January 26, 2023 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A former Duquesne resident faces more than six years in federal prison and six years probation following his conviction on drug and firearms charges, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Cindy K. Chung said.
Brandon McCaskill, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti after he was found guilty on charges of possession of controlled substances with intent to deliver and possession of a firearm in connection with drug trafficking.
Prosecutors allege that on Aug. 17, 2020, Duquesne police officers visited McCaskill’s home in connection with a separate incident. While there, prosecutors said, police found McCaskill seated on the front porch with a backpack and detected a strong odor of drugs.
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January 20, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne’s new city manager realizes he has many challenges in his post, but he’s ready to take on the charge.
Scott Crawford, 54, started work Dec. 19; Kelly Robertson had left the job in August, and George Newsome had assumed the Interim duties ever since. Newsome moves over to administrative assistant with the addition of Crawford.
“I’ve been working a couple of different roles,” said Crawford in a telephone interview on Tuesday. He has worked in a variety of different financial roles throughout his career. A Mt Washington native, Crawford was with the city of Pittsburgh from 2015 to 2019.
In 2020 and 2021, he was with the Allegheny County Health Department’s financial offices. He tried the private sector with stops at the Rivers Casino and PNC Bank, before finding the vacancy in Duquesne.
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January 12, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Councilwoman Elaine Washington ironed out a few street department “goals” for 2023 at the governing body’s first meeting of the year.
“New street signs,” she noted. Some need to be installed, while others need to be replaced, she told council.
Washington said the post office gave the city a warning about subpar signage “a few years ago,” and she thinks it’s time that street signs should be a priority.
“We also need to look at overgrowth, especially on Route 837,” she said. “It is our [Duquesne’s] responsibility.” She hopes crews will tackle that project in the late spring.
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January 06, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
For months, Tom Shaw has been Duquesne Police Department’s “acting” police chief. That changed Tuesday night as the Mayor Scott Adams and city council removed the interim title from his resume.
By a 4-0 vote, council this week named Shaw the permanent police chief. Councilman Tim Caldwell was absent. Shaw also was unable to attend the meeting, because he was away on business, Adams said.
Council also named Duquesne police Lt. Karra Vance assistant police chief. Vance served as acting police chief after former police Chief Thomas Dunlevy was placed on leave in 2021. Dunlevy was fired by city council on Dec. 6.
Both appointments took effect Wednesday.
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January 03, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Magisterial District Judge Scott Schricker (center) and his office staff recently completed a move of District Court 05-2-47 from Turtle Creek to the Duquesne Plaza shopping center on Route 837. Hours and phone numbers remain the same. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
Magisterial District Judge Scott H. Schricker got an early Christmas gift when his office moved from Turtle Creek to Duquesne.
Schricker, of Duquesne, says that his office had outgrown the office front in Penn Plaza, Turtle Creek, and after months of renovation, a much larger spot opened in the Duquesne Plaza, next door to where the Save-A-Lot grocery store had been. Schricker, and his staff of five moved into the contemporary facility in early December and have been holding hearings without disruption.
The long-serving magistrate and his staff had been in the Turtle Creek office since Schricker took office in 2004. In addition to Duquesne and Turtle Creek, Schricker’s district also includes Braddock, North Braddock and East Pittsburgh boroughs.
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December 27, 2022 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Duquesne News
After three years in Duquesne’s industrial park, Laurel Print & Graphics is preparing to almost double the size of its facilities.
Regional Industrial Development Corp., the Pittsburgh-based non-profit that operates the City Center of Duquesne, announced this month that Laurel has signed an amended seven-year lease to expand into additional space in the Millwrights Building, located on the former site of U.S. Steel’s Duquesne Plant.
The move will expand Laurel’s current 10,000-square-foot facility to roughly 19,800 square feet, a RIDC spokeswoman said.
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December 19, 2022 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne’s 2023 budget is expected to hold the line on real-estate and earned-income taxes.
City council will vote on the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.
The preliminary spending plan, developed by interim city Manager George Newsome and Councilman Derek Artim, was posted on the city’s website Dec. 7.
Duquesne officials say there will be no increase in the real estate or earned income tax in 2023. The municipal real estate tax rate is a blended $21.33 per $1,000 and the earned income tax rate is 1.65 percent for residents and 1.30 percent for non-residents.
Also unchanged is the 1-mill of current real estate tax dedicated to the fire department expenditures. This amount does not include the approximate $20,000 from the Firemen’s Relief fund.
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December 09, 2022 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne’s city hall stood in for the Fayette County Courthouse this month when “American Rust” filmed some scenes there. The web-based TV series is expected to return in early 2023. (Thomas Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
Parts of Duquesne were transformed into the fictional Fayette County community of Buell this month when the cast and crew of “American Rust” came to town.
Crews filmed exterior scenes in front of City Hall on Second Street, and even employed some Duquesne police officers for overtime, said Interim City Manager George Newsome.
Based on a novel by Phillip Meyer, “American Rust” is a gritty police drama with Jeff Daniels playing sheriff Del Harris and Maura Tierney as his love interest.
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December 07, 2022 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council has officially terminated former police Chief Tom Dunlevy.
At this week’s meeting, council voted 5-0 to adopt a resolution terminating “Employee X” from the police department.
City Solicitor Myron Sainovich confirmed that Dunlevy was the unnamed employee and noted that former chief did not attend recent meetings with Duquesne officials prior to the decision.
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December 07, 2022 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Duquesne News
A Duquesne man was taken to the hospital Tuesday morning after he leapt from the front porch of his Kennedy Avenue home to escape a fire.
The victim, in his early 50s, was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and released, said Frank Cobb, Duquesne fire chief. The house is likely a total loss, Cobb said.
The Allegheny County fire marshal is investigating the cause of the blaze, which was reported at about 5:30 a.m. Cobb said when crews arrived, fire was visible on the first floor of the two-story wood frame home at 1410 Kennedy Ave.
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