Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 109
Missing woman’s body found in Indiana County creek, foul play not suspected
Foul play is not suspected in the death of an Indiana County woman who was missing since Thursday. State police announced Saturday morning that the body of Lori Ann Lane, 55, was found inside a 2003 Honda Pilot that was overturned in a stream along Taylor Road in Armstrong Township,...
Westmoreland housing authority starts inspections for bedbugs across countyVideo
Every unit in the 16 high-rise buildings under control of the Westmoreland County Housing Authority will be inspected as part of a new initiative to eradicate bedbugs, officials said this week. Private exterminators will use dogs to sniff out the presence of the biting insects that can cause nuisances to...
Saltsburg man guilty of selling fatal batch of fentanyl-laced heroin
A Westmoreland County jury on Wednesday convicted the Indiana County man prosecutors said sold fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a 38-year-old mother in December 2016. After more than five hours of deliberations jurors found Dylan Blair, 23, of Saltsburg guilty of a felony count of drug delivery resulting in death and...
Former state cop from New Derry convicted of false statements in gun buyback attempt
A former state police officer from New Derry was convicted Tuesday of falsifying official documents when he attempted to buy back his service weapons. Prosecutors said Chad Corbett, 40, misrepresented his criminal record on March 6, 2018, when he tried to take back ownership of his guns at the Army-Navy...
Trial witness ties dealer to drugs prosecutors say killed Derry woman
Tyler Klapchar told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday he watched his friend’s mother hand money to his drug dealer on Christmas Eve 2016. “It was very apparent. She gave him money and he gave her something. I definitely saw a hand-to-hand transaction,” Klapchar testified during the second day of the...
Victim of fatal Derry Township overdose was warned of drug’s potency
Westmoreland County prosecutors said Monday that a Christmas Eve decision to sell drugs to a Derry woman two years ago was both fatal and tragic. Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar told a Westmoreland County jury that Michelle Spillar, 38, died Dec. 26, 2017, from drugs sold to her by an...
Water at Hempfield nursing home to be treated with chlorine to kill suspected Legionella bacteria
Additional efforts at Westmoreland Manor to remove the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease will begin this week. The thermal eradication process started at the end of last week to kill suspected Legionella bacteria found in water at the Hempfield nursing home was unsuccessful, Westmoreland County officials said in a statement...
Woman accused of hiding gun that killed New Kensington cop says she suffers from PTSD
A woman charged with disposing of the weapon that police say was used to kill New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw claims she could not have done so because she is afraid to enter basements. In court documents filed Monday, the lawyer for Lisa Danea Harrington, 33, of New Kensington...
Trial starts for former state trooper accused of lying on application to buy guns
A former state police officer accused of falsifying an application to buy two firearms did not attempt to break the law, his lawyer told a Westmoreland County jury as his trial started Monday. Chad Corbett, 40, of New Derry, believed criminal charges alleging he had assaulted a woman were to...
Hempfield industrial park eyed by high-tech start-up manufacturing company
A high-tech start-up manufacturing company is expected to occupy two parcels at the Westmoreland County Technology Park II in Hempfield. County officials this week approved an option agreement for a company that represents Fossil Industries to purchase two parcels on nearly 11 acres at the industrial park. The company will...
Youngwood to get new water, sewer lines
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members on Friday awarded a $7.2 million contract to an Allegheny County construction firm for a three-year project to replace water and sewer lines in Youngwood. Authority officials said Jet Jack Inc. of Oakdale submitted the lowest of six bids for the work expected...
Derry man gets 7 to 14 years for friend’s overdose death
After a plea from the victim’s mother, a Derry man was sentenced Friday to serve up to 14 years in prison for his role in a friend’s fatal overdose in Greensburg more than two years ago. Glenn Levtzow, 38, appeared in court a week after he failed to attend a...
