Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 96

Westmoreland County Transit officials say the ongoing coronavirus scare for now will not impact local and commuter bus service and the agency’s Go Westmoreland paratransit shared-ride programs will continue at current levels. Transit Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said buses and other vehicles will undergo additional disinfection to ensure the...

Westmoreland County will be ready if large numbers of voters decide to stay home on Election Day. Officials will spend about $100,000 for new equipment to help count mail-in votes in next month’s primary and in the November general election. County commissioners approved buying two high-speed scanners from Election Systems...

Pennsylvania court officials this week warned of a recently reported telephone scam seeking payments for bail and expenses to help incarcerated family members. Officials said the rouse involves a call from what appears to be the state’s Commonwealth Court telephone number and a demand for payments through PayPal. Officials cautioned...

A Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County laborer in a lawsuit filed against West Penn Power and First Energy claims he was injured when he cut an unmarked electrical line during water line repairs last year in Delmont. Michael Obney, 39, of Hempfield contends he sustained electrical burns on his hands...

Callers to Westmoreland County 911 are being asked if they have potentially been exposed to the coronavirus or are experiencing any symptoms of the illness. Operators on Tuesday started questioning callers seeking assistance for breathing issues or other respiratory symptoms if they’ve been to the countries hit hardest by the...

A Westmoreland County judge on Monday rejected a bond request from a Connellsville man awaiting trial on charges of raping a 12-year-old girl in 2013. Prosecutors say the girl gave birth to the man’s child nine months later. Shawn Melville, 42, was charged last year with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse,...

A Sewickley man will serve up to four years in prison for sexually assaulting two mentally disabled women at his home in 2018. Wayne E. Smith, 75, pleaded guilty Monday to forcing the women, ages 23 and 24, to have sex — acts they were unable to consent to because...

Matthew Genard was weeks away from a fresh start in Florida when he was brutally stabbed to death during a drug-related robbery more than two years ago in Youngwood. Genard’s eldest sister told a Westmoreland County judge on Monday that the family’s youngest sibling was ready to turn his life...

Robert Prah Jr. has been campaigning for more than a year, and he’s got the Army-green notebook to prove it. Prah, a Democrat from Rostraver, will appear on the ballot during a special election March 17 to fill the remaining nine months of the vacant state House seat representing the...

A new four-year labor deal with Westmoreland County’s largest unions was approved Thursday that gives raises to workers but also imposes a surcharge on employees who use tobacco. Commissioners ratified the deal with the Service Employees International Union Local 668 and SEIU HealthCare Pennsylvania, which represents courthouse employees and nursing...

The 2020 tourism plan for Westmoreland County includes more than $834,000 in new projects and reserves a large purse for what officials hope one day will be spent on an agressive marketing campaign to lure tourists — and their wallets. Projects include upgrades to county parks, financing for the annual...

A Westmoreland County jury Thursday convicted a New Kensington woman of helping her cousin avoid capture and disposing of the handgun prosecutors say was used to kill a city police officer. Jurors deliberated seven hours over two days before finding Lisa Harrington, 33, guilty on four counts of hindering the...

Eric Davanzo, the Republican candidate for the vacant state House seat in the 58th District, announced Wednesday he received a series of endorsements leading up to the March 17 special election. Davanzo, 53, said he received endorsements from the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association; the Fraternal Order of Police, Frank J....

The jury in the trial of a New Kensington woman charged with helping her cousin avoid capture following the 2017 shooting death of police Officer Brian Shaw deliberated late into the night Wednesday but did not reach a verdict. Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rita Hathaway sent the jury...

A series of witnesses told a Westmoreland County jury on Tuesday that the cousin of the man convicted of killing New Kensington police officer Brian Shaw was in and out of a nearby city home the shooter ran to after the 2017 murder. Michael Luffey, 35, one of a group...

For Warren and Pat Lupson, there was no question they would appear in a Greensburg courtroom for yet another appeal by the man serving three consecutive life sentences for murdering their daughter and two young grandsons in Jeannette. The Lupsons, as they did in 1995 for the trial and again...

Cash-strapped Westmoreland County might soon get some relief to its budget crunch with a land deal to sell 110 acres in Hempfield. Under details revealed Tuesday, the vacant land would be sold to the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. — which would pay $2.4 million for property to be used...

Westmoreland County voters will have multiple opportunities over the next month to view and test new touch-screen computer systems that will be used to cast ballots for the first time this spring. Elections officials this week announced demonstration sessions will be conducted in Latrobe, Murrysville and New Stanton. “I think...

A Greensburg man pleaded guilty Monday to using his SUV as a weapon against a romantic rival. The case against Seth M. Vanderella, 27, was the second time in less than two years that he admitted causing injuries to another person using a vehicle. On Monday, Vanderella pleaded guilty to...

As police fanned out across the region in the hours and days after the fatal shooting of New Kensington police Officer Brian Shaw in search of his killer, the gunman’s cousin spirited away and disposed of the suspected murder weapon, prosecutors told a Westmoreland County jury Monday. Assistant District Attorney...

Westmoreland County Transit cut overtime costs by 42% in February, easing a budget crunch that impacted the agency during the first month after it took over operations of its fixed-route and shared-ride para transit services from a private contractor, officials said. The transit authority saw overtime for drivers reach more...

A nearly $1.7 million construction and resurfacing project at Westmoreland County Transit’s park-and-ride lot in North Huntingdon will begin in mid-March, temporarily forcing hundreds of daily commuters to catch the bus about a mile away at a vacant Allegheny County store lot. Transit authority board members last week approved a...

The balance of political power in Rostraver shifted recently when two of the township’s commissioners changed their political affiliations from Democrat to Republican. In January, board Chairman John Lorenzo, who was elected in November as a Democrat, and Henry Boldyzar Jr., whose current four-year term started last year, switched parties...

The director of Westmoreland County’s juvenile detention center resigned this week — a month after he was injured during an altercation between two teens at the facility. Controller Jeff Balzer, who serves as chairman of the county’s juvenile detention board of directors, confirmed Friday that Carlos Alejandre, who has served...