Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 67
Proposed subdivision could lead to another development on Tarentum Bridge Road
A new restaurant may be coming to Tarentum Bridge Road in New Kensington. It would be located on a parcel city officials are considering creating between Shamey’s Gulf Service and the main entrance to Giant Eagle, in front of the Quality Inn. City Council is scheduled to vote May 2...
First ‘Fresh Express’ distribution for food bank clients coming to New Kensington
A drive-thru distribution for food bank recipients in the New Kensington area will be held outside United Presbyterian Church in New Kensington on Monday. Grab-n-Go Fresh Express, previously known as Operation Fresh Express, is an invitation-only distribution that will run from 3:45 to 5 p.m., said Lea-Ann White, program coordinator...
Arnold awards contract for demolition of 10 buildings, hires code officer
Arnold Council has awarded a contract for the demolition of 10 buildings in the city. AP Wise Excavating’s bid of $75,840 was the lowest of seven the city received. The highest bid, of nearly $141,000 , was submitted by Davis Demolition and Excavation. Six other companies picked up information on...
Arnold, Buffalo Township getting share of $47.8M in state transportation funding
Projects in two Alle-Kiski Valley communities are among 56 highway, bridge, transit, bike and pedestrian projects in 28 counties selected for $47.8 million in state funding, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office announced Thursday. • Arnold is getting $53,000 for improvements to Rankin Street from Woodmont Avenue to Freeport Road. The improvements...
New high-speed internet service coming to Pine, Richland residents
Residents in parts of Pine and Richland will be among those able to make use of a new high-speed fiber optic internet service. Fidium Fiber is a new service from Consolidated Communications. It is being offered for the first time in Pennsylvania in the areas of Gibsonia, Cranberry, Mars, Saxonburg,...
Taqueria El Pastorcito opening with authentic Mexican food in New Kensington
A mariachi band will perform Sunday in downtown New Kensington as part of the opening of the city’s newest restaurant. Taqueria El Pastorcito will be open from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday, with the band playing for a couple of hours in the mid-afternoon, owner and chef Jose Tecuanhuehue said....
Former Citizens Bank building in downtown New Kensington sold at auction
The largest office building in downtown New Kensington was successfully sold through an online auction. The winning bidder for the building at 901 Fifth Ave., which until November housed a Citizens Bank branch, is from California, said James Kelly, a managing member of KeWe New Kensington, which has owned the...
West Penn crew replacing pole hits Peoples natural gas line in New Kensington
A West Penn Power crew drilling to place a new utility pole struck a natural gas line along Tarentum Bridge Road on Monday, causing a leak. Westmoreland County 911 said the incident was reported shortly after 8 a.m. It happened at the entrance to Riverview Plaza in front of Donut...
‘Fridays on Fifth’ returns this week in downtown New Kensington
The food truck event that brought throngs of people to downtown New Kensington last year is coming back. “Fridays on Fifth” will make its return this Friday to — you guessed it — Fifth Avenue. It will run from 5 to 9 p.m. between Ninth and 11th streets. This will...
West Mifflin man dies after car goes off side of bridge in Duquesne
A man died Sunday morning after his SUV went off the side of a bridge in Duquesne. According to Allegheny County Police, the crash at the Thompson Run Bridge was reported shortly before 11 a.m. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the man as David Judy, of West Mifflin. He...
Pittsburgh police investigating shootout at South Side Flats clothing store
Four men are alleged to have been involved in a shootout Sunday afternoon at a business in Pittsburgh’s South Side Flats neighborhood. Police said officers received an alert just before 3 p.m. of three rounds fired in the 2100 block of Wharton Street. Officers arrived to find that the windows...
Police searching for missing Murrysville girl left at friend’s house in Duquesne
Duquesne police are asking for help in finding a missing 15-year-old girl. Police said DeAsia Webb was last seen around 12:30 a.m. Thursday. Webb lives in Murrysville, but was dropped off at a friend’s house in Duquesne, police said. Webb’s mother believes she might be in the McKeesport area. Webb...
