Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 112
Burrell delivers meals to students’ doorsteps during school shutdownVideo
While many school districts are providing food to their students while schools are closed, Burrell School District has gone a step further by delivering food directly to its students’ homes. “We do want everyone to know that we care,” Burrell food service director Andrew Klipple said. “With all there is...
New Kensington, Arnold officers remain on leave following officer-involved shooting
Two New Kensington police officers and one Arnold officer remained on paid administrative leave Thursday, nearly a week after police shot and killed a man they say was brandishing a shotgun. The incident happened around 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon when police responded to calls about a man with a shotgun...
ATI offering retirement to incentive to cut costs
Allegheny Technologies Inc. will be offering a voluntary early retirement incentive in an effort to cut costs, the company announced. The program will be for eligible salaried, non-union employees, spokeswoman Natalie Gillespie said. To be eligible, employees have to meet age and service requirements. The company has not disclosed how...
Highlands community groups offering additional lunch sites for students
Organizations in Highlands School District communities are working together to offer lunches for students in more locations. The school district previously announced it would be providing to-go lunches from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays, beginning Wednesday, at the high school in Harrison, elementary school in Tarentum and in Sheldon...
Influenza deaths increase in history-setting season, state reports
Ten more people died from influenza in Pennsylvania in the last week, increasing the total number of flu deaths this season to 93, the state Department of Health reported Tuesday. As of the week ending March 14, most of the people who died — 64 — were 65 or older....
Highlands accepting emails for vacant school board seat
Highlands School District will now accept applications for a vacant school board seat via email. The district had previously specifically prohibited people from submitting application electronically. The Region 2 seat became vacant when Misty Chybrzynski, former board president, resigned after moving out of the district. Region 2 covers Brackenridge and...
Enclosed portion of Pittsburgh Mills mall closes indefinitely over coronavirus outbreak
The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills will close at 6 p.m. Tuesday and remain closed “until further notice,” the mall announced on its Facebook page. The closure applies to the enclosed mall only. The mall advised shoppers to check with other stores outside the mall about their status. “In response to...
Highlands settles former principal’s federal lawsuit
Highlands School District has settled one of two federal lawsuits accusing the district and its superintendent of violating employees’ leave rights. The school board approved a settlement with Heather Bigney, former principal of Highlands Early Childhood Center, at a meeting Monday. A lawsuit filed by former fourth-grade teacher Jason Smith...
Western Pennsylvania food distributions help keep children fed
Kate Heller was grateful Monday that Riverview School District is continuing to provide both breakfast and lunch to its students while schools are closed statewide due to the coronavirus pandemic. Heller walked to Verner Elementary in Verona to pick up breakfast and lunch for her son, Chris, 8, and daughter,...
Gas drops below $2 per gallon at nearly 40,000 stations across the country
Gasoline prices are continuing to fall in the Pittsburgh area and even more sharply across the nation, an industry analyst says. “The root cause continues to be coronavirus related,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for the price-tracking firm GasBuddy. “Such a large decline at this time of year...
Tedorski out as Arnold city fire chief
Arnold Council has abolished the position of city fire chief. Mayor Joseph Bia said the position was eliminated because the chief, J.C. Tedorski, responded to only four calls last year, none this year and has not been at a city council meeting for more than a year. Bia said having...
ATI pauses contract talks with steelworkers union, cites coronavirus impact
Allegheny Technologies Inc. has paused contract talks with the United Steelworkers union, citing a lack of progress and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a company spokeswoman said Friday. About 1,300 USW members have continued working at nine ATI locations, including the hot rolling mill and processing facility in Harrison,...
Longtime Highlands Solicitor Ira Weiss withdrawing from the school district
Highlands School District is looking for a new law firm after the one that has represented the district for about 15 years decided to withdraw. “The firm made a decision, for a lot of different reasons, it was time to give the district the opportunity to find other counsel,” Ira...
24-year-old man shot at Plum apartment complex
A 24-year-old man was shot Thursday morning at an apartment complex in Plum. Police responded to Plum Park Apartments on Deborah Jane Drive near Universal Road in Plum’s Regency Park neighborhood around 7:30 a.m. The man was shot as he came out of his apartment to get into his car,...
Fired Tarentum laborer pleads guilty to harassment in alleged attack on teen worker
A former Tarentum public works laborer charged with attacking and threatening a teenage summer worker in 2019 has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Borough police charged Tim Dzugan, 56, on July 30 with strangulation, simple assault and harassment in connection with the alleged incident last July. According to court...
Highlands student to stand trial in school bus crowbar attack in Fawn
A Highlands School District student crossed a line between self-defense and attempted homicide when he didn’t stop after disarming a younger aggressor of a crowbar, but instead used it to beat his assailant, a prosecutor argued at the student’s preliminary hearing Wednesday. Assistant District Attorney Hillary Weaver said that’s why...
Pennsylvania reports 9 new flu deaths
The number of flu-related deaths in Pennsylvania this season has reached 83, up by nine in the past week, according to data the state Department of Health released Tuesday. Most of the deaths, 56, were in those age 65 and older. Six of the new deaths were in that age...
New Ken-Arnold looking at borrowing $4M amid $2M deficit
New Kensington-Arnold School Board is talking about fixing roofs, updating computers and replacing textbooks at the same time it is confronting a budget with a nearly $2 million deficit. The board is considering refinancing the district’s existing $4 million debt and borrowing $4 million. With the new money, the district...
Veterans stories to be featured weekly in March at Tarentum museum
The stories of veterans from the Alle-Kiski Valley area can be heard in their own words Thursdays in March at the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Heritage Museum in Tarentum. Each week, segments from Arnold native John Bailey’s documentary, “Duty, Courage, Honor — Southwestern Pennsylvania Goes to War,” will be shown beginning at...
Gas prices continue to drop, bucking seasonal norm, analyst says
Gas prices “have no where to go but down and like a rock” at a time of year they’re usually going up, an industry analyst said. “It’s been an unprecedented week, one in which oil majors Russia and Saudi Arabia saw anything but eye-to-eye on lowering oil production, leading crude...
Harvest Moon coffee, chocolate shop rises in TarentumVideo
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, send a message to vndcity@tribweb.com. There’s a caffeine-fueled buzz in Tarentum, and the origin can...
Highlands School Board president resigning
Misty Chybrzynski confirmed Sunday that she is resigning from the Highlands School Board because she moved within the district. Chybrzynski, the board president, said she moved out of Region 2, which she was elected to represent in 2017, and into Region 3. The nine-member Highlands School Board is elected by...
Giant Eagle offers ‘Scan Pay & Go’ at New Kensington storeVideo
The Giant Eagle in New Kensington is among about 70 of the grocery giant’s 215 stores where customers can skip checkout lines by scanning and bagging their groceries as they shop. Giant Eagle, based in O’Hara, introduced its “Scan Pay & Go” system to the store on Tarentum Bridge Road...
Budget to be focus of New Kensington-Arnold finance committee session
A committee of the New Kensington-Arnold School Board will review the district’s proposed final budget for the 2020-21 school year at a meeting on Monday, according to district business Manager Jeff McVey. In January, the school board approved a preliminary $38.96 million spending plan that would increase the property tax...
Highlands to buy metal detectors, cameras, fencing with state safety grant
Highlands School District will enhance and improve its security and safety measures using a nearly half-million-dollar state grant, a district spokeswoman said. The district received about $484,000 from the School Safety and Security Committee within the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Highlands was one of 524 school entities that...
