Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 52
Scottdale contractor jailed on home improvement fraud charges in 3 counties
A Westmoreland County judge on Wednesday ordered a Scottdale contractor accused of bilking customers in three Southwestern Pennsylvania counties to remain in jail pending the outcome of his pending criminal cases. Jason Ray Pirl, 41, was taken into custody Tuesday by Westmoreland County deputy sheriffs following a three-week search that...
Judge orders machine recounts in 4 Westmoreland voting precincts
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday ordered machine recounts of election results from four voting precincts, but in doing so rejected requests to review by hand each ballot cast this month in the race for governor and U.S. senator. Voters in five of the county’s 307 voting precincts filed court...
Jeannette man sentenced for 2019 fatal shooting outside of high school football game
A Jeannette man told a judge he was trying to protect himself when he shot and killed another man in 2019 outside a high school football stadium. “It happened so fast,” said Greg Harper as he explained the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 6, 2019 killing of 48-year-old Dameian Williams in...
New Kensington teen seeks to move murder case to juvenile court
On Monday, the lawyer for a teenager charged in connection with a fatal shooting in New Kensington asked a Westmoreland County judge to transfer the case to juvenile court. Da’Montae Marquis Brooks, 16, of New Kensington was the last suspect to be arrested in connection with the July 3 shooting...
Raises approved for Westmoreland transit leaders
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s director and its top deputy will be getting raises approved last week by the authority’s board. The board unanimously authorized a more than 23% pay raise for Executive Director Alan Blahovec, his first raise since being promoted to the authority’s top job in 2014. Blahovec’s...
MAWC, union reach new labor deal
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County and a union representing more than 260 workers have agreed to a new five-year labor contract. Authority board members last week approved the collective bargaining agreement with the Utility Workers of America Local 164 that includes pay raises totaling 14% over the life of...
MAWC seeks state grants for water, sewer upgrades
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County has requested nearly $11 million in grants from the state’s covid-relief funds to pay for water and sewer system upgrades. Authority officials said last week identified five projects from different state programs funded with American Rescue Plan funds. “They would have gotten done but these...
Lawsuits request hand recounts of votes for governor, senator
Lawsuits alleging fraud and requesting hand recounts of results in the races for Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Senator have been filed in Westmoreland County and across the state. As of Friday, four cases were filed in Westmoreland County from voters in Lower Burrell, Delmont, Hempfield and Loyalhanna. One case was...
Westmoreland judge announces bid for opening on Commonwealth Court
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr. on Friday announced he will run for a vacant seat on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. Smail, 56, of Hempfield has served as a county judge since 2014. “My 8 1/2 years of experience in hearing a wide variety of cases is a...
Mt. Pleasant man pleads guilty to drug sale in 2017 fatal overdose
A Westmoreland County judge made no guarantees but promised he would consider imposing a sentence with no time behind bars for a Mt. Pleasant man implicated in the fatal overdose of a friend nearly five years ago. The comments from Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears came during a hearing in...
Jury unable to reach verdict in Irwin man’s trial
A Westmoreland County jury was unable to reach a verdict on charges that an Irwin man had improper sexual contact with a 10-year-old girl. Jurors deliberated about six hours into Wednesday night before Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio declared a mistrial in the case against Justin M. Hartung. Prosecutors claimed...
Jeannette man not guilty of attempted homicide of neighbor
A Jeannette man was found not guilty Thursday of attempted murder and aggravated assault charges in connection with allegations he fired a rifle at his neighbor nearly three years ago. Dale A. Shaw, 66, was convicted of lesser misdemeanor offenses of reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and terroristic threats in connection...
Westmoreland commissioners proposed deficit budget with no tax increase
Westmoreland commissioners will use more than $8.6 million in covid relief funds next year to outside agencies as part of the county’s 2023 budget introduced on Thursday. The $418 million spending plan keeps the 21.49 mill property tax rate that has been in place since 2019, but carries a nearly...
