Homestead Man Named in Federal Drug Indictment

January 28, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

Three western Pennsylvania men have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for heroin and fentanyl trafficking resulting in serious bodily injury and deaths, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

The indictment charges Andre Higgs, 32, of Pittsburgh, Romar Watts, 34, of Homestead, and Brian Borruto, 40 of Ebensburg, with conspiring to distribute and distributing at least one kilogram of heroin and a quantity of fentanyl that resulted in the deaths of at least two people in March and April 2015.

The indictment also charges Higgs with heroin trafficking on four additional occasions between February 2015 and November 2015.

 
Read More

McKeesport High Added to 'Super Bowl High School Honor Roll'

January 28, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Four McKeesport Area High School graduates who played at the top levels of the National Football League will visit their alma mater next week on the eve of the 50th Super Bowl.

Retired NFL players William Miller (Class of 1957), Mike Logan (Class of 1992), Brandon Short (Class of 1995) and Russell Stuvaints (Class of 1997) will present the district with a Golden Football from Wilson Sporting Goods as McKeesport Area High School is placed on the Super Bowl High School Honor Roll.

The ceremony will take place in Neenie Campbell Gymnasium during the halftime of the Feb. 5 boys' basketball game when the Tigers host Gateway High School.

High schools across the nation are receiving a commemorative Wilson Golden Football for every player or head coach who graduated from their school and was on an active Super Bowl roster, a spokesperson said.

The program celebrates high schools and communities that have contributed to Super Bowl history, a spokesperson said, and is designed to link past Super Bowls with this year’s game and honor the high schools and communities that have positively impacted the game of football.

 
Read More

TV Program Will Explore Unsolved Murders in African-American Community

January 26, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements

A group of investigative reporters will examine on TV why so many homicides go unsolved --- particularly in the African-American community.

"Aftermath: Unsolved Murders in the Black Community" is a one-hour discussion program that will be hosted by longtime TV and radio personality Chris Moore. The program will air at 8 p.m. Feb. 4 on Pittsburgh's WQED-TV (13) and be re-broadcast at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 7.

 
Read More

Police Log: Jan. 25, 2016

January 25, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

Provided by the Southwest Regional Police Department:

 
Read More

Local Officials Urge Caution, Patience During Weekend Snowstorm

January 22, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

As the Mon-Yough area braces for its first significant snowfall of 2016, local officials are reminding residents to keep roads clear for snowplows and salt trucks, and to be patient.

Police in White Oak requested that residents "not park on the street unless absolutely necessary," advice that was echoed by police in Wilkins and North Huntingdon townships.

A spokeswoman for McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko urged residents to be "careful and patient" as crews work to clear streets this weekend.

"As our plows and salt trucks make their way through the city’s near 100 miles of roadways, please stay safe in your homes," she said. "Be sure to be good neighbors and lend a helping hand to those in need of assistance, whether that means shoveling an extra sidewalk or checking in to make sure folks are doing well."

The National Weather Service in Moon Twp. says the McKeesport area is likely to receive 3 to 7 inches of snow between 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Winds gusting up to 25 mph will make blowing and drifting snow a problem as well, meteorologists said.

A winter weather advisory has been issued for the Mon-Yough area. Heavier snowfalls are expected south of McKeesport in Washington, Fayette and Greene counties, where the weather service has issued more serious winter storm warnings.

The predicted low overnight will be 20, and tomorrow's high will be 26. Saturday night, temperatures will turn much colder, with wind chill making the temperature feel like 1 below zero.

But the weather service cautioned that even minor changes in the direction of the passing storm could cause increases in the amount of snow in our area. Parts of Ohio and Maryland were already reporting 3 to 4 inches of snow as of 3 p.m. Friday.

 
Read More

McKeesport Councilor Seeks State House Seat

January 22, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements

A McKeesport city council member today formally announced her plans to seek the state House of Representatives seat currently held by White Oak's Marc Gergely.

V. Fawn Walker-Montgomery said she is running for the Republican nomination in the 35th District. The primary election is April 26.

The district includes McKeesport, Clairton, Duquesne, Lincoln Borough, Munhall, South Versailles Twp. (Coulter), Versailles Borough, Whitaker and White Oak, and parts of West Mifflin.

Walker-Montgomery's announcement had been expected; she said in October 2015 she intended to run for the 35th District seat this year. Candidates may begin circulating nomination petitions next Tuesday (Jan. 26) and can file their official nomination papers Feb. 17.

"The area is filled with crime, low economic and business development, hopelessness and high amounts of government corruption," Walker-Montgomery said Friday in a prepared statement. "This has divided us for too long. But if we can all come together --- across party, racial and gender lines --- we can bring hope, safety and prosperity to the 35th District."

