Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 109
Fire fills Virginia Manor shops with smoke in Mt. Lebanon
Smoke from a fire filled several stores at a Mt. Lebanon shopping center just after midnight Monday morning. The fire at Virginia Manor Shops at Greentree and Cochran roads was reported around 12:30 a.m., an Allegheny County emergency dispatcher said. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal determined that a delivery truck...
Report: Pennsylvania school districts stand to lose $1B in local revenue due to pandemic
Pennsylvania’s school districts are projected to lose up to $1 billion in local revenue for the 2020-21 school year because of the covid-19 pandemic, according to an association of the state’s school business managers. “Every school district tax source and other nontax revenue will suffer a precipitous decline for the...
Part of police memorial inspired by slain officer Shaw taken in New Kensington
A large part of a New Kensington memorial honoring police officers that has been vandalized before is now missing entirely. Donna Pater said she and her husband, Steve, put up the concrete statue of a police officer with a dog near their home in the Mount Vernon neighborhood about two...
Personnel cuts possible as New Kensington-Arnold struggles with budget deficit
New Kensington-Arnold School District is considering personnel moves such as offering teachers an early-retirement incentive as administrators and school board members grapple with a projected budget deficit. Business Manager Jeff McVey told the board Tuesday that personnel is the only area in the budget where significant savings can still be...
New Kensington-Arnold awards contract for Hunt Elementary roof work
The New Kensington-Arnold School Board has awarded a contract to replace part of the roof at one of the district’s elementary schools, while holding off on work at other buildings until it has the money to pay for it. The district will pay Design-Build Solutions, a subsidiary of Garland Industries,...
Allegheny Township police investigating assault near Tredway Trail
Allegheny Township police are looking for a man who allegedly assaulted a woman in the township earlier this month. Police Chief Duane Fisher on Tuesday said the assault happened in the early evening hours of April 11 in the parking area by the Braeburn docks, close to the end of...
Kiski Township woman accused of burning 1-year-old’s arm with cigarette
A Kiski Township woman is accused of burning a 1-year-old girl’s arm with a cigarette, according to Kiski Township police. Police on Tuesday charged Lisa Marie Culp, 46, with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and simple assault. She was released on a $15,000 unsecured bond. Police say the...
Banners honoring veterans going up in Harrison
Banners honoring Harrison’s veterans were going up along Freeport Road on Monday. The banners were sold to raise money for the restoration of the township’s World War II Honor Roll memorial. They recognize all veterans, living and dead, who served at any time. A total of 151 were available. The...
Average gas prices in Pittsburgh area remain over $2 a gallon
Pennsylvania is among a dozen states where average gasoline prices remain over $2 a gallon, despite nine straight weeks of declines. Pennsylvania’s statewide average is about $2.03 a gallon, according to the price-tracking service GasBuddy. The average price is slightly higher in the Pittsburgh area, at $2.15 a gallon, GasBuddy’s...
Allegheny Health Network tests 17 for covid-19 on its 1st day at Heights Plaza in Harrison
The Allegheny Valley Health Network held its first coronavirus testing field operation at the Heights Plaza shopping center in Harrison on Friday. An AHN spokeswoman said 17 people were tested at the drive-thru tent set up in the parking lot. It will now be open Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9...
New Kensington boy, 3, victim of alleged abuse, dies
A New Kensington 3-year-old suspected of having been the victim of abuse allegedly at the hands of his stepfather has died, an Allegheny County spokeswoman confirmed Friday. The boy died at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on Friday morning. Police had previously charged the boy’s stepfather, Keith Dale Lilly Jr.,...
Rain in forecast for Western Pennsylvania could cause flooding, weather service warns
Periods of rain beginning Saturday evening and continuing for the next several days could cause flooding, a National Weather Service meteorologist said. “If you want to get out and enjoy some semblance of this weekend, you’d want to do it tomorrow” before evening, said meteorologist Myranda Fullerton. Well...at least it...
