Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 100

The attorney for a Jeannette man on trial accused of selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to his brother in late 2016 suggested in court Tuesday his client’s stunned acknowledgement of a police inquiry was not a confession. Defense attorney Brian Aston, in his opening statement, told jurors the arrest...

About 3,500 residents in the Jeannette, Penn Township and North Huntingdon areas are under a boil-water advisory. Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County officials said Tuesday afternoon a water line break near 13th Street in Jeannette has left some customers with low water pressure or without service. Officials said a 36-inch...

A Washington, D.C., man on Monday rejected a plea bargain offer that would have sent him to prison for at least 15 years for the alleged sexual assault of a young boy in Arnold. Delonte Haynes, 28, faces a potential life sentence if he is convicted of all four counts...

Opening statements will begin Tuesday in the murder trial of a Jeannette man accused of selling drugs his brother used to fatally overdose three days after Christmas 2016. Markus McGowan, 31, is charged with one felony count of drug delivery resulting in death. Police contend he sold $60 of fentanyl...

A Hempfield man pleaded guilty Friday to harassment charges in connection with a series of racially-tinged phone messages left for an African-American pastor. Mark Eugene Ray, 59, was accused of leaving threatening messages and racial slurs directed at members and the pastor of Living Word Congregational Church in Penn Township....

John Kunco, the Allegheny County man who served more than 28 years in prison for a New Kensington rape he said he didn’t commit, pleaded guilty Friday to reduced charges. Kunco, 54, was immediately paroled and was expected to be released from jail later Friday under terms of the sentence...

The lawyer for a Pittsburgh man awaiting trial on charges he tried to sell more than $30,000 of heroin last year near a Murrysville convenience store contends his client was a victim of racial profiling. Attorney Matthew Ness, during a hearing Thursday, said criminal charges against Damonte Jones, 20, should...

A Westmoreland County judge on Thursday allowed a Latrobe veteran to withdraw his guilty plea entered last year to charges that he attempted to kill his wife, stepdaughter and sister-in-law in 2017. Scott Matuszky, 47, contended he received bad advice from his former lawyer in agreeing to a plead guilty...

A Latrobe man was sentenced Wednesday to serve up to 10 years in prison for the rape of a 14-year-old girl. Nicholas Cook, 23, pleaded guilty to rape, statutory sexual assault and six other related offenses in connection with accusations made by a teenager who claimed she was raped twice...

A Bolivar man serving 30 years in prison for the 2011 murder of his newborn daughter contends the child’s mother confessed to her former lover that she was responsible for the girl’s death. Tim Andrews, the defense lawyer for Clayton Mibroda, 32, during an appeal hearing Wednesday said recently discovered...

Additional voting precincts will be established in Murrysville for next year’s presidential election to deal with overcrowding frequently seen at particular polls. Westmoreland County’s elections board has agreed to seek a judge’s approval for a redistricting plan that, if approved, would redraw voting districts to ease long wait times that...

A Hempfield man insists he believed he was under arrest and required to answer questions during an eight-hour police interrogation following the shooting death of his girlfriend two years ago. Allen Eugene Trent, 55, testified Tuesday that he was handcuffed, placed in a patrol car, driven to the state police...

A Westmoreland County judge Tuesday ruled a New Stanton teen charged with the murder of his mother and younger brother is competent to stand trial. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani said a mental health evaluation of now 17-year-old Jacob Remaley determined he can adequately cooperate and participate with his...

A Pittsburgh man was sentenced Monday to serve up to six years in prison for possession of heroin found during an early morning traffic stop last year in Salem. Nicholas Antonio Miller, 31, of Brookline, pleaded guilty to two felony drug counts and one misdemeanor offense. His vehicle was pulled...

A Hempfield doctor scheduled to be sentenced Monday for prescribing a patient a fatal dose of methadone wants to withdraw his no contest plea entered in March. Edgar Peske, 80, in court documents filed last week, contends his conduct did not cause the 2015 death of Nicole Henderson, 30, of...

A Native American re-enactor contends he was erroneously barred from Bushy Run Battlefield because of an alleged criminal incident that he said never happened. In a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County, Todd Johnson of McKeesport contends a posting in early June on the Facebook page of the Penn Township historic...

A Greensburg woman has sued a local grocery store, claiming she was injured by a malfunctioning shopping cart. Johnetta Battistoni, in a five-count lawsuit, contends that while shopping at the Pittsburgh Street Shop ‘n Save market in Greensburg in early October 2017 the wheels of her small push cart stopped...

A new stormwater management plan could soon be in place to hopefully help alleviate flooding in Westmoreland County. The Integrated Water Resources Plan, a 217-page document, identifies areas that are at risk for floods and outlines potential efforts to keep water from overflowing waterways and encroaching on roads and homes....

Westmoreland County commissioners awarded a $1 million contract to pave nearly 5 miles of roads amid a potential legal challenge of a policy that critics say freezes out non-union companies from seeking government work. The contract awarded Thursday to Derry Construction Inc. was approved by all three commissioners, including Republican...

Westmoreland County will begin paying the salary for the executive director of a nonprofit group aiming to reduce the number of local overdose deaths. Commissioners on Thursday approved an agreement with Westmoreland Community Action to pay the salary and other associated costs of the Drug Overdose Task Force, which operates...

Westmoreland County has filled its eighth industrial park. Officials this week leased the last available lot in the Mt. Pleasant Glass Centre, which houses seven tenants and 116 employees. “We are thrilled to see Mt. Pleasant Glass Centre at full occupancy. It has proven to be a great area to...

A Westmoreland County judge has denied the appeal of a Hempfield man who claimed he received an inadequate defense during his 2012 trial in which he was accused of the attempted murder of his girlfriend. Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani issued a 10-page opinion in which said there was no...

An Allegheny County man was sentenced to serve up to two years in prison for the assault of his girlfriend earlier this year in Penn Township. Eric Damien Thomas, 41, formerly of North Versailles and Aspinwall, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and summary harassment. As part...

The longtime executive director of the Westmoreland County Bar Association has announced plans to retire. Diane Krivoniak, 62, of Latrobe, has since 1989 served as head of the Greensburg-based organization that serves as the professional association for 500 county lawyers. “For an unprecedented stretch of 30 years, Diane’s enthusiasm and...