Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 77

A former Pennsylvania State Police trooper’s appeal of his conviction for assaulting and threatening his wife was denied Thursday. A three-judge panel of the state’s Superior Court upheld the guilty verdicts issued by an Allegheny County judge against Scott Richard Mang, 34, on charges of simple assault and making terroristic...

A former Greensburg man will serve at least 20 months in jail for firing a rifle into the homes of two neighbors last year. Joshua Dowell Miller, 27, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony charge of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure and a misdemeanor reckless endangerment count in...

A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday rejected a bond request from a Monessen woman awaiting trial for the attempted murder of a neighbor. Tiffany Grogan-Howard, 38, is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in connection with a Nov. 25 incident in which police contend she stabbed her...

A Jeannette man will serve up to 23 months in jail for an attempt last year to smuggle drugs into the Westmoreland County Prison. Adam Brandonio, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy, drug counts and other offenses in connection with an incident police described as a sting operation at a...

Westmoreland County lost five of its top administrators this year through resignations and retirements, creating what one official called a “brain drain” in local government. The latest to leave was Amanda Bernard, who resigned as the county’s human resources director in late August to take a similar job with a...

Westmoreland County will hire as many as 1,800 poll workers for election day. Elections Bureau Director JoAnn Sebastiani said recruiting has been underway for the last several weeks to have each of the county’s 307 voting precincts fully staffed on Nov. 3. “We’re going to take as many poll workers...

For the first time, audits from the Westmoreland County Controller’s Office are available online. Controller Jeffrey Balzer said financial reports compiled by his staff will be made public, a departure from past practices that required formal requests under the state’s open records laws to review the department findings. “I have...

Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli on Thursday issued a scathing rebuke of President Donald Trump ahead of his visit to Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity. “To put it simply, Donald Trump is simply not up for this job. Pennsylvanians have suffered at the hands of a weak and incompetent...

Westmoreland County will spend an additional $350,000 to beef up its ability to hold an election and count votes this fall. Commissioners on Wednesday approved a contract with a private mailing company in Cleveland to send ballots to voters, and finalized a deal with the Nebraska-based firm to test touch-screen...

A West Newton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to causing injuries to a 14-month-old child while the boy’s mother was at work last year. Police said Salvatore Salvio, 26, last Sept. 12 inflicted injuries that caused substantial facial bruises and 13 puncture wounds to the child’s feet. “He’s doing great now,”...

An unopened envelope containing seven provisional ballots cast at a Unity polling precinct in June was discovered among stored voting equipment more than a month after final results were certified, Westmoreland County officials revealed Wednesday. Those votes will be opened and counted next week. They could change the outcome of...

Felipe Vazquez, the suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher accused of sex crimes involving an underage girl, on Tuesday denied he confessed to police and said he feared he could be shot if he didn’t cooperate with their investigation. The 29-year-old testified for more than two hours during a pretrial hearing before...

Members of Westmoreland County’s Prison Board plan to explore an expanded program that allows for additional court hearings by video. Common Pleas President Judge Rita Hathaway and court administrators lobbied the board to buy new equipment that will double the number of hearings conducted remotely to ensure safety of defendants...

About a dozen members of Voice of Westmoreland rallied Monday in front of the courthouse to lobby Westmoreland County President Judge Rita Hathaway to issue an order barring evictions and foreclosures amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “This is incredibly important so people don’t lose their homes,” said Celina Culver, organizer...

Mayor Bill Peduto said Saturday that Juneteenth will be an official holiday in Pittsburgh. Peduto said that starting June 19, 2021, the city will honor the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. Peduto made the announcement at the Black Voting Rights Forum at St. Benedict the...

Police closed off a section of Route 711 in Fairfield Township on Saturday afternoon to search for a handcuffed prisoner who escaped while in transit to the Westmoreland County Prison. A 911 dispatcher confirmed the prisoner took off from Seward police custody after he claimed he was ill and was...

Six people were injured early Saturday morning in a three-vehicle crash on Saw Mill Run Boulevard in Whitehall. According to Allegheny County 911, two people were thrown through a windshield and two others were found on the ground when rescue crews arrived. Rescue crews were dispatched at 12:45 a.m. Those...

A Washington County man was killed early Saturday morning as he walked along Route 22 in North Fayette Township, police said. State police reported that Daniel Grennell, 35, of Langeloth, was struck by a pickup truck at 12:48 a.m. as it drove eastbound on an overpass above Old Steubenvelle Pike....

All 307 polling locations across Westmoreland County will be open for in-person voting in the November general election, county commissioners said. “We want to give people the option to use our new machines. They are still brand new, and we’re still paying for them,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes. Commissioners were...

A portion of Westmoreland County’s local bus service, slowed because of the coronavirus pandemic, will be restored in September. Westmoreland County Transit Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said that an informal survey of riders determined an interest in added public transportation for routes around the county. Specifics about which routes...

A Leechburg man will serve two years on probation after he was sentenced Tuesday for an incident that left his live-in girlfriend wounded after being shot in the face during a drunken game of Russian Roulette. Roy Edward Berry Jr., 50, was convicted of five misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment...

Westmoreland County small businesses and nonprofit agencies will have to wait until September to find out if they’ve been award grants through the county to compensate them for lost revenue and expenses related to the coronavirus. Commissioners said Tuesday the process to review the 450 applications submitted in late July...