U.S. Steel: No Update on Sale Talks

October 26, 2023 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: State & Region

Finished coils await shipment at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Plant in West Mifflin. (File photo courtesy U.S. Steel Corp.)


U.S. Steel and its possible suitors are remaining quiet on two competing proposals to sell the corporation.

During a call Thursday with investors and reporters, the company reported third-quarter net earnings of $299 million, or $1.20 per share, and declared a five-cent-per-share dividend.

But corporation officials stayed mum about the possible sale of the Pittsburgh-based company, which operates the Mon Valley’s last integrated steel-making facilities, the Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock and North Braddock, as well as the Clairton coke and by-products plant and Irvin Plant in West Mifflin.

In August, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., a steel-making and iron-ore mining conglomerate in Ohio, and Sewickley-based Esmark Inc. announced they had both tendered offers to take over U.S. Steel. The Cleveland-Cliffs deal has the support of the United Steelworkers union.

 
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Board OK’s 1-Year Deal With Teachers’ Union

October 26, 2023 |

By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

McKeesport Area School Board has OK’d a one-year tentative agreement with the teacher’s union to avert a strike.

The deal, pending approval from the McKeesport Area Education Association, would be retroactive from Sept. 1, 2023, through Aug. 31, 2024. The deal would give a new school board time to negotiate a more lengthy contract following November’s election.

The vote was 8-0, with School Director Steven Kondrosky absent.

District Superintendent Tia Wanzo called the agreement “step one” in resolving the months-long contract dispute. District educators have gone without a contract since Aug. 31.

Wanzo said she expects the union to act quickly, probably by Nov. 1: “They’re going to move quickly through the channels.”

 
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White Oak Sets Trick-or-Treat Hours

October 24, 2023 |

By T.J. Martin | Posted in: White Oak News

White Oak council held a brief October meeting that was more treats than tricks as borough officials set hours for Halloween events.

Council voted to set official trick-or-treat hours from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 31. The vote was unanimous, with councilpersons Joelle Harbert and Louis Bender absent.

Council also voted unanimously to have the White Oak Borough Halloween Parade followed by a Truck-and-Treat and Trunk-and-Treat event on Oct. 28 from noon to 2 p.m. at Sampson’s Mills Presbyterian Church. The parade line-up will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the church at 1665 Lincoln Way.

 
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MAHS Student Held After Handgun Discovered

October 24, 2023 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News

A student at McKeesport Area High School was taken into custody Tuesday morning after district officials said a handgun was discovered in his bookbag during a security screening.

A district spokesperson said that McKeesport police are investigating the incident and that the student would be subject to school disciplinary policy and procedures.

In a release, McKeesport Area officials said a security guard discovered the weapon during a routine screening at the high school entrance at approximately 8:15 a.m.

All students are required to enter the school building through metal detectors.

 
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City Awarded $125K for Health, Food Outreach

October 24, 2023 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

(Illustration: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)


The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have awarded McKeesport $125,000 to work with UPMC and a broad coalition of community groups to develop a city-wide strategy to address chronic diseases, food security and access to health care.

The grant, announced Monday by city officials and UPMC, comes through the CDC’s Closing the Gap with Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans grant program.

According to the CDC, McKeesport is one of only approximately 15 cities nationwide to be awarded a grant from the program in this round of funding. In total, five programs in Pennsylvania have been funded since the program’s inception.

City and UPMC officials said the planning grant will be used to develop a connected and sustainable network of community organizations that can bring forth the voices and needs of the McKeesport community; plans to create more convenient, accessible and equitable access to care; and a better understanding of how diverse populations want to receive care.

A similar program called “Clairton Cares,” operated by Mon Valley Initiative and funded through the Jefferson Regional Foundation, has been praised for its positive impact on that community.

 
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EA School Board Meeting Ends in Argument

October 18, 2023 |

By Dianne Ribecca | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News

Parents of an East Allegheny School District student allege that four other pupils attacked their child at a bus stop, causing personal injury and property damage — and that the students involved were related to school board members.

