Brian C. Rittmeyer stories
Shaler contractor accused of fraud, not completing home repairs
A Shaler contractor is accused of not completing a home repair job after a dispute over the color of the windows the homeowner wanted. Shaler police charged Kevin Gray, 36, owner of KG Contracting, on April 28 with felony counts of deceptive or fraudulent business practices and home improvement fraud....
Students return to Shaler Area Middle School after fire alarm prompts evacuation
Shaler Area Middle School was briefly evacuated Wednesday morning when an automated fire alarm went off, a district spokeswoman said. The alarm at the school on Mt. Royal Boulevard went off about 8:44 a.m., spokeswoman Carrie Butler said. A high water sensor, along with dust from work being done on...
$3M state grant to help support redevelopment of Mt. Alvernia in Millvale, Shaler
A $3 million state grant will support the $100 million redevelopment of Mt. Alvernia in Millvale and Shaler. The money comes from the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s mixed-use revitalization grant program. Created in 2024, the program provides grants and loans to help with increasing mixed-use development across...
Etna seeking architectural, engineering, cost estimating services for municipal hub
Etna is seeking proposals from architectural and construction firms for the development of the borough’s new municipal hub. The borough in March 2025 bought a former office and industrial building at 30 Pine St. for about $2.3 million, which it paid from a $4.2 million bond issue. The 48,000-square-foot building...
Husband of late West View Councilwoman Kim Steele gives $25K to borough in her honor
As a member of West View Council, Kim Steele felt she had a responsibility to the community to make the borough a better place to live. Following her death in November, her husband is helping make sure that continues. A $25,000 donation from her husband, Ken Reilly, will be used...
Ross awards road paving contract; approves new day care facility on McKnight Road
Ross will pay less to resurface 13 roads this year than the township expected, Commissioner Dan DeMarco said. Youngblood Paving, of Wampum, submitted the lowest of four bids, at $841,328. Given the state of the economy and cost of fuel, DeMarco said he expected this year’s road paving program to...
Shaler pays $12.5K to settle litigation brought over bidding for pool bathhouse
Shaler paid $12,500 to settle litigation a township resident brought over construction of the new bathhouse at Crawford Pool in Kiwanis Park. Catherine Shepherd sued the township and TBI Contracting in Allegheny County Court in January, alleging the township violated the First Class Township Code and the Pennsylvania Separations Act...
Allegheny Land Trust working to expand Lowries Run conservation area in Ross
Allegheny Land Trust is working to expand its Lowries Run conservation area in Ross. The trust is seeking to acquire 27 acres of woodlands on a single parcel located between Sewickley Oakmont and Rochester roads to the north and south, and Hillendale and Rochester roads to the east and west....
Shaler Area OKs bond issue that restructures debt, gets new money for building projects
The Shaler Area School Board has approved a bond issue that will restructure the district’s debt and pay for building projects, dominated by work at the middle school for which contracts were already awarded. The bond issue the board approved on a 7-0 vote April 22 is for up to...
Clairton woman accused of fatally shooting man outside Airbnb party in Lawrenceville
A Clairton woman is accused of fatally shooting a man in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood last week. Pittsburgh police charged Nykia Pearl Ann Edwards, 21, with criminal homicide and other charges Friday in connection with the death of 47-year-old Neill Yackovich. According to a criminal complaint, Yackovich was reported shot in...
4 people shot, 1 fatally, at Parks Township bar
Four people were shot, one fatally, at a bar in Armstrong County early Sunday morning, according to state police. Police responded to the shooting at Niki’s Quick Six in Parks Township shortly after 1 a.m. According to state police, Jessica Lynn Hilliard, 34, of Apollo was found dead at the...
Duquesne University names student union in honor of outgoing president Ken Gormley, wifeVideo
A bobblehead and an engraved clock were not all the gifts to be bestowed upon outgoing Duquesne University President Ken Gormley. While Gormley thought he might be getting “one of those nice Duquesne chairs” for his office in his new post as university chancellor, he and his wife were instead...
Boy dies in hit-and-run crash in Beaver County
A Monaca man is accused of driving under the influence in a deadly hit-and-run involving a boy in Beaver County on Friday evening. Rochester Borough police charged Thomas Earl Cole, 53, of Monaca with homicide by vehicle while DUI, accidents involving death or personal injury and DUI, according to court...
