Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 23
Plum School District awarded $300K from state DEP toward electric school buses
The Plum School District got a little more help in its quest to transition part of its fleet from traditional to electric school buses. The state Department of Environmental Protection announced the district was awarded $300,000 to buy three electric school buses. The money is part of more than $2.55...
New Kensington’s Feisty Goblin gaming store taking in Retrograde video game shop
A New Kensington gaming store is getting plugged in — at least a little bit. When table-top gaming shop The Feisty Goblin opens in its new and larger storefront in January, it will include Retrograde Gaming and Collectibles, a video game and collectibles store previously in Monroeville. Retrograde will add...
Vehicle crash, wind cause power problems in Plum
Two separate power outages affected schools and residents in Plum on Thursday morning. A “wind-related” outage caused equipment issues that impacted Plum Middle and Holiday Park Intermediate schools, Duquesne Light spokesperson Alyssa Battaglia said. The schools share a campus off Presque Isle Drive in the borough’s Holiday Park neighborhood. The...
Boyce Park slopes set to open for skiing, snowboarding
The slopes at Boyce Park will open Friday for the 2024-25 season, Allegheny County announced Thursday. The slopes, a 20-minute drive from Downtown Pittsburgh, will be open for skiing and snowboarding. The opening of the snow tubing area has been delayed. The lodge is located at 901 Centerview Drive in...
2025 ‘critical’ for Arnold’s finances as council approves budget with no tax increase
After a shaky start to the year, Arnold’s city manager is hopeful for a better financial picture in 2025. “Next year is going to be critical to see where we are financially,” Manager Mario Bellavia said. “It was precarious early in the year. We can make next year a really...
Plum School District aims for $1.2M lifetime goal with annual Make-A-Wish telethon
More than 80 guests, including local celebrities, news media, professional athletes and district administrators, will be featured in the Plum School District’s annual telethon benefiting Make-A-Wish. The nine-hour telethon will run from 6:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 20. It will be livestreamed on the district’s website, pbsd.net. The...
New Kensington Bridge reopens to trucks, pedestrians as work nears end
Trucks and pedestrians are again able to cross the New Kensington Bridge. A detour that was in place for trucks was removed Friday, and the sidewalk on the bridge spanning the Allegheny River between East Deer and New Kensington is open, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said. But that doesn’t mean...
Plum mulls paying stipend to volunteer firefighters to boost daylight staffing
Plum firefighters could get paid for some of their time under a proposal being considered by the borough. Council is discussing a plan from the borough’s four fire chiefs to begin paying volunteer firefighters a stipend to boost daytime staffing. As proposed, the daylight coverage program would see four firefighters...
New Kensington police accuse Pittsburgh man of sexually assaulting 14-year-old girl
New Kensington police have charged a man from Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Jeffrey Shaquille Shipman, 30, was charged Wednesday with felony counts of statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and corruption of minors. He had not been arraigned on the charges...
Plum ministry proposes 2nd church on property
A Plum ministry says it’s running out space and wants to build a second church on its property. In an application to the borough, Jubilee International Ministry says it has outgrown its 125-seat, 4,220-square-foot church on Center-New Texas Road, across from O’Block Elementary School. It’s proposing an additional 6,100-square-foot, single-story...
Plum homeowner accused of trying to blow up his house with natural gas
A Plum man’s apparent change of heart might have saved the borough from another house explosion, according to court documents. Neil Andrew Yetsko, 39, is charged with risking a catastrophe by creating a natural gas leak in his home then leaving town with two candles burning inside the home, police...
Condition of New Kensington-Arnold schools feeds need for comprehensive plan
The New Kensington-Arnold School District has potentially millions of dollars’ worth of maintenance and repairs needed at its buildings but no plan, yet, on how to get the work done. Officials want to devise a five-year plan for buildings and grounds. It could include projects ranging from remodeling a loading...
Arnold man impaired by alcohol, marijuana in crash that seriously hurt 2 in New Kensington, police say
An Arnold man had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and tested positive for marijuana after a crash in New Kensington in which two people in another vehicle were seriously hurt, according to New Kensington police. Police charged Brett Matthew Hedeen, 32, on Thursday with felony aggravated...
