February 11, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The Versailles Avenue Bridge was closed Friday to both motorists and pedestrians after an inspection this week raised concerns among city officials. McKeesport is seeking funding from the federal government for its replacement, estimated to cost $8 million to $10 million. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
Citing an inspection report that determined the span had become dangerous, McKeesport officials closed the Versailles Avenue Bridge to all traffic on Friday morning.
“We received notification Thursday evening that we should be working to close this bridge within 10 days,” McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said Friday. “It is in the best interest of the safety of our residents that we are proactive in closing this bridge immediately, rather than waiting for any time at all.”
Both pedestrians and motorists are being asked not to use the span, a spokesperson said.
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February 10, 2022 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert, McKeesport police Chief Adam Alfer and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speak before an event Thursday at the Palisades. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
An intensive, six-month focus on stopping gun and drug trafficking in the McKeesport area has so far led to 71 arrests and the seizures of 46 guns used in crimes, state and local officials announced Thursday.
The partnership between state investigators, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office, McKeesport police and other law-enforcement agencies also shows the value of cooperation, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said during a press conference at the Palisades ballroom, Downtown.
“This is hardly the end of the conversation,” Shapiro said. “It is a confirmation that law-enforcement collaboration works, and it is also a call for further action. We need to learn from this model, we need to use it here and in other communities across the commonwealth.”
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February 06, 2022 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Correction: This story was corrected after publication
The loss in a fire at the city’s public works garage could be at least $2 million, McKeesport officials said Sunday.
The blaze Sunday morning destroyed four large snow plows, a paving machine, a roller and other equipment, and Mayor Michael Cherepko declared a state of emergency to give city officials flexibility in sourcing replacement gear.
“We’ve obviously been working all day long, coming up with solutions,” Cherepko said. “We are in the process of negotiating with a neighboring community and they will probably be providing us with two large dump trucks, equipped with snow plows, ready to go. We think another one is coming in on Tuesday.”
With several recent cold snaps and an ice storm just a few days ago, the mayor acknowledged that there couldn’t be a worse time to lose snow-plowing equipment.
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February 06, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
This is a developing story and will be updated.
A fast-moving fire destroyed four of the city’s snow-plowing trucks on Sunday morning, officials said.
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko has declared a state of emergency following the blaze, which broke out just after 6 a.m. inside the public works garage near the 15th Avenue Bridge.
“Formally acknowledging a state of emergency opens up a variety of resources that we may need to utilize at this time,” Cherepko said. “It also gives us more flexibility as we look to replace all of the vehicles, equipment, and even the building that we lost today.”
Four large dump trucks, a sewer-cleaning truck and a street-sweeper were inside the public works garage when the fire broke out. The garage itself also was destroyed, officials said. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
“While this is a very unfortunate situation for the City of McKeesport, I am very grateful that there were no injuries resulting from the incident,” Cherepko said. “I’m grateful for our firefighters, who contained and extinguished this fire — stopping it from spreading to our other structures.”
February 03, 2022 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A list of properties designated as “blighted” by McKeesport City Council on Wednesday. In 2022, the city will be targeting approximately 300 abandoned and vacant properties for demolition or reuse through the vacant property recovery program, Mayor Michael Cherepko said. (Click to explore map)
McKeesport will continue its aggressive fight against blighted and abandoned properties in 2022, Mayor Michael Cherepko has vowed.
At Wednesday’s meeting, city council added another 49 homes and lots to the “blighted” list and made them available for purchase by other property owners through McKeesport’s vacant property recovery program.
“It’s hard to attract new residents when you have blight on the street,” Cherepko said. “We intend on being very aggressive with the McKeesport Rising program in 2022. We will be coming to (council) with a lot of others as well.”
The city’s vacant property recovery program, administered by the city Redevelopment Authority, allows applicants to petition for the right to purchase abandoned properties that have been declared blighted, and which have been tax delinquent for three years or more.
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February 03, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The Allegheny County Health Department has approved air-pollution reduction programs for 10 local industrial plants, but rejected six others submitted by plants in Clairton, North Braddock, Port Vue and West Mifflin.
The plans were required under new legislation, approved last year by Allegheny County Council and signed by County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, called the Mon Valley Episode Rule.
The rule requires the health department to warn Mon Valley residents when air quality is likely to be unhealthy; and also requires major sources of air pollution in the Mon Valley to take steps to reduce their emissions during certain weather events commonly called “air inversions.”
When combined with small particles of air pollution and noxious gases, air inversions can create dangerously bad air quality, especially for children, senior citizens and people with lung and heart conditions.
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January 31, 2022 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Social distancing. Vaccine mandates. Quarantines. Remote learning. Animal shelter overcrowding. What do all these of things have in common? They’re all by-products of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Animal overpopulation, and by extension, overcrowding in animal shelters, has always been a problem. But the last two years have been especially challenging.
Tara Czekaj is the 18th Congressional District leader for the Humane Society of the United States. She says that the pandemic has created the perfect storm for pet overpopulation and overcrowding in shelters.
“It’s an issue two years in the making. Homeless animal populations and shelter overcrowding was a concern before COVID – but COVID has exacerbated absolutely everything,” Czekaj says.
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January 27, 2022 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Transportation remains a source of strife for parents and educators in McKeesport Area School District.
Since September, four bus runs have been canceled on a regular basis, leaving hundreds of students without rides to school.
At Wednesday’s board meeting, school Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. said he’s made clear to the bus company that its actions are affecting numerous students.
Holtzman said that during a recent meeting with an Allegheny County judge and representatives of the district’s bus provider, Pennsylvania Coach Lines, reports indicated that 147 buses were canceled this year, disrupting nearly 50,000 rides.
“If you’re frustrated or disgusted or you’re mad at me I get it. I understand. I’ll take whatever responsibility for it,” Holtzman told parents. “Unfortunately, we have no control over the decisions that the bus company was making to not run four buses consistently.”
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January 14, 2022 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Demolition of the former Jaison’s Department Store on Fifth Avenue, Downtown, began Friday. (Tube City Almanac photo)
For Jaison’s Department Store in McKeesport, the doorbuster sale to end all doorbuster sales began on Friday.
Crews from Unis Demolition of Aliquippa, Beaver County, are demolishing the building at 215 Fifth Ave., Downtown.
Jaison’s was most recently used for bingo games by a charitable organization, but had sat vacant for at least a decade.
Pittsburgh real-estate developer Barry L. Stein, whose company purchased the building in 2014, said he had hoped to find a tenant, but the structure proved impossible to rent.
“The roof was no good when I bought it,” he said Friday. “Second and third floors have little value without an elevator, and in that building, the elevator is in the middle of the building. That means you couldn’t have a lobby.”
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January 10, 2022 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Donna Campbell of Glassport holds a photograph of her father on his 99th birthday. Since his death from COVID-19 in March 2021, she’s been battling depression. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
Related story: Local resources for people struggling with depression
The holiday season is over, and a new year has begun. People may be asking themselves why they have been feeling blue. Mental health experts say there are different reasons people experience depression through the holidays and post-holidays.
Psychotherapist Trina Bennett, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and McKeesport Area Senior High School, says people may experience seasonal depression or have an increase in their depressive symptoms due to shorter days. The colder weather also decreases socialization and outdoor activities.
Bennett specializes in working with people who have confronted trauma, and has clients who experience increased depression during the holidays. They are triggered by that time of the year because holiday breaks from school left them vulnerable to home abuse, she said.
“I’d imagine it is awful to experience the expectation that everyone is cheerful when the season brings up body harm and/or cognitive memories of decreased safety,” Bennett said.
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