Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 97
New Kensington man reported missing at Slippery Rock University
A New Kensington man has been reported missing in Butler County. Gregory Jones, 21, is a junior computing major at Slippery Rock University, university spokesman Robb King said. Jones was last seen on campus Oct. 25. He was driving a dark purple 2004 Lexus; King did not know the exact...
Paper ballots, scanners surprise some voters in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties
Mario Taliani of Arnold was surprised when he went to vote Tuesday — not by anything on the ballot, but by the ballot itself. Taliani went into his polling location at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School expecting to vote on an electronic machine. He didn’t know they had been replaced...
Cindy’s Soft Serve makes leap to year-round, full restaurant in TarentumVideo
After three years in a small walk-up location on First Avenue, Cindy’s Soft Serve, Custard & More has a new home and a new name in Tarentum. Cindy and Bob Hatajik of Harrison moved the ice cream stand they opened in 2018 — now called Cindy’s Soft Serve & Hometown...
New Kensington-Arnold elementary student tests positive for coronavirus
A Roy A. Hunt Elementary School student is quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, New Kensington-Arnold School District announced. Students in third through sixth grades attend the elementary school in Arnold. Superintendent Jon Banko would not say in which grade the infected student is enrolled. Banko did say the...
New Kensington native gives up life in U.S. to help Guatemalan orphansVideo
New Kensington native Stan Nelson was setting up a home in Guatemala to help orphaned young women in the Central American nation when he was told someone with the government wanted to talk with him. They wanted to know what he was doing. It was not a request, and he...
Trump, Biden campaigns zero in on Pennsylvania in final days before election
President Donald Trump, Democratic candidate Joe Biden and their campaigns are expected to make appearances across Pennsylvania, including in the Pittsburgh area, in the final days before the Nov. 3 election. With 20 Electoral College votes, Pennsylvania is a key battleground in the presidential race. Trump and Vice President Mike...
Trump to make campaign stop at Butler County airport on Saturday
President Donald Trump will make three stops in Pennsylvania on Saturday, including an appearance at a rally in Butler County in the final weekend before the Nov. 3 election. Trump’s campaign announced that he will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. in Bucks County, followed by rallies at 4 p.m. at...
Virtual groundbreaking held for ‘Digital Foundry’ to be built in New Kensington
Leaders from New Kensington, Westmoreland County and Penn State participated in a virtual groundbreaking Wednesday for an innovation and manufacturing lab that will support education and manufacturing in downtown New Kensington. Called “The Digital Foundry at New Kensington,” it will be built over the next year at the site of...
Gilpin police apprehend Texas man accused of assaulting child
A Texas man accused of various crimes against a child has been apprehended, Gilpin police said Thursday night. Gilpin police were looking for Michael Henry Brucker, 31, of Montgomery, Texas. He is accused of sexually assaulting a child younger than 13. Charges against Brucker include aggravated indecent assault of a...
California-Kirkbride house condemned after vehicle crashes into it
A 24-year-old man was in stable condition after crashing his car into a house in Pittsburgh’s California-Kirkbride neighborhood Wednesday, according to police. The crash happened near Brighton Road and Brighton Place shortly before 5 p.m. Police said the driver crashed into a home where Brighton Place branches off Brighton Road,...
Daylong rain, boosted by Zeta, not expected to pose flooding threat in Pittsburgh area
Flooding is not expected to be a threat from rain that will soak the Pittsburgh area Thursday, influenced by the remnants of Hurricane Zeta, Jason Frazier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said Wednesday. Zeta is expected to make landfall in the mid-to-late afternoon. Its moisture will...
New Kensington-Arnold going to all remote instruction for 1 week
New Kensington-Arnold School District will change from in-person to remote instruction for all students the week of Nov. 2, the school board decided Tuesday. The state Department of Education has recommended that Westmoreland County districts move to fully remote instruction to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. On Tuesday, the county...
Police: 12-year-old Allentown girl found safe
A girl reported missing Monday afternoon from Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood was found safe Tuesday, police said. Jaliyah Massey was reported missing from the Allentown neighborhood Monday afternoon, police said Tuesday....
