Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 83
Westmoreland County launches e-filing system for civil and family court documents
A long awaited system that allows civil and family court documents to be filed electronically launched Wednesday in Westmoreland County. Prothonotary Christina O’Brien said the system, which took four years to complete, is expected to add about $200,000 in new revenue to the county budget through filing fees assessed to...
Westmoreland drug court gains state accreditation
Westmoreland County’s drug court became the 33rd accredited special court in Pennsylvania, a designation officials said could enable the six-year-old program to secure additional grant funding for future years. William Shifko, the county’s drug court coordinator, said since the program was launched in September 2015, 51 participants have graduated. One...
Primary ballots could hit Westmoreland mailboxes this weekend
Westmoreland County voters will begin receiving mail-in ballots as early as this weekend, possibly early next week. State officials signed off on the May 18 primary ballots and, on Wednesday, it is expected information will be forwarded to the county’s new private mail company to print and send out ballots...
4 referendums to appear on primary ballots in May; all registered voters eligible
All 8.8 million of Pennsylvania’s registered voters will be able to cast ballots on May 18, when four referendums will appear, including three that seek the change the state’s constitution. The deadline to register to vote in the primary is May 3. Voters will have until 5 p.m. May 11...
Westmoreland County and court worker union reaches new labor deal
Westmoreland commissioners approved a new four-year labor agreement with the union that represents about 250 employees in court-related offices at the courthouse. The deal with the Westmoreland County Court-Appointed and Court-Related Employees Association includes average annual wage hikes between 2.25% to 2.5%, according to Alexis Bevan, the county’s human resources...
Jury finds former New Kensington man not guilty in Arnold shooting
Malcolm Dunem left a Westmoreland County courtroom shaking his head after jurors acquitted the man accused of shooting him on an Arnold street in 2018. Nicholas Haynes appeared to sob as he and defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky embraced after the verdict announcement Monday afternoon that ended a five-day trial. The...
Defendant claims another man fired gun in 2018 Arnold shooting
Nicholas Haynes told a jury Friday afternoon he was only in Arnold three years ago to beat up a man and was surprised his companion pulled out a gun and fired three shots, seriously wounding the former friend. “We wasn’t down there to kill Malcolm or shoot him. That wasn’t...
Westmoreland Transit rider numbers inch upward, authority to hire more drivers
Public transportation ridership numbers still are a long way from pre-pandemic levels, but they are showing a slight rebound that has Westmoreland County Transit Authority officials hopeful better times are ahead. “We’ve had a little bit of an increase,” Executive Director Alan Blahovec said at the authority’s monthly business meeting....
Westmoreland County commissioners split over court raises
Raises for secretaries and law clerks working for Westmoreland County’s 11 Common Pleas Court judges were approved Thursday in a split vote of the county’s salary board. By a 3-2 vote, the board, which includes all three county commissioners and Controller Jeff Balzer, narrowly signed off on the plan to...
Detective testifies accused Arnold shooter wrote letters to coerce and intimidate witnesses
The man on trial for the attempted homicide of a man in Arnold three years ago unsuccessfully tried to bribe his accuser into blaming another person for the shooting, a detective testified Thursday. Westmoreland County Detective James Williams also told a Westmoreland County jury that Nicholas Haynes tried to convince...
Westmoreland commissioners say $140 million borrowing plan will put off future tax hike
Westmoreland commissioners said a plan to borrow about $140 million this year to bolster the county’s pension fund could prevent a future property tax increase. Commissioners on Thursday signed off on the preliminary work to hire financial advisers, lawyers and underwriters who will finalize the plan that officials said will...
Arnold shooting victim identifies defendant in attempted homicide trial
Malcolm Dunem didn’t hesitate when asked in court on Wednesday who shot him just yards from his Arnold home three years ago. “Nick comes out from behind a fence with a gun pointed at me,” Dunem testified in a Westmoreland County courtroom during the second day in the attempted homicide...
