Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 111
Police: Woman found shot dead outside McKeesport bar
A 29-year-old woman died after being shot in McKeesport overnight, according to Allegheny County Police. The shooting in the 500 block of Fifth Avenue was reported around 1:40 a.m. First responders and police found the woman dead in a vehicle, which was in a parking lot across from a bar....
Cinemark set to reopen Pittsburgh-area theaters
Cinemark plans to reopen four theaters in the Pittsburgh area in early July. Cinemark’s website said the North Hills and Robinson locations will be among the first Cinemark theaters to open in Pennsylvania, on July 3. The move is part of the company’s phased reopening from the covid-19 shutdown. Theaters...
2 hurt in SUV, motorcycle crash in North Huntingdon
Two people were hurt in a crash involving a SUV and a motorcycle in North Huntingdon Monday night, according to township police. The crash happened around 11:30 p.m. on Route 30 at Norwin Avenue. Police said a man on the motorcycle and the driver of the SUV, a woman, were...
Highlands administrators refine budget that does not increase property taxes
Highlands School District’s budget for the upcoming school year remains a work in progress a week ahead of its scheduled approval, but no property tax increase is expected. Business Manager Lori Byron told the school board Monday that administrators have continued to refine the budget, resulting in a roughly $283,000...
Woman taken to hospital after crashing car down Shaler hillside
A woman in her 80s suffered a minor arm injury after losing control of her car, which then went down a hillside, Shaler police Chief Sean Frank said. The accident happened around 7:15 a.m. Tuesday in the 100 block of Seavey Road. Frank said the woman, whose name he did...
PennDOT: Sewickley Bridge to be closed around-the-clock for 24 days
The Sewickley Bridge will be closed for 24 days for repairs starting next month, PennDOT announced Tuesday. The around-the-clock closure of the bridge spanning the Ohio River between Route 51 in Moon and Route 65 in Sewickley is scheduled to run from July 17 through Aug. 10. About 20,000 vehicles...
Children’s Place to close 300 stores by end of 2021
The Children’s Place will close nearly a third of its stores by the end 2021, the specialty apparel retailer announced recently in revealing its first quarter 2020 results. The company said it plans to close 200 stores in 2020, and another 100 in 2021. The Children’s Place had 920 stores...
Police: 3 assailants target, kill West Mifflin man in McKeesport
A West Mifflin man was shot and killed by three assailants in McKeesport late Monday, according to Allegheny County Police. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as George Brosey, 54. The shooting at the 47 building of Crawford Village was reported to 911 just before 11:30 p.m....
Police: Man cut on neck during East Liberty robbery
A man was cut on his neck during a robbery in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood early Monday, according to Pittsburgh police. Police responded to the robbery in the 500 block of North Highland Avenue around 5:50 a.m. A man told officers he had been assaulted and robbed by an unknown...
Gas prices expected to continue to rise ahead of Fourth of July holiday, analyst says
Gasoline prices in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation continue to rise as demand has risen to its highest level in three months, according to the price-tracking service GasBuddy. The national average has now risen for seven straight weeks, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy....
Markleton man pronounced dead at Somerset County crash scene
A 26-year-old man died in a one-car crash in Somerset County on Sunday, according to state police. State police identified the man as Bryan Lee Phillippi of Markleton. The crash happened around 4 a.m. on Glades Pike in Jefferson Township. State police said Phillippi was heading east on Glades Pike...
Tarentum to close First Avenue for sewer work
Part of First Avenue in Tarentum will be closed the first half of next week. The road will be closed between Corbet Street in Tarentum and Cherry Street in Brackenridge from Monday to Wednesday, Borough Manager Michael Nestico said. Traffic, including trucks, will be detoured onto Corbet Street to East...
Police seek man suspected in assault, damage to police SUV in Pittsburgh protest
Authorities are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man suspected of an assault during a protest May 30 at Washington Place near Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh. The man is also suspected of vandalizing a police car in the same location. Police released a series of photos of the...
