Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 91

Seven more residents at Westmoreland Manor tested positive for coronavirus, county officials said Tuesday. With those test results, the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield has now has 54 residents and 23 employees who have been been infected with covid-19 since mid-September. No additional employees have tested positive for the virus...

Mail-in and absentee ballots are expected to be sent out to Westmoreland County voters no later than Saturday. The state’s late certification of ballots two weeks ago delayed the process and final reviews were not completed until this week, said JoAnn Sebastiani, director of the county’s elections bureau. Pending any...

A Penn Township man who fired one shot from a high-powered rifle through a wall and toward police officers responding to a domestic violence call at his home was convicted Friday of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer. The Westmoreland County jury deliberated more than three hours before it...

Nine more employees at Westmoreland Manor, the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield, tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Friday. According to the latest update from county officials, no additional residents have been diagnosed with coronavirus, leaving the number of infected at 47. There are currently 336 residents at the Manor....

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the victim, who was Dan McNerny. A Pennsylvania appeals court upheld the third-degree murder conviction of a Latrobe man serving up to 20 years in prison for his role in the murder of a Good Samaritan who was killed as...

A New Kensington woman was sentenced Thursday to serve at least three years in prison for helping her cousin escape capture in the hours after a city police officer was gunned down nearly three years ago. Lisa Harrington was convicted of five felony offenses and one misdemeanor for helping Rahmael...

Westmoreland County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a New Kensington man charged with the fatal beating of his paramour’s 2-year-old son earlier this year. In court documents filed Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Judy Petrush cited three aggravated circumstances that, if proved, warrant a sentence of death by lethal...

Westmoreland County commissioners Wednesday awarded more than $4.3 million in grants to 26o small businesses that suffered financial losses because of the covid-19 pandemic. The grants were funded through $31.5 million in federal funds funneled through the state as part of the government’s coronavirus relief program. “Our goal was to...

Initial coronavirus testing has been completed at Westmoreland Manor and officials said Wednesday that one additional resident and three more staffers have been infected with covid-19. Those latest results indicate that since the weekend a total of 33 residents and six employees have been diagnosed with the virus at the...

Westmoreland officials said Tuesday another 12 residents and an additional staffer at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield tested positive for coronavirus. The latest test results means that 9.5% of the Westmoreland Manor’s 336 residents are infected. Federally mandated baseline testing for the virus started last week at the facility....

A prosecutor said a former Westmoreland County Prison guard crossed the line when he allegedly threatened and assaulted an inmate at the conclusion of a physical altercation at the lockup. “The use of force, how much is enough when he crosses the line, that’s what this case is about,” Assistant...

Nearly two dozen people at Westmoreland Manor tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend, and county officials said the number of those infected could increase in the coming days. Routine testing conducted last week identified the cases among 20 residents and two staffers, of which many appeared to be...

A West Newton man will serve up to seven years in prison for sex crimes against a 4-year-old girl. David L. Hresko, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to the aggravated indecent assault of a child, corruption of minors and child endangerment in connection with allegations made by a now 10-year-old girl....

A Penn Township man meant to kill himself, not a police officer, when he fired shots during a 2016 standoff, his attorney told jurors Monday. Defense lawyer Jeff Monzo said Jody Martz, 56, was suffering from four bulging discs in his back, a recent knee replacement and high blood pressure...

Hundreds of grants to small businesses will be awarded at a special meeting this week as part of an effort spend $31.5 million in federal coronavirus relief funds, Westmoreland County commissioners said. County officials said the first $10 million of the covid grants funds will be allocated to assist small...

The final four people charged last year for their alleged roles in the Iannelli gambling ring that operated throughout western Pennsylvania were sentenced Friday to serve one year probation terms as part of a deal with prosecutors in which their criminal records could ultimately be expunged. Each of the four,...

In a typical year, members of the Jewish community would’ve dressed up and assembled Friday night at the local temple for two days of services with friends, family and fellow congregants to mark the start of the High Holy Days. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in 2020 are different. Congregations...

Two hours of local bus service on Westmoreland County Transit Authority routes will be added in early October as the struggling agency seeks to rebound from massive losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said final details on the expanded service will be released as early...

Plans to convert a Greensburg mansion into a group home for former mental health patients at Torrance State Hospital was approved this week over objections from neighbors who claimed the project could lower nearby property values. The city’s zoning hearing board voted to grant a special exception that clears the...

A Westmoreland County jury on Thursday rejected a Scottdale man’s claims that his physical limitations prevented him from having sexual activity and rendered him unable to have repeatedly raped a young girl. Dylan Chiaramonte, 27, was convicted of rape of a child, two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated...

All staff at Westmoreland Manor will again be tested for coronavirus. Commissioners on Thursday cut a deal with Excela Health to test the staff of the county owned nursing home in Hempfield as part of a federal mandate put in place this week. The county will pay Excela $105 per...

The 90-year-old patriarch of a Pittsburgh family connected to gambling operations in Western Pennsylvania for more than a half century agreed to pay $300,000 to resolve charges the family operated a sports betting and numbers running business dating back to 1994. Robert “Bobby I” Iannelli, of Pittsburgh, along with his...

Jury selection started Wednesday in the attempted murder trial of a Penn Township man accused of firing a rifle at police who responded to a domestic call at his home more than four years ago. The case against Jody Martz, 56, was delayed for years as attorneys argued a series...