Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 102

A Tarentum pastor said the man whose body was found Wednesday in Bull Creek became active at BridgePoint Church several months ago and had just been baptized less than two weeks ago. The Rev. Val Schubert of BridgePoint Church said the parish plans to hold a memorial service Sunday for...

Custodians and maintenance workers in Highlands School District have an early-retirement offer along with a new contract. The new three-year agreement between the district and workers with Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ is retroactive to June 30 and runs until June 30, 2022. The contract covers about 30 employees....

No serious injuries were reported after a fight broke out among a half dozen inmates at the Allegheny County Jail on Wednesday afternoon. In a statement released Thursday, Warden Orlando Harper said the fight happened around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. “Six inmates received misconducts as a result of fighting,” Harper said...

After more than two years of negotiations, teachers in the New Kensington-Arnold School District have a new contract. The contract runs through June 30, 2021, and is retroactive to Sept. 1, 2017. Teachers will report for Monday as scheduled; students return Wednesday. Under the terms of the contract: • The...

A 2-year-old girl drowned in a pool in Fayette County on Thursday afternoon. The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. in a pool along Coolsprings Street in Hopwood, the Tribune-Review’s news partner, WPXI-TV, reported. State police could not be reached for comment. A representative of the Fayette County Coroner’s Office said...

The threat of thunderstorms canceled a band’s performance in Tarentum for a second time. The performance by “Classic Brew,” a classic rock cover band, that was scheduled for 7 p.m. today at the Carl J. Magnetta Jr. Amphitheater in Riverview Memorial Park has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday,...

The cause of a fire that destroyed an empty house on Spruce Street in Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood last week remains undetermined, according to the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office. The fire at 51 Spruce St. was reported around 1 a.m. Aug. 16. No one was hurt, and firefighters prevented it...

Arnold is another step closer to telling the state how it would like to spend nearly $300,000 in grant money. City council held a second public hearing Tuesday to get comments and suggestions from citizens on how it should spend the federal Community Development Block Grant money it will receive...

Highlands School Board has approved several personnel moves ahead of the start of the new school year. The board hired three people: • Drew Karpen has been approved as the district’s new athletic and transportation director, retroactive to July 22. His salary was set at $65,000. • Theresa Bargh was...

Highlands School Board awarded three contracts for work at the district’s elementary school in Tarentum. Two of the contracts, totaling about $92,100, are for repairs to Highlands Elementary’s deteriorated clock tower. The district will pay Marsa Inc. $60,800 for restoration work on the clock tower’s masonry and BurMac Roofing $31,282...

Students started moving in Monday for the fall semester at the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt spokesman Kevin Zwick said 7,800 students, including 3,800 “first-years,” will be moving into on-campus housing this week. The first day of classes is Aug. 26. The university received 32,000 freshman applications and offered admission to...

Gas prices have continued to fall in the Pittsburgh region and across the nation, according to the price-tracking website GasBuddy.com. “For a surprising fifth straight week, the national average has declined, ushering in lower gas prices to every state and providing relief to consumers who’ve watched the stock market tank,...

Concerns about the cost of a project to inventory library books at elementary schools in the Highlands School District has administrators and school board members considering other options. At a board meeting Monday, a few residents said the more than $62,000 cost of the project with Follett School Solutions was...

A Cleveland man charged in connection with the thefts of laptop computers from multiple businesses in Findlay is also believed to be one of two suspects in similar incidents in Pittsburgh, police said Friday. Findlay police said they identified Leroy Lummie Glass Jr., 62, from a thumbprint on a piece...

Nearly two dozen bands are scheduled to perform Sunday at the sixth annual “Band Blast” at Memorial Park in New Kensington. The lineup features 11 groups playing between noon and 8 p.m. on the main stage, and another 11 scheduled to appear on the second stage. Admission is $5. Gates...

A Tarentum bus stop will be moving at the borough’s request. Port Authority of Allegheny County is moving the stop now at Lock Street and Fourth Avenue about 250 feet away to Fourth and Hickory Way. The change takes effect Sept. 1, according to a Port Authority sign posted at...

The concert promoter didn’t want them, the lead singer was so buzzed he didn’t know how they did, and their performance garnered only a single sentence in a review published in the Valley News Dispatch a week later. Rush was an unknown band from Canada when they played the Civic...

Tarentum Council fired a public works laborer who is accused of attacking and threatening to kill a 17-year-old summer worker. At a special meeting Tuesday, council voted 6-1 to fire Timothy Dzugan effective immediately. Councilman Tim Cornuet cast the only vote against firing Dzugan. He declined to comment on his...

Highlands School District didn’t get any offers to buy the district’s former elementary school in Fawn. School board President Debbie Beale said the district will try again to find a buyer for the 15-acre property at 5591 Ridge Road. In the meantime, the building could be used for storage, Beale...

State police want to find the driver of a pickup seen in the area of the Belvedere Hotel in Oklahoma Borough before it was destroyed by fire July 23. State police said on Twitter that a Dodge Ram made between 1999 and 2002 was seen in the area shortly before...

Drops in gas prices could slow in the weeks ahead as some OPEC members talk about cutting oil production to stem the recent drop in oil prices, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “However, a production cut from oil producers may be more akin to putting lipstick...