Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 67

The latest snowfall is being capped off by some light freezing drizzle Tuesday morning, a National Weather Service meteorologist said. Between 1 and 3 inches of snow fell across the Pittsburgh area Monday, tapering off last evening, meteorologist Bill Modzelewski said. Some light snow and patchy freezing drizzle Tuesday morning...

A Pittsburgh school will gradually reopen over the next two weeks following the death of a student shot outside the school last week. Marquis Campbell, 15, died at Allegheny General Hospital after being shot twice on Jan. 19. He had been sitting in a van waiting to go home outside...

A propane heater caused a fire that destroyed a Rostraver home used as an animal shelter, a state police fire marshal determined. About a dozen cats died in the Jan. 14 fire at the Route 51 home of Wendi Kraemer, who operated the nonprofit Angels Journey Home Animal Rescue there....

Ron Eckman Jr. took off from New Kensington and 25 years later landed in Las Vegas. Eckman, 48, enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from Valley High School in 1991. He was an aircraft electrician, working on fighter jets at bases around the world and even traveled with the...

A Valley High School senior is organizing a blood drive at a time when blood inventories are at historic lows. Brooke Alcorn Ferry, 17, of New Kensington is staging the Feb. 28 blood drive as part of the community service hours she needs to graduate. It will be open to...

The Rev. Timothy Tomson, whose grandparents are from Ukraine, is among those in the Pittsburgh area with Ukrainian roots watching warily as fears of a Russian invasion continue. Tomson is vice president of the Ukrainian Community of Western Pennsylvania, which he helped found in 2009, and pastor of St. Mary...

The first time Brian Jacob tries to answer the question raised by his memoir, “Is Life Fair,” he is remembering an unpleasant experience attending a play with his wife. Brian and Jamie Jacob were at a Pittsburgh Public Theater performance when an employee approached Brian, who is quadriplegic and uses...

A sophomore from Valley High School in New Kensington is representing Westmoreland County in a statewide audio essay contest sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. If 15-year-old K’Ahna Witcher is the winner of the state “Voice of Democracy” contest, she’ll go on to the national program and a chance...

Several northern Westmoreland County municipalities in the Alle-­Kiski Valley would get a new state senator if a proposed redistricting map is approved. The affected municipalities are the cities of Arnold, Lower Burrell and New Kensington; the boroughs of East Vandergrift, Hyde Park, Vandergrift and West Leechburg; and Allegheny Township. State...

Highmark will begin reimbursing its customers for at-home covid-19 tests this weekend and is looking to eliminate the need for customers to pay first, a vice president of the insurance company said Thursday. Under federal rules, Highmark and other private health insurers are required to cover up to eight over-the...

A new car wash in New Kensington is celebrating its opening with free car washes for 10 days and benefits for Knead Community Cafe. Clean Express Auto Wash began operating off Tarentum Bridge Road in front of Busy Beaver in late December, said Beth Martin, a spokeswoman for parent company...

A maximum 5% property tax increase is included in New Kensington-Arnold School District’s $40.9 million proposed preliminary budget for next school year. School board President Tim Beckes hopes that increase can be reduced before a final budget for 2022-23 is passed in June. “We hope to not have to do...

A Pittsburgh nonprofit has received more than $1.4 million from foundations as it plans to expand its free internet access to communities in need across Southwestern Pennsylvania. Meta Mesh Wireless Communities announced it received $1.13 million from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation for its wireless internet service, Every1online. Meta Mesh...

The national average price of gasoline increased in the last week, but is unchanged in the Pittsburgh area, according to price tracking service GasBuddy. According to GasBuddy, the national average rose 2.3 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.29 on Monday. That’s 5.5 cents per gallon less than...

An arrest has been made in a case where a woman’s body was found in a shed in the city’s Knoxville neighborhood Saturday, Pittsburgh police announced. Police charged Montel Reed, 26, of Pittsburgh with criminal homicide, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. Reed was taken to the Allegheny...

A staffing shortage caused by positive cases of covid, covid-related quarantines and other staff absences is causing 20 Pittsburgh Public schools and programs to go to remote instruction on Monday, the district announced. Facilities that will be closed on Monday are Arlington PreK-8; Arsenal 6-8; Carmalt PreK-8; Carrick High School;...

Chris Boswell kept the Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoffs hopes alive Sunday with an overtime-winning field goal against the Baltimore Ravens. To celebrate that, Steel City sandwich slinger Primanti Bros. announced it will give free classic sandwiches to anyone named Chris or Boswell on Monday. The offer is good at all Primanti...

A man Kiski police arrested in December landed back in the Armstrong County Jail on Saturday after township police say he began harassing them with phone calls days after getting out of jail. Michael W. Hungerford Jr., 36, of Coraopolis was the subject of a theft investigation and jailed Dec....

A body was found Saturday behind a home in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood, Pittsburgh police said. Officers responded to a report of a possible body in the 300 block of Reifert Street around 4:30 p.m. There, police said officers found a dead person in a shed. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner...

PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are advising drivers to avoid unnecessary travel during a storm expected to bring frozen precipitation and potentially icy road conditions in most of the state Saturday night. The agencies said they anticipate implementing various speed and vehicle restrictions throughout the storm. Restrictions are scheduled...

Prayers for healing, calls for justice and balloons rose from near the Tarentum Bridge on Saturday afternoon, not far from where a Brackenridge woman and her 9-year-old daughter were struck by a car in a hit-and-run just over a week ago. Family and friends of Lyric Manley Jackson, 26, and...

To feed his 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, Joel Gabelli relies on what he can find at Family Dollar, Dollar General and — sometimes, when he feels like walking farther — Sheetz. With rare access to a vehicle, Gabelli isn’t able to get from his Kensington Manor home in downtown...

Arnold will keep its interim solicitor through 2022, and two council members have swapped committee assignments. City council reorganized Tuesday following November’s municipal election. Two members — Democrat Deborah Vernon and Republican Adam Zweig — ran unopposed for reelection. Mayor Joe Bia swore them back into office. Vernon, who previously...

New Kensington Council welcomed a new member as it reorganized Monday following last November’s municipal election. Corey Pistininzi took the seat previously held by Doug Aftanas. Both Democrats, Aftanas did not seek reelection in 2021. A resident of New Kensington for eight years, Pistininzi owns Modfinish in downtown New Kensington,...