July 30, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, West Newton News
The West Newton Public Library has finished its recent remodeling project and reopened, a spokesperson said.
Hours are 12 noon to 5 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays, 12 noon to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. The library is located at 124 North Water St.
Books and other items that are not available in West Newton can be requested from the other facilities in the Westmoreland Library Network, the spokesperson said. Deliveries are made twice per week. Library cards are free but users must present a photo ID to sign up.
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July 29, 2020 |
By Nick Zurawsky | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne officials issued two proclamations honoring local residents during last week’s city council meeting.
The first proclamation was posthumously awarded to resident Kirvy Johnson, who died Jan. 31 at age 66.
Raised in Duquesne, Johnson was a fixture in the community. After attending Mon Valley School, he made his living selling handcrafted potholders and slippers.
Among other achievements, Johnson was known as an accomplished hitchhiker. According to the proclamation, at one point in Johnson’s life, his family moved him to New Jersey. Johnson was unhappy and successfully hitchhiked his way back to Duquesne.
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July 29, 2020 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
East Allegheny School District will begin the 2020-21 academic year remotely.
At a special meeting held virtually on Monday, Superintendent Alan Johnson said that with Allegheny County still experiencing new COVID-19 cases — close to 200 per day — and with more young people being diagnosed, the district has decided to shift to a remote opening plan.
“We just do not believe we are in a position to safely operate any kind of on-site class within the school district for the first nine weeks,” Johnson said.
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July 24, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
A 412 Food Rescue volunteer picks up fresh food for distribution to needy families. (Submitted photo)
Volunteers are needed to help with a free food distribution Saturday (July 25) at McKeesport Area High School.
Sara Swaney, senior director of advancement of 412 Food Rescue, said about 30 people are needed to help load boxes into cars during the event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the high school campus, 1960 Eden Park Boulevard.
Both produce and dairy products will be distributed, Swaney said, and social-distancing rules will be in place.
“We’ve been trying to focus these drive-up and walk-up distributions in communities where we know there are barriers” to transportation, she said, “and be more accessible to the people in that community and the surrounding area where we know they need the food.”
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July 24, 2020 |
By Emily Pidgeon | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Workers seal the roof on the Executive Building, Downtown, in June. New owner Jonathan Stark says the building is structurally sound and is hoping to attract new tenants. (Submitted photo via Facebook)
McKeesport’s Executive Building may not look like much these days, but with a little work and vision, new owner Jonathan Stark hopes to breathe some new life into the old building and bring commerce back to the Downtown area.
Right now, construction fence surrounds the main entrance of the building at 332 Fifth Ave. and adds to the feeling of abandonment. The Executive Building once housed Dollar Bank, a child-care facility, doctors’ offices, hair and nail salons and many other businesses.
But by 2017, the last remaining tenants had left the building, and it was condemned in January 2018 after pillars of brick began falling off the exterior wall.
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July 24, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Allegheny County police allege that Master Thornton, 18, of McKeesport is one of the two men shown here in surveillance video taken from the Family Dollar store on Versailles Avenue. The second has not yet been identified. (Photo courtesy Allegheny County police)
A McKeesport teen-ager is being held without bail in the Allegheny County Jail in connection with a 2019 robbery and murder at the Family Dollar store on Versailles Avenue.
Master W. Thornton, 18, is charged by Allegheny County police with homicide, robbery, possession of a firearm by a minor and criminal conspiracy in the death of Dwayne Fuller, 24, of Homestead.
Police allege that Thornton and another man got into an altercation with Fuller inside the store last Oct. 17.
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July 24, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A 31-year-old man died at UPMC McKeesport hospital after a shooting late Wednesday night on Soles Street.
Niko Dawson was pronounced dead in the emergency room early Thursday morning, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. He had been shot multiple times.
McKeesport police were dispatched to the 1200 block of Soles Street just before midnight for a report of “shots fired.”
According to Allegheny County police, when officers arrived, they found a 24-year-old woman had been injured by a grazing gunshot wound to the leg.
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July 23, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A McKeesport woman wanted in connection with a fatal shooting was arrested Wednesday in Chicago.
Gabrielle Parker, 33, was taken into custody without incident, said Michael Baughman of the U.S. Marshals Service in Pittsburgh.
Parker is charged by Allegheny County police with criminal homicide and carrying a firearm without a license in connection with the June 18 shooting death of Ericka J. Stevens, 29, of Pittsburgh, formerly of West Mifflin.