Penn Hills police searching for missing man
A Penn Hills man is missing and considered endangered, police said Sunday. Police are trying to find Larry Ellis, 56, of Penn Hills. According to police, Ellis left his home around 1 a.m. to meet a woman named Ebony. He was last seen leaving in a dark-colored vehicle with an...
Valley High School Drama Club bringing ‘Newsies’ back from covid shutdown
In 2020, the headline about “Newsies” was “Canceled.” The Valley High School Drama Club was two weeks from its first performance of the Disney musical when the covid pandemic shutdown started in March. “It was very crushing,” said Spencer Pastrick, 17, a junior from New Kensington who was a freshman...
Duquesne shooting victim expected to survive
An adult is expected to survive after being shot in Duquesne on Saturday afternoon, Allegheny County Police said. A report of shots fired in the 200 block of Harden Avenue was made to 911 around 3:40 p.m. According to county police, first responders found the victim, described only as an...
Man, teen accused of shooting ‘water beads’ at people in Washington County
An 18-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy will face charges after state police said they fired water-filled beads at people in Washington County on Friday night. State police said the 18-year-old, of Claysville, was driving the car in which the 15-year-old, of Washington, was a back seat passenger. Their names...
Longtime Pittsburgh television reporter Stu Emry dies
A story by Myron Cope about a Brentwood bar where Steelers players and reporters hung out stirred Stu Emry’s imagination. Emry was a corn syrup salesman living in Chicago, dreaming of working in radio or television. When he was transferred to Pittsburgh in 1965 to service his biggest client, Heinz,...
Armstrong Tunnels closing for utility work
The Armstrong Tunnels in Pittsburgh will be closed overnight Monday into Tuesday morning, Allegheny County Public Works announced. The closure is scheduled to run from 8 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday. The tunnels are being closed so that T2 Utility Engineers of Cranberry can do utility investigation work, according...
Northern Regional Police department promotes first woman to rank of sergeant
It was on one of their first calls together when Northern Regional Police Chief John Sicilia knew he had a keeper in Jennifer Abbondanza. Sicilia was a sergeant at the time, and Abbondanza was new on the job, the last officer he trained before becoming captain. They were looking for...
New Kensington-Arnold teachers accept new contract
New Kensington-Arnold School District’s teachers ratified a new contract Wednesday, a representative of the Pennsylvania State Education Association said. The teachers union and the school district reached a tentative five-year agreement Friday night, averting a strike that the teachers had announced would begin Monday. According to a joint statement from...
Arnold Council approves plan for Freeport Road gas station, convenience store
Arnold Council has approved plans for a gas station and convenience store on Freeport Road. Following a public hearing Tuesday, council voted unanimously in favor of a conditional use that Mike Thakkar, owner of Yashvi Oil, needs to turn the former auto repair shop at 1610 Freeport Road into a...
Army Reserve engineers gather in New Kensington for deployment to Middle East
An Army Reserve company that specializes in building things left New Kensington on Monday for a deployment based in Kuwait. Police and firefighters from across the Alle-Kiski Valley helped with their sendoff as the roughly 150 members of the 340th Engineer Company left on tour buses from the New Kensington...
Analyst: Average gas price likely to fall under $4 nationally this week, Pa. may take longer
The national average price for a gallon of gasoline is likely to fall under $4 this week, an industry analyst said Monday. “Gas prices have continued to move in the right direction — down — saving Americans approximately $100 million every day compared to when prices peaked about a month...
New Kensington natives return to hometown, make former church their home
After the last two of their combined six children graduated from college, Melissa Palumbo imagined she and her husband, Jim, would downsize their home. He found her a castle instead. “We walked through with a Realtor,” Melissa said. “I said, ‘Nope.’ ” But when the price came down on the...
Personal tragedy leads to new life, career for Animal Protectors’ shelter manager Mike Post
Coping with the grief that followed the death of his father took Mike Post’s life straight to the dogs. Post, 42, of Lower Burrell is the shelter manager at Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley in New Kensington. It’s not where he thought life would lead him after graduating from Burrell...