Man dies after being stabbed in Pittsburgh’s Glen Hazel neighborhood
A Glen Hazel man died after being stabbed in his neighborhood Friday, Pittsburgh police said. Officers from Zone 4 responded around 10:30 a.m. to the 900 block of Roselle Court for reports of a domestic altercation followed by a stabbing. Officers found a man with a stab wound to the...
Overnight closures of Parkway North in Ross expected for demolition of Jacks Run Bridge
A section of Parkway North (Interstate 279) in Ross will be closed overnight up to 40 times while a bridge over the highway is being demolished. The work on Jacks Run Road Bridge No. 3 is expected to start in late April and finish in October, Ross Manager Jessica Crawshaw...
9/11 survivor Stanley Praimnath shares message of faith, grace at Shaler Area High SchoolVideo
About a year after widespread power failures canceled his appearance, a survivor of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center made good on his promise to speak at Shaler Area High School on Monday. Stanley Praimnath, 69, of Long Island, N.Y., was one of only 18 people who were...
Block party helps people discover ‘underappreciated treasure’ of the Maxo Vanka murals in Millvale church
While heads are often bowed in prayer inside churches, many were looking up in awe at a Millvale church on Sunday. For some, St. Nicholas Church was something like a man-made geode, its unassuming yellow brick walls containing a colorful treasure within. The treasure inside the 125-year-old Croatian church perched...
Death of 2-year-old Pleasant Hills girl ruled a homicide
The death of a 2-year-old girl in Pleasant Hills last week has been ruled a homicide, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said Saturday. According to the medical examiner, Sarah Darji was found unresponsive at home in the 100 block of McClellan Drive on April 7. She was taken to...
With or without heels, men walk in Greensburg to raise awareness about gender-based violence
It didn’t take a mile to discover that walking in heels can be painful. Just putting them on was enough. “It hurts so bad,” said Brandt Sandstrom, 16, a Greensburg Salem sophomore. He was among members of the school’s football team participating Saturday in the Blackburn Center’s 15th annual Walk...
8 people shot, 2 fatally, in 3 shootings in Pittsburgh and Braddock
Police in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County say eight people were shot, two fatally, in at least three separate incidents in Saturday’s early hours. Braddock The first shooting, in Braddock, was reported just after 2 a.m. That was followed by a shooting just before 2:30 a.m. in Pittsburgh’s Bedford Dwellings neighborhood...
Pitt track and field athletes put on training clinic for Shaler Area’s Kids of Steel
Shaler Area Elementary School students preparing for the Pittsburgh Kids Marathon got some tips from members of the University of Pittsburgh track and field team. The Pitt students and their coaches put on a Track 101 clinic April 15 around the elementary school’s track. There were stations where kids could...
Boys & Girls Club clubhouses offer a variety of unique experiences to children in Shaler area
As a working mom married to a working dad, Maggie Giel-Bovaird of Shaler knows it takes a village to raise kids these days. When they were looking for an after school program close to where their son, Bryce, was going to school, there couldn’t be anything closer than the Boys...
Millvale accepts bank’s terms for $2M in loans approved by county judge
Millvale Council has accepted a bank’s terms for loans totaling $2 million, which the borough is taking out after a county judge approved its emergency request in February. Council voted 5-0 on April 14 to approve two loan commitment letters from First National Bank. Council members Katie Dembowski and Al...
DNA leads to charges, arrest in 1989 kidnapping, rape case in Reserve
A DNA match has resulted in an Aliquippa man being charged in connection with a kidnapping and rape of a woman reported to Reserve police more than 37 years ago. Allegheny County Police charged Lewis Vearnon, 65, on Tuesday with rape, aggravated assault, kidnapping, sexual assault and indecent assault. Vearnon...
Finding love at 13,500 feet: Shaler couple meets, builds relationship through skydivingVideo
Justin Mastermonico was just looking for someone to fall with him. But he found someone who fell for him, too. It was 2020. The world was shut down because of the covid-19 pandemic. Sitting at home and doing nothing, Mastermonico put a post on his Facebook page saying he had...