Police: Intoxicated Tarentum man attacks wedding party, threatens officers
A Tarentum man was arrested Saturday after police said he shouted obscenities at a wedding party as he drove past them and then got out of his vehicle and went after them. Borough police charged Brian S. Henning Jr., 32, with resisting arrest, driving under the influence, disorderly conduct and...
New Kensington fire department hosting open houses at all 5 companiesVideo
All five New Kensington fire companies will host open houses Tuesday in observance of October as Fire Prevention Month. Residents are invited to tour the stations with their children, Assistant Chief Matt Sobecki with Company No. 1 said. Open houses will run from 6-8 p.m. Station locations are Company No....
Salvation Army faces more need, fundraising challenges as Red Kettle season nears
The covid-19 pandemic is presenting a challenge to the Salvation Army and its iconic Red Kettle campaign. “We’re kind of up against needing to raise more money but it’s also harder to raise money with everything that’s going on,” said Lt. Alex Senak with the Allegheny Valley Salvation Army in...
Alcoa aluminum smelter moving from Station Square to New Kensington’s Voodoo Brewery
A 39,000-pound piece of Alcoa history is coming to New Kensington. A retired aluminum smelting pot that has been displayed near the Gateway Clipper ramp at Station Square since 1990 will be placed in the beer garden outside Voodoo Brewery at Fifth Avenue and 10th Street. “We are in the...
Police: North Huntingdon cat hoarder said animals took over his house
Police said a North Huntingdon man told them he stopped staying at his township home because cats had overrun it. In September, authorities rescued 73 cats from the property on Leger Road and removed 11 that died. Since being surrendered to Frankie’s Friends in New Kensington, another 22 cats died...
Natural gas project to detour West Seventh Avenue traffic in Tarentum
A Peoples Gas project will affect traffic in Tarentum beginning Sunday night. The company will be working in the area of West Seventh Avenue and Mill Street. Work will be done between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. and is expected to last through Friday. Peoples Gas spokesman Barry Kukovich said...
Police: New Kensington man threatened woman with gun, ran from police
New Kensington police arrested a man after a Tuesday morning foot chase who allegedly threatened a woman with a gun. District Judge Frank Pallone Jr. ordered Malachi Supreme Hayes, 23, held without bail in the Westmoreland County Prison to ensure his appearance at a preliminary hearing and because he is...
Highland Tire to pay Highlands $19K to advertise at district sports facilities
Highland Tire will pay Highlands School District $19,000 to place advertising signs at district athletic facilities. The school board unanimously approved the five-year advertising agreement at its meeting Monday. Highland Tire is the first business to place advertising at the the district’s athletic facilities, business Manager Lori Byron said. The...
Police: Tarentum man strangled woman, set clothes on fire
A Tarentum man is accused of strangling a woman and setting a fire in their apartment late Monday. Borough police charged Othniel Lavelle Lineburg II, 34, with strangulation and causing or risking a catastrophe, both felony offenses, along with a misdemeanor count of simple assault and summary charges of harassment,...
More than 100 Highlands students returning to partial in-person instruction
More than 100 Highlands School District students who started the school year remotely because of the covid-19 pandemic will be returning to schools for the start of the second nine-week period, Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said. Nearly 40 students will be going the other way, opting for the district’s fully online...
Police: New Kensington man found with stolen gun he claimed to have taken from a child
Tarentum police said they recovered a gun reported stolen from Stowe after stopping a man they saw riding a dirt bike on a borough road late Sunday night. The man, Brydon Williams-Chambers, 19, of New Kensington allegedly told police he had taken the gun from a child in New Kensington...
Santa to visit Tarentum, Brackenridge, Harrison atop fire trucks in place of canceled events
Santa Claus is coming to town — well, technically, a township and two boroughs. Santa is set to ride through Tarentum, Brackenridge and Harrison atop fire trucks on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 3-5 p.m., with a rain date of the following Saturday, Dec. 12. It’s something new that officials in...
