January 31, 2021 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
Progress is being made on a proposed distribution facility to be built at the former Eastland Mall site.
At the January meeting, North Versailles Twp. Commissioner Allen Wagner said he recently received an email from Trammell Crow Co., the Texas-based real estate developer that is representing the potential tenants.
The email said that Trammell Crow is pursuing necessary permits from Allegheny County and state agencies, but the pandemic has made acquiring these more difficult, Wagner said.
Read More
January 31, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
Cici is a pitbull mix awaiting adoption at White Oak Animal Safe Haven.
When Laura Massie joined the White Oak Animal Safe Haven 10 years ago, she knew her love for animals could make a positive difference in the community.
“I came in as a board member, volunteering, and just loving animals,” said Massie, who now serves as vice president of the non-profit’s board. “I’ve been vice president for three years, and a board member and volunteer for 10.”
Created on Sept. 21, 2003 by Ina Jean Marton, the shelter was born out of a desire to help animals as well as the wider community.
Read More
January 29, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Wilkinsburg man is being held in the Allegheny County Jail after leading police on a chase that ended up with a crash inside the RIDC Industrial Center of McKeesport and a search through a local railroad yard.
Zaire Hatchin, 21, is jailed in lieu of $20,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing Feb. 8 on more than a dozen charges, including possession of drugs with intent to deliver, reckless driving, firearms violations and leaving the scene of an accident.
McKeesport police said an officer on routine patrol early Wednesday morning observed a blue Toyota sedan traveling at a high rate of speed on Lysle Boulevard, and began following it as it turned onto Coursin Street.
Read More
January 28, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A former city man faces five years in federal prison after his conviction on narcotics and firearms charges.
Jared A. Ogrosky, 23, formerly of the city’s Highland Grove neighborhood, also was sentenced to three years’ probation following his release. The sentence was imposed Jan. 20 by Senior U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in Pittsburgh.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said that Ogrosky was arrested May 10, 2019, following a search of his Bowman Avenue home. According to federal prosectors, police and federal law-enforcement officers found nine bricks of heroin in a closet inside the home, along with a loaded 9-mm pistol and a 50-round 9-mm magazine.
Read More
January 28, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, West Newton News
The West Newton Center for Active Adults is selling a special fundraising raffle ticket tied to the Pennsylvania Lottery’s April 1 evening three-digit drawing.
“I think we can safely say that 2020 made fools of all of us, but winter blew in and with the change in seasons came the change in calendars,” said Paul A Kurzdorfer III, center manager. “Now we sit in 2021 anxiously awaiting spring and those better days ahead.”
Read More
January 28, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, Duquesne News
A volunteer helps direct traffic during a drive-up food distribution at Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in Duquesne in 2020. (Submitted photo courtesy Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.)
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank continues to offer drive-up food distributions in the city, Duquesne, Glassport and other communities.
A spokesperson said the drive-up distributions are designed to comply with federal, state and county COVID-19 mitigation regulations that limit crowd sizes and recommend social distancing.
The next drive-up distribution is from 3 to 5 p.m. Feb. 1 at the food bank’s headquarters, 1 N. Linden St., Duquesne, followed by a distribution from 1 to 3 p.m. Feb. 11 at Queen of the Rosary Church, 530 Michigan Ave., Glassport, and 10 a.m. to 12 noon Feb. 20 at Founders Hall Middle School, 1960 Eden Park Blvd., McKeesport.
Read More
January 27, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 22, 2020. (File photo courtesy U.S. National Institutes of Health)
The Allegheny County Health Department has opened additional vaccination appointments for individuals 65 years of age and older, beginning Feb. 9 and continuing through Feb. 13.
A spokesman said the vaccination site, located at the DoubleTree Hotel near the Monroeville Mall, is in “great demand” and that appointments are required.
The health department also continues to vaccinate eligible healthcare workers and people who are returning for the second shot in the vaccination series.
Read More
January 26, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Monroeville man is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond in connection with the strangulation death of a McKeesport man inside his home on Grover Street.
Devin Alexander Hale, 30, faces a preliminary hearing March 12 before Magisterial District Judge Kim Berkeley Clark in Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County police allege that Hale and another man forced their way into the home of David M. Faust, 66, on Jan. 19, and that Hale strangled him during a robbery.
Faust died Jan. 23 at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, Oakland, of injuries sustained in the incident, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
Read More
January 26, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: Announcements, White Oak News
White Oak’s Heritage Hill Pool is expected to open this year.
