Gayla and Guy Norelli of Glassport, Vince Klinkner of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Jim Harrold of Seven Springs at an award ceremony celebrating Harrold’s rescue. (Submitted photo courtesy Guy Norelli)
“I just assumed I was going to drown.”
Jim Harrold of Seven Springs was fishing in the Youghiogheny River in Confluence, Somerset County, when the current pulled him under.
“As I was going down towards the bottom of the pool, which was about 20 feet, there was a light,” Harrold said recently. That's just about where Glassport resident Guy Norelli pulled Harrold out of the Youghiogheny River Lake outflow on Sept. 2, 2022.
Last month, Guy Norelli and his wife Gayla, who spotted the drowning man, were honored with a Public Service Commendation Medal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Giant Eagle’s mobile market moved from Duquesne to West Mifflin recently, and there’s hope that a new grocer will move into the former Shop n Save on Homeville Road. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
On the same day that Giant Eagle’s mobile market officially abandoned its weekly stop in Duquesne for one in West Mifflin, the former owner of a series of convenience stores talked about his plans to bring new life into the former Village Shop ’n Save on Homeville Road.
Since the spring, the Giant Eagle mobile market had been making a Sunday stop in Rankin before reloading its shelves and stopping at Duquesne Plaza. At its initial stop in front of the former Save-A-Lot, more than 20 residents descended on the trailer that featured dry goods, refrigerated food, frozen items and half-off produce.
But over the months, those numbers dwindled, according to Giant Eagle’s Gwen Johnson, who managed the program. “We had nine last week,” she said as she set up cookies and apple juice for visiting patrons outside of the trailer.
The mobile market is now stopping in Village Shopping Center, near a seven-story senior citizen high rise. The plaza has been without a grocery store since August 2023, when a Shop ’n Save closed.
McKeesport Council Member Amber Webb speaks during a town hall meeting Nov. 2 at Jacob Woll Pavilion. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
Relationships between local police and community residents — especially Black residents — are burdened by a legacy of racism and stereotypes, said speakers at a town-hall meeting organized by Take Action Advocacy Group.
But most speakers at the event, held Nov. 2 at Jacob Woll Pavilion, stopped short of using language such as “defund the police,” instead arguing that resources should be allocated for other first-responders and organizations to respond to mental-health crises and non-violent situations, and for the use of conflict resolution techniques to resolve neighborhood disputes.
About 20 people attended the event, which included Take Action co-founder and chief executive officer Fawn Walker-Montgomery, McKeesport Council Member Amber Webb, and Autumn Redcross and Margo Hu from Abolitionist Law Center-Court Watch.
Former Duquesne Mayor Nickole Nesby and former Allegheny County Councilwoman Olivia Bennett were among those who also spoke at the meeting.
Amid concerns of election denialism, a report from a nonpartisan watchdog organization highlights the robust protections in place to help safeguard Pennsylvania’s election process.
More than 8 million registered voters in the commonwealth are expected to cast a ballot in today's presidential election. Polls are open in Pennsylvania until 8 p.m.
Jenny Gimian, director of legal research and senior policy counsel for the nonprofit Informing Democracy, said counties in Pennsylvania have significant authority to interpret and implement state laws, while the Secretary of State has limited oversight powers. It comes into play if defective ballots need a “cure.”
“Pennsylvania doesn’t have a cure law,” Gimian said. “The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently issued a decision confirming that counties can decide whether or not they are going to notify voters if they discover a defect with their ballot before election day. Some counties go out of their way to notify voters and allow them to cast a provisional ballot to fix the issue, others do not.”
In Allegheny County, nine ballot return sites will remain open through Nov. 4.
Voters had until Oct. 29 to request a mail-in or absentee ballot in Pennsylvania.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, more than 257,000 Allegheny County voters requested mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5 election. Of those, about 201,000 have already been returned.
“We strongly encourage voters who are still holding on to their mail-in ballots to use one of our 10 ballot return sites across the county,” Allegheny County Elections Division Manager Dave Voye said. “If we receive a ballot after 8 p.m. on Election Day, even if it is postmarked Election Day or earlier, we cannot accept it.”
In addition to the South Park ice rink, locations include:
• Duquesne: Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank • Avalon: Public Library • Dormont: Pool • Homewood: Community College of Allegheny County • Moon Twp.: Allegheny County Emergency Services Building • Pine Twp.: North Park ice rink • Plum: Boyce Park Four Seasons Lodge • Squirrel Hill: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
The hours of the above locations are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
Voters who send or drop-off an absentee ballot may not vote in person at their neighborhood polling place, state officials have warned.
