Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 120

The creator of a Tarentum Facebook group, the executive director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and a program coordinator at Tobacco Free Allegheny are among five applicants to fill an empty seat on Tarentum Council. Letters of interest for the seat vacated by 3rd Ward Councilwoman Rhonda Dzugan...

Brackenridge has hired a Pittsburgh firm to help design a trail along the Allegheny River that would become part of the larger Three Rivers Heritage Trail. The firm, TranSystems, will have to work around a number of obstacles and challenges such as trees, telephone poles and “pinch points” where maintaining...

Tarentum crews were responding to a water main break on Park Street Tuesday afternoon. About 20 customers were affected by the break in the 1100 block of Park Street, according to the borough. No roads were closed as of about 3:30 p.m. Brian Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You...

Altoona-based Sheetz is celebrating the opening of its 100th store in North Carolina. The store in High Point, N.C. opened on Jan. 31. At a grand opening event, the company gave $2,500 to Special Olympics North Carolina and the same amount to Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Carolina. “Sheetz...

Several counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania are among 20 that have been put under a code orange air quality action day for fine particular matter, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced Monday. Among the affected counties are Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland. A code orange means pollution...

Weak demand for gasoline and strong supply has keep prices at the pump in check despite oil rising to its highest price in months because of instability in Venezuela, according to the price-checking website GasBuddy.com. “As the record gasoline supply continues to overshadow markets ahead of the road to summer...

A block of Tarentum’s Fourth Avenue closed Monday morning because of a water line break. A service line to the building housing Wesley Family Services broke on Saturday, said Ted Bajack, the borough’s water distribution coordinator. Crews dug into the road and shut off the water that day. They were...

At least one Harrison resident would like a place to play pickleball. That was about the extent of the public’s comment when federal environmental authorities conducted their once- every-five years review of the Lindane Dump Superfund Site located off Springhill Road — part of which is home to Alsco Community Park....

State police said they seized 82 marijuana plants and 13 one-gallon bags of marijuana on Thursday when troopers stumbled upon a growing operation in Indiana County. Troopers went to a home on Route 156 in Armstrong Township around 2 p.m. Thursday to arrest Scott Ryan Wilson, 52, on a domestic...

Nearly $765,000 in state funding will be coming into Armstrong County for transportation projects, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday. The money from the Multimodal Transportation Fund is included in $44.5 million being used on 50 highway, bridge, transit, aviation, bike and pedestrian projects in 23 counties. PennDOT evaluated applications and...

Those sponsoring Lenten fish fries will need health permits to operate, the Allegheny County Health Department said Friday. “Operation of a food facility, whether temporary, seasonal or permanent, requires a valid health permit,” the department said. This year, the Lenten season runs from March 6 to April 20. Sponsors without...

Mister Rogers will the subject of upcoming “Who Knew?” programs at the Community Library of Allegheny Valley in Tarentum in February. A session on Fred Rogers is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 19 and will be repeated on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Both will start at 6 p.m. at the library at...

The Highlands School District is not identifying an employee recently placed on unpaid leave. The school board approved that action, and a statement of charges, against the unidentified employee at its Jan. 21 meeting. The employee was referred to only as “employee #7121,” and no information on the charges was...

Four people have expressed interest in claiming a vacant seat on Tarentum Council, Borough Manager Michael Nestico said Thursday. They will be in contention for replacing Rhonda Dzugan, who had represented the borough’s 3rd Ward and resigned from council in January. Letters of interest to be considered for the seat...

Highlands School District’s preliminary budget for next school year has a $3.7 million hole in it. That’s the preliminary budget gap between the district’s proposed spending of about $46 million and its estimated revenue of about $42.3 million. The district released its preliminary budget Tuesday. The school board is expected...

As Allegheny Valley Hospital marked the 110th anniversary of accepting its first patients Monday, a Fawn family reflected on four generations of their own history at the hospital. The legacy started with Barb Kutchko’s mother, Monie Hanford, who was a switchboard operator there until the late 1970s or early 1980s....

Gas prices are up in the Pittsburgh area, and, nationally, with fewer stations selling fuel for under $2 per gallon. “The percent of gas stations in the U.S. selling under $2 per gallon fell from 37 percent to 27 percent over the last week as oil prices hold above $53...

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series that features Alle-Kiski Valley people and the notable things that they do. Decades ago, approaching planes would send elementary students in Harrison running back to their classrooms. The two-man, single engine propeller-driven planes would come in low near Birdville School, using...

An obviously exasperated District Judge Carolyn Bengel tore into the Harrison commissioners in public Thursday night, taking officials to task for not reaching an employment agreement with the township’s longtime police chief that would facilitate his retirement. In May, commissioners deadlocked 2-2, with one absent, to approve a four-year contract...

More trees could be coming to Harrison. Part of Union Avenue in the Natrona Heights neighborhood and Sycamore Street in Natrona are being considered for planting, said Tom Cajka, chairman of the township’s tree committee. A total of 50 trees are being considered. Of those, 30 would be planted along...

Highlands School District residents can get a look at the district’s preliminary $46 million budget for the 2019-20 school year beginning Tuesday, according to a legal notice from the district. The district will seek approval from the state Department of Education to increase property taxes by more than its state-imposed...

Work to replace the bridge over Crawford Run on Freeport Road in East Deer is finished and the new bridge is open to traffic, the contractor announced Wednesday. Work on the bridge, near Sheetz, started in July. It was scheduled to be finished in December, but was delayed into January...

The shock of the loss of a beloved Highlands coach is subsiding, but the need to help his family and keep his memory alive remains. The second annual Coach Tom Callender Memorial Basketball Tournament will bring people together to celebrate his life and help his family, said Kate Bielak of...

Pennsylvania drivers are getting information in the mail about pre-verifying for “REAL ID.” The identifications, in the form of a new driver’s license or photo identification card, will be available this spring, according to the postcard PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said the agency is sending to all customers. REAL ID-compliant...