Brian C. Rittmeyer stories
Natural gas pipeline upgrade will impact parts of Fall Run Park in Shaler
A Peoples Gas pipeline upgrade will touch parts of Shaler’s Fall Run Park and may lead to certain areas of the park being restricted, according to the utility company and township. Work on the project was expected to start April 6, Peoples Gas spokesman Nick Paradise said. A completion date...
West View district judge dismisses 3 of 6 charges against Ross man accused of gun traffickingVideo
Half of the charges against a Ross man accused of gun trafficking were thrown out at his preliminary hearing Wednesday, April 8. However, Benjamin Ford, 43, was held for trial on the remaining three charges and will stay in the Allegheny County Jail without bond after West View District Judge...
Shaler officials, residents, groups rallying to save Mt. Royal bus lines from elimination
Shaler officials are joining residents and community organizations calling on Pittsburgh Regional Transit to not eliminate two bus routes serving the township’s Mt. Royal Boulevard corridor. As part of PRT’s proposed Bus Line Refresh, the Route 2 Mt. Royal north of Etna and the P13 Mt. Royal Flyer would be...
North Hills senior gets full ride to Robert Morris University
As a high school senior with an interest in accounting, Carter Schram has been well aware of the cost of a college education, and how long it could take to pay off that debt. So Schram worked to earn an associate degree while still a student at North Hills High...
Civilian uses police radio to get help for Ross detective fighting with assault suspect
A civilian is credited with using a Ross police detective’s radio to call for help when the detective was in a fight with a man he was trying to arrest Tuesday, according to court filings. According to a criminal complaint, the incident began as a fight between two men around...
Allegheny County Police file charges against Penn Hills man shot in argument over Shaler dumpster
An argument that ensued over a man putting garbage from his pickup into an apartment building’s dumpster led to a shooting in Shaler on April 2, according to Allegheny County Police. County police filed charges April 7 against Nicholas Scott Johnson, 32, of Penn Hills. According to a criminal complaint,...
Allison Park Sportsmen’s Club has record turnout for annual kids fishing day in Shaler
The Allison Park Sportsmen’s Club hosted its annual kids fishing day April 4 at the children’s fishing area of Little Pine Creek at Fawcett Field in Shaler. The event, held on the first day of trout season, was open to children 12 and younger. More than 90 children attended, which...
Butler County man accused of home improvement fraud in McCandless
A Butler County man is accused of taking $18,000 from a woman in 2025 to repair a roof in McCandless and then not doing the work. State police in Butler charged Bruce Wayne Huff, 52, of Butler Township on April 7 with a felony count of home improvement fraud, according...
Ross municipal building, community center to remain open during roof work
The Ross municipal building and community center will remain open while part of the building’s roof is being replaced. The township announced March 30 that the roof replacement project had started. According to township Manager Jessica Crawshaw, the project consists of replacing the flat part of the roof, totaling just...
Vehicle crashes into house, sparking fire in Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood
Two people were hurt and a firefighter needed medical attention after a vehicle crashed into a house and caught fire in Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood Saturday night. The incident in the 600 block of Danbury Street was reported around 11:15 p.m., Pittsburgh Public Safety said. According to public safety, the...
Carnegie Mellon University custodian accused of stealing student wallets, using credit cards at dispensaryVideo
A custodian accused of stealing wallets and other possessions from Carnegie Mellon University students was identified in part after using two stolen credit cards at a marijuana dispensary in Squirrel Hill, according to a criminal complaint. He had also taken a wallet containing a tracking device that pinged to his...
Allegheny County Police charge Ohio man after firearm found in carry-on at Pittsburgh airport
An Ohio man faces a felony charge of carrying a firearm without a license after a gun was found in his carry-on bag at Pittsburgh International Airport on Saturday. According to Allegheny County Police, Joshua Neil Seese, 49, of Lowellville, Ohio was charged after Transportation Security Administration officers saw a...
New Kensington couple, dog rescued from fire after neighbor sees smoke, wakes them
Two New Kensington residents and an Arnold firefighter were hurt in a fire that did severe damage to a home in the city’s Valley Heights section Sunday morning. The fire at 791 Kennedy Ave. was reported about 8:30 a.m., New Kensington fire Chief Ed Saliba said. According to Saliba, an...
