Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 4
House arrest lifted as Bovard man awaits arson, burglary trial
A former Greensburg man was released from house arrest Monday as he awaits trial for setting fire to a Hempfield home in 2022. The blaze injured two firefighters and killed three family pets. Westmoreland County prosecutors claim Randy W. Bryner set fire to the house to cover up his theft...
Transit authority OKs purchase of replacement Go Westmoreland buses; ridership rising
Westmoreland County Transit Authority board members approved the $2.1 million purchase of new buses for the agency’s shared-ride paratransit system. The smaller, 12-seat passenger buses are in the popular door-to-door subsidized service used by seniors and disabled riders and are among the fleet of 58 vehicles in the Go Westmoreland...
Trial set for New Florence woman, 2 men accused in her mother’s fatal shooting
The murder trial for a New Florence woman and the two men Westmoreland County who prosecutors say she enlisted to kill her mother is scheduled to begin early next year. Following a brief hearing Friday, Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio said jury selection will begin Feb. 2 in the...
Coroner’s ruling pending in Westmoreland jail inmate’s death
A female inmate was found dead in a jail cell this month, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office said Thursday. Deputy Coroner Al Lonzo said Amber Knepshield, 32, was pronounced dead at 12:22 a.m. in a Westmoreland County prison cell Oct. 3. Lonzo said the office is awaiting results from an...
Federal shutdown could affect deadline for Jeannette flood mitigation project
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County might not meet a state-imposed deadline to complete a program to install new sewer lines in Jeannette because of the federal government shutdown, agency officials said Wednesday. Construction on the $14 million flood mitigation project, which has been in the works since 2019, started...
Financial losses expected as Westmoreland airport braces for flight cuts
Westmoreland County’s Airport Authority is eyeing red ink in the coming months. Reductions to the flight schedule for the airport’s lone commercial carrier and the county’s decision to freeze monthly subsidy payments could substantially limit the authority’s revenue projections during the last quarter of 2025. “We’re prepared for it,” Gabe...
Westmoreland furloughs begin as commissioners prep plan to borrow money
Westmoreland County won’t have enough cash on hand to meet payroll and other operating expenses in about a month, officials said Tuesday. Commissioners said plans are being finalized for the county to borrow funds to keep essential public services in operation amid the ongoing state budget impasse that required Westmoreland...
Westmoreland housing authority gets funding for Rostraver senior apartments
Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials said construction of a new 50-unit apartment building for low-income seniors in Rostraver could begin as soon as next summer. The authority awarded federal tax credits valued at about $15 million last week to pay for what will be the agency’s fifth major construction project...
Derry man convicted for causing 2019 crash that injured passenger
A Westmoreland County jury convicted a Derry Township man for causing a 2019 vehicle crash in Unity in which his passenger sustained serious injuries. Robert S. Mayer, 61, following a two-day trial, was found guilty this week of two felony offenses, aggravated assault by vehicle and causing an accident while...
Westmoreland jury acquits suspended trooper of girlfriend’s assault
Suspended state police Trooper Nicholas Hood was found not guilty Wednesday in connection to an alleged domestic violence incident two years in his Derry Township home. A Westmoreland County jury deliberated two hours before finding Hood not guilty of one misdemeanor count of simple assault. Common Pleas Judge Michael Stewart...
Westmoreland extends election bureau hours, OKs polling place changes for November
Westmoreland County announced it will extend hours of operation for its election bureau for a two-week period prior to the Nov. 4 general election. The county’s election board on Tuesday also approved new locations for five voting of the 306 precincts that will be used on Election Day. Voters will...
Assault trial begins for suspended state police trooper
Sarah Hellmann told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday she was hesitant to contact police to report allegations that one of their own had assaulted her during a fight in a Derry Township home. She said it was only after she was encouraged by her employers that she went to the...
