Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 45
Export man arrested in fatal Plum hit-and-run with motorcyclist
A 30-year-old man from Export was arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in June in Plum, Allegheny County police announced Thursday. County police charged Towner William Henretty II with a felony count of accidents involving death or personal injury and summary traffic offenses, including failing to stop and...
New Kensington-Arnold teacher advances to principal of H.D. Berkey Elementary
A New Kensington-Arnold elementary teacher has been advanced to principal. Brian Heidenreich is the new principal of H.D. Berkey Elementary, the district’s first and second grade school in Arnold. He replaces Nicole Roberts, who retired. Heidenreich was hired at a prorated salary of $84,356. He was chosen from six candidates,...
New Kensington police charge woman with indecent exposure, drug counts
New Kensington police charged a woman with indecent exposure after, they say, she urinated in a parking lot after being pulled over and accused of driving too slowly. In addition to indecent exposure, police charged Joanne Lynn Stone, 56, of Moon Township on Friday with driving under the influence, drug...
Respite from gas price increases may be brief on Saudi production cut, hurricane season
The pace of gasoline price increases appears to have peaked over the weekend and is beginning to gently fall, an industry analyst said Monday. “Average gasoline prices continued to move up last week thanks to a continued rise in oil and continued pressure from hot weather that impacted refineries,” said...
New Kensington man, woman facing charges after police say they stabbed each other
A New Kensington man and woman are facing charges after police say they stabbed each other during a fight. New Kensington police and Westmoreland County detectives filed charges Thursday against Franz N. Wade, 61, and Tamara Lynn Ambrosi, 56. They each were charged with aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a...
Dog abandoned by owner who left on flight from Pittsburgh airport, police say
A person abandoned their dog at Pittsburgh International Airport early Friday after being told it had to be in a crate to fly, Allegheny County Police said. The dog’s owner, who has not been identified, is expected to be charged with animal abandonment, county police said. According to county police,...
New Kensington-Arnold approves hiring, personnel moves ahead of new school year
The New Kensington-Arnold School District hired several teachers and other personnel ahead of the start of the 2023-24 school year. Nicholas DeFrancesco was hired as a DECA teacher at Valley Junior-Senior High School, with a starting salary of $53,368. DECA, short for Distributive Education Clubs of America, prepares students for...
Plum homeowner said to be making progress on fixing home borough sought to demolish
A Plum resident has been making “good progress” toward repairing his home that borough officials previously declared dangerous and sought to tear down, according to the borough manager. Council is scheduled to hold a follow-up hearing on the property at 247 Francis Road at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the...
8-year-old girl ejected from SUV during Arnold police pursuit
An 8-year-old girl was ejected from the window of an SUV that Arnold police were chasing Saturday. The vehicle was driven by a woman who didn’t have a license because of a DUI suspension, police said. An officer arrested Amanda Nicole Shaw, 30, of Arnold at gunpoint after she drove...
Gas prices soar amid heat-related refinery outages, analyst says
The Pittsburgh area’s brief stint of hot weather may be over, but drivers are still feeling the heat at the gas pump. Gas prices in the region and across the nation have soared over the past week because of heat-related outages impacting some of the country’s largest refineries, said Patrick...
Building the Valley: Ash Taphouse fires up service at former Beermuda in New Kensington
Jenn Toney takes pizza seriously. The New Kensington businesswoman attended a three-day “boot camp” in Chicago to learn how to make dough for wood-fired pizzas. She went to Las Vegas for a class on her rectangular, thick-cut “grandma” style, similar to Sicilian. And she bought a large, Italian wood-fired oven...
Arnold hosting 130th annual Western Pennsylvania Firemen’s Association convention
Firefighters from across Western Pennsylvania will gather next week in Arnold for their annual convention. The Western Pennsylvania Firemen’s Association’s 130th annual convention is scheduled to run from Thursday night to Monday morning. Public events will include a golf outing Friday morning in Kiski Township; the Battle of the Barrel...
