Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 44
Westmoreland seeks drivers for veterans transportation program
A program that provides free rides to Westmoreland County veterans needs drivers. Veterans Affairs Director Matt Zamosky said the van service that offers transportation to medical facilities in and near Pittsburgh is understaffed and in urgent need of volunteers to continue. “Before covid, we had six to seven drivers and...
Westmoreland again expected to be major factor in 2024 presidential race
Eyes could once again be on Westmoreland County as a key indicator ahead of the 2024 presidential election. With President Joe Biden’s announcement last week that he will seek a second term in office, political observers said the county is expected to play an outsized role in determining who wins...
Derry man sentenced to long probation term for sexual assaults
A Derry Township man will serve 21 years on probation after he was sentenced Friday for sexual assaults against three children and an adult. John M. Coiner, 60, pleaded guilty in February to multiple felony counts of indecent assault and misdemeanor offenses of indecent exposure. Coiner is accused of having...
Former Monessen man convicted of 1973 murders, rape as teen awaits new sentencing hearing
A former Monessen man convicted of the brutal murders of two young children and the rape of their mother in 1973 could be in line for a new sentence after serving more than 50 years in prison. The lawyer for John Veltre, 67, told a Westmoreland County judge on Friday...
Dravosburg man pleads guilty to high-speed chase, drug offenses
An Allegheny County man was ordered to serve at least six years in prison after he pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in connection to his role in a seven-mile high speed chase through parts of Westmoreland and Fayette counties in 2020. Nicholas Haluschak, 42, of Dravosburg, pleaded guilty to felony...
Lawsuit claims Westmoreland prison inmate died of overdose while in custody
The surviving family members of a Butler County woman who died while incarcerated in 2019 in the Westmoreland County Prison claims staff at the lockup failed to prevent her from overdosing while she was in their custody. According to an amended complaint filed this month in U.S. District Court in...
Republican commissioner candidates to remain on Westmoreland ballot
Republican Westmoreland County commissioner candidates John Ventre and Paul Kosko will remain on the GOP primary ballot after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling. As a result, county election officials said more than 22,000 mail-in ballots will be sent to...
Jeannette man pleads guilty to reduced charge for 2018 fatal fire
Carol Geiger said the fire that swept through her mother’s Jeannette home in 2018 did more than just destroy her family’s memories. “The most important thing you took from me or my family was my mother, the matriarch of our family. She was a single mother of four children. She...
Schedule changes pitched to cut Westmoreland jail overtime
Supervisors at the Westmoreland County Prison could be required to work longer shifts under a plan adopted Monday by members of the board that oversees the county lockup. Prison board members unanimously recommended extended workdays for five sergeants who oversee the jail’s staff of guards as part of an effort...
Hempfield man pleads guilty to sexual assault of teens
A Hempfield man pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he sexually assaulted three teen girls. Joshua Esteban Kunkle, 21, was initially charged 23 criminal offenses, including multiple counts of rape, in connection with accusations from three juveniles that he forced them into sexual activity over a four-year period ending in...
Westmoreland transit approves fleet upgrades
The Westmoreland County Transit Authority’s aging fleet of paratransit vehicles is getting an upgrade. Board members approved a $1.4 million purchase of 11 small buses for the system’s Go Westmoreland shared-ride system that provides door-to-door transportation to elderly and handicapped passengers. The purchase comes nearly a year after the authority...
Some Westmoreland polling locations changed
Westmoreland County’s election board on Thursday approved location changes for in-person voting on May 16 at precincts in Irwin, Lower Burrell and Monessen. In Irwin’s third and fourth wards, the polling location will be moved from the First Presbyterian Church that is currently undergoing renovations to the First United Methodist...
Westmoreland OKs courthouse drop box for mail-in ballots
Westmoreland County’s elections board Thursday authorized the installation of a drop box for mail-in ballots at the courthouse for the two-week period before the May 16 primary. The board, which consists of two Common Pleas judges and Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, voted 2-1 to install a single drop...
MAWC allocates $1 million grant to pay for replacement of lead waterlines
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will replace as many as 400 lead service lines for customers in northern Westmoreland and Armstrong counties. The project is the first phase of what will be an authoritywide program to meet federal standards to remove all lead service lines from the water system,...
Evidence issues lead DA to drop serious sex assault counts against Penn Township man
A Penn Township man was ordered to serve seven years on probation after Westmoreland County prosecutors said evidentiary issues prevented them from proceeding to trial on more series sexual assault allegations involving a 6-year-old girl. Michael Walker, 40, formerly of Greensburg, was charged in 2019 with felony counts of involuntary...
Ballot mailings to Westmoreland voters await court action
Nearly 22,000 mail-in ballots are scheduled to be sent out to Westmoreland County voters this week, but a dispute over the candidacy of two Republican candidates for commissioner might put that delivery on hold. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an appeal filed Monday by the county’s...
Delmont man pleads guilty to assault, witness intimidation
A Delmont man was sentenced Tuesday to serve up to 10 years in prison for assault of woman who made similar allegations against him years earlier. Harold Michael Franks, 40, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault and firearms offenses in connection with allegations from last August when police said...
Former Seward police chief pleads guilty to sex extortion plot
Former Seward police Chief Robert I. Baldwin Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to charges he offered two women leniency in exchange for sex. Westmoreland County prosecutors claimed Baldwin used his position as head of the police department in the small borough that sits along the Conemaugh River to have a sexual...
Crime spree nets Ligonier man prison term
A Ligonier man will serve up to 12 years in prison for a string of thefts and burglaries from a Donegal Township banquet facility where he worked and surrounding properties. Donald Bailey, 62, pleaded guilty Monday to charges in nine separate cases where police said he stole items from Stonehenge...
Westmoreland County on pace to pay more than $5 million in overtime this year
Ryan Perry and his co-workers know there is no other choice but to take on extra shifts to ensure the Westmoreland County Prison has enough guards on duty each day. Along with that mandatory overtime comes a financial windfall — but also a struggle to maintain a work-life balance. “It’s...
Westmoreland DA says forensics lab will speed investigations
A new in-house digital forensics laboratory may speed investigations and solve crimes more quickly, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said. The lab, paid for through a $497,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, is expected to be available later this year. Local investigators can use the...
Suspect in Ross Dress for Less store theft ring pleads guilty
A Florida man pleaded guilty this week to his role in a multi-state theft ring from a local clothing retailer. Yan Roynell Duquesne Martinez, 31, was charged in December with theft of clothing and other items from multiple Ross Dress for Less stores in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Blair and Cambria counties....
Grant funds tapped for Westmoreland human services reorganization
A $250,000 grant from the Hillman Foundation will pay for reorganization of Westmoreland County’s human services department. Commissioners accepted the grant that will pay for the hiring of three administrators and further an effort to integrate multiple programs into a consolidated department for social services, including the children’s bureau, behavioral...
Convicted Latrobe sex offender ordered to serve up to 20 years in prison
A Latrobe man will serve up to 20 years in prison for failing to register as a convicted sex offender. Douglas Arthur Truxal, 45, was convicted by a Westmoreland County jury in December. He was sentenced Tuesday. According to court records, Truxal pleaded guilty in 2000 to charges connected to...
Mt. Pleasant man receives 25-year prison sentence for girlfriend’s roadside assault
A Mt. Pleasant woman told a judge she remains haunted by memories of her assault nearly three years ago. The 42-year-old woman crawled two miles after being beaten and left to die in a roadside ditch. “I screamed for my mom and dad, and I screamed, ‘Please help me.’ It...
