Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 100
Highlands senior recognized for work on car donated to Army veteran
A Highlands High School student who helped repair a car for a veteran is the second recipient of an award students created to recognize their peers. Ian Norris, 17, a senior from Fawn who attends Forbes Road Career & Technology Center in Monroeville, received the “Student Spotlight” award for December,...
Peoples natural gas customers getting bill credit after utility’s $4.3B acquisition
Most residential customers of Peoples Gas in Pennsylvania saw a discount on their recent bills as a result of the natural gas company being acquired in a $4.3 billion deal earlier this year. Essential Utilities announced in mid-March that it had completed its acquisition of Peoples. That followed the state...
Pandemic prompts closing of Tarentum’s Praha, possibly for good, as other restaurants hang on
Uncertainty brought on by the covid-19 pandemic is prompting owners of the Praha restaurant and bar in Tarentum to close, possibly for good. Unless businesses are shut down sooner, owner Ken Gulick said the Praha will close at the end of business on Dec. 23. He expects the closure to...
Tarentum police say man attacked woman, 2 children after coming home from bar
Tarentum police say a borough man attacked a woman and hit two young boys after coming home from a bar late Monday night. Borough police charged Stacy Andrew Smith, 29, with simple assault, endangering the welfare of children, resisting arrest and harassment. In a criminal complaint against Smith, police say...
Highlands School Board approves resuming winter sports
Highlands School Board reversed course Monday and voted unanimously to immediately resume winter sports. The decision came after a roughly two-hour discussion in which parents and students asked the board to reconsider allowing winter sports — basketball, wrestling and swimming — to take place, and board members debated whether it...
Week-in-review: Snow, Steelers stay undefeated among week’s top headlinesVideo
Snow on Dec. 1 isn’t a strange thing in Pittsburgh, but a Steelers game kicking off on a Wednesday afternoon is. A snowfall that topped meteorologists’ expectations and the Steelers keeping their undefeated season going with a win over the Ravens in a game rescheduled three times were among the...
Tarentum proposes several large projects, no tax increase in 2021 budget
Tarentum has identified nearly $500,000 worth of large projects in its 2021 preliminary budget, but the budget does not include a property tax increase. The proposed $8.8 million spending plan is up by about $468,000, or 5.6%, from the $8.3 million budget for this year. The property tax rate would...
3 hospitalized, 45 displaced after fire at Greene County apartment building
Three people were taken to hospitals and 45 were displaced after a fire early Friday at an apartment building in Greene County. The fire at Parkview Knoll Apartments, off of Ceylon Road in Cumberland Township south of Carmichaels, was reported around 2:30 a.m. It was brought under control around 4...
Authorities vow to continue searching for missing Jefferson Hills teen
Authorities are continuing to search for a missing 15-year-old Jefferson Hills boy, according to the Elizabeth Borough Police Department. Elizabeth Borough police and firefighters, Jefferson Hills police and other assisting police, fire and ambulance agencies “will not stop looking for Jeno Moretti,” Elizabeth Borough police said on their Facebook page...
Valley Points YMCA closes Allegheny Valley branch after positive covid case
Valley Points Family YMCA announced that its Allegheny Valley branch in Harrison will be closed through Sunday because of a covid-19 case. The organization made the announcement on its Facebook page late Thursday night. In the post, the YMCA said it was notified Thursday evening of a positive covid-19 case,...
ATI to invest up to $85M in Vandergrift facility, phase out production of standard stainless steel
ATI said Wednesday it will phase out production of standard stainless steel sheet products and end finishing operations at its Brackenridge plant in Harrison as it shifts its focus to specialty rolled products. While finishing operations will end at the massive Brackenridge works, the $1.1 billion Hot Rolling & Processing...
New Kensington shot-and-a-beer bar transformed into foodie havenVideo
Three self-described foodies have created a new dining and drinking experience in New Kensington. Friends and business partners Dante Cicconi, Corey Pistininzi and Sean Watson have opened botL, which Watson describes as “a restaurant with a bar.” The menu features 19 wines and 14 beers. Pistininzi makes a signature Old-Fashioned...
