Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 69
‘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...
New Kensington Council awards 1st contract for new downtown playground
New Kensington Council has awarded the first of three contracts that will see a parking lot transformed into a new downtown playground. Council approved paying Derry Construction $32,175 to resurface the parking lot behind Peoples Library, along Barnes Street at Eighth Street. The city is paying for the development with...
New Kensington-Arnold School District has sway over its cities joining county blight-fight program
New Kensington and Arnold both are interested in joining a Westmoreland County blight-fighting program, but the school district the cities share will have the deciding vote. New Kensington Council has unanimously approved joining the Westmoreland County Land Bank, which is an extension of the county Redevelopment Authority that buys tax-delinquent...
Aldi confirms relocation of Lower Burrell store to New Kensington
Aldi confirmed Friday that the discount grocer will close its Lower Burrell store in favor of a new building nearby in New Kensington. New Kensington earlier this year approved plans for a grocery store identified as Aldi and a ModWash car wash to be built in Riverview Plaza along Tarentum...
Tentative contract agreement averts teachers strike at New Kensington-Arnold
Teachers in the New Kensington-Arnold School District will get an average 3.5% pay increase in each year of a proposed five-year contract, according to a joint statement issued Sunday by the school district and its teachers union. The district and the New Kensington-Arnold Education Association reached a tentative agreement on...
Kiski Township police seek help identifying man who fled after nearly hitting police car
Kiski Township police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man involved in a chase Friday. According to police, the unidentified man was driving an older, white Mitsubishi Outlander when he nearly hit a marked Kiski Township police vehicle at an intersection on Garvers Ferry Road. The incident...
New Kensington-Arnold, teachers union bracing for strike; no talks scheduled
No further talks are scheduled between negotiators for the New Kensington-Arnold School District and its teachers union ahead of a strike the union says will begin Monday, union and district representatives said Friday. However, the district has not yet canceled classes for Monday. “We want to provide ample time for...
Students can learn about careers in STEM through free New Kensington summer program
Space is limited but still available in a new program that will be held in New Kensington this summer for high school students interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Applications for “BELONG in STEM” are being accepted through April 10. It is being offered free with support...
New Kensington-Arnold teachers set to strike beginning Monday
Teachers in the New Kensington-Arnold School District will walk off the job Monday if they and the district can’t agree on a new contract by then. The New Kensington-Arnold Education Association sent a formal strike notice to district Superintendent Chris Sefcheck after talks Wednesday night failed to produce a settlement,...
