Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 50
New Alexandria man to serve probation for scuffle with Jeannette police
A New Alexandria man who claimed he was a victim of excessive force during an incident last year with Jeannette police was ordered Monday to serve one year on probation. David Vucish, 50, was charged with resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and other offenses in connection with an...
Work day extended for Westmoreland’s Park Police leaders; department raises cash for 2nd dog
Top administrators with Westmoreland County’s Park Police will begin working longer days this year. The county’s salary board Monday approved extensions of the work day by an additional 30 minutes this year and another half-hour in 2024 for Park Police Chief Henry Fontana, the department’s two captains, one lieutenant and...
Local pundits call Washington dysfunction ‘a disaster’
The historic five-day effort to elect a new speaker of the House in Washington is likely to have a lasting impact on partisan politics and the ability of Republicans to govern, local pundits say. After five days of voting, including a session late Friday night that continued into early Saturday...
Death penalty sought against father of slain New Kensington child
Westmoreland County prosecutors have filed court documents that indicate they will seek the death penalty against the father of a young boy who was killed last spring in New Kensington. Jean J. Charles, 40, of Brackenridge was charged in September, about four months after the body of his 9-year-old son,...
Sutersville woman pleads guilty to sex offense
A Sutersville woman pleaded guilty to sexual assault and corruption offenses after she was charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy she was helping with schoolwork. Ashley Sherry, 23, was accused of sexually assaulting the teen and using marijuana with the juvenile while working with him on remote school assignments when...
Jeannette man pleads guilty to sexual assault of unconscious woman
A Jeannette man was sentenced Thursday to serve up to eight years in prison for a sexual assault of an unconscious woman. Asa Duane Busato, 23, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of aggravated indecent assault in connection with an incident police said took place at the woman’s Hempfield home...
Westmoreland targets 2024 for shelter construction
Construction of a new shelter expected to increase the county’s ability to care for and assist the homeless could begin in 2024, Westmoreland County officials said Wednesday. Officials outlined the plan to seek proposals for private providers to acquire land and build what could be a 12-unit shelter that would...
Feliciani elected president judge in Westmoreland County
Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani on Wednesday was elected as Westmoreland County’s 30th president judge. The county’s 11 judges unanimously elected Feliciani to serve as the lead administrator in charge of the civil, criminal and family court divisions. “It’s humbling,” Feliciani said. “I am honored to have the support of...
Children’s Bureau audits identify state payments owed to Westmoreland County
A growing numbers of juveniles who received care from the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau led to bookkeeping errors that resulted in an influx of more than $650,000 in state reimbursements dating back to 2017, officials said. Rob Hamilton, the new director of the county’s human services division, said the audit...
Competency evaluation ordered for Penn Township man accused of killing father, aunt
A Penn Township man accused of stabbing his father and aunt to death will undergo another competency evaluation to determine if he is able to stand trial next month for their slayings. Neal Hubish, 42, is accused of killing his father, Arthur Hubish, 71, and aunt Maria Puskarich, 76, inside...
MAWC seeks grant for Yukon sewer construction
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is seeking nearly $5.8 million in federal grants to build a new sewer system to service a tiny community in South Huntingdon. Officials said the project to build a $9 million extension of sewer lines in Yukon is in the planning stages. Once completed,...
Westmoreland’s political focus shifts to county races in 2023
With the books closed on the 2022 election, Westmoreland County political leaders are ready to focus on local races heading into 2023 with control of most key courthouse offices at stake. Republicans will attempt to continue the party’s stranglehold on local politics as the calendar flips with races for county...
Westmoreland among counties with most drug delivery resulting in death prosecutions
More drug dealers implicated in fatal overdoses are being prosecuted in Westmoreland County than in any other county is Southwestern Pennsylvania. Statistics released in December by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts revealed that 6.2% of all drug delivery resulting in death cases brought by state prosecutors since 2017 were...
MAWC: No rate hike planned as inflation continues to impact authority spending
Rising energy costs and anticipated price increases for chemicals has left the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County with a $4.5 million budget gap seven months into the 2022-23 fiscal year. The increased expenses will require the water and sewer authority to dip into the agency’s financial reserves to balance its...
Hempfield man: Mental health issues prompted crime spree that ended with assault on police
A Hempfield man will serve up to 18 months in jail for assaulting two police officers in the culmination of a crime spree that included stealing a flag, disrupting a funeral and vandalizing a congressman’s legislative office. Roger C. Strautmann, 23, pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple offenses in four criminal...
Greensburg, police union spar in court over retirement savings plan switch
A Westmoreland County judge is deliberating whether to grant a preliminary injunction to delay Greensburg from implementing a new tax-deferred retirement savings plan for city workers. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 56 contends the city violated union’s existing five-year labor contract with the city when it unilaterally moved to...
Westmoreland retirees raises to cost $6.7 million in 2023
More than 1,400 retired Westmoreland County government employees are getting raises. Westmoreland’s retirement board on Tuesday approved an 8.1% cost-of-living increases for those who receive a county pension. “We try to be current with the cost of living, and that’s what it is,” said Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer, who...
Former Southwest Greensburg cop convicted for illegal traffic stop
A former part-time Southwest Greensburg police officer was convicted Tuesday of official oppression for a traffic stop while off duty and in an other jurisdiction. Prosecutors contended James Shaw, 56, of Mt. Pleasant Township initiated a traffic stop in East Huntingdon in October 2020 then followed the same vehicle for...
Westmoreland elected officials to receive record raises
Westmoreland County elected officials are getting huge raises in 2023. Commissioners, along with row officers and judges, will receive 7.8% higher wages next year under an existing pay structure put in place more than two decades ago to ensure the county’s election officials receive annual cost of living increases. Raises...
Turtle Creek man to serve 40-year prison sentence for sex trafficking of teen
A Turtle Creek man will serve at least 20 years in prison for the sex trafficking of a New Kensington teenager. Davon Allen Fuqua, 36, pleaded guilty in September to four felony offenses including the trafficking of minors, statutory sexual assault of a juvenile, promotion of prostitution of a minor...
Youngwood drug dealer sentenced to 8-year prison term
A Youngwood man acquitted last month of rape charges was ordered Friday to serve up to eight years in prison for a related simple assault of an 18-year-old woman and and for the possession of illegal drug offenses. Brandon Giron, 23, told a Westmoreland County judge he was ready to...
Bond set for Jeannette man charged in Rialto stabbing
A Westmoreland County judge ruled a Jeannette man charged with attempted homicide during a stabbing in front of the Rialto Bar and Bistro last month in downtown Greensburg can be released from jail as he awaits trial. Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani set a $250,000 straight cash bond for Anthony...
Vote totals from recounted precincts certified in Westmoreland County
The Westmoreland County Election Board this week issued a final certification of results from five voting precincts subjected to a court-ordered recount. Voters from precincts in Salem, Hempfield, Loyalhanna, Lower Burrell and Ligonier Borough petitioned the courts to recount votes cast as part of the Nov. 8 general election for...
Westmoreland commissioners agree to settle 2 federal lawsuits
Westmoreland commissioners on Thursday approved payments totaling $45,000 to settle two federal lawsuits. One case involved a whistleblower lawsuit brought in 2017 by a deputy sheriff who claimed the department’s drug-sniffing dog was removed from his care as retaliation for speaking with state investigators probing suspected election law violations by...
Corporate exec pleads guilty to forging fake divorce papers to keep up affair
A North Huntingdon corporate executive pleaded guilty Thursday to forging a judge’s name on a fake court record as part of a plot police said was designed to convince his lover to continue an extramarital affair. Dennis George Durmis Jr., 50, was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and perform...
