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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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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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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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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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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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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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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October 12, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A West Mifflin man was seriously injured Sunday morning after the car which he was driving left West Fifth Avenue in the city’s 10th Ward and landed upside down on the railroad tracks.
Joseph E. Gault, 47, had to be extricated from the car by firefighters and paramedics and was taken by ambulance to UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown, McKeesport police said.
According to a report, Gault’s car was traveling east toward Downtown when his car left the road at Rebecca Street, crashed through a metal railing and landed on the CSX Railroad tracks.
Minutes earlier, according to police, a Glassport officer had attempted to stop a silver Toyota sedan in that borough, but the driver, later identified by police as Gault, fled the scene.
Following a brief pursuit, the Glassport officer lost sight of the vehicle near the Mansfield Bridge, according to a report. Police discovered Gault’s wrecked car a short time later, according to a report.
The incident is under investigation, police said.
October 09, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
At Duquesne City Council’s September meeting, several residents addressed leaders about tight parking conditions on Richford Street. At the October meeting, Police Chief William Shaw reported that residents were still parking on both sides of the street.
Last month, residents seemingly targeted one resident who was reportedly causing parking issues. There were concerns that emergency and other municipal vehicles wouldn’t be able to traverse the area.
“We need to put an ordinance in place,” said Councilman Aaron Adams.
That lead council into a discussion on what legally needs to be ironed out to enforce a new “no parking” sign on a city street, and whether they need to be formally approved by council.
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October 09, 2023 |
By Yousuf Lachhab Ibrahim | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Parents and taxpayers called for a unified approach to challenges facing the McKeesport Area School District, including safety issues in the schools and a series of administrative problems.
At a forum held Saturday evening at White Oak Athletic Association, speakers addressed a series of concerns, but several returned to the theme of “unity” that was invoked at the beginning of the meeting by the Rev. Earlene Coleman, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church for the last 20 years.
“We have to (become) unified,” she said. “Everything will fall apart if we continue to stay divided.”
Most of the concerns that were raised centered around two main issues — late tax refunds owed to homeowners after property tax exclusions under the Homestead-Farmstead Act were miscalculated, and the state of safety inside school buildings.
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