Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 7
Ex-Greensburg police chief set for Monday court appearance in county theft case
Former Greensburg police chief Shawn Denning is back in Westmoreland County. Denning, 44, of Delmont was transferred this week to the county jail to await a court appearance Monday, when he is expected to consider a possible guilty plea to misdemeanor charges in connection with allegations that he stole evidence...
Bedbug outbreak disrupts tenants at Jeannette high rise
Kristina Trent said Friday her father hasn’t been able to be at home much over the last two weeks amid another outbreak of bedbugs at a Jeannette high-rise apartment building. “My dad has to stay with me. He can’t go home to a house where he is still paying rent,”...
Westmoreland commissioners OK updated land development ordinance
Fees for Westmoreland planners to review development proposals will increase after commissioners approved a revision of the county’s decade-old subdivision ordinance. Commissioners signed off on the updated guidelines that officials said could spur future growth and development. Fees paid by developers and property owners for the county to review plans...
Westmoreland County OKs drug lawsuit settlement
Westmoreland County has signed on to the settlement of a federal lawsuit with the makers of Oxycontin. The $7 billion overall resolution to the litigation filed against Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, was approved earlier this year. It is expected to result in $200 million earmarked for...
Deputy director hired for Westmoreland election bureau
For the first time in five years, Westmoreland County has a deputy director of the election bureau. The county commissioners on Thursday announced the hiring of Hannah Lindley, 31, of Bentleyville, Washington County, to serve as second in command of the office that oversees elections in Westmoreland County. Lindley served...
Rabbi enlisted to assess faith of Westmoreland jail inmate
A Pittsburgh rabbi was brought in to assess claims that a county jail inmate’s religious convictions qualify him to receive kosher meals while incarcerated, the Westmoreland County commissioners said. The lawyer for Kort Noel Eckman, who is awaiting trial in the attempted murder of his mother, said jail officials have...
DA says New Kensington murder arrest 1st to come from Westmoreland grand jury
Criminal homicide charges filed in connection with the fatal shooting of a man in New Kensington more than two years ago was the first to result from a Westmoreland County investigating grand jury seated early last year, prosecutors said Wednesday. Larry Osborn Nix II, 41, of West Brownsville, Washington County,...
Philadelphia men sentenced for drug bust on PA Turnpike
Two Philadelphia men arrested for possession of an estimated $140,000 in fentanyl-laced heroin during a 2023 traffic stop along the Pennsylvania Turnpike were sentenced Tuesday to serve lengthy prison terms. Mario Antonio Caba, 39, and Elvis Luis Holguin Ventura, 29, were convicted of one felony and misdemeanor drug counts following...
Greensburg teen, 17, sentenced as adult for Hempfield armed robbery
A Greensburg teen has been ordered to serve up to 40 months in prison for his role in an armed robbery last year in Hempfield. Cayden Essway, 17, was prosecuted as an adult and pleaded guilty in May to one felony count of robbery and a misdemeanor weapons offense. Essway’s...
Westmoreland tax office director being let go after just 1 year on the job
The Westmoreland County commissioners on Tuesday confirmed that they are firing the director of the county’s tax office after just one year on the job. According to payroll records released by the county controller’s office, Sarah Minnick, who had served as director of the office that processes property tax payments...
Delmont man expected to blame wife for son’s torture slaying
A Delmont man charged along with his wife for the alleged torture and murder of their adopted son wants a separate trial, his lawyer said during a court hearing on Monday. Defense attorney Ken Noga told a county judge that evidence suggests that Lauren Maloberti was the person who beat...
Westmoreland inmate accused of stabbing mother should have kosher meals, she says
Although her son stands accused of trying to kill her, the mother of a Westmoreland County Prison inmate wants him to receive a special kosher diet based upon his religious beliefs. Rose Eckman asked members of the county’s prison board on Monday to allow her son — jailed for the...
