Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 20
Plum awards road paving contract, seeking slide repair bids
Plum plans to resurface seven roads and six alleys in the borough this year, while also repairing a slide on another. Council on Monday accepted a bid of just over $680,000 from Tresco for the resurfacing work covering about 4 miles of road. Councilwoman Vicky Roessler was absent. The company...
At fire academy, high school students earn class credit while training to be firefighters
Desiree Schramm wasn’t looking to become a firefighter when she was choosing electives during her junior year at North Hills High School. “I was scheduling for classes and, ‘What’s this?’ ” said Schramm, of Ross, now 18 and a senior. “This is actually pretty cool.” What Schramm stumbled across was the...
Weapons, drug charges against former Pagans member dismissed in New Kensington
Weapons and drug charges against a former member of the Pagans motorcycle gang have been dismissed. The charges, including prohibited possession of a firearm, against Bill Robert Rana, 44, of Sharpsburg were dismissed after a preliminary hearing Thursday before New Kensington District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. Rana and three...
Heroin or litter box: Arnold stabbing suspects don’t agree on cause of fight
Two men who police say stabbed each other in an Arnold apartment Sunday morning were fighting over either heroin or a dirty kitty litter box, according to a criminal complaint. Police charged Michael James Holliday, 43, of Arnold and William Johnson, 54, of Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood each with felony aggravated...
Plum School District planning $270K replacement of tennis courts
Replacing the tennis courts at Plum High School is a matter of safety, Superintendent Rick Walsh says. The courts are in such bad condition that students will play this coming season on courts at Allegheny County’s Boyce Park. “A few years ago we put a Band-Aid on the tennis courts,”...
Sheriff: 2 stolen guns recovered at New Kensington home
Westmoreland County authorities recovered two stolen guns while serving protection from abuse and eviction orders in New Kensington on Wednesday morning. The Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Office charged Ralph Earl Scott Jr., 18, of New Kensington with two counts of prohibited possession of a firearm and two counts of receiving stolen...
Federal funding availability, other concerns lead some schools to cancel electric bus plans
Uncertainty over the availability of previously promised federal funding has some local school districts rethinking their plans to buy electric buses. The unpredictability of the funding is among several reasons Plum Superintendent Rick Walsh cited for pulling the plug on the district’s plan to purchase 25 electric buses. “With the...
New Kensington planners recommend changing Carl Avenue house to commercial use
While a New Kensington property owner wants to provide space for more small business near Tarentum Bridge Road, city planning officials want to draw a firm line between commercial and residential areas. Jack Bellone wants to change the zoning of a house between Tarentum Bridge Road and 759 Carl Ave....
Plum’s John Anthony’s grows from a good-time bar to family restaurant over 40 years
For her 21st birthday, Gina D’Acierno’s parents bought her a bar. The next 40 years would see D’Acierno grow from a bartender into a business owner, and John Anthony’s evolve from a rowdy bar into an Italian restaurant with a focus on quality, consistency and treating diners like family. “In...
Plum’s John Anthony’s grows from a good-time bar to family restaurant over 40 years
For her 21st birthday, Gina D’Acierno’s parents bought her a bar. The next 40 years would see D’Acierno grow from a bartender into a business owner, and John Anthony’s evolve from a rowdy bar into an Italian restaurant with a focus on quality, consistency and treating diners like family. “In...
Milltown Road in Penn Hills scheduled to reopen after slide repair
A section of Milltown Road in Penn Hills closed since early December is expected to reopen on Friday, a PennDOT spokeswoman said. PennDOT closed Milltown between Newfield Drive, not far from Community Market, and Hulton Road, near JD Auto Body, on Dec. 3 while crews repaired two slides. The two-lane...
Starbucks opens New Kensington cafe early
It turns out even Starbucks couldn’t wait for its New Kensington cafe to open. After first saying the store built in Riverview Plaza on Tarentum Bridge Road would open Feb. 25, it actually opened Friday — Valentine’s Day. ”The anticipated opening date for this location was Feb. 25; however, the...
