Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 40
Derry mother on arrest in daughter’s 2007 death: ‘I didn’t think I would see this’
Carol Polo waited years to hear the news she received this week. “I didn’t think I would see this,” Polo said Thursday at a news conference held the day after police arrested and charged a Derry Township man in the 2007 murder of her 22-year-old daughter. Police said Samantha Lang...
Westmoreland County prepares for funding shortfalls in event of prolonged state budget impasse
Westmoreland County leaders huddled for more than an hour Wednesday to begin working on a playbook to ensure essential programs and services continue locally if the state legislature fails to adopt a budget. “We are prepared for it and we want to make sure we have enough money in our...
Westmoreland 250: 10 unique things in Greensburg
(Editor’s note: To mark Westmoreland County’s 250th birthday this year, we’ve come up with a list of 250 things — 10 things in 25 communities — that we consider to be important to the makeup of our area. This series will appear each week through December. If you have a...
Judge sets bond for Chicago man charged in Westmoreland catalytic converter thefts
A Chicago man awaiting trial on charges that he was part of a multicounty catalytic converter theft ring can be released from jail if he posts $750,000 bail, a Westmoreland County judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio ordered Christian Buie, 32, to post three, $250,000 straight cash bonds if he...
Married Trafford couple pleads guilty to prostitution
A married Trafford couple pleaded guilty Tuesday to operating a sex business from their home this year. Police said Robert Wargo, 53, and his wife, Kayla Wargo, 35, solicited and hosted men for sexual encounters at their Fairmont Avenue residence during daytime hours. Investigators contended they opened the investigation in...
Experts debate teen’s potential transfer to juvenile court in New Kensington murder case
Two mental health experts gave conflicting testimony Monday as to whether a now 16-year-old boy charged in connection with a fatal shooting last summer in New Kensington should be prosecuted as an adult. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Wright said Avian Molter is not receptive to treatment in the juvenile justice...
Somerset man sentenced for 2019 crash that killed Hempfield bicyclist
Nearly four years after Jason Zollinger was killed as he pedaled up Route 30 toward Laurel Mountain summit in Ligonier Township, his family on Monday finally obtained a level of closure. “I am speaking for my son because he can’t. It’s been 1,392 days since my life changed forever. I...
Bridge work impacts Westmoreland County Transit bus service
Westmoreland County Transit’s daily bus service to Pittsburgh Mills will be temporarily cut starting Monday. Officials said the authority’s Route 14 bus service that runs through New Kensington and to the shopping complex will be shortened and no longer run to the mall during the six-week closure of the New...
‘Changed man’ gets probation for police standoff and parking lot attack
On Thursday, nearly two years after he barricaded himself in his Hempfield home and tried to kill himself, George Gardner claimed he was a new man. Gardner pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that stemmed from two separate incidents in 2021 in which authorities said he shot at his wife and...
South Greensburg man pleads guilty to recording sex with teen
A South Greensburg man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he recorded video of sexual encounters with a teenage girl. Police said Nicholas James Rossi, 27, had a seven month sexual relationship with a then 17-year-old girl in 2021 and 2022 in which he recorded their sex acts. Rossi pleaded...
Greensburg police officer pleads guilty in 2022 assault case, resigned from force
Editor’s note: Former Greensburg Kenneth Burke pleaded guilty Friday to an amended misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and summary harassment. The charges to which he pleaded guilty were incorrect in the original version of this story. A suspended Greensburg police officer has been forced to resign after pleading guilty Friday...
MAWC buys Westmoreland Fayette sewer authority
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members Wednesday approved a $17.5 million deal to purchase a small sewer system that serves Scottdale, a part of East Huntingdon as well as two communities in Fayette County. MAWC will pay $2.25 million in cash for the Westmoreland Fayette Municipal Sewage Authority and...
