June 03, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac photo)
McKeesport officials are warning motorists not to park on sidewalks.
At Wednesday’s meeting, City Councilman Jim Barry Jr. urged Mayor Michael Cherepko to take action against the practice.
“I’m getting some constituent complaints,” he said. “I notice it mostly on Walnut Street and Fifth Avenue, but it’s starting to move into (residential) neighborhoods as well.”
Barry described the problem as more than a nuisance. “It forces people to walk in the street, so it’s a safety issue, but it’s busting up the sidewalks and curbs,” he said. “We’ve got to start warning people.”
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June 02, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The former Frank Mikell barber shop on Walnut Street in the Third Ward — once a community gathering place — is targeted for demolition. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Another 24 vacant buildings — mostly in the city’s Walnut Street corridor — are scheduled for demolition in what McKeesport officials said is a focused effort to encourage new business development in the Second and Third wards.
At Wednesday’s meeting, city council awarded a $219,850 contract to Minniefield Demolition Services LLC of West Mifflin to tear down abandoned homes and commercial structures on Walnut, Jenny Lind, Locust and Whigham streets; Tube Works and Van Kirk alleys; and Olive, Seventh and Ninth avenues.
The latest contract is separate from a $294,000 state grant announced last week that will help pay for the demolition of seven commercial buildings in the Downtown area.
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May 28, 2021 |
By Siana Emery | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Area School District plans to increase its budget significantly for the 2021-2022, with the help of federal COVID-19 stimulus funding, but there will be no tax increase.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the school board approved the preliminary $81.1 million budget by a 6–1 vote. The spending plan represents an increase of almost 13 percent over 2020-2021.
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act appropriated $13.2 billion for emergency relief for elementary and secondary schools.
District officials said the most significant expenditure changes largely focus on providing extra support for students, bolstering school safety and addressing learning losses caused by the pandemic. Expenditures include the addition of new educational and support faculty, camera system repairs and cyber school costs.
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May 28, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Family, friends and colleagues of Matthew Bauman, a McKeesport Area High School teacher who died in October 2020, gathered this week at McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center as an educational program was launched in his memory. (Tube City Almanac photo)
A new educational series about local history has been created in memory of a beloved McKeesport Area High School teacher who died in October 2020 of cancer.
Family, friends and colleagues of Matthew Bauman gathered Wednesday evening at McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center to share stories and discuss his legacy.
An 11th and 12th-grade history teacher, Bauman, 38, of Port Vue had served as vice president of the center’s board of directors before his untimely passing. But Bauman’s connection to the center, and McKeesport’s history, was much deeper than his title implied, said Marianne Macbeth, president of the center’s board.
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May 27, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements, McKeesport and Region News, White Oak News
A color guard comprised of then-McKeesport Area High School Junior Air Force ROTC Cadet Dylan Vaniel and members of the McKeesport police and fire departments present the American and Pennsylvania flags during 2017 Memorial Day ceremonies. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
Local communities have slated Memorial Day observances, including ceremonies in McKeesport and Glassport, and a parade on Lincoln Way in White Oak.
Observed annually on the last Monday in May, Memorial Day is a federal holiday for honoring and mourning military personnel who died in the performance of their duties, and is distinct from Armed Forces Day — which is set aside to recognize active-duty personnel — and Veterans’ Day.
Memorial Day was originally known as “Decoration Day,” because it was used as a time to decorate troop graves. The holiday has been marked in the United States since the Civil War.
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May 25, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Liberty Borough News, McKeesport and Region News
These three buildings near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Coursin Street are among seven in the city’s business district targeted for demolition with the help of funds from the state’s Blight Remediation Program. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Seven vacant buildings in the city’s Downtown business district — all in severe disrepair — will be demolished with the assistance of funding from the state’s Blight Remediation Program.
State officials announced Tuesday that McKeesport has been awarded $294,063 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority towards the demolition and environmental cleanup of properties at 903, 907, 911, 1013 and 1017 Fifth Ave., 328 Sixth Ave. and 422 Shaw Ave.
Funding also was awarded to remove blighted buildings in Dravosburg, Glassport, Liberty Borough and Wilmerding.
A total of $12 million was awarded statewide, including more than $1.3 million in grant money for efforts in the 45th Senate District, said state Sen. Jim Brewster of McKeesport.
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May 21, 2021 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Kids at A Developmental Journey Christian Childcare eagerly listen to Kris Kornegay-Gobel talk about his journey to success, from childhood until his current life, training for the U.S. Olympic Team for this summer’s games in Tokyo. (Tube City Almanac photo by Vickie Babyak)
Olympic hopeful Kris Kornegay-Gober came to McKeesport over Mother’s Day weekend to inspire some youth at a child care facility. By the end of his visit, the children felt more confident about their own abilities.
Kornegay-Gober is the son of Lynne Lennon, who teaches geometry and science at McKeesport Area High School, and the stepson of Moses Lennon of Duquesne. Lynne Lennon said her son had attended Faith Christian Academy in Martinsburg, W.Va. The coach asked if anyone was interested in high jumping and Kris said he would try. That was the beginning of his sports career.
A Washington, D.C., resident and a marine science technician for the U.S. Coast Guard in Curtis Bay, Md., where he holds the rank of petty officer third class, Kornegay-Gober recently competed in a pre-Olympic trial event where he came in fourth with a high jump of 6 feet, 8 inches. He is training with hopes of making the U.S. Olympic Team for this summer’s games in Tokyo.
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May 20, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
A Banker Street man who emergency personnel said is a fireworks enthusiast was badly burned Thursday morning in an explosion.
The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was airlifted by STAT MedEvac helicopter to UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh following the incident just before 3 a.m.
The Allegheny County police bomb squad responded to the scene to remove what officials described as a large quantity of fireworks, which were labeled for retail sale and appeared to have been purchased legally.
“Vast amounts, and when I say vast amounts, I mean there were many, many boxes throughout the house,” said McKeesport deputy fire Chief Tom Perciavalle. Some of the fireworks were in the large cardboard tubes of the types sold for public displays, he said.
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May 20, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Duquesne News, McKeesport and Region News, Politics & Elections
Duquesne Mayor Nickole Nesby was defeated for the Democratic nomination for a second term in office, but Allegheny County Councilman Bob Macey held off his primary challenger.
Winners of primaries in each party will face one another in the general election Nov. 2.
Duquesne Mayor
According to complete but unofficial returns from the Allegheny County Elections Division, Nesby, the first Black woman elected mayor of Duquesne, was defeated in the Democratic Primary by City Councilman R. Scott Adams by a sizable margin.
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May 14, 2021 |
By Siana Emery | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Eleven candidates — including three incumbents — are seeking four positions on the McKeesport Area School Board during next week’s primary.
School Director Ivan Hampton is not seeking re-election.
The primary election is Tuesday, May 18, and gives voters who are registered as either Democrats or Republicans the chance to choose their party’s candidates for the November general election.
Seven candidates are cross-filed as both Republicans and Democrats, while four candidates are running strictly as Democrats.
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