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July 22, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
• Arrest records published here were provided by the McKeesport Police Department.
• Not all arrest records are published.
• 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.
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July 22, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Updated: Tube City Almanac added comments from Amie Downs, Allegheny County spokeswoman, and Timothy McNulty, spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.
By Liz Essley Whyte and Alex Ellerbeck
The Center for Public Integrity
Dr. Deborah Birx, shown in a 2018 file photo, warned Pittsburgh and 10 other cities on Wednesday that they must be more aggressive in stopping the spread of COVID-19. But Pittsburgh and Allegheny County officials said they were not invited to participate in the nationwide phone call. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services photo)
Pittsburgh is one of 11 cities being told by federal authorities to take more “aggressive” steps to slow the spread of COVID-19.
In a private phone call Wednesday to state and local leaders, Dr. Deborah Birx, a leader of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, warned that 11 major cities are seeing increases in the percentage of tests coming back positive.
Birx told hundreds of emergency managers and other state and local leaders that they should act quickly to stem the outbreaks.
Pittsburgh does not have its own health department. But Amie M. Downs, Allegheny County spokeswoman, told Tube City Almanac on Wednesday night that neither Dr. Debra Bogen, director of the Allegheny County Health Department, nor anyone else from the county administration “was on any such call or has received any such communication.”
Timothy McNulty, spokesman for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, told the Almanac via email, “no one from (Pittsburgh) was on this call.”
Birx’s call was not made public, but a recording was obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, which reported details in an exclusive story on Wednesday.
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July 21, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Bob Full’s turnout gear and helmet were displayed at the entrance to the Forest Hills Volunteer Fire Department in tribute to the former chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services, who died Friday at 65. (Bob Janis photo/special to Tube City Almanac)
Friends and colleagues are remembering a longtime firefighter and emergency responder who helped create Allegheny County’s 9-1-1 emergency dispatch center.
Bob Full died Friday at age 65.
A life member of the Forest Hills volunteer fire department, Full served as Allegheny County fire marshal from 1998 to 2011 and chief deputy director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency from 2011 to 2015, and was a familiar, calming presence at disaster and emergency scenes.
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July 21, 2020 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
North Versailles Twp. will consider an ordinance that would allow residents to keep chickens on their own property.
At the July meeting, Solicitor Greg Evashavik presented a draft of the ordinance to commissioners for their consideration. The ordinance, expected to be put to a vote at the Aug. 20 meeting, is available for review at the municipal building.
Raising backyard chickens as a hobby has become increasingly popular in recent years and is permitted in many Mon-Yough municipalities.
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July 21, 2020 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
Joseph Kutch takes the oath of office as the new commissioner for North Versailles Twp.’s Second Ward. Also shown is township solicitor Greg Evashavik. (Kristen Keleschenyi photo)
Joseph Kutch has been sworn in as North Versailles Twp.’s new commissioner for the Second Ward.
At the July meeting, township commissioners appointed Kutch to fill the remainder of the term of Commissioner Daryl Mitchell, who died June 15.
The meeting was held in the township community center to ensure social distancing requirements could be met.
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July 17, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A 20-year-old McKeesport man was found dead Thursday night in an alley just off of Dinsmore Street.
Keith Jones Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene just after 10 p.m., the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said.
In a prepared statement, county police said McKeesport police and paramedics were dispatched after a caller to 9-1-1 reported that a man was lying in Spear Alley.
Jones had been shot multiple times, county police said.
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July 17, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Mark Moz photo via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons)
A program to assist tenants and landlords in Allegheny County during the COVID-19 pandemic received nearly 400 applications in its first four days.
In addition, the county is also providing some utility assistance.
The Rent Relief Program, administered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, was created by the state legislature in May and is funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
Allegheny County is projected to receive an allocation of $22.5 million, said Amie Downs, county spokeswoman.
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July 17, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center, via Facebook)
McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center is paying tribute to the city’s annual International Village with a special exhibit as well as a cooking lesson.
The three-day ethnic food and music festival, which has been held every year since 1960, was scheduled to be held in August. It has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“International Village is a long standing staple in our community,” said Teresa Trich, the museum’s community outreach director. “We at the Heritage Center have been proud to be involved with this yearly event. This year, with the cancellation of International Village, we have a new exhibit that will transport you to the Old World.”