 
Read More

Police Log: Jan. 19, 2016

January 19, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

  • Arrest records published here were provided by the McKeesport Police Department.
  • A report of an arrest does not mean the person identified has been convicted of a crime.
  • All people arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
 
Read More

Local Penn State Historian Discusses MLK's Work and Ongoing Legacy

January 18, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, Podcast

Many universities --- including Penn State's Greater Allegheny Campus in McKeesport --- were closed today for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

But instead of taking the holiday as a day off, about 90 students from the McKeesport campus and six other Penn State campuses in Beaver, Altoona, Behrend, DuBois, Fayette and New Kensington gathered in McKeesport, and then fanned out through the Pittsburgh area to volunteer at charities such as McKeesport Little Theatre, Auberle,  Braddock Carnegie Library and Braddock Free Store, and for public spaces such as White Oak Park.

The event is a tradition that began eight years ago, in an effort to use Penn State Pride to give back to the community, a campus spokeswoman said.

To kick off the event, history instructor Johnathan White gave a keynote address to students before they headed out to their volunteer sites.

 
Read More

County Police Seek Public's Help in Two Shootings

January 17, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

Allegheny County police are asking for the public's help in solving two shootings in the Turtle Creek valley area, less than an hour apart, on Saturday afternoon.

The motives in the shootings --- in Turtle Creek and then about two miles away in North Braddock --- are not clear, police said. Police did not indicate that the shootings were connected in any way.

The first incident happened at about 3:25 p.m. Saturday in the Penn Plaza shopping mall along Route 130. Turtle Creek police were dispatched in response to 9-1-1 calls about a shooting.

 
Read More

Braddock Radio Station Purchased By Local Public Media Group

January 14, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

The Pittsburgh area will soon have a jazz radio station again after nearly five years without one.

Pittsburgh Public Media announced today the acquisition of WZUM (1550), an AM station licensed to Braddock, for $75,000. (WZUM airs Tube City Community Media's weekly talk show, "Two Rivers, 30 Minutes.")

A letter of intent and asset purchase agreement was signed by WZUM’s owners, AM Guys LLC, and by Chuck Leavens, president of Pittsburgh Public Media.

The sale is pending approval by the Federal Communications Commission, a process that could take several months, Leavens said. When the sale is complete, PPM intends to add jazz programming to WZUM along with other public-interest features, Leavens said.

 
Read More

NAMI McKeesport Area to Meet


January 13, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements

NAMI McKeesport Area affiliate will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 122 of the Frable Building on the  Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus. 

Speaker  Layla Banihashemi will discuss a new study at the University of Pittsburgh focusing on young adults with mental illness, age 18 to middle age.  A care and share session will follow the talk.  The meeting is free and open to the public.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is a support, advocacy and education group for family members and friends of people with mental illness.  For more information, call 412-373-7977.

 

Police Log: Jan. 13, 2016

January 13, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

Provided by the Southwest Regional Police Department:

 
Read More

Police Log: Jan. 12, 2016

January 12, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

  • Arrest records published here were provided by the McKeesport Police Department.
  • A report of an arrest does not mean the person identified has been convicted of a crime.
  • All people arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
 
Read More

Police Make Arrests in Connection With Local Fires

January 12, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News

McKeesport police have made arrests in connection with two fires they say were deliberately set.

City police said Sean Michael Gray, 27, of Ohio Avenue, Glassport was stopped by officers Thursday on Perry Street, near the scene of a fire in a vacant house in the 300 block of Atlantic Avenue in the city's lower 10th Ward. Gray has been arrested and charged with two counts of arson.

In a separate incident, McKeesport police have charged David Whatley, 21, of the 1000 block of McCleary Street with multiple counts of arson in connection with a New Year's Day fire on Cleveland Street.

 
Read More

Podcast-Palooza!

January 08, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, Podcast

As many of you know, I do a weekly talk show --- "Two Rivers, 30 Minutes" --- that's heard on McKeesport's WEDO (810) and Braddock's WZUM (1550), as well as on our Internet radio station, www.WMCK.FM.

You can also get it as a podcast on your smartphone, computer or iPod --- or, at least you can, when I remember to upload the files. With the holidays, I did a poor job of that! Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

Well, I've rectified that. There are three (count 'em! three!) new episodes of "Two Rivers" available for download from Stitcher and iTunes.

For our most recent episode, airing this weekend, I talked to Carol Frazier, news editor of the Daily News, and Terri Pollock, an ad sales rep and page designer for the paper, about the paper's closing on Dec. 31.

How did the newspaper bind together more than two dozen Mon-Yough communities? What impact will the loss of the newspaper have on the McKeesport and Steel Valley areas? What are the problems the loss of a local newspaper poses for democracy?

 
Read More

Clairton Man Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking Charge

January 07, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

A Clairton man pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of sex trafficking of a child, U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Robert Allen Middlebrook, 41, pleaded guilty to one count before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab in Pittsburgh.

Prosecutors say that in February 2015, Middlebrook "knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided and obtained a female minor" to engage in commercial sex acts. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Pennsylvania State Police conducted the investigation, a spokeswoman said.

 
Read More

Local Fire Service Vet Tapped for County Post

January 07, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements

A local man who currently serves with the Liberty Borough Volunteer Fire Department has been named interim director of Allegheny County Emergency Services.

Matthew J. Brown was promoted today by Allegheny County Manager William D. McKain, a county spokeswoman announced. Brown had been serving as the county's deputy director of operations and training and previously served as director of protection services and manager of corporate fire protection for U.S. Steel.

