Brian C. Rittmeyer stories, Page 21
Legacy of slain Apollo police Officer Leonard Miller recalled, honored 45 years later
On an evening in October 1979, a part-time Apollo police officer called then-mayor William Kerr and asked if he’d like to ride ‘shotgun’ with him that night. Kerr said he and Leonard Miller talked about Miller soon becoming a full-time police officer for the borough. “Leonard said that he loved...
Pittsburgh zoo announces death of 17-year-old giraffe, Sox
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium on Sunday announced the death of Sox, a 17-year-old female Masai giraffe. The giraffe had been euthanized on Friday after a long bout with a chronic condition, the zoo said in the announcement. “Sox had been undergoing treatment for chronic degeneration of the bones in...
Sportsmen gather in Harrison for Tri-County Trout Club’s annual show
With the region bracing for a bitter cold snap next week, anglers from near and far, young and old may have been thinking of warmer days ahead along rivers and streams as they gathered for a long-running annual sport show and flea market in Harrison on Saturday. Nearly 50 vendors...
New Valley High School lab equipment gives students hands-on learning for in-demand future jobsVideo
Valley High School biology teacher Kathy Jo Sagwitz learned how to do more with less for her students. “Before this year, I didn’t have a science room at all,” she said. “I was in a regular classroom with no lab area, no sink, no nothing. I was very limited in...
Plum School District preparing for $4.3M in work at middle school this summer
Renovation work is proposed to begin this summer at Plum Middle School. The school board is expected to vote Jan. 28 to approve paying The Hayes Design Group-Architects $170,600 for design and engineering services toward work totaling $4.3 million. The district is beginning renovations at its middle school while working...
New Kensington-Arnold School Board agrees to limit possible tax increase
Any property tax increase in the New Kensington- Arnold School District will not be higher than its state- imposed limit. At a special meeting Tuesday, the school board voted unanimously to tell the state it will not seek to raise its property tax rate by more than 6% for the 2025-26 school...
Plum Council approves volunteer firefighter stipend program
Some Plum volunteer firefighters soon could be pulling down a paycheck for their services. Borough council this week approved an agreement with the Plum Fire Chiefs Association to test a stipend program. The fire chiefs, from the Holiday Park, Logans Ferry Heights, Renton and Unity departments, still need to sign...
Arnold woman accused of shooting threat jailed without bond
Editor’s note: All charges against Mayona Harrington were withdrawn by the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office on Jan. 23 after, police say, prosecution witnesses fail to appear to testify at a hearing on the charges. An Arnold woman accused of an attempted home invasion is in jail. Mayona Dania Harrington,...
Exchange students from Hungary, Italy, Spain enjoying their time at Plum High School
Plum High School is hosting exchange students from Hungary, Italy and Spain this school year. Angela Malanga, from Italy, and Zalan Negele, from Hungary, are seniors, while Miguel Iglesia Lazaro, from Spain, is a junior. They are in Plum through the district’s partnership with EF High School Exchange Year, a...
Kiski Township needs to replace another supervisor, secretary, assistant after resignations
After filling one supervisor vacancy, Kiski Township needs to replace another supervisor and two employees following more resignations this month. The supervisors accepted the resignations of Supervisor Mark Kendall, Township Secretary Patrick Bono and administrative assistant Jerrilyn Mollick on Wednesday, all effective that day. Bono left the supervisors’ meeting after...
Relative of New Kensington cop killer’s helper threatens to shoot woman ‘like we shot up Brian Shaw,’ police say
Editor’s note: All charges against Mayona Harrington were withdrawn by the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office on Jan. 23 after, police say, prosecution witnesses fail to appear to testify at a hearing on the charges. A relative of a woman convicted of helping a New Kensington police officer’s killer escape...
Kiski Area school bus, car collide in Washington Township
No children were hurt when a Kiski Area school bus was involved in a crash on Thursday afternoon in Washington Township, Superintendent Jason Lohr said. The collision between the full-size bus and a car at Route 66 and Mamont Drive was reported shortly before 4 p.m. Eight elementary school-age students...
