Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 133
Kids ‘want to be loved,’ retiring Highlands 1st-grade teacher says
Rita Youell was just settling into a discussion of her more than two decade teaching career when one of her former students walked through her door Thursday. Bobby Reesman was just a little boy when Youell had him for first grade 15 years ago in the 2003-04 school year. He...
North Huntingdon road reopens after slide repair
Guffey Road in North Huntingdon has reopened to traffic, PennDOT announced Friday. A section between Turner Valley and Mickanin roads had been closed while a slide was being repaired. The road had been closed about a month ago. In PennDOT’s District 12, there are more than 280 active landslide locations...
Firefighters respond to call at Carrick apartment building
No injuries were being reported at an apartment fire in Carrick early Friday morning. The fire at the building at 2500 Brownsville Road was called in shortly after 4 a.m. Initial reports were of heavy smoke and fire in the basement and first floor of the four-story building. Crews remained...
Manhole work to close Ohio River Boulevard in Emsworth
Ohio River Boulevard’s northbound lanes will be closed in Emsworth this weekend, PennDOT announced. The road will be closed at Hazelwood Avenue from 8 p.m. Friday through 8 p.m. Sunday. Crews with Jet Jack will be working on a manhole. Southbound traffic will not be affected, PennDOT said. All northbound...
Police: Pittsburgh mom left kids at bus stop to confront boyfriend
A woman left her three children with a stranger at a bus stop along a busy road while she went to confront her boyfriend about cheating on her, police in Avalon allege. Avalon police on Tuesday charged Erin Grogan, 31, of Pittsburgh, with three counts of endangering the welfare of...
Downed wires knocks out power in Wilkins, Monroeville, Penn Hills areas
Multiple downed wires knocked out power to Duquesne Light customers across five communities Thursday morning. Initially, about 1,600 customers in the Wilkins, Monroeville and Penn Hills areas were affected. The cause of the downed wires was undetermined, Duquesne Light spokeswoman Niki Campbell said. Duquesne Light was reporting about 600 customers...
Police investigating robbery of McKnight Road hotel in Ross
A Ross hotel was robbed early Thursday. Police said they were called to the Comfort Inn on McKnight Road around 3:30 a.m.. According to police, a man went into the hotel through the front door and confronted the clerk. The man said he was robbing him but did not display...
Police: Butler County woman hid on roof to escape man with rifle
A Butler County woman hid on a roof Wednesday night after being threatened by a man holding a rifle, according to state police. The incident happened shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday on Hidden Hill Road in Clinton Township, state police said. According to state police, Robert Wargo, 65, threatened a...
Tarentum Farmers Market nearing opening date
The Tarentum Farmers Market returns for the 2019 season beginning next week. The market’s opening is set for 9 a.m. on Wednesday, June 12, in the upper parking lot of First United Presbyterian Church at the corner of Lock Street and East 10th Avenue. The market will be open from...
Eagle Scout project, dedication ceremony planned at Tarentum garden
Two events are taking place this weekend at Tarentum’s community garden. A ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday to rededicate the garden, now known as Tarentum’s Greg Blythe Friendship Garden. The Tarentum Recreation Board is sponsoring a plaque. The garden was renamed for Blythe, one of its founders,...
Burtner House hosting annual Strawberry Festival in Harrison
If you missed the strawberries in Cheswick, or just can’t get enough, there’s another opportunity coming up. The Burtner House will hold its annual Strawberry Festival on Saturday, June 15. The festival is one of the major fundraisers supporting the historic landmark in Harrison. It will run from 11 a.m....
Woman crossing Route 30 seriously hurt after hit by truck
State police have identified a pedestrian hit by a truck on Route 30 in Hempfield Tuesday morning. Gloria A. Piper, 71, of Penn suffered a suspected serious injury in the incident shortly after 9 a.m. near Nature Park Road. According to state police, Piper was walking north across Route 30...
