Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 93

Motorists using the Pennsylvania Turnpike will pay more in tolls starting Jan. 5, marking the 12th straight year the Turnpike Commission has raised prices to help it cover state-mandated payments to PennDOT. The commission said tolls are going up 6% next year, but they’re actually increasing more because the commission...

Highlands School District asked a federal court Monday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former principal claiming the district and its superintendent retaliated against her for taking unpaid leave and dating a former teacher. In a 29-page filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania,...

Tarentum will be looking for prices from other garbage haulers after Waste Management proposed increasing the rate it charges the borough, according to borough Manager Michael Nestico. “We want to see what options we have here,” he said. “Council was initially hopeful to keep Waste Management. They like the service...

State health officials are concerned about the growing number of confirmed flu cases in Allegheny County and all of Western Pennsylvania, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Western Pennsylvania is the hardest hit region of the state so far this season, which began Sept. 29, spokeswoman Brittany Lauffer said. Laboratory-confirmed flu cases...

East Deer residents will pay more for water after Tarentum increased what it charges the township for bulk water, but exactly how much more is not yet known. East Deer buys water from Tarentum, then distributes it to its customers. East Deer Commissioner Tony Taliani said the township will not...

Christmas has begun, and Santa Claus has started making his trip around the world. And just like you can track where that jogging outfit you bought on Amazon for Aunt Gladys is, you can track the jolly old elf. The North American Aerospace Defense Command — commonly known by its...

State police said they are searching for two people who stole a large safe from a Beaver County business earlier this month. The suspects were captured on a surveillance camera loading the safe into the bed of a pickup, according to state police. Police said the theft happened at Parsons...

New Kensington Council has scheduled a special meeting to adopt the city’s 2020 budget, which includes a proposed property tax increase. Council will meet at 5 p.m. Dec. 30 in council chambers at city hall, 301 11th St. Council earlier this month approved an $8.1 million preliminary budget that would...

A winning lottery ticket worth $1.28 million was sold at a Shop ‘N Save store in Penn Hills, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Monday. The Match 6 lotto ticket matched all six numbers in Sunday’s drawing — 5, 9, 21, 22, 23, and 37 — to win the jackpot. The $2...

The national average price of gasoline has seen its seventh weekly decline, falling to a new low since March, according to price tracking service GasBuddy. While average prices in the Pittsburgh area and nationally are lower than they were a month ago, both are notably higher than a year ago....

Valley High School students served up nearly 3,000 cans of food Friday as part of the school’s seventh annual Christmas Classic Volleyball Tournament. “That’s amazing,” Salvation Army Capt. Phillip Davies said of the students’ efforts. “The need is so great at this time of the year. Our inventory of emergency...

A GoFundMe campaign has raised almost $14,000 to help the four children of a couple killed in a car crash in Warren County. Stephen Charles Rothrauff, 39, and his fiancee, Jessica Lee Camp, 32, of Mead Township, had four children, including a premature baby born just five days before they...

Pittsburgh commuters who use the Mon Wharf will have to find another place to park Friday. The wharf will remain closed Friday, the Pittsburgh parking authority announced. The wharf flooded after heavy rain that fell over the Monongahela and Cheat river basins earlier this week. “Although the river has receded...

Highlands School District parents will get more opportunities to talk with the district’s superintendent and administrators in January. Superintendent Monique Mawhinney has scheduled a second round of “Coffee Talks” that will be held in the evening. The first series of meetings had been held in the mornings in late September...

A mother and her two young children were rescued from their burning home early Thursday morning in Armstrong County. The fire in the 1600 block of Dime Road in Parks was reported shortly before 5:30 a.m. Firefighters from seven departments battled temperatures in the low teens to put out the...

The Pittsburgh area continues to lead the state in confirmed flu cases, with a large increase in Allegheny County in the past week. There were more than 6,900 confirmed influenza cases statewide as of the week ending Dec. 14, according to the state Department of Health. That is a 57%...

A woman was in critical condition after being shot along the border of Penn Hills and Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. Officers from both municipalities responded around 9:15 p.m. to a report that a woman had been shot multiple times in the 200 block of Eastgate Drive in Penn Hills, according...

State police say a Clinton Township husband and wife stole more than $340,000 from their former employer over two years. Adam Joshua Lesseski, 35, and Kara Lynn Lesseski, 37, took the money from Concrete Coring in Jefferson Township between January 2017 and last March , police said. Adam Lesseski was...

New Kensington will switch garbage haulers in 2020, but residents won’t pay more for trash collection. City council awarded the contract to County Hauling, a division of Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill of Rostraver. The company will replace Waste Management, which has been the city’s hauler for several years. The cost to...

A baby was in good health after being found on a porch in Pittsburgh’s Brighton Heights neighborhood early Tuesday morning. According to police, officers went to a residence in the 1900 block of Termon Avenue around 12:30 a.m. A woman told officers she heard knocking on her door for several...

The Mon Wharf parking area will be closed Wednesday because of flooding, the Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh announced Tuesday. All vehicles will have to be removed from the lot by 7 p.m. Tuesday, the authority said. The wharf will be closed until further notice. A flood advisory for the...

State police are looking for the driver of car who allegedly attacked another driver after hitting his car in Lawrence County. The man police said hit the car and then attacked the driver fled the scene, officers said. The driver who was attacked had a minor injury but declined to...

A woman jumped from a second-floor window Monday morning to escape a fire in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood, according to city police. The fire at 3950 Murray Ave. was reported shortly before 7 a.m. The building had a business on the ground floor with two apartments above. According to police, the...