December 16, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Duquesne News
Santa Claus has been making the rounds in Mon-Yough communities, in many cases with the assistance of volunteer firefighters and their departments, Tube City Almanac has learned.
The North Pole resident, shown here, visited Duquesne on Dec. 1.
A spokesperson for the jolly old elf said Santa and Duquesne firefighters began their rounds on Library Court, then traveled to St. Joseph Church, St. Nicholas Church, Payne Chapel A.M.E. Church, Orchard Park, Crawford Avenue, Kennedy Avenue, the former Duquesne football field, the Hilltop apartments and Oliver Plaza, ending their trip at City Hall on South Second Street.
Claus, whose age was not listed, is scheduled to return to the area on Dec. 24.
All photos are courtesy Duquesne Councilman Councilman Aaron Adams.
December 15, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne will move forward with a study to decide whether to adopt a home-rule charter.
At this month’s council meeting, City Manager Douglas Sample announced that voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of a home-rule study commission, 1,313 to 674. “We are good to go,” he said.
Duquesne is currently governed by the state’s third-class city code. Home rule gives municipalities greater flexibility to set their own laws and ordinances. McKeesport and Monroeville are among municipalities that converted to home-rule government.
City residents also appointed members of the home-rule commission, with Councilwoman Denise Brownfield leading all vote-getters with 901. Connie A. Lucas-Kemp, who according to her LinkedIn page, is founder of Duquesne Network for Fairness & Community Development Corporation, came in second with 794.
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December 15, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Download Duquesne’s 2025 Budget
Duquesne has approved a 2025 budget with no tax increase.
At the Dec. 3 meeting, city council voted 4-0 to approve a $4 million spending plan with no tax increase.
The city’s tax millage will remain at 20 mills. According to the budget, some $620,000 will be allocated to County Hauling for garbage pickup. A total of $200,000 is allocated for vacant building demolition in the new year.
Officials said that a code enforcement officer might be hired in 2025.
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December 06, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Duquesne News
Related Story: Duquesne OK’s EOS Plant in RIDC Park
A proposed battery manufacturing plant in Duquesne could benefit from a $303.5 million loan announced this week by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Biden Administration announced this week that the DOE has closed the loan guarantee with EOS Energy Enterprises to finance the construction of two new production lines at the company’s facility in Turtle Creek to produce the company’s “EOS Z3” industrial-scale electricity storage systems.
The guarantee includes $277.5 million in principal and $26 million in interest.
The production lines could produce enough storage batteries to power the annual electricity needs of 130,000 homes.
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December 06, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Related Story: EOS Energy Secures $303.5M Federal Loan
This proposed EOS Energy facility in Duquesne would feature two assembly lines producing industrial-scale zinc storage batteries. (Illustration courtesy Gateway Engineers via City of Duquesne)
Duquesne City Council has approved construction of a manufacturing facility that could bring 300 to 400 jobs to the RIDC industrial park along the Monongahela River.
At a meeting this week, council voted 4-0 to give conditional approval to EOS Energy Enterprises’ plan to build a 181,000 square foot facility on 28 acres of the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Works. Mayor R. Scott Adams was unable to attend.
Doug Sample, Duquesne’s city manager, said the city’s planning commission has reviewed and recommended the project.
Councilwoman Denise Brownfield thanked the company for considering Duquesne. “Welcome,” she said, adding that she hopes city residents would apply for jobs with EOS.
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November 21, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
A photo of the Eos Energy assembly line, from the company’s website. (Courtesy EOS Energy Enterprises)
Duquesne officials are hopeful that a battery technology company currently located in Turtle Creek will expand into the city’s industrial park.
The Duquesne planning commission was scheduled to meet this month to consider a proposal from Eos Energy Enterprises for a 185,000 square foot facility at RIDC’s Industrial Center of Duquesne, the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Plant.
An Edison, N.J., based company, EOS has two manufacturing hubs in Turtle Creek at another RIDC facility, Keystone Commons.
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November 13, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Giant Eagle’s mobile market moved from Duquesne to West Mifflin recently, and there’s hope that a new grocer will move into the former Shop n Save on Homeville Road. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
On the same day that Giant Eagle’s mobile market officially abandoned its weekly stop in Duquesne for one in West Mifflin, the former owner of a series of convenience stores talked about his plans to bring new life into the former Village Shop ’n Save on Homeville Road.
Since the spring, the Giant Eagle mobile market had been making a Sunday stop in Rankin before reloading its shelves and stopping at Duquesne Plaza. At its initial stop in front of the former Save-A-Lot, more than 20 residents descended on the trailer that featured dry goods, refrigerated food, frozen items and half-off produce.
But over the months, those numbers dwindled, according to Giant Eagle’s Gwen Johnson, who managed the program. “We had nine last week,” she said as she set up cookies and apple juice for visiting patrons outside of the trailer.
The mobile market is now stopping in Village Shopping Center, near a seven-story senior citizen high rise. The plaza has been without a grocery store since August 2023, when a Shop ’n Save closed.
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October 10, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News, McKeesport and Region News
Sue and Steve Braunfield, who donated musical instruments to Duquesne and McKeesport schools, posed with members of Rachel Shively’s music class in Duquesne. (Photo courtesy Jeremy Tepper, Allegheny Intermediate Unit)
Music is transformative. That’s one of the primary reasons why Western Pennsylvania natives Sue and Steve Braunfield returned to the Mon Valley last week to donate brand new musical instruments to students in need.
The retired First Energy employees visited both the McKeesport Area and Duquesne City school districts to deliver clarinets, saxophones and trumpets.
The gesture comes in memory of Sue’s brother, Frank Sprentz Jr. of McKeesport, a passionate drummer, singer, songwriter and band member — he played with Sudden Grace, Harmony, and Glenn Pavone & The Cyclones — who died Feb. 13 at age 73.
When Sprentz passed, the couple decided they wanted to cement his legacy in a way that would make him happy. And while the Braunfields now live in Painesville, Ohio, they hadn’t forgotten their roots.
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October 08, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
The owner of the former St. Hedwig’s Roman Catholic Church in Duquesne wants public input on what to do with the building.
A meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at the church, corner of Fifth Street and Kennedy Avenue, to discuss the possible reuses of the building.
The church, built in 1928, was closed following the merger in 2020 of several area Catholic churches into the new St. Thomas the Apostle Parish.
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October 08, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council has passed an ordinance to restrict parking on two streets where residents and emergency personnel have identified problems.
At the October meeting, council by 4-0 vote adopted an ordinance establishing “No Parking Anytime Zones” on Crawford Avenue between South Fifth Street and Mifflin Street, and on Overland Avenue between Richford Street and Clearview Avenue. Councilman Aaron Adams was absent on business.
Council also passed a new Property Maintenance Code by a 4-0 vote.
During Mayor R. Scott Adams’ Public Safety report, council discussed the possibility of public vehicle charging stations for electric vehicles. Officials are currently in talks with the school district, which owns the property adjacent to City Hall, about creating a charging station. Currently, council is talking about having two or three electric connections available for public use.
In her Public Works Department report, Councilperson Elaine Washington noted that the city has received a final cost quote for an excavator. The cost is set at $185,722. “It would help with demolition of houses destroyed by fire,” she said. The money for the equipment would come from the city’s liquid fuel tax funds.
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