Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 118
Mother, 2 young children rescued from Parks house fire
A mother and her two young children were rescued from their burning home early Thursday morning in Armstrong County. The fire in the 1600 block of Dime Road in Parks was reported shortly before 5:30 a.m. Firefighters from seven departments battled temperatures in the low teens to put out the...
Allegheny County sees 66% increase in flu cases over past week
The Pittsburgh area continues to lead the state in confirmed flu cases, with a large increase in Allegheny County in the past week. There were more than 6,900 confirmed influenza cases statewide as of the week ending Dec. 14, according to the state Department of Health. That is a 57%...
Police: Woman shot on Pittsburgh-Penn Hills border in critical condition
A woman was in critical condition after being shot along the border of Penn Hills and Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. Officers from both municipalities responded around 9:15 p.m. to a report that a woman had been shot multiple times in the 200 block of Eastgate Drive in Penn Hills, according...
Police: Butler County couple stole more than $340K from employer
State police say a Clinton Township husband and wife stole more than $340,000 from their former employer over two years. Adam Joshua Lesseski, 35, and Kara Lynn Lesseski, 37, took the money from Concrete Coring in Jefferson Township between January 2017 and last March , police said. Adam Lesseski was...
New Kensington residents won’t pay more with new garbage hauler
New Kensington will switch garbage haulers in 2020, but residents won’t pay more for trash collection. City council awarded the contract to County Hauling, a division of Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill of Rostraver. The company will replace Waste Management, which has been the city’s hauler for several years. The cost to...
Police: Baby OK after being found on Brighton Heights porch
A baby was in good health after being found on a porch in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood early Tuesday morning. According to police, officers went to a residence in the 1900 block of Termon Avenue around 12:30 a.m. A woman told officers she heard knocking on her door for several...
Mon Wharf parking area expected to flood
The Mon Wharf parking area will be closed Wednesday because of flooding, the Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh announced Tuesday. All vehicles will have to be removed from the lot by 7 p.m. Tuesday, the authority said. The wharf will be closed until further notice. A flood advisory for the...
State police: Driver attacks New Castle man after crash, flees
State police are looking for the driver of car who allegedly attacked another driver after hitting his car in Lawrence County. The man police said hit the car and then attacked the driver fled the scene, officers said. The driver who was attacked had a minor injury but declined to...
Woman hurt after jumping from burning building in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield
A woman jumped from a second-floor window Monday morning to escape a fire in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood, according to city police. The fire at 3950 Murray Ave. was reported shortly before 7 a.m. The building had a business on the ground floor with two apartments above. According to police, the...
Gas prices fall to lowest level since March, analyst says
Gasoline prices have slid to their lowest level since March thanks to rising U.S. inventories and sluggish demand, according to an analyst for the price-tracking firm GasBuddy. “The jump in gasoline inventories has been so large it has offset oil prices, which touched $60 per barrel last week, as well...
Cambria County man dies in Fairfield crash, coroner says
A 37-year-old man from Cambria County died in a single-vehicle crash in Fairfield on Sunday night, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office. The crash happened shortly after 7 p.m. in the area of 1410 Route 271. Benjamin D. Snyder, of Upper Yoder, was alone and traveling south on Route...
Snow, freezing rain may impact evening, morning commutes
The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory from 4 p.m. Monday through 11 a.m. Tuesday. A mix of snow up to around an inch with a light glaze of ice from freezing rain is possible, according to the advisory for Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties. Roads could be...
Cousin accused of aiding convicted cop killer Rahmael Holt ordered to stand trialVideo
New Kensington District Judge Frank Pallone refused to lower Lisa Harrington’s $100,000 bond Thursday after holding her for trial on charges of getting rid of the gun her cousin used to kill city police Officer Brian Shaw two years ago. Harrington, 33, is a cousin of Rahmael Holt, who a...
New Kensington-Arnold preliminary budget spikes taxes, exhausts reserves
Even with a property tax increase more than double its state limit, the New Kensington-Arnold School District will empty its reserves by the end of the 2020-21 school year and go into the red, the district’s business manager projects. A 7-mill property tax increase is included in the $38.96 million...
Arnold ordinance would allow backyard fires
Arnold residents would be able to have contained fires in their backyards under a new ordinance city council is considering. Fires at residences would have to be burned in a container no more than 36 inches in diameter and at least two feet high, according to the proposed ordinance. The...
New Kensington’s Peoples Library to stage play written by city residents, petting zoo
Free events planned Saturday at New Kensington’s Peoples Library include an original Christmas play written by two city residents and an indoor petting zoo. “We’re glad to have a double bill for the day,” library Director David Hrivnak said. Members of the Valley High School Drama Club will perform the...
Arnold adopts budget with no tax increase, seeks funding for sewer projects
Arnold Council on Tuesday adopted a $4.4 million budget for 2020 that does not change the property tax rate and increases spending just $10,000 over this year. The tax rate remains 43.5 mills, with 25 mills going toward general city services and 18.5 mills toward debt service. At that rate,...
Candidates sought to fill vacant Arnold council seat
A vacancy on Arnold city council will need to be filled in January. The city is accepting letters of interest for the vacant seat until the close of business on Jan. 10. That seat is now held by Joe Bia II, who defeated Karen Peconi for mayor in the Democratic...
Pittsburgh area leads state in ‘widespread’ flu outbreak, health data show
More than half of the flu cases reported in Pennsylvania so far this season are in the Greater Pittsburgh area, with Allegheny County having the most of any county in the state in a season that is off to an early start. A total of 4,424 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza...
Tarentum hires firm to update zoning ordinance, map
Tarentum could pay nearly $35,000 to update its zoning ordinance and map. The review comes as a billboard company arguing to place a sign at the Tarentum Bridge has pointed to errors and omissions in the borough’s zoning ordinance, which the company said unlawfully excludes billboards from any location in...
New Kensington police say runaway girl returned home
A girl missing since Friday has returned home, New Kensington police said Tuesday. Police said Monae Matthews is safe and was not injured when she returned home. In a post on the department’s Facebook page, police said Monae was a runaway who was last seen on Friday....
Gas prices fall in Pittsburgh area, most states, analyst says
Gasoline prices fell in most states over the past week as a large increase in gasoline inventories may have offset a surprise oil production cut announced by OPEC, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for price-tracking service GasBuddy. “While OPEC’s announcement was certainly not expected, it lasts just three...
Donations sought for ‘Small Town Christmas’ at Sheldon Park
Donations are needed for the second annual Small Town Christmas event in Harrison’s Sheldon Park neighborhood. The event was first held last year to help bring together and heal the community in the wake of two shootings. It ended up filling the void left when the township’s own parade and...
Highlands School Board accepts limit on property tax increase
Property taxes in the Highlands School District will not increase by more than 3.7% in the 2020-21 school year. The school board voted unanimously Tuesday not to exceed its state-imposed inflation limit. Under the state’s Taxpayer Relief Act, also known as Act 1, the board is required to make that...
Demolition of abandoned Tarentum houses underwayVideo
Three empty houses that have blighted Tarentum’s isolated Davidson Street for years were reduced to rubble Thursday. “I think it’s long overdue,” said Davidson Street resident Miriam Kengor. The three empty houses that sit in a row along Davidson Street were among the first of 23 to be torn down...
