Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 97
Highlands sees increase in property tax revenue despite pandemic
Highlands School District has collected about $1.1 million more in property taxes over the first four months of the fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago, despite projections that Pennsylvania districts would see such collections plummet because of the covid-19 pandemic. Highlands Business Manager Lori Byron said...
Police: Arnold man assaulted unborn child by punching pregnant woman in stomach
An Arnold man is accused of assaulting an unborn child this month. Arnold police said in a criminal complaint that Aaron Michael McFadden, 28, knew a woman was five months’ pregnant with his child when he punched her three times in the stomach Nov. 3. Police said McFadden went to...
2 men found shot in McKees Rocks
Two men were shot in McKees Rocks Sunday night, according to Allegheny County Police. The shooting near Island Avenue and Churchhill Street was reported to 911 at about 7:25 p.m., county police said. McKees Rocks police found the men with non life-threatening injuries near that location. Their ages were not...
Staff member at Hunt Elementary tests positive for covid-19
A staff member at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School in Arnold has tested positive for covid-19, New Kensington-Arnold acting Superintendent Jon Banko said Sunday. Four people who were in close contact with the unidentified employee are quarantined, Banko said. “Everyone that is considered a close contact of this staff member...
Covid-19 cases among students, staff prompt Highlands to close middle school
Highlands School District announced Sunday that its middle school will move to full remote learning beginning Monday and lasting through the Thanksgiving break because of cases of covid-19 among students and staff. The temporary closure and full remote learning plan affects the middle school only. All other buildings will operate...
Woman dies in Washington County motorcycle crash
A woman died in a motorcycle crash in Washington County Saturday afternoon, according to the Washington County Coroner. The coroner’s office said the crash happened around 2:30 p.m. on Old Steubenville Pike in Robinson Township. According to the coroner, Kristine Irvine, 48, was a passenger on a motorcycle traveling west...
Weather service issues wind advisory for Sunday; rain in forecast
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has issued a wind advisory for Sunday. The advisory will run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sustained winds of 25 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph, are expected. The advisory covers Allegheny County and all surrounding counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Strong winds...
North Hills School District announces full remote learning for 2 weeks
All students in the North Hills School District will learn remotely from Nov. 23 through Dec. 4, the district announced Friday. That effectively means students will work online for six days — Nov. 23 and 24 and Dec. 1 through Dec. 4 — because there is no school Nov. 25...
3 Pittsburgh police officers, 3 residents suffer smoke inhalation in Perry South home fire
Six people, including three police officers, suffered smoke inhalation in a fire in Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood Friday night, according to police. Police, firefighters and medics responded to the one-alarm fire in the 2000 block of Drum Street around 10:30 p.m. Police arrived first and saw smoke coming from the...
Allegheny County Elections Board accepts provisional ballots missing 1 signatureVideo
Hundreds of challenged provisional ballots will be accepted, the Allegheny County Board of Elections decided during a hearing Saturday. Most of the ballots, numbering an estimated 600, had been challenged because the voter had not signed in one of two boxes on the provisional ballot envelope, elections officials said. County...
Kiski Township police: Leechburg woman arrested after giving meth to officer during traffic stop
A Leechburg woman unintentionally gave a Kiski Township police officer a bag of methamphetamine during a traffic stop Friday night, township police said. It was one of two drug arrests police made that night. Kiski police said an officer stopped Bobbie Bernat, 42, for driving erratically about 11:40 p.m. on...
Tarentum eyeing more demolitions as work on 23 properties wraps up
Tarentum officials are eyeing another batch of dilapidated houses to tear down, after work on one group has been completed. All 23 houses under a $171,000 contract awarded about a year ago have been demolished, borough code enforcement Officer Anthony Bruni said. The work started in December 2019. Bruni said...
Presidential concession speech ‘critical’ to reconciliation, democracy
After hard fought games, win or lose, even if they feel the officials made bad calls, football coaches walk across fields, shake the other coach’s hand and say “good game.” Should it hold that President Trump loses his bid for reelection to Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Joe DiSarro, a professor...