New Kensington-Arnold School Board schedules special meeting for budget vote
A vote this week will reveal if New Kensington-Arnold School District will seek to raise property taxes by more than its state-imposed limit for the 2025-26 school year. The board is scheduled to hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the boardroom at Valley High School “for the...
Harbor Freight opens New Kensington store, plans grand opening event
Harbor Freight opened its new tools store in New Kensington this week, marking another step in the redevelopment of Riverview Plaza following the closing and demolition of the Kmart department store. The Tarentum Bridge Road store is the company’s fourth in Westmoreland County and its 67th in Pennsylvania, Harbor Freight...
Home for struggling women to rebuild, improve lives approved in Arnold
Arnold officials have approved a woman’s plan to turn a house in the city into a place where struggling women can be safe while rebuilding their lives. The three-member zoning hearing board attached several conditions to its approval of city resident Amanda Wheeler’s use of the house in the 1700...
Valley High School set to reopen after broken boiler fixed
Students are expected to return to classes at Valley High School on Wednesday after the New Kensington school was closed for the past two days. While the New Kensington-Arnold School District was among many across the Pittsburgh region that closed Monday because of the threat of significant snow, its high...
2 children among 5 hurt in 5-vehicle crash involving Plum school bus
Two children were among five people taken to area hospitals after a five-vehicle crash that included a Plum school bus Tuesday afternoon, according to borough police. The crash, at Golden Mile Highway (Route 286) and South Duane Drive was reported shortly after 3 p.m. The circumstances of the crash were...
Plum community rallies to get bicycle for carless teen so he can make calls as junior firefighter
Kevin Butler has not known 17-year-old Elijah Mendez for long, but the Plum High School senior has made an impression. Butler, a master sergeant with the school’s Air Force Junior ROTC program, met Mendez in August when he became a cadet. “He’s a very kind, thoughtful, on-point young man. He’s...
Longtime Pittsburgh-area architect, artist Syl Damianos gifts last large-scale work to Longwood at Oakmont
A large sculpture adorning the wall of a dining room at Longwood at Oakmont is something of a penance for its creator, Sylvester “Syl” Damianos. Damianos, 91, and his wife of 67 years, Eva Lu, moved from their home of 53 years in Edgewood to a country home at the...
Farmers market to join shuttle service in increasing access to food in New Kensington
A new farmers market could join an existing shuttle service as an additional option to provide access to food for people in New Kensington. The New Ken Downtown Partnership plans for the weekly market to be held from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays from April 19 to Oct. 25 at...
Building the Valley: From play time to real time, Nicole Vigilante marks 5 years running Trovo in New Kensington
When playing with her younger brother and sister as a child, Nicole Vigilante remembers them all pretending to run a store in their father’s basement workshop. The trio imagined they were working in a hardware store, answering calls and taking orders for nuts, bolts and washers. “I can remember the...
New Kensington’s Fridays on Fifth, Voodoo Brewing gearing up for 5th anniversaries
A pair of fifth anniversaries will be marked on New Kensington’s Fifth Avenue this year. Fridays on Fifth, the monthly food truck event that took many by surprise when it debuted in 2021, is preparing for its fifth season. It will be held on the fourth Friday of each month...
Report: Nippon Steel offers 10-year guarantee to gain approval of U.S. Steel acquisition
In a last-ditch effort to gain approval for its acquisition of U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel is offering a 10-year guarantee that it would not reduce production capacity at U.S. Steel’s mills in six states, including Pennsylvania, the Washington Post reported. The newspaper cited a document sent to the White House....
Sun glare cited as factor in vehicle, pedestrian collision in Harrison
Sun glare is believed to have contributed to a 72-year-old driver hitting and seriously injuring a 64-year-old woman in Harrison, township police Chief Brian Turack said Tuesday. Township police filed four summary traffic charges against Mark A. Waltenbaugh of Tarentum. The collision happened around 4:35 p.m. Waltenbaugh was driving a...
New Kensington SWAT incident nets man wanted for assault in Pittsburgh
A man charged with assaulting a woman in October in Pittsburgh was arrested Monday night in New Kensington after being accused of assaulting a child outside a bar. New Kensington police Chief Bob Deringer confirmed that Burnell Johnson, 26, was the person arrested after a SWAT unit was called to...