Day-long snow total tops forecast, falls shy of record
The Pittsburgh area got a bit more snow than had been expected on Tuesday, but no records were broken, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly 7 inches, 6.8 to be precise, was measured at the National Weather Service office in Moon, where the official reading is taken, meteorologist Mike...
Tarentum Night Market organizers cancel December event, citing covid stay-home advisory
Organizers of the Tarentum Night Market have canceled the scheduled December event, citing Allegheny County’s advisory for residents to stay home unless going out for essential reasons because of the covid-19 pandemic. Allegheny County Health Department Director Debra Bogen issued the advisory Nov. 18. The last Night Market, for which...
Josefoski announces resignation from Tarentum Council
Tarentum Councilwoman Erika Josefoski has announced her resignation. Josefoski, 36, is one of two council members representing the borough’s 1st Ward; the other is Lou Ann Homa. The seven-member council has two members from each of three wards plus one at-large member. Josefoski said she has verbally informed the borough...
Snow falling with 3 to 4 inches expected in Pittsburgh area
Snow fell as expected in the Pittsburgh area Tuesday morning, but it did not have much impact on the morning rush hour. “Because the ground temperature is slightly warmer than the air, it doesn’t look like it’s accumulating on the roads,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Shannon Hefferan. “We still...
Retired Alcoa smelter, long displayed at Station Square, moves to New KensingtonVideo
A retired Alcoa aluminum smelting pot that had been displayed at Station Square in Pittsburgh for about 30 years is now part of downtown New Kensington. The smelter, which originated from an Alcoa plant outside of Massena, N.Y., was placed Monday in the beer garden outside Voodoo Brewery on Fifth...
West View Water restoring service after break on Perrymont in McCandless
About 15 homes were without water Monday morning after a line break overnight on Perrymont Road in McCandless, according to the West View Water Authority. What caused the 6-inch line to break was not known, said Chris Meister, assistant distribution superintendent. Crews were working on the line. Unless they run...
New Kensington-Arnold to continue remote instruction into mid-January
New Kensington-Arnold School District will keep its schools closed with its students learning remotely through almost mid-January. The district announced it will continue remote instruction through Jan. 13. Acting Superintendent Jon Banko said students will return to schools on Jan. 14, as long as there is no significant increase in...
Winter weather advisory issued for Pittsburgh region, 2 to 4 inches of snow expected
Between 2 and 4 inches of snow is expected to fall in the Pittsburgh area Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. A winter weather advisory for the region, including areas of eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia, runs from 1 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday. A...
Brackenridge, Harrison, Tarentum to hold public hearings on development plan
Three Alle-Kiski Valley communities that have drafted a plan to guide their collective future have scheduled public hearings for residents to comment on it. Tarentum, Brackenridge and Harrison, in that order, will hold hearings on their proposed joint comprehensive plan in December. The plan, in development for more than a...
Toy drive benefiting New Kensington Salvation Army becomes drive-thru eventVideo
A long-running toy drive benefiting the New Kensington Salvation Army will be done a bit differently this year. Choosing to postpone it because of the covid-19 pandemic wasn’t even considered, said Dr. Lawrence York, a New Kensington chiropractor who has hosted the toy drive since 1999. “We knew — one...
New Kensington man, a convicted felon, accused of possessing shotgun, drugs
New Kensington police said they found guns, ammunition and drugs in a man’s home Monday after responding to a fight allegedly brought about by his girlfriend trying to catch him with another woman. Police said Albert Earl Taylor, 49, is a felon who is not legally permitted to possess firearms....
Highlands moving all students to remote learning
Highlands School District will move all students to full remote instruction beginning Dec. 1 and continuing through Jan. 15, the district announced Monday. All extracurricular activities and sports will be suspended during that time. The announcement comes a week after the district closed its middle school through the Thanksgiving break...
Man accused of robbing New Kensington store, then asking for a job
A 20-year-old man is accused of demanding employees at a New Kensington Family Dollar store fill a bag with money, or give him a job, according to police. Police charged Marcus Tyquan Walker of New Kensington with two felony counts of robbery. He was arraigned before District Judge Frank Pallone...
