December 