The pool didn’t open in 2020, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that lifeguards could not be trained and necessary repairs could not be completed.
The city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County also did not open their pools last year.
Councilwoman Julie Opferman said last week that although pool season is still months away, it’s on council’s radar.
However, she said, Heritage Hill Pool will implement a new system of pricing and passes this year.
Read More
January 25, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
White Oak Borough is planning to pave all or part of more than a dozen streets this summer as it tackles infrastructure improvements.
At last week’s meeting, Manager John Palyo presented a list of streets targeted for repaving, including Andrew Drive, Main Street, Maple Drive, Laurel Lane, Circle Drive, Midway Drive, Stepanik Road, Chesapeake Street, Longvue Drive, Glass Street, Terrace Drive and Sunset Drive.
The borough is also targeting four properties for demolition, including two properties on O’Neil Boulevard and one each on New Jersey Street and Capitol Street, Palyo said.
In other business, Councilman George Dillinger, who chairs the finance committee, encouraged other members of council to be mindful of the $7.2 million bond that the borough issued in 2019 for infrastructure projects.
Read More
January 16, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The family of a retired Pittsburgh Steelers player who was found dead in a personal care home on Versailles Avenue has sued the facility, alleging negligence.
Samantha Davis of Washington, D.C., filed suit this week in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against New Life Personal Care Home Inc. of McKeesport on behalf of the estate of her father, Samuel R. Davis.
Davis, 75, was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs in the New Life facility on Sept. 10, 2019, about 14 hours after he was reported missing. He was pronounced dead a short time later. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Davis died of complications related to heart disease.
Read More
January 15, 2021 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
East Allegheny School District will begin hybrid learning in the district Jan. 25.
School directors this week voted 5-4 to resume some in-person classes. The district has been fully remote since Dec. 1 based on a recommendation from the state Department of Dealth when the state’s COVID-19 daily case count reached 6,000.
Prior to that, both the high school and elementary school were operating within a scaffolded learning model accommodating students with individualized education plans (IEP's) in person.
Read More
January 15, 2021 |
By Siana Emery | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Diane Pazuchanics shows off a recent gift sent by a former student. (Submitted photo via Facebook)
Long-time McKeesport Area art teacher and mentor Diane Pazuchanics is seeing the inspiration she fostered in others being returned to her. Through “The Angel Project,” a network of students, colleagues, friends and even strangers, are using art to show their gratitude toward her.
Pazuchanics, known as Mrs. Paz to her students, has taught at McKeesport Area High School for 27 years as an art teacher, providing students with creative inspiration. Due to a weakened immune system and other health complications, Mrs. Paz has been on sick leave this school year.
Danielle Pazuchanics, her daughter, recently posted a video to Facebook in which her mother shared a wish for a “final lesson plan”: to compile a book of watercolor paintings. Paz also created a Facebook group, The Angel Project, for colleagues to share well wishes.
Read More
January 13, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Condemned signs have been removed from the Executive Building, Downtown, whose new owner, Jonathan Stark, has four potential tenants ready for the first floor. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Although the “Condemned” notices were recently removed from the doors of the Executive Building on Fifth Avenue, don’t expect to see a movie at the Quad Cinemas in the basement any time soon.
The seats and projection equipment are long gone, but the four auditoriums are still there, and they’re still plagued by the same problem that forced the theaters to close in 1980 — they’re prone to flooding.
“They’re more than 20 feet below street level,” said Jonathan Stark, who purchased the building in April 2020.
While the old theater spaces are likely to stay vacant, four tenants have signed letters of intent for the storefronts along Fifth Avenue, Stark said.
Read More
January 13, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The Downtown park-and-ride lot will be closed through the end of the year while Port Authority of Allegheny County makes improvements to the facility. (Tube City Almanac photo)
The McKeesport Transportation Center will close Saturday for the remainder of the year as Allegheny County’s transit agency begins the second phase of improvements to the facility.
A spokesperson for Port Authority of Allegheny County said the work will include four new bus shelters with benches, 19 additional parking spaces, two bus ticket vending machines and improved access for bicycle riders who want to use the Great Allegheny Passage trail.
In addition, a restroom building will be constructed for bus drivers and the sewerage system at the site will be improved to accommodate more rainwater runoff through use of an underground retention tank.
The cost of the improvements is $3.4 million.
