Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 78
$4 per gallon gas possible in spring before relief arrives, outlook says
Gasoline could reach a national average of $4 per gallon early next year, price tracking service GasBuddy says in its 2022 fuel price outlook released Wednesday. For all of 2022, GasBuddy expects the national average price to increase by nearly 40 cents per gallon, from $3.02 in 2021 to $3.41....
Accident on Route 22 in Murrysville hampers traffic
A crash affected westbound traffic on Route 22 in Murrysville near Monroeville Tuesday afternoon. The accident by McDonald’s and in the area of the Blue Spruce Shoppes was reported at 4 p.m., a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher said. Two passenger vehicles collided in a “T-bone”-type crash, the dispatcher said. There...
Gas prices falling after setting new Christmas Day record
Average gasoline prices are coming down in the Pittsburgh area and across the nation but remain significantly higher than they were a year ago, according to price tracking service GasBuddy. According to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations in Pittsburgh, gas prices fell 2.1 cents per gallon in the past week...
Shed gifted to Tarentum community garden found destroyed
A much-appreciated storage shed given to Tarentum’s community garden was found Thursday to have been destroyed, said the Rev. Phil Beck, an organizer of the group that oversees the garden. Beck of First United Presbyterian Church in Tarentum said he believes the shed at the Greg Blythe Friendship Garden on...
Building the Valley: Cameroonian immigrant lays roots for business in New Kensington
Odilon Wafo came to the United States from the African country of Cameroon in 2010 looking for better opportunities for himself and his children. He would find himself owning a business in New Kensington, a city that itself was striving for better. “When I got here, I saw the city...
Plum man accused of killing landscaper in Penn Hills
A 23-year-old man from Plum is charged with homicide in the June shooting death of a man working with a landscape crew in Penn Hills. Allegheny County Police say Tracy Carpenter, of Sardis Road, was arrested without incident Wednesday afternoon at a residence in Plum. That was a day after...
Tarentum homicide suspect had been ordered to pay victim child support
A man charged with shooting a woman to death in Tarentum has a 5-month-old child with the woman and had recently been ordered to pay child support, according to Allegheny County Police. DaShawn Frederick, 26, of Wilkinsburg surrendered to authorities Thursday night. He is charged with criminal homicide in the...
Plum School District’s Make-A-Wish telethon exceeds $1M lifetime goal
With Plum School District’s Make-A-Wish telethon closing in on a lifetime collection of $1 million, high school teacher Rick Berrott was being cautious. It would be OK if they came up short, Berrott said, because whatever money they raised would go to a good cause. His caution proved to be...
Pittsburgh police recover car stolen at New Kensington Sheetz
A car stolen Wednesday night from New Kensington was recovered about five hours later by Pittsburgh police, New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer said. The car, a 2021 Audi S5 sport sedan, was taken from the parking lot at Sheetz on Freeport Street shortly before 10 p.m., Deringer said. It...
Police say Eden Christian security guard traveled to Mississippi to meet girl for sex
A Butler County man who worked as a security guard at a Pittsburgh Christian school was arrested after police say he traveled to Mississippi to meet a girl for sex. Hernando police said Samuel James Hugg, 28, of Mars, had been sending sexual messages for days to an undercover officer...
Kiski police arrest Vandergrift woman in North Apollo stabbing
Kiski police have arrested a woman accused of stabbing a man in North Apollo early Thursday morning. Police said the suspect, Amy Hepler, 38, of Vandergrift turned herself in at approximately 9 a.m. Police said officers responded around 2:15 a.m. to a report of a domestic assault at a home...
Crashes, diesel spill cause traffic headaches on inbound Parkway East
Crashes and a diesel fuel spill caused the inbound Parkway East in Pittsburgh to be closed for a time Thursday morning. There were believed to be at least two separate crashes after the Squirrel Hill tunnel between Bates Street and the Boulevard of the Allies, Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV reported....
