A strong odor reported by residents of McKeesport, North Versailles Twp. and White Oak on Tuesday night was not a natural gas leak, a spokesman said.
Allegheny County emergency personnel said firefighters were dispatched to several locations along Route 48 just after 7 p.m. after 9-1-1 callers said they smelled natural gas.
But Barry Kukovich, spokesman for Peoples Gas, said there were no gas leaks or any service problems reported in Route 48 corridor on Tuesday night.
Natural gas is odorless, and the “gas smell” actually comes from a chemical called methyl mercaptan, which is designed to help customers detect a leak.
Kukovich said that it’s possible that a truck carrying mercaptan, or a similar chemical, passed through the area on Tuesday night, but the smell was not related to Peoples Gas.
Something was missing from the Christmas season this year.
McKeesport’s “Tree Man,” Don Spang, passed away July 30 at UPMC McKeesport Hospital. Spang was the owner and operator of Spang’s Landscaping and Tree Farms for more than 54 years.
For more than a half-century, beginning each November, Spang could be found along Hartman Street in the city, helping local residents pick out the perfect Christmas tree.
Writer Emily Pidgeon talked to Spang last Christmas. Our deepest sympathies to his family and many, many friends.
Herb Spang and an employee prepare to bale a customer’s tree at the family’s lot on Hartman Street in McKeesport. The Spangs have been selling Christmas trees at the location for nearly 60 years. (Emily Pidgeon photo special to Tube City Almanac)
(Originally published Dec. 20, 2019)
Selling Christmas trees during the holidays may seem like a fun and easy way to make a buck, but after talking to some local tree lot owners, you may think differently.
“We have to fight snakes, spiders, the sun, the weather — everything, you know,” said Don Spang, 88, of White Oak, owner of Spang’s Trees on Hartman Street in McKeesport.
Spang and his brother Herb, 79, along with other family members and employees, are celebrating 59 years of selling Christmas trees in the very same location.
Spang said he’s sold as many as 5,000 trees in one season. These days, the lot sells closer to 500 trees.
Correction: This story was corrected after publication. See editor’s note.
As students gear up for winter break, some McKeesport Area parents are left wondering in what form school will resume in January.
While cases of COVID-19 continue to be confirmed in students and faculty across the district, in-person classes are expected to resume on Jan. 4.
All classes are virtual this week.
As of Dec. 22, McKeesport Area School District has had 77 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among students and faculty since the school year began on Sept. 2. Most of those cases have been reported since November.
A Canadian company that specializes in medical marijuana has completed its acquisition of McKeesport-based PurePenn.
Trulieve Cannabis Corp., which has its U.S. offices in Quincy, Fla., near Tallahassese, also recently acquired the parent company of Solevo Wellness, a medical marijuana dispensary.
PurePenn began operations in late 2017 in the Industrial Center of McKeesport, the RIDC-operated industrial park on part of the former U.S. Steel National Plant property.
The company, which grows cannabis plants and extracts chemicals from them for medicinal purposes, is currently completing construction of a 90,000-square-foot production facility expected to begin operations in early 2021.
Western Pennsylvania communities are facing many of the same challenges today as they did decades ago — and if leaders don’t focus on the root causes of those problems, the challenges will persist for generations into the future.
That was the message of speakers participating in a forum Thursday organized by Penn State Greater Allegheny.
“We tend to place the blame on the people, instead of on the problem, or the institutions or policies that created those policies,” said Dannai Wilson, program manager of maternal and child health with the Allegheny County Health Department. “It’s not a people’s issue. It’s a systemic issue.”
Wilson was one of four participants in the forum that discussed the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of racial inequities for women of color as part of the McKeesport campus’s annual “Crossing Bridges Summit.”
McKeesport officials have posted a video of this year’s Festival of Trees in Renziehausen Park and now are encouraging residents to submit photos of their own holiday trees to be part of a virtual festival.
A slimmed-down Festival of Trees—the 35th annual event—concluded on Monday evening at Jacob Woll Pavilion. Past events have included 75 to 90 hand-decorated Christmas trees representing various Mon Valley groups, churches and organizations.
This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event had only about 40 trees, and many of the usual amenities—including refreshments and hay rides through the park—were canceled.
An online forum Thursday afternoon will discuss how income inequality leads to poor health for Black women.
“Socioeconomic and Environmental Perspectives on Black Women’s Health” will be moderated by Johnathan White, history lecturer at Penn State Greater Allegheny campus in McKeesport. The event begins at 3 p.m. and will be streamed live on Penn State’s website at watch.psu.edu/crossingbridges.
The panel discussion is the second in this year’s series of Crossing Bridges Summit events. The first, in October, examined Black women’s health from a medical perspective.
Jacqueline Edmondson, Greater Allegheny chancellor and chief executive officer, said the Crossing Bridges Summit committee selected this year’s theme after reading the 2019 report “Pittsburgh’s Inequality Across Race and Gender.”
McKeesport’s 2021 budget cuts more than a half-million dollars in spending and keeps tax rates the same.
“We will continue to try to shrink this budget,” Mayor Michael Cherepko told city council at its December meeting. “I’m looking next year to try to get below $22 million, to $21 million.”
On Wednesday, city council, with six members participating via telephone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unanimously approved the $22.1 million spending plan, which holds taxes at 8.26 mills on structures and 20.5 mills on land.
McKeesport is one of three cities in Allegheny County that has separate millage rates on land and buildings. Each “mill” represents $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value.
McKeesport’s Festival of Trees is coming together at the Jacob Woll Pavilion in Renziehausen Park—though smaller than in previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The annual event, a staple of the holiday season for the past 35 years, is scheduled to open to the public from 2 to 8 p.m. daily Dec. 3 through 7.
“We will do our best to continue this tradition—boosting our community’s morale and holiday spirit while respecting COVID-related guidelines and recommendations,” McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko says.
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko is hopeful that an “amicable solution” can be reached that prevents the city’s 75-year-old LaRosa Boys & Girls Club from closing.
Meanwhile, state corporation records hint that a new organization is being formed to help sustain the club.
On his Facebook page, Cherepko said that on Tuesday, along with State Sen. Jim Brewster and State Rep. Austin Davis, he had a video conference call with leaders of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania to discuss the future of the LaRosa Boys & Girls Club on Ravine Street.
“I am very pleased with the meeting and wholeheartedly believe we will be able to reach an amicable solution that will allow us to serve our community in one way or another at the club’s current location,” Cherepko said.
