Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 63
Chimney fire shuts down New Kensington coffee shop
No serious damage was caused by a chimney fire Tuesday at a coffee shop in downtown New Kensington. Firefighters responded to the call at Steel Cup Coffee Roasters on 10th Street about 11 a.m., fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr. said. Business owner Doug Pinto said he was roasting coffee when...
Brackenridge officer uses Taser to arrest assault suspect
A Brackenridge police officer used a Taser to subdue a man who tried running back into his house when the officer attempted to place him under arrest on assault charges Sunday, a criminal complaint states. Frederick Joseph Leeman Jr., 47, of Hazlett Avenue is charged with simple assault, resisting arrest...
Gas prices continue to fall on drop in demand, declining oil prices
The national average price of gasoline has fallen for 34 straight days, and — barring major hurricanes, outages or unexpected disruptions — could fall under $4 by mid-August, an industry analyst says. “We’ve seen the national average price of gasoline decline for a fifth straight week, with the pace of...
Pittsburgh police find teen girl who had been missing
Pittsburgh police have found a 13-year-old girl who was last seek Saturday at Point State Park. The teen was found safe, authorities reported Monday morning. They sought the public’s help Sunday to find her after she wandered off with a friend from the park....
4 counties under flood watch as storms approach Pittsburgh area
A flood watch is in effect for parts of the Pittsburgh area until Monday morning as excessive rainfall may cause flooding, the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said Sunday. The watch for Allegheny, Beaver, Greene and Washington counties began at 11 a.m. Sunday and was scheduled to last until 8...
State police charge woman with attempted homicide after man found shot in Aliquippa
State police charged an Aliquippa woman with attempted homicide after a man was found shot in the city early Saturday morning. According to state police, officers determined Katrina Mills, 40, shot the victim from interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance camera footage. Aliquippa officers responded to a report of a shot...
Church rebuilding, war on minds as Arnold parishioners observe Feast of St. Vladimir
Understanding suffering was part of the message the Rev. John (Ivan) Chirovsky brought Saturday to an audience in the social hall of St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Arnold. Chirovsky, director of spiritual formation at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh’s Perry North neighborhood, appeared...
Big trucks bring big smiles to children at 2nd annual Touch-A-Truck in Frazer
Finding it too cool for the pool on Saturday, Brielle Lander brought her 3-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter to the Frazer No. 2 fire department’s second annual Touch-A-Truck. While there were fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances, and big equipment such as a dump truck, tanker truck and tow truck,...
Arnold acquires 6 properties with plans to tear them down
With work to demolish 10 buildings underway, Arnold Council has set its sights on six more that city officials want to tear down. The city bought the six parcels from the Westmoreland County repository for $500 each. Repository properties are unsold pieces of land offered by the county. The parcels...
Arnold police officer accused of lying about hit-and-run damaging patrol car
An Arnold police officer is accused of lying about his patrol vehicle being damaged in a hit-and-run and staging a scene at a convenience store parking lot. The officer, Ryan Matthew Clark, 32, of Buffalo Township, is suspended without pay, Mayor Joe Bia said Wednesday. The Westmoreland County Detective Bureau...
Educator aiming for ‘Ivy League feel’ at new private school in Arnold
A new private, nonprofit middle school will have an “Ivy League” feel when it opens in Arnold in the fall of 2025, its backers say. Matt DeHart, a South Carolina teacher and founder of the Teach from DeHart Foundation, shared conceptual designs for Teach from DeHart Academy with Arnold Council...
New Kensington police seek help finding 17-year-old runaway
New Kensington police are asking for the public’s help in finding a missing teenager. Police said Patience Johnson, 17, is listed as a runaway. Police did not say when she was reported missing or how long she has been gone. Johnson has been listed as a runaway before, police said....
Penn Hills store sells jackpot-winning Cash 5 ticket
A jackpot-winning Pennsylvania Lottery Cash 5 ticket was sold in Penn Hills, the lottery announced Monday. The winning Cash 5 with Quick Cash ticket for Sunday’s drawing was sold at Stop N Shop on Frankstown Road. It matched all five balls drawn — 5, 8, 27, 35 and 42 —...
