With nine days to go until McKeesport’s International Village, we still need sponsors for our annual video webcast.
If you donate at any level, we'll mention your name on the broadcast.
Deadline for donations is Aug. 8.
Your donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
To receive a written confirmation of your donation for tax purposes, please make sure to include your full name and address.
(Last year, a number of donations didn’t have a name or address, and we could not send thank-yous.)
Advertisers
If your business or organization would like to advertise during our International Village webcast, we need your information right away! Contact me at tubecitytiger@gmail.com or (412) 614-9659.
For $175, we will make a minimum of one 30-second announcement for your group, business or organization every hour, plus we will post your video on Tube City Online for at least 30 days.
For $300, we will make a minimum of one 60-second announcement for your group, business or organization every hour, plus we will run a banner ad on Tube City Online for at least 30 days.
Residents in Duquesne may be required to have garbage cans on trash day.
At this month’s council meeting, Councilman Aaron R. Adams said that “animals going through trash” have been a problem and “trash cans would limit that.”
An ordinance would need to be created to lay out fines to residents who don’t properly use the trash cans. Council voted 4-0 on a motion to proceed with the measure.
In other business, City Engineer LaFranz Hemphill discussed that the city has a $44,000 grant that was supposed to earmarked for improvements at the Duquesne Place Playground, but that was before officials discovered that the property was owned by Duquesne City School District.
The McKeesport affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 3 at Penn State Greater Allegheny in the Frable Building, Room F122, a spokeswoman said.
The meeting is open to families and friends of loved ones living with mental illness.
Sara Levine Steinberg, Event and Technology Coordinator for NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania, will discuss plans for the annual NAMI Walk in October. She will also describe the services and resources available from NAMI Keystone by calling (412) 366-3788 or www.namikeystonepa.org.
NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness, and offers understanding and support unique to those who are affected by these conditions.
For more information about the McKeesport meeting, call (412) 527-6600. For the NAMI Helpline, call (412) 366-3788 between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
A former Pittsburgh man who threatened to shoot up a house in McKeesport in 2015 has been found guilty on federal narcotics trafficking and firearms charges.
James Taric Byrd, 45, will be sentenced Dec. 5, said a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung in Pittsburgh. Byrd could face life in prison and a fine of up to $1.5 million.
A federal jury deliberated for approximately an hour on July 21 before convicting Byrd, who was tried before U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon.
With McKeesport’s International Village right around the corner, organizers of the 13th annual “Village for Kids” are getting ready, too.
The event will be held rain or shine from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Renziehausen Park band shell, a spokeswoman said. “Village for Kids” will include crowning a prince and princess for International Village, which will be held from Aug. 9 to 11.
Free activities on Aug. 8 will include games, crafts and other activities for children.
When Kelly Robertson spoke at the conclusion of Tuesday’s Duquesne City Council meeting, she said she couldn’t thank the people of the city enough for the opportunity to serve as manager for nearly two years.
A chance to get reconnected with the city was invaluable to her, she said.
Robertson has announced her intention to resign as city manager. On Aug. 12, she will leave to become executive director for the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services with the Department of Community & Economic Development. The job will keep her involved in the Act 47 program for municipalities throughout the Commonwealth.
A search for Robertson’s replacement has not yet been announced.
One Duquesne police officer is resigning to become chief of police in Kiski Twp., and another is leaving for Pleasant Hills.
At this month’s meeting, new police Chief Tom Shaw told Duquesne City Council that two more officers are planning to leave to work in nearby Homestead. That would leave Duquesne with four police officers.
Council voted 4-0, with Councilman Timothy Caldwell absent, to hire one new police officer, under the condition that the candidate pass all physical and psychological tests.
UPMC McKeesport, city officials and a consortium of local churches will team up to host their second-annual community day from 12 noon to 5 p.m. July 30 at McKeesport Area Senior High School.
A spokeswoman said the goal of this event is to connect with the community while promoting health awareness and healthier lifestyles through free health screenings, health education and access to local resources.
Partners include the Beckwith Institute, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Beulah Park United Methodist Church, Sister to Sister Outreach Ministries and Zion Baptist Church.
The app was unveiled at this month’s city council meeting.
“We have been keeping in touch with our residents regarding events, announcements and newsworthy items on social media via Facebook,” Mayor Michael Cherepko said. “While we have more than 5,000 followers on that platform, we needed an easy way to communicate with residents who don’t have Facebook accounts.”
A city woman remembered by her family for her work ethic, her kindness and her ever-present smile will be honored with a new scholarship at Penn State’s McKeesport campus.
The Karli Short Better Tomorrow Foundation, founded by her father, Brandon, will provide financial assistance for Penn State Greater Allegheny undergraduates who have been affected by gun violence.
A fundraiser this Friday will feature former NFL and collegiate football legends including Franco Harris, Lavar Arrington, Anthony Adams and McKeesport native Mike Logan.
Short, 26, was found dead Sept. 13, 2021, at her home in the city’s Christy Park section. Investigators said that she died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
At the time of her death, police said, Short was pregnant with her first child, who would have been born in February of this year. The child’s father, Isaac C. Smith, 26, has been charged by Allegheny County police with Short’s murder.
