July 04, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council has amended its landlord-tenant ordinance to clarify several points — including to exempt publicly owned housing.
At this week’s meeting, council clarified the ordinance to “clearly identify who is applicable under the ordinance, including the exemption of County- and Commonwealth-owned properties.”
Mayor R. Scott Adams said that landlords will be charged a rental fee each year. That fee was not immediately announced.
Council also voted to “clearly identify boats as recreational vehicles and to delineate the proper area for storage.” In recent meetings, the council has discussed changing the law as a way to prevent residents from parking boats on the city’s narrow streets.
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July 04, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne’s mayor commended the city’s volunteer fire department for its efforts to battle a blaze that claimed the life of a resident.
At this week’s council meeting, Duquesne Fire Chief Frank Cobb told city officials that volunteers arrived at the scene of the June 26 house fire within five to six minutes of the initial call, but the home was already completely engulfed by flame.
The blaze destroyed 138 and 136 North Third St., and one unidentified resident was killed in the blaze. Two other homes, at 130 and 140 North Third Street, received slight damage, according to Cobb.
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June 26, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Crews were still working Thursday on the scene of an early morning fire in Duquesne. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
One person is dead and four homes were left damaged following a fast-moving fire in Duquesne early Thursday.
Crews remained on scene well into the afternoon following the blaze, which was reported at 1:20 a.m. at a two-story wood-frame home at 136 N. Third St. Emergency personnel said the blaze then spread to 138 N. Third St.
According to reports, when first responders arrived, one house was fully engulfed, and one resident was outside of the burning home, shouting for his wife who was still inside. She was unaccounted for on Thursday morning and presumed dead.
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June 17, 2025 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
An anonymous call to a police tip line led to the arrest of a Duquesne man in connection with a fatal shooting in a local bar on Friday night.
Marvin P. Harpool, 51, is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond pending a preliminary hearing June 27 after Allegheny County police charged him with shooting to death Tywone McClain, 26, of Duquesne inside a club in the 700 block of Grant Avenue.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Allegheny County night court, just after 11:30 p.m. Friday, McClain was arguing with another bar patron when a man identified by police as Harpool allegedly intervened.
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June 06, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council will have its regular workshop meeting on June 26 and its regular meeting on July 1; however, they will enjoy a summer recess in July and early August.
The July 22 workshop meeting and the August 5 meetings are cancelled. The city’s Home Rule Government Study Commission meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 16 at City Hall.
In other business, the Duquesne Boys and Girls Club is hosting a three-on-three basketball tournament from 12 noon to 3 p.m. June 19 at Polish Hill Park.
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June 05, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
This rowhouse at 606 Crawford Ave. is on Duquesne’s demolition list. Its owner says he was never notified of plans to tear it down. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
A Duquesne resident had concerns about his properties being on the city’s demolition list. Charles Morgan owns four properties — 600, 602, 606 and 608 — on Crawford Avenue and three have been scheduled to be torn down.
Only 608 isn’t on the list that the city council has been working on for years.
Morgan talked to Duquesne City Council on Tuesday night. He said he’s a truck driver who is gone for long stretches of time. “I haven’t got any notification,” he told city council. “I didn’t get certified mail.”
City Solicitor Myron Sainovich and Mayor R. Scott Adams said the city has had public meetings about all of the properties that are scheduled for demolition, and all have been marked with official paperwork.
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May 13, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne Mayor R. Scott Adams is running for re-election to his second term. He is seeking the Democratic nomination in the May 20 primary. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
R. Scott Adams believes that he has brought “stability back to the office” of mayor in Duquesne. As he enters his fourth year in office, he looked back at the progress he said the city has made.
Adams is seeking the Democratic nomination in the May 20 primary. Former Mayor Nickole Nesby is challenging him.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Adams said. “But I’m proud of our work. We’ve improved the infrastructure and upgraded the water department. And the police department.”
In a recent interview, Adams used the word “stability” frequently. During Adams’ tenure as mayor, the city emerged from Act 47 financially distressed status, and is now moving toward a Home Rule Charter.
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May 13, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Nickole Nesby served as mayor of Duquesne from 2017 to 2021 and is seeking the Democratic nomination in the May 20 primary. She argues that the city needs closer management of its finances. (Submitted photo)
Four years after losing a re-election bid, Nickole Nesby is back on the ballot to be mayor of the city of Duquesne. Nesby is seeking the Democratic nomination in the May 20 primary.
After one term in office and breaking barriers as the city’s first Black woman mayor, Nesby lost the Democratic primary in 2021 to R. Scott Adams, who went onto win the November election. Adams is running for re-election this year.
Nesby has long criticized city leaders for what she calls “decades of neglect and corruption” and alleges that two of the people running against her in the primary in 2021 wouldn’t have been eligible to serve if they had won.
Nesby said that “concerned citizens” came to her recently and asked her to run again in hopes of improving the city’s financial accountability. Nesby said that when she took office in 2018, the city “had a deficit of $328,000” and when she left in 2022, Duquesne had a “$915,000 surplus.”
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May 07, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Tree Pittsburgh is holding an “adoption event” this Saturday (May 10) in McKeesport. For more information, visit the group’s website. (Photo courtesy Tree Pittsburgh)
Duquesne officials are looking forward to spring and summer months for several projects, including improving the city’s greenscapes and parks.
At this week’s meeting, council voted 5-0 to approve an agreement between the city and the non-profit group Tree Pittsburgh to explore community tree-planting efforts. There is no financial commitment at this time, city officials said.
According to its website, Tree Pittsburgh is an environmental non-profit organization dedicated to improving neighborhoods and communities “through tree planting and care, education, advocacy and land conservation.”
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March 13, 2025 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A Homewood man is being held on homicide charges in connection with a Jan. 20 shooting in Duquesne that claimed two lives.
Ishmeil A. Muhammad, 28, was arrested Thursday by Allegheny County Police and was awaiting a preliminary hearing, according to court officials.
Muhammad, who police said is known by a variety of aliases, including “Cash” and “Tim,” is charged with criminal homicide in connection with a shooting inside a home on Commonwealth Avenue that claimed the life of Sean R. Johnson Jr., 30 of Turtle Creek and Catherine Lawing, 39, of Duquesne.
Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office, while Lawing died three days later at UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown.
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