Plum School District expects to keep property tax increase within state inflation limit
Plum School District will be able to balance its 2025-26 budget without raising property taxes beyond its state-imposed limit of 5.3%, according to the district’s business manager. School districts across Pennsylvania are required by Jan. 30 to declare that they won’t raise taxes beyond their state limit or else make...
Plum School Board slated to move O’Block building project, electric bus purchase forward
The Plum School Board is expected to advance two multimillion-dollar projects this month. The board will vote to approve the next phase of design work for an addition and renovations at O’Block Elementary School and a purchase order agreement for 25 electric buses during its Dec. 17 meeting. The district...
Plum residents to get new annual or quarterly bills for garbage, stormwater fees
Plum residents will pay two fees in a new way in 2025. Starting next year, current and delinquent charges for garbage collection and the borough’s flood prevention or stormwater fee will be billed by Keystone Collections, replacing the Plum Borough Municipal Authority. Keystone also collects the borough’s earned income tax....
Overflowing dumpsters at New Kensington’s Valley Royal Court expected to be emptied
Garbage that’s overflowing from dumpsters at Valley Royal Court in New Kensington will be removed, according to the city, the hauler for the property and the property manager. On Monday, garbage filled and was piled around the apartment complex’s three dumpsters. Two are near Mt. Calvary Baptist Church on Fourth...
Plum adding dog walk, changing 5 other events for 2025
Plum is adding a new event and changing others for 2025. Borough Council recently approved the “BoroHaps” schedule for next year. It consists of 11 events from April through December. A new 1-mile dog walking activity, “Walking and Wagging,” will be held once, on May 17. Participants will register their...
While Black Friday is ‘more of a season’ than a single day, people still shop for deals, tradition
Andrew Presutti has memories from when he was his son’s age of shopping on Black Friday, and this year was making new ones with his 5-year-old, Ryder. The father and son from Buffalo Township were found Friday morning at Macy’s at the Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer, where Ryder was getting...
$11.4M New Kensington budget doesn’t raise taxes
Property taxes would not change under New Kensington’s proposed $11.4 million budget for 2025. Council approved the spending plan on a 3-0 vote, with members Dante Cicconi and Corey Pistininzi absent. The property tax rate would remain at 32.03 mills. Under the budget, the city would spend about 5.7% more...
3 hurt in crash on Route 356 in Allegheny Township that shut down the road for a time
Three people were injured in a crash Friday that closed a section of Route 356 in the Piper Road area of Allegheny Township for about an hour Friday afternoon, a Westmoreland County 911 supervisor said. One person was trapped in their vehicle, the dispatcher said. Three people, two from one...
Gunshot wound victim walks into hospital after report of 31 shots fired in West Oakland
A man with a gunshot wound walked into a Pittsburgh hospital Thursday afternoon after police had received reports of nearly three dozen gunshots being fired in the West Oakland area. Officers went to the area of Ellers Street between Whitridge Street and Passage Way just before 3 p.m. after getting...
Letters to Santa getting spruced up mailbox in Arnold; holiday event planned
What started out as a misunderstanding could turn into Arnold’s newest Christmas event. The free event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Rankin Street near H.D. Berkey Elementary School. Lebert, 45, of Fawn placed a decorative “Santa Mail” mailbox outside the home of his mother, Pam Moses,...
30 downtown New Kensington businesses participating in 4th annual Shop Small Crawl
New Kensington’s take on Small Business Saturday, the Shop Small Crawl, features businesses that are brand new and others that are long-standing. The 30 downtown businesses participating in the fourth annual event range from Eazer’s Restaurant, founded in 1918, to Evanly Bakes, opening for its first day. Hailey Sabot and...
Roundup: Rainy Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh region; slide work to close Penn Hills road
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024: Rain for Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh, snow up north A weather system coming in Wednesday night will bring rain to the immediate Pittsburgh region, but close to 20 inches of snow closer to Lake Erie. A...
