Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 74
3rd lawsuit filed over injuries on Mammoth Park’s Giant Slide
A third lawsuit has been filed against Westmoreland County over the newly built Giant Slide in Mammoth Park. Katherine McClelland of Fayette City, in court documents filed this week, claims she broke her ankle and suffered other injuries as a result of a ride down the slide July 14, 2020....
Lawyer change approved in Jeannette murder, arson case
A Jeannette man awaiting trial on homicide and arson charges will have new lawyers. Westmoreland County Public Defender Wayne McGrew said he, along with assistant Jennifer DeFlitch, will serve as primary attorneys for Brian Rendon as he continues to weigh a potential plea deal or going to trial next year...
Defense attorney second guesses trial strategy in Arnold murder appeal
Defense attorney Ralph Karsh told a Westmoreland County judge on Monday that he never considered evidence during a 2017 murder trial that his client’s young age mitigated the decision to shoot and kill a man during a 2015 melee in Arnold between two families. “In retrospect, I wish I had...
Voter turnout at 36% in Westmoreland County; elections board reviews problem ballots
More than 88,000 registered voters in Westmoreland County cast ballots in last week’s general election as turnout for the municipal races neared 36%, officials said. That figure exceeded the predicted turnout of 30% and represented 22,000 more ballots than were cast during a similar election cycle in 2017. This fall’s...
Former Allegheny Co. police superintendent Charles Moffatt dies
Former Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt has died, county officials announced Sunday afternoon. Moffatt, 80, of Coraopolis, retired as the county’s police superintendent in March 2016 after a 48-year law enforcement career. He served as Allegheny County’s police superintendent for 12 years after a 36-year stint with the Pittsburgh...
Teen shot Sunday morning in Hill District
A 14-year-old boy was shot Sunday morning in the Hill District, according to Pittsburgh police. Police said they responded at 11:30 a.m. to calls on the 2000 block of Webster Avenue that a teenager sustained a gunshot wound to the leg. The victim ran into a family member’s house after...
Man killed, another injured in overnight Swissvale shootings
One man was killed and another injured less than 20 minutes apart in two shooting incidents early Sunday morning in Swissvale. Allegheny County police said an investigation is ongoing to determine if the shootings were connected. Police found a 23-year-old man, identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office as...
Armed robbery at Crafton Heights business probed
Pittsburgh police launched an investigation in an apparent armed robbery of a Family Dollar store on Chartiers Avenue in the city’s Crafton Heights neighborhood. Police said employees told investigators that just before 10 p.m. on Saturday a mask-wearing man came up to the counter and brandished a firearm before he...
Holiday shopping season starts at packed Ligonier Country Market
Maria Dellera loves goats and found herself the perfect Christmas gift this year, albeit a bit early. Dellera, of Jeannette, was among the expected 6,000 who attended Saturday’s Ligonier Country Market Holiday Market, where gift items, food, beverage and holiday-themed merchandise was up for sale as an appetizer for the...
Man hospitalized after he was shot in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood
A man was hospitalized for injuries sustained in a shooting late Friday night in Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood. Police said they found a man who had been shot at the intersection of Industry Street and Allen Street at 11 p.m. The unidentified victim was shot in the shoulder and face. He...
Pitt basketball player Ithiel Horton charged with South Side assault on police officer
University of Pittsburgh basketball player Ithiel Horton was arrested Saturday morning and charged with punching a police officer during an altercation on Pittsburgh’s South Side, a source confirmed to the Tribune-Review. Horton, 21, a third-year guard from New Jersey, was in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting arraignment following his arrest...
Westmoreland GOP crows over election wins as Democrats look to redefine message
Westmoreland is a Republican county. While that has been the the case for the last several years, Tuesday’s GOP victories solidifies the party’s dominance in local politics. Those wins will give Republicans control of every elected office in county government as well as every state and federal office specific to...
Ziccarelli ready for new job as Westmoreland County District Attorney
Nicole Ziccarelli knows her successful campaign that ousted six-term Democrat John Peck is only the beginning. The hard part begins in January, when she takes over as Westmoreland County District Attorney. “I’m glad I have two months to prepare,” Ziccarelli said Wednesday, hours after she received more than 57% of...
