Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 81

A former Jeannette man on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the city and a police officer, contending he was the victim of a false arrest in July 2018. Richard Berger, 53, now of Hempfield, in the two-count lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County said police acted without probable cause and with...

After more than a year of meeting through windows or via video chats, Westmoreland Manor residents will have an opportunity to meet in person with family and friends starting Saturday. Officials announced Friday that outside visits for the nearly 300 nursing home residents at the county-owned facility in Hempfield will...

A judge on Friday rejected a defense request to dismiss three sex-related charges against former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez, who claims his female accuser told him she was almost an adult when police say they engaged in sexual activity. Vazquez, 29, is in Westmoreland County Prison without bond as...

A woman’s death at Westmoreland County Prison in December was confirmed Thursday, more than three months later. According to Coroner Ken Bacha, Linda Kay Quidetto, 43, of Sharon, Mercer County, was pronounced dead at 3:06 a.m. on Dec. 11 in the emergency room at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg...

A Youngwood man awaiting trial on charges he sold drugs used in the fatal overdose of a Greensburg woman in 2019 will be furloughed from Westmoreland County Prison to attend an inpatient drug rehabilitation treatment program. Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani on Wednesday granted the request from Matthew Thomas Caughey,...

A Westmoreland County judge rejected the appeal of Youngwood man who last year was sentenced to serve up to 70 years in prison for his role in a 2017 robbery that resulted in the death of a drug dealer. Christopher James David, 43, in September pleaded guilty to third-degree murder,...

Drawing criticism from county Democrats, Republican Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew on Tuesday told a Pennsylvania Senate committee that his constituents want to eliminate no-excuse mail-in voting. Chew testified before the Senate committee on election integrity and reform that more than 20,000 county residents were potentially disenfranchised during the 2020 presidential...

Correction: This story published Feb. 8, 2021, on TribLIVE.com contains information from a court hearing in which Westmoreland County prosecutors successfully argued to modify the pretrial bond of Justin De La Cruz Martinez, who is charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing for an incident police said occurred Nov. 7, 2019,...

An Allegheny Township man awaiting trial on charges he sexually assaulted five people will remain in jail after a Westmoreland County judge ruled Monday he was a potential danger to the community. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik DeFazio rejected a bond modification request from Eric Alan Wright...

Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners want the public to learn about coronavirus vaccines and will convene a webinar this week to pass along information they said will allow residents to make a more informed decision about whether they will join the ongoing immunity effort. Commissioners Doug Chew and Sean Kertes said...

From British rule to the coronavirus, Westmoreland County government stores millions of paper records spanning more than two centuries of local history. Rows of boxes stacked to the ceiling hold government and court records dating to the time of King George III. They occupy thousands of square feet of warehouse...

A Greensburg man was found guilty Tuesday of two counts of simple assault in connection with a BB gun battle among teens in Jeannette nearly four years ago that ended when a 13-year boy was shot in the eye. After an hour of deliberations a Westmoreland County jury convicted Darnell...

Westmoreland County commissioners will approve a resolution to support gun rights this week. Republican commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew, along with Democrat Gina Cerilli Thrasher, said they will declare Westmoreland a “Second Amendment County,” a move they concede has no teeth but shows support for gun owners. “There are...

Nicole Ziccarelli, a candidate for Westmoreland County District Attorney, was a no-show Monday morning for jury duty at the courthouse. Court officials confirmed Ziccarelli, a lawyer from New Kensington, was one of 160 prospective jurors summoned to appear the first day of the March criminal trial term. Ziccarelli, a Republican,...

Westmoreland County will begin accepting applications for hospitality grants Monday. Commissioners have said they expect to award up to 200 grants, which will be capped at $20,000 each, to local restaurants, taverns and hotels as part of a state program to assist businesses among the hardest hit by the ongoing...

Nearly a quarter of Westmoreland County employees were forced to sit home without a paycheck for several months last year while furloughed during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Other staffers, though, more than doubled their annual salaries though hazard pay and overtime. A Tribune-Review analysis of overtime and...

Westmoreland County could receive about $107.1 million from the federal American Rescue Plan to bolster its budget and fund projects to help recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The allocation is part of the $13.7 billion awarded to Pennsylvania and includes funding for county and local governments, according to a report...

Westmoreland Manor could begin in-person visits with residents within weeks even as coronavirus cases continue to pop up among residents and staff at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield. Officials said Thursday that one additional case was reported and there are three active coronavirus infections among residents at the 403-bed...

A Youngwood man will serve 19 years on probation after he pleaded guilty Thursday to two felony counts of child endangerment and two misdemeanor counts of corruption of minors. Jack Bates,, 47, formerly of Greensburg, who originally was charged with rape and sexual assault of two teenage girls, said it...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will not hear an appeal filed by the Tribune-Review seeking to make public the names of jurors who failed to reach a verdict in the 2018 public corruption trial of former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held. In a one-sentence order, the state’s high court denied the...

Four of five district judge seats up for grabs in 2021 will have contested primaries in May. Meanwhile, just one countywide race — the Republican primary for the clerk of courts office — will be contested this spring. Barring candidate challenges, the May 18 primary ballots appear set. The deadline...

The murder trial for a Greensburg man charged with the 2017 bludgeoning and strangulation death of a Vandergrift woman is set to begin in June. Prosecutors contend that Walter Cable, 28, is one of two men who robbed 34-year-old Ronny Cable. They are not related. She was beaten with a...

A Hempfield woman has pleaded guilty in connection with three incidents last year in which investigators said she assaulted a police officer, a deputy sheriff and a prison guard. Sonya Rae Connors, 53, was sentenced by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to serve up to 23 months...

Correction: This story published Feb. 8, 2021, on TribLIVE.com contains information from a court hearing in which Westmoreland County prosecutors successfully argued to modify the pretrial bond of Justin De La Cruz Martinez, who is charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing for an incident police said occurred Nov. 7, 2019,...