August 30, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Area School District is continuing to investigate matters pertaining to an alleged sexual relationship between a former guard and student.
The guard, Alexis Brown, worked for outside contractor Homeland Intelligence & Protective Services and now faces criminal charges in connection with incidents occurring last year.
“We are still investigating all the concerns with this issue and taking our due diligence to make sure that anyone who was involved in this, and any information that we have about this, is being investigated thoroughly,” Solicitor Gary Matta said in an interview.
Matta would not confirm the rumor that two assistant principals and a teacher have been placed on leave pending the investigation. KDKA-TV reported that a principal also has been placed on leave.
“We are taking the actions that we believe are appropriate,” he said. “The district has and will continue to take the appropriate actions as we obtain information on this issue and any other issue.”
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August 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for a fire that damaged four McKeesport police vehicles early Wednesday morning.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives is investigating the incident, along with McKeesport police and the Allegheny County fire marshal’s office.
The ATF announced the reward. Investigators said that arson is suspected.
The fire was reported just after 3 a.m. Wednesday in the municipal parking lot at the end of the Jerome Avenue Bridge and damaged four police vehicles. The vehicles were used as backup cars and were not in active use, city officials said.
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August 29, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Photo courtesy Vitalant, via Facebook)
Local Lions and Rotary clubs will partner with Vitalant to hold a blood drive Sept. 18 at Sampson Mills Presbyterian Church in White Oak.
All participants will receive a free Halloween-themed T-shirt that says “I am a blood donor.”
The event is sponsored by the McKeesport Lions Club, Mon River Fleet Lions Club, White Oak Lions Club and White Oak Rotary and will be held from 2:30 to 7 p.m. at the church, 1665 Lincoln Way.
To schedule an appointment, call 1-877-25-VITAL or visit Vitalant.org and go to “Find Blood Drives.” The event code is UC2120033.
Founded in 1943, Vitalant is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit blood and biotherapies healthcare organizations. It merged with Pittsburgh-based Central Blood Bank in 2018.
August 29, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The McKeesport unit of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will hold its next monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 4 in Room 122 of the Frable Building at Penn State Greater Allegheny, a spokeswoman said.
The meeting is open to families and friends of loved ones living with mental illness.
A “Care and Share” session will be held. This opportunity offers understanding and support unique to those who are affected by mental health conditions of loved ones.
For more information about the NAMI McKeesport support group meeting call (412) 527-6600. For the NAMI Keystone Pennsylvania Helpline, call 412-366-3788 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The suicide and crisis hotline can be reached via phone or text, 24 hours per day, at 9-8-8.
August 29, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
With additional reporting from Jason Togyer
McKeesport Area School District will pay $173,250 as part of its settlement with outgoing Superintendent Tia Wanzo.
In the meantime, the Tribune-Review has reported that the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office is investigating whether school officials promptly reported a series of sexual encounters between a former security guard and a McKeesport Area School District student.
The guard, who worked for an outside contractor, faces criminal charges in connection with those incidents.
Rumors have circulated for several weeks that Wanzo’s decision to step down was somehow connected to the incident involving the former security guard. Neither Wanzo nor district officials have been willing to confirm, deny or comment on the rumors.
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August 27, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne police have filed criminal charges against the city’s former mayor, Nickole Nesby, stemming from a traffic stop.
According to a criminal complaint, Duquesne police Officer Ryan Drohn was in a marked car and sitting stationary on Commonwealth Avenue at State Route 837 at 12:08 a.m. Aug. 7 waiting for a traffic light to turn green.
The complaint states that a black GMC SUV negotiated a wide turn off of 837 and entered his eastbound lane. Drohn wrote that the vehicle nearly struck the front driver side panel of his patrol vehicle “before turning abruptly back into the westbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue.”
According to the complaint, Drohn estimates that the SUV missed the cruiser by less than a foot. The complaint states that he turned the patrol car around and followed the SUV. He “observed it to be drifting over the double yellow line by approximately a half tire width for approximately two seconds with ongoing traffic in the eastbound lane.”
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August 26, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport police Chief Mark Steele, Rev. Dr. Moni McIntyre of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, South Allegheny school police Chief Adam Alfer and Ethel Balas of St. Stephen’s met at International Village this month. (Tube City Almanac photo)
A Downtown church is continuing its practice of providing $300 gift cards to McKeesport police officers who were on duty when a tragic shooting claimed the life of one officer and seriously injured another.
