Fawn Walker-Montgomery, co-founder of Take Action Mon Valley, said this Saturday’s event is a chance for Black business owners to network and reach out to the community. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
Events for Black entrepreneurs are regularly held in Pittsburgh, but this Saturday, Take Action Mon Valley is sponsoring Mon Valley Black Business Day in McKeesport.
“It’s not always easy to travel into Pittsburgh and some people don’t own cars,” said Fawn Walker-Montgomery, the group’s co-founder and executive director. “The organization came up with the idea to reach out to local Black businesses. We want to provide support for them and an opportunity to network.”
Mon Valley Black Business Day will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. July 17 at 2000 Eden Park Blvd., next to the side entrance of McKeesport Area High School, in the lot where Corner Pocket used to be.
McKeesport Area School Board has rehired Superintendent Mark P. Holtzman Jr. for another five years.
But in an unusual move, Holtzman first had to resign his position and then be re-appointed.
At a brief special meeting Tuesday, school directors voted 5-0 to accept Holtzman’s resignation, effective July 6.
School directors in attendance were Diane Elias, Tom Filotei, Ivan Hampton, Jim Poston and board President Joseph Lopretto. School directors Jim Brown, Dave Donato, Steven Kondrosky and Mindy Sturgess were absent.
The board then voted 5-0 to rehire Holtzman as superintendent for a five-year contract, beginning July 7, 2021 and ending June 30, 2026.
McKeesport City Council will return to meeting in-person, with public participation, in September.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Mayor Michael Cherepko, who participated by phone, said the city will lift COVID-19 mitigation measures in time for the Sept. 1 meeting and the public will be able to attend.
There is no council meeting scheduled for August.
“After a year of struggling with the obstacles caused by the pandemic, we want to get back to as close to normal as we possibly can,” Cherepko said.
A local non-profit comprised of former members, volunteers and employees of the LaRosa Boys & Girls Club will announce plans soon to reopen the facility.
At Wednesday’s McKeesport city council meeting, Councilman Jim Barry Jr. — a former executive with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania — said the LaRosa Youth Development Foundation expects to take possession of the property on Friday.
The club was abruptly closed in November 2020 by the Pittsburgh parent organization, which cited declining membership, rising expenses and a lack of participation by local youth.
The announcement set off a backlash from parents, city residents and elected officials, including McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, state Sen. Jim Brewster and state Rep. Austin Davis, all of whom sharply and publicly criticized the move — and the leadership of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania.
The eastbound lane of the Jerome Avenue Bridge will be closed Friday night — weather-permitting — so that crews can conduct bridge deck placement work.
The westbound lanes are currently closed and will remain closed through November.
A district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation said the eastbound lane, toward Downtown McKeesport from 10th Ward, is scheduled to reopen by 8 a.m. Saturday.
A fire May 12 rendered this Duquesne building uninhabitable. The demand for affordable housing in the Mon Valley outstrips the supply, say housing advocates and state Rep. Austin Davis. (Tube City Almanac photo)
On the night of May 12, Lakeya Wilson entrusted her four children, all under age 5, to her family members to babysit at her Duquesne home. Forty-five minutes later, Wilson received a call that her apartment building was on fire.
Thankfully, her family escaped unharmed, but the apartment where they had lived for two and a half years is now uninhabitable.
Wilson has a federal housing choice voucher — the program commonly called “Section 8” — and like many people in the Mon Valley is in search of a better apartment.
Wilson and her children are currently staying with family. She says she’s contacted more than 10 landlords to see if they have any vacancies for a Section 8 holder. So far, she says, all she’s heard is “no.”
A horror film that pays tribute to classic slasher movies of the 1980s — and which was produced by a largely Mon Valley cast and crew — will get its big screen debut this month.
“Massacre Academy” will premiere July 31 at the Lamp Theatre in Irwin. A feature-length slasher-comedy, the film was created by Mark Cantu, a San Antonio, Texas, native turned McKeesport resident.
Much of “Massacre Academy” was shot in and around McKeesport, with city officials happy to provide access to numerous locations, including the former site of the McKeesport Daily News.
“From industrial and modern to vintage, urban architecture, McKeesport truly does have everything you’re looking for as a filmmaker and I am proud to call it my home,” Cantu said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf joined members of the state legislature and LGBTQ advocates on June 15 to unveil the PA Fairness Act. (Photo courtesy state Rep. Dan Frankel’s office)
As a Pittsburgh-area LGBTQ rights advocate, Ciora Thomas has heard too many stories about how members of that community are discriminated against — from medical maltreatment to housing and employment discrimination.
As a Black trans woman, she’s had those experiences herself.
But Thomas — founder of Sisters PGH, a Black and trans-led nonprofit based in Swissvale which provides resources for the transgender and gender non-conforming community — is hopeful that a piece of legislation introduced this month in the state House will help those stories and experiences be a thing of the past.
Kate Hester, a 19th century McKeesport saloon-keeper, is credited with coining the word “speakeasy” to describe an illegal bar. Hester’s story and that of other local and national celebrities will be told this weekend in Renziehausen Park, McKeesport. The photo is not of Hester’s saloon but depicts a 1919-era tavern. (Library of Congress collection)
Some of the best stories to come out of the 15132 zip code will be told with a dramatic flair this Saturday within the trails and landmarks of Renziehausen Park.
The first-ever “Renzie Ramble Walking Tour,” presented by the McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center and the McKeesport Little Theater, will go beyond the Living History Tours that have taken place for the past seven years in the McKeesport & Versailles Cemetery.
“It’s stuff we would like to do on the cemetery tour but can’t because either they are not buried there or we don’t have the exact facts,” said David Moore, museum director at the MRH&HC. “When we do the cemetery tour a lot of research goes into every single one of those characters, whereas for this we did the research but if we couldn’t confirm it we had to fill it in.”
When the McKeesport Dek Hockey Association announced in March that they would have adult leagues in the spring, interest was high after a year of COVID-19 restrictions. Although youth leagues were postponed, enrollment in the adult leagues flourished.
The rink offered a dose of normalcy for adults during the pandemic. Not only was the rink a location for adults to gather safely to get some much-needed exercise, but it also gave players an opportunity for fellowship.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Andy Miller, a Glassport resident who plays in the adult leagues. “I started playing here about two years ago. Now, I’m usually here three or four nights per week playing games.”
