Rich Cholodofsky stories, Page 70
MAWC water rates unchanged in new budget set for approval in January
Water rates for Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers are expected to remain unchanged during the 2022-23 fiscal year. A preliminary budget unveiled this week calls for the authority to retain its rate structure even as inflation has raised the costs associated with routine repairs and other upgrades planned for...
Controller blasts Westmoreland commissioners over rejection of pay raise proposal
Westmoreland Controller Jeff Balzer called a vote by county commissioners Thursday to reject proposed raises for three of his office supervisors “incompetent or political.” For the second time this year, Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher voted down a request from the controller to increase the pay of three...
Murder conviction reinstated for Penn Township man
A federal appeals court this week reinstated the first-degree murder conviction of a former Penn Township man who has been serving a life prison sentence in connection with the fatal shooting of a romantic rival in 2006. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a...
Latrobe man pleads guilty to resisting arrest
A Latrobe man was set to be released from jail Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in connection with an incident in which a city police officer claimed he was bitten during an attempted arrest in September. Codi J. Barger, 27, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of...
Murrysville arson suspect to remain in jail pending trial
A Westmoreland County judge on Monday rejected a defense request for a nominal bond that would have allowed the Murrysville man accused of setting fire to a local restaurant to be released from jail as he awaits trial. Brian P. Lucas, 44, was charged with arson and other offenses in...
Westmoreland sheriff, commissioners reach deal to end inmate transport standoff
Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert said a tentative settlement was reached to resolve a lawsuit he filed in October that sought to lift the requirement for his deputies to transport jail inmates for medical care. Following a closed-door meeting Monday convened by Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Scherer with lawyers...
Twin brother defense rejected in appeal of Jeannette shooting case
A state appeals court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction and life prison sentence of a Penn Hills man who claimed his dead twin brother was responsible for a fatal shooting in Jeannette in 2017. A three judge-panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled this week there was no merit...
Shetler transferred to Westmoreland jail, claims additional medical care needed
A former St. Clair Township man acquitted of murder in the 2015 killing of a police officer is back in the Westmoreland County Prison, where he will remain pending the outcome of new case stemming from his arrest this week for alleged probation violations. Ray Allen Shetler Jr., 37, appeared...
Jury in fatal overdose case finds Export man not guilty of most serious charge, guilty of lesser charges
A Westmoreland County jury on Thursday said an Export man was not guilty of causing the death of a co-worker who died in 2018 from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl. Jurors deliberated more than six hours before it returned a mixed verdict in which it acquitted Kelly Ryan Frank...
Vandergrift man sentenced for break-in
A Vandergrift man will serve up to five years in prison for an incident in which police said he threatened to kill himself. Justin Danjou, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one felony count of criminal trespassing and a misdemeanor offense of unlawful restraint after police said he broke into a...
Wecht testifies fentanyl caused Export man’s death in trial of coworker accused of supplying drug
Closing arguments are expected to begin Thursday morning in the trial of an Export man accused of selling the drugs used in the 2018 fatal overdose of a coworker. Westmoreland County prosecutors contend Kelly Ryan Frank sold the drugs that killed 29-year-old Keith Robert Alexander, who was found dead by...
Hempfield man’s appeal in wife’s murder rejected for 3rd time
A Hempfield man’s third appeal of his first-degree murder conviction for the 2012 killing of his wife has been rejected by a Westmoreland County judge. Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears ruled there was no evidence to support the claims made by David Stahl that his former appeals lawyer did...
Export co-worker on trial for sale of drugs in fatal overdose
Dina Alexander knew something wasn’t right when she drove by the Murrysville restaurant where her son had worked for the last 11 years and didn’t see his car parked out front. So when he didn’t return her calls she drove over to his Export apartment and found his car parked...
Sex charges dismissed against McKeesport home health care worker
Rape and sexual assault charges against a McKeesport home health care provider were dismissed Monday when prosecutors said his accuser did not want to testify at trial. Roy L. Marks Sr., 68, was charged in 2018 with multiple sex charges that include rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and neglect of...
Westmoreland drug court still awaiting Chew pledge as others step up with donations
A donation Commissioner Doug Chew promised in September to keep a weekend testing program in place through the end of the year for Westmoreland County’s drug court never was made, the Tribune-Review confirmed Monday. Chew, a first-term Republican, faced criticism this summer when it was disclosed he had yet to...
Westmoreland Manor vaccine mandate on hold as nearly a third of staff remains unprotected
More than a third of employees at Westmoreland Manor will remain on the job without coronavirus vaccinations after the county last week deferred a vaccine mandate following a federal appeals court ruling that temporarily halted the requirement. Manor administrator Abby Testa said Friday that just 64% of the more than...
Training program approved for guards at Westmoreland jail
Westmoreland County Prison guards will be required to complete an annual training program designed to deescalate potentially violent situations with inmates. The county’s prison board approved hiring a Delmont-based trainer to a 40-hour session for prison staffers as part of an effort officials hope ultimately will result in fewer dust-ups...
Washington County man says he was treated ‘like an idiot’ during 2015 murder trial
A Washington County man serving a life prison sentence for the 2013 murder of his father-in-law in Donegal Township told a Westmoreland County judge his trial lawyer ignored his wishes when he failed to challenge a two-hour police confession and his desire to testify in his own defense. Michael Martin,...
Sutersville man to serve up to 20 years in prison for sexual assaults of 2 children
A Sutersville man will serve up to an additional 20 years in prison for the rape and sexual assaults of two children. Ronald E. Styche III, 43, pleaded guilty to three felony counts based on allegations made to two young girls who claimed they sexually assaulted for more than two...
Warrant issued for New Florence man acquitted in 2015 police officer killing
A Westmoreland County judge issued an arrest warrant Friday for a New Florence man who was acquitted in the 2015 killing of a St. Clair Township police officer. Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik- DeFazio signed the paperwork for the arrest of Ray A. Shetler Jr., 37, after he failed to...
Monessen mayor-elect seeks write-in vote totals
Ron Mozer, mayor-elect of Monessen, was sure he captured the city’s top elected office last month when he received nearly 1,100 votes cast as the only candidate on the ballot. What he didn’t know, though, was who received more than 550 write-in votes in the race. “Maybe I’m old school....
Salem man sentenced in pornography blackmail case
A Salem man was ordered Thursday to serve at least nine months in jail for a series of sex crimes in which authorities said he blackmailed teenage girls to send him sexually explicit pictures. Dylan James Krupitzer, 20, pleaded guilty in September to more than two dozen charges in two...
Jeannette teen seeks transfer of attempted homicide case to juvenile court
The lawyer for a Jeannette teen awaiting trial on charges that he attempted to kill two men in a shooting last year says the case should be prosecuted in juvenile court. Khalil Myers was 16 when he was charged in connection with a shooting on Oct. 21, 2020, in Jeannette...
Judge accuses Westmoreland district attorney’s office of misconduct in Stanko case
A Westmoreland County judge accused the district attorney’s office of misconduct in its handling of three criminal cases against a Unity man named as a potential suspect in the disappearance of a former girlfriend missing since April 2018. In a blistering 26-page opinion made public Wednesday, Common Pleas Judge Tim...
Final election results certified in Westmoreland County
The Westmoreland County Elections Board on Monday closed the book on the Nov. 2 general election. The board issued its final certifications in the races for judges of election and election inspectors, two categories of races that took an additional week to tally results. Commissioners, who serve as the board...