This month, members of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church provided retired McKeesport police Chief Adam Alfer with a $300 gift card for Alfer and his spouse to use at a restaurant of his choice.
Funds were donated by members of the parish, said Rev. Dr. Moni McIntyre, priest in charge of St. Stephen’s.
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August 26, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
There are things Dr. Tia Wanzo will speak about, and things she won’t. It’s a knotty position for someone who’s always considered herself “an open book.”
Currently on leave as superintendent of McKeesport Area School District, Wanzo won’t talk about her separation agreement, the board or personnel issues.
She won’t talk about the events of recent weeks — how prior to Thursday evening, rumors circulated about her continuance with MASD.
Some clarification was offered Thursday night, when after the meeting’s adjournment Solicitor Gary Matta told the public that “Dr. Tia Wanzo has requested a leave of absence from the district effective Aug. 14, 2024 until Nov. 13, 2024 at which time Dr. Wanzo will resign as superintendent of the McKeesport Area School District.”
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August 23, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Leadership at McKeesport Area School District is becoming slightly more clear. During Thursday’s special board meeting, the board approved the hiring of William Pettigrew as acting superintendent.
Pettigrew will be paid at a rate of $650 per day, $100 per week for expenses and $110 per month for cell phone expenses. According to published reports, he is the former longtime superintendent of the Mars Area School District and holds a doctorate from Penn State University.
Prior to the board’s approval, District Solicitor Gary Matta announced during a hearing of citizens that MASD Superintendent Tia Wanzo is on “a leave of absence. She had requested that leave of absence. She will be on that leave of absence for 90 days and I can’t tell you the reason due to confidentiality.”
Matta added that Wanzo has full salary and benefits during her 90-day leave of absence.
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August 23, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Tia Wanzo was sworn in as McKeesport Area School District’s superintendent in 2022 by Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi. Wanzo has resigned effective Nov. 13, the district’s solicitor announced last night. (McKeesport Area School District photo)
After a contentious meeting marked by public frustration, McKeesport Area School District solicitor Gary Matta announced that the board had agreed to a separation agreement with Superintendent Tia Wanzo.
Matta, who delivered his comments after the meeting was adjourned, said that he and Wanzo’s attorney worked on the separation agreement for one week beginning the “day after the last meeting.”
During Thursday’s special board meeting neither Matta nor the board shared details regarding that separation agreement. During a hearing of citizens, several McKeesport residents voiced support of Wanzo. After that portion of the meeting concluded, the board approved agenda item “5.3 Resignation,” which called for a board action to accept the separation agreement for employee #2584. The action was approved.
Following the meeting’s adjournment, Matta confirmed that the employee was Wanzo.
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August 22, 2024 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment
Nancy Caronia as Rivka Blumenthal and Alex Naglich as Michael Primmer rehearse ways they might be able to resolve a tricky situation in “They-Said, They-Said.” (Submitted photo courtesy McKeesport Little Theater)
If you go...
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McKeesport Little Theater’s Production of “They-Said, They-Said”
Written by Brenda Kenworthy
Part of the 33rd season of Pittsburgh New Works Festival
Where: Genesius Theater at Duquesne University, 1225 Seitz St., Pittsburgh (Uptown/The Bluff)
When: Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 22-25. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday shows at 8 p.m., with matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets: Advance discounted ticketsare $17 for adults, $15 for students. Tickets are $20 at the door.
Note: “They-Said, They-Said” is the middle one-act play presented during the three-play program each day. The other two are “Evie & Frannie Take a Detour,” produced by Stray Cat Theatre, and “I Do?”, produced by Glass Fox Productions.
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Fans of McKeesport Little Theater have another opportunity to show their support at the world premiere of an original one-act play as part of the 33rd season of Pittsburgh New Works Festival.
McKeesport Little Theater is producing “They-Said, They-Said,” by playwright Brenda Kenworthy of Garden Grove, Calif., as their entry to the festival.
For those not familiar with the process, PNWF annually solicits original, one-act plays, which are narrowed down by a panel of judges. The top 15 are selected to become full productions.
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August 19, 2024 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
A state vehicle accesses a public charging station. Electric vehicle registrations increased 82 percent between 2021 and 2023. (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection photo)
Pittsburgh is emerging as a leader in innovative solutions like electric vehicles and clean energy to combat the climate crisis, says the group Elected Officials to Protect America.
