Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 94

Gasoline prices have slid to their lowest level since March thanks to rising U.S. inventories and sluggish demand, according to an analyst for the price-tracking firm GasBuddy. “The jump in gasoline inventories has been so large it has offset oil prices, which touched $60 per barrel last week, as well...

A 37-year-old man from Cambria County died in a single-vehicle crash in Fairfield on Sunday night, according to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office. The crash happened shortly after 7 p.m. in the area of 1410 Route 271. Benjamin D. Snyder, of Upper Yoder, was alone and traveling south on Route...

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory from 4 p.m. Monday through 11 a.m. Tuesday. A mix of snow up to around an inch with a light glaze of ice from freezing rain is possible, according to the advisory for Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties. Roads could be...

Even with a property tax increase more than double its state limit, the New Kensington-Arnold School District will empty its reserves by the end of the 2020-21 school year and go into the red, the district’s business manager projects. A 7-mill property tax increase is included in the $38.96 million...

Arnold residents would be able to have contained fires in their backyards under a new ordinance city council is considering. Fires at residences would have to be burned in a container no more than 36 inches in diameter and at least two feet high, according to the proposed ordinance. The...

Free events planned Saturday at New Kensington’s Peoples Library include an original Christmas play written by two city residents and an indoor petting zoo. “We’re glad to have a double bill for the day,” library Director David Hrivnak said. Members of the Valley High School Drama Club will perform the...

Arnold Council on Tuesday adopted a $4.4 million budget for 2020 that does not change the property tax rate and increases spending just $10,000 over this year. The tax rate remains 43.5 mills, with 25 mills going toward general city services and 18.5 mills toward debt service. At that rate,...

A vacancy on Arnold city council will need to be filled in January. The city is accepting letters of interest for the vacant seat until the close of business on Jan. 10. That seat is now held by Joe Bia II, who defeated Karen Peconi for mayor in the Democratic...

More than half of the flu cases reported in Pennsylvania so far this season are in the Greater Pittsburgh area, with Allegheny County having the most of any county in the state in a season that is off to an early start. A total of 4,424 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza...

Tarentum could pay nearly $35,000 to update its zoning ordinance and map. The review comes as a billboard company arguing to place a sign at the Tarentum Bridge has pointed to errors and omissions in the borough’s zoning ordinance, which the company said unlawfully excludes billboards from any location in...

A girl missing since Friday has returned home, New Kensington police said Tuesday. Police said Monae Matthews is safe and was not injured when she returned home. In a post on the department’s Facebook page, police said Monae was a runaway who was last seen on Friday....

Gasoline prices fell in most states over the past week as a large increase in gasoline inventories may have offset a surprise oil production cut announced by OPEC, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for price-tracking service GasBuddy. “While OPEC’s announcement was certainly not expected, it lasts just three...

Donations are needed for the second annual Small Town Christmas event in Harrison’s Sheldon Park neighborhood. The event was first held last year to help bring together and heal the community in the wake of two shootings. It ended up filling the void left when the township’s own parade and...

Property taxes in the Highlands School District will not increase by more than 3.7% in the 2020-21 school year. The school board voted unanimously Tuesday not to exceed its state-imposed inflation limit. Under the state’s Taxpayer Relief Act, also known as Act 1, the board is required to make that...

An incident in which a man told a young girl to get into his van was not an attempted abduction, Lower Burrell police said Friday. The department said it was notified Friday of the incident that happened around 8:10 p.m. Thursday. An officer said the entire matter may have been...

Rachael O’Connor said that her 9-year-old son sat and cried when he was unable to find an open door to his elementary school Thursday morning after a bus driver dropped him off late and left him alone. O’Connor said her son, who has autism, pulled at the door he would...

A program that provides fresh produce to people in need will be one of the first community services operating out of the former Rite Aid building in Tarentum. “Produce to People,” a program of the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches, will distribute food from the building at 411 Corbet St....

Free rides for seniors and a medical shuttle to UPMC facilities in the Alle-Kiski Valley area are among the services being funded with nearly $625,000 in grants from the St. Margaret Foundation. Of that amount, nearly $260,000 is going to shuttle services. “The stress of hearing bad news regarding your...

Excerpts from the Pearl Harbor edition of “Duty, Courage, Honor: Southwestern Pennsylvania Goes to War” will be shown at the Allegheny-Kiski Valley Historical Museum in Tarentum on Saturday. Saturday — Dec. 7 — is the 78th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 that propelled the United...

A new ATM in New Kensington is part of JPMorgan Chase’s expansion in the Pittsburgh area. The standalone machine in Riverview Plaza along Tarentum Bridge Road, next to Donut Connection, is scheduled to be operating before the end of the year, said Ashlei Bobo, vice president of regional communications for...

The projected cost to repair the clock tower at Highlands Elementary School in Tarentum has gone up. The school board has approved paying the masonry contractor, Marsa, about $5,150 more on top of the district’s original $60,800 contract. Marsa was hired in August to restore the masonry of the tower,...

Debbie Beale has been a member of the Highlands School Board for nearly a quarter of a century, with half of that spent as its president. But the new school board that was seated on Tuesday ousted Beale from her post as president, and any other leadership position. The board...

A company denied permission to place a billboard next to the Tarentum Bridge scored a victory Tuesday with an Allegheny County judge ruling that Tarentum’s Zoning Hearing Board must determine whether the borough’s zoning bans billboards. Common Pleas Judge Joseph James issued the single-sentence order in America First Enterprises’ appeal...