August 22, 2025 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
These photos are included in a lawsuit filed by the family of a Ligonier woman who died July 24 after an accident in Renziehausen Park. The family of Gendie N. Miller, 49, alleges the city was negligent in its maintenance of trees near the Sulfur Springs area. (Allegheny County Common Pleas Court exhibit)
The family of a Westmoreland County woman who died after a branch fell on her in Renziehausen Park has sued the city, claiming it was negligent in its maintenance of the trees.
The estate of Gendie N. Miller, 49, seeks lost wages, reimbursement for medical and funeral bills, and punitive damages for emotional distress on behalf of Miller’s husband, William, and daughter, Marlee, both of Ligonier. The suit was filed Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Marlee Miller was competing in a softball camp for prospective college athletes on July 24 and her parents were spectators when the incident occurred, according to court filings.
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August 21, 2025 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
This November, Pennsylvanians will not see presidential or congressional races on the ballot but voters will decide whether three state Supreme Court justices keep their seats.
The decision could affect issues ranging from voting rights to whether or not Pennsylvania becomes subject to a grueling battle over congressional districts, as Texas and other states are currently facing.
Daniel Mallinson, associate professor of public policy and administration at Penn State University in Harrisburg, said unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, states choose judges in different ways, and Pennsylvania uses elections.
He warned with low turnout common in odd-year elections, Republicans could gain ground and shift the balance of power in the key battleground state.
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August 21, 2025 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
AmeriCorps members at a service project. Pennsylvania and other states are fighting against a proposed 41 percent funding cut imposed on the agency by so-called “DOGE” at the direction of Elon Musk. (AmeriCorps photo)
Federal cuts to AmeriCorps are shaking up public service opportunities for young Pennsylvanians.
The Trump administration slashed 41 percent of the agency’s funding this spring eliminating $400 million in grants and sidelining over 32,000 members nationwide.
Hillary Kane, director of the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development, said her group initially lost one of two AmeriCorps grants, which fund yearlong public service commitments with modest stipends. She noted the grants were later restored. The cut had threatened key career pathways into public service, education and health care.
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August 21, 2025 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
A Vitalant employee donates blood during a donor drive in Illinois. (Photo courtesy Vitalant, via Facebook)
Local Lions and Rotary clubs will sponsor a blood drive on Sept. 17, and participants will be entered in a contest for a chance to win a $10,000 prize.
McKeesport Lions Club, Mon River Fleet Lions Club, White Oak Lions Club and White Oak Rotary Club will hold the drive in cooperation with Vitalant at Sampson’s Mills Presbyterian Church, 1665 Lincoln Way, White Oak, from 2 to 6 p.m., a spokeswoman said. Donors should enter from the side door at the parking lot.
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August 21, 2025 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Courtesy Mon Yough Chorale)
A local community choir is looking for residents who love to sing and would like to meet new friends.
Rehearsals for the next season of the Mon Yough Chorale begin at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at Sampson’s Mills Presbyterian Church, 1665 Lincoln Way, White Oak, and are held every Sunday evening.
Established in 2015, the group was formed from a merger between the McKeesport Choraliers and the White Oak Community Singers and was previously known as the Mon Yough Community Singers.
A non-sectarian group of singers, Mon Yough Chorale performs for many organizations and municipalities in and around Western Pennsylvania.
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August 21, 2025 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Ribbons, file photo by Andrea Kirkby via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic)
Cancer Bridges, a local support group for people and caregivers affected by the disease, will hold an information session at 4 p.m. Aug. 28 at Kane Community Living Center McKeesport, 100 Ninth Ave., a spokeswoman said.
The guest speaker will be Cheryl Harris, a facilitator from Cancer Bridges. Refreshments will be served. The meeting is sponsored by St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 220 Eighth Ave.
Cancer Bridges is a non-profit charity that supports people impacted by a cancer diagnosis through a variety of free programs and services. This includes people with a cancer diagnosis, those who are caring for a loved one, or those who have lost a loved one.
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August 19, 2025 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
A Glassport man is in the Allegheny County Jail after police said he crashed into four parked cars in Port Vue while fleeing from McKeesport officers on Friday night.
Kane M. Snow, 26, faces a preliminary hearing Aug. 25 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi in connection with the Aug. 15 incident.
At the time of the arrest, court records indicate, Snow was free on his own recognizance while awaiting trial in connection with a December 2024 incident in which he also was accused of fleeing from police.
McKeesport police said an officer on routine patrol in the city’s 10th Ward was stopped at a red light when a black-colored Nissan sedan turned from West Fifth Avenue onto Rebecca Street, nearly colliding with the police car.
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August 18, 2025 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
McKeesport Area School District is furthering an educational initiative in hopes of creating new possible career pathways for students — that could someday lead to jobs back on the campus on Eden Park Boulevard.
During the Aug. 14 regular school board meeting, school directors voted to approve the creation of programs geared toward aspiring educators and first responders. Each program will be offered within the district’s Technology Center.
Designed to provide MASD students in 10-12 grades “quality career and technical education programs,” the center offers young learners pathways toward "immediate occupation.”
Current programs include Collision and Repair; Building Construction; Child Care; Diversified Occupations; Engineering; Culinary Arts; Commercial Arts and Cosmetology.
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August 17, 2025 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: Announcements
Trees that are native to Pennsylvania help reduce stormwater runoff, stabilize stream banks that are eroding, and filter pollutants such as chemical residue and road salt from reaching creeks and rivers.
If you feel like your property could benefit from new trees or shrubs — ones that are suitable to the Mon Valley’s growing conditions and climate — you may want to take advantage of the sixth-annual Native Tree and Shrub Fundraiser, held by Penn State Extension’s Master Watershed Stewards. The program offers 23 species to choose from.
The money raised will contribute to projects that educate communities in how to promote healthy watersheds.
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August 17, 2025 |
By Leslie Savisky | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The last drugstore in the McKeesport area has closed. Ayres Drugs on Walnut Street in Christy Park served customers for almost 100 years. (Leslie Savisky photo for Tube City Almanac)
Chuck Traeger graduated from Duquesne University as a pharmacist in 1955 and began working at Ayres Drug Store five years later. “I started on a Wednesday, and Mr. Ayres passed away that Friday,” Traeger said.
Traeger continued to work at the drug store on Walnut Street in Christy Park and, in the late 1960s, purchased it from Ayres’ son. Since then, the pharmacist has dedicated his life and career to serving the McKeesport community.
But all good things come to an end. So when Traeger’s pharmacy license needed to be renewed in August of 2025, the lifelong McKeesport resident, now 92 years old, made the tough decision not to renew his license and officially retire — citing age and the store’s profitability.
The closure leaves McKeesport, White Oak and the surrounding area with no drug stores, except for the pharmacy counters at two local Giant Eagles. All of the local Rite Aids recently closed as part of that chain’s bankruptcy.
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