Recycling collection to resume in New Kensington
Curbside recycling collection will resume in New Kensington on Monday, the city announced Friday. The city’s public works department collects recycling every other week. Collection had been postponed since mid-March because of the covid-19 pandemic. The city is asking residents to hold their recycling for 14 days before placing it...
Highlands Rotary Club donates 150 pizzas, money to Allegheny Valley HospitalVideo
It was pizza Thursday for 150 of the staff at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison. The diminutive Highlands Area Rotary Club, with just 13 members, showed their hearts are bigger than their numbers by donating the individual-sized pizzas, along with a $500 check to help outfit the hospital’s “serenity room,”...
Allegheny Health Network opening covid-19 testing site at Heights Plaza
Allegheny Health Network is opening a drive-up covid-19 testing site to serve the Alle-Kiski Valley area at Heights Plaza in Harrison, the network announced Thursday. The location, the network’s seventh drive-up collection site, will operate Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will then be open Tuesdays and Thursdays,...
State awards $5.1M in grants to aid with remote learning during school closure
Nearly 100 school districts and schools statewide are getting part of nearly $5.1 million in state grants to help pay for remote learning efforts while classrooms are closed during the covid-19 pandemic. The grants can be used to buy laptops, tablets and internet hot spots; paper, postage and shipping; and...
Smoking identified as cause of Brentwood apartment building fire
Smoking sparked a fire at a Brentwood apartment building on Easter Sunday, resulting in some of its residents dangling from windows to escape the smoke and flames. The fire at Brentwood Manor in the 3300 block of Brownsville Road was reported around 9:30 a.m. April 12. The fire was caused...
Freezing conditions could kill plants, burst pipes, weather service warns
A freeze warning will be in effect from midnight to 10 a.m. Wednesday. Temperatures in the upper 20s are expected, according to the National Weather Service. The warning covers parts of Western Pennsylvania, east-central Ohio and northern West Virginia. The cold will kill crops and other sensitive vegetation and could...
Harrison seeking bids for work on roads, alleys
Harrison is considering making improvements along nearly two dozen roads and alleys this year. The township has budgeted $450,000 for road work. Most of that — almost $408,000 — is expected to be spent on repairing and resurfacing 16 roads and alleys. About $40,000 is expected to be spent seal...
Highlands School Board names new solicitor for district
The Pittsburgh law firm Andrews & Price has been named the new solicitor for Highlands School District. The firm replaces Weiss Burkardt Kramer effective Tuesday. Highlands didn’t disclose payment or other contract details. School board members Bob Betts and Debbie Beale voted against the change during a meeting Monday that...
Low gas prices likely to continue after shutdowns end, analyst says
An unprecedented decline in demand is “dismantling expensive gas prices everywhere,” an industry analyst says. The national average has been declining for two months, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for the price-tracking service GasBuddy. “With oil again at new multi-decade lows, we still have room for prices to...
Arnold Council approves new, restricted handicapped parking regulations
Arnold Council approved new regulations governing handicapped parking at homes in the city. Under the ordinance, residents issued handicapped or severely disabled veteran license plates by the state are eligible to receive permits and have handicapped parking signs placed in front of their homes. The spaces would be solely for...
New Ken-Arnold School Board weighs options for roof work, paying for it
New Kensington-Arnold School District scrapped a proposal last week to award a $3.8 million contract for a roofing project because some board members raised concerns that bids were obtained by a Tennessee group purchasing company, not the district. Under the state’s School Code, districts are required to obtain sealed bids...
Tarentum woman recovering from crash injuries sews hundreds of masks for others
Dawn Galia hasn’t been able to work since being involved in a car crash that she said nearly killed her and her husband in 2018. But when someone she knows put out a request for face masks to help combat the spread of the coronavirus that causes covid-19, Galia knew...
Donations sought to fix more damage found at Harrison veterans memorial
Efforts to restore Harrison Township’s Honor Roll memorial are being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and the discovery of additional damage. The 75-year-old stone memorial at Freeport and Springhill roads bore the names of nearly 2,000 World War II veterans painted in gold on black glass panels. Work to shore...
