October 14, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The emergency demolition of a former school building on Bowman Avenue in Highland Grove will cost McKeesport taxpayers about $65,000, Mayor Michael Cherepko said.
The west wall of the building started to collapse on Wednesday, endangering a nearby house and forcing a temporary street closure. No injuries were reported, but residents of the house were evacuated, the mayor said.
Following an inspection of the building by City Engineer James Garvin, Cherepko said McKeesport officials awarded an emergency demolition contract to Lutterman Excavating of Greensburg.
Most of the building had been demolished by Friday night.
Read More
October 11, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Manor III is one of the buildings in RIDC's industrial park in McKeesport. (RIDC photo)
A Westmoreland County distributor and manufacturer of equipment used in the nuclear power and mining industries is relocating to McKeesport.
Ralph A. Hiller Company is leasing Manor III, a 12,500-square-foot building at the Industrial Center of McKeesport, said a spokeswoman for RIDC, which owns the property.
The company specializes in valves, tubes, gauges and other devices used to distribute and control steam as well as water and other fluids.
In a prepared statement, Tom Beck, Hiller's general manager, said the company --- currently located near Export --- wanted to stay in the Pittsburgh area and needs room for possible future growth.
Read More
October 10, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Renovations to several pavilions at Renziehausen Park are nearing completion, and McKeesport officials are gearing up for more improvements to the park in 2019.
At this month's council meeting, Mayor Michael Cherepko said crews from Plavchak Construction Co. are wrapping up work on pavilions 1, 2, 3 and 7. The $184,750 project was funded through the Allegheny Regional Asset District, or RAD, and included new roofs, signage, benches and accessibiity updates.
In September, the RAD board adopted a preliminary budget that includes another $170,000 for construction of a new pavilion at Renzie, as well as the purchase of new playground equipment.
Read More
October 08, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac file photo)
CORRECTION: The grant for which the city is applying from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development is only for trail improvements, a spokeswoman told Tube City Almanac on Oct. 10. This story incorrectly reported that the parking garage also would be included. We apologize for the error.
McKeesport will seek an additional $3 million in funding for improvements to the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail on Lysle Boulevard.
At this month's meeting, council voted 7-0 to pursue a grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development's Multimodal Transportation Fund.
The money --- if allocated by the state --- would be in addition to $2.9 million already awarded on Oct. 2 by the state Department of Transportation from its own multi-modal fund. That grant is also being used to help renovate the 440-space Lysle Boulevard parking garage for use by trail visitors, bus commuters using the McKeesport Transportation Center, and tenants at the former Daily News Building.
The DCED grant for which the city will now be applying is only for improvements to the trail, said Jennifer Vertullo, assistant to McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko.
Read More
October 03, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
Condemnation notices have been posted on McKeesport's Peoples Building, the landmark 1906 skyscraper at the corner of Walnut Street and Fifth Avenue that a local real estate agent in January called the "Crown Jewel" of the Mon Valley.
Citing health and safety violations, signs dated Aug. 17 were posted on the entrances to the building, the one-time home of People's Union Bank and Trust Co. before it was merged into Union National Bank of Pittsburgh.
No demolition hearing has been scheduled, and demolition is not imminent, Mayor Michael Cherepko said. "It doesn't mean it can't be un-condemned," he said.
An inspection of the interior found numerous violations that can be corrected, Cherepko said, but the public is not in danger.
Read More
October 02, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
The Lysle Boulevard parking garage could be reopened and connected to the former Daily News Building with the assistance of a $2.9 million grant from Pennsylvania's Multimodal Transportation Fund.
And city officials and state Sen. Jim Brewster have bigger plans --- like re-routing the Great Allegheny Passage trail to the edge of the Monongahela River, and possibly elevating a portion of it.
The state Department of Transportation on Tuesday announced the award of $2.9 million in funding to help rehabilitate the parking garage --- closed to the public for almost 20 years --- and improve the trail.
"Obviously, we've very excited," McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko said Tuesday night. The improvements to the garage and the trail have the potential to "jumpstart the Downtown area," he said.
Read More
September 28, 2018 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Area teachers began their year with a bus tour of the communities and neighborhoods the school district serves.
At last week's board meeting, Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. told school directors the tour --- involving more than 350 employees and 10 school buses --- was "a very powerful event."
“I spoke to our staff a little bit about what we’re doing, what our direction is as a school district, and how we meet the needs of our students, and it was very moving,” he said, adding that he hopes the event sets the tone for a positive school year.
“I’m extremely proud of our building administration, our principals, people on the front line, our teachers and support staff, and their attitudes toward the education of our students,” Holtzman said. “We have a rejuvenated, energized and passionate group, and I look forward to building on that as we move throughout the year."
