Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 106
Lawyer for suspended Pirate Felipe Vazquez wants bail, statement to police suppressed
A new lawyer for suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez wants a Westmoreland County judge to set a bond that would allow the former All-Star to leave jail as he awaits trial on child sex charges. Vazquez, 28, was charged last summer with statutory sexual assault and other offenses in...
58th District candidate Prah gets backing of SEIU
Robert Prah, a Democrat seeking the vacant state House seat for the 58th District in next month’s special election, picked up an endorsement this week from the Service Employees International Union. Prah, 38, of Rostraver, is the director of Military and Veterans Affairs at California University of Pennsylvania. He’s a...
New Kensington cop killer’s appeal contends his name, police presence at trial swayed jury
The man sentenced to death this month for murdering New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw on Tuesday contended Westmoreland County jurors reached a faulty verdict because of his “Muslim-sounding name” and because they were intimidated by a heavy law enforcement turnout during trial. Defense attorneys Tim Dawson and James Robinson...
New Stanton teen pleads guilty but mentally ill in 2016 killing of mother, brotherVideo
Jacob Remaley on Tuesday simply said he was sorry. Sorry for forever changing his family on the morning of Nov. 30, 2016, when, at age 14, he shot and killed his mother and younger brother in their New Stanton home. “I know I am guilty,” Remaley, now 18, said as...
Former Franklin Regional student to serve probation for cyber attack that crippled school, county computers
The lawyer for a former Franklin Regional High School student convicted of a cyberattack that disrupted more than a dozen computer systems throughout Westmoreland County in late 2016 told a judge it was all just a prank. Defense attorney Lyle Dresbold said Michaela G. King uploaded a computer program she...
Mt. Pleasant man to serve 3 to 6 years for fatal hit-and-run crash
A Mt. Pleasant man was sentenced Monday to serve up to six years in prison for a hit-and-run crash last year that resulted in the death of an elderly Hempfield man. Jonathan A. McElroy, 43, pleaded guilty to charges of causing an accident involving death, tampering with evidence, making false...
Family laments that Hempfield doctor avoided jail for their daughter’s fatal overdoseVideo
Don Howard pulled no punches Monday in a Westmoreland County courtroom as he called for his daughter’s former doctor to be sent to jail. “He’s nothing but a pill pusher, and I guess he doesn’t mean his Hippocratic oath,” Howard said during a hearing in which Dr. Edgar Peske, 81,...
Judge rejects request from convicted Fayette Co. drug kingpin wanting years shaved off sentence
A Fayette County drug kingpin will not receive a shortened prison sentence for ordering the 1993 killing of a man whose heart and liver were later transplanted into a dying Gov. Robert Casey. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger this week rejected a request from Ronald Whethers to count...
4 more grads make it through Westmoreland drug court
Westmoreland County’s drug court on Thursday graduated four more participants, bringing the number of former addicts who obtained sobriety under judicial supervision to 39 during the six years of the program. Thursday marked the eighth graduation ceremony since the court was unveiled in 2014. “This is a very intensive program...
Westmoreland deputy sheriff honored for helping save man in courtroom incidentVideo
Westmoreland County Deputy Sheriff Sean McKown knew he had to act fast and rushed over to the courtroom gallery to help an ill spectator. McKown, 52, of Lower Burrell, was honored in a surprise ceremony Thursday by Sheriff James Albert for his quick action that officials said may have saved...
Westmoreland Manor receives clean bill of (water) health after Legionnaires’ discovery
The spigots are back on at Westmoreland Manor. County officials said the latest test results found no traces of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease in the water at the Hempfield nursing home. “Effective Feb. 17, 2020, all water precautions in place at Westmoreland Manor were lifted due to the...
Jeannette men now charged with attempted homicide in 2016 Greensburg shooting case
Attempted murder counts were added to the list of charges against two Jeannette men accused of shooting a Greensburg resident nearly four years ago in his home. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani on Wednesday signed off on a request by prosecutors to amend the charges against Daishawn...