Man dies after vehicle hits pole in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood
A 37-year-old man died in a one-vehicle crash in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood early Saturday morning, according to police. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the victim at James Theodore Green Jr. The crash in the 190 block of West Warrington Avenue was reported around 1:50 a.m. Police said first responders...
Vice President Pence visits Oberg Industries in Buffalo Twp., addresses pandemic shutdown, ‘law and order’
Vice President Mike Pence held an Alle-Kiski Valley manufacturing company up as an example to be followed as the nation reopens from the covid-19 pandemic. Pence spoke for about a half-hour before a crowd of 100 to 110 employees and apprentices at Oberg Industries in Buffalo Township, which the conservative...
New Kensington protest to recognize slain city officer before demanding end to police brutality
A Black Lives Matter protest being held Saturday in New Kensington will start with demonstrators placing a wreath at a memorial honoring a city police officer who was killed three years ago, an organizer said. “This is not an anti-police event. This is a pro-black lives event,” said Jon McCabe,...
Clayton Falkner, ‘Mr. Birdville,’ championed efforts to restore Harrison war memorial
Clayton Falkner championed the effort to restore Harrison’s crumbling World War II Honor Roll memorial but didn’t get the chance to see it finished. Mr. Falkner, 84, died Tuesday, June 9, 2020, at the house in the township’s Birdville section where he lived his entire life. Mr. Falkner began lobbying...
Police: Arnold felon built homemade shotgun, was making a second
Arnold police responding to a domestic dispute Sunday discovered that a man, a convicted felon prohibited from owning guns, had allegedly made his own shotgun and was fashioning a second. Arnold police on Monday charged Mervin Hamilton, 49, with two counts of illegal possession of firearms and one count each...
Tarentum launching summer concert series this week
The concerts will go on in Tarentum. With covid-19 restrictions easing, the borough’s recreation board and council made the “very hard decision” to go forward with Tarentum’s popular summer concert series, starting this Thursday, Councilwoman Carrie Fox said. “We want to keep as much normalcy as we possibly can,” she...
Pittsburgh Zoo welcomes 3 African lions
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is asking for the public’s help to renovate its lion exhibit for a trio of new lions, with the hope there could be more in the future. Three African lions, a 2-year-old male and a pair of 2-year-old females, are now out of sight...
Roads in Brackenridge scheduled for work this year
Brackenridge awarded three contracts totaling about $190,000 for road work in the borough. The largest contract, almost $75,000, is for resurfacing Roup Avenue from Prospect Street to Mile Lock Lane. Tresco Paving submitted the lowest of nine bids, borough Secretary Denise Tocco said. The borough also will resurface Sixth Avenue...
Tarentum to pay less for electricity, but residents won’t see savings on bills
Tarentum will pay about 21% less for electricity in a new, four-year supply agreement, but residents won’t see any change in their bills, according to borough Manager Michael Nestico. The borough owns and operates its own distribution system and buys electricity from a supplier. Borough Council approved an agreement with...
Pittsburgh-area gas prices unchanged as national rates rise
Gas prices in the Pittsburgh area remained unchanged from a week ago, while the national average continues to rise, according to price-tracking service GasBuddy. “It’s no surprise that (the national average for) gasoline prices have increased for the sixth straight week as gasoline demand has hit its highest level since...
New Kensington-Arnold celebrates Class of 2020 with parade through cities
The back of Amanda Reidy’s car was filled with balloons when she arrived at Valley High School in New Kensington on Friday morning to participate in a parade for the Class of 2020, which includes her son, James. The parade through New Kensington and Arnold was just one of several...
Alle-Kiski Valley shoppers lament closing of JCPenney in Frazer mall
Sandra Fitzsimmons enjoys shopping at JCPenney and sees it occupying a necessary place in retail — a step above Walmart, a step below Macy’s. Fitzsimmons, of Allegheny Township, was outside the JCPenney at the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer on Friday, lamenting that the store is among four in Western...