The Becker House at 511 Romine Ave. is one of 27 slated for demolition in the city’s next phase of the “McKeesport Rising” program. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
McKeesport city council has awarded a contract for demolition of another 27 vacant houses, including a one-time landmark on Romine Avenue in upper 10th Ward.
Council also approved a $725,000 contract with Lutterman Excavating for renovations at five playgrounds, including Highland Grove, Fawcett Park, Chester Park, Sayfoot Park and Riverview Park.
Mike Betters Co., Inc., of Lincoln Borough was the lowest responsible bidder for Phase 8 of the McKeesport Rising vacant house demolition project, city officials said. The company bid $197,100 to demolish the abandoned homes, including seven on Ridge Street and another at 511 Romine Ave.
The Versailles Avenue Viaduct, part of which is shown here, was closed in February after an inspection determined it had become unsafe for motorists and pedestrians. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
McKeesport is seeking state funds to help replace the closed Versailles Avenue Viaduct.
Council this month authorized city officials to apply for $3 million from the state Department of Community & Economic Development for a multi-modal transportation grant.
McKeesport officials also are seeking funds to replace or repair Ramp 1 and Ramp 2, the bridges that cross the CSX Railroad tracks and connect lower 10th Ward to West Fifth Avenue, said Tom Maglicco, McKeesport city administrator.
Citing an inspection report that showed the bridge had become dangerous, McKeesport closed the Versailles Avenue Viaduct in February. The bridge, built in the early 1970s, is almost 300 feet long and spans Ravine Street between Point Street and Wisp Alley.
The Pittsburgh area’s largest and best folk music and food festival is returning to McKeesport’s Renziehausen Park on Aug. 9, 10 and 11, 2022.
We are once again producing a live video webcast of International Village entertainment from the main stage.
So we need to raise some money ... again. We need donations, and we need advertisers, and we need them fast ...
Donations
If you donate at any level, we'll mention your name on the broadcast.
Deadline for donations is Aug. 8.
Your donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
To receive a written confirmation of your donation for tax purposes, please make sure to include your full name and address. (Last year, a number of donations didn’t have a name or address, and we could not send thank-yous.)
Advertisers
If your business or organization would like to advertise during our International Village webcast, we need your information right away! Contact me at tubecitytiger@gmail.com or (412) 614-9659.
For $175, we will make a minimum of one 30-second announcement for your group, business or organization every hour, plus we will post your video on Tube City Online for at least 30 days.
For $300, we will make a minimum of one 60-second announcement for your group, business or organization every hour, plus we will run a banner ad on Tube City Online for at least 30 days.
At Saturday’s Renzie Ramble, Olympic gold-medalist and WNBA half-of-fame champion Swin Cash will be portrayed by Nya O’Neil, presented by Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation. Olympic gold-medalist and Baltimore Orioles southpaw Rick Krivda will be portrayed by Mason Gergely, presented by DTI Development and Marc Gergely. (Submitted photos courtesy McKeesport Little Theater)
The Renzie Ramble is returning to Renziehausen Park this Saturday from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
Sponsored by McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center, the event celebrates McKeesport history with a walking tour of local and national figures. They will be portrayed by 11 actors from the McKeesport Little Theater.
All of the people represented contributed to McKeesport’s history. This is the second year for the event.
National figures include Langston Hughes, the playwright and poet from the Harlem Renaissance, who will be played by Dellen Morton and presented by Allen Come Get Wright. Hughes traveled to McKeesport to visit his mother.
In a clipping from the San Francisco Examiner, Duquesne native Earl “Fatha” Hines poses with San Francisco nightclub owner Leonard Martin after signing a lifetime guaranteed contract in 1967. Hines, who died in 1983, is regarded as one of the most influential jazz and pop music piano players of all time. (Tube City Almanac file)
When then-city councilman Scott Adams first took office in Duquesne, longtime resident Arnold Staples handed him a folder filled with history and information regarding the city’s favorite son and jazz legend Earl “Fatha” Hines.
Sitting right next to Adams was Councilwoman Elaine Washington, who caught a peak of the exchange. Intrigued, she told Adams, “I’ll take that” and grabbed the folder.
While she personally likes different artists of that music genre, Washington wanted to ensure that Hines, who is far more instrumental in jazz than many might realize, was properly recognized in his hometown.
He always called Duquesne home, said Washington. “He didn’t say Pittsburgh. He said, ‘Duquesne’.” As a result, Washington has been working with the Pennsylvania State Historical Preservation Office to designate Hines’ childhood home at 600 Priscilla Ave. as a historical landmark.
Lawrence Abdullah died of complications of COVID-19 in 2020. His family has established a scholarship at CCAC in his honor and will be holding a fundraiser this weekend. (Submitted photo)
The second annual Lawrence R. Abdullah Scholarship Fundraiser will take place in North Versailles Twp. this Saturday (July 9), two days after what would have been Lawrence Abdullah’s 42nd birthday.
This scholarship was set up to honor an individual who was “a beast about everything that goes on in the surgery room,” as his mother, Romodore, describes him.
In November 2020, Abdullah had earned his surgical tech specialist certificate from the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). Weeks later, on Dec. 9, he passed away after being diagnosed with COVID-19. His immune system was weakened because of a kidney transplant he received a year prior.
