Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 55
Pa. Supreme Court Chief Justice Max Baer, a Pittsburgh native, dies, called ‘a tireless champion for children’
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has been in the eye of the storm in recent years as it decided a series of hot-button issues that ranged from covid responses and reapportionment to election reform. At its center was Chief Justice Max Baer. Baer, 74, died Friday night at his home near Pittsburgh....
Industrial park expansion called vital for Westmoreland County’s future growth
Development of three pad-ready lots at the soon-to-be expanded Westmoreland Distribution Park North in East Huntingdon is just what is needed to attract more industry and jobs to the region, Westmoreland County officials said Friday. “We will invest in our communities and in our townships to make sure we have...
Westmoreland eyes construction of county gun range
Westmoreland County has targeted the end of the year to open its new shooting range. Ground was broken this week on a $30,000 project to construct an outdoor facility behind the Westmoreland County Prison in Hempfield. “Any county agency can use it,” county park police Chief Henry Fontana, said. Staff...
Republican commissioners remove ballot drop box from Westmoreland courthouse
Westmoreland County’s Republican commissioners Wednesday refused to vote on a plan to install one drop box for mail-in ballots at the courthouse. Commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew said the box that had been in place for years in the courthouse’s lobby and last spring at the rear entrance of...
Jeannette police accused of excessive force in 2021 arrest
A New Alexandria man claims he was assaulted by Jeannette police officers last year when he arrived at the scene of a vehicle crash involving his mother. David Vucish, 50, appeared in court on Tuesday to challenge charges of resisting arrest and other offenses filed in connection with the May...
Delmont man pleads guilty to sexual assaults of teens
A Delmont man was ordered to serve nearly one year in jail for the 2021 sexual assault two teenaged girls. William J. Seibert, 22, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three felony counts of statutory sexual assault. Police said two girls, ages 14 and 15, claimed they had sex with Seibert in...
Wrongful death lawsuit filed in fatal Derry Township crash
The mother of Derry woman killed in crash earlier this year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in which she accused the driver of another vehicle of being under the influence of a controlled substance. Jennifer Krinock, 36, died as a result of injuries in the March 20 crash on...
Jury acquits Penn Borough man of attempted murder in roommate’s shooting
A Westmoreland County jury acquitted a Penn Borough man of attempted murder and aggravated assault for the 2021 shooting of his girlfriend’s adult son. Jurors deliberated more than seven hours over two days before they returned the not guilty verdict to two of the four criminal charges against Michael Keslar....
Donora man guilty of attempted murder and assaults in North Belle Vernon bar fight
A Donora man was convicted Thursday of the attempted murder of one man and injuring two others during a bar fight three years ago in North Belle Vernon. After more than four hours of deliberations, a Westmoreland County jury found Eric Cook, 46, guilty of 10 criminal counts in connection...
Prosecutor says deadly force not justified in Penn Borough shooting
A Penn Borough man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday he was shot in the chest by his landlord last summer. Nathan Booher, 26, testified he was unarmed on Aug. 28, 2021 when he entered the house he had lived in the previous three years with his mother’s boyfriend and...
Donora man contends bar fight that left three injured started by jealous boyfriend
A Donora man told a Westmoreland County jury Wednesday he pulled out a knife to protect himself during an all-out brawl three years ago at a North Belle Vernon bar that left three people seriously wounded. Eric Cook, 46, testified during the third day of his attempted murder trial that...
Witnesses say bar fight started with quip and ended in near death
James Lookabaugh said a fight prompted by an offhanded response to a man he had just met at a North Belle Vernon bar three years ago nearly turned tragic. Lookabaugh, 47, of Texas, testified to a Westmoreland County jury on Tuesday he owned an oil and gas business and was...
Trial for sex trafficking of teen ends in guilty plea for Turtle Creek man
A Turtle Creek man pleaded guilty Tuesday to the sex trafficking of a 14-year-old runaway from New Kensington. Davon Allen Fuqua, 36, cut short his trial midway through testimony from his accuser, who told a Westmoreland County jury she was transported with a prostitute to have sex with two older...
