Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 116

An extended closure of the Pennsylvania Turnpike between Downington and Valley Forge is expected Tuesday after a truck crash spilled dish soap on the highway in Chester County. The eastbound lanes are closed between exits 312, Downington, and 326, Valley Forge, because of the crash involving the truck and a...

Pittsburgh police are looking for a gunman after multiple shots were fired into an Upper Lawrenceville home early Tuesday morning. Four to five shots were fired just after midnight into the house on Kendall Street, the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, reported. At least one bullet went through a window. Police...

Pittsburgh police allegedly found three children living in filthy conditions in a Homewood rowhouse after one of them was seen standing outside nearly naked in near-freezing conditions. Police charged Stevatezia Terrelle Cha Mickel, 23, with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children on March 18, according to court...

A burglar sprinted his way through a Donegal Subway after breaking into it earlier this month, state police said. The burglary happened between 12:30 and 12:45 a.m. on Saturday, March 9, state police said in a release issued Tuesday. Police said the unknown person pried open the main entrance door...

A man was stabbed multiple times during a fight early Monday morning in Pittsburgh’s South Side, the Trib’s news partner, WPXI-TV, reported. Police and paramedics were called shortly after 1 a.m. to the 1100 block of East Carson Street, where the man was found in a parked car. Investigators learned...

Drivers in the Pittsburgh area got a break from rising gas prices, but that wasn’t the case across the state and nation. Average gas prices in Pittsburgh did not change over the past week, remaining at $2.76 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations. That’s 12.3 cents per...

White Oak police arrested three of four people wanted in connection with the armed robbery of a Jacks Run Road Wendy’s restaurant Friday night. The department said officers responded to the robbery in the 2800 block of Jacks Run Road around 9:15 p.m. Friday. Two men “armed with pistols and...

Highlands High School students will have three new elective courses to take in the 2019-20 school year. The school board approved adding courses in SAT Prep, Community Engagement and Introduction to Computer Science. The SAT Prep class will be a full-year course available to sophomores and juniors. It will prepare...

Editor’s note: Due to incorrect information provided by the township, this report has been updated to correct the rates for CRT TVs and monitors and paint. Registration is open for Harrison’s “Too Toxic to Trash” recycling collection events for household hazardous and electronic waste in April. The township is holding...

A seven-mile detour is expected to be in place when PennDOT replaces a bridge on Kiski Township’s Shady Plain Road in three years. Project plans will be on display during meetings April 16 at the township building. The public meeting for residents will be from 6 to 7 p.m. It...

If you go to Sheetz so much you feel like you should work there, now’s your chance. The Altoona-based convenience store chain announced Thursday it is planning to hire more than 2,500 employees, including more than 1,100 in Pennsylvania. Open interviews for the full- and part-time positions will be held...

Grants are available to help rural, low-income disabled homeowners in six southwestern Pennsylvania counties make repairs and renovations to their homes. Disability Options Network, a non-profit based in New Castle, is administering a recently-awarded Housing Preservation Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grants are provided to very low...

Harrison will be seeking new members for its recreation board and planning commission after the heads of both submitted their resignations. Jason Paulovich is resigning from the planning commission, while Joshua Nulph is stepping down from the township’s recreation board. Paulovich, 43, said he is leaving the five-member planning commission...

The Highlands School District is going to find out how much its former elementary school in Fawn is worth. The school board has hired Integra Realty Resources to prepare an appraisal of the Highlands Support Center, formerly Fawn Primary Center. The district will pay the Pittsburgh firm $2,400 for its...

Harrison is planning to resurface 18 roads this year. The township is seeking bids for the work. Bids are due to the township’s engineer, NIRA Consulting Engineers, by 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 26. The township is expecting the work to cost about $350,000, according to the bid advertisement. Roads included...

John Greco Jr. sees the Highlands Elementary School clock tower every day as he drives across the Tarentum Bridge on his way to work. The prospect of the prominent landmark not being there moved him to act. Greco and his wife, Sally Greco, of Lower Burrell are giving $25,000 to...

Students in the Highlands School District will start the 2019-20 school year on Thursday, Aug. 29. The school board on Monday approved the calendar for next school year. The Thanksgiving break will start with a half-day for students on Wednesday, Nov. 27, with no school on Nov. 28 and 29....

It would be foolish for those who owe back property taxes in the Highlands School District not to pay up or start making payments by April 1. The school board Monday approved publishing the names of property owners who are delinquent in their real estate taxes beginning on April 1....

The Highlands School District will have a full-time, permanent superintendent as of April 1. The school board Monday unanimously approved a five-year contract for Monique Mawhinney that will pay her $150,000 in the first year. She will be eligible for 3 percent raises each year, based on her performance review....

After rescinding a contract with a security firm over what Highlands School District officials called “disturbing” social media posts, the school board Monday approved a two-year agreement for guard services with a Texas firm. The agreement with Champion National Security started Monday. The company, based in Richardson, Texas, will provide...

A 60-year-old man died after a large steel pipe fell from a truck and hit him at a gas/oil well site Monday morning in Lawrence County, state police said. According to state police, the accident happened shortly after 11 a.m. at the well site on Mt. Jackson Road in North...

Several Alle-Kiski Valley Area fire departments and ambulance companies are getting money from the Pennsylvania Fire Company and Ambulance Service grant program. The money comes from state gaming proceeds. It can be used to build, repair or renovate a fire company or ambulance service’s primary structure; buy or fix firefighting,...

Gasoline prices have been on the rise for five straight weeks with no signs of slowing down, a petroleum analyst said Monday. “Several perhaps major refinery issues flared up over the weekend, including fires at two facilities that could push wholesale gasoline prices up notably, mainly in the Pacific Northwest...

Tarentum is considering getting into the building demolition business. Council President Erika Josefoski is suggesting the borough buy its own equipment, such as an excavator. The borough could use the equipment to tear down abandoned and dilapidated buildings instead of hiring a contractor. The borough has a big enough budget...