PennDOT plans closure of inbound Parkway East next weekend
PennDOT will close part of the inbound Parkway East next weekend, a PennDOT spokesman confirmed Tuesday. The westbound lanes will be closed from Friday, June 14 through Monday morning, June 17, Steve Cowan said. Details of the closure have not yet been finalized, he said. “We are still working out...
Police: Man shot in Wilkinsburg died of bullet wound to head
A 49-year-old man has died after getting shot in the head Tuesday morning during a suspected robbery attempt in Wilkinsburg, poice said. The man, whom police did immediately identify, died in a hospital at 5:50 p.m., Allegheny County Police Sgt. Veneranda Costa said. Police had initially said the man was...
Cat spay, neuter clinics scheduled in Tarentum
The Homeless Cat Management Team will be offering several free and low-cost spay and neuter clinics from June to December in Tarentum. No-charge clinics for feral cats only will be held on June 22, July 27, Aug. 24, Oct. 5, Nov. 9 and Dec. 7. “Fast track” clinics, which cost...
Driver killed in Route 22 crash in Salem, police say
State police at Kiski said the driver of a car that crashed into a tractor trailer Tuesday on Route 22 in Salem has died from his injuries at Forbes Hospital in Monroeville. Trooper Chad W. Howell reported the crash occurred at 4:52 a.m. at the intersection of Route 819 and...
Cold night falls short of record; rain, storms return Wednesday
The Pittsburgh area came within a couple degrees of setting a new record low temperature Tuesday morning. The temperature at Pittsburgh International Airport, where the official measurements are made, was down to 43 degrees as of around 6 a.m. Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Kennedy said. That’s just shy...
Police: 2 taken to hospitals after assault in Aliquippa
Two people were taken to a hospital after an assault Sunday night in Aliquippa. Police were called to an apartment complex on Superior Avenue around 11 p.m. after a report that shots were fired, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported. No evidence of a shooting was found, but two people were...
Gas prices continue decline on tariff worries, falling oil prices
Gasoline prices are down again in Pittsburgh, and the national average has fallen for four straight weeks — not something drivers expect at the start of the summer season. “More impressively is the surprise that may soon hit some motorists: the nation’s cheapest gas prices may soon fall back under...
Highlands reschedules June school board meeting
Highlands School Board has changed the date of its June voting meeting. It will be held June 25 instead of June 24. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the audion at Highlands High School in Harrison. The board is expected to vote to adopt a proposed $46.2 million...
Cause of Penn Hills house fire under investigation
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of a house fire in Penn Hills on Sunday night. Firefighters responding to the fire at 52 Overbrook Road shortly after 11 p.m. found smoke and fire at the back of the house. Firefighters got the fire under control quickly. There...
ABC Transit plans dinner to woo Roenigk bus drivers in Highlands
Highlands School District’s new bus contractor has scheduled a dinner to try to attract drivers away from W.L. Roenigk, the district’s outgoing transportation company. ABC Transit is inviting all of the district’s current bus and van drivers and monitors to the buffet dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. June 12 in...
Authorities identify 18-year-old man killed in Butler County crash
A Butler man died from injuries suffered in a crash Sunday in northwestern Butler County, according to state police. Authorities identified the man as 18-year-old Cole Wilson. The crash happened around 4:30 p.m. at Route 108 and the northbound ramp of Interstate 79 in Worth Township, authorities said. State police...
Harrison to focus grass cutting efforts on abandoned properties
They say the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In Harrison, the tall grass that gets complained about the most may get cut. With a roster of five to six dozen uncared for properties, the township’s five part-time summer workers can only get to so many, commissioners Chairman Bill Heasley said....
Missing Ohio teen believed to be in Pittsburgh area
A 16-year-old girl reported missing from Ohio was recently seen in the Pittsburgh area, Allegheny County police said Friday. Mandy M. Constable was last seen around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday leaving her home in Springfield Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, about 60 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, police said. “At this point, they...
