Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 88
Westmoreland bus upgrades on hold as ridership remains low during pandemic
A planned upgrade of the Westmoreland County Transit Authority bus fleet is on hold as ridership on the agency’s fixed-route bus system continues to lag amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Six new commuter buses were to be purchased this winter to replace older vehicles on the road, Authority Executive Director...
Westmoreland County vaccine plan remains shot in the dark for now
As neighboring counties take steps to coordinate local covid vaccinations, Westmoreland commissioners say they are awaiting further direction from the state before crafting a distribution plan. County officials insist there has been little direction from state health and emergency management staff, a situation that has left local leaders in the...
Health problems keep Christina O’Brien from seeking 4th term as Westmoreland prothonotary
Westmoreland County Prothonotary Christina O’Brien will not seek a fourth term in office. O’Brien, 54, a Democrat from Ligonier Township, said ongoing health issues prevent her from participating in another campaign and serving four more years as the head of the county office that oversees all civil and domestic court...
Woman pleads guilty for attack on wrong man in Crabtree
Sarah Miller’s plan with three friends to retaliate against a man she claimed disrespected and spit at her might have seemed foolproof at the time. The scheme was to drive up, wait for their target to emerge from his Crabtree home, whack him in the head and then speed off...
New Kensington mother awaiting manslaughter trial pleads guilty to animal neglect
The mother of a 2-year-old boy police said was brutally murdered by her boyfriend as she slept in a nearby room pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a related misdemeanor count of animal neglect. Police said Teresa Fetterman, 24, formerly of Aliquippa, did not get medical help for her 8-month-old mixed-breed...
Westmoreland County municipal authority takes over East Huntingdon sewer plant
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County on Wednesday finalized a deal to take ownership and operate a tiny sewer system in East Huntingdon that serves about 700 township residents. The deal transfers ownership of the township’s 250 million gallon treatment plant to the county authority. Officials said the 20-year-old facility...
Water rates unchanged in new Westmoreland municipal authority budget
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County water rates will remain unchanged for the third straight year under a 2021-2022 operating budget approved Wednesday. Authority board members unanimously voted to adopt the nearly $104 million budget that allocates about $7.3 million for routine capital improvement projects and maintenance of the water and...
Medical expert approved for New Kensington man’s murder defense
A judge on Tuesday ruled that defense lawyers for a New Kensington man facing a potential death sentence for the death of a 2-year-old can hire a medical expert to evaluate and potentially refute prosecution evidence at his upcoming trial. Keith Dale Lilly Jr., 31, has been in the Westmoreland...
County leaders in Pa. call for mail-in ballot reform
County commissioners throughout Pennsylvania are calling for a series of election reforms they contend will improve the balloting process across the state and clarify procedures that resulted in counting delays and litigation. According to a preliminary report released Thursday by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, officials recommend state lawmakers...
Westmoreland County Democrats flock to the GOP in week of D.C. riot, bucking Pa. trend
Nowhere else in Pennsylvania saw more Democratic voters switch their party allegiances to Republican than in Westmoreland County during the first week of January. From Jan. 4 through Jan. 11, there were 189 registered Democrats who became members of the GOP, according to figures from the Pennsylvania Department of State....
Security upgrades coming to Westmoreland government buildings
Security at Westmoreland County government facilities will be tightened as part of a $2.4 million project approved Thursday. Commissioners unanimously approved a contract with Dagostino Electronic Services of Homestead to install new systems that consolidate cameras and other security features at the courthouse complex in Greensburg, Westmoreland Manor, the county...
Pandemic pay continues for contracted nurses but not most Westmoreland County employees
Most Westmoreland County employees won’t see additional pay this month for working during the covid-19 pandemic, but commissioners Thursday agreed to a bump in wages for workers from a private company providing care at the county-owned nursing home. The pandemic pay was included in a contract extension with Dedicated Nursing...
