Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 134
Free summer meals offered at 5 locations in Highlands School District
Summer food programs will be available at five locations in Highlands School District this year. The federal program offers free breakfast, lunch and snacks to children up to age 18 when school is not in session. The Highlands school year ends June 7. Four locations in Highlands will run from...
Rainfall record set Wednesday
Mother Nature shattered a seven-year-old rainfall record on Wednesday. A total of 1.93 inches fell at Pittsburgh International Airport, where the National Weather Service takes its official measurements, according to meteorologist Bill Modzelewski. That broke the record of 1.29 inches for rain on May 29 that had stood since 2012....
Allegheny River shore cleanings set for Harrison, Tarentum
Cleanups of the Allegheny River shoreline in Harrison and Tarentum are scheduled for this weekend. Allegheny CleanWays, a nonprofit environmental group fighting illegal dumping in Allegheny County, scheduled cleanups in Harrison on Saturday and in Tarentum on Sunday. Morning sessions will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and afternoon...
Highlands Relay for Life includes car cruise, food trucks
JoAnn Monteleone hopes she has helped at least one person. Chances are, in 17 years leading the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Harrison, she’s helped and touched many more. She has survived cancer, while it has taken loved ones all around her, including her husband, Tony, in 2016....
Highlands first-graders enjoy ‘Camp Day’ at school
The campfires were virtual, but the fun was real. First-graders at Highlands Elementary School in Tarentum celebrated the approaching end of the school year Thursday with some fun and games that were part of the school’s annual “Camp Day.” “They worked really, really hard this year and we wanted to...
Tarentum board rejects appeal for digital billboard at bridge
A billboard company owner says he will continue to fight in court for the right to put a digital billboard at the Tarentum end of the Tarentum Bridge. Jerry Oliver, owner of Oliver Outdoor, said he will take his case to Allegheny County court after Tarentum’s five-member Zoning Hearing Board...
New Kensington police say man was drunk, uncooperative when Tasered
New Kensington police say a city resident was drunk and refusing to cooperate with officers when he was shocked with a Taser. According to police, Sgt. Kevin Hess tried to stop Lee Edward Jones, 51, for speeding on Stevenson Boulevard about 8 p.m. Saturday. Police said the Jeep Jones was...
Trib offers $5,000 reward in delivery driver’s shooting death
Trib Total Media is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any suspects in the shooting death of Gregory Lee Smith. Smith, 69, of New Kensington was shot and killed while he was out on his route delivering the Trib about 3 a.m. May...
Tarentum volunteers taking action on abandoned houses
A group of Tarentum residents plans to fan out across the borough Saturday to clean up about a half-dozen abandoned and empty houses overrun by tall grass, overgrown shrubs and unsightly garbage. It’s the first public cleanup effort by the Tarentum Action Committee, a group of about 30 volunteers who...
Gas prices continue decline as summer driving season begins
Gasoline prices continued falling last week as the summer travel season got underway, according to price-tracking website GasBuddy.com. Prices at gas stations in the Pittsburgh area dropped 5 cents in the past week to an average of $3.05 per gallon, according to GasBuddy and its daily survey of 731 stations....
Highlands student overcomes tragedy to graduate 1 year early
What Kaliah Pratt wanted to do was going to be difficult. Life, or rather, death, made it even harder. Pratt, 16, of Harrison decided she was ready to finish high school, and she embarked on a plan to graduate this year, a year early. “I always had a hard time...
Heinz rewards yinzer aghast that Kennywood is using Hunt’s Ketchup
First it was the cheese. Now it’s the ketchup. After taking heat for changing the cheese sauce for its fries at The Potato Patch, Kennywood now finds itself embroiled in a ketchup kontroversy — yes, it’s the great Heinz vs Hunt’s debate, which for Pittsburghers, is really no debate at...
Highlands again refuses to name employee put on unpaid leave
Highlands School District placed a middle school English teacher who has worked for the district for more than 20 years on unpaid leave in April. But the district is refusing to name the teacher despite a recent state ruling in a separate but similar case where the district was ordered...
Brackenridge memorial reassembled following vandalism repairsVideo
It’s a matter of respect for those who served and sacrificed. That’s what Brackenridge American Legion Commander Frank Svitek said Thursday as workers reassembled the honor roll memorial across the street in Brackenridge Memorial Park. The 54-year-old memorial’s bronze pieces were cleaned and restored after being vandalized in February. They...
Funding for Pennsylvania family centers restored for 2 years
Funding for family centers in Pennsylvania has been fully restored for the next two years, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services said Thursday. A change in how state money is allocated that would have caused eight of Allegheny County’s 10 centers to close generated widespread concern and...
Public can see Highlands budget that would raise property tax
Highlands School Board has approved a proposed final $46.2 million 2019-20 budget which includes a 3.3% property tax increase, the maximum the state allows for the district without a referendum or special exceptions. The school board approved the proposed final budget Monday. The 0.81 mill increase would raise the district’s...
Highlands comment policy causes confusion, raises concerns
Residents are confused and a legal expert is concerned after the Highlands School Board approved changes to its policy on public comment at its meetings. As revised, residents now are only able to comment on agenda items at the end of the school board’s planning meetings, and at the beginning...
Highlands assistant middle school principal retiring
After 25 years in education, Debbie Beucker is ready to call it a career. Beucker has worked in the Highlands School District for 16 of those years, split evenly between serving as assistant principal of the district’s high school, then in the same job at the middle school. She’ll retire...
2 Tarentum council members lose seats in primary
Two incumbent Tarentum council members lost their seats in Tuesday’s primary, according to unofficial election results. In the Democratic race for a four-year, at-large seat, Councilman Tim Cornuet lost his bid for re-election to 3rd Ward Councilwoman Carrie Fox, who also won her party’s nomination for her four-year seat in...
Incumbent, challenger earn Democratic nods for Harrison commissioner
The husband of a district judge edged out an incumbent Harrison commissioner in Tuesday’s Democratic Party primary, while another incumbent on the ballot cruised to victory. In Harrison’s 3rd Ward, challenger Eric S. Bengel defeated incumbent Robin Bergstrom by 18 votes, 182-164, according to unofficial results. Bengel, who had never...
Tarentum spray park open, movie series starts Thursday
With spring firmly in place and the first day of summer just a month away, life is returning to Tarentum’s Riverview Memorial Park. The spray park in the First Avenue park has reopened, and a free monthly movie series will start Thursday. The first showing for “Movies by the River”...
Highlands special education director resigns
The special education director at Highlands School District is resigning. Debra Lehew’s resignation was among a number of personnel actions the school board approved Monday. Lehew’s resignation is effective June 30. The board approved an agreement along with accepting Lehew’s resignation; the agreement was not immediately released. Lehew could not...
Public’s concerns, suggestions sought to shape future of 3 communities
People who live, work and do business in Tarentum, Brackenridge and Harrison have a chance to tell local officials how they’d like to see the communities improved over the next decade. The two boroughs and township are working together on a new comprehensive plan. Part of the more than yearlong...
Highlands School District to appeal ruling requiring release of teacher’s name
The Highlands School District wants a court to decide whether school districts can keep private the names of employees facing disciplinary actions. The school board voted 8-0 Monday to appeal an April 30 decision by the state’s Office of Open Records in a case brought by the Tribune-Review. Board member...
Highlands budget would hike taxes, spend $1.6 million from reserves
The Highlands School District would increase property taxes by the maximum allowed by the state, and spend $1.6 million from its reserves, under the district’s proposed final budget for the 2019-20 school year. Unless it is changed before the final vote in June, property taxes would go up by 3.3%,...
