Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 66

Westmoreland County District Attorney-elect Nicole Ziccarelli said Wednesday she and her new administrative team are set to begin work Jan. 3 to replace outgoing prosecutor John Peck, who she said has so far refused to cooperate with the transition. “My predecessor is not interested in creating a transition team with...

A federal lawsuit filed by a former Westmoreland County Prison inmate who claimed he was beaten by a guard in 2018 has been settled. The county commissioners this month approved a $27,500 settlement to end the case filed by DaRob Wright of New Kensington. “It was completely unjustified,” attorney John...

A Greensburg man awaiting trial on charges that he directed his ex-girlfriend to have sex with a child and record the act now contends the case is based on an improper police search of his cell phone. A new lawyer for Charles Jason Hunter, 35, in court documents made public...

Westmoreland County Prison Warden Bryan Kline said that as of Monday there are 21 current coronavirus infections at the jail but no additional cases have been reported since late last week. Kline said the last inmate to test positive for the virus was on Dec. 17. “It’s getting better,” Kline...

Nearly two years after the fact, Westmoreland County’s senior executives, department heads and other top administrators will receive bonuses for their work in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved retroactive pandemic pay for about 60 county officials for 10 days of work between March...

Westmoreland County on Monday signed up to be part of a proposed $26 billion national settlement with three major drugmakers to end a lawsuit over the ongoing opioid epidemic. The county and its 11 largest municipalities would receive up to $22 million over the next 18 years, commissioners said. “This...

Westmoreland County prosecutors on Friday dismissed murder charges against two women implicated in the 2019 robbery and killing of a man in Arnold. Instead, Santyna M. Bennett, 28, of New Kensington and Bailey Ann Hines, 27, of Butler pleaded guilty to lesser charges in return for their cooperation with police...

Leadership of the union that represents Westmoreland County Transit Authority fixed-route bus drivers and mechanics said Friday a proposal to offer additional sick leave to vaccinated employees who test positive for the coronavirus is not fair and won’t present the plan to its members. Dave Conley, president of the Amalgamated...

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said he struggled with just how much blame to assign to a man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to selling the drugs used in the fatal overdoses of two men in 2017. “This is a scourge that is destroying our society,...

The former New Stanton teenager who claimed he was under the influence of an alternate personality that made him kill his mother and younger brother more than five years ago told a Westmoreland County judge he hasn’t received proper mental health treatment as he serves a prison sentence of 30...

Time is an asset Westmoreland County commissioners said they can no longer waste. Starting next year, commissioners will save some of it by no longer listening to emailed comments at the start of each public meeting. “It is time constraints, and we do have back-to-back meetings,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher...

Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday approved a 2022 budget that increases spending but also trims a projected deficit by nearly $7 million. The property tax rate will remain unchanged at 21.49 mills. “Overall, we are financially looking solid as we move forward into the next two years,” Commissioner Sean Kertes...

Water rates for Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers are expected to remain unchanged during the 2022-23 fiscal year. A preliminary budget unveiled this week calls for the authority to retain its rate structure even as inflation has raised the costs associated with routine repairs and other upgrades planned for...

Westmoreland Controller Jeff Balzer called a vote by county commissioners Thursday to reject proposed raises for three of his office supervisors “incompetent or political.” For the second time this year, Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher voted down a request from the controller to increase the pay of three...

A federal appeals court this week reinstated the first-degree murder conviction of a former Penn Township man who has been serving a life prison sentence in connection with the fatal shooting of a romantic rival in 2006. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a...

A Latrobe man was set to be released from jail Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in connection with an incident in which a city police officer claimed he was bitten during an attempted arrest in September. Codi J. Barger, 27, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of...

A Westmoreland County judge on Monday rejected a defense request for a nominal bond that would have allowed the Murrysville man accused of setting fire to a local restaurant to be released from jail as he awaits trial. Brian P. Lucas, 44, was charged with arson and other offenses in...

Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert said a tentative settlement was reached to resolve a lawsuit he filed in October that sought to lift the requirement for his deputies to transport jail inmates for medical care. Following a closed-door meeting Monday convened by Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Scherer with lawyers...

A state appeals court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction and life prison sentence of a Penn Hills man who claimed his dead twin brother was responsible for a fatal shooting in Jeannette in 2017. A three judge-panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled this week there was no merit...

A former St. Clair Township man acquitted of murder in the 2015 killing of a police officer is back in the Westmoreland County Prison, where he will remain pending the outcome of new case stemming from his arrest this week for alleged probation violations. Ray Allen Shetler Jr., 37, appeared...

A Westmoreland County jury on Thursday said an Export man was not guilty of causing the death of a co-worker who died in 2018 from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. Jurors deliberated more than six hours before it returned a mixed verdict in which it acquitted Kelly Ryan Frank...

A Vandergrift man will serve up to five years in prison for an incident in which police said he threatened to kill himself. Justin Danjou, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one felony count of criminal trespassing and a misdemeanor offense of unlawful restraint after police said he broke into a...

Closing arguments are expected to begin Thursday morning in the trial of an Export man accused of selling the drugs used in the 2018 fatal overdose of a coworker. Westmoreland County prosecutors contend Kelly Ryan Frank sold the drugs that killed 29-year-old Keith Robert Alexander, who was found dead by...

A Hempfield man’s third appeal of his first-degree murder conviction for the 2012 killing of his wife has been rejected by a Westmoreland County judge. Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears ruled there was no evidence to support the claims made by David Stahl that his former appeals lawyer did...

Dina Alexander knew something wasn’t right when she drove by the Murrysville restaurant where her son had worked for the last 11 years and didn’t see his car parked out front. So when he didn’t return her calls she drove over to his Export apartment and found his car parked...