Read More
September 20, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac photo)
A Duquesne-based manufacturer of bedding sold in stores around the country is expanding into McKeesport.
American Textile Co. has signed a lease for a 98,000-square-foot building in the Industrial Center of McKeesport, located on the site of the former U.S. Steel National Works.
The deal was announced Thursday by the non-profit Regional Industrial Development Corp., which owns the industrial park. American Textile will be using a building at 200 Center St. formerly occupied by Steel City Products.
An RIDC spokeswoman said Steel City Products, an auto parts distributor, has moved elsewhere.
“As our pillow business continues to grow, we need this additional space to cover growing demand,” Lance Ruttenberg, American Textile's chief executive officer and president, said in a prepared statement. The company expects to add 30 employees at the McKeesport location.
Read More
September 17, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
State Rep. Austin Davis, center, and State Sen. Jim Brewster (right, back to camera) participated in a peace walk through McKeesport July 6 following a police-involved shooting in East Pittsburgh. The McKeesport legislators have joined colleagues from Pittsburgh, Forest Hills and Mt. Lebanon to promote police reform legislation. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
In the wake of a police-involved shooting in East Pittsburgh that killed a 17-year-old and roiled the community, several local state legislators have unveiled a package of reform bills.
The legislation would be designed to improve police officer training and salaries; provide incentives for small municipalities to pursue regional police forces; encourage additional community oversight and recruitment of more diverse candidates to become police officers; and provide for an independent response team to investigate police shootings.
Backing the package of bills are state Sens. Jim Brewster of McKeesport, Jay Costa of Forest Hills and Wayne Fontana of Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood, along with state Reps. Austin Davis of McKeesport, Ed Gainey of East Liberty and Jake Wheatley of the Hill District.
“We need to do more to improve the training, quality and support of officers,” Costa said at a press conference last week. “But our improvements need to extend beyond police departments and into communities. I believe the package of bills we are working on can do that.”
Read More
September 10, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(This story will be updated throughout the day.)
Roads throughout the Mon-Yough area are closed due to floods and landslides after more than six inches of rain fell on the region from Saturday through Monday morning.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald on Monday afternoon declared a county-wide disaster emergency as a result of the three-day-long deluge, caused by remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon.
The declaration was issued on a recommendation from Allegheny County Emergency Services and enables county agencies to temporarily suspend bidding and contract requirements in order to contract with vendors for supplies and services.
“While flood warnings have expired, and rain showers are leaving the area, our department will begin its assessment of damages, and will do everything it can to assist in any recovery,” Fitzgerald said.
Five municipalities have reportedly issued their own emergency declarations, including Elizabeth Twp., where residents are being urged to evacuate from Blythedale, Smithdale, and parts of Industry and Buena Vista. Displaced residents are being encouraged to seek shelted at the community center, 429 Duncan Station Road.
Another emergency shelter has been opened at the Collinsburg Volunteer Fire Company, 514 Hickory Drive, near West Newton, according to a spokesman for the American Red Cross.
In Westmoreland County, the Sutersville Volunteer Fire Dept. was encouraging residents to evacauate and seek higher ground immediately. The fire department posted photos on its Facebook page showing that the Youghiogheny River had risen more than a foot in an hour, and was flooding the borough.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Yough at Sutersville was at 25.5 feet Monday morning --- more than five feet above flood stage. At 1 p.m. Monday, the fire department reported, water was covering First Avenue in the borough.
The National Weather Service in Moon Twp. said Monday afternoon that Monday's crest at Sutersville would be the highest at that location since 1996 and the sixth-highest in recorded history.
The Monongahela River at Braddock was near flood stage Monday afternoon and was expected to crest at least 18 inches above flood stage at 8 p.m., the Army Corps reported. In Wilmerding, Turtle Creek --- which drains into the Monongahela --- had risen from 5 feet Saturday afternoon to near 14 feet by Monday afternoon.
A landslide closed Route 837 in Whitaker Borough from 10 a.m. to about 4 p.m. Monday. Motorists exiting the Rankin Bridge were being forced to turn right toward Homestead, and through traffic was being diverted via Whitaker Way and Mifflin Street.
Route 837 also was closed in West Mifflin between the Valley Hotel and Anthony Crane, due to flooding.
Allegheny County emergency management said that Lincoln Way was closed in White Oak between McClintock Road and Rankin Road, while Route 48 was closed between Cool Springs Road and Marshall Drive, due to flooding. Both roads re-opened Monday afternoon just after 3 p.m., White Oak police reported.
A county spokeswoman said that White Oak Mayor Ina Jean Marton has issued a disaster declaration to allow for emergency work to be done to sewers after sewage began backing up into basements of many homes.
Read More
