Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 99
Hempfield resident confronts maskless county controller at commissioners meeting
Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer said Thursday he won’t comply with the governor’s edict or the county’s mandate that face coverings are a must at the courthouse. Balzer refused to wear a mask during a county commissioners meeting and briefly engaged in a heated discussion with a Hempfield resident who...
Greensburg man pleads in child endangerment, assault cases
A Greensburg man pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that he endangered three children when he left them alone for a week in a bug-infested home with little to eat and no heat. Ryan Mason, 40, was charged in three separate cases including two in which he was accused of leaving...
Westmoreland planning department leader shifts to redevelopment authority, land bank
Brian Lawrence won’t move his belongings far when he assumes his new role as executive director of Westmoreland County’s redevelopment authority and land bank. The 37-year-old Greensburg resident, a 10-year veteran of the county’s planning department, will run the agencies that oversee community revitalization, programs to remove blight and improve...
Judge pushes Excela, doctors to resolve pending stent lawsuits
A Westmoreland County judge on Wednesday ordered Excela Health and two of its former cardiac doctors to engage in settlement talks and mediation to resolve 35 outstanding lawsuits filed by patients who contended they received unnecessary stents. Common Pleas Judge Rita Hathaway during a conference with lawyers for patients, the...
Arnold man in jail for 3 years while awaiting trial seeks release on bond
An Arnold man who has been in jail for more than three years as he awaits his murder trial will appear before a Westmoreland County judge next week to ask for his freedom. Cashaan Williams, 21, has been behind bars since May 2017 after his two $50,000 bonds were revoked...
Salem man pleads guilty to dozens of theft charges, gets probation
A Salem man who police said used bogus checks to purchase electronics, power tools and music equipment in three states and throughout southwestern Pennsylvania pleaded guilty Tuesday to dozens of theft and conspiracy charges. Paul E. Chonko. 42, was sentenced to serve five years on probation and ordered to repay...
Westmoreland to seek applications for first $5M in virus grants for small businesses, nonprofits
Westmoreland County will soon start the process to award $31.5 million in federal funds earmarked for grants to small businesses and nonprofit agencies impacted by the coronavirus. Commissioners said an initial round of funding will allocate $5 million each to small businesses and nonprofits that have yet to see any...
Westmoreland County officials confirm 3rd courthouse worker tests positive for covid-19
Westmoreland County officials on Monday confirmed that a third courthouse worker has tested positive for coronavirus. The latest staffer to test positive was reported to county officials on Saturday. Two other cases involving courthouse staff were disclosed last week. “The cases are unrelated, and we do not have any concern...
Judge denies bond for Mt. Pleasant man accused of attempted murder
A Westmoreland County judge on Monday ruled the only way to protect the community from a Mt. Pleasant man accused of attempting to murder his girlfriend was for him to remain in jail. Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears rejected a request to release Charles Etling on nominal bond, saying...
4 men sentenced for roles in gambling ring prosecutors say spanned Western Pa.
Three members of a Western Pennsylvania numbers-running and sports-betting network pleaded guilty Monday in Westmoreland County to their roles in what state prosecutors contend was a major gambling ring with ties to organized crime that generated millions of dollars. Deputy Attorney General Mark Serge said the men were “low-level” operators...
Family pleads to lesser charges in illegal video poker operation in White Oak, North Huntingdon
The patriarch of a White Oak family and his three children were sentenced Monday for charges they oversaw more than 100 illegal video poker machines in North Huntingdon and the surrounding area. Robert Biros, 85, pleaded no contest to a felony charge of operating a corrupt organization while his two...
Coronavirus taking its toll on hotel tax revenues across the region
As Western Pennsylvania struggles with the coronavirus, officials say the pandemic is expected to have a dramatic, continued impact on tax revenue collected from hotel stays, which in turn is used to promote the region’s more than $7 billion travel industry. Virus fears resulted in fewer people coming to the...
