Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 77

The Westmoreland County commissioners suspended with pay the woman they hired less than a year ago to run the county election bureau. Records obtained Wednesday by the Tribune-Review indicate bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani was suspended Tuesday and will continue to be off the job through Friday. No reason was given...

Walter Cable told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday he and another man dropped Ronny Cable off about a block from her front door about midnight Feb. 17, 2017, and never heard from her again. Cable, 28, of Greensburg testified during the sixth day of his murder trial that he had...

A North Huntingdon man will serve up to 23 months in jail for recording video of female co-workers in the bathroom of a business where they worked and eavesdropping on conversations another had with a supervisor. Nicholas Traill, 35, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of burglary, invasion of privacy, possession...

The man prosecutors contend killed a Vandergrift woman and burned her remains four years ago claimed he was at home and asleep when she died, a detective testified Monday. Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka said Walter Cable admitted he was with 34-year-old Ronny Cable the night she disappeared but that...

Results from 14 Westmoreland County primaries were amended Monday to include additional winners after a weekend review of write-in votes identified discrepancies in how final totals were reported. “Out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to review them,” said Election Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani. Election officials said no additional...

Record-low inventories of homes for sale in Western Pennsylvania have resulted in historically high sale prices as the corona­virus pandemic continues to impact the local housing market. Real estate experts said the seller’s market for existing homes in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties is likely to continue into next year, a...

A Scottdale man was sentenced Friday to serve up to five years in prison for his role in the shooting and robbery of a Derry drug dealer last year. Brandon Eugene “Lil-Drizzy” Thomas, pleaded guilty to felony charges of robbery and conspiracy. Westmoreland County prosecutors agreed to dismiss attempted homicide,...

Editor’s note: This story was amended on June 7, 2021, to correct the name of Southmoreland school board candidate Candice Raymond. A Southmoreland School Board member on Friday challenged the results of last month’s primary, claiming the Westmoreland County Election Bureau failed to include an open two-year seat on the...

A forensic anthropologist testified Friday the body of a Vandergrift woman discovered in remote Derry Township in 2017 was likely burned in a fire for up to 10 hours. Dennis Dirkmaat, a professor at Mercyhurst University in Erie, told a Westmoreland County jury hundreds of small bone fragments along with...

Investigators found what appeared to be part of a human scalp, bone fragments, charred jewelry and clothing in a pile of ash at a secluded Derry Township camp site identified by a witness as the location where Ronny Cable was killed and her remains burned in February 2017, police detectives...

Westmoreland County’s Elections Board on Wednesday voted to pre-certify results of the 2021 primary. That vote opens a five-day window to challenge in court the results in which Republicans and Democrats were nominated to run for county row office jobs as well as magisterial district judge positions, seats on municipal...

An Export man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday that, just a day after Ronny Cable said she had feelings for him, he watched another man beat her over the head with a hammer and choke her to death. He said he then spent the next 12 hours helping to...

A Jeannette man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges related to what police said was the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in Hempfield. Westmoreland County prosecutors contended Steven Alan Deluke, 42, had sexual contact with the teen following a night of heavy alcohol consumption in August 2018. In court on...

Opening statements will begin Wednesday in the murder trial of a Greensburg man accused of fatally beating a woman whose burned remains were found four years ago in a Derry Township wooded area, a month after police said she was killed. Walter Cable, 28, was charged with criminal homicide, conspiracy,...

Westmoreland County prison officials said Tuesday, for the first time since early March, there are no active coronavirus cases among inmates and staff at the jail. “It has been challenging,” Warden Bryan Kline said about the last three months in which more than 100 inmates were infected with the virus...

The Westmoreland County Controller’s office was honored for production of its most recent report on county finances, a document completed by quarantining staffers who were required to work from home during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. The Government Finance Officers Association issued a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence...

More than 76,000 ballots were cast in Westmoreland County during this month’s primary as voter turnout topped more than 31%, a figure substantially surpassing totals from four years ago. According to figures released Friday by the county election bureau, 35% of registered Republicans and 31% of Democrats cast ballots earlier...

A pending sexual assault charge filed against a Greensburg man — who in February was found not guilty of the rape of an unconscious woman — was dismissed Thursday. Following a three-day trial, jurors acquitted Emmanuel Lebbie, 25, of Greensburg of the felony rape count but deadlocked and failed to...

Westmoreland County announced Thursday it will reopen 13 senior citizen centers June 1, more than 14 months after they were shuttered at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The centers, scattered throughout the county, served as a gathering spot for as many as 3,500 seniors for education, socialization and meals...

A South Huntingdon man will serve one month on probation for a threat police said he made late last year to bomb the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Micheal W. Stephens, 58, was charged Dec. 30 with misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct in connection with an incident in front...

The former national leader of the Pagans motorcycle club will have an additional period of freedom before he must report to the Westmoreland County Prison to serve out the remaining months of his sentence on prior drug offenses. Dennis “Rooster” Katona, 54, of Hempfield was expected to turn himself in...

The lawyer for a Unity man police said is linked to the 2018 disappearance of his former girlfriend said inaction by Westmoreland County prosecutors violated the state’s speedy trial rules. As a result, he wants a judge to dismiss three pending criminal cases. Defense attorney Dante Bertani in court documents...

A Monessen man on Tuesday said his addiction to pornography ultimately led to what he called an improper relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Daniel Powell, 37, formerly of North Versailles, told a Westmoreland County judge during his sentencing hearing for rape and other offenses he was sorry for his actions...

In-person visits with inmates at the Westmoreland County Prison will resume in June as officials ease restrictions enacted last year during the coronavirus pandemic. Inmates have been limited to video visits with friends and family as the coronavirus surged through the community and inside the Hempfield lockup. Warden Bryan Kline...