Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 70
$250K grant to support New Kensington Salvation Army program for at-risk youths
The New Kensington Salvation Army will use a $250,000 grant to support a youth program aimed at young people who have committed first-time, nonviolent offenses. The Salvation Army announced Wednesday it will use the grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation for its Bridging the Gap program. “We are grateful...
New Kensington-Arnold School Board approves budget with 5% property tax hike
A property tax increase is either long overdue or too much at the wrong time, according to members of the New Kensington-Arnold School Board. The school board voted, 6-2, Tuesday to approve the district’s $48.9 million budget for the 2022-23 school year. It carries a 5% property tax increase, the...
Resignations, retirement leave New Kensington police short-staffed
A pair of resignations and the retirement of a longtime officer have left New Kensington’s police force short-staffed. City Council on Monday approved the retirement of Detective Sgt. Dino DiGiacobbe and the resignations of patrol Officers Jose Pantoja and Christian Leonarski. A 1982 graduate of Freeport Area High School, DiGiacobbe,...
PBS series ‘Start Up’ to highlight New Kensington revitalization effort
New Kensington will be featured in the 10th season of a PBS series highlighting small businesses across the nation. Gary Bredow, host of “Start Up,” and a small crew were in the city Monday filming an episode focused on Olde Towne Overhaul and its efforts to revitalize downtown New Kensington...
Southwestern Pennsylvania counties to reach $5-per-gallon gas price within week or 2, analyst says
Average gasoline prices in several southeast and northeast Pennsylvania counties already have exceeded $5 per gallon, and the rest of the state isn’t far behind, according to industry analysts. The state’s average price of a gallon of gas Monday was $4.95, AAA reported. That’s up 19 cents from last week,...
Dignitaries celebrate opening of Digital Foundry in New Kensington
Dignitaries gathered on Fifth Avenue in New Kensington on Wednesday to celebrate the opening of a facility officials hope will serve as a regional hub for innovation, creative thinking, problem-solving, learning and collaboration. With its energetic orange color and a sawtooth roof evoking the city’s industrial heritage, the key thing...
‘Rockin’ Roosevelt’ to bring 11 bands to Arnold park
Jim Varhola spent a lot of his youth in playgrounds around his home in Springdale. “That’s what we did — we played soccer, softball, football. I don’t know what I would have done without the parks we had,” said Varhola, of Upper Burrell. “It’s important to have those things available...
‘Forget me not’: Lower Burrell niece, Dutchman honor New Kensington World War II serviceman neither knewVideo
Christine Siess has never forgotten the uncle she never knew. Thousands of miles and an ocean away, Aldwin van der Velden also remembers Siess’ uncle. Norman Frank Kajut, a New Kensington native, is among the thousands of American World War II service members van der Velden and his fellow Dutch...
New Kensington police charge Rankin man with attempted murder in shootout near city hall
New Kensington police charged a Rankin man with attempted murder after an exchange of gunfire within earshot of City Hall on Monday afternoon. According to a criminal complaint, Deontae Delshaw Boyd Jr., 21, and another person returned fire after being shot at from a vehicle in the 1100 block of...
Police investigating after shots fired near WCCC in New Kensington
New Kensington police were investigating a report of shots fired Monday afternoon near the entrance to the Westmoreland County Community College campus in New Kensington. New Kensington police Detective Sgt. Matt Saxman said no one appeared to be hit or injured in the incident that happened about 4:30 p.m. in...
New Kensington Digital Foundry, in the works for years, to become reality next month
With its bright orange cladding, the Digital Foundry at New Kensington stands out in downtown New Kensington. But as it gets up and running, officials hope it will be better known for helping students and residents acquire the skills employers are looking for and giving manufacturers access to technologies they...
Events set to remember life, celebrate work of longtime New Kensington-Arnold art teacher
Two upcoming events will honor the life and celebrate the work of a former New Kensington-Arnold art teacher while helping to create opportunities for future artists. The New Kensington Art Center, 950 Fifth Ave., will host the Andrea Dorwart Memorial Art Show from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday. The...