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July 14, 2020 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
East Allegheny school directors have delayed action on a proposed health and safety plan for reopening the district.
At a special meeting held Monday, the board voted to table the first draft of the plan, which was posted for public review on the district’s website July 9. The meeting was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
New school superintendent Alan Johnson cautioned that the plan would probably need to be modified as the school year approaches because of the way things are changing so rapidly.
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July 10, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News, North Versailles Twp. News
Calvonte Moore, 20, of Duquesne has been charged in connection with a shooting Wednesday in North Versailles Twp. (Photo courtesy Allegheny County police)
A Duquesne man is wanted by Allegheny County police in connection with a fatal shooting Wednesday morning in North Versailles Twp.
Calvonte Moore, 20, shown above, is charged by Allegheny County police with criminal homicide and unlawful possession of a firearm in connection with the death of Jamey Green, 29, of West Mifflin, at the Green Valley Flats Apartments.
County police Lt. Venerando Costa said Friday that township police and paramedics were dispatched at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday to the apartment complex after a caller reported a man had been shot.
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July 10, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Renzie Road in Elizabeth Twp. has been closed for most of July so that crews can repair a landslide.
Steve Cowan, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said the closure affects the stretch of Renzie Road between Route 48 and Greenock Buena Vista Road.
The posted detour uses Zimmer Hill Road, Moray Lane and East Smithfield Street.
Weather-permitting, work will be completed later this month, Cowan said.
July 10, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Letters to the Editor
Portion of a December 1932 airplane navigation chart. (Library of Congress collection)
Curious about airport near Tinplate Hil
As a member of the “sport” aviation community, I was having a discussion with like-minded individuals about an aerial picture of the Duquesne bridge area of McKeesport that I saw years ago.
In the picture was a small airport (a grass field) along the shore of the Monongahela River just downstream from the bridge on the McKeesport side.
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July 10, 2020 |
By Nick Zurawsky | Posted in: Duquesne News, McKeesport and Region News
Participants in the Duquesne-West Mifflin Boys & Girls Club stand outside the now-closed Third Street location. Programming is moving to the nearby Duquesne Education Center. (Submitted photo via change.org)
Some residents are upset over a new partnership between the Duquesne City School District and the Duquesne-West Mifflin Boys & Girls Club that would see programs moving to the Duquesne Education Center.
An online petition to save the club has attracted more than 5,000 signatures.
The petition claims the move will negatively impact out-of-school programming for Duquesne children. It also alleges the change will increase costs for families and reduce the number of children participating in activities provided by the Duquesne-West Mifflin Boys & Girls Club.
“If the 3rd Street DWM Boys & Girls Club closes, there will not be free in-person programming this summer,” according to the petition. “The partnership with the Duquesne City School will only be offering summer online programming for Duquesne students who are in kindergarten through second grade.”
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July 09, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Kennywood and Sandcastle will open to season passholders this weekend.
A spokesman announced Wednesday the opening of the two local attractions, which was delayed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Season passholders may visit the parks Friday (July 10) while the general public may begin visiting on Monday (July 13). Reservations are required and the capacity of each park is being strictly limited.
“We believe strongly in the plan developed by our teams at Kennywood and Sandcastle to best protect the health and safety of all those visiting and working at our parks,” the spokesman said. “We look forward to providing the clean, safe and fun experience we have been proud to offer since 1898.”
For details on changes at Kennywood this year, read our June 30 story, “Kennywood, Other Attractions Reopening.”
July 07, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
ACTION-Housing constructed this new home in 2019 at the corner of Bailie and Cornell avenues. The agency is partnering with the city to build another, similar home nearby. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
McKeesport officials have shifted the city’s housing rehabilitation funds to two different agencies in hopes of breathing new life into projects that had stagnated.
City council this month voted to transfer more than $628,000 in federal Home Investment Partnerships Program grant money from the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 to Allegheny County in exchange for the same amount of money from the county’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
The city’s vision for its residential neighborhoods is about “more than just demolition,” Mayor Michael Cherepko said. McKeesport officials also want to see new housing constructed and existing homes preserved, he said.
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July 07, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Kennywood has delayed its planned 2020 opening again, due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County.
In an announcement posted on the park’s website, Kennywood said that both the West Mifflin attraction and its sister water park, Sandcastle in West Homestead, would postpone their planned July 11 re-openings.
The parks were scheduled to welcome season pass holders beginning July 6 and the general public a few days later.
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