Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 19

The trial began Tuesday for a Mt. Pleasant man accused of firing a gun at police as officers responded to a report of an alleged home invasion in 2021. Westmoreland County prosecutors say Richard Teeters, 52, was the lone occupant of the Pine Street home when police fled for cover...

A now-20-year-old woman told a Westmoreland County jury Monday she never expected to be the victim of a sexual assault. “I was going to go have a good time. I just turned 18 and wanted to get out in the world,” she testified during the first day of the trial...

Kimberly Brant of Adamsburg came to the Westmoreland County Courthouse with a pocketful of cash and hopes for a new home. Jon Wildi of New Kensington hoped for a miracle. Both saw their wishes come true Monday morning at the county’s annual sale of tax delinquent properties where a record...

Westmoreland County’s political leaders said Election Day 2023 could set the stage for the following year’s presidential election. With a ballot devoid of high-profile contested county races this fall, officials said they expect to work overtime to ensure voters are motivated to head to the polls or vote by mail...

A Democratic candidate for Westmoreland County commissioner is temporarily off the campaign trail after having surgery Thursday to repair lingering injuries suffered during an attack at the polls on Election Day in 2021. Lisa Gephart, 56, of Mt. Pleasant Township remained hospitalized Friday and is recovering and expected to return...

A new $1.6 million program to stop future blight has more than enough potential applicants even before Westmoreland County officials were ready to formally announce its launch. Brian Lawrence, executive director of Westmoreland County’s Redevelopment Authority, said referrals from other agencies have “overprescribed” what officials expect to be a popular...

Hunting wasn’t in the cards for Derry Township attorney Larry Burns. So Burns went to court to ask that he once again be allowed to participate in the hobby he enjoyed for decades before he was convicted in 2009 of gambling offenses. He was operating what authorities said were illegal...

A former Hempfield man serving a life prison sentence for the 2012 murder of his wife appeared before a Westmoreland County judge on Wednesday in a fourth attempt to appeal his conviction. David Stahl, 53, was found guilty of first-degree murder following a 2014 trial in which prosecutors said he...

A Ligonier Township man pleaded guilty Wednesday to disseminating and possessing child pornography. Mathew Louis Hoffer, 57, was charged last spring after state investigators linked his home computer to file-sharing programs that contained sexually explicit images of children. According to court records, police found at least 25 files on Hoffer’s...

A truck driver from Texas was ordered to serve up to six years in prison for sexual assaults against three teenage girls in Rostraver. Clyde D. Clark, 43, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to charges in three cases in which he was accused of having improper sexual relations with girls ages...

A Derry Borough man who has been in jail for more than a year after he was charged with resisting arrest last summer was found not guilty on Tuesday. Justin J. Jones, 38, was acquitted by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani of misdemeanor and summary counts following...

A proposed plea deal for a man charged with attacking a co-worker last month in Greensburg with a meat cleaver was put on hold Tuesday over a judge’s concerns about the immigration status of both men involved. Westmoreland County prosecutors attempted to push through the unusually quick court disposition, less...

Joe Borkovich doesn’t pay much attention to the inner workings of his hometown. He just knows tiny Madison Borough remains a nice place to live. Standing in the driveway of his home that overlooks the town’s park and playground, Borkovich, 81, said he sees no signs of Madison’s stagnant government...

A former Greensburg man was found not guilty of causing a fatal crash three years ago in Hempfield in which his longtime friend was killed. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger on Thursday issued a verdict to acquit Nick M. Rossi, 36, of felony vehicular homicide and two...

After years of delays, a Westmoreland County judge ordered a married Unity couple to go to trial in early 2024 on allegations they were responsible for the sexual assault of a teenage girl a decade ago. “This needs to go to trial. It’s been eight years now,” said Common Pleas...

Two candidates for public office in East Huntingdon who have prior felony convictions may not be able to serve if elected. Jonathan Newill Perkey, a Republican candidate for township supervisor, and Tina Curry-Bashioum, a Republican who is running for a seat on East Huntingdon’s board of auditors face potential legal...

Westmoreland Commissioner Ted Kopas on Tuesday proposed capping annual raises awarded to county elected officials. Kopas, a Democrat who took office at the beginning of August, pitched a revision to a county ordinance approved nearly two decades ago that guarantees yearly cost-of-living pay hikes to commissioners and row officers based...

A New Kensington man was ordered to serve up to 13 years in prison for the sexual assault of a child. Chester Elmer Green Jr. 63, was convicted in June by a Westmoreland County jury of molesting a 9-year-old girl in 2013 and 2014. Green was found guilty aggravated indecent...

A former behavioral health clinician claims inmates at Westmoreland County Prison received substandard mental health care and that she was fired when she reported her allegations to the facility’s private medical provider. In a whistleblower lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Carla Rhodes, a licensed social worker, says...

Nick Rossi said he was asked to drive his friend’s car nearly three years ago because he knew the location of the destination they never reached. Westmoreland County prosecutors said Rossi was speeding as he drove on Arona Road in Hempfield, drifted up an embankment and crashed into a tree....

An 83-year-old wheelchair-bound Delmont man was sentenced Friday to serve up to eight years in state prison for the 2019 attempted murder of his neighbor. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger said prison confinement was not the preferred option but was the one that offered the best choice to...

Murrysville Mayor Regis Synan can remain in office through 2025, a judge ruled Friday. Common Pleas Court Judge Jim Silvis dismissed Synan’s lawsuit, filed in April, that sought to force the county election bureau to put the mayor’s race on the November ballot. Synan contended elections officials erred two years...

A former Derry Township man who has served more than two decades in prison for hiring an arsonist to set fire to three properties will be allowed to die at home, a judge ruled Thursday. Donald Queer, 66, was convicted in 2001 of multiple counts of arson and related offenses...

Westmoreland Democrats nominated a Mt. Pleasant Township woman to run for a seat on the county board of commissioners. Party officials on Thursday announced that longtime committee member Lisa Gephart will fill a vacancy on the November ballot to run alongside Commissioner Ted Kopas as Democrats seek to reclaim a...

A Mt. Pleasant man convicted of armed robbery will remain on supervised release, according to a new sentence imposed Tuesday. Jake Daniel Franklin, 20, was given credit for more than two years he served in jail before he pleaded guilty this year to charges related to his role in the...