Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 40
Indiana DA finds police justified in fatal shooting
State police were justified in the fatal shooting of a 51-year-old man killed following a traffic stop last month near Homer City, Indiana County District Attorney Robert Manzi Jr. announced Wednesday. Manzi said the monthlong investigation into the circumstances of the July 3 fatal shooting of John V. Dye determined...
Ted Kopas returns to work as Westmoreland commissioner
Ted Kopas didn’t need directions to get to work Tuesday morning. Kopas, a Democrat who lives in Hempfield, was sworn in to office as a Westmoreland County commissioner. He takes over the minority role on the county’s board of commissioners from Democrat Gina Cerilli Thrasher, who left office a day...
Accused Upper Burrell bar shooter competent for trial
A Westmoreland County judge ruled Tuesday that a man charged in connection with a fatal shooting in an Upper Burrell bar nearly two years ago is competent to stand trial. Police claim Daniel Moles, 77, of Lower Burrell shot and killed 31-year-old Randy Jenereaux at Woodpeckers Pub & Grub tavern...
North Huntingdon man sentenced to probation for 2020 armed robbery
A North Huntingdon man was ordered Monday to serve seven years on probation for his role in an armed robbery nearly three years ago in Mt. Pleasant Township. Elijah Ben Chaabane, 20, pleaded guilty earlier this year to robbery, conspiracy and weapons offense related to a Dec. 19, 2020 incident...
Thrasher ends tenure as Westmoreland commissioner
Gina Cerilli Thrasher’s title will remain the same. In her next role, Thrasher will serve as a commissioner on the state’s Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board when she starts her new job Tuesday. Her more than seven years as a member of Westmoreland County’s Board of Commissioners ended Monday. “It’s bittersweet...
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County looks to continue expansion efforts
Sewers are the new growth industry for the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The agency last week completed the purchase of a municipal sewer system that services Scottdale, Everson, Upper Tyrone and part of East Huntingdon, and officials said the utility, whose primary business during its first 60 years has...
Murrysville Golf Club tees up for court battle
The operator of a Murrysville golf course claims the landlord wants to take over what has become a successful business. J.K. Golf Inc., the operator of the Murrysville Golf Club, filed a lawsuit this week seeking an arbitration panel be convened to determine the future of the 18-hole course on...
Westmoreland courthouse to host veteran benefits clinic
Westmoreland County’s Department of Veterans Affairs will host an open house at the courthouse on Thursday to assist with applications for special benefits authorized by the federal government last year. The clinic will operate from noon to 3 p.m. to provide assistance for veterans and their families to apply for...
Derry mother on arrest in daughter’s 2007 death: ‘I didn’t think I would see this’
Carol Polo waited years to hear the news she received this week. “I didn’t think I would see this,” Polo said Thursday at a news conference held the day after police arrested and charged a Derry Township man in the 2007 murder of her 22-year-old daughter. Police said Samantha Lang...
Westmoreland County prepares for funding shortfalls in event of prolonged state budget impasse
Westmoreland County leaders huddled for more than an hour Wednesday to begin working on a playbook to ensure essential programs and services continue locally if the state legislature fails to adopt a budget. “We are prepared for it and we want to make sure we have enough money in our...
Westmoreland 250: 10 unique things in Greensburg
(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December. If you have a...
Judge sets bond for Chicago man charged in Westmoreland catalytic converter thefts
A Chicago man awaiting trial on charges that he was part of a multicounty catalytic converter theft ring can be released from jail if he posts $750,000 bail, a Westmoreland County judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio ordered Christian Buie, 32, to post three, $250,000 straight cash bonds if he...
Married Trafford couple pleads guilty to prostitution
A married Trafford couple pleaded guilty Tuesday to operating a sex business from their home this year. Police said Robert Wargo, 53, and his wife, Kayla Wargo, 35, solicited and hosted men for sexual encounters at their Fairmont Avenue residence during daytime hours. Investigators contended they opened the investigation in...
Experts debate teen’s potential transfer to juvenile court in New Kensington murder case
Two mental health experts gave conflicting testimony Monday as to whether a now 16-year-old boy charged in connection with a fatal shooting last summer in New Kensington should be prosecuted as an adult. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Wright said Avian Molter is not receptive to treatment in the juvenile justice...
Somerset man sentenced for 2019 crash that killed Hempfield bicyclist
Nearly four years after Jason Zollinger was killed as he pedaled up Route 30 toward Laurel Mountain summit in Ligonier Township, his family on Monday finally obtained a level of closure. “I am speaking for my son because he can’t. It’s been 1,392 days since my life changed forever. I...
Bridge work impacts Westmoreland County Transit bus service
Westmoreland County Transit’s daily bus service to Pittsburgh Mills will be temporarily cut starting Monday. Officials said the authority’s Route 14 bus service that runs through New Kensington and to the shopping complex will be shortened and no longer run to the mall during the six-week closure of the New...
‘Changed man’ gets probation for police standoff and parking lot attack
On Thursday, nearly two years after he barricaded himself in his Hempfield home and tried to kill himself, George Gardner claimed he was a new man. Gardner pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that stemmed from two separate incidents in 2021 in which authorities said he shot at his wife and...
South Greensburg man pleads guilty to recording sex with teen
A South Greensburg man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he recorded video of sexual encounters with a teenage girl. Police said Nicholas James Rossi, 27, had a seven month sexual relationship with a then 17-year-old girl in 2021 and 2022 in which he recorded their sex acts. Rossi pleaded...
Greensburg police officer pleads guilty in 2022 assault case, resigned from force
Editor’s note: Former Greensburg Kenneth Burke pleaded guilty Friday to an amended misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and summary harassment. The charges to which he pleaded guilty were incorrect in the original version of this story. A suspended Greensburg police officer has been forced to resign after pleading guilty Friday...
MAWC buys Westmoreland Fayette sewer authority
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members Wednesday approved a $17.5 million deal to purchase a small sewer system that serves Scottdale, a part of East Huntingdon as well as two communities in Fayette County. MAWC will pay $2.25 million in cash for the Westmoreland Fayette Municipal Sewage Authority and...
Hempfield man ordered to serve 4 years in prison for sexual assaults of teens
A Hempfield man was ordered to serve up to four years in prison for the sexual assaults of three teens. Joshua Esteban Kunkle, 21, pleaded guilty in April to a reduced set of charges in connection with attacks against three juveniles over a four-year period that ended in 2020. Westmoreland...
Monessen man convicted of sexual assault of blind victim
A Monessen man was convicted this week of sexually assaulting a legally blind woman last year outside a Rostraver home. Following a nonjury trial Monday, Timothy L. Stitch was convicted of one felony count of sexual assault in connection with allegations made by a 36-year-old woman who claimed she was...
Baby shower shooter paroled after serving year in jail
Isiah Hampton had a baby on the way and was surrounded by friends and family who wanted to celebrate when everything changed. Hampton, 27, of Arnold pulled out a gun and shot two people after he refused to carry baby shower gifts out to his car at the end of...
Mental health issues prompt trial delay for Penn Township man accused of killing father, aunt
A Penn Township man charged with the murders of his father and aunt nearly two years ago was found competent to stand trial Tuesday morning. But that ruling was almost immediately rescinded following a mid-hearing outburst during which Neal Hubish, 43, walked out of a court hearing he attended remotely...
Ala. man pleads guilty for role in New Kensington motorcyclist’s death
An Alabama man who pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide on Monday told the surviving family members of 71-year Martin Stephen Susa of New Kensington that he couldn’t explain his actions leading up to the man’s death. “I’ve never come close to hurting anyone with a vehicle or anything else. You...