County begins treating Westmoreland Manor water sources
Westmoreland County has started treating water sources at its nursing home in Hempfield to remove what officials say is the likely presence of bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease. Preliminary tests revealed earlier this week the likely presence of the Legionella bacteria in water at Westmoreland Manor. Those tests were initiated...
Derry Township man to serve up to 10 years for assaults at eviction hearing
A Derry Township man will serve up to 10 years in prison for assaults against a lawyer and a witness during an eviction hearing more than two years ago. Kevin Cole, 34, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts each of aggravated assault and simple assault in connection with allegations he...
Gina Cerilli says Doug Chew contradicts position on bidding Westmoreland County contracts
Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli on Thursday accused a fellow commissioner of breaking a campaign promise less than one month into his first term in office. Cerilli, a two-term Democrat, said Republican Doug Chew’s vote to award seven contracts, to upgrade and install new air conditioning units at locations throughout...
Oklahoma Borough man who stole natural gas ordered to repay $2,000 to Peoples
A Westmoreland County judge has rejected a prosecution request that sought more than $900,000 in restitution from an Oklahoma Borough businessman convicted of stealing natural gas from an open well. Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger, in a ruling made public on Wednesday, said Jeffrey W. Zinchini, 61, of Oklahoma...
Preliminary testing shows ‘probable Legionella’ in water at Westmoreland Manor
Preliminary testing indicated a finding of “probable Legionella” bacteria, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, in water at Westmoreland Manor, county officials said Wednesday. Additional testing is under way, the county reported in a statement. Final results are expected by early next week. “Westmoreland Manor was notified by the Pennsylvania Department of...
Derry woman charged with animal neglect receives probation sentence
A Derry Borough woman will serve one-year probation for her role in the mistreatment of dozens of animals found living in poor conditions last year on her sister’s property. Prosecutors said as many as 14 horses, eight dogs, a donkey and dozens of cats and kittens were found emaciated, in...
Former Leechburg police chief Michael Diebold faces additional criminal chargesVideo
Additional criminal charges were filed this week against Michael Diebold, a former Leechburg police chief, alleging he did not comply with registration requirements for convicted sex offenders. State police charged Diebold, 42, in Armstrong County with a felony offense in connection with allegations he used the social media site FetLife.com...
Westmoreland controller calls for bigger county tax increase
Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer on Tuesday called on commissioners to approve an additional property tax increase to ensure there is enough money to pay the bills through the end of the year. Balzer made his plea for higher taxes as he and Commissioner Gina Cerilli traded barbs during a...
Rape charges dismissed against former Hempfield man
A former Hempfield man pleaded guilty Tuesday to lesser offenses after prosecutors agreed to dismiss rape charges in connection with an alleged sexual assault in October 2017. Harold M. Franks, 37, now of Washington Township, was charged after a bloodied and bruised woman appeared at a Greensburg police station, partially...
Westmoreland Manor water being tested for Legionnaires’ disease
State health officials confirmed Tuesday an investigation is ongoing at Westmoreland Manor for a suspected case of Legionnaires’ disease. Residents and employees at the county-owned nursing home in Hempfield have been using bottled water to drink and to clean with since Friday, when the investigation started. “The department is investigating...
Westmoreland Manor water system being tested after complaint filed with state
Residents and staff at Westmoreland Manor have relied on bottled and boiled water since Friday as officials conduct tests to determine if the county nursing home’s water system was compromised. A complaint forwarded by the state’s Department of Health resulted in required testing of the Hempfield facility’s water distribution network,...
Westmoreland Prison Board elects new leadership
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert was elected Monday to serve as chairman of the county’s Prison Board. The panel oversees operations of the county jail in Hempfield. Members include the sheriff, all three county commissioners, Controller Jeffrey Balzer and District Attorney John Peck. For more than a decade, the county’s...
Westmoreland lockup cashing in with online books, movies
Westmoreland County collected more than $161,000 last year from jail inmates who rented movies and books and made phone calls on tablet computers. Warden John Walton said the money from the first year of the program, which allows inmates recreational use of the tablets from the privacy of their cells,...