Jeannette man on trial for attempted homicide denies shooting at neighbor
A Jeannette man told a jurors Wednesday he fired a BB gun and set off a firecracker during an altercation with a neighbor. Westmoreland County prosecutors contend Dale Shaw used a rifle and fired at least one round that struck a home next door as his neighbor recorded video of...
Confession barred from evidence in trial of man accused in Jeannette fatal fire
Two confessions from a man charged with murder in connection with a fire in Jeannette were improperly obtained by investigators, a Westmoreland County judge has ruled. In a 27-page opinion, Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio said Brian Rendon, 38, of Jeannette was incapable of voluntarily waiving his rights to remain...
Some MAWC water customers warned of potential health risks, but no corrective measures required
Notifications were sent out Wednesday to more than 50,000 Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers who live south of Route 30 about a potential hazard caused by a high level of a chemical that is a byproduct of the process used to clean drinking water. Officials said tests at the...
Attorney for Irwin man denies sex crime allegations
The lawyer for an Irwin man charged with sex crimes against a 10-year-old girl on Tuesday told a Westmoreland County jury his client denies any wrongdoing. Justin Hartung, 40, is charged with two misdemeanor counts, indecent assault and indecent exposure, based on allegations from a now 14-year-old girl who claimed...
5th lawsuit claims Mammoth Park’s Giant Slide is unsafe
A fifth lawsuit claims the rebuilt Giant Slide in Mt. Pleasant Township’s Mammoth Park is unsafe. The attraction at the 408-acre park owned by Westmoreland County includes two 100-foot steel racing slides along with a smaller 50-foot slide for children. The current $1.1 million configuration, which opened in July 2020...
Westmoreland County begins provisional ballot count
Nine bipartisan two-person teams spent Monday sifting through more than 600 provisional ballots cast last week at Westmoreland County’s 307 voting precincts. Election Bureau Director Greg McCloskey said the counting of provisional ballots is expected to be completed Tuesday, leaving just a small number of overseas and military votes to...
Westmoreland County court program helps struggling veterans turn their lives around
Gary Manges knew he was in trouble after he returned home from serving oversees as a Marine. “I knew I needed help, but I didn’t realize how bad I really was. Drugs and alcohol wasn’t my thing. It was rage and depression. Looking back, I didn’t realize I had all...
Jury finds Youngwood man not guilty of rape, sex assault
A Westmoreland County jury found a Youngwood man not guilty of rape and other crimes in connection with allegations made by an 18-year-old woman who claimed he held her captive and sexually assaulted her January. After three hours of deliberations Thursday, Brandon Giron, 23, was convicted of one misdemeanor charge...
Man charged in 2019 Greensburg hit-and-run crash sentenced to prison
A former Jeannette man was sentenced Thursday to serve up to seven years in prison for a hit-and-run crash nearly three years ago in Southwest Greensburg that left a pedestrian severely injured. Justin L. Hudspath, 40, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault by a vehicle, driving with a suspended...
Westmoreland’s support of GOP candidates not enough for Pa. victories
Although many agree Westmoreland County is a key to victory for state Republican candidates, the margins of victory here this week weren’t enough to translate into statewide wins for GOP gubernatorial and senate hopefuls. “It’s our job to run up the score, and it didn’t happen enough last night,” said...
Judge rules suspected Rialto shooters to be tried together
A Westmoreland County judge ruled this week that the two men charged following a shootout earlier this year in downtown Greensburg will appear together as defendants in the same trial. One of the men, Evan Curley, 24, of Greensburg, petitioned the court for separate trials, claiming the defenses of both...
Fewer than 1% of mail-in, absentee ballots rejected in Westmoreland County
There were 318 mail-in and absentee ballots rejected in Westmoreland County because of deficiencies that rendered them invalid, election officials said. Another 95 ballots that included incorrect dates or were undated were subjected to a state court order that required them to be segregated and not initially counted, said Greg...