Tarentum renews contract with Waste Management for 1 year
Tarentum residents won’t pay more for garbage collection next year, although the borough will. Council voted 5-0 Thursday to approve a one-year contract extension with its current hauler, Waste Management, for 2021. Council members Adam Blythe and Erika Josefoski were absent. Borough Manager Michael Nestico said the per-ton cost to...
Highlands High School students to return to building next week, superintendent says
Highlands School District plans to have students return to its high school for classes on Monday, Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said Thursday. The district closed the high school and canceled all after-school activities this week after a covid-19 case resulted in a significant number of required quarantines. Greensburg Salem Superintendent Gary...
New Kensington-Arnold students will return to schools next week, superintendent says
New Kensington-Arnold School District will resume in-person instruction for students on Monday, Acting Superintendent Jon Banko said Wednesday. The district moved all students to remote instruction for the week of Nov. 2 on the advice of state officials citing Westmoreland County as having a substantial rate of community coronavirus spread....
New Kensington man reported missing at Slippery Rock University
A New Kensington man has been reported missing in Butler County. Gregory Jones, 21, is a junior computing major at Slippery Rock University, university spokesman Robb King said. Jones was last seen on campus Oct. 25. He was driving a dark purple 2004 Lexus; King did not know the exact...
Paper ballots, scanners surprise some voters in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties
Mario Taliani of Arnold was surprised when he went to vote Tuesday — not by anything on the ballot, but by the ballot itself. Taliani went into his polling location at Roy A. Hunt Elementary School expecting to vote on an electronic machine. He didn’t know they had been replaced...
Cindy’s Soft Serve makes leap to year-round, full restaurant in TarentumVideo
After three years in a small walk-up location on First Avenue, Cindy’s Soft Serve, Custard & More has a new home and a new name in Tarentum. Cindy and Bob Hatajik of Harrison moved the ice cream stand they opened in 2018 — now called Cindy’s Soft Serve & Hometown...
New Kensington-Arnold elementary student tests positive for coronavirus
A Roy A. Hunt Elementary School student is quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, New Kensington-Arnold School District announced. Students in third through sixth grades attend the elementary school in Arnold. Superintendent Jon Banko would not say in which grade the infected student is enrolled. Banko did say the...
New Kensington native gives up life in U.S. to help Guatemalan orphansVideo
New Kensington native Stan Nelson was setting up a home in Guatemala to help orphaned young women in the Central American nation when he was told someone with the government wanted to talk with him. They wanted to know what he was doing. It was not a request, and he...
Trump, Biden campaigns zero in on Pennsylvania in final days before election
President Donald Trump, Democratic candidate Joe Biden and their campaigns are expected to make appearances across Pennsylvania, including in the Pittsburgh area, in the final days before the Nov. 3 election. With 20 Electoral College votes, Pennsylvania is a key battleground in the presidential race. Trump and Vice President Mike...
Trump to make campaign stop at Butler County airport on Saturday
President Donald Trump will make three stops in Pennsylvania on Saturday, including an appearance at a rally in Butler County in the final weekend before the Nov. 3 election. Trump’s campaign announced that he will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. in Bucks County, followed by rallies at 4 p.m. at...
Virtual groundbreaking held for ‘Digital Foundry’ to be built in New Kensington
Leaders from New Kensington, Westmoreland County and Penn State participated in a virtual groundbreaking Wednesday for an innovation and manufacturing lab that will support education and manufacturing in downtown New Kensington. Called “The Digital Foundry at New Kensington,” it will be built over the next year at the site of...
Gilpin police apprehend Texas man accused of assaulting child
A Texas man accused of various crimes against a child has been apprehended, Gilpin police said Thursday night. Gilpin police were looking for Michael Henry Brucker, 31, of Montgomery, Texas. He is accused of sexually assaulting a child younger than 13. Charges against Brucker include aggravated indecent assault of a...
