Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 3

The ongoing budget stalemate in Harrisburg will have little impact on Westmoreland County Transit Authority operations, officials said. Executive Director Alan Blahovec, during the authority’s monthly board meeting Thursday, said the agency has enough funding in place to continue its current schedule of fixed-route bus service and paratransit programs throughout...

An Allegheny County Jail guard pleaded guilty this week to being drunk when he caused a violent crash three years ago in North Huntingdon, injuring another motorist. Dwight D. Edwards, 52, of Penn Township was charged following the Nov. 14, 2022, crash on Morris Avenue. Police said Edwards’ pickup truck...

A Unity plumber was ordered to serve at least 11½ months in jail for failing to complete a sewer replacement job at a Hempfield home in 2022. Mark E. Loughran, 55, pleaded guilty to felony counts of deceptive business practices, theft and receiving advance payment for work not completed. But...

A Westmoreland County judge has ordered the closure of the criminal case that ended the Major League Baseball career of former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez. Vazquez, 34, was convicted of the sexual assault of a Scottdale teenager and served about four years in prison before he was deported in...

First responders in Westmoreland County know all too well the dangers that exist for those with dementia, autism, Alzheimer’s and other cognitive disorders who wander away from home. In the last year, nearly three dozen searches throughout the county were undertaken in response to missing person reports filed by caregivers,...

An East Huntingdon man charged with a 2021 Election Day assault at a Westmoreland County voting precinct was jailed Tuesday. Prosecutors told a judge that continued threats have been made against the alleged victim and her family. Zachary Lambing, 38, of Alverton, is awaiting trial on charges of simple assault...

Westmoreland Manor has seen better days. County leaders this month issued a warning that persistent nursing shortages and a dwindling number of residents have created economic pitfalls that could endanger the facility in the years to come. The six-story nursing home in Hempfield has served Westmoreland County’s aging and disabled...

A Southwest Greensburg man will serve 10 years on probation for his role in the 2023 death of his 8-month-old son. Jason Frederick Ludwig, 40, pleaded guilty Monday to a felony count of child endangerment and misdemeanor charges of obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. Police said he attempted...

A $3.25 million deal to sell the Sutersville-Sewickley Sewage Authority is awaiting approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Authority chairman Bruce Riley confirmed Friday a deal was reached this spring for Pennsylvania-American Water Co. to purchase the small system’s infrastructure and provide service to nearly 500 customers. “It needs...

An $86 million hotel and conference center adjacent to Live Casino Pittsburgh at Westmoreland Mall could infuse more than $720 million into the community in just 10 years. That was the conclusion of a six-month study commissioned by the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce. Local leaders are hopeful the study...

Janice Smarto made a name for herself in real estate and community service, but it was dedication to her family where she stood tall, her daughter said Wednesday. Smarto, 82, died Aug. 10 from injuries sustained in a fall two weeks earlier in her Jeannette home. “She was a spitfire...

In court documents filed Monday, the lawyer for Westmoreland County’s former purchasing director claimed that county leaders approved a transfer of the funds prosecutors contend was stolen during a yearlong payroll scheme. Kristopher Cardiff, 48, of Trafford was charged with felony theft counts in connection with allegations that he misappropriated...

The Greensburg Salem School District was ordered Monday to turn over sensitive student records to prosecutors and a defense attorney in the case of alleged mistreatment of three children in a special education classroom. Teacher Brooke Stanko, classroom aide Teri Kepchia and four other employees are awaiting trial on allegations...

Westmoreland County may tap federal coronavirus pandemic grant funds to cover impending budgetary shortfalls. The county still holds less than a third of the $105.4 million in federal grants that it received. Finance Director Meghan McCandless said even though all of the funds received through the American Rescue Plan program...

Westmoreland County development officials will spend $1.6 million to renovate the last remaining vacant space in the Jeannette Industrial Park. A former centerpiece of Jeannette’s glass making past, the more than 211,000-square-foot property has served as one of 19 industrial parks in the county since the mid 1990s. It is...

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli on Thursday said her office will seek a third trial for a New Kensington man charged in connection with the 2020 fatal shooting of an Arnold drug dealer. After 10 hours of deliberations over two days, jurors failed to reach a verdict for charges...

A Westmoreland County jury will resume deliberations Thursday morning in the retrial of a New Kensington man charged with the murder and robbery of an Arnold drug dealer. Jurors heard three days of testimony and deliberated nearly six hours Wednesday without reaching a verdict in the case against Letresse Williams....

A New Kensington woman testified Tuesday that her former boyfriend confessed to his role in a fatal shooting of an Arnold drug dealer nearly five years ago. Shawnti Lee told a Westmoreland County jury that Letresse Williams made a frantic call to her in the late afternoon of Jan. 15,...

For the second time in 14 months, Westmoreland County prosecutors will attempt to convince a jury that Letresse Williams killed a suspected drug dealer during a botched robbery attempt. Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli said the Jan. 15, 2020, fatal shooting of Anthone Williams warrants a second-degree murder conviction. (Letresse...

Former Greensburg police chief Shawn Denning pleaded guilty Monday in Westmoreland County court to three misdemeanor counts of tampering with evidence. Denning, 44, of Delmont was sentenced to serve three concurrent one-year probation terms, which will run alongside the 15-month federal prison sentence he is serving after pleading guilty this...

Former Greensburg police chief Shawn Denning is back in Westmoreland County. Denning, 44, of Delmont was transferred this week to the county jail to await a court appearance Monday, when he is expected to consider a possible guilty plea to misdemeanor charges in connection with allegations that he stole evidence...

Kristina Trent said Friday her father hasn’t been able to be at home much over the last two weeks amid another outbreak of bedbugs at a Jeannette high-rise apartment building. “My dad has to stay with me. He can’t go home to a house where he is still paying rent,”...

Fees for Westmoreland planners to review development proposals will increase after commissioners approved a revision of the county’s decade-old subdivision ordinance. Commissioners signed off on the updated guidelines that officials said could spur future growth and development. Fees paid by developers and property owners for the county to review plans...

Westmoreland County has signed on to the settlement of a federal lawsuit with the makers of Oxycontin. The $7 billion overall resolution to the litigation filed against Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, was approved earlier this year. It is expected to result in $200 million earmarked for...

For the first time in five years, Westmoreland County has a deputy director of the election bureau. The county commissioners on Thursday announced the hiring of Hannah Lindley, 31, of Bentleyville, Washington County, to serve as second in command of the office that oversees elections in Westmoreland County. Lindley served...