(Submitted photo courtesy City of McKeesport/Jennifer R. Vertullo)
McKeesport’s fire chief left work Monday for the last time with some sadness, but no regrets.
“It was an honor serving the city for the last 21 years,” said Jeff Tomovcsik, who retired this week. “I know the city gets a bad rap, but I loved it and I wouldn’t change anything. There were tough days, there were good days, but there was never a day when I didn’t want to come to work.”
Tomovcsik and his wife, Rebecca, will be relocating next year to eastern Michigan, where he has taken a new job as deputy chief of the Midland Fire Department. The city of 42,000 is home to the headquarters of Dow Chemical Co. and Northwood University.
Despite the move, Tomovcsik said, he has no intention of rooting for the Detroit Lions and Red Wings instead of the Steelers and Penguins.
“... maybe the (Detroit) Tigers,” he joked, in reference to the Pirates’ perpetual baseball struggles.
McKeesport Area High School alumnus and Tigers football standout Khaleke Hudson addresses the school board. (Screenshot from McKeesport Area School District feed via YouTube.)
For the second straight week, McKeesport Area School District directors listened to community members debate the future of McKeesport’s high school football team.
But school directors are so far declining to take any public action, Board President Dave Seropian said following Thursday’s board meeting.
“People are passionate about our football team, and there are people on both sides of the issue,” he said. “They both have differences of opinion about what should happen.”
Since 2016, Matt Miller, who also teaches social studies at the high school, has coached McKeesport’s team. Weeks ago, the Tigers were defeated in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game by Aliquippa. In 2024, McKeesport also fell one win short of clinching the title. Under Miller’s leadership, according to MaxPreps, the team has gone 89-31.
A new regional collaboration underway in Mon Valley and Turtle Creek could be a great opportunity for those who’ve ever dreamed of becoming their own boss but just didn’t know how to get started.
Along with Penn State Greater Allegheny, Mission: Agape and a new group called Allegheny Development Solutions are introducing a new initiative called LaunchSWPA, which will focus on providing entrepreneurial opportunities in the Mon-Yough area and building clear paths to economic self-sufficiency.
The LaunchSWPA rollout community event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 22 at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport. Small business startups, entrepreneurs, community foundations and regional stakeholders are all welcome to attend.
“This partnership is about meeting people where they are – connecting wellness, opportunity and innovation in a way that lifts the whole community,” said Kelly Doyle, co-founder of Mission: Agape.
McKeesport will mostly hold the line on spending in 2026 and draw down less from a reserve fund than in the previous two years, according to a new budget approved this month by city council.
The $25.9 million spending plan accepted unanimously by council represents a slight increase from the 2025 budget of $25.7 million. Property taxes remain the same at 11.26 mills on buildings and 20.5 mills on land. McKeesport is one of three municipalities in Allegheny County that levies separate property taxes on vacant land and buildings.
Each mill represents $1 in tax on every $1,000 of property value, so a millage of 11.26 equals property tax of $11.26 on each $1,000 of a building’s value as assessed by Allegheny County. Earned income tax and the local services tax remain the same as 2025.
McKeesport Area School District is looking to improve conditions on campus by spending nearly $850,000 on high school and stadium repairs.
The school board is expected to vote on a proposal at a meeting Thursday (Dec. 11). School directors spent the Dec. 4 open agenda meeting describing the projects’ merits.
Costs, according to district materials, include a facilities assessment and turf replacement.
“We all kind of recognize that our high school needs some upgrades,” MASD President David Seropian said. “Doing the feasibility study is the first step.”
Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi gives the oath of office to School Directors David Donato, Kevin Kovach, Matt Holtzman and Arla Payne. Donato and Holtzman are returning to the board, while Kovach and Payne are newly elected. (Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
Kevin Kovach and Arla Payne have been sworn in and taken their seats as McKeesport Area School Board members.
At a re-organization meeting on Thursday, the board elected School Director David Seropian as the school board’s new president.
Seropian was elected to the board in 2023 after serving more than 20 years as the district’s business manager. Among his first tasks was helping to negotiate a new contract with the teachers’ union.
“I'm the person that likes to work with everybody — get everybody to work together,” Seropian said, adding that when disagreements arise, “we’ve just got to come to a consensus and try to move the district forward the best way we feel we can.”
When McKeesport Model Railroad Club opens its doors on Saturday, it will mark the 75th year in a row — minus a few interruptions — that the public has been invited to view its miniature train empire representing Western Pennsylvania.
It also is likely to mark the 75th year in a row that someone asks, “How long does it take to put this up and take it down?”
“That is a question we get every year from at least a few attendees,” said George Sharp Jr. of Irwin, the club’s president. “It’s something we smile at because you can’t really fathom how long it would take to do all of that.”
The answer is “they don’t.” The club’s 2,200-square-foot train display in HO scale (representing objects at about 1/87th of actual size) is a permanent fixture inside the non-profit organization’s building on Walnut Street in Christy Park, across from CP Industries’ Christy Park Works.
Fran Angert (center), shown with Mayor Michael Cherepko and Police Chief Josh Alfer, has been promoted to captain in charge of McKeesport police’s patrol division. (Tube City Almanac photo)
With the promotion of a new captain of patrol, McKeesport police have a new leadership team in place that will be responsible for building community-department relations, the city’s mayor said.
This month, McKeesport City Council approved the promotion of Lt. Fran Angert to captain. A native of Munhall and a graduate of Steel Valley High School and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Municipal Police Academy, Angert has been a McKeesport police officer since 1995 and is well-known as one of the department’s K-9 handlers.
In September, council approved the promotion of Nick Matthews to captain of detectives and Sidney Summers to assistant police chief. Along wth police Chief Josh Alfer, who was sworn into his position in July, the team represents a complete changeover in command at the department over the past two years.
Spring Street between Cornell and Jenny Lind streets was repaired as part of a sewer line replacement project. City officials would like to reopen the street. (Tube City Almanac photo)
City officials are working on a proposal to reopen Spring Street between Cornell and Jenny Lind streets — but there’s a hitch.
About a quarter-mile of the street was abandoned when Twin Rivers Elementary School was built in 2014 and the intersection at Cornell Street will need to be re-aligned.
City council last week authorized Mayor Michael Cherepko’s administration to pursue $400,000 in funding from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to complete the work.
Spring Street was closed for safety reasons in 2009 when the pavement began to fail and cave in. Before the closure, it was an important link between Walnut Street and the Seventh Ward neighborhood, including homes, schools, and Carnegie Library of McKeesport.
Despite freezing temperatures and gusty winds, McKeesport marked Veterans Day on Tuesday with a ceremony at Memorial Park on Lysle Boulevard.
After thanking God for the “nice crisp day,” the Rev. Christine Pope Portiss of True Vine Ministries recalled how her grandmother had put stars in the window for her five family members who were serving during World War II.
She also recalled how her high school boyfriend was killed while serving in Vietnam.
“This day means a lot to many of us, so if you have somebody who served, thank God for them, and thank them for their service,” said Portiss, who offered the opening prayer. About 75 people attended, fighting to stay warm amidst snow flurries and a steady gale that kept American flags flying stiffly and several times threatened to topple a memorial wreath.
