Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 90

A former part-time Mt. Pleasant Borough police officer was convicted Friday of sexually assaulting three women in 2014 and 2015. John A. Brown, 47, of Mt. Lebanon, who had been free on bail, was handcuffed and sent to jail to await a sentencing hearing at which he faces at least...

A New Kensington man accused of selling a dose of fentanyl-laced heroin to a Natrona man who died of an overdose two years ago was acquitted Friday. A Westmoreland County jury deliberated more than three hours before it found Adrian Morris, 23, not guilty of drug delivery resulting in death...

Mail-in ballots that were to be sent out last week to voters in Westmoreland County remained missing-in-action Thursday as officials scrambled to correct what has become a weeklong delay in the start of voting for the general election. Voters who called the elections bureau Thursday were told ballots were mailed...

A former Oklahoma Borough man told a Westmoreland County jury he knew he couldn’t stick around after he and another man left their unconscious friend across the front seats of his pickup parked in the New Kensington Taco Bell parking lot two years ago. Keith Klingensmith testified he didn’t know...

Two guards at the Westmoreland County Prison tested positive for coronavirus and the Hempfield jail was placed on lockdown status Wednesday. “The prison continues to follow all appropriate and currently recommended protocols to mitigate the spread of covid-19 to keep the employees and prison population safe,” according to a statement...

The lawyer for a New Kensington man charged in the sale of a fatal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin attempted Wednesday to shift blame for the overdose that killed a Natrona man who was found a fast-food restaurant parking lot. The man on trial for the death of John Charlton Jr....

The Democratic challenger seeking to oust incumbent state Sen. Kim Ward in the 39th District issued a strong rebuke on Wednesday of Ward’s decision to hold a campaign fundraiser last week in which one elected county leader who attended has since tested positive for the coronavirus. Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug...

Two women told jurors Tuesday that a former part-time Mt. Pleasant police officer overpowered them when he attempted to have sex with them in separate incidents in 2014 and 2015. John Brown, 47, of Mt. Lebanon is accused of sexually assaulting four women in three counties over two years. “This...

Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew tested positive for coronavirus, causing county leaders to shut down their courthouse offices and cancel three public meetings this week. Chew, a first-term Republican from Hempfield, confirmed the diagnosis in text message Tuesday morning. “I was last in the commissioners’ suite on Wednesday afternoon/evening. I...

Coronavirus infections in Westmoreland County jumped by nearly 600 cases over the past month, a statistic that county and state officials said Monday was attributed to a general community spread of the virus. The Pennsylvania Department of Health disclosed that more than 100 cases were identified in the county over...

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to rock Westmoreland Manor, the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield, leaders on Monday announced a change to the facility’s administration. According to a news release, county commissioners said Assistant Administrator Abby Testa was named the Manor’s acting interim administrator, effective Oct. 2. “At this time,...

A Salem man will serve up to 23 months in jail and four additional years on probation for sexual assaults against two adult women and a juvenile. Dylan Thomas McRoberts, 23, pleaded guilty Monday to lesser charges after prosecutors agreed to dismiss more serious rape counts after his victims objected...

The trial of a former Mt. Pleasant part-time police officer charged with the sexual assaults of six women will begin Tuesday in Westmoreland County. Jurors were selected Monday to hear the cases against John Andrew Brown of Mt. Lebanon, who first was arrested in 2016 in connection with an accusation...

A Pittsburgh man’s yawns during a court hearing Friday prompted a Westmoreland County judge to reject a proposed plea bargain in which the man would plead guilty to charges related to an armed robbery last year in Jeannette. Jamar Miles, 19, of Pittsburgh, was expected to receive a sentence of...

A former Pennsylvania State Police trooper convicted this year of falsifying public documents avoided a jail sentence Friday when a Westmoreland County judge said trauma suffered by two overseas military tours were enough to mitigate the need for incarceration. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger conceded that Chad Corbett, who...

Westmoreland commissioners fired the deputy director of the county’s elections bureau — a move that continues upheaval in the department just a month before the Nov. 3 election. County officials on Thursday would not comment on the reasons for the dismissal of Scott Sistek, who served for more than a...

Another 13 residents and three employees tested positive for coronavirus at Westmoreland Manor. With the new cases, there are now 67 of the county-owed nursing home’s 336 residents and 26 staff members who have been diagnosed with covid-19 since the outbreak was first discovered in mid-September. “There have been no...

Aaron Waters said he will never forgive the man who shot and killed his 16-year-old daughter nearly four years ago in Arnold. “That person stole my joy, he stole my sunny days. I don’t see forgiveness in me at all. Acceptance, I have to,” Waters said Thursday during a hearing...

A New Kensington woman is appealing her conviction on charges she helped her cousin avoid capture after the 2017 killing of a police officer. In court documents filed this week, the lawyer for Lisa Harrington contends jurors should not have been allowed to watch video that depicted the Nov. 17,...

Lorraine Makosky’s tanning salon in Hempfield missed out on what would have been her busy season when Pennsylvania’s nonessential businesses were shut down this spring during the coronavirus pandemic. Lorraine Marie’s Tanning finally reopened in June but, by then, the early days of spring tanning were gone and, with them,...

Construction of the Westmoreland County Housing Authority’s most recent project is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, and residents could move in by late October. Odin View Apartments in Hempfield, a $13.1 million project, will have 47 units in the three-story housing complex for low-income seniors and serve...

A Hempfield woman charged with assaults against a police officer and guards at the Westmoreland County Prison was released from jail on unsecured bond this week. Sonya Rae Connors, 52, had been behind bars since her arrest in January after she was charged with a felony count of aggravated assault,...