Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 143
Seeking exceptions gives Highlands ‘options’ for budget, business manager says
The Highlands School District is simply keeping its options open as it begins work on the 2019-20 spending plan, the district’s business manager told residents at a school board meeting Monday night. Although the district intends to seek permission from the state to increase taxes by more than its limit...
Highlands to offer superintendent job to assistant, substitute Mawhinney
The Highlands School District will not be conducting a search for a new superintendent and will be offering the job to its current substitute superintendent, Monique Mawhinney, school board President Debbie Beale announced Monday. Mawhinney, who started as assistant superintendent in April 2018, has been serving as substitute superintendent in...
State police responding to Fawn burglary taser, arrest man
State police said they used a Taser gun to subdue a man suspected of burglarizing a Fawn home last week. Justin Donald Ohler, 31, of Natrona Heights, faces charges of trespassing, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct following the incident around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. State police said troopers went to a...
Pastor: Higher fee won’t stop Easter egg hunt on Highlands property
The fee for a Brackenridge church to hold its annual Easter egg hunt on Highlands School District property has been slashed by more than half. The school district initially was going to charge Generations House of Worship $4,700 under its recently updated use-of-facilities policy. The fee included a $2,750 facility...
Analyst: Gas prices rise to highest level in 2 months on higher oil prices
Gas prices have risen to their highest level in nearly two months, mainly following higher oil prices, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Gasoline demand remains seasonally weak, but last week’s report from the Energy Information Administration showed refinery utilization plunging, meaning less gasoline is flowing out...
Power outage planned in Lower Burrell next week
There will be a planned power outage in Lower Burrell next week. According to the city, First Energy-West Penn Power will interrupt service in the area of Michigan Avenue between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21 to upgrade facilities. In case of inclement weather, the outage will...
Tarentum considering regulations governing solar panels
Tarentum is considering regulations that would govern the installation and use of solar panels in the borough. The proposed ordinance includes proposed fees and technical requirements for what are broadly referred to as “customer-owned generation of electricity,” which could include things besides solar panels, such as windmills. Tarentum operates its...
Harrison commissioner: Garbage-bill scofflaws at root of illegal dumping problem
A Harrison commissioner wants to publicize the names of residents who are behind on their garbage bills, hoping it spurs at least some of the residents to pay up and alleviates a problem with illegal dumping. More than 500 residential garbage accounts are delinquent in Harrison, and Commissioner Charles Dizard...
Tarentum homeowner worries about repairing house after fallen tree removed
The extent of the damage caused to a Tarentum home when a tree fell on it Wednesday was more apparent Friday after the tree had been removed. The buckeye tree that fell on Frank Lee’s house at 400 Allegheny St. was removed Thursday afternoon, Lee said. Lee was back in...
Public shaming threat moves 1 delinquent Tarentum property owner to pay taxes
The threat of publicly shaming delinquent taxpayers in Tarentum hasn’t produced the desired results as far as the borough is concerned. As of Thursday, just one person had come forward to pay $1,500 in delinquent property taxes. A week before, Tarentum Council approved a proposal to post the names of...
Their love story began at the Allegheny Valley School of Nursing
More than a thousand young women came of age and had courtships in the building that once housed the Allegheny Valley Hospital School of Nursing in Harrison. Reba Weltner Blackburn was one of them. The women not only studied there, they also lived in the brick building along Carlisle Street....
Highlands senior spreads message of acceptance on Valentine’s Day
Having a brother with autism showed Cameron Babinsack the kinds of issues and troubles faced by those who don’t fit into societal norms. “The world would be a better place if people would accept the differences in others instead of pointing them out,” said Babinsack, 17, a Highlands High School...
Tarentum water, East Deer sewage plants subjects of upcoming public tours
It will start at the beginning and conclude at the end. Tarentum’s water treatment plant and the Upper Allegheny Joint Sanitary Authority’s treatment plant in East Deer, in that order, will be the subject of public tours on Saturday, March 9. There’s no cost, and anyone can go to see...
‘I could’ve been dead,’ Tarentum homeowner says after tree falls onto house
A Tarentum homeowner is feeling lucky to be alive after a large tree fell onto his house Wednesday morning, causing severe damage to the roof and leaving a hole in the ceiling directly over his bed. Fortunately, Frank Lee already was downstairs and watching television when the tree fell onto...
140K pre-verify for REAL ID, PennDOT says
About 140,000 Pennsylvania residents have pre-verified for REAL ID, PennDOT announced Tuesday. Pre-verification will allow state residents to apply for REAL ID online once they are available in March, and get their REAL ID driver’s license or photo identification card in the mail. A REAL ID is optional for state...
Highlands to repair, not remove, clock tower atop Tarentum school
There’s apparently no reason to recreate the “Save the clock tower!” scene from the movie “Back to the Future” in Tarentum. Highlands School District is moving forward with repairing the landmark tower atop Highlands Elementary School, formerly known as Grandview, school board President Debbie Beale said. The district also will...
Brackenridge church sees increased fee for Easter egg hunt on Highlands property
It’s going to cost a Brackenridge church a lot more to use Highlands School District facilities for its annual Easter egg hunt, but not as much as church members first thought. Generations House of Worship, which is planning its third egg hunt at the district’s middle school, initially thought it...
Highlands School District residents call for transparency on school closure, budget
Facing the proposed closing of a school and the possibility of a property tax increase, frustrated Highlands School District residents are demanding greater transparency and more information from the district’s elected leaders and administrators. At a public hearing Monday, Susan Bajack of Harrison said residents were pleading for greater transparency...
Pittsburgh gas prices stay steady ahead of summer fuel switch
Pittsburgh gasoline prices are unchanged in the past week, while the national average increased less than a penny. “The national average price of gasoline barely nudged higher last week, driven primarily by stations hiking prices notably in the Great Lakes early last week, pushing the national average to $2.30 per...
Highlands changes location of school closure hearing, school board meeting
The Highlands School District has changed the location for a public hearing and school board meeting on Monday. The hearing and meeting, previously set to be held in the library at Highlands High School in Harrison, will instead be held in the high school auditorium, according to a notice on...
Tarentum urges delinquent taxpayers to avoid having their names published
Tarentum officials are hoping they won’t have to publish the names of property owners delinquent on paying their taxes — but they’re prepared to do it. Council approved a resolution, under which the names of those owing property taxes to the borough will be made publicly available. Property taxes are...
Garbage dumped at empty Natrona homes is ‘a cancer,’ resident saysVideo
Harrison resident Conrad Zylinski is convinced that if garbage was piling up in Natrona Heights, it wouldn’t be tolerated. But it’s happening in the township’s Natrona section, behind abandoned houses near his Spruce Street home. And it seems to him that no one is doing anything about it. “It’s a...
Brian Snyder, Tarentum business owner, chosen to fill council vacancy
Filling an empty seat on Tarentum Council turned out to be more difficult than its remaining members anticipated. It was not for a lack of candidates, but because of the quality of the candidates they had to choose from. It was only after much mulling by Councilman Scott Dadowski, the...
Tarentum Council approves separation agreement with police sergeant
A Tarentum police sergeant will be paid just over $17,000 under a separation agreement and general release that borough council approved Thursday. Sgt. Ryan Hanford’s retirement was effective Thursday. Hanford, 44, has been a police officer for 25 years, including 22 with Tarentum. He had been on administrative leave for...
Deer Lakes students losing spring break days to make up for cold cancellations
Students in the Deer Lakes School District are losing three of their spring break days to make up for days lost to the recent bitterly cold weather. Deer Lakes was among the numerous districts that cancelled classes on Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 1 because of the cold and icy...
