalking a singer at her Murrysville home was paroled Monday after he pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges. Anthony A. Carpenter, 44, of Rutland, Ohio, had been in jail without bond for more than six months after he was...
Bolivar man pleads guilty to arson, insurance fraud
A Bolivar man serving a 20-year prison sentence for the sexual assault of a child pleaded guilty Monday to burning a vehicle for insurance money in a separate case. Jerry Allen Boring, 60, was ordered to serve a concurrent one- to two-year prison sentence and an additional year on parole...
Westmoreland officials announce pursuit of conference center for county
A decade after the shuttering of a hotel in Hempfield that functioned as Westmoreland County’s de facto convention center, local officials said it’s time to consider a replacement. The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce announced Monday it has launched a $25,000 study to explore the potential construction of a convention...
Arnold man ruled competent to stand trial in mother’s stabbing death
An Arnold man charged in the fatal stabbing of his mother last summer has been ruled competent to stand trial. Brian Rebold, 38, has been in jail since he was charged with criminal homicide and first-degree murder Aug. 4 in connection with the death of his 73-year-old mother outside her...
Judge to decide if ex-girlfriend’s texts are bullying or free speech in Hempfield man’s suicide
A Westmoreland County judge will determine if text messages sent by a woman were a criminal attempt to bully her boyfriend into killing himself, or a form of free speech. Defense attorneys for Mandie Reusch, 36, of South Greensburg, claim charges of aiding suicide and involuntary manslaughter should be dismissed,...
Westmoreland County expands, refocuses veterans affairs office
Westmoreland County’s veterans affairs department will be expanding to provide additional access to services for former military members and their families. The five-person office will be renamed the Division of Veterans Affairs and Services and is expected to enhance service coordination, improve transportation to clinics in the Pittsburgh region and...
John McCain, Tom Hanks and Taylor Swift get votes for president in Westmoreland County’s official election results
The Westmoreland County Election Board on Monday unanimously approved the final certification of the Nov. 5 election results. “It’s a wrap,” Election Bureau Director Greg McCloskey said. The certification included all races that appeared on the ballot, including the closely contested election that saw Republican Dave McCormick oust three-term incumbent...