However, Allegheny County officials said voters who requested an absentee ballot, but did not return it, should bring it to their poling place and ask to vote in person instead. This process is known as “spoiling a ballot.”
Voters who are not in possession of their mail-in ballot and have not had confirmation that their mail-in ballot was received by the Elections Division should ask to cast a provisional ballot, the county said.
The United States Postal Service earlier this week suggested that all ballots be in the mail back to the County Elections Division by Oct. 29.
The County Office Building on Ross Street in downtown Pittsburgh also will be open for voters returning their mail-in ballots, a spokesperson said. The lane on Ross Street closest to the building is available for people to temporarily park and return their ballot.
The County Office Building hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Take Action Advocacy Group will hold a town hall Saturday to discuss public safety, police accountability and voter engagement.
The discussion, organized in cooperation with ALC Court Watch, begins at 2 p.m. Nov. 2 at Jacob Woll Pavilion at Renziehausen Park in McKeesport.
Organizers called the forum necessary in the wake of several incidents involving local police officers, including the arrest of a former McKeesport police detective and the McKeesport Area School District’s police chief; as well as an ongoing investigation by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office into items reportedly missing from the McKeesport police evidence room.
Allegheny County elections officials have issued this video explaining how absentee and mail-in ballots are counted. (Courtesy Allegheny County via YouTube)
Ahead of Tuesday’s election, Pennsylvania has become ground-zero for election conspiracy theories, experts warned this week, and they are cautioning the public not to be fooled.
Officials with the Allegheny County Elections Bureau have already attempted to debunk social media rumors after a video circulated of an absentee ballot drop-off location in South Park.
County officials said no illegal activity occured at the South Park drop-off facility, located at the county-owned ice rink on Corrigan Drive. The county elections bureau has opened temporary satellite offices at nine locations, including in Duquesne, Squirrel Hill and six other neighborhoods, where voters may deliver their own absentee ballots to elections workers.
One of the hot issues for younger voters — the year-long Israeli bombing campaign on Palestine, following an October 2023 surprise attack by Hamas — was barely mentioned Tuesday during a get-out-the-vote rally in McKeesport’s Renziehausen Park.
The closest anyone came was when former President Bill Clinton was listing a variety of problems the country was facing. The issue received less attention than questions about artificial intelligence.
Earlier in the day, an appearance by Clinton at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg was briefly interrupted when a 20-year-old protestor who identified herself only as “Faith” interrupted the former president’s remarks to ask why the United States is still supplying weapons to Israel.
Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president, speaks during a 2016 campaign stop in Omaha, Neb. (Matt A.J. photo via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0)
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein will attend a candidate forum in Renziehausen Park tonight (Wednesday) sponsored by Mon Valley-based Take Action Advocacy Group and Pittsburgh’s 412 Justice.
The Environmental Justice Candidate Forum begins at 5 p.m. at Jacob Woll Pavilion in McKeesport. The event is free, but online registration is requested.
In addition to Stein, other candidates who are scheduled to attend include Leila Hazou, Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate; U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, Democrat of Swissvale, who is seeking her second term in Congress, and challenger James Hayes (Republican Party); state attorney general candidates Eugene DePasquale (Democratic Party) and Richard L. Weiss (Green Party); Malcolm Kenyatta, Democratic candidate for state auditor general; Erin McClelland, Democratic candidate for state treasurer; State Sen. Jay Costa, Forest Hills Democrat, seeking re-election in the 43rd District; and John Ritter, Republican candidate for state General Assembly in the 25th District.
Former President Bill Clinton, who visited McKeesport in 1992 while running for president, helped lead a “get-out-the-vote” rally for local Democrats at Renziehausen Park on Tuesday. (Yousuf Lachhab Ibrahim photo for Tube City Almanac)
Former President Bill Clinton came to McKeesport on Tuesday for a Get Out the Vote rally in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president.
With early voting underway and Election Day less than a week away, Democrats, Republicans, and the Green Party are trying to secure votes with the little time they have left in Pennsylvania, which is considered the key swing state this year.
On the same day that Clinton came to McKeesport, Trump held a rally in Allentown. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, will be coming to McKeesport tonight (Wednesday) for an environmental justice forum in Renziehausen Park from 5 to 8 p.m.