2 hurt in Harrison crash
Two people were hurt when a pickup and an SUV collided on Freeport Road in Harrison Friday. According to Harrison police, the crash happened around 11:20 a.m. at Freeport Road and Dallas Avenue. Police said a 57-year-old man was driving a red Toyota pickup on Dallas Avenue toward Freeport Road....
4th Plum road to close for slide repair
Another road in Plum is closing for slide repair. PennDOT announced Thursday that Milltown Road between Shearer and Barnes roads will close at 7 a.m. Monday and remain closed through late September. Crews from A. Liberoni will be fixing three separate slides within the roughly mile stretch of Milltown, said...
Plum man held for trial on charges of threatening 3 with gun at Republican committee meeting
A Plum man who ran for Allegheny County Council in 2021 was held for trial Wednesday on charges stemming from allegedly threatening three men with a gun outside a Plum Borough Republican Committee meeting in April. The preliminary hearing for Eric Casteel, 62, had been continued four times from May...
Police stop driver at gunpoint after hit-and-run in New Kensington
An Arnold man was arrested at gunpoint Sunday after police said he hit a parked vehicle and led them on a brief pursuit while driving a pickup with one tire completely blown off. New Kensington police charged Raymond G. Slater, 25, of the 1600 block of Woodmont Street with fleeing...
Pittsburgh man jailed after New Kensington police say he attacked woman in vehicle
A man from Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood was sent to the Westmoreland County jail on Monday after he was arraigned on charges stemming from an alleged assault of a New Kensington woman at her home and in her vehicle. New Kensington police on Sunday charged Joshua Adam Shaw, 32, with simple...
Jump in oil prices driving gas price hike in Pittsburgh area, analyst says
The average gasoline price in the Pittsburgh area increased more than 9 cents per gallon in the past week, according to price-tracking service GasBuddy. The average on Monday stood at $3.71 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations in the area. That’s 9.2 cents more than last week...
Recently elected state Rep. Jill Cooper to hold community fair in New Kensington
Recently elected state Rep. Jill Cooper will hold her first community fair in New Kensington. Cooper, a Republican from Murrysville, won election in November to represent the new 55th District, which spans 15 communities across about 180 square miles of northern Westmoreland County. The fair, scheduled from 10 a.m. to...
Parts of Route 356, La Belle Vue Road scheduled to close in Allegheny Township
Parts of Route 356 and La Belle Vue Road in Allegheny Township are scheduled to close beginning Monday, PennDOT announced Wednesday. Route 356, from Park Road to Melwood/Hyde Park Road, and La Belle Vue Road from Ashland Way to Route 356 are expected to be closed through the end of...
Plum graduate Rick Walsh named district superintendent
Rick Walsh is the new superintendent of the Plum School District. Walsh, previously assistant and deputy superintendent and briefly interim superintendent, replaces Brendan Hyland, who resigned effective June 30 to become superintendent of the North Allegheny School District. At its meeting Tuesday, the Plum School Board unanimously approved a five-year...
PennDOT announces detours, shuttle service for 6-week closure of New Kensington Bridge
A six-week closure of the New Kensington Bridge will start Monday, PennDOT confirmed Tuesday. The bridge spanning the Allegheny River between East Deer and New Kensington is scheduled to close to all traffic around 9 a.m. Monday and remain closed through Sept. 4. The nearly century-old bridge is being closed...
2nd annual Sizzling Summer Night set for downtown New Kensington
The sizzle is coming back to New Kensington. First held last year, the Sizzling Summer Night will become an annual event when it returns Saturday. The free community event is sponsored by Shop Small, Shop New Ken and overseen by Jamie Parker of Sweet Alchemy Bake Shop and Michelle Thom...
Proposal for 3rd Dollar General in Plum sees store downsized
A proposal to build a third Dollar General has returned in Plum, with a smaller building and more parking spaces. The store still would be built on about 2 acres subdivided from a 9-acre parcel along Saltsburg Road at Clements Road, according to revised plans submitted to the borough for...
Mark Cuban rules out running for president in 2024
And for those reasons, he’s out. Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban, who’s fond of using that line when he declines to invest in a pitch on “Shark Tank,” has decided he will not mount a third-party campaign for president in 2024. “No. My family would disown me,” Cuban wrote in...
