Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 110
Police, detectives investigating abuse of New Kensington 2-year-old
A New Kensington man is accused of assaulting a 2-year-old child who police said had to undergo “life-saving measures” after being taken to a Pittsburgh hospital last month. City police and Westmoreland County detectives have been investigating since March 26, when police and paramedics were called to the 1100 block...
Arnold trims road paving project to fit city’s budget
Arnold is trimming a planned road paving project to fit it into the city’s budget, and doing that changed which company is the apparent low bidder. Arnold opened bids last week from nine companies for the Fifth Avenue and Freeport Road street improvements, said city Engineer Mark Gera said. Youngblood...
Victim in fatal New Kensington motorcycle crash identified
New Kensington police on Wednesday identified the man who died after the motorcycle he was driving hit a deer on Sunday. Police Chief Bob Deringer identified the man as James R. Snyder, 49, from the North Hills area. Snyder died from his injuries at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison. The...
Highlands considering operating autism classroom at high school
Highlands School District is considering operating its own autism classroom at its high school next school year in a move that would save the district $231,000. The district signed a contract for autism services with the nonprofit Merakey Innovative Care and Education Solutions six years ago. Merakey spokeswoman Trish Pisauro...
Repair work begins at New Kensington church damaged by tornadoVideo
Workers started dismantling a damaged steeple at a New Kensington church on Tuesday. The steeple, one of two atop St. Mary of Czestochowa on Kenneth Avenue, was damaged by a tornado that hit the city April 8 and also tore off part of the church’s roof. Roofers took advantage of...
Highlands School Board selects Bobbie Neese as president
The Highlands School Board unified in choosing new leadership Monday, in contrast to when the board last reorganized in December. The nine-member board had to select a new president and vice president following the resignation of former President Misty Chybrzynski in March and the appointment of Nicole Kocon to replace...
Tarentum Council resists proposal to abolish borough’s planning commission
A proposal to abolish Tarentum’s planning commission and replace it with a committee of professionals and council members was met with resistance from council members who opposed removing borough residents from the zoning and land use process. Borough Manager Michael Nestico argued the planning commission can only make recommendations to...
Pittsburgh man killed after motorcycle hits deer in New Kensington
A man was killed and a woman hurt Sunday night after the motorcycle they were on struck a deer in New Kensington, police Chief Bob Deringer said. The crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. on Route 366, Stevenson Boulevard. According to Deringer, a 49-year-old man from Pittsburgh was operating the...
OPEC production cut will not soon impact gas prices, analyst says
An OPEC deal to cut oil production will not have an immediate impact on gasoline prices, which have fallen for a seventh straight week as the covid-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders crush demand, according to an industry analyst. “Establishing a floor on ultra-low oil prices will hopefully keep U.S. oil...
Highlands schedules special meeting to name school board officers
The Highlands School Board scheduled a second special meeting in as many weeks. The board will meet virtually at 7 p.m. Monday to elect board officers. Meetings are being held virtually because of the covid-19 pandemic. Residents will be able to participate in the meeting through a Zoom livestream video...
Tornado causes critical damage to New Kensington church bell towerVideo
One of the bell towers at St. Mary of Czestochowa in New Kensington is so badly damaged from Wednesday’s tornado that it has to be removed, Msgr. Michael Begolly said in a message to parishioners. A structural engineer has told church officials that the bell tower on the left side...
Arnold Council, New Kensington-Arnold School Board schedule virtual meetings
The New Kensington-Arnold School Board and Arnold Council have each scheduled their first virtual meetings — for the same night. Government bodies have begun holding virtual meetings in response to the covid-19 pandemic. Both meetings will be held Tuesday using Zoom, a computer-based service that connects users by video and...