Read More
January 12, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Politics & Elections
Linda Brewster and her husband, state Sen. Jim Brewster, at his 2017 swearing-in at the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Brewster is scheduled to take the oath Wednesday morning after a federal judge dismissed a challenge filed by his opponent, Nicole Ziccarelli of Lower Burrell. (Courtesy office of state Sen. Jim Brewster)
State Sen. Jim Brewster will be sworn in for his third full term representing the 45th District on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m.
The decision by Pennsylvania Republicans to seat Brewster came Tuesday afternoon, after a federal judge in Pittsburgh dismissed a lawsuit filed by Brewster’s opponent that challenged the results of the Nov. 3 election.
Allegheny County Judge David Spurgeon of White Oak is scheduled to administer the oath to Brewster, Democrat from McKeesport.
“I just feel so relieved, for my family, my friends, my staff and for all of the people in the 45th District, no matter who they voted for,” Brewster said Tuesday night, as he worked through some 300 messages from well-wishers congratulating him on his victory, as well as from news reporters from around the United States asking for comment.
Read More
January 11, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Corry Sanders speaks to members of the McKeesport Tigers men’s varsity basketball team. The longtime barbershop owner now works for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office and for Pittsburgh’s Center for Victims. (Mike Manko photo, special to Tube City Almanac)
Corry Sanders went to the McKeesport Senior High School gymnasium last week with a simple message for the men’s varsity basketball team.
“Mistakes are very, very costly nowadays,” Sanders told about 20 members of the squad on Thursday night. “You might not be blessed with an opportunity to choose again.
“This is not a ‘Call of Duty’ game on Xbox, where you get a reset button,” he said.
Read More
January 11, 2021 |
By Jason A. Mignanelli | Posted in: Duquesne News
(Editor’s Note: This is the first of two planned articles. The second will explore community reaction to the project.)
An architect’s rendering shows what In City Farms’ Duquesne facility will look like. Construction is expected to begin soon. (Submitted image courtesy In City Farms)
Minnesota entrepreneur and businessman Glenn Ford is looking not only at creating jobs in Duquesne but also addressing the problem of food insecurity.
“Community engagement is much more than a marketing pitch for us,” said Ford, chief executive officer of In City Farms, which has recently purchased 25 acres of land at RIDC’s City Center of Duquesne, the industrial park where U.S. Steel’s Duquesne Plant operated until 1984.
“Our facility is being built literally a block away from where nearly 1,500 people waited in line at the local food bank during COVID,” Ford said in a recent interview with Tube City Almanac. “We want to be a part of fixing this food shortage.”
Read More
January 11, 2021 |
By Nick Zurawsky | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council has approved a budget for 2021 that includes a boost in spending of about $73,000.
Increased expenditures will be paid for by a combination of a wage tax increase, a property tax increase, and improved water bill collections, city officials said.
Last year was to have been the first year since 1991 that Duquesne was not included under the state’s Act 47, the Financially Distressed Municipalities Act, where the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development assists municipalities that are experiencing severe financial difficulties to ensure residents’ health, safety and welfare.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city’s participation in the program has been extended.
“We are anticipating that we should be out of Act 47 real soon,” Mayor Nickole Nesby said.
Read More
January 06, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A former McKeesport city councilwoman is encouraging supporters to call officials and voice their displeasure after Wednesday’s council meeting was closed to the public.
In a video posted to Facebook Live, Fawn Walker-Montgomery, co-founder of Take Action Mon Valley and a candidate for state representative in 2018, said Wednesday night she planned to file a complaint against the city for allegedly violating the state’s Open Meetings Law, commonly called the “Sunshine Act.”
“There are so many violations that are happening here right now,” Walker-Montgomery said.
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said the decision to close the meeting was made due to the sharply increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the region.
“This is only going to happen for a couple of months,” he said. “We’re hoping no more than two or three meetings before we’re in the clear.”
Read More
January 06, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, North Versailles Twp. News, White Oak News
A strong odor reported by residents of McKeesport, North Versailles Twp. and White Oak on Tuesday night was not a natural gas leak, a spokesman said.
Allegheny County emergency personnel said firefighters were dispatched to several locations along Route 48 just after 7 p.m. after 9-1-1 callers said they smelled natural gas.
But Barry Kukovich, spokesman for Peoples Gas, said there were no gas leaks or any service problems reported in Route 48 corridor on Tuesday night.
Natural gas is odorless, and the “gas smell” actually comes from a chemical called methyl mercaptan, which is designed to help customers detect a leak.
