September 16, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Dani Kramer, land-based program coordinator for Allegheny CleanWays, gives direction to a crew of “DumpBusters” cleaning up illegally dumped trash along Federal Street in the city. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
In just three hours last week, a team of “DumpBusters” removed more than 7,000 pounds of junk and 21 old tires from an abandoned home on Federal Street in McKeesport.
How did the team — including 13 volunteers from Compass AmeriCorps — keep from getting overwhelmed when confronted with all of that trash on Sept. 10?
Lexi Garcia, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., said it helped to remember they were changing a community, a little bit at a time.
“It’s easy to feel hopeless about how one person can make a difference,” Garcia said. “But you have to keep that passion going.”
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September 14, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Sheree Kegley uses cake decorating tools to finish one of her “dessert candles.” Kegley’s store, Bleuu Candles, is the newest business in Downtown’s re-opened Executive Building. (Tube City Almanac photo)
The sundaes, cupcakes, parfaits and birthday cakes at Bleuu Candles look good enough to eat — but you’d probably just better sniff them instead.
Everything — including the icing, the sprinkles and the cherries on top — are made of wax. Proprietor Sheree Kegley taught herself to make and decorate scented candles, in varieties such as tropical fruit, cinnamon, birthday cake, chocolate and peach, as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
“It was COVID-borne,” she says. “I lost both of my jobs during COVID, so I taught myself. I’ve been making candles for about a year now.”
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September 10, 2021 |
By Siana Emery | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Penn State Greater Allegheny students discuss their research with University President Eric J. Barron at the Ostermayer Laboratory on the McKeesport campus during Thursday’s open house. (Penn State University photo via Facebook)
Three years, one pandemic and $14 million later, a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday marked the official completion of the renovated Ostermayer Laboratory at Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus.
The largest construction project in the history of the McKeesport campus, the renovation brings brand-new laboratory and safety equipment, modernized teaching and research spaces, improved classroom and collaboration spaces and an enhanced entrance and lobby space to the building, which was originally constructed in 1973.
Penn State President Eric J. Barron and Jacqueline Edmondson, Greater Allegheny chancellor and chief academic officer, presided over the ceremony. They were joined by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, State Rep. Austin Davis and state Sen. Jim Brewster.
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September 10, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The state Commission on Crime & Delinquency has added more than a half-million dollars to programs designed to curb gun violence and substance abuse in the Mon Valley.
Grants announced this week to the city of McKeesport and three local agencies will build on already successful programs, said state and local officials.
Officials said the city is currently in year three of the McKeesport Gun Violence Reduction Program, a five-year plan that includes community outreach, early intervention programs for youth and teen-agers, and additional resources for police and other law-enforcement agencies.
“The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency has been extremely supportive of the efforts taking place in McKeesport to curb the addiction to crime and violence,” McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said.
“This additional funding announced (Wednesday) continues the city of McKeesport’s program through June 2022,” he said. “Our hope is that these initiatives that PCCD is funding will continue for years to come.”
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September 09, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Don Michel, grandson of McKeesport Boys Club founder Samuel LaRosa, and McKeesport city Administrator Tom Maglicco look over a scrapbook of photos and letters — including several from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover — related to the organization’s founding. (Tube City Almanac photo)
About 60 McKeesport-area kids are already signed up as members of the new LaRosa Youth Club, and by the time the doors officially open at 2:30 p.m. Monday, organizers expect they will have 80 to 100 members.
It’s a promising start for the former LaRosa Boys & Girls Club on Ravine Street, which was closed in November by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania.
“I’m not going to lie — it’s an expensive venture,” said Jim Barry Jr., city councilman and former Boys & Girls Club executive, who is now on the board of the new LaRosa Youth Development Foundation. “But I think every kid’s worth it, and what kinds of affordable after-school programs you have shouldn’t be dictated based on which community you live, or the ZIP code you were born into.”
Barry joined a large, happy group of parents, local officials and LaRosa family members for a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday afternoon. The event, attended by more than 100 people, included a DJ, refreshments and games.
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September 07, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, North Versailles Twp. News, White Oak News
Demolition crews made short work of this abandoned building in Downtown McKeesport in 2018. (Tube City Almanac file photo for illustration only)
More than $1.9 million in economic development funding has been awarded across Allegheny County to demolish blighted, abandoned and unsafe structures, a county spokeswoman said, including 10 in the city and two each in White Oak and North Versailles Twp.
The grants, averaging $62,000, were awarded both to municipal governments as well as councils of government, county officials said.
Emphasis was placed on neighborhoods where clusters of vacant properties were in close proximity.
The funds are provided under Act 152, a 2016 state law that allows each Pennsylvania county to collect a fee for “blight removal” each time a deed or mortgage is recorded at the courthouse.
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September 03, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The effort to clear blighted buildings from the city’s Downtown continues.
At Wednesday’s meeting, McKeesport City Council unanimously awarded a $264,000 contract to Advanced Builders, Inc., to demolish commercial buildings at 903, 907 and 911 Fifth Ave., and 1013 and 1017 Fifth Ave.; 328 Sixth Ave.; and 422 Shaw Ave.
City officials said the demolition is part of Phase I of the McKeesport Downtown Blight Remediation Program.
Work will include asbestos removal, demolition, disposal and excavation “to provide a cleared and mowable lot.”
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August 29, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements, McKeesport and Region News
The renovated Ostermayer Laboratory building on Penn State’s McKeesport campus houses classrooms and laboratories for chemistry and biology. (Submitted photo courtesy Penn State University)
The president of Penn State University will join Greater Allegheny officials and faculty on Sept. 9 for the re-dedication of the newly renovated Ostermayer Laboratory building on the McKeesport campus.
The ceremony Sept. 9 will be presided over by University President Eric J. Barron and Jacqueline Edmondson, chancellor and chief executive officer of Penn State Greater Allegheny, a spokeswoman said.
Home to classrooms and chemistry and biology laboratories, the 22,000-square-foot Ostermayer Building was constructed in the early 1970s and opened in 1973.
The recently completed $14 million renovation brings state-of-the-art laboratory and safety equipment to the building, as well as more energy efficient systems, improved classrooms and teaching areas, a new entrance and lobby and spaces for students and faculty to collaborate on projects.
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August 28, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Two local apartment complexes are now getting national attention after an investigation revealed that they're racking up dozens of health and safety violations — and their owner is one of the country’s largest banks.
An investigation by WESA-FM, Pittsburgh’s NPR station, and the non-profit PublicSource website reported that since PNC Bank purchased Hi-View Gardens and Midtown Plaza Apartments in 2018, tenants have been complaining about cutbacks in maintenance that they allege have led to broken heating systems, roach and mouse infestations, water leaks and mold.
The story was picked up this week by the nationally broadcast program, “Here & Now,” which airs on more than 450 public radio stations across the United States.
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August 19, 2021 |
By Siana Emery | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Face masks will be optional but “strongly recommended” for students, faculty and staff in McKeesport Area schools when classes resume Aug. 23.
The school board was split 6-3 on the decision, with Dave Donato, Diane Elias, Tom Fioltei, Ivan Hampton, Jim Poston and Joe Lopretto in favor, and Jim Brown, Steve Kondrosky and Mindy Lundberg opposed.
Masks will be required on school buses and if the Allegheny County Health Department or state officials re-institute a face mask requirement, the district will shift its policy, Superintendent Dr. Mark Holtzman Jr. said.
“It’s a family’s choice (and) the student’s choice to wear a mask if they so choose,” he said.
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