Guilty plea entered in New Kensington fatal overdose case
Westmoreland County prosecutors this week dropped a felony charge of drug delivery resulting in death against one of three men charged in connection with a 2018 fatal drug overdose in New Kensington. Matthew Covey, 50, formerly of Missouri, pleaded guilty to a lesser drug possession charge as part of a...
New Stanton man sentenced to 10 years in prison for robbery, assaults
A New Stanton man will serve up to 10 years in prison for an armed robbery during which he assaulted two clerks at a local gas station in 2019. Anthony David Gillingham Jr., 33, pleaded guilty Tuesday to multiple charges in four different criminal cases including the incident three years...
Carson defeats Bacha in Westmoreland coroner’s race, as GOP sweeps county row offices
Scottdale’s Tim Carson on Tuesday went from caterer to coroner and ended the political dynasty that has held the Westmoreland County office for nearly a half century. With 100% of the vote counted, the Republican appeared to defeat five-term incumbent Democrat Ken Bacha. The owner of Carson’s Premier Catering in...
Ziccarelli surges to win Westmoreland district attorney race over Peck
For the first time in more than a quarter century, Westmoreland County will have a new top prosecutor. With 100% of the county’s 307 precincts reporting Wednesday morning, Republican Nicole Ziccarelli erased an early lead held by six-term Democratic incumbent John Peck and claimed the race for district attorney. Peck...
Guilty plea deal rejected in 2018 Jeannette murder and arson case
A Jeannette man charged with murder and arson in connection with a deadly fire in 2018 that killed one person and injured another rejected a proposed plea bargain that would have spared him from a life prison sentence. Brian Rendon would not accept a deal to plead guilty to a...
Ballot error costly as Westmoreland officials scramble to fix 11th-hour mistake
Westmoreland County paid more than $8,100 for postage to correct errors that appeared on 151 mail-in and absentee ballots sent out to voters in two Mt. Pleasant Borough precincts. Officials on Monday confirmed the ballots erroneously instructed voters to choose one of two candidates seeking council seats in the borough’s...
Voter turnout projected to hit 30% in Westmoreland County
More than 200,000 Westmoreland County voters — or more than 80% of those registered — cast ballots during last fall’s Presidential Election. A year later, turnout for Tuesday’s election is expected to be just a fraction of that, election officials said. “We’re saying it will be be around 30%,” said...
No director, no problem: Westmoreland makes final election preparations
Westmoreland is one of five counties in Pennsylvania without a permanent election director heading into Tuesday’s balloting, but local officials insist operations have never run better. With days before voters head to the polls Tuesday and results are tallied, the fury and confusion that plagued the county election bureau a...
Westmoreland prothonotary announces extended hours for passports
The Westmoreland County Courthouse office that processes U.S. passport applications will have extended hours one day a week, officials announced. Beginning Nov. 4, the fifth floor Prothonotary Office at the courthouse will be open two additional hours every Thursday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. to process passports. It’s a...
Westmoreland commissioners told to ‘do the right thing’ with covid relief money
Westmoreland County residents have a big shopping list for federal coronavirus relief funds but one unified message: “Do the right thing.” That was the common refrain from the dozens who testified Thursday during two public hearings held at Westmoreland County Community College about how county leaders should spend $105 million...
Westmoreland commissioners told to ‘do the right thing’ with covid relief money
Westmoreland County residents have a big shopping list for federal coronavirus relief funds but one unified message: “Do the right thing.” That was the common refrain from the dozens who testified Thursday during two public hearings held at Westmoreland County Community College about how county leaders should spend $105 million...
Hammers appointed to serve as Derry district judge
The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed Kelly Tua Hammers to fill the remaining two months in the term of Derry Magisterial District Judge Mark Bilik, who retired in August. Hammers, 49, a Democrat from Derry, won both the Democratic and Republican primaries in May and is unopposed on the...