Hydraulic fluid leak at Lower Burrell steel plant sends slick down Allegheny River
Hydraulic fluid was released into the Allegheny River from Braeburn Alloy Steel in Lower Burrell on Monday afternoon, prompting warnings to downriver water suppliers, according to emergency officials. Two passersby reported seeing the sheen along the Westmoreland shore of the river, and Lower Burrell firefighters responded around 3 p.m., fire...
Plum School Board approves architect agreement for summer middle school projects
The Plum School Board has hired an architectural firm for renovation work proposed to be done this summer at the district’s middle school. The district will pay The Hayes Design Group-Architects $170,600 for construction documents and construction administration for select projects at the school. The scope of work consists of...
Plum High School students introduced to various careers during 3rd Career Day
Plum High School students were introduced to new careers or able to learn more about ones they are already interested in Thursday during their school’s annual Career Day. About 160 speakers from the community were expected. They were split up among 45 rooms, with three to five presenters each, with...
Cold snap stresses waterlines, authority workers in New Kensington
Water authority crews in New Kensington are among those run ragged this month fixing leaks and breaks caused by the region’s severe cold snap. Though the recent sub-zero weather caused a lot of waterline breaks, it wasn’t quite as bad as some social media posts make it out to be....
Former Plum resident pleads guilty to federal drug trafficking charges, illegal possession of guns
A former Plum resident pleaded guilty in federal court to drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms, federal officials announced Wednesday. Solomon S. Givens, 55, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, para-flurofentanyl and a mixture of para-fluorofentanyl...
New Kensington Bridge construction worker charged in crash that injured motorcyclist
A Herminie man is facing felony aggravated assault charges stemming from a traffic accident last year in New Kensington. Police on Tuesday filed charges against Matthew James Slobodnik, 24, in the crash that happened Aug. 10 at Ninth Street and Industrial Boulevard, which is the intersection just before the New...
Lower Burrell man convicted of using neighbor’s credit cards sentenced to probation in federal case
A Lower Burrell man will serve three years on probation after being convicted in federal court of fraudulent use of a neighbor’s credit cards. Senior U.S. District Judge David Stewart Cercone imposed the sentence Thursday on Jonathan Fry, 44, acting U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti announced Tuesday. Fry pleaded guilty in...
Woman wanted on drug charges found with drugs in New Kensington hotel room, police say
More than 100 stamp bags of suspected fentanyl were among drugs and paraphernalia police from New Kensington and Lower Burrell said they found in a New Kensington hotel room Jan. 23 Police made the discovery while looking for a woman wanted on felony warrants out of Lower Burrell. New Kensington...
Donations sought for Arnold family of 5 that lost home to fire
Donations are being sought to help an Arnold woman and her four children who lost nearly everything they had in a fire over the weekend. Heather Burton, her three daughters, ages 2, 9 and 11, and her 6-year-old son are staying with relatives after their home in the 1800 block...
Plum School District to put cameras on buses not already equipped with them
The Plum School District will be installing cameras on the remainder of its bus fleet. The district has received a state grant of roughly $164,000 that will pay for equipping the 34 vehicles with interior and exterior cameras. The district began the effort nearly a year ago, when it used...
‘Cat crusader’ works to keep feral cats warm in extreme cold
Cats are known for their independence, but when it gets as cold as it has been this week, even the most free-spirited of felines can use some help keeping warm. For a colony of feral cats in Allegheny Township, that help came this week in the form of Ruth Ann...
3 injured, 2 critically, in explosion at Lower Burrell steel plant
Two people were critically injured in an explosion Wednesday at Braeburn Alloy’s Steel Division in Lower Burrell, according to emergency officials. A Westmoreland County 911 public safety supervisor confirmed the incident at 11:57 a.m. at the site, 101 Braeburn Road. One of the critically injured people was flown to an...
Man in standoff had 2 guns, tried to blow up house, New Kensington police now say
A man involved in a standoff with police last month in New Kensington was handling two loaded guns and might have tried to blow up a house with a natural gas explosion, according to new charges filed against him. New Kensington police withdrew their initial charges against Burnell Johnson, 26,...