Pittsburgh gas prices falling but remain higher than state, national averages
Gasoline prices are continuing to fall across the state and nation but remain stubbornly higher in the Pittsburgh region, according to AAA and GasBuddy. AAA was reporting the national average at $4.68 per gallon Monday, down about 13 cents in one week and about 32 cents from a month ago....
Arnold sergeant who set standard for department retires after 38 years
Joe Nixon knew it was time to retire from his nearly four-decade career as a police officer in Arnold, but knowing didn’t make doing it any easier. “The night I left, I cried the whole way home,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t coming back.” Nixon, 60, of Lower Burrell...
Arnold Furniture founder Gene Miller remembered as ‘a great man’
Gene and Dorothy Miller decided to go into the furniture business after she was hurt in a car crash and unable to continue working as a nurse. Using money from their family vacation budget, they started Arnold Furniture in 1975 — now in its third generation of family ownership and...
7th suspect in New Kensington murder accused of supplying gun used in attack
A man from Pittsburgh’s Carrick neighborhood is accused of providing a gun used in the attack that ended in the death of a man in New Kensington on Sunday. Raquan Carpenter, 18, is the seventh suspect New Kensington and Westmoreland County authorities named in the killing of Jason Donald Raiford,...
New owner plans to revitalize Heights Plaza in Harrison
The new owner of Heights Plaza says it will revitalize the long-troubled Harrison shopping center and add several new tenants by the end of the year. Benbrooke Realty Investment Co., a New York-based real estate manager, announced Thursday that it recently finalized its ownership arrangements for the nearly 30-acre shopping...
3 of 6 teens charged in New Kensington shooting death in custody
Three of the six teenagers charged in connection with a fatal shooting Sunday in New Kensington are in custody, including the 14-year-old police say was the shooter. Braedon Matthew Dickinson, 14, of Herminie; Amir Kennedy, 14, of New Kensington; and Jonathan Eugene Felder, 17, of Arnold are in custody. According...
Fire dancers among entertainers, artists participating in first Sizzling Summer Night in New Kensington
Saturday night promises to be a hot time in New Kensington. Nearly 50 businesses and a baker’s dozen of entertainers — including fire dancers — are scheduled to participate in New Ken’s Sizzling Summer Night, a first-time event running from 4 to 8 p.m. on Fifth Avenue between Eighth and...
New Kensington man dies after Harrison crash
A New Kensington man died after a motor vehicle crash Monday in Harrison. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the man as Michael D. Booker, 33. Booker died shortly after 7:30 p.m. at an unidentified hospital. The crash, on River Road just past Mile Lock Lane, was reported about 6:45...
Pittsburgh-area gas prices remain high as state, national averages come down
Gas prices are coming down across the state and nation, but are hanging high in Southwestern Pennsylvania. According to AAA, the national average gas price Tuesday was $4.80, down 8 cents from a week ago. Pennsylvania’s average is about $4.88, down about 7 cents from a week ago. But average...
Upper Burrell center continues to serve as innovation hub for Alcoa successor Arconic Corp.
For decades, the Alcoa Technical Center was like a city within a township. Located in rural Upper Burrell, the sprawling research and development complex first developed in 1964 has its own ZIP code, wastewater treatment plant and fire and emergency medical response. About 1,200 people worked there at its peak...
Arconic preparing to sell 4 of 7 buildings at Upper Burrell technology center
Half of the buildings that make up what had long been the Alcoa Technical Center in Upper Burrell could become home to new businesses. Arconic Corp. is working with JLL, a commercial real estate firm, to place four of the seven buildings it owns at what is now the Arconic...
$30K grant to support Knead Community Cafe facade project in New Kensington
A facade project will improve access to a downtown New Kensington banquet hall while preserving a piece of the city’s history. Knead Community Cafe plans to begin work this summer on the Fifth Avenue facade of its adjacent banquet hall, Banquet on Barnes. Kevin Bode, who founded Knead with his...