Westmoreland County offices closed Friday
Westmoreland County government and court offices will be closed Friday in observance of the July 4 holiday. Federal and state offices are also closed on Friday. All courthouse operations and court proceedings will resume on Monday, July 6....
Attorney: Hempfield man who fatally beat elderly father believed 92-year-old was a vampireVideo
Douglas Novak’s mental illness was so pronounced that he beat his father to death and believed the 92-year-old Hempfield man was a vampire who needed to be staked through the heart to kill him, his attorney told a judge Thursday. Novak was off his medication when he used the wooden...
Westmoreland Register of Wills will fully reopen to public July 6
The Westmoreland County Register of Wills will fully reopen to the public on Monday . The courthouse office, which oversees the filing of wills and estates and issues marriage licenses, has restricted public access since early April and has been operating by appointment only in response to the coronavirus pandemic....
North Huntingdon man accused of coughing on police gets up to 2 years in jail on theft charges
A North Huntingdon man accused of trying to infect police with coronavirus by coughing on them will serve up to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to other offenses. Joseph R. Good Jr., 35, was arrested in April and, according to police, claimed he had coronavirus and...
Bolivar man must repay $8,600 for falsifying time sheets
A Bolivar man admitted Tuesday that he faked time sheets to showing he was working as a home health care assistant for nearly four years when, instead, he was working at a local business. Clark Michael Baird, 61, was sentenced Tuesday by Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio...
Man to be held in Westmoreland prison while awaiting extradition on attempted murder charge
A South Carolina man charged with the attempted murder of a police officer there will remain in the Westmoreland County Prison while he awaits trial for unrelated theft charges. Westmoreland County Judge Scott Mears last week set a $50,000 straight bond in the case against Brian Joseph Stoltie, who was...
Man who caused fatal 2018 Salem wreck is paroled
A West Virginia man was paroled Monday after pleading guilty to causing a crash on Route 22 in Salem that killed a man and injured his wife and young daughter nearly two years ago. Brian Keith Clemons, 43, formerly of New Alexandria, pleaded guilty to charges of vehicular homicide, aggravated...
Westmoreland juvenile center to require masks
Juveniles held in Westmoreland County’s Regional Youth Services Center will be required to wear masks to deter the spread of the coronavirus. The facility’s oversight board on Monday said the new requirement is a precaution at the Hempfield facility, which serves as a juvenile detention center and shelter for troubled...
Westmoreland considers coronavirus tests for all new county jail inmates
Westmoreland officials will consider testing all new inmates at the county lockup to help guard against coronavirus at the facility. Warden John Walton, during a meeting of the county’s prison board Monday, said although no case of covid-19 has breached the facility, the existing screening method to prevent spread of...
Westmoreland County moving its tax delinquent property sale to WCCC campus
Westmoreland County is moving its annual tax sale off site. Commissioners on Thursday approved relocating the sale to the auditorium in Science Hall on the campus of Westmoreland County Community College, a move officials said is needed to account for social distancing required in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The...
Lawyer for suspended Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez says evidence of child sex assault should be thrown out
The lawyer for suspended Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez said evidence collected by police during an investigation into sexual assault allegations were the product of an illegal search and should be barred from use by prosecutors in an upcoming trial. Vazquez, 28, has been in jail since September, when he...
Westmoreland County pays $50K to settle lawsuit, want row officers to start footing legal bills
Westmoreland County commissioners have had enough of paying out large sums of money to settle lawsuits filed against other elected officials. “We’re sending a letter to all of our row officers and elected officials telling them we want to hold them accountable,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes. Those comments came Thursday...
Penn Hills man gets life in prison for 2017 Jeannette murder
An Allegheny County man was sentenced Wednesday to serve life in prison without parole for a 2017 fatal shooting in Jeannette. Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee, 31, of Penn Hills, was convicted in January of first-degree murder for the April 13, 2017, daylight shooting of Michael Wilson on Clay Avenue. Police said Wilson,...