North Versailles man pleads guilty in teen rape case spanning Allegheny, Westmoreland counties
An Allegheny County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to repeatedly raping a teenage girl in 2019. Police said that starting in June 2019, Daniel E. Powell, 37, of North Versailles forcibly raped a 17-year-old girl and continued the sexual assaults through September. According to court records, the victim in February told...
Counting of lost ballots underway in Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County elections officials Wednesday morning started counting more than two dozen provisional ballots cast in November but just recently discovered by staff during routine inspections of voting equipment. Elections bureau staffers, serving as appointed members of a reconstituted provisional board, reviewed and qualified 20 ballots cast in North Huntingdon...
Westmoreland Democrats call for GOP congressmen to step down
Westmoreland County’s Democratic Committee called on two local Republican congressmen to resign in response to their votes last week objecting to Pennsylvania’s presidential election results following the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol. Committee chairwoman Tara Yokopenic said in a statement released late Monday that Reps. Guy Reschenthaler and John...
Special election set to fill Mike Reese’s state House seat
A special election to fill the vacancy in the state House 59th District left by the sudden death of Rep. Mike Reese will be conducted May 18. Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, announced Tuesday the special election will be held along with the regularly scheduled primary the same day....
Hyde Park man challenges murder charges in wife’s fatal beating
The lawyer for a Hyde Park man accused of the fatal beating of his estranged wife told a Westmoreland County judge on Monday there is insufficient evidence to support murder charges. Jeffrey Fondrk, 58, was charged with criminal homicide days after his wife, Patricia, was beaten to death in July...
Greensburg man pleads guilty to girlfriend’s drug overdose death
A Greensburg man pleaded guilty Monday to providing the drugs that killed his longtime girlfriend at her Hempfield home in 2019. Stephanie Rae Johnson, 34, died March 19, 2019, after consuming fentanyl-laced heroin police said she got from her boyfriend, Christopher Patrick Showalter. Showalter pleaded guilty to a felony count...
Westmoreland elections bureau to hire deputy director
Westmoreland County is seeking candidates to fill a deputy director’s position for the elections bureau ahead of the 2021 campaign season to help ease the burden on an office that was understaffed and pushed to its limits last fall. Applications will be accepted through Jan. 20. “We need to be...
Delmont man sentenced for possession of child pornography
A Delmont man was sentenced Friday to serve nearly two years in jail for possession of child pornography. Michael Goodis, 53, was convicted by a Westmoreland County jury in October of 32 felony counts in connection with at least 30 different pornographic images found stored on his computer equipment depicting...
Virus cases continue to spread at Westmoreland prison
As the coronavirus continues to spread among inmates at the Westmoreland County Prison, officials said Thursday there are signs that infections have started to slow at the Hempfield facility. Interim Warden George Lowther said there are 77 inmates infected, with new cases almost daily. But the overall number of new...
Family objections delay guilty plea in North Huntingdon vehicular homicide case
A Westmoreland County prosecutor told a judge Wednesday he could not recommend withdrawing a felony vehicular homicide charge against a Penn Township man. Assistant District Attorney Allen Powanda said he learned minutes before Chad Gregorini was to plead guilty to lesser charges that the victim’s three adult children objected to...
Hempfield woman pleads guilty in fatal overdose of Greensburg man
A Hempfield woman tightly clutched her young daughter and sobbed as she stood before a Westmoreland County judge to admit she provided the drugs that killed a Greensburg man. Hollie Ann Schreiber, 40, could face up to 40 years in prison when she is sentenced. On Tuesday, she pleaded guilty...
Former jail warden hired to consult in pending legal issues
Former Westmoreland County Prison Warden John Walton could earn nearly $51,000 this year to testify in pending lawsuits and other court hearings under a contract approved by the county’s salary board. Walton resigned in October after serving 18 years as the jail’s top administrator. Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli...
Uncounted ballots discovered among Westmoreland County voting equipment
Westmoreland County elections officials disclosed Monday that 21 uncounted provisional ballots submitted at a North Huntingdon voting precinct on Election Day were discovered last week among computer equipment used at the polls in November. Elections bureau staffers found the unopened ballots during a routine inspection of voting machines stored at...
