Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 66
Structural failures elsewhere spur call for emergency repairs at Westmoreland courthouse
It had been a month since the Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh’s East End collapsed, and the memory was fresh in the mind of Westmoreland County Public Works Director Greg McCloskey as he gathered his bosses around a conference table to meet with an engineer. It was at that Feb....
Westmoreland jury awards $19M to swimming pool injury victim
A jury on Friday awarded $19 million in damages to a Vandergrift man left paralyzed from an accident in a friend’s swimming pool, in what is believed to be the largest verdict ever issued in Westmoreland County. Jurors found that Washington Township homeowners Robert and Laura O’Black were negligent and...
Jury to deliberate Friday in paralyzed Vandergrift man’s lawsuit over swimming pool injury
A Westmoreland County jury will begin deliberations Friday to determine if a Washington Township couple is responsible for injuries that left their son’s best friend paralyzed after he broke his neck in 2013 in their backyard swimming pool. Lawyers for Michael Fraser, 29, of Vandergrift contend Robert and Laura O’Black...
Delmont woman charged with threats against judge
A Delmont woman was charged amid allegations that she threatened to hang the Westmoreland County judge who is overseeing her ongoing custody dispute. Detectives said Jennifer Gesuale, 42, posted a YouTube video on March 7 in which she is alleged to have called for the murder of Westmoreland County Common...
Westmoreland County Prison fills a dozen vacancies at job fair
The county job fair at Westmoreland Mall was a big success, officials said. More than 40 applications were received for 50-plus vacant jobs in county government, according to Sam Miller, associate director of the human resources department. “It seems to have been a successful event,” Miller said. The goal of...
Westmoreland courthouse structural concerns identified in January; collapse threat not imminent
Engineers in late January found deteriorating structural beams in a parking garage below the Westmoreland County Courthouse in downtown Greensburg. County officials said Tuesday that while urgency is needed to make repairs, there is no imminent threat of collapse. Core samples taken in October found evidence of deteriorating beams from...
Structural repairs to closing of Westmoreland Courthouse entrance, courtyard
Courthouse Square and the Main Street entrance to the Westmoreland County Courthouse will be closed for at least six months to repair structural issues on the lower two underground parking levels below the government complex in Greensburg. Commissioners on Tuesday are expected to award a $7 million emergency contract for...
Trial begins for Washington Township couple sued by friend paralyzed in swimming pool accident
Lawyers for a Vandergrift man who suffered a broken neck and spinal cord injuries in a swimming pool accident at a friend’s Washington Township home in 2013 on Monday asked a Westmoreland County jury to award him more than $9 million in damages. Jurors will spend the next week hearing...
Westmoreland blight remediation seminar set for April
Westmoreland officials believe there are more than 1,200 dilapidated buildings scattered throughout the county’s 65 municipalities and next month will kick start an effort to remove that blight. The county’s Redevelopment Authority will conduct a daylong “boot camp” April 22 at Westmoreland County Community College for local leaders to address...
Elderly mother of Unity man suspected in ex’s disappearance pleads guilty to $9 fraud, gets no jail time
The 85-year-old mother of a Unity man authorities have called a person of interest in the 2018 disappearance of Cassandra Gross pleaded guilty Friday in a conspiracy to swindle government benefits while her son was in jail on pending charges. Police said Almira Stanko, at her son’s direction, used his...
Greensburg man convicted of drug smuggling at county jail back behind bars after guilty plea in gun case
A Greensburg man convicted earlier for smuggling drugs into the Westmoreland County Prison pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony weapons offense and was ordered to serve up to 23 months behind bars. Jamel Miles, 34, was originally jailed March 3, 2021, after he was arrested by Greensburg police on charges...
Judge said Export man’s jail sentence is message to drug dealers, community
A Westmoreland County judge said an example needed to be set to highlight the ongoing drug epidemic when he sentenced a former Export man to jail for selling fentanyl-laced heroin to a friend who died of an overdose. A jury in December acquitted Kelly Ryan Frank, 54, of drug delivery...