Kukovich said that it’s possible that a truck carrying mercaptan, or a similar chemical, passed through the area on Tuesday night, but the smell was not related to Peoples Gas.
January 05, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Commentary-Editorial
Tuesday’s decision by the Republican majority in the Pennsylvania State Senate not to seat state Sen. Jim Brewster of McKeesport has made national and international headlines, with even a cartoonist from Nairobi, Kenya, weighing in.
Here’s what some media outlets are saying:
Read More
January 05, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Politics & Elections
(This story was written by Jason Togyer from press pool reporting by Elizabeth Hardison of the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, with additional coverage from the official video feed of the Pennsylvania State Senate at pasen.gov.)
State Sen. Jim Brewster of McKeesport poses for a photo with state Sen. Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia before Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony. The Republican leadership is holding Brewster’s 45th District seat vacant after an election challenge by Nicole Ziccarelli of Lower Burrell. (Photo via Twitter @SenatorHughes)
Shouting broke out in the Pennsylvania senate on Tuesday after the Republican majority refused to swear-in state Sen. Jim Brewster of McKeesport for his third full term.
The dispute has turned a national political spotlight on the 45th Senatorial District, which includes the city, most of the Mon Valley, Monroeville, Plum and part of the Alle-Kiski Valley in Westmoreland County, and which is now without a state senator.
Republican senate leaders have not said when they expect to resolve the situation, but Democrats are vowing to fight to get Brewster sworn back into office.
Brewster has been certified by both state and county officials with winning re-election to the 45th District by fewer than 70 votes. During a swearing-in ceremony Tuesday afternoon, he stepped forward to take the oath of office along with nine other Democratic senators.
But state Sen. Jake Corman, Republican of Centre County, serving as president pro tempore, said the oath would not be administered unless Brewster left the rostrum.
Read More
January 05, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Politics & Elections
Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania State Senate are planning not to administer the oath of office to McKeesport’s Jim Brewster on Tuesday when other members of the chamber take their seats.
On Monday night, top Pennsylvania Democrats called the decision “illegal and unlawful” and accused the Republican majority of trying to steal the election.
“This is right out of the Trump playbook,” said state Sen. Jay Costa Jr., Democrat of Forest Hills.
Brewster, who state and county officials have certified as the winner in the 45th Senatorial District by 69 votes, sounded weary on Monday night, but counseled patience.
“I want to make sure the (voters) understand that from my perspective, most elections are hard fought, no matter who wins or loses,” said Brewster, who has served 10 years in the senate after winning a special election for the seat in 2010.
Read More
January 02, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Politics & Elections
Republican Nicole Ziccarelli has asked leaders of the Pennsylvania State Senate not to seat Democrat Jim Brewster when the chamber convenes on Tuesday.
In a petition filed Friday night, Ziccarelli, of Lower Burrell, alleges that the decision of Allegheny County to count mail-in ballots that were signed, but not dated, constitutes acceptance of “illegal votes” and was “a blatantly political maneuver.”
Results accepted and certified by the Pennsylvania Department of State give Brewster, of McKeesport, a 69-vote lead in his re-election to a third full term to represent the 45th Senatorial District.
Ziccarelli has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh alleging that her rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution were violated because Allegheny County accepted signed but undated mail-in ballots, while neighboring Westmoreland County did not count similar votes.
Read More
January 01, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
White Oak borough has joined other municipalities like North Versailles Twp. and will allow residents to keep chickens at their homes.
Ordinance 2020-29, approved in December by borough council, allows White Oak residents to keep hens, but not roosters, at their own single-family dwelling if it includes at least one-half acre of property.
No more than four hens or chicks may be kept at any residence, and owners must provide a safe, stationary, enclosed, roofed coop, at least 30 feet away from any building on an adjacent lot, according to the ordinance.
Read More
January 01, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
White Oak council has enacted a property tax increase to close a nearly $1 million budget gap.
At the Dec. 28 meeting, council by 6-0 vote adopted the 2021 budget and set property taxes at 8.00 mills. Councilman Louis Bender was absent.
The tax rate for 2020 was 6.41 mills on each dollar of assessed valuation, said Councilman George Dillinger, chair of the finance committee, said. The increase amounts to roughly 25 percent.
Each mill represents $1 in taxes on each $1,000 of assessment. A homeowner with a house and land valued at $100,000 can expect their property taxes to increase $159.
Read More