Woman angered over police being called to settle an argument accused of shooting at family of 7 in Larimer
A woman angered that someone called Pittsburgh police to resolve a neighborhood argument she had not been part of in Larimer on Monday is accused of firing multiple shots at a family of seven, critically injuring one. Pittsburgh police charged Latasha Thorne, 34, of Homewood South on Friday with attempted...
Easter Bunny, and a real bunny, make appearances at egg hunt in Upper Burrell’s Lincoln Beach neighborhood
Residents made a day of an Easter egg hunt in Upper Burrell’s Lincoln Beach neighborhood on Saturday. Festivities were organized by Community Revitalization Mission of Service, a nonprofit serving the Lincoln Beach community. Treasurer Julianne Vilca said it had been years since there was an Easter egg hunt in the...
Freeport Kiwanis Easter egg hunt draws hundreds of children to Freeport Community Park
It didn’t take long for hundreds of kids to pick up thousands of plastic eggs scattered around Freeport Community Park on Saturday morning. The Freeport Kiwanis Club held its annual Easter egg hunt, with the help of the Key Club at Freeport High School. Children carrying baskets and bags were...
Balance Brewing opens in Ross, enlarging space of former craft brewer Necromancer
A desire for balance — in life and in beer — has lead three partners to open their own craft brewery in Ross. “A good beer is balanced in its sweetness and bitterness,” said Rob Houston, co-founder and operations manager for Balance Brewing, whose philosophy of balance extends to his...
‘Bad behavior’ prompts Etna officials to close playground early
Fights and disorderly conduct have prompted Etna officials to close the borough’s playground early, the borough announced March 31. The playground, located behind the borough building on Pine Street, will be temporarily closed daily after 5 p.m. because of recent incidents at or near the facility, the borough announced. It...
South Oakland man fled stolen car in collision that injured Uber driver on Route 28, police say
A man from Pittsburgh’s South Oakland neighborhood who took a woman’s car without her permission Sunday crashed it into an Uber vehicle, injuring the driver, and then ran away from the crash scene on Route 28, Millvale police allege in a criminal complaint. Millvale police filed charges Tuesday against Walter...
Section of Mt. Royal Boulevard reopens in Shaler after woman hit by vehicle
Part of Mt. Royal Boulevard in Shaler was closed Tuesday afternoon after a woman was hit by a vehicle, according to township and county police. The incident on Mt. Royal Boulevard at Scott Avenue was reported shortly before 12:30 p.m., an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said. According to Allegheny County...
Employee of McCandless senior living facility accused of raping co-worker; suspect arrested
An employee of a senior living and memory care facility in McCandless is accused of raping a woman who also works there, according to charges filed by McCandless police. McCandless police charged Diosdado Anvene Ele, 33, of Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood on March 30 with felony counts of rape, involuntary deviate...
Ross man who bought over 200 handguns is accused of firearms trafficking
A Ross man is accused of trafficking firearms after six of more than 200 handguns he bought over 11 years were recovered by police in three states, according to charges filed by the state Attorney General’s Office. Benjamin Ford, 43, was charged Thursday with six felony counts of selling or...
Northbound Route 28 ramp to Route 8 North scheduled for overnight closure
The off-ramp from northbound Route 28 to northbound Route 8 in Etna will be closed overnight Wednesday, PennDOT announced Monday. The left-hand off-ramp will be closed for guide rail replacement work from 9 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday. The posted detour will be: • Continue past the closed ramp...
‘Sovereign citizen’ arrested after Ross police see SUV made to look like police vehicle
A man driving an SUV equipped to look like an unmarked police vehicle was arrested Saturday in Ross after he gave police fake documents that included a “United Nations driving permit,” Ross police said in a criminal complaint. Ross police charged Zachary Jerry, no age available, of Pittsburgh with a...
Franklin Park police responding to car crash say they instead found elderly man beaten bloody by son
A Franklin Park police officer who thought he was responding to a car crash with injuries Saturday instead found a man had beaten his elderly father, according to a criminal complaint. Franklin Park police charged Andrew Jeffrey Starz, 44, of Ohio Township with a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault...
