Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 76

The lawyer for a Fayette County man charged with first-degree murder of an 11-month old East Huntingdon child told a judge on Tuesday his client was ready to plead guilty to a lesser charge. Assistant Public Defender Jack Manderino said Derrick A. Bass, 31, of Uniontown indicated his desire to...

A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday ordered the former leader of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club to report to a Somerset County state prison in late July to resume serving an 80-month sentence for a drug conviction based on a 2011 raid of his Hempfield home. Dennis “Rooster” Katona, 54, was...

A Greensburg man will serve up to eight years in prison for the rape of a 5-year-old Vandergrift girl. Eric Jermain Emory, 35, pleaded guilty last week to one count of rape of a child for repeated sexual assaults of a girl in 2019 and 2020 and three additional charges...

The lawyer for a Churchill man charged in a fatal shooting in Arnold last summer told a judge that statements made to police by another attorney should not be used as evidence at his upcoming homicide trial. The trial for Devon Askew, 26, is scheduled to begin Nov. 15. Westmoreland...

Two Westmoreland County Prison inmates have active coronavirus infections but the facility’s warden on Monday said there is no sign of an additional outbreak at the Hempfield lockup. One inmate developed an infection while in quarantine and another tested positive after he was placed in a general population unit, said...

Door-to-door shared rides on the Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s paratransit system will be limited because of an ongoing driver shortage, officials announced this weekend. Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said the Go Westmoreland system needs to hire up to 15 full-time drivers to ensure the service that provides subsidized rides...

Pittsburgh police said three male suspects are wanted for questioning in connection with a brush fire set Sunday early morning near the West End Overlook building. Witnesses said three males, estimated to be between 17 to 19 years old, attempted to break the glass doors at the front of the...

A 72-year-old man was killed Sunday morning when a classic car ran off a winding road near New Stanton, state police said. According to Westmoreland County 911, rescue crews were dispatched at 8:14 a.m. to South Center Avenue near Sandworks Road in response to a report that a person had...

A Connellsville man was killed early Saturday when he was struck by a vehicle in Armstrong County. Pennsylvania State Police in Kittanning said Alan Lipscomb, 29, was laying in the middle of State Route 422 near Worthington Slate Lick Road shortly after 2:30 a.m. when he was hit by an...

Fares to ride Westmoreland County Transit Authority buses and paratransit vehicles will remain unchanged under a new operating budget approved this week. The spending plan relies heavily on federal stimulus grants as revenues continue to lag more than a year after the coronavirus pandemic caused a dramatic drop-off in passenger...

A Westmoreland County judge on Friday rejected two lawsuits seeking to invalidate results from the May primary. Judge Harry Smail Jr. said the lawsuits, both filed without the help of lawyers, were improperly submitted because they did not include verified signatures from 20 district voters and failed to include required...

Westmoreland County government offices will be open Friday as the federal and state governments, along with neighboring Allegheny County, are closed to observe the Juneteenth holiday. Westmoreland officials said there are no concrete plans to add Juneteenth to the holiday schedule, but discussions to consider doing so could be in...

Water quality tests at the reservoir that supplies drinking water to about half of all Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers will continue for the next year. Authority board members this week approved a new contract with Indiana University of Pennsylvania to collect samples and analyze the water at Beaver...

A Hempfield man was sentenced to serve at least two years in prison for an attack that left his neighbor bloodied and in a coma for days following a vicious attack two years ago. Vincente Alejo Andres V, 36, pleaded guilty last summer to aggravated and simple assault charges. On...

A Bolivar man will serve up to four years in prison after pleading guilty Wednesday to his role in a failed plot to smuggle drugs into the county jail and for threatening a witness. David Lee McGinnis, 28, was among six people — including his mother — charged in connection...

Westmoreland County’s public works director continued in his interim role as head of the election bureau on Tuesday as the commissioners remained silent about the status of the department’s suspended top official. The county commissioners also serve as the county’s election board. They met as such late Tuesday to approve...

A Jeannette man will serve up to five years of probation after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he used his pickup truck to drag an off-duty Penn Township police officer down his own driveway and into a front yard three years ago. William Albert Brummett, 34, pleaded guilty...

Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials said Tuesday the agency secured more than $17 million in low-interest loans and will seek to borrow another $4.5 million to pay for new construction projects and renovation of existing properties. Director Michael Washowich said the low-income housing agency used four of its larger properties...

Westmoreland County commissioners have created a program that officials said will help private businesses and industrial building owners borrow money to pay for energy conservation programs. The Countywide Property Assessed Clean Energy Program, launched by the state in 2018, allows the county to act as a middle man for private...

The Westmoreland County commissioners said Thursday the staff issues that have plagued the county election bureau this week has not impacted the department’s ability to operate. The commissioners following their June public meeting did not acknowledge the paid suspension of Election Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani but indicated they are working...

A jury will resume deliberations Thursday morning in the trial of a Greensburg man charged with the murder of a Vandergrift woman whose charred remains were found at a secluded Derry Township campsite four years ago. Jurors deliberated about four hours Wednesday and did not reach a verdict in the...