Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 26

Westmoreland County’s first investigating grand jury in more than three decades was seated Tuesday to hear evidence in unsolved homicides and major crimes. District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli announced last fall the creation of the grand jury. It is intended to be a tool to compel witnesses to produce evidence and...

For more than three decades, Norman Madison Sr. has made the trip on Feb. 25 from his Monessen home to the Hempfield community of Carbon to honor his son. A memorial there honors Anthony Madison along with 12 other members of the 14th Quartermaster unit based near Greensburg who were...

John Palumbo is a regular at Seton Hill men’s basketball games, but he didn’t get to see the Griffins’ last home game two weeks ago. That’s when he was stretchered out of the gym after suffering what officials described as a “widow maker” heart attack but was revived by Seton...

Pittsburgh police said one person was killed and three others wounded in a shooting early Saturday morning in front of a bar in the city’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood. Authorities said police received calls at 2:10 a.m. to respond to a dispute at 703 Social Club along Brighton Road. When they arrived,...

The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will ramp up its efforts this year to replace thousands of lead waterlines throughout its five-county service area. Authority officials announced this week it will use a $1 million state grant to pay for the swapping out of as many as 200 waterlines in...

People impacted by delays in filing adoption records could be called as witnesses at a hearing next month in Westmoreland County court to address the issue. Two county judges will review whether Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton violated court orders that required her courthouse office meet specific deadlines to...

Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members on Wednesday approved new lease agreements for local energy companies to drill for natural gas, including at a site near the Beaver Run Reservoir in Washington Township. The new contracts come as the authority continues to ban the sale of water from the...

Attorneys for an Allegheny County man facing a potential death penalty for the alleged murder of his 9-year-old son in New Kensington told a Westmoreland County judge that prosecution delays have left them unable to move forward with preparing their defense. The case has languished in the courts for nearly...

Ridership on commuter and local bus service continues to rebound, according to the Westmoreland County Transit Authority The bus service saw the number of passengers increase by nearly 6% in January and over the last year its performance has been on an upward trajectory following declines caused by the coronavirus...

A Unity man claimed Friday he cannot be prosecuted for the homicide of a former girlfriend because there is no proof she is dead. The lawyer for Thomas G. Stanko said proposed evidence recently disclosed by prosecutors that his client targeted, stalked and harassed Cassandra Gross before she went missing...

A Westmoreland County judge said he struggled with how to strike a balance between the rough upbringings that impacted three young defendants and their convictions last year related to their roles in July 3, 2022, fatal shooting in front of a New Kensington apartment building. Amir Kennedy, 16, DaMontae Brooks,...

The murder trial for a Monessen teen charged with the fatal shooting of a friend as they played video games is set to begin May 6. Terry Newton, 17, is awaiting trial on charges of criminal homicide in connection with the November 2022 shooting death of 16-year-old Amari Altomore. Police...

Prosecutors in Westmoreland County must turn over evidence to defense attorneys for a Philadelphia man charged with orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot. Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger made the ruling Thursday in the case that resulted in the shooting death of Boyke Budiarachman, also of Philadelphia, in the parking lot of...

A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday granted Rostraver Commissioner John Lorenzo’s appeal of two summary harassment citations that Lorenzo said ultimately will have little impact on his political career. Prosecutors agreed to what amounted to a plea bargain to resolve the appeal without a hearing. Senior Common Pleas Court Judge...

Republican Rep. Jill Cooper will have a primary challenger this spring for her Murrysville-based seat in the state House. Cooper, the first-term incumbent, appears to be the lone member of Westmoreland County’s state House delegation to face a primary challenge. Nomination petitions to appear on the April 23 primary ballot...

Emily Steele told her father that she and her surviving family no longer want to have any relationship with him following his conviction for the first-degree murder of her mother. Steele, 20, sat in the witness chair Monday and directed her father, seated just feet away in a blue prison-issued...

A Monessen woman and two men will serve probation sentences for the mistreatment of more than 60 animals. Charolette Fiem, 49, pleaded guilty Monday to 20 charges including five felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals. Ryan Fiem, 44, and Christopher Conaway, 33, pleaded guilty to 16 misdemeanor and summary...

A tuition increase could be in store for Westmoreland County Community College students this fall after a $1 million cut in funding from the county, the school’s board of trustees chairman said Friday. “As of now we don’t want to raise tuition, but everything is on the table,” said board...

A Unity couple said the words uttered in court at the conclusion of their weeklong trial was what they waited nine years to hear. Bruce Palmer collapsed into the arms of his wife and audibly sobbed as the jury foreman read they were not guilty to charges of sexual assault...

A Westmoreland County jury deliberated more than five hours before returning guilty verdicts against a Vandergrift man for the sexual assaults of two children. Following a three-day trial that ended Wednesday night, Timothy Robert Johnson, 38, was found guilty of nine felony counts including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, conspiracy, indecent...

Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert on Thursday announced the hiring of his fourth chief deputy since taking office in 2020. Albert, a Republican who was elected to his second four-year term last fall, named Jennifer Shipley as his second in command. Shipley, 37, of Youngwood has worked in the Sheriff’s...

Raises for Westmoreland County’s union and nonunion employees will cost taxpayers an additional $2.7 million in 2024. Commissioners ratified a union contract and approved pay hikes for nonunion workers Thursday. A new three-year labor deal with the Service Employees International Union Local 668 and Healthcare Pa. includes average raises of...

A restructuring and boost in staff pay approved by West­moreland County commissioners is expected to improve operations in the Register of Wills office. Filing delays and other deficiencies prompted Register of Wills Sherry Magretti Hamilton to be admonished last week by a county judge, who issued a court order that...

A 25-year-old woman returned to the witness stand Wednesday, six years after she first testified about allegedly being raped and sexually assaulted when she was an adolescent. The woman testified before a Westmoreland County jury she was 12 when she was subjected weekly rapes and other sexual activity at the...

Tonya Piper said she will not return to her career caring for special needs children even after a jury found her not guilty of an alleged assault against a boy with autism. Piper, 52, of New Stanton was emotional after the verdict was returned Wednesday and said she was grateful...