April 15, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
After a historic run, members of the McKeesport Area High School girls basketball team were honored at Thursday’s school board meeting. Several senior players were presented certificates and basketballs in recognition of their achievements.
“This team has accomplished many historical moments and it has been exciting to be a spectator of their journey over the last four years,” MASD Superintendent Tia Wanzo said.
Board member Jason Pavlecic agreed: “This is a special group of young athletes.”
During the past four years the Lady Tigers have amassed an 86-22 record, gone 37-8 in sectional games, and finished 18-7 in the playoffs.
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April 12, 2024 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment, McKeesport and Region News
During a rehearsal, Anastasia Bakaturski as Pharoah has a heart-to-heart talk with Lucas Sotereanos as Joseph about the importance of correctly interpreting certain dreams. (Bonnijean Cooney Adams photo for Tube City Almanac)
If you go...
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“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”
Where: McKeesport Area High School Auditorium, 1960 Eden Park Blvd.
When: Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m., with a matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 13
Tickets: $10 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens. Available at https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/80225
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McKeesport Area High School’s spring musical is a story about jealousy, betrayal, revenge, and forgiveness — with plenty of lighter moments, too — all in a setting “way, way back many centuries ago.”
“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” opened Thursday night with a stellar cast of high school and younger students singing and dancing their way through a show with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice.
It is based on the story of Jacob and his 12 sons, including his favorite, Joseph.
What makes this musical so different and challenging is the story is told almost exclusively through song from beginning to end.
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April 05, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Adam Reinherz photo)
McKeesport Area School District will vote to adopt a preliminary budget for 2024-25 during next week’s school board meeting. Business manager Joseph Villella presented the report at the district’s open agenda meeting Thursday.
MASD’s budget for the 2024-25 is projected to be $82.8 million, a $3.28 million decrease from the 2023-24 budget.
Total revenue is expected to be $82.47 million, a decrease of $9.9 million from the 2023-24 budget.
Revenue decline is due to the end of funding from the American Rescue Plan’s Elementary and Secondary School Relief program, Villella said.
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April 04, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Editor’s Note: The writer of this story sits on the board of directors of the McKees Point Development Group, a non-profit corporation that has been coordinating demolition and remediation efforts in the Downtown area. This is a conflict of interest. See previous explanations of this issue.
(Tube City Almanac file photo)
The fate of the long-vacant Penn-McKee Hotel could become clearer after next month’s city council meeting.
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said the city has been meeting with potential developers and they will present proposals for the site of the historic — but severely deteriorated — building near the McKees’ Point Marina and the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail.
In 2022, engineers concluded that much of the hotel was probably too far gone to save.
“We are looking for things that can make us a destination point,” Cherepko told council Wednesday. “There are all kinds of things we can capitalize on, and we are most certainly are doing everything we can to make sure we don’t miss the boat.”
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April 03, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Crews work to clear a landslide that blocked CSX Railroad tracks and closed Arlington Avenue in the upper 10th Ward. (Tube City Almanac photo)
A landslide triggered by torrential rains closed a street in the city’s upper 10th Ward and temporarily blocked the CSX Railroad’s mainline through McKeesport.
Meanwhile, rising flood waters on Wednesday evening forced the closure of Water Street between Kane Regional Center and the Palisades Ballroom.
The landslide below the 600 block of Arlington Street was reported at around 12 noon on Wednesday, emergency officials said. River Road between 10th Ward and Port Vue is currently closed due to slide repair work and flooding under the Jerome Avenue Bridge.
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April 01, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, at right with police Chief Mark Steele, swears in new police officers (from left) Dale McGlaughlin, Seth Taylor and Jodi Leitzell at the March council meeting. (Tube City Almanac photo)
McKeesport police have created a floating school detail that is checking in with each of the city’s public, parochial and private schools on a weekly basis, Chief Mark Steele said recently.
In addition, new officers, new equipment and new tactics are being developed in an effort to improve community relations and bolster public safety, he said.
The two-person school detail is visiting buildings at least three days each week and has the flexibility to go where they can provide the most help, Steele said. “They can go to Twin Rivers, Founders Hall, South Hall, the high school, or Propel or Serra Catholic,” he said. “It’s up to them — whatever they feel is necessary.”
Steele said he met with principals of each of the schools recently to assess their needs and gauge whether they would appreciate an increased police presence. The principals welcomed the idea, he said.
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March 26, 2024 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: History, McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac photo illustration)
Since 1987, the United States has celebrated March as “Women’s History Month,” and the Mon-Yough area has plenty of local women who have made their own marks on world history.
Some of them have familiar names to local residents — Helen Richey’s name graces a baseball and softball field at Renziehausen Park. Some of them — like Olympian Swin Cash — are known around the world.
Many are less well-known, though no less important or fondly remembered.
Women’s History Month — which is now celebrated around the world — has its origins as “International Women’s Day,” celebrated on March 8. The day was created in 1910 to highlight the struggle for equal rights for women, including the right to vote.
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March 22, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(File photo, “School Supplies,” by Nick Amoscato, via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
McKeesport Area School District is responding to a teacher shortage by investing in its staff.
School board members have approved an agreement with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit to participate in the BridgeUP program. Designed in partnership with Point Park University and BloomBoard, the two-year program enables education professionals who currently hold associate’s degrees to earn a bachelor’s degree in special education.
“We have to think outside of the box of ways to recruit and retain teachers,” Superintendent Tia Wanzo said. Participating in BridgeUP will cost the district $16,500 for each person who completes the program.
Across the commonwealth, districts are facing increased teacher shortages. According to Penn State University’s Center for Evaluation & Policy Analysis, during 2022-23, 7.7 percent of teachers — or 9,587 — left their positions across the state.
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March 21, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Area School District Choir Director Beth Eger leads student vocalists in a performance before the school board. The group performed songs from the high school’s upcoming production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” (Photos by Adam Reinherz for Tube City Almanac)
McKeesport Area School Board has approved a transfer of $2 million from the district’s fund balance to a capital reserve account.
The decision follows an independent audit report presented one week earlier indicating the district had nearly $9.5 million in unassigned funds. A fund balance, in accounting terms, is a surplus of revenue over expenses.
Board member Dave Seropian called the unassigned fund balance a “favorable number.”
Transferring $2 million from the pool to capital reserves will enable the district to address multiple projects, including repairs to parking lots and roadways at the high school, sound and lighting at the high school auditorium, and stadium lighting, he said.
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March 18, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Maria Cooper Janis and Byron Janis. (Photo courtesy the Janis family, via Facebook)
Byron Janis, a child prodigy from McKeesport who rose from poverty to become one of the most celebrated concert pianists of his generation, died Thursday in New York City. He was 95.
His death was announced over the weekend by his wife of 58 years, Maria, who called it “a loss to me and the world.”
“Byron understood that music has many powers, including that of bridging barriers that seem insurmountable, and in today’s fractured world, let us remember and practice this to honor his legacy,” she wrote.
Born March 28, 1928, in McKeesport, Janis was the son of Russian immigrant Hattie Horelick and Polish immigrant Samuel Yankilevitch, who owned a chain of Army and Navy surplus stores.
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