He holds professional certifications from the International Association of Emergency Managers and the National Fire Protection Association, and in 2014 was named executive director of the Pittsburgh Regional Business Coalition for Homeland Security.

A life member of Munhall Volunteer Fire Company No. 1, Brown is a graduate of Steel Valley High School and has a bachelor's degree from the University of Phoenix and more than 30 years of experience in emergency services, emergency management, and industrial safety and hazardous materials.

 
Read More

Braddock Mayor Calls on Governor to Pardon Councilman-Elect

January 06, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Braddock mayor and Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman is the latest person to call on Gov. Tom Wolf to pardon McKeesport business owner Corry Sanders.

Sanders was elected to McKeesport city council in November, but the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office this week warned city officials that Sanders was ineligible to serve because he pleaded guilty in 1993 to two felony drug offenses.

"The voters of McKeesport have democratically chosen (Corry) Sanders to serve as their representative, and we should not let a drug conviction from a quarter-century ago block the will of the people," Fetterman said yesterday. "I call on Governor Wolf to issue a pardon for Mr. Sanders to give the people of McKeesport the democratic representative they voted for."

Fetterman said Sanders' inability to take his council seat --- despite a long track record of clean behavior, which includes service as a church deacon and in numerous responsible positions --- "represents so much about what is wrong with our broken system."

Fetterman is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the May primary.

 
Read More

Police Log: Jan. 5, 2016

January 05, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

  • The arrest records published here were provided by the McKeesport Police Department.
  • A report of an arrest does not mean the person identified has been convicted of a crime.
  • All people arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
 
Read More

Driver Charged With Murder in Connection With Turtle Creek Hit-and-Run

January 04, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News

A 34-year-old Munhall man has been arrested and charged in connection with the New Year's Day hit-and-run death of a woman in Turtle Creek.

William Lekovitch is awaiting arraignment on charges of homicide by motor vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and numerous other offenses, an Allegheny County police spokesperson said.

County police said that the 60-year-old victim, identified in broadcast reports as a Wilkinsburg woman, was walking in the 200 block of Penn Avenue Extension when she was struck by a vehicle sometime before 6:35 a.m. Friday (Jan. 1).

Turtle Creek police responded and found the victim suffering from multiple injuries and the vehicle that had struck her, abandoned, nearby, and the driver nowhere in the area.

The victim died of her injuries in a hospital on Sunday evening, county police said. Lekovitch surrendered to police without incident. The investigation is ongoing.

 

Judge Expected to Rule on Whether City Councilor Must Be Removed

January 04, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Corry Sanders has led "an exemplary life" since a 1993 felony conviction, an assistant district attorney told McKeesport officials earlier today, but he will be ineligible to serve on city council unless he is pardoned by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

Angry residents on Monday night crowded McKeesport City Council chambers, many of them demanding that Sanders be allowed to take the seat to which he was elected in November.

But city council President Rich J. Dellapenna adjourned council's reorganization meeting, and two additional council meetings scheduled for this week have reportedly been cancelled, as McKeesport officials await the outcome of a likely hearing before an Allegheny County judge.

Sanders, a local businessman, was one of four people elected in 2015 to four vacant seats on city council, along with Tim Brown and incumbent council members Dellapenna and Keith A. Soles. But in January 1993, Sanders pleaded "no contest" to two felony drug charges, and according to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr., that makes him ineligible to hold elected office in Pennsylvania.

Article II, Section 7 of the Pennsylvania constitition says that "no person hereafter convicted of embezzlement of public moneys, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime" is eligible to hold any "office of trust or profit" in the state.

"It is unfortunate that this situation has arisen, given the fact that Mr. Sanders has put his past indiscretions behind him and, by all accounts, lived an exemplary life since then," assistant Allegheny County district attorney Kevin F. McCarthy wrote Monday in a letter to McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko.

Sanders, who has served on unelected boards such as the McKeesport Downtown Business Authority, frequently speaks to school and church groups about how he has turned his life around.

 
Read More

Port Vue: Trash Pickup Moves to Mondays

January 03, 2016 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements

Port Vue Residents: Beginning tomorrow (Jan. 4) all trash pick up will be on Mondays only for the entire borough, a spokesperson said. Residents with questions should call (412) 664-9323.

 

Local Obituary Website Launches Today

January 01, 2016 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements

The closure of the McKeesport Daily News is going to leave a void in our lives in many ways. One concern I’ve already heard expressed is the loss of our local obituary page.

Besides the obvious usefulness of obituaries in letting a community come together to grieve the loss of our friends and loved ones, obituaries also provide a useful service to genealogists and historians.

So, this morning, we launched www.mckeesportobituaries.com -- also available at www.monyoughobituaries.com.

It is a free service that will be available to all licensed funeral directors formerly served by the Daily News.

Although the service is free, we hope that our local funeral professionals will support it with donations and advertising. Obviously, we also hope they will provide their obituaries!

 
Read More

Google™ Custom Search
McKeesport booked.net
+69°F

High: +69°

Low: +59°