October 08, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, North Versailles Twp. News
(Submitted photo)
St. John’s Lutheran Church, located on Route 30 in North Versailles Twp., will hold a “trunk-or-treat” event from 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 30, a spokeswoman said.
The church’s new pastor, Rev. Dr. Kimberly Greway, also will be on hand to introduce herself to the community.
The church will provide games and prizes and refreshments will be served. Following the “trunk-or-treat,” there will be a scavenger hunt, crafts and an obstacle course in the soclal hall.
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October 08, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, White Oak News
Mary, Mother of God Parish will host a Fantastic Fall Bingo Oct. 24 in the St. Angela Gym, 1640 Fawcett Avenue, White Oak, a spokeswoman said.
Doors open at 12 noon and the Early Bird game begins at 1 p.m. In addition to bingo, the event will feature a 50/50 raffle and basket auction. Food will be available for purchase.
Tickets are $30 and include 16 regular bingo games, four specials and a $1,000 jackpot. Individuals purchasing tickets prior to Oct. 24 will be entered into a special drawing.
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October 08, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
Dawn Lewandowski of North Huntingdon Twp. holds Artemis, one of the cats who were available for adoption at the White Oak Animal Safe Haven during the Sept. 25 Fido Food Truck Fest. (Sarah Turnbull photo for Tube City Almanac)
The White Oak Animal Safe Haven held its first Fido Food Truck Fest on Sept. 25.
Five food trucks — Lil Sista Sweets, Bull River Taco, Good to Go, Sweet Buzz Bean and Bistro and Truckin Triangles — gathered at the White Oak Volunteer Fire Dept.
According to shelter director Laura Massie, the festival was born out of a desire to switch things up, along with supporting the shelter.
“This is the first year we’ve done it…it’s brand new,” Massie said. “We usually do the Fido ball, but we had to switch things up because of COVID.”
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October 07, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
State Rep. Austin Davis speaks about the COVID-19 vaccine during a press conference April 8 at Bethlehem Baptist Church, Downtown. (Submitted photo courtesy state Rep. Austin Davis)
The 35th Legislative District has one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates in Pennsylvania, state Rep. Austin Davis said Wednesday.
Davis, who has represented the district since 2018, urged residents who have not yet been vaccinated to get their shots.
“We simply cannot afford to repeat a surge of the virus like last winter and put even more stress on our healthcare providers, businesses, schools and communities, which have already been through so much in the last 18 months,” Davis said.
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October 07, 2021 |
By Siana Emery | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Area School District and Pennsylvania Coach Lines traded accusations this week in their ongoing dispute over the bus company’s inability to provide enough drivers on certain routes.
Attorneys for both sides were scheduled to present arguments Thursday before Allegheny County Judge Arnold Klein in Pittsburgh.
In a court filing Tuesday, attorneys for Pennsylvania Coach Lines accused the school district of deliberately trying to breach its contract with the bus company.
The district responded Wednesday by again asking Klein to grant its motion for an emergency injunction.
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October 07, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The head of a McKeesport-based charity that helps homeless men struggling with drug and alcohol addiction told city council on Wednesday his agency is not receiving the local support it needs.
During a public comment period, Keith Giles, founder and chief executive officer of First Step Recovery Homes Inc., said he has asked several times for financial support from city officials and the McKeesport Community Fund — a charitable foundation on which several city officials serve — without a response.
“Please understand that we at First Step have been hanging on by a thread,” Giles said. “We are a viable entity in the city, and want to continue our much-needed service, but financial assistance is much needed.”
But Mayor Michael Cherepko told Giles the city has responded to First Step’s requests. “You just didn’t like what I had to say,” he said.
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October 06, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Conflict of Interest Note: The author of this story has a conflict of interest. See editor’s note at the end of the story.
These buildings, seen from the McKeesport Transportation Center on Lysle Boulevard, will be demolished under a contract awarded Wednesday by McKeesport city council. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
Seven more buildings in the city’s Downtown business district — including the former G.C. Murphy Co. home office and Helmstadter’s Department Store — are one step closer to the wrecking ball.
McKeesport City Council on Wednesday by 6-0 vote awarded a $644,000 contract to Advanced Builders Inc. of Perryopolis, Fayette County, to demolish 513, 515, 519, 521, 523, 527 and 531 Fifth Ave. Councilman Tim Brown was absent.
“We’re excited to get through this,” McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said. “This is a contract for probably two-thirds of the block, across the street from city hall. We wanted to rip down the entire block at once, and we have one individual who’s holding us up.”
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October 06, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Policing and the community will be the focus of this year’s Crossing Bridges summit at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport.
The sessions will build off of issues raised in a report delivered by the Community Taskforce for Police Reform, which was convened in 2020 by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.
The first session, scheduled for 3 p.m. Oct. 14, will be titled “Examining Police Reform: Conversations about the Pittsburgh Community Taskforce for Police Reform and Its Implications for the Mon Valley.”
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October 05, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Trulieve Cannabis Corp., which acquired McKeesport-based PurePenn in 2020, is purchasing three buildings and approximately 37 acres of property in the city’s industrial park, RIDC announced Tuesday. (Tube City Almanac photo)
A medical-marijuana producer has committed $10.4 million toward expanding its operations in the city’s industrial park, with the possibility of adding 800 jobs.
Trulieve Cannabis Corp., which purchased McKeesport-based PurePenn in 2020, is acquiring approximately 37 acres of property and three buildings, Regional Industrial Development Corp. announced Tuesday.
The purchase includes McKeesport Commons I — the former EchoStar call center — and McKeesport Commons II, a vacant building next door. Trulieve also is acquiring the guard shack located at the Locust Street railroad crossing, RIDC said.
Discussions about selling the two McKeesport Commons buildings have been ongoing “ever since the acquisition of PurePenn by Trulieve,” said Timothy White, senior vice president for development at RIDC. “They’ve obviously had some aggressive expansion plans and they’ve been looking at McKeesport as a place to expand and grow.”
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October 04, 2021 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Tristian Banks and Calise Johnson, two of the YouthCast photographers, stand in front of the mural unveiled on Saturday. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
A new mural decorating McKeesport City Hall features the faces of ordinary residents, as captured by youth photographers.
The mural, unveiled at 12 noon Saturday, is a collage of photos captured over the past two years by teen-agers from McKeesport’s YouthCAST program with guidance from Martha Rial, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer who oversees Point Park University’s McKeesport Community Newsroom.
YouthCAST members have been talking with residents, giving elderly people roses and learning about photography as they made portraits of McKeesport residents from different backgrounds and of different ages.
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