Jury convicts Latrobe man of attempted rape of Saint Vincent College student
A Westmoreland County jury deliberated just one hour Wednesday before finding a former Somerset County man guilty of the attempted rape of Saint Vincent College freshman in 2017. Hoover, prosecutors said, accosted his then 18-year-old victim from Kittanning as she walked in a secluded trail in the Winnie Palmer Nature...
Drop boxes for spring primary under consideration in Westmoreland CountyVideo
Westmoreland commissioners said Wednesday ballot drop boxes likely will be placed in several locations throughout the county prior to the May 18 primary. The total number of boxes, their locations and dates they will operate have yet to be finalized, but plans are expected to be announced in a week...
Defense points finger at victim’s friend for 2018 Arnold shooting
The lawyer for a man charged in the attempted homicide of man in Arnold three years ago said it was another man who fired three shots in a secluded alley. Defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday that, despite what he expects will be a courtroom identification...
Former Saint Vincent student testifies in attempted rape trial of Latrobe man
A woman told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday she was able to break free from the man prosecutors claim planned to rape her as she walked along a trail near Saint Vincent College, where she was an 18-year-old freshman in September 2017. Now 22 and attending another school, the Kittanning...
Inmate infections continue downward trend at Westmoreland jail; court appearances to resume
Westmoreland officials said Monday an additional inmate at the county jail tested positive for coronavirus as the overall number of new cases has declined over the last three weeks. Warden Bryan Kline said there are 17 inmates at Westmoreland County Prison with active cases of the virus during the second...
Security upgrades planned for Westmoreland County Housing Authority sites
Eight public housing complexes throughout Westmoreland County will see security upgrades later this year. Those upgrades included installation of high-definition security cameras at seven county Housing Authority sites in Irwin, Latrobe, Scottdale, Monessen and Trafford, and modernized door locks at a facility in New Kensington. The project will be paid...
Latrobe man pleads guilty to 2018 fatal Memorial Day crash in Derry
A Latrobe man pleaded guilty Monday to charges he was under the influence of drugs when he crashed his car into an oncoming motorcycle, killing its rider and injuring a passenger on Memorial Day nearly three years ago in Derry. Preston C. Haines, 34, will be formally sentenced Tuesday morning,...
Greensburg man to serve probation, house arrest for overdose of longtime girlfriend
Christopher Showalter told a Westmoreland County judge on Friday he never considered he was about to commit a crime when he delivered two stamp bags of heroin to the Hempfield home of his son’s mother two years ago. “I loved her and I would never, ever let anything happen to...
Westmoreland prosecutor to head county’s bar association
Assistant District Attorney Judith Petrush will have a new role in addition to her day job as a Westmoreland County prosecutor. Petrush, 53, of Murrysville, this week was elected president of the Westmoreland Bar Association and, in doing so, becomes the first full-time prosecutor to oversee the organization that represents...
Lawsuit claims Sheetz assistant manager wrongly fired
A Cheswick woman claimed in a lawsuit filed this week she was wrongfully fired last summer as an assistant manager of a Sheetz store after she refused to follow a company directive that initially ordered her to not attend a criminal court hearing to which she had been called to...
Greensburg man pleads guilty to attack against wrong man
A Greensburg man will serve up to five years in prison for his role in the beating of a Salem man who police said was targeted in error by four attackers. Matthew White, 22, pleaded guilty this week to one felony count of aggravated assault for the the Aug. 19,...
Sewickley man pleads guilty to animal neglect charges
A Sewickley man will serve three years on probation for the neglect of animals in and around his Hermine area home in 2019. Karl Kuhn, 45, pleaded guilty to eight misdemeanor offenses in connection with 29 rabbits, two goats, three ducks, three cats, one chicken and a dog found living...
Judge rejects defense bid to dismiss first-degree murder charge against Ruffs Dale woman
A judge rejected a defense request to dismiss a first-degree murder charge against an East Huntingdon woman accused in the fatal shooting of her former boyfriend last year. In a six-page opinion made public on Wednesday, Westmoreland County Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio ruled against the defense argument that Meghan West had...