Hempfield man ordered to serve 4 years in prison for sexual assaults of teens
A Hempfield man was ordered to serve up to four years in prison for the sexual assaults of three teens. Joshua Esteban Kunkle, 21, pleaded guilty in April to a reduced set of charges in connection with attacks against three juveniles over a four-year period that ended in 2020. Westmoreland...
Monessen man convicted of sexual assault of blind victim
A Monessen man was convicted this week of sexually assaulting a legally blind woman last year outside a Rostraver home. Following a nonjury trial Monday, Timothy L. Stitch was convicted of one felony count of sexual assault in connection with allegations made by a 36-year-old woman who claimed she was...
Baby shower shooter paroled after serving year in jail
Isiah Hampton had a baby on the way and was surrounded by friends and family who wanted to celebrate when everything changed. Hampton, 27, of Arnold pulled out a gun and shot two people after he refused to carry baby shower gifts out to his car at the end of...
Mental health issues prompt trial delay for Penn Township man accused of killing father, aunt
A Penn Township man charged with the murders of his father and aunt nearly two years ago was found competent to stand trial Tuesday morning. But that ruling was almost immediately rescinded following a mid-hearing outburst during which Neal Hubish, 43, walked out of a court hearing he attended remotely...
Ala. man pleads guilty for role in New Kensington motorcyclist’s death
An Alabama man who pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide on Monday told the surviving family members of 71-year Martin Stephen Susa of New Kensington that he couldn’t explain his actions leading up to the man’s death. “I’ve never come close to hurting anyone with a vehicle or anything else. You...
Chinese national pledges to continue appeal of human trafficking conviction and deportation order
A former Mt. Pleasant woman awaiting deportation to China told a Westmoreland County judge she will continue to appeal her conviction for human trafficking without the help of a lawyer. Hui Xu, 48, appeared for court Monday and, with the help of a Mandarin translator, asked to fire the Philadelphia-based...
Former Westmoreland Commissioner Kopas tapped to fill Cerilli Thrasher’s seat
Former Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas will return to the job he held for more than a decade. The county’s 11 Common Pleas Court judges on Monday appointed Kopas to complete the remaining five months of the unexpired term of Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, who will resign July 31 to...
History takes center stage at West Overton DIY Weekend festival
History is often about living and breathing things. For curators at a two-day DIY History Weekend festival at West Overton Village and adjoining Fort Allen Antique Farm Equipment Association grounds near Scottdale, it was just that as they showcased how life was experienced more than a century ago both at...
Hempfield alums recall high school memories as renovation looms
Hempfield Area High School holds a special place in the life of Mick and Sue Condi. The New Stanton couple, both 75, were homeroom classmates for three years before they graduated in 1965. After a life together that started in a small second-floor classroom, they returned to school Saturday morning...
Stahlstown man dies in Ligonier Township crash
A Stahlstown man was killed in a head-on crash Saturday morning in Ligonier Township. The crash occurred about 6 a.m. at the intersection of Route 711 and Freeman Road, according to Westmoreland County 911. Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson identified the crash victim as Thomas Nusser, 86, of Stahlstown. Nusser...
Westmoreland County to spend $10 million for broadband expansion
Westmoreland County leaders are expected to allocate more than $10 million in covid relief funds this year to expand broadband to residents currently unable to receive reliable high-speed internet service. Commissioners on Thursday are expected to approve a $1.7 million contract with Verizon Pennsylvania LLC to install about 30 miles...
Settlement reached to end federal lawsuit against Westmoreland County
Westmoreland County will pay a former county employee $130,000 to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit in which she claimed she was inappropriately fired in 2019. Tiffany Schomer, a former deputy recorder of deeds and assistant office manager in the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office, contended the county commissioners fired her four...
Bolivar man convicted in attempted murder, kidnapping of Ligonier joggerVideo
A Bolivar man was convicted Wednesday of the attempted murder and kidnapping of a college student who was out for a winter run through Ligonier. After hearing three days of testimony and deliberating more than four hours, a Westmoreland County jury said Frank Springer, 56, is guilty of all eight...