Highlands chooses Nicole Kocon to fill board vacancy
Nicole Kocon is the newest member of the Highlands School Board. Kocon, of Brackenridge, was one of two candidates the board interviewed for a Region 2 seat in an online meeting Tuesday. The meeting was held virtually due to the covid-19 pandemic. Kocon replaces Misty Chybrzynski, former board president, who...
Plum fire victim fears homelessness; fundraising campaign launched
Two weeks after fleeing her burning home in Plum with her three children, Monica Hanner is again worrying about keeping a roof over their heads. The house Hanner shared with her children — ages 15, 12 and 8 — on Emerald Drive in Kellywood Estates was destroyed the morning of...
Work on Millerstown Road slide repair to resume Wednesday
Work to repair a slide on Millerstown Road in Fawn is scheduled to resume on Wednesday. Work on the slide had started Feb. 24, with the expectation of being finished in mid-April. The project was shut down on March 17 in compliance with Gov. Tom Wolf’s order due to the...
Highlands to interview 3 board candidates in virtual meeting
Highlands School Board is scheduled to interview three candidates for a vacant seat on the board Tuesday evening in its first virtual meeting since the covid-19 pandemic shuttered schools. An agenda for the meeting identified the candidates as Nicole Kocon, Autumn Monaghan and Debra Lehew. Lehew, the district’s former special...
Harrison police seek owner of lost diamond engagement ring
Harrison police are looking for a woman who will say “I did!” when asked if she lost her diamond engagement ring. Township police have been holding the ring since Feb. 26, police Chief Mike Klein said Monday. Klein said a man found the ring in the parking lot of McDonald’s...
Average gas price in Pittsburgh area remains firmly above $2 a gallon
Gasoline prices continue to fall in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation, but the local average remains above $2 a gallon, the price-tracking service GasBuddy reported Monday. The Pittsburgh area’s average per-gallon price stood at $2.23, down 3.6 cents from a week ago, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731...
Harrison police issue warrant for man wanted on strangulation charge
Harrison police are looking for a man accused of punching and choking a woman. Township police charged Peter Paul Dott IV, 27, with strangulation, simple assault and terroristic threats in the incident that allegedly happened in the Natrona area of the township on Friday. On Monday, police Chief Mike Klein...
Former Tarentum councilman accused of pistol-whipping man, claims self-defense
A former Tarentum councilman is accused of pistol-whipping a man during an altercation in Forest County, according to state police. State police arrested Thomas Andrew Grates Jr., 52, of Tarentum, at a camp in Kingsley Township on Friday. On Monday, Grates said he had been defending himself and denied using...
BP offering gasoline discount to first responders, medical personnel
BP is offering a discount on gasoline to first responders and medical personnel to help support them during the covid-19 pandemic. The company is providing a discount of 50 cents per gallon at its BP and Amoco stations. To get the discount, first responders, doctors, nurses and hospital workers need...
Covid-19 dominates news as region struggles, changes, fights backVideo
Covid-19 continued to dominate the news, and lives, of everyone in Western Pennsylvania this week, as the closure of schools and businesses was extended indefinitely and all state residents were ordered to stay home. Everyone was adapting to the new normal, including a nearly 100-year-old Latrobe woman who found herself...
Pennsylvania flu cases drop significantly, state’s final report says
With influenza activity decreasing significantly across the state, Pennsylvania health officials have stopped updating a weekly report on flu activity for the season. Flu activity is down over the past few weeks and now below epidemic levels, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health for the week...
PennDOT further extends expirations on licenses, vehicle requirements
Pennsylvanians have until the end of May to renew driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations and inspections that were scheduled to expire between March 16 and April 30. The new May 31 deadline applies to the following, according to PennDOT: • Driver’s licenses, photo identification cards and learner’s permits expiring from March...
Police looking for man who spit on Edgewood Giant Eagle manager
Allegheny County detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man accused of spitting on an employee at Giant Eagle’s store in Edgewood Wednesday morning. Store manager Aisha Mariner told the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, that the incident happened when she was trying to help a customer who...
