October 11, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (above) will visit McKeesport on Saturday to take part in a political rally at the Palisades Ballroom, Fifth and Water streets, Downtown.
The "Mass Rally in the Valley" is being sponsored by a group calling itself the Mon-Valley People's Action Committee and begins at 2:30 p.m. A complete list of guests has not been announced.
Wolf, a Democrat, is running for re-election on Nov. 6. Seeking election as lieutenant governor on the same ticket is John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock.
Wolf and Fetterman are being challenged by Republicans Scott Wagner, the gubernatorial candidate and a former state senator from York County; and Jeff Bartos, the candidate for lieutenant governor and a real-estate developer from Montgomery County.
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October 10, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: 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 10, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
Duquesne police Chief Tom Dunlevy reported 564 calls for service for the month of August, resulting in 52 arrests.
Calls for service included 24 abandoned vehicles, 25 criminal mischief calls, 10 juvenile complaints, 33 domestics, 17 disturbances and 10 thefts. A full list of calls for service can be viewed on the department’s Facebook page or at the police department.
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October 09, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne water customers owed the city nearly $64,000 at the beginning of September --- but city officials said delinquent accounts are not going to be allowed to slide any longer.
At council's Sept. 25 meeting, Councilwoman Elaine Washington said that a review of the city's accounts found that some residents had past-due balances of more than $4,000. In some cases, she said, residents who had unpaid water bills were allowed to open new accounts without paying off the old bills.
That arrangement is no longer acceptable, Washington said, and bills must be paid in full monthly.
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October 09, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Mon Valley business owners --- and people hoping to start a business --- are being encouraged to attend a free networking event and workshop Oct. 18 at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport.
The Mon Valley Business Development Expo is being sponsored by PurePenn, the Mon Yough Area Chamber of Commerce and Penn State, a spokeswoman said. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Ostermayer Room of the campus' Student Community Center. Breakout sessions will follow from 9 to 11:30 a.m., with a procurement fair from 1 to 3 p.m., following a lunch break.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Gina Rosso at gina@purepenn.com.
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October 08, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Conflict of Interest Note: The editor of Tube City Almanac, Jason Togyer, has a conflict of interest involving this story.
(Photo by Nyttend via Wikimedia Commons)
McKeesport's Penn-McKee Hotel has been named the Number One preservation opportunity in Western Pennsylvania by the group currently studying whether or not the building can be saved and reused.
At a ceremony Friday at Alphabet City on Pittsburgh's North Side, the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh unveiled its annual list of the 10 neglected historic or architectural sites that are most worthy of rescue.
The Penn-McKee was named the number one site because it has both historic and architectural value, the group said.
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October 08, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: 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 08, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne officials are planning to take legal action against three non-profit agencies that own vacant properties in the city.
At the Sept. 25 meeting, council authorized the city solicitor to bring a lawsuit against the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Duquesne, the Allegheny County Housing Authority and the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority.
“One-third of the land in Duquesne is owned by one of these three entities and we are actively trying to address the blighted properties in the city,” Mayor Nickole Nesby said. “In total, these three governmental agencies have held properties for over 16 years, denying the city nearly $385,000 in delinquent tax funds.”
Government agencies are typically exempt from local, school district and county real estate taxes.
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October 04, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A 14-year-old Duquesne resident faces charges in Allegheny County juvenile court after McKeesport police said he was behind the wheel of a stolen car that hit a police cruiser.
The young man, whose name was not released by police, is charged with receiving stolen property, driving without a license and causing an accident involving an occupied vehicle.
McKeesport police said two officers were on patrol early Saturday morning on Evans Avenue when they saw a black Mercury sedan matching the description of a car that had been reported stolen a few hours earlier in Duquesne.
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October 03, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: 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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