The bipartisan nonprofit, based in Rockland, Maine, is a network of elected officials who are concerned about the effects of climate change on the environment. It recently hosted a press conference in Pittsburgh to applaud the region for efforts to encourage motorists to switch to electric cars, and for projects such as Energize Pittsburgh, a pilot program designed to help low-to-moderate income homeowners to reduce their energy costs.
Statewide, in 2022, electric vehicle registrations increased by about 82 percent from the previous year, the group said. At the start of this year, more than 47,000 electric vehicles were registered in the state.
State Rep. Emily Kinkead, Democrat from Bellevue, envisions Pittsburgh as a future leader in the green economy, bolstered by strong labor unions and academic institutions.
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August 19, 2024 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A group of friends pose for a portrait while playing a game of cards. Front left is Bill Hall from White Oak, sitting behind him is Rita Gallo from White Oak, on the opposite side of the table sitting in front, is Marlanna Steiner from West Mifflin, and behind her is Kathy Sloan from Elizabeth Twp. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
Judy Marcase of Greenock is an older adult who likes staying active and independent. She enjoys dancing, exercise and computer time. Like a number of senior citizens in the Mon Valley, she finds all three activities — and more — at her local LifeSpan resource center, located in Olympia Shopping Center.
“Growing older is challenging and I believe that being there for an older person can help change how they feel,” Marcic said.
The Mon Valley LifeSpan in Versailles is one of six resource centers in Allegheny County that also include Homestead, Bethel Park, North Fayette Twp., and the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Chartiers and Knoxville.
LifeSpan is a non-profit resource and service center for people aged 60 plus, and has been located in Olympia Shopping Center since 2015. Each month, the center has a calendar filled with activities, and every weekday a healthy lunch is served to older adults for a suggested donation.
Amy Marcic from McKeesport, Judy Marcase from Greenock, and Deb Kebles from McKeesport pose for a portrait in front of the Life Span bingo board.
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August 19, 2024 |
By T.J. Martin | Posted in: East McKeesport News
New police Chief Scott Lowden has been with the East McKeesport department for 27 years. (T.J. Martin photo for Tube City Almanac)
There’s a new top cop in East McKeesport and next month, the borough will welcome a new councilperson as well.
At the monthly borough council meeting, Scott Lowden was sworn in as the new borough police chief. Lowden has been with the East McKeesport Police Department for 27 years, the last 25 of those as a full-time officer. As chief, Lowden will oversee a department of three full-time officers, including himself, and seven part-time officers.
He replaces Chief Russell Stroschein who retired in June.
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August 16, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac file photo by Adam Reinherz)
McKeesport Area School District’s superintendent is on leave at her own request, the district’s solicitor said Friday.
In response to questions from Tube City Almanac about the status of Superintendent Tia Wanzo, district solicitor Gary Matta said, “Dr. Wanzo has requested to take a leave of absence. She is on leave effective August 14, 2024.”
Wanzo asked for a three-month leave, according to the solicitor.
The board has not yet approved an acting superintendent, he said. “Mr. [Matthew] Mols is currently the assistant to the superintendent and is the next in line until the board appoints an acting superintendent.”
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August 16, 2024 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
(Source: Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association; Keystone Research Center; Economic Policy Institute)
Pennsylvania's wage growth has rebounded from pre-pandemic lows and now exceeds the national average, according to the latest Pennsylvania Workforce Trends report from the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association.
The data show average hourly earnings for nonsupervisory workers grew almost 4 percent between 2019 and this year. Pay grew even faster among low-wage workers, at 9.2 percent in Pennsylvania, but not as much as the U.S. average of more than 13 percent.
Carrie Amann, executive director of the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association, said despite the wage increases, Pennsylvanians are well aware the cost of living has also been on the uptick.
“Employers are, in fact, paying their workers more in certain occupations and certain percentiles of workers,” Amann said. ‘We’ve seen significant increases — I think, almost 10 percent wage increases — in what we would typically call low-wage workers.”
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August 16, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and is subject to change.
Who is McKeesport Area School District’s superintendent? Days after community members demonstrated support for MASD Superintendent Tia Wanzo at a school board meeting, rumors swirled regarding the educator’s continued employment with the district.
The school district advertised a special meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday to discuss “personnel” matters, but parents who tried to attend the meeting were told it was canceled.
Calls and messages to board members about Wanzo’s status as superintendent have gone unanswered — as have attempts to reach Wanzo.
