Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 35
Murder trial begins for Apollo man charged with wife’s killing
Prosecutors told a Westmoreland County jury Monday there was no mystery as to who killed an Apollo woman last year at a Lower Burrell storage facility. Assistant District Attorney Katie Ranker said Alfred Keith Steele shot his estranged wife in the head with a 9 mm pistol as she leaned...
Unity man pleads guilty to assaulting woman who wouldn’t listen to him compose music
A Unity man was ordered to serve up to 23 months in jail in connection with two separate assaults against a woman. Mark D. Marcinik, 32, pleaded guilty Thursday two counts of simple assault and criminal mischief for incidents that police said occurred at two homes in Unity in December...
Unity man pleads guilty to theft of $380,000 from mother
Christopher Treasure told a Westmoreland County judge on Thursday he stole $380,000 from his 75-year-old mother to dull the pain of personal loss. Those losses — the deaths of his father and son — caused him to spiral, Treasure said before pleading guilty to one felony theft charge. Prosecutors said...
Westmoreland political leaders take contrasting view of election results
Westmoreland County Democratic leaders had high hopes but few expectations with regards the handful of county races on Tuesday’s ballot. While Republicans maintained control of county government, the more than 31,000 votes received by an underfunded and untested candidate who was on the campaign trail for just two months signaled...
Republicans keep majority in Westmoreland County
Republicans will retain control of the Westmoreland County board of commissioners. Incumbents Sean Kertes and Doug Chew were reelected Tuesday to second terms in office and will continue to serve as the board majority along with Democrat Ted Kopas. Democrat Lisa Gephart finished fourth. With all 307 precincts reporting, Kertes...
Westmoreland settles lawsuit that alleged excessive force at juvenile detention center
Westmoreland County commissioners have agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed excessive force was used against a teen at the county’s juvenile detention center in Hempfield. In the federal lawsuit, the teen said four corrections officers at the Regional Youth Services Center put him into a choke hold and slammed...
Spending of covid relief to be focus of new commissioners’ board
Westmoreland commissioners voted last week to allocate $270,000 from the county’s pool of American Rescue Plan funds, and, as a result, about half of the $105 million pool of covid-relief cash received from the federal government in 2021 has been spent. Commissioners will have nearly $53 million to allocate by...
Pa. court filing fee discount ends
Discounted court filing fees that originated during the summer’s budget stalemate in Harrisburg have ended. State lawmakers this week reauthorized a $40.25 surcharge assessed on most court-related documents filed in courthouses throughout Pennsylvania. Since Aug. 1, the cost to file documents such as divorces, deeds and mortgages were discounted by...
Officials eye 2025 to complete demolition of former state prison in Hempfield
The proposed demolition of the former state prison in Hempfield may not be completed until 2025, officials said this week. Westmoreland county will seek up to $4 million in state funding to pay for the initial engineering and the demolition of the former State Correctional Institution-Greensburg prison and 14 outbuildings...
Westmoreland commissioners vote to show support for Israel
Westmoreland Commissioners took an unusual step into foreign policy on Thursday as they formally expressed support for Israel following last month’s terrorist attack that left more than 1,300 dead. Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution that backs Israel’s right to defend itself, condemns terrorism and called for humanitarian aid to innocent...
Judge says Rialto gunfight ‘terrorized the entire community’ as he gives shooters prison sentences
A gunfight after a confrontation outside a Greensburg bar could have been averted if either man would have just left the area, a judge said Thursday. “This conduct is the kind of thing that terrorized the entire community,” Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani said. He sentenced the men involved in...
Trial for 6 charged in New Kensington man’s fatal shooting set for December
Jury selection for six defendants charged with homicide in connection with the July 2022 shooting death in New Kensington will begin Dec. 4. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani said all of the men and teens accused in the alleged murder of 39-year-old Jason Raiford at Valley Royal Court...