Prosecutors contend North Belle Vernon bar stabbings started with a joke
Westmoreland County prosecutors contend three patrons in a North Belle Vernon bar were stabbed three years ago because of a quip about their attacker’s criminal record. Assistant district attorney Steven Reddy said the March 7, 2019 assaults at Just A Tavern nearly turned deadly for a woman and two male...
Rape charge against North Huntingdon man dismissed as part of plea deal
A North Huntingdon man will serve two years on probation for the simple assault of a woman who initially claimed she was raped while unconscious. Dominic Anthony Zuccarelli, 27, pleaded guilty Monday to one amended misdemeanor charge after prosecutors dismissed felony counts of rape of an unconscious victim and sexual...
Westmoreland coroner hires new deputy
Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson announced the hiring of a new deputy. Russell Morgan, 43, of Rostraver, was promoted to a full-time position after serving since March as a part-time investigator in the coroner’s office. “His experience is something we wanted to utilize,” Carson said on Monday. Morgan replaces former...
Fare hike planned for Go Westmoreland shared-ride system
Fares to ride Go Westmoreland vehicles will increase next year under a revised fee structure expected to be approved this fall by the county’s transit authority. Authority board members said last week they intend to approve the agency’s first fare hike in more than four years to ride the door-to-door...
New nurses to get $7,500 bonus to work at Westmoreland Manor
Newly hired nurses will get a $7,500 bonus to sign on to work at Westmoreland Manor in Hempfield, which, like other care homes across the country, is plagued by staffing issues. Nursing aides hired after Sept. 1 will be awarded a $4,000 bonus to work at the county-owned care facility....
Westmoreland chief clerk granted raise for expanded duties
Westmoreland County’s chief clerk is getting a more than $7,100 raise that officials said will be partly covered using funds from the county’s $105.4 million American Rescue Plan allocation. Chief Clerk Vera Spina will have added responsibilities in addition to her jack-of-all-trades role as the point person for the county’s...
Judge adds $3.78 million to verdict in Westmoreland swimming pool injury case
A Westmoreland County judge awarded $3.7 million in delayed damages to a Vandergrift man who was left a quadriplegic after he jumped onto a raft in a friend’s swimming pool in 2013. After a trial in March, a jury issued a $19 million verdict, a record high in Westmoreland County,...
Hyde Park husband sentenced to up to 26 years in prison for wife’s death
Despite being convicted of her murder, Jeffrey Fondrk told a Westmoreland County judge Thursday that he misses his wife. “She was the world to me and I tried to take care of her the best I could. I regret her death and I miss her. She was a very good...
Westmoreland set to end deal with Monessen for blight project
Westmoreland commissioners on Thursday are expected to terminate a contract with Monessen to coordinate a plan to remove blighted properties in the city. Officials signed off on a $7,500 deal late last year in which the county planning department would oversee efforts to identify and publicize efforts to remove dilapidated...
Spirit cuts Fort Myers flights from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity
Spirit Airlines has eliminated its seasonal flights to Fort Myers, Fla., from Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, on Tuesday confirmed the Unity airport’s lone commercial carrier has slashed the route that over the past half-decade carried passengers on three flights a...
Westmoreland sells 135 tax delinquent properties at auction
Westmoreland County added more than $1.62 million to its coffers Monday from the sale of tax delinquent properties. The annual sale netted about $120,000 more than what buyers paid last year, when 125 properties sold for about $1.5 million; and fell just short of the total earned during the 2020...
Monessen man pleads guilty for fight with police, gun and weapons charges
Aliziah Feliberty had no answer when asked by a county judge Monday morning if he understood just what could have happened when he resisted arrest following a scuffle with police last year in Monessen. “What did you think you could have accomplished when you tried to disarm these two officers....
