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PD Chief Named, Duquesne VFD Gets Grant
By Tom Leturgey
The Tube City Almanac
January 06, 2023
Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
For months, Tom Shaw has been Duquesne Police Department’s “acting” police chief. That changed Tuesday night as the Mayor Scott Adams and city council removed the interim title from his resume.
By a 4-0 vote, council this week named Shaw the permanent police chief. Councilman Tim Caldwell was absent. Shaw also was unable to attend the meeting, because he was away on business, Adams said.
Council also named Duquesne police Lt. Karra Vance assistant police chief. Vance served as acting police chief after former police Chief Thomas Dunlevy was placed on leave in 2021. Dunlevy was fired by city council on Dec. 6.
Both appointments took effect Wednesday.
In other business
Council discussed with Duquesne fire Chief Frank Cobb budgeting fuel for the volunteer fire department’s trucks. It was Cobb’s belief that fuel funding was not itemized in the 2023 spending plan. Councilman Derek Artim had noted earlier that while the city budget had been passed at the Dec. 20 meeting, changes can be made up until Feb. 28.
Councilman Aaron Adams suggested that a representative of council should be at the fire department’s next meeting on Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. to discuss the budgetary item. Councilwoman Elaine Washington asked Cobb if the city had always paid for the fire department’s fuel, and Cobb said, “since it has been established.”
Cobb estimated that fire truck fuel was in the $6,000 annual range, but he wasn’t sure of the exact amount. Adams asked Cobb to look at the last two years of fuel costs for comparison. Council plans to revisit the issue at the Jan. 31 workshop meeting and, if necessary, again at the Feb. 7 regular meeting.
Meanwhile, the fire department has received a much-needed grant. Cobb told city officials that on Dec. 28 the department received $180,000 from the federal Assistance to Firefighters grant program.
He said some of the money would go toward much-needed air packs that will last 15 years if maintained accordingly. “It’s been a good year for the fire department,” he said. Cobb said he will go into greater detail about the benefits of the grant money and its uses soon.
Tom Leturgey is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh and the editor of KSWA Digest, the online news and features home of the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance. His work also appears in The Valley Mirror and other publications.
Originally published January 06, 2023.
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