Tribune-Review file
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Westmoreland Commissioner Doug Chew on Thursday defended his decision to withhold a promised donation to fund the county’s drug court program.
During his campaign for county commissioner in 2019, Chew, a first-term Republican, pledged to donate 60% of his salary to help fund drug court. After questioned by county Controller Jeffrey Balzer about that pledge during a public meeting Thursday, Chew conceded he had not done so.
“You made the promise, and you broke the promise,” Balzer said.
Chew said he discussed drug court funding with the two judges who oversee the program and claimed he was told his donation was not needed.
Westmoreland County’s pension fund exceeded $500 million for the first time, officials announced Wednesday.
The fund, which pays benefits to more than 1,300 retired county workers, was valued at $521 million at the end of December, finishing a roller coaster year that saw the account lose about $68 million through March then dramatically rebound over the final three quarters of 2020.
After starting the year with $472 million in the bank, the retirement account took a sharp downward turn as the economy plunged early in the coronavirus pandemic. The fund’s value dipped to $404 million after the first three months of the year.
It earned back all of its losses over the next eight months and reached its highest level by year’s end.
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Coronavirus cases continue to mount at Westmoreland County Prison, with eight additional inmates testing positive for the virus Saturday, bringing the total number infected to 114, according to interim Warden George Lowther.
Lowther said two units at the Hempfield facility remain in lockdown in an attempt to limit the virus from spreading to other areas of the jail that currently houses 468 inmates.
“We believe we have it under control as well as can be expected, but as we’re all learning with this virus we don’t really know what to expect next,” he said.