Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 74
Quality assurance manager hired for Westmoreland elections, pay is $80K
Westmoreland County will pay $80,000 a year to the man hired to serve as the quality assurance manager for the election bureau. Commissioners created the position this year to serve as a backstop for potential problems in the department that oversees elections. This week, the commissioners — acting as the...
Pandemic bonuses approved for Westmoreland Manor staff
Nurses, administrators and support staff at Westmoreland Manor will receive bonuses for their work over the last 20 months during the coronavirus pandemic. County commissioners on Thursday voted to divert about $670,000 of the $1.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds awarded directly to the county-owned nursing home this...
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County pays fine for fish kill in Dunbar Creek
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine for its role in an incident last month that killed about 1,500 fish in Dunbar Creek, Fayette County. A water line break on Sept. 11 near Connellsville triggered the incident. The authority sells water to more than...
Poll workers needed in Westmoreland County for Nov. 2 election
Poll workers are needed for the Nov. 2 election in Westmoreland County. Officials said at least three judges of elections and 10 poll worker vacancies remain less than two weeks before the general election. Judges are needed to oversee polling locations in Arnold, Derry and New Kensington, while poll workers...
Former Greensburg chiropractor sentenced to probation for open lewdness
A former Greensburg chiropractor was ordered Tuesday to serve three years on probation and barred from seeking restoration of his professional license after he pleaded no contest to charges in connection with claims that he had improper contact with four females. Westmoreland County prosecutors amended the criminal charges against Moses...
Westmoreland election bureau to remain open evenings and weekends through Nov. 2
Westmoreland County’s Election Bureau will remain open until 8 p.m. through the Nov. 2 election, officials said. The hours will allow additional time for the office to process mail-in ballot applications and perform other administrative duties, according to election bureau Office Manager Jessica Goughnour. The elections office willbe open daily...
Jeannette woman to remain in custody as mental health is evaluated
A Jeannette woman will remain jailed while she awaits trial for possession of a weapon of mass destruction after utility workers were injured as they attempted to restore water service to her home last year. Deborah Samulski, 62, was paroled Monday after serving three months behind bars following her conviction...
Georgia woman gets house arrest, probation for delivering heroin to Westmoreland County
A Westmoreland County judge said a Georgia woman prosecutors described as a drug mule who transported large quantities of heroin into the area was a good person who “made a bad choice.” On Monday, he rejected a potential prison sentence in lieu of house arrest. Sade Franklin, 35, formerly of...
Derry Township man pleads guilty to sexual assaults of women in Ligonier, Penn Township
Two women told a Westmoreland County judge that three years after they were sexually assaulted by a man they once considered a friend, they still struggle to deal with the emotional and physical implications of the attacks and his continued freedom. “I’ve felt like a prisoner since that day,” a...
Race for Westmoreland prothonotary pits former row officer against fiscal clerk
Westmoreland County will have a new prothonotary in 2022. But the officeholder elected this fall to replace retiring Democrat Christina O’Brien will not be an unfamiliar face. Democrat Tom Murphy, 57, of New Kensington served 16 years as the county’s Recorder of Deeds until he was ousted for the second...
Investigation ongoing into deaths of elderly Mt. Pleasant Township couple
Investigators said there were no signs of foul play in connection with an elderly Mt. Pleasant Township couple found dead in their home this week. According to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office, the bodies of Donald Werry, 78, and wife, Patricia Werry, 72, were discovered Wednesday in their home on...
New Kensington man gets 4-to-11-year prison sentence for four 2019 crimes
A New Kensington man was ordered Thursday to serve from four to 11 years in prison for a series of crimes committed in 2019, including the strangulation of a former girlfriend. Kalell Dired McCord, 29, pleaded guilty in August to multiple counts in four cases filed over the last two...