Pittsburgh gas prices continue climb as $5 per gallon looms in some spots
Average gasoline prices in the Pittsburgh area rose more than 17 cents per gallon in the last week, with the most expensive just a penny shy of the $5 mark, according to price tracking service GasBuddy. GasBuddy reported Pittsburgh’s average at $4.69 per gallon on Monday, up 17.4 cents in...
Faces of the Valley: For her 1st novel, Sarah Snider draws inspiration from her life, New Kensington
Sarah Snider didn’t put her own name on her first book, “The Metamorphosis of Becca.” “Because I was chicken,” said Snider, 61, of Allegheny Township. “It’s a very vulnerable thing to put a book out into the world.” Friends and colleagues who read the book before its February publication had...
Teen charged in drive-by shooting death of Washington woman
Police have charged a 15-year-old boy with homicide and are looking for two others in the drive-by shooting of a 58-year-old woman in Washington earlier this month. Tyriq Xavier Moss of Washington was arraigned Thursday on multiple charges, including criminal homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, reckless endangerment and...
5 injured in fiery crash between Port Authority bus, car in Downtown Pittsburgh
Five people were injured Thursday when a car and a Port Authority bus crashed in Downtown Pittsburgh on Thursday night, according to Pittsburgh police. The crash, which resulted in the car becoming engulfed in flames, happened around 11:30 p.m. at Fifth Avenue and Grant Street. Police said three officers who...
3 injured — 1 critically — in Homewood stabbing
Three people were injured in a stabbing early Thursday in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, according to Pittsburgh police. Police said officers went to an apartment in the 7700 block of Frankstown Avenue around 3:30 a.m. Officers said they found a woman there with multiple stab wounds. She was taken to a...
Hot weather expected next 2 days, new record possible Saturday
The Pittsburgh region is set to get its first taste of 90-degree weather this year, but the heatwave is going to be brief. The high temperature is expected to get to near 90 on Friday and into the lower 90s for Saturday, National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Modzelewski said. The...
Abandoned Braddock row house collapses during fire
It took firefighters nearly four hours to get a blaze at an abandoned row house under control early Thursday in Braddock. The fire in the 200 block of Oliver Street was reported around 1:30 a.m., an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said. Firefighters got it under control by 5:15 a.m. Firefighters...
Work to refinish New Kensington church’s ‘onion dome’ continues
The layers of the onion are being put back on a New Kensington church. It was finally warm and dry enough Tuesday to begin work to refinish the onion dome atop St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church on Elmtree Road. It’s the first time the “terribly weathered” onion dome, so...
Motorcycle driver dies in crash with truck in Penn Hills
A man died Wednesday morning in a crash involving a box truck and a motorcycle in Penn Hills, Allegheny County Police said. Police said the crash in the 1100 block of Milltown Road was reported to 911 shortly after 7:30 a.m. The man operating the motorcycle was pronounced dead at...
Bethel Park police release video of 2 officers being hit by vehiclesVideo
Bethel Park police released a video Tuesday showing two police officers being hit by vehicles in separate incidents this month. The incidents happened May 3 on South Park Road near Pennsylvania Avenue and May 13 at Broughton Road and Route 88. The police department combined the two incidents into one...
Castle Shannon man accused of harassing, intimidating poll workers
Castle Shannon police said a man caused a disruption Tuesday at a polling location in the borough’s library. Police said David Huff, 57, of Castle Shannon refused to leave and resisted arrest, injuring an officer and damaging a police vehicle. According to a criminal complaint against Huff, police responded around...
1 man dead, other injured in 2-vehicle North Versailles crash
One man died and another was hurt in a two-vehicle crash in North Versailles Wednesday morning, Allegheny County Police said. According to police, the crash in the 400 block of East Pittsburgh McKeesport Boulevard was reported shortly after 6 a.m. First responders found one man dead at the scene. The...
1 person taken to hospital from scene of 3-vehicle Harrison crash
A man was taken by ambulance to Allegheny Valley Hospital from the scene of a three-vehicle crash in Harrison on Tuesday morning. The crash on Burtner Road at the Route 28 interchange was reported around 6:50 a.m., an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher said. The crash involved a minivan that police...