More than 40 residents of Washington County apartment building displaced by fire
Authorities evacuated nearly 100 people from a burning Washington County apartment building early Thursday and at least four people were taken to hospitals for treatment. The fire at Thomas Campbell Apartments on Beech Street in South Strabane was reported around 12:20 a.m., a Washington County 911 dispatch supervisor said. Firefighters...
New Ken-Arnold food drive shatters goals for food, cash donations
Valley High School’s annual food drive came back — and came through — in a big way this year. After not being held last year because of the covid pandemic, the now-districtwide effort shattered goals for food items and cash so much that not one but two New Kensington police...
Police: Homewood woman arrested for housing 2 infants, puppy in ‘deplorable living conditions’
Two infants were taken into protective custody after, police say, officers found them living in “deplorable” and unsafe conditions in a Homewood home on Monday. A malnourished puppy was also removed from the house on Mt. Vernon Street. Pittsburgh police charged Franshauna Chevi Batron, 37, with endangering the welfare of...
Argument over beer leads to SWAT situation in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood
A SWAT situation ended with a man’s arrest in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood Tuesday night, police said. Pittsburgh police said officers went to the 200 block of East Elizabeth Street shortly after 8:30 p.m. for a report of domestic violence. A criminal complaint filed in the case said a woman reported...
Powerball ticket worth $200K sold at Homestead GetGo
A Powerball with Power Play ticket worth $200,000 was sold in Homestead, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Tuesday. The ticket was sold at GetGo on East Waterfront Drive. It matched four of the five white balls drawn — 2, 13, 23, 34, 66 — and the red Powerball, 2, in Monday’s...
Police arrest 1 of 4 suspects in Homestead robbery
Police have arrested one of four males they say was involved in fatally shooting a man during a robbery in July in Homestead. Munhall police arrested Enrique Alonzo Johnson, 20, of Homestead, without incident around 8:20 p.m. Monday, Allegheny County Police said Tuesday. An arrest warrant had been issued for...
First day of winter brings chilly temps but it won’t last
Winter arrived today and flurries are possible Wednesday morning. The winter solstice is at 10:59 a.m. Tuesday, National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Frazier said. While the day began feeling like winter, with frost and temperatures in the mid-20s, it’s expected to warm into the low 40s, a few degrees above...
1 driver alerts another to fire under her vehicle while traveling on Pennsylvania Turnpike
An Ohio woman escaped her vehicle before it became engulfed in flames on the Pennsylvania Turnpike after another driver got her to pull over, according to state police. The incident happened around 6 p.m. Friday in the westbound lanes in Pine. According to state police, Amanda M. Harder, 35, of...
Person stable after being found shot in leg in Pittsburgh’s Homewood
A person was in stable condition after being found shot in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood Monday night, according to Pittsburgh police. Police said officers responded to a report of shots fired in Homewood just before 10 p.m. They found a male in the 7000 block of Frankstown Avenue, suffering from a...
Gas prices falling as omicron variant surges, stalling oil demand and prices
Average gasoline prices continue to fall as cases of the covid omicron variant surge, leading oil demand and prices to stall, an industry analyst said Monday. “The decline in gas prices will likely continue until new covid cases slow down,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for price-tracking...
Braddock man dies after being hit by vehicle in Forest Hills
A 62-year-old man died after being hit by a vehicle in Forest Hills on Sunday, Allegheny County Police said. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner identified the man as Christopher Weiss of Braddock. Police said the collision happened shortly before 6 a.m. at Ardmore Boulevard and Digital Drive. They said the...
New Kensington council to consider traffic impact of proposed Popeyes restaurant
A proposal to build a new Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen on Tarentum Bridge Road in New Kensington will face its final hurdle before city council in early January. The mayor and council are scheduled to hear an appeal to grant a conditional use to the city’s zoning at 7 p.m. Jan....
Arnold buys 3 vacant houses, increases winter demolition list to 10 buildings
For Evangelina Hernandez, it was good news and bad news that the empty house next to her home on Victoria Avenue in Arnold could be gone soon. It’s good, she said, because the house at 1908 Victoria Ave. attracts raccoons who try to get into her garbage. But it’s bad,...
