August 22, 2019 |
By Charlotte Hopkins | Posted in: News
The McKnight family is excited to open their church, Kingdom Culture Ministries, with a community day celebration in Renziehausen Park on Sept. 1. From left to right: Joy McKnight, Morgan McKnight, Gabriel McKnight Jr., Pastor Gabriel McKnight Sr. and Maleah McKnight. (Anthony Tabron II photo courtesy Kingdom Culture Ministries)
When Gabe and Joy McKnight first looked at the former Transfiguration of Our Lord Byzantine Catholic Church, they saw more than an old building with bricks falling from the side.
They saw what they can create inside the 100-year-old church on Sixth Avenue, Downtown. They imagined the families that would fill the pews to hear the lessons brought in a modern Christian style.
“My goals for the church are to simply help people find hope and salvation by spreading the love of Christ and to help shift the stigma on the Christian community,” Joy McKnight said. “We want to be a shoulder and a friend to all.”
The McKnights’ new church, called Kingdom Culture Ministries, will hold a community day open to everyone at 5 p.m. Sept. 1 at Pavilion No. 1 in Renziehausen Park.
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August 22, 2019 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment
Tiger color guard members toss their flags up high and execute perfect catches during rehearsal. (Bonnijean Cooney Adams photo for Tube City Almanac)
If you go...
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McKeesport Area High School Tiger Band Preview
Where: Weigle-Schaeffer Tiger Stadium, McKeesport Area High School Campus, 1960 Eden Park Blvd.
When: Today (Aug. 22). Gates open for practice at 6 p.m.; preview show starts at 7.
Tickets: Free admission
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McKeesport’s industrial heritage is featured with a theatrical twist and condensed to an eight-minute show when the Tiger Marching Band takes to the field in “A Day in the Mill.”
Ryan Raible, the assistant band director and drill designer, said each year is a challenge to create a show that the audience will understand and relate to.
“It’s a lot of pageantry arts, telling a story. I tell the kids it’s like performing an entire musical in only eight minutes,” Raible said.
When considering music, he and band director Drew DeCarlo connected with Randall D. Standridge, a composer, arranger, and drill designer, whose work is performed internationally.
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August 21, 2019 |
By Christy Walters | Posted in: White Oak News
Center Street Extension in White Oak reopened for through traffic on Monday night.
The road, near the White Oak Farms apartment complex, has been closed since July 2013, when a series of heavy rainstorms triggered landslides and ground shifting.
Councilman Chuck Davis announced the reopening at Monday's council meeting.
Davis said that the road has been evaluated and the land has not shifted for a few years, therefore it could be opened to vehicles again.
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August 20, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Submitted photo)
The ninth-annual Tour de Mon bike ride will return to the Great Allegheny Passage on Sept. 14.
U.S. Steel has signed on as the presenting sponsor, said Maury Burgwin, executive director of the Mon Yough Area Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the annual trek, which begins and ends at the historic "Pump House" near the Waterfront in Munhall.
“Tour de Mon” is a pleasure ride, not a race. Riders have their choice of going a full 20 miles to Boston and back; 15 miles to McKeesport and back; 10 miles to Pittsburgh's Hot Metal Bridge and back, or eight miles to Duquesne and back.
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August 20, 2019 |
By Christy Walters | Posted in: White Oak News
Six years ago, after an unusually rainy summer, Center Street Extension near the White Oak Farms apartment complex was closed due to unstable ground.
Fast forward to summer 2019, and heavy storms are still causing problems in the borough, this time in the form of flooding.
Residents brought their concerns to White Oak Borough Council at the August meeting. Anton Leppo, who has lived on Kansas Avenue for about one year, is concerned for his home.
“Every time we have a half-decent storm, everything goes down the hillside and into the house,” he said. “The driveway is like a river coming down. I’m going to lose my house because of this. The foundation is only going to hold for so long.”
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August 20, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Above: New fitness equipment is shown as it's being unpacked at the Wilmerding Community Center, located on Ice Plant Hill. (Submitted photo)
Organizers of the new Wilmerding Community Center will hold an open house this Saturday (Aug. 24) to show off the facility --- and hopefully sign up some members.
Located at the former Wilmerding YMCA, which closed in 2018, the facility has been refurbished and features new fitness equipment, a warm-water swimming pool and other amenities, says Gary Nowading, one of the board members of the new non-profit that has taken over the facility.
The open house begins at 10 a.m. with a VIP reception for local elected officials, donors and other invited guests. From 12 noon to 6 p.m., the facility will be open to everyone for tours, Nowading says.
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August 19, 2019 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment
Serra Catholic marching band members focus on drills while perfecting their playing during camp. (Bonnijean Cooney Adams photo for Tube City Almanac.)
This year's field shows by the Serra Catholic High School marching band will have a bit of Continental flare.
The band was initially considering a field show that would be themed around foods, but that evolved into a focus on France, said Jesse Bush, marching band director, whose students will be playing and even dancing to tunes ranging from “Work Song/At the End of the Day” from “Les Miserables” to the “Can-Can.”
“Each song in the show represents something from France,” Bush said, with solos by instrumentalists and color guard members.
“I think it’s a very fun show for us to do and, with the French theme, is more theatrical than last year,” said color guard senior Anna Osinski, who is featured as a revolutionary in the excerpt from “Les Miserables.” “The guard girls are playing different parts and there’s a guitar with the pit.”
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August 19, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: History
© Tube City Community Media Inc., except where noted.
McKeesport Mayor George H. Lysle (left) in the Pittsburgh Bulletin-Index, Jerome Boulevard sign in 1949 (right) in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
What’s in a name?
For McKeesport, 80 years ago this week, it was nine million Depression-era dollars.
In August 1939, the federal government gave Allegheny County and McKeesport officials an ultimatum — either remove the name of Mayor George H. Lysle from Lysle Boulevard, or repay $9 million in infrastructure loans and grants.
Not surprisingly, the money won out, and McKeesport City Council voted on Aug. 16, 1939, to rename “Lysle Boulevard” as “Jerome Boulevard.”
It remained that way until Lysle died in 1947 — though it was a few years before the “Lysle Boulevard” signs went back up.
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August 18, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
A McKeesport-based credit union has celebrated the opening of its first branch location.
Parkview Community Federal Credit Union’s North Huntingdon Twp. branch is located at 12260 Route 30, near the Norwin Towne Square shopping center.
A spokeswoman said the branch was designed to be “tech-savvy and eco-friendly.”
A grand opening celebration was held Aug. 10. Regular hours are weekdays 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended evening hours on Wednesdays until 6:30 p.m.
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August 18, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: News
New legislation proposed by a state official from McKeesport would impose larger fines on industrial facilities that violate air pollution standards.
House Bill 1752, which would amend Pennsylvania’s 1960 Air Pollution Control Act, also would require large industrial facilities to have warning systems to alert residents to air-quality emergencies.
State Rep. Austin Davis, who introduced the bill, called it a response both to a Dec. 24 incident at U.S. Steel's Clairton Plant, as well as to a massive fire in June at an oil refinery in Philadelphia.
“These were two incidents that were not only unfortunate but detrimental to the environment and the residents residing in the general vicinity of both sites,” Davis said. “Laws and regulations currently exist to make sure we have clean air and to also monitor industrial sites so that the public is protected from excessive emissions.”
The bill was referred Friday to the state Legislature's Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, where it will likely face a tough road to a vote by the full General Assembly, which is controlled by Republicans.
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