Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 56

A Lower Burrell woman is accused of speeding through Arnold and New Kensington, nearly hitting a woman pushing a stroller and, after crashing, jumping into a good Samaritan’s vehicle and telling him to drive away. Arnold police said Nicole Patricia Smith, 26, of Fairview Road admitted fleeing in a rental...

Going into the Labor Day weekend, which many mark as the traditional end of summer, gasoline prices are expected to be the lowest since March 3 and 20% less than July 4, price tracking service GasBuddy said. According to GasBuddy, prices this holiday weekend will continue to fall slightly from...

When Nicole Porterfield-Miller opens her breakfast restaurant, Cafe Nikki P, in New Kensington, it will be the realization of a dream. It started with a hobby making fruit and vegetable trays that she turned into a side business. “I never thought I could open a restaurant. I didn’t think that...

Logans Ferry Road in Plum may reopen to traffic earlier than expected, a PennDOT spokesman said Monday. The heavily traveled road between Entrance Drive and Columbia Road near New Kensington has been closed since Aug. 2 while a contractor works to repair a landslide. The closure has forced the more...

More than two dozen bands are scheduled to perform for the annual Band Blast at Memorial Park in New Kensington this year. The lineup consists of 11 bands performing on the main stage and 16 acoustic acts on the second stage. “This is the biggest lineup we’ve ever had for...

Average gas prices in a few Northeastern Pennsylvania counties have fallen to or just below $4 per gallon as the streak of dropping gas prices marks its 11th week. The average price in Pennsylvania is now about $4.14, down 8 cents from last week and 35 cents from a month...

Parishioners of a New Kensington church damaged by a tornado more than two years ago are slated to return to it for worship in November. The Rev. Larry J. Kulick, bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, announced Friday that he will be at St. Mary of Czestochowa at 1 p.m....

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public hearing Tuesday in Plum on a proposed commercial disposal injection well in the borough. The hearing is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Plum Community Center, 499 Center New Texas Road. Penneco Environmental Solutions of Delmont is seeking permission...

A 3K nature hike in North Park will be held in memory of a young Pine man who died from cancer a year ago. Christian Cochran was 23 when he died Sept. 1, 2021, a little over a year after he was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer of the...

The streak of falling gas prices continued for a 10th straight week despite some areas seeing prices rise slightly last week, an industry analyst said. The average price also continued to fall in Pennsylvania, where some counties are now within a few cents of $4, according to AAA. The national...

Several Arnold and New Kensington organizations are banding together to help make sure students are ready to go back to school. A Back to School Bash is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, at Roosevelt Park in Arnold. Students in the New Kensington-Arnold School District return...

New Kensington’s history is out there, and James Sabulsky wants to bring it all together. Sabulsky, president of the Tri-City Historical Society, hopes having a museum where people can see items from New Kensington’s past will help with gathering more of it. The society, founded in 2019, is opening its...

A team is being formed to bring back a program recognizing distinguished graduates of the New Kensington-Arnold School District and its predecessor districts. The team is expected to include area historians, former district administrators and teachers and community leaders, school board member Sarah Yurga said. “Once we form that team,...

An effort to organize a first-time 5K race in downtown New Kensington has grown into what promises to be a multifaceted fitness festival dedicated to health, nutrition and wellness. The NK 5K FitFEST will be Sept. 4. Cullen Maag, owner of BodyWork412 on Fifth Avenue, hopes the festival will educate,...

PennDOT is closing part of Thompson Run Road on the border of Penn Hills and Monroeville for two weeks to repair a slide. The road is scheduled to be closed between Old William Penn Highway and Frey Road beginning at 7 a.m. Monday, weather permitting, PennDOT announced Friday. Traffic will...

New Kensington police say a man told officers he wanted to burn an apartment building he lives in with his family and others. Mark Douglas Daniels Jr., 33, of 740 Seventh St. was arraigned Thursday, Aug. 18 on a felony charge of arson before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr....

Members of the 1970 and 1971 Richland High School graduating classes gathered for a combined reunion the weekend of Aug. 12. Festivities included a tour of Richland Elementary that Friday afternoon. The elementary school, which today houses students in kindergarten through third grade, was Richland High School until 1993, when...

New Kensington native Shane Henderson followed his father’s example into his life as an artist. “He taught me stuff before I was even in high school. I had a nice starting point for taking it professionally,” Henderson said. “I always drew as a kid. He always encouraged that. It was...

After the national average price of gasoline fell below $4 per gallon late last week, the streak of falling gas prices is at risk of ending this week, an industry analyst said. That’s because wholesale gasoline prices have increased some 40 cents per gallon as oil prices have rebounded, said...

The Westmoreland County Land Bank bought its first properties in New Kensington and Arnold since the cities and their school district joined the blight-fighting program. Six residential properties in New Kensington and one in Arnold were among a dozen tax-delinquent properties the land bank bought at a judicial sale on...

An Arnold police officer accused of lying about how his patrol vehicle was damaged waived his right to a hearing Thursday. Ryan Matthew Clark, 32, of Buffalo Township is charged by Westmoreland County detectives with making a false report and tampering with evidence, which are both misdemeanor offenses. “We’re going...

Students in the Pine-Richland School District will be returning to classrooms next week. The first day of school for students is Thursday, Aug. 25. The district’s enrollment is expected to be about 4,550 students. Safety will be an area of focus across all six district schools, district spokeswoman Erin Hasinger...

New Kensington planners recommend approving a proposed project that would decorate a downtown alley and two intersections with artwork. The city’s planning commission voted 3-0 Tuesday in favor of the “Art in the Alley” project for Ivy Alley and the painting of crosswalks on Fifth Avenue at Eighth and 10th...

The national average price of gasoline could go below $4 per gallon as soon as today as prices fall for an eighth straight week, industry analyst Patrick De Haan said. AAA was reporting the national average at $4.06. National gas price-tracking service GasBuddy has it lower, at $4.01. “By the...

One of two teens still at large and charged in the shooting death of a man last month in New Kensington was arrested Monday. U.S. marshals apprehended Elijah Rashad Gary, 18, on Ella Street in Wilkinsburg without incident, Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said. Gary is one of seven...