Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 67

A Hempfield man was charged with the theft of a wallet from an X-ray scanner at the front entrance of the Westmoreland County Courthouse. Park Police said Verne Klingerman II, 54, used money from the stolen wallet to pay a $30 fine one floor above in the county’s Clerk of...

A Youngwood man will remain in jail to await trial on a charge that he delivered drugs to a woman who died from an overdose in August 2019. Matthew Thomas Caughey pleaded for his release during a court hearing Tuesday as he asked Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani to be...

The sexual assault and child pornography cases against suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez will be conducted May. Westmoreland County Judge Scott Mears, following a hearing Monday afternoon, ordered jury selection in the case to begin May 14 and for testimony in the trial to start on May 17. “Given...

Pennsylvania Department of Health officials confirmed that Westmoreland County was shortchanged in the number of covid-19 vaccine doses allocated since December as local and regional leaders continue to highlight mounting issues with the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. County Commissioner Doug Chew said analysis of state data found that...

A Westmoreland County jury acquitted a Greensburg man accused of raping an unconscious woman but couldn’t reach a verdict on another charge of sexual assault. The jury deliberated more than three hours and returned a mixed verdict against Emmanuel Lebbie, 25, who prosecutors said assaulted a woman as she slept...

Westmoreland County Transit will provide free rides on its buses and paratransit vehicles to local covid-19 vaccine clinics. Anyone with a scheduled appointment to receive the vaccine is eligible for the service Mondays through Saturdays in the service area, including Westmoreland County and Downtown Pittsburgh. “We wanted to eliminate a...

Westmoreland County will cap grants awarded this spring to local restaurants, taverns and hotels at $20,000. Grants were authorized as part of a $145 million state program approved last month to assist the hospitality industry. County commissioners said Thursday the grant application process is expected to begin within two weeks...

A Scottdale man who confessed to an armed robbery of a woman in a Hempfield parking lot more than four years ago was found not guilty by a jury on Thursday. After about 90 minutes of deliberations, jurors acquitted Norman Jack, 30, of robbery, theft and three other related offenses...

A Scottdale man and his wife told a Westmoreland County jury they were at home and were visited by police at the same time a Blairsville woman claimed he robbed her at gunpoint at a Hempfield shopping center in late 2016. Norman Jack, 30, testified Wednesday in the third day...

A Jeannette man will serve up to 20 years in prison for raping a child. Ronald Lee Rice, 61, pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony charges of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse in connection with claims made by a teenage girl who told police she was repeatedly sexually assaulted for...

A Westmoreland County prosecutor said Tuesday investigators found DNA evidence that links a Greensburg man to what police contend was the rape of an unconscious woman in a city home in 2019. Testimony in the rape and sexual assault trial of Emmanuel Lebbie, 25, is expected to begin Wednesday before...

A Westmoreland County judge rejected a defense request to dismiss second-degree murder and robbery charges against a Butler woman implicated in the 2019 shooting death of an Armstrong County man in Arnold. Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani ruled prosecutors have presented enough evidence to allow the murder case against...

Sophia King told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday she had no problem identifying the Black man she claims robbed her at gunpoint in a Hempfield shopping center parking lot more than four years ago. “I see his eyes,” King said as she pointed out a mask-wearing Norman Jack in a...

Westmoreland County commissioners’ plan to create a covid-19 vaccine registry is on hold as county leaders search out a potential third party to help craft a waiting list for inoculations. Commissioners said Monday Excela Health will not participate in the creation of a registry and that it is unlikely the...

Police say Norman Jack confessed to the armed robbery of a Blairsville woman more than four years ago in a Hempfield shopping center parking lot. But Jack maintains his innocence and his defense attorney claimed in court Monday that his client was identified by his accuser only because he is...

Westmoreland County commissioners still have no firm plans to provide remote access to public meetings, but the manner in which residents can comment at the monthly sessions has been streamlined. Officials created a form on the county website in which citizens can register and submit comments to be read at...

A Greensburg woman remains in jail as she mulls whether to accept a plea deal that would result in the dismissal of a felony charge of drug delivery resulting in death in connection the fatal overdose last February of her wife. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Feliciani on...

Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert said Thursday he is in no rush to find a replacement for his former chief deputy, who retired last week after serving just a year in the role. Albert confirmed Roger Eckels, a former district judge from Mt. Pleasant, has left the job as the...

Current and former county commissioners on Thursday honored Chad Amond, the longtime president and CEO of the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce, for his work over the last decade in leading the organization that promotes local businesses. Amond, 46, of Unity announced last summer he was diagnosed with primary progressive...

With covid-19 still a constant threat and source of concern, county leaders on Thursday said they see a brighter future born from lessons learned during the ongoing pandemic. Commissioners speaking at the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce’s virtual State of the County conference outlined coronavirus-related challenges and successes, a plan...

Westmoreland County will hand out nearly $4 million in grants to local restaurants and other hospitality businesses struggling to remain open during the coronavirus pandemic. The money comes from the $145 million Pennsylvania Hospitality Industry Recovery Program approved by state lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf. Westmoreland is slated to receive $3.95...

Summary charges filed last fall against Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey L. Thomas II were dismissed this week as part of a deal with Cambria County’s top prosecutor. Thomas, 35, a first-term Republican, was charged with by Richland Township police in October with single counts of disorderly conduct and harassment...

A Scottdale man will serve up to 40 years in prison for the rape and repeated sexual assault of a young girl over a five-year period that ended in 2016. Dylan Chiaramonte, 28, declined to speak during his a sentencing hearing Wednesday during which his accuser, now 14, told him...

A former Fayette County man will serve up to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl 20 years ago. Lawrence Wesley Henry Jr., 50, formerly of Normalville and East Huntingdon, will serve his prison sentence in Virginia, where he first confessed to his crime in Westmoreland County following...