Arnold man rejects, then accepts, plea deal for sexual assault of teen
An Arnold man will serve up to three years in prison for the sexual assault of a girl in her mid-teens. Marcel Lynne Hayes, 31, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one felony count as part of a plea bargain. Hayes initially rejected the deal but ultimately accepted after a Westmoreland County...
Former state senator Bob Regola gets probation for DUI
Former state senator Bob Regola was ordered Wednesday to serve one year on probation for a drunken driving arrest last October in Penn Township. Regola, 59, of North Huntingdon, was charged with two counts of driving while under the influence of alcohol and three traffic offenses after a traffic stop...
Napping dad seeks dismissal of remaining endangerment charges
The lawyer for a former Greensburg man found not guilty last month of child endangerment charges, in connection with allegations he napped as his three young children walked alone on a city street, wants a judge to dismiss three remaining reckless endangerment counts. Defense attorney Michael Garofalo in court documents...
Westmoreland Courthouse dome lit blue and yellow to show support for Ukraine
The golden dome atop the Westmoreland County Courthouse will continue to be lit in blue and yellow, a public showing of support for Ukraine. The new bicolor palette is designed to mirror the Ukrainian flag, said county Commissioner Sean Kertes. “Westmoreland County stands with the people of Ukraine as they...
Greensburg man guilty of recording teens in basement bathroom
A Greensburg man was convicted of criminal charges related allegations that he recorded pictures of teen girls in a bathroom with a smart phone. Following a nonjury trial this week, Carlos Alvarado, 49, was found guilty of one felony charge of attempting to record illicit images of a child and...
Hempfield man pleads guilty to raping girls, faces up to 12 years in prison
A Hempfield man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges that he had sex with two young girls. Police said Kilian A. Thomas was 20 when he met the girls, ages 13 and 11, through social media in late 2019 and arranged multiple encounters in which they had sex in his...
Covid cases at Westmoreland jail slow amid county decline
Coronavirus cases at Westmoreland County Prison continue to decline. Warden Bryan Kline said Monday that just five inmates are currently infected with the virus, the lowest number of positive cases the Hempfield lockup has seen in several months. There were 542 inmates in the jail on Monday. “Our visitation and...
Greensburg man’s bid to bar sex video evidence rejected by judge
A Westmoreland County judge on Monday ruled a cellphone video showing a woman having sex with a boy was legally obtained by authorities. Charles Hunter, 35, of Greensburg is awaiting trial of multiple counts of rape of a child, possession of child pornography and related offenses in connection with the...
Westmoreland coroner appoints new chief deputy
The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office has a new chief deputy. Newly elected Coroner Tim Carson announced Monday that he has tabbed Scottdale funeral director James Jacquillard as his second-in-command. Jacquillard, 50, has been a licensed funeral director for 28 years. He is a supervisor and funeral director at Graft-Jacquillard Funeral...
Greensburg man ordered to prison for rape of unconscious woman
A Greensburg man convicted of raping an unconscious woman and for an attempted sexual assault of another person told a Westmoreland County judge on Monday he wanted to take responsibility for his actions even as he maintained his innocence. Levi L. Evans, 24, at a nonjury trial in September was...
Lawsuit claims Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau failed to protect New Ken 3-year-old killed in 2020
The maternal grandfather of a nearly 3-year-old New Kensington boy beaten to death in 2020 claims the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau failed to protect the child after it received allegations he was subjected to repeated incidents of physical and sexual abuse at the hands his mother and her live-in boyfriend....
Murrysville, North Huntingdon Republicans blast new congressional map; Democrats invigorated by changes
Republicans in Westmoreland County towns included in a redrawn congressional district based in Pittsburgh said they fear their communities will be excluded from key decision-making and have a reduced voice in national politics. Meanwhile, local Democrats said the move to align the county’s largest municipalities with traditional Democratic enclaves will...
Westmoreland’s western towns shifted to Pittsburgh-based Congressional district
Some Republican strongholds along the western edge of Westmoreland County will be part of a new Democratic-based Congressional district under a redistricting plan approved Wednesday by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The county will continue to have two representatives in Congress. Irwin, Jeannette, Murrysville, North Huntingdon, Penn Township, Sewickley and part...