Protesters call for Westmoreland DA to reopen probe into Derry police dog’s death
A handful of Derry residents protested Wednesday in front of the county courthouse in Greensburg, demanding Westmoreland District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli reopen an investigation into the death of the borough’s police dog. Protest organizer Yvonne Earhart claimed the district attorney’s probe into the August death of Smoke, a 4-year-old Malinois,...
Contractors needed for Westmoreland home repair program
Westmoreland County has the money and low-income homeowners lined up for a house repair program. But officials can’t find anyone to do the work. “We’ve put out 400 emails and sent out 325 direct mailings and have gotten zero response,” said Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Brian Lawrence of the county’s...
Updated suicide watch policy enacted at Westmoreland prison
A revised suicide watch policy is in place at the Westmoreland County Prison, a move officials said will offer better oversight of inmates suspected to be in danger of self-harm. The change adopted by the prison board Monday was based on recommendations from the jail’s medical provider. They asked that...
Westmoreland commissioners say no rush to hire new jail warden
Leaders say morale has improved at the Westmoreland County Prison in Hempfield in the weeks since Warden Bryan Kline resigned, and the county hasn’t set a timetable to find a permanent replacement. The jail’s deputy warden for security, Steve Pelesky, is the interim warden. “He’s done a good job in...
As election nears, Westmoreland commissioner candidates look to the future
Westmoreland County’s board of commissioners already has seen change. It came in August when Democrat Ted Kopas was appointed to the board to replace Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, who resigned to take a job as a worker’s compensation judge. Kopas joined first-term Republicans Sean Kertes and Doug Chew as the...
Financial reports reveal shoestring campaigns for Westmoreland commissioner
The candidates for Westmoreland County commissioner have spent about one-eighth of what was paid out during the months leading up to Election Day four years ago, according to campaign finance reports filed this week. Financial reports of Republican incumbents Sean Kertes and Doug Chew and Democrats Ted Kopas and Lisa...
Feliciani, Bilik-DeFazio seek return to bench for new 10-year terms
Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judges Christopher Feliciani and Meagan Bilik-DeFazio have done more than sentence criminals to prison. Since 2015, the judges have presided over Westmoreland County’s fledgling drug court program that has seen dozens of participants charged with crimes find a path toward recovery. “Being a judge is more...
Jeannette man to serve prison sentence for gun offenses
A Jeannette man was sentenced Thursday to a 5-to-10 year prison term for two gun-related incidents in 2021. John R. Horne, 32, pleaded guilty in August to his role in repeated weapons fire at a Jeannette home and allegations that he brought an old gun into a district judge’s office...
Court hearing for students charged in Hempfield school gun case delayed
Three Hempfield teens charged with possessing guns on school property aren’t due in court until December. The students, ages 15 and 16, were charged earlier this month with multiple criminal charges in connection with an Oct. 2 incident in which school officials and police claim three male students passed two...
Unity man to serve jail time for sexual assault against teen
A Unity man was ordered to serve up to 23 months in jail in connection with sexual assaults against a teenager that prosecutors contend occurred over a seven-year period. Clarence J. Wallace, 74, pleaded guilty to felony charges of indecent assault of a child and corruption of minors as part...
Union accuses Westmoreland County of bad faith bargaining in labor talks
Dozens of Westmoreland County unionized workers picketed Wednesday in front of the courthouse claiming negotiations on a new labor deal with the government’s largest bargaining unit have stalled. Officials with the Service Employees International Union Local 668 and Healthcare Pennsylvania accused county leaders of negotiating in bad faith. “They called...
Penn Township man will serve life in prison for killing father, aunt
Neal Hubish had only a few words to share with his mother and sister as he was led out of a Westmoreland County courtroom Tuesday afternoon after pleading guilty to killing his father and aunt. Westmoreland County prosecutors said that Hubish violently stabbed to death his 71-year-old father, Arthur Hubish,...
Westmoreland DA to impanel grand jury to investigate unsolved cases
A grand jury will investigate unsolved crimes in Westmoreland County for the first time in more than three decades, District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said Tuesday. “This is a substantial step and invaluable resource for our criminal justice system. We want to take a closer look, specifically, at unsolved cases involving...