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August 15, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Joanne Dorazio and family from White Oak attend International Village all three nights “and eat our way through.” (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said Wednesday he wished that every reporter in Pittsburgh was at Renziehausen Park in McKeesport to attend the city’s 64th International Village.
“I wish I could get every news camera in the Pittsburgh region here at International Village to cover this,” said Davis, a McKeesport resident and McKeesport Area High School alumnus. “Oftentimes they cover the bad things that happen in McKeesport, and there are so many more good people and good things that happen here. Oftentimes they don't tell that story and this is an example for people to see up close and personal what McKeesport is really about.”
Familiar faces came to a familiar place on Wednesday evening, as community members and elected officials descended on Renziehausen Park for the second day of the 2024 International Village. Founded in 1960, the annual ethnic festival — complete with food, music and dancing — draws thousands in search of summer fun.
Tube City Online is providing live coverage each night from 5:30 to 9 p.m. via YouTube.
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August 15, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
UPMC McKeesport is celebrating the grand opening of a new, state-of-the-art wound-care clinic in the Mansfield Building. The facility is double the size of the previous location in the Painter Building. (Submitted photo courtesy UPMC.)
UPMC McKeesport has doubled the size of its wound-care clinic and expects to be able to treat about twice as many patients with slow-to-heal injuries — including bone infections and people suffering complications from diabetes and poor circulation — than ever before.
The new clinic, located on the sixth floor of the hospital’s Mansfield Building, will hold an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. today (Aug. 15) to explain the facilities to visitors and offer free health screenings.
The first 50 attendees receive a free gift. Foot-health checks will be offered, along with cholesterol and glucose screenings, as well as tours of the clinic’s treatment areas.
“This has been a consistently growing program and a consistently growing clinic for us, but there are always opportunities for us to build greater awareness within the community,” said Joseph Vermilya, senior director of operations for UPMC McKeesport and UPMC East.
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August 14, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
Residents packed a McKeesport Area School Board meeting on Tuesday to demonstrate support for district Superintendent Tia Wanzo.
With school scheduled to begin in just a few days, rumors have begun swirling that Wanzo’s job may be in jeopardy.
McKeesport resident Julian Thomas championed Wanzo during Tuesday's board meeting.
“I've had the privilege as a police officer to work side by side with her for over a decade, and I'll tell you, there's nobody more fit to run the school. I support her 100 percent,” he said. “Me and her disagree probably more than anybody else sitting at the table, but I support her 100 percent to be the superintendent of the school.”
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August 14, 2024 |
By T.J. Martin | Posted in: White Oak News
Lost dogs and cats that are found in White Oak now have a greater chance of being reunited with their owners following a donation from a local animal welfare group to White Oak Borough.
Gray Paws Sanctuary has donated a microchip reader to the borough. The case containing the reader, a handheld device that looks somewhat like a magnifying glass, will be mounted to a wall in the municipal building lobby so that it will be available for use 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The device will be attached to the case by a cable and the lobby is also monitored by a security camera.
Microchips are about the size of a grain of rice and placed beneath the skin of dogs and cats, usually between the shoulders, by a veterinarian using a syringe, similar to giving an animal a vaccination.
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August 11, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(McKeesport Area School District photo)
With the 2024-25 school year set to begin, McKeesport Area School District is reassuring parents busing will not be a problem.
During last week’s open agenda meeting, district Superintendent Tia Wanzo said a conversation with Krise Transportation last month established that “We are set and ready.”
According to its website, the transportation provider has open positions for van and bus drivers in McKeesport. Although the company is seeking new hires, Wanzo is confident transportation should proceed relatively smoothly.
“They kept the routes that we had last year and there aren’t many internal changes,” she said.
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August 09, 2024 |
By Yousuf Lachhab Ibrahim | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport is holding an event to encourage residents to visualize the future of the city's Downtown area that's more in line with its residents’ wants and needs.
The survey is being taken by the Texas-based Better Block Foundation, in collaboration with the City of McKeesport, Penn State Greater Allegheny and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
It is open to McKeesport residents, and is available on the Facebook page for the City of McKeesport as well as the Better Block website until Aug. 21. Results will be announced Nov. 23.
The goal is to temporarily showcase the potential of the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Walnut Street — including a parking lot, several buildings, and an alleyway — before and after the Salute to Santa Parade in November.
Krista Nightengale, executive director of Better Block, said that the transformation of the intersection will be informed by the responses residents provide in the survey.
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August 09, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
An East Hills woman faces a string of charges after McKeesport police arrested her and charged her with racing her car back and forth on Fifth Avenue and Lysle Boulevard on Wednesday night.