Pa. Superior Court hears Trib appeal for juror names in Westmoreland public corruption trial
The names of jurors in the public corruption trial of former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held should be made public, a Tribune-Review attorney argued in court Tuesday. A three-judge panel of the state’s Superior Court heard arguments in Pittsburgh on the Trib’s appeal of a lower court ruling that withheld...
Hempfield doctor wants to use Pa. lawsuit against Purdue Pharma to defend his drug-death case
Lawyers for a Hempfield doctor contend a state lawsuit against drug makers could bolster his defense against a murder charge he faces for allegedly overprescribing medication that led to a patient’s death. Defense attorneys Brian Aston and Ken Noga said claims made in the lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania Attorney...
Pa. Superior Court hears appeal arguments in corruption case against former Westmoreland sheriff
The lawyer for former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held argued Tuesday that not enough evidence exists to warrant the continued prosecution of the now-private citizen on public corruption offenses. Held, 45, of Hempfield is awaiting a second trial for allegations he directed on-duty staffers to participate in reelection campaign activities...
Noteable: Beth Lechman confident county will be ready for voting changes, 2020 elections
As voters and candidates waited for days to get results of this month’s Iowa caucuses, Beth Lechman sat hundreds of miles away in her Westmoreland County home and imaged the nightmare that state’s elections officials were enduring. It is one Lechman hopes to avoid in April, when Pennsylvania voters go...
Unity couple sues to block Greater Latrobe reassessment policy
A Greater Latrobe Area School District policy that seeks reassessments of some newly purchased properties is the target of a lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County. Unity residents Randolph and Vaune Gounder contend the school district improperly challenged the tax value of a home they bought in July for $585,000 as...
New board appointed to hear Westmoreland property assessment appeals
A new three-member board will begin hearing Westmoreland County property assessment appeals. The county commissioners on Thursday reappointed Barbara Moffe along with newcomers Camdon Porterfield and Dan Galbraith to the board that will conduct hearings to determine whether assessments of the county’s 191,000-plus parcels are accurate. The appeals board conducted...
Republican commissioners nix labor pact for Westmoreland County projects
Nonunion firms no longer can say they are being frozen out of securing high-dollar construction contracts with Westmoreland County. Republican county Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew on Thursday terminated a controversial agreement with local trade unions. They said the Project Labor Agreement with the Pittsburgh Regional Building and Construction...
Municipal authority to build new $5.5M office, garage for sewer operation in New Stanton
Work will soon begin on a new office and garage facility to house the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County’s growing sewer operation. The authority this week awarded nearly $5.5 million in construction contracts for the project, to be built on its campus off Park and Pool roads in New Stanton....
Westmoreland Bar Association to move in Greensburg, starts $900,000 renovationVideo
A new, larger and more functional headquarters for the Westmoreland Bar Association is expected to be operational this summer, officials said. Members and staff gathered Wednesday in downtown Greensburg to celebrate the lawyer organization’s $900,000 construction project to renovate a vacant building at the corner of Maple and Otterman streets...
Westmoreland takes over small Fayette sewage system
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members on Wednesday approved taking over a small Fayette County sewer system, the first new acquisition the agency has finalized in more than a year. The deal will transfer the 574 customers of the Upper Tyrone Township Sewage Authority to the county utility and...
Irwin man paroled after pleading guilty to role in killing of dog
A man was paroled Wednesday after he was sentenced to serve 28 days in jail for his role in the killing of a dog last summer on railroad tracks in North Huntingdon. Anthony Keith Harper, 28, of Irwin pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to torture an animal...
Rahmael Holt officially sent to death row for killing New Kensington Officer Brian Shaw
Rahmael Holt simply said “no” when asked Wednesday whether he had anything to say before his death sentence was formally imposed. Holt, 31, of Harrison, Allegheny County, officially became the 133rd person on Pennsylvania’s death row when he was condemned to death by lethal injection for shooting and killing New...
Scottdale man gets 3-8 years in prison for sex assault; victim gets support from biker groupVideo
A teenage girl was kept hidden by her new biker friends outside a Westmoreland County courtroom Tuesday so she didn’t have to see the man she said sexually abused her last year. Members of the Southwest Pennsylvania Bikers Against Child Abuse formed a human shield to surround the girl, who...