The accusation, leveled at the Oct. 9 school board meeting, resulted in an intense confrontation between district officials and the parents, who were removed from the room by school security.

District Solicitor Dan Beisler warned the parents not to name the children who are accused in the incident, while District 2 School Director Courtney Verner vehemently disputed the accusation.

North Versailles Twp. police were called to the meeting but the situation was resolved outside.

 
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White Oak Bakery Celebrates New (Old) Home

October 16, 2023 |

By T.J. Martin | Posted in: White Oak News

Patti’s Pasticceria, a fixture on Lincoln Way since 2012, has relocated directly across the street to 1501 Lincoln Way, into a space once occupied by Feig’s Bakery. (Submitted photo via Facebook)


A White Oak bakery has relocated, but patrons don’t have to worry about finding it: it simply moved across the street.

Patti’s Pasticceria, which had been at 1502 Lincoln Way since 2012, has relocated directly across the street to 1501 Lincoln Way, which years ago was the site of Feig’s Bakery.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Patti Fiasco, founder and namesake of Patti’s Pasticceria. She worked at Feig’s, starting at the counter as a teenager, before moving to the back room to learn more of the trade.

“I always loved to bake,” Fiasco said. “They taught me how to decorate (cakes) here.”

Fiasco remained at Feig’s until she became pregnant with her son, Andrew Macey, then, as she raised her family, continued to bake and sell her baked goods from her home for the next 20 to 25 years.

 
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Duquesne Discusses Water Dept. Sale

October 15, 2023 |

By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News

Duquesne City Council is not happy with the company that has been contracted to fix its municipal pump station project.

The city is concerned that the contractor who bid on the pump station project is “not completing the work in a timely manner that they were contracted to do,” wrote Duquesne City Councilman Aaron Adams in an email.

City officials have been frustrated because the contractor has been slow in programming the new water pump controls for the new pumps to operate.

“We’ve waited long enough,” Adams said during his Water Department report at the October city council meeting. “We keep asking for a schedule.”

 
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Local Church Marking 150th Anniversary

October 15, 2023 |

By T.J. Martin | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Parishioners Ethel Balas and Karen Slobodian and priest-in-charge the Rev. Dr. Moni McIntyre are among those getting ready to celebrate the 150th anniversary of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. (T.J. Martin photo for Tube City Almanac)


Few things last for 150 years, so when something does, that longevity is often honored. One institution marking its 150th anniversary this year is St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in McKeesport and it will mark that milestone on Oct. 21, with an Open House from 1 to 4 p.m. at the McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center.

The event will include refreshments and speeches from McKeesport native Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, whose godmother is a member of the church; state Sen. Jim Brewster (D-45th), a former McKeesport mayor and city councilman; and Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop Ketlen Solak.

The history center is located in Renziehausen Park along with McKeesport’s first school known as the “little red school house.” That school house hosted McKeesport’s first Episcopal service in 1869.

 
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Start-Up Incubator Reopens in New Space

October 13, 2023 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Eric Ewell, director of continuing education at Penn State’s Greater Allegheny Campus, welcomes visitors to the opening of the new Mon Valley LaunchBox on Fifth Avenue, Downtown. Also shown are business owner Shalay Williams, founder of Care Heart CPR, and state Rep. Matt Gergely. (Special to Tube City Almanac)


Even after a devastating explosion wrecked the building where Penn State University’s Mon Valley LaunchBox was located, the small-business incubator never stopped operating — and growing.

Since 2019, more than a dozen businesses have now gotten their start through the Mon Valley LaunchBox, and with the formal opening on Thursday of its new location Downtown, there’s more room to grow, said Eric Ewell, director of continuing education at Greater Allegheny Campus.

“We’ve never stopped,” Ewell said. “We had two networking events this year that we had 60 people registered for. We just didn't have the coworking space. But even then, we offered people who were paying members at the time space on campus.”

Ewell and Megan Nagel, Greater Allegheny interim chancellor, joined State Sen. Jim Brewster, State Rep. Matt Gergely, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko and other community leaders to celebrate the LaunchBox’s new location in the former First Commonwealth Bank at 225 Fifth Ave.

 
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