Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 80
Baby African elephant in ‘guarded condition’ with serious medical issues, Pittsburgh Zoo says
An African elephant born in July at the Pittsburgh Zoo’s International Conservation Center in Somerset County is in “guarded condition,” the zoo announced Wednesday. The female elephant, born July 18, has developed several serious medical conditions, including not gaining enough weight, the zoo said in a statement. Overall, the ailments...
Hearing for demoted Highlands principal called off as sides try to settle
A hearing for a Highlands School District principal challenging her demotion to classroom teacher did not continue Wednesday as planned. After a nearly an hour delay, hearing officer Paul Giuffre said the public proceeding for Samantha Perlik was suspended because the sides would be working toward a possible resolution. They...
Fourth Pittsburgh police ‘blitz’ on abandoned vehicles results in 12 tows
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police completed its fourth “blitz” to remove abandoned vehicles from city streets in the Brookline, Beechview, Elliot and Sheraden neighborhoods, the department announced Wednesday. Motorcycle units and abandoned vehicle officers addressed 43 complaints on Tuesday. Of the 43 vehicles, a dozen were towed away while the...
Wounded man walks into hospital as Pittsburgh police investigate Larimer shooting
A man walked into a Pittsburgh hospital with a gunshot wound Wednesday, police said. According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, police and medics responded to a shooting around 1:40 p.m. at Auburn and Lowell streets in the city’s Larimer neighborhood. Officers found evidence a shooting had happened, but no victims. Police...
Arnold set to award $540K in contracts to resurface 4 streets
Grant money is helping Arnold resurface four streets this year at a combined cost of more than $540,000. The city has told two contractors it plans to award them contracts for the work, according to engineer Mark Gera of Gibson-Thomas Engineering. “We’ll be paving in a couple weeks,” he said....
Dump truck causes 4-vehicle, chain reaction crash on Tarentum Bridge, police say
No one was hurt in a four-vehicle, chain-reaction crash on the New Kensington side of the Tarentum bridge Wednesday morning, said New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer. The crash was reported shortly after 7:30 a.m. Authorities remained at the scene until about 8:45 a.m. Deringer said the crash happened in...
ATI participating in tree planting to improve Federal Street in Natrona
More than a dozen trees are expected to be planted along Federal Street in Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood this fall, adjacent to an Allegheny Technologies Inc. lot. ATI is participating in the effort that will transform the barren stretch of road, along with the township’s Tree Committee and the Western Pennsylvania...
New Kensington-Arnold addressing fights after football game with Highlands
Discipline will be “administered and enforced swiftly and justly” after two separate fights involving New Kensington-Arnold students broke out after a football game Friday at Valley’s Memorial Stadium, the district announced Tuesday. One fight involved two girls, while another was between two cousins, Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said. Valley had played...
A call to arms: 9/11 served as a call to military service for many Western Pennsylvania residents
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Stepping up: 9/11 served as a call to military service for many Western Pennsylvania residentsVideo
When terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, shockwaves rippled through the nation and changed the course of history. For those who watched the World Trade Center towers fall 20 years ago and took it as a call to serve in the armed forces, it changed the course...
FirstEnergy locks online accounts, requires new passwords after hack attempt
West Penn Power parent FirstEnergy locked all of its customers online accounts Friday after a large scale attempt to break into them, a spokeswoman for the electric utility said Sunday. There was no evidence that any information was accessed, altered or taken from customer accounts, which number in the millions,...
After covid hiatus in 2020, Labor United returns to Northmoreland ParkVideo
The skies were gray and the ground was a bit muddy on Sunday, but the Labor United Celebration is back. After being canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, the two-day Labor Day festival got underway Sunday at Northmoreland Park in Allegheny Township. It concludes today. The festival features food,...
Police: Wrong-way crash in Fort Pitt Tunnel critically injures 1
A 36-year-old man was in critical condition after state police said his vehicle was hit head-on by another traveling the wrong way through the Fort Pitt tunnel. State police said Maraye Ann Alexander, 21, was driving a Toyota Camry when she entered eastbound I-376 from an unknown location and began...
State historical marker acknowledging Leechburg’s Siberian Iron Works unveiledVideo
A new state historical marker unveiled Saturday in Leechburg had been turned down the first time borough historian Larry Boehm asked for it. That was in 2013. He tried again in late 2020 and found out earlier this year that the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission had approved the marker...
3 injured in shooting in Homewood South
Three people were hurt in a shooting in Pittsburgh’s Homewood South neighborhood Saturday afternoon, Pittsburgh police said. According to police, officers responded to alerts for multiple rounds fired in the 7300 block of Hamilton Avenue and 500 block of Panke Avenue at 3:20 p.m. The victims, two men and a...
Motorcyclist killed in North Versailles crash identified
A 37-year-old man died in a collision between an SUV and a motorcycle Saturday in North Versailles, according to Allegheny County Police. The victim was identified as Ryan Kushner, of McKeesport, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The collision happened just before 1 p.m. at Clyde Avenue and...
Man surrenders to police after officers respond for shots fired in Bloomfield
A man in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood surrendered to police early Saturday morning after officers responded to a “shots fired” alert. Police said officers responded just before 3:30 a.m. to a report of multiple gunshots in the 4500 block of Torley Street. Officers found spent shell casings in the area and...
Grocery store, car wash proposed for former New Kensington Kmart site
A developer wants to build a grocery store and car wash on the former Kmart site in New Kensington in what would be a $1.8 million project, according to a paperwork submitted to the city. Demolition of the former Kmart store on Tarentum Bridge Road began recently. The store closed...
Slide repair closes stretch of Burtner Road in Harrison
A portion of Burtner Road in Harrison has closed so crews can repair a slide in the area, PennDOT said Wednesday. Burtner Road is expected to be closed to traffic around the clock between Buchanan Street and Karns Road through late October, PennDOT said. The work was planned and is...
New Kensington-Arnold students begin new school year
Most students in the New Kensington-Arnold School District returned to classes on Tuesday. The district’s kindergarten students at Martin Elementary are scheduled to start on Sept. 7. Screenings are being done by appointment only until Friday. The district had already decided on its own, before Gov. Tom Wolf’s announced mask...
Highlands superintendent testifies as hearing on principal’s demotion gets underway
A hearing on the demotion of a Highlands School District administrator got underway Monday night, with the administration publicly beginning to lay out its case for demoting former principal Samantha Perlik to kindergarten teacher. Perlik had asked for the hearing be held publicly instead of behind closed doors. The school...
Tarentum reviewing bids to tear down 3 buildings
Tarentum received bids from five contractors to tear down three vacant and abandoned residential properties in the borough. The buildings are a duplex at 243-245 W. Seventh Ave. and single-family homes at 339 W. 11th Ave. and 532 E. Third Ave. They had appeared on previous lists to be torn...
Crowds flock to New Kensington for monthly Fridays on Fifth
Throngs of people made their way to downtown New Kensington on Friday evening for the city’s second Fridays on Fifth event. Once devoid of cars and people, Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic and instead filled with people from curb-to-curb, from Ninth Street to 11th Street, and on 10th Street...
Police: West Deer woman hit man with car during argument in driveway
West Deer police say a township woman tried to drive away from a house in the township with a man on the hood of her SUV Thursday morning after hitting him with it. Police Chief Robert Loper said Pamela Wagner, 58, fled the scene of the incident in the 100...
Students return to classes in Highlands School District
The new school year started Thursday for students in the Highlands School District. While students are required to wear face masks on buses, the district has made them optional in schools. The school board stood by that decision at its most recent meeting Aug. 16. “I wish we were returning...
