October 25, 2018 |
By Lynne Glover | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Introduced as a “speaker of truths, par excellence,” Angela Davis took the stage at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport to a standing ovation.
The nearly packed house on Oct. 19 at Wunderley Gymnasium --- more than 1,000 people --- was a diverse, inter-racial crowd, ranging from toddlers to college students taking notes in old-fashioned notebooks to senior citizens with gray ponytails and beards.
Davis, a prominent 74-year-old political activist and academic, became well-known in the 1960s as a radical feminist and member of the Black Panther Party and the Communist Party USA. She was the keynote speaker for Greater Allegheny’s third Crossing Bridges Summit.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.”
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