Irwin senior housing project approved for funding; construction set to begin in 2022
Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials expect construction of a new 50-unit apartment building for low-income seniors to begin next year in Irwin and the doors of the proposed four-story facility to open in early 2024. “There is a tremendous need for this. We have long waiting lists in all of...
Lawsuit regarding Mt. Pleasant student alleges bus company negligence
The parents of a former Mt. Pleasant Area School district kindergarten student claim their daughter was injured and received improper medical care during a bus ride home from classes more than a decade ago. According to a two-count lawsuit filed this month in Westmoreland County court against First Student Inc.,...
Westmoreland County approves drop boxes for mail-in ballots
A drop box for mail-in ballots will be available at the Westmoreland County Courthouse starting Oct. 18 and at five regional locations during the two weekends before the Nov. 2 general election. Westmoreland elections officials said more than 19,000 ballots were mailed to voters on Wednesday, according to election bureau...
Westmoreland coroner challenged by former Scottdale mayor
Ken Bacha wants to break his father’s record. Leo Bacha served as Westmoreland County coroner for 23 years and four months before he retired in 2002, the longest tenure anyone has had in the office. A victory for Democrat Ken Bacha in November would mean the opportunity to take over...
Plea deal in the works for Excela Health program coordinator accused in thefts of scholarship funds
Attorneys told a Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday that a plea bargain is expected to be finalized this year for a New Stanton woman accused in the theft of money from Excela Health Latrobe’s medical residency program and a scholarship fund. Suzanne Strickler, 39, was charged in September 2020 with...
New Kensington man guilty in case of meth lab found in parent’s basement
The lawyer for a New Kensington man convicted last week by a Westmoreland County jury of six offenses in connection with a methamphetamine lab found in the basement of his parents’ home vowed to appeal the guilty verdict. Following two days of testimony, the jury on Oct. 8 found Sean...
Westmoreland Democrats prepare for last stand as Republicans seek full government takeover
It’s a last stand of sorts for Democrats in Westmoreland County. The once-dominant political party in November will try to hold on to its last vestiges of power as Republicans seek to claim every elected office at the courthouse. Four row office seats are up for grabs Nov. 2, including...
Westmoreland commissioners urged to spend ARP funds, public hearings set for Oct. 28
Westmoreland County commissioners will hold two public hearings in late October to receive input about how to spend $105 million in federal cash earmarked for covid-relief programs. The sessions will be held Oct. 28 at Science Hall on the Westmoreland County Community College campus near Youngwood, with one scheduled in...
Westmoreland commissioners oust airport authority board members over restaurant lease
Two members of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority board of directors, including the former right-hand man to Arnold Palmer, were replaced Thursday for supporting an extension of a restaurant lease at the Unity airport. Westmoreland Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher voted to install new members to the authority...
Westmoreland polling place changes for Nov. 2 election
Westmoreland County officials announced Wednesday that polling places in three precincts will be moved for the upcoming Nov. 2 election. North Huntingdon’s 1-1 precinct will be moved from the Westmoreland City Volunteer Fire Department to the Westmoreland City Primitive Methodist Church at 1246 5th St. Officials said the church will...
Former Westmoreland County sheriff’s retrial set for March
The public corruption retrial for former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held is scheduled for March, more than two years after voters ousted him from office. The case against the two-term sheriff has been in limbo since Held’s first trial ended in December 2018 with jurors unable to reach a unanimous...
Westmoreland election bureau director post to remain vacant
Westmoreland County commissioners said Wednesday they will not hire a new election bureau director until after voters cast ballots in November. Officials said interviews are ongoing to fill the job that has been vacant since June, when commissioners fired the elections director after she served just 10 controversial months on...
Judge to decide jail or house arrest for New Kensington man convicted of neglect of mother’s corpse
A Westmoreland County judge on Tuesday said he can’t decide whether to send a New Kensington man to jail for neglecting to report to authorities that his mother died and left her sealed up alone in her home for two months. Robert Hawk, 49, through his defense lawyer asked to...
