Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 97
Trump to make campaign stop at Butler County airport on Saturday
President Donald Trump will make three stops in Pennsylvania on Saturday, including an appearance at a rally in Butler County in the final weekend before the Nov. 3 election. Trump’s campaign announced that he will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. in Bucks County, followed by rallies at 4 p.m. at...
Virtual groundbreaking held for ‘Digital Foundry’ to be built in New Kensington
Leaders from New Kensington, Westmoreland County and Penn State participated in a virtual groundbreaking Wednesday for an innovation and manufacturing lab that will support education and manufacturing in downtown New Kensington. Called “The Digital Foundry at New Kensington,” it will be built over the next year at the site of...
Gilpin police apprehend Texas man accused of assaulting child
A Texas man accused of various crimes against a child has been apprehended, Gilpin police said Thursday night. Gilpin police were looking for Michael Henry Brucker, 31, of Montgomery, Texas. He is accused of sexually assaulting a child younger than 13. Charges against Brucker include aggravated indecent assault of a...
California-Kirkbride house condemned after vehicle crashes into it
A 24-year-old man was in stable condition after crashing his car into a house in Pittsburgh’s California-Kirkbride neighborhood Wednesday, according to police. The crash happened near Brighton Road and Brighton Place shortly before 5 p.m. Police said the driver crashed into a home where Brighton Place branches off Brighton Road,...
Daylong rain, boosted by Zeta, not expected to pose flooding threat in Pittsburgh area
Flooding is not expected to be a threat from rain that will soak the Pittsburgh area Thursday, influenced by the remnants of Hurricane Zeta, Jason Frazier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said Wednesday. Zeta is expected to make landfall in the mid-to-late afternoon. Its moisture will...
New Kensington-Arnold going to all remote instruction for 1 week
New Kensington-Arnold School District will change from in-person to remote instruction for all students the week of Nov. 2, the school board decided Tuesday. The state Department of Education has recommended that Westmoreland County districts move to fully remote instruction to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. On Tuesday, the county...
Police: 12-year-old Allentown girl found safe
A girl reported missing Monday afternoon from Pittsburgh’s Allentown neighborhood was found safe Tuesday, police said. Jaliyah Massey was reported missing from the Allentown neighborhood Monday afternoon, police said Tuesday....
Police: Intoxicated Tarentum man attacks wedding party, threatens officers
A Tarentum man was arrested Saturday after police said he shouted obscenities at a wedding party as he drove past them and then got out of his vehicle and went after them. Borough police charged Brian S. Henning Jr., 32, with resisting arrest, driving under the influence, disorderly conduct and...
New Kensington fire department hosting open houses at all 5 companiesVideo
All five New Kensington fire companies will host open houses Tuesday in observance of October as Fire Prevention Month. Residents are invited to tour the stations with their children, Assistant Chief Matt Sobecki with Company No. 1 said. Open houses will run from 6-8 p.m. Station locations are Company No....
Salvation Army faces more need, fundraising challenges as Red Kettle season nears
The covid-19 pandemic is presenting a challenge to the Salvation Army and its iconic Red Kettle campaign. “We’re kind of up against needing to raise more money but it’s also harder to raise money with everything that’s going on,” said Lt. Alex Senak with the Allegheny Valley Salvation Army in...
Alcoa aluminum smelter moving from Station Square to New Kensington’s Voodoo Brewery
A 39,000-pound piece of Alcoa history is coming to New Kensington. A retired aluminum smelting pot that has been displayed near the Gateway Clipper ramp at Station Square since 1990 will be placed in the beer garden outside Voodoo Brewery at Fifth Avenue and 10th Street. “We are in the...
Police: North Huntingdon cat hoarder said animals took over his house
Police said a North Huntingdon man told them he stopped staying at his township home because cats had overrun it. In September, authorities rescued 73 cats from the property on Leger Road and removed 11 that died. Since being surrendered to Frankie’s Friends in New Kensington, another 22 cats died...
Natural gas project to detour West Seventh Avenue traffic in Tarentum
A Peoples Gas project will affect traffic in Tarentum beginning Sunday night. The company will be working in the area of West Seventh Avenue and Mill Street. Work will be done between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. and is expected to last through Friday. Peoples Gas spokesman Barry Kukovich said...