Westmoreland Land Bank amps up effort to sell vacant properties
Formerly vacant properties could soon be on the market in Westmoreland County. The county’s land bank, the agency responsible for collecting and rehabilitating properties, has put out a call for private Realtors as part of an effort to amp up sales that officials say will help pay for the next...
East Huntingdon facility among bankrupt nursing homes scheduled for auction
A 35-bed nursing home in East Huntingdon is among six facilities in Western Pennsylvania targeted for sale this year. A public auction will be held in September to transfer ownership of Scottdale Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center in East Huntingdon, a closed facility in Jefferson Hills, the 67-bed Beaver Healthcare and...
Fraud case dismissed against Leechburg contractor
A judge on Wednesday dismissed the criminal case against a Leechburg contractor charged with defrauding a Unity couple in connection with a $59,000 home improvement project they claimed was never completed. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger ruled prosecutors had insufficient evidence to prove that Dawayne W. Redmond,...
Yarmulke-wearing inmate appears in Westmoreland County court
A Mt. Pleasant man attended a court hearing Wednesday with a yarmulke on his head, a week after he was denied transport from the county jail to the courthouse because he refused to remove it. Kort Noel Eckman, 49, sported a white head covering decorated with a floral pattern during...
Unity pizza shop robber sentenced
A Unity man was ordered to serve up to an additional 23 months in jail for the armed robbery last year of a pizza shop. Austin M. Lewis, 25, pleaded guilty in April to two felony robbery counts and two related misdemeanor offenses in connection with a Jan. 8, 2024...
Family of South Greensburg man hit by snowplow files wrongful death lawsuit
The wife of a South Greensburg man who was hit by snowplow in January has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the landscape company hired to clear the parking lot were the crash occurred. Paul Tucci, 73, suffered fatal injuries as he walked to his vehicle Jan. 5 after an...
Jeannette man seeks to withdraw guilty plea in 2019 fatal shooting outside McKee Stadium
A Jeannette man accused in a fatal shooting outside the city high school’s football stadium told a Westmoreland County judge Monday that he was misled when he pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. Greg Harper, 46, is seeking to withdraw the guilty plea he entered in 2022, claiming his then-defense attorney...
Teen tells judge Derry Township couple’s abuse ‘ruined my life’
A teen told a Westmoreland County judge that years of physical abuse suffered at the hands of a Derry Township couple will have a lasting impact and left a permanent disfigurement. “It hurt so bad every day. It ruined my life pretty much, what they did,” the teen, now 16,...
MAWC to update aging pressure flow controls
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members last week approved a $9.6 million project to install new equipment to better control water pressure. The project is part of upgrades that will enable staff to remotely adjust and monitor water flow, said MAWC manager Michael Kukura. Officials said the new equipment...
Lawsuit challenging Westmoreland vehicle tracking policy rolls on
Sheriff James Albert’s initial attempt to invalidate Westmoreland County’s vehicle tracking policy has been rejected by a judge. Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr., in a ruling made public Friday, said more evidence is needed to determine whether the policy violates the sheriff’s ability to independently run his elected office....
MAWC pauses refinancing plan amid concerns over economic downturn
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will pause a plan to refinance more than $150 million in existing debt. The authority board of directors have concerns that deteriorating economic conditions could result in a reduction in potential savings for the water and sewer agency. Authority administrators and private financial advisers have...
Ligonier DUI crash that injured 3 motorcyclists nets Washington County man prison sentence
John Creasy has had a long road to recovery after he and two motorcycle riders traveling along Route 30 in Ligonier were hit by a drunk driver. “I’ll be handicapped for the rest of my life,” Creasy said Thursday following a sentencing hearing for a Washington County man who prosecutors...
Advocacy group blasts plea deal in cruelty case against Derry cat shelter operator
A national animal advocacy organization Wednesday criticized a probation sentence imposed against a Derry-area woman who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty offenses. In Defense of Animals, an international animal protection organization based in San Rafael, Calif., said the guilty plea entered by Kimberly Rose, 45, of Blairsville in late June...