Westmoreland County approves ballot curing process for November election
The Westmoreland County commissioners on Tuesday approved a process to allow voters this fall to correct mail-in ballots. Republicans Sean Kertes and Doug Chew, who for the past five years have opposed efforts to allow what is known as ballot curing, said they were required to reverse course and implement...
Allegheny Twp. man pleads no contest to fentanyl possession
An Allegheny Township man faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest Monday to fentanyl possession. George Zachary Senko, 40, was charged in May 2023 following a traffic stop on South Leechburg Hill Road after police found four bricks of fentanyl in his vehicle. As jury selection...
Jury convicts brother, acquits sister in New Kensington Easter Egg hunt assault
A Westmoreland County jury acquitted a New Kensington woman but convicted her older brother of the assault against of an autistic teen during a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Stacey Oneal Jr., 36, of New Kensington was found guilty of a felony count of aggravated assault and misdemeanor simple assault and...
Brother, sister on trial for teen’s assault during New Kensington Easter egg hunt
Westmoreland County prosecutors contend a New Kensington brother and sister conspired to assault an autistic teenager two years ago during a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Jurors will begin hearing evidence Thursday in the trial of Stacey Oneal Jr., 36, and his younger sister, Krystae Oneal, 33, who are charged in...
Father of New Kensington cop killer pleads guilty to open lewdness charge
The father of the man on death row for the murder of New Kensington police officer Brian Shaw pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection to claims he propositioned two teenage girls in Latrobe. Gregory Baucum Jr., 54, was sentenced to serve six to 12 months in jail but was immediately paroled...
Blairsville woman sentenced to jail term for 2024 fatal Derry Twp. crash
John Higgins said he and his 10-year-old daughter continue to struggle with the death of his fiance, who was killed in a head-on crash last year in Derry Township. Ashley Kelley, 33, pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was sentenced to serve nearly one year in jail for her role...
Judge withdraws from Westmoreland County prison board
Westmoreland County’s jail oversight board for now will operate without representation from the court. Prison Board Chairman Doug Chew said Monday during the board’s monthly meeting that Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr. has withdrawn from the body that includes the three county commissioners, Sheriff James Albert, District Attorney Nicole...
Westmoreland commissioners cancel public meetings amid state budget crisis
Because there’s no money to spend, Westmoreland County commissioners say, there is no need to conduct this week’s regularly scheduled public meetings at the courthouse. Commissioners canceled their agenda meeting set for Tuesday morning and Thursday’s public voting session in response to the ongoing state budget impasse that has halted...
Mt. Pleasant Twp. man pleads guilty in December shooting incident
A Mt. Pleasant Township man was sentenced Monday to serve up to five years in prison in connection with a shooting incident in December 2024. Police claimed he and his father chased a motorist and fired multiple rounds during the incident. Paul Anthony Caletri III, 31, pleaded guilty to one...
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Jeannette celebrates 135th birthday
Karen and Bill Davis of Penn Township grew up at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Jeannette, where they met and later married before moving away to Maryland in the late 1980s. After the birth of their first child in 1994, they returned home and to the church where they spent...
2 dead in Aliquippa shooting
Two people were shot and killed Saturday night in Aliquippa in an incident state police said involved no other people. Cynthia Zipfel, 43, of Aliquippa was discovered by police inside of her parked vehicle in a lot behind a building on Franklin Avenue shortly before 11 p.m. Police said Jalen...
Woman stabbed, another detained in Glen Hazel
Pittsburgh police said Sunday that a woman was taken into custody following a stabbing in the city’s Glen Hazel neighborhood. Investigators said they responded to a residence on the 620 block of Johnstown Avenue at about 8:20 a.m. and found an adult female with one stab wound to the stomach....
Nothing to see: Westmoreland commissioners debate streaming of public meetings
Despite public pleas, Westmoreland commissioners have yet to reach consensus on a plan to make video viewing an option for those who want to watch how county business is conducted. Commissioner Ted Kopas this month endorsed a plan to livestream public meetings that are conducted once or twice monthly at...