Police: New Kensington man threatened woman with gun, ran from police
New Kensington police arrested a man after a Tuesday morning foot chase who allegedly threatened a woman with a gun. District Judge Frank Pallone Jr. ordered Malachi Supreme Hayes, 23, held without bail in the Westmoreland County Prison to ensure his appearance at a preliminary hearing and because he is...
Highland Tire to pay Highlands $19K to advertise at district sports facilities
Highland Tire will pay Highlands School District $19,000 to place advertising signs at district athletic facilities. The school board unanimously approved the five-year advertising agreement at its meeting Monday. Highland Tire is the first business to place advertising at the the district’s athletic facilities, business Manager Lori Byron said. The...
Police: Tarentum man strangled woman, set clothes on fire
A Tarentum man is accused of strangling a woman and setting a fire in their apartment late Monday. Borough police charged Othniel Lavelle Lineburg II, 34, with strangulation and causing or risking a catastrophe, both felony offenses, along with a misdemeanor count of simple assault and summary charges of harassment,...
More than 100 Highlands students returning to partial in-person instruction
More than 100 Highlands School District students who started the school year remotely because of the covid-19 pandemic will be returning to schools for the start of the second nine-week period, Superintendent Monique Mawhinney said. Nearly 40 students will be going the other way, opting for the district’s fully online...
Police: New Kensington man found with stolen gun he claimed to have taken from a child
Tarentum police said they recovered a gun reported stolen from Stowe after stopping a man they saw riding a dirt bike on a borough road late Sunday night. The man, Brydon Williams-Chambers, 19, of New Kensington allegedly told police he had taken the gun from a child in New Kensington...
Santa to visit Tarentum, Brackenridge, Harrison atop fire trucks in place of canceled events
Santa Claus is coming to town — well, technically, a township and two boroughs. Santa is set to ride through Tarentum, Brackenridge and Harrison atop fire trucks on Saturday, Dec. 5, from 3-5 p.m., with a rain date of the following Saturday, Dec. 12. It’s something new that officials in...
Arnold manager: No tax increase needed to cover deficit from underfunded pension
Various cost savings will help Arnold absorb a 40% increase in its pension costs while avoiding a property tax increase, City Manager Mario Bellavia said. At a council meeting Tuesday, Bellavia said the increased pension obligation would create a deficit in the city’s budget that would need a property tax...
New granite panels installed at Harrison World War II memorial, rededication scheduledVideo
New granite slabs making up the rejuvenated Harrison Honor Roll memorial have been installed, years after efforts to preserve and restore the memorial recognizing the township’s World War II veterans began. “It’s been a long time,” Bill Rudolph, a member of the memorial’s restoration committee, said as he watched the...
AK Valley gift dashing group creates food pantry, takes on other community projectsVideo
A new outdoor food pantry in New Kensington where people take what they need and leave what they can is proving to be so successful that those who built it are figuring out how to make it bigger. The pantry outside the Community Clothes Closet was packed full of goods...
Charges filed, arrest warrant issued in North Huntingdon cat-hoarding case
An arrest warrant has been issued for a North Huntingdon man accused of hoarding more than 70 cats that were malnourished and infested with fleas when authorities rescued them from a township home in September. Since being rescued, the cats have been cared for at Frankie’s Friends, a cat rescue...
Tarentum train station restaurant to reopen in December, owner says
The owner of JG’s Tarentum Station Grille said Thursday he intends to reopen the popular restaurant on Dec. 1. The restaurant in a historic former train station in the heart of Tarentum has been closed since March because of the covid-19 pandemic. When the state allowed restaurants to increase their...
New Kensington-Arnold superintendent acknowledges distancing problem in 3rd-grade classes
New Kensington-Arnold School District is working to fix a problem with reduced social distancing in some third-grade classes at Roy A. Hunt Elementary in Arnold, Acting Superintendent Jon Banko said. Distancing in three or four combination social studies/science classes in the grade is reduced from 6 feet to 5 feet...