Jasmin Reese, 34, of Eymard Street, Pittsburgh, also is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol and assaulting the police officer who attempted to cite her. She is currently free on non-monetary bond pending a preliminary hearing Aug. 26 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi.
In a criminal complaint, police state that an officer was monitoring traffic on Lysle Boulevard near Coursin Street around 10 p.m. when a maroon SUV with a loud muffler went east on Fifth Avenue at a high rate of speed.
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August 08, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A North Versailles Twp. teen-ager who was reported missing on Wednesday was found dead two hours later inside a Monroeville apartment.
Allegheny County police allege that Joselyn Thomas, 18, was shot fatally by Albert Williams III, 19, of Wilkinsburg inside a residence at the Cambridge Square Apartments off of Mosside Boulevard.
Wiliams is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond pending a preliminary hearing Aug. 23 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court. Thomas’s death has been ruled a homicide, the medical examiner’s office said.
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August 07, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The Rankin Junior Tamburitzans performed during the 2021 International Village. The ethnic troupe will return to the main stage at Renziehausen Park next week. (Vickie Babyak file photo for Tube City Almanac)
Fashions come and go, trends rise and fall, but McKeesport’s International Village rolls on after 64 years.
The annual summer ethnic food and music festival returns to Stephen Barry Field in Renziehausen Park on Aug. 13, 14 and 15. Gates open at 3 p.m. nightly.
Ethnic traditions represented at this year’s International Village include Austrian, Croatian, Egyptian, French, Filipino, German, Ghanian, Greek, Hawaiian, Hungarian, Italian, Lebanese, Mexican, Polish, Swedish, Taiwanese and Vietnamese.
Fireworks are scheduled for Tuesday evening.
“International Village is one of those unique traditions that attracts visitors to McKeesport from throughout Western Pennsylvania,” McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said. “In fact, we know that many people who have moved away from McKeesport or Pittsburgh plan their family reunions or vacations around the week of International Village every August.”
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August 06, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Providing a rhythmic soundtrack for the Duquesne Community Day Parade were members of the Healthy Village Learning Institute in McKeesport, including Michael Wilson, Khalid Mikell, Jornee Murphy and Keith Murphy. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
The City of Duquesne marked its annual Community Day on Saturday with its first municipal parade in nearly two decades.
Helmed by City Councilwoman Denise Brownfield and a committee of about a dozen others, the parade included elected officials, military veterans, youth cheerleaders and football players and others.
The parade officially lined up by the Duquesne City School, began at Fourth and Grant and moved up to Polish Hill Park. The weather was ideal for the nearly half-way trek, with 75 degrees, a slightly overcast and small breeze.
The event took only about 10 minutes, because a house fire on Erwin Street that started less than 30 minutes before the 11 a.m. start sent police and firefighters racing to the scene. According to Duquesne fire Chief Frank Cobb, no one was injured in the fire.
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August 02, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
After months of planning, Duquesne’s Community Day Parade is back and this Saturday.
The parade begins at 11 a.m. at the corner of Fourth and Kennedy streets and will move up Grant Street to Polish Hill (Memorial Park).
City Councilwoman Denise Brownfield has helped lead the committee that has planned the event. In an email she noted that the city will boast a Pittsburgh Pirate Pierogy, members of the Pittsburgh Passion women’s football team, a stilt walker, a juggler and others. There will be a “Steel Dragon,” marchers playing African drums, horses, veterans, pastors, classic cars and elected officials.
“As you know, we face many challenges but remain steadfast in the Lord,” wrote Brownfield, who is in her first year with Duquesne City Council and is the Community and Economic Development committee chair. “A group of 12 faithful residents wanted to restore hope to the community. Collectively, we saw an opportunity to have a parade.”
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August 01, 2024 |
By T.J. Martin | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
A group of North Versailles Twp. residents is hoping to convince the township commissioners to reject a proposed purchase of the township sanitary authority by a for-profit company.
In December, the North Versailles Twp. Sanitary Authority voted 5-0 to approve an asset purchase agreement with Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater Inc. Aqua is owned by Essential Utilities Inc. of Bryn Mayr, Montgomery County, the parent company of People’s Gas. It operates in nine states and has more than 3,100 employees.
Under the agreement, Aqua would pay between $25 million and $30 million for the township sewer system, including the pipes and three pumping stations. To take effect, the agreement will need the approval of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
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