Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 6

Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members last week approved a $9.6 million project to install new equipment to better control water pressure. The project is part of upgrades that will enable staff to remotely adjust and monitor water flow, said MAWC manager Michael Kukura. Officials said the new equipment...

Sheriff James Albert’s initial attempt to invalidate Westmoreland County’s vehicle tracking policy has been rejected by a judge. Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr., in a ruling made public Friday, said more evidence is needed to determine whether the policy violates the sheriff’s ability to independently run his elected office....

Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will pause a plan to refinance more than $150 million in existing debt. The authority board of directors have concerns that deteriorating economic conditions could result in a reduction in potential savings for the water and sewer agency. Authority administrators and private financial advisers have...

John Creasy has had a long road to recovery after he and two motorcycle riders traveling along Route 30 in Ligonier were hit by a drunk driver. “I’ll be handicapped for the rest of my life,” Creasy said Thursday following a sentencing hearing for a Washington County man who prosecutors...

A national animal advocacy organization Wednesday criticized a probation sentence imposed against a Derry-area woman who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty offenses. In Defense of Animals, an international animal protection organization based in San Rafael, Calif., said the guilty plea entered by Kimberly Rose, 45, of Blairsville in late June...

Concerns that contraband could be smuggled into the Westmoreland County Prison led officials to deny the scheduled transfer of a yarmulke-wearing inmate to the courthouse this week. After nearly two days of silence, county commissioners emailed a brief, two-sentence statement Tuesday night. They confirmed that Kort Noel Eckman was held...

A former Latrobe man pleaded guilty to his role in the 2021 overdose death of his friend. Kevin. B. Shaffer, 52, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in about three months after he pleaded guilty Monday to one felony count of drug delivery resulting in...

A New Kensington man has just hours to decide whether to accept a plea deal involving the 2020 murder during a botched robbery and the unrelated shooting of four others a year earlier. The combined plea offer comes just weeks before the scheduled retrial of Latresse T. Williams, 34. Prosecutors...

A Mt. Pleasant Township man accused of trying to kill his mother missed a court hearing Monday because he refused to remove his yarmulke, his attorney said. Defense attorney Tim Andrews said Westmoreland County Prison officials would not take his client, Kort Noel Eckman, on the 3-mile car trip from...

A Scottdale man was ordered to serve seven years of probation for his role in a 2023 shootout with a juvenile in a dispute that arose out of an alleged deal for drug-laced candy. Joseph A. Greep Jr., 21, pleaded guilty in April to lesser charges after prosecutors agreed to...

The Rev. Bob Ross’ weekly messages to parishioners at Heritage Baptist Church in Jeannette never tackle politics. It’s the way Ross views his role as a local faith leader. “I”m not political, so I’m not going to talk about politics from the pulpit,” Ross said. “My job is not to...

A judge abused his discretion by reimposing a life prison sentence for a Monessen man convicted of raping of a young mother and murdering her children in 1973, his attorney claims in court papers. Defense attorney Mark Shire argued in an appeal filed Friday that his client, John Veltre Jr.,...

The Westmoreland County commissioners have no time for excessive talk. Responding to what they said was a growing level of belligerency in political speech, the county commissioners, before the start of Thursday’s public meeting, announced a heightened enforcement of time constraints placed on public comments. Commissioners Chairman Sean Kertes told...

The Westmoreland County commissioners have approved a $12,000 payout to settle a lawsuit filed by a former jail guard who claimed she was improperly fired after she raised allegations of racial discrimination. According to the lawsuit filed in 2019, Bonita Hughey of Jeannette contended she was fired from her job...

As the mercury continues to rise this summer, Westmoreland officials have started to explore how the county might keep its homeless residents warm this winter. The county’s Homeless Advisory Board met Wednesday at the courthouse in Greensburg to consider the expansion of a program that, since 2015, has helped to...

Heather McLean knows even one loss from suicide is too many. Because of that, she and a group of Westmoreland County leaders have started to explore the root causes and common themes that could improve treatment and prevention to reduce the number of suicides in the county, which reached a...

A Westmoreland County jury on Tuesday convicted a Mt. Pleasant man of the repeated sexual abuse of a teen about a decade ago. Following a brief trial that started Monday and included testimony from the alleged victim and their mother, the jury deliberated more than four hours before reaching its...

Westmoreland County’s longtime chief public defender, Wayne McGrew, resigned late last week. “His last day officially was last Friday,” said Commissioner Ted Kopas. “I believe his resignation is in the best interest of the office.” It was not clear what prompted the resignation. McGrew did not return a phone call...

Susan Worlton only knew her sisters from her mother’s stories and the few pictures that remain. In a courtroom Friday, Worlton told a Westmoreland County judge how the violent murders of her sisters five decades earlier have impacted her family. She and her mother were among the witnesses at the...

Westmoreland County’s plan for centralized hub to house its human services programs received a $500,000 boost from a Pittsburgh foundation. Commissioners this week accepted a grant from the Eden Hall Foundation that officials said could help pay for relocation of hundreds of employees and social service programs to one location....

Westmoreland commissioners said the roughly $2.6 million doled out Thursday from legal settlements with major drug makers and distributors will not even come close to covering the damages the county sustained from the opioid addiction crisis. The money was awarded to agencies and nonprofits aimed at drug treatment, recovery and...

A North Carolina woman was paroled from the Westmoreland County Prison on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to operating an online theft and extortion plot last year against a North Huntingdon man. Prosecutors said the scheme had the victim paying nearly $24,000 over several months to a woman who investigators...

The Westmoreland County commissioners are expected to launch a grant program this week to provide funding to help low-income residents access the internet. Commissioners are slated to vote Thursday on the proposal to establish a digital technology grant program. They also are expected to award three $15,000 grants to local...

Daniel Rebosky told a Westmoreland County judge Tuesday he will not forgive his brother for the role he played in his son’s 2021 overdose death. “God teaches us to forgive, but I cannot forgive Michael Rebosky because he let this happen,” Daniel Rebosky said during a sentencing hearing for his...

Testimony that a 5-year-old Delmont boy was tortured by his adoptive parents will be admissible at an upcoming trial, a Westmoreland County judge ruled on Monday. Following a daylong hearing, Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears said he will allow prosecutors to present the evidence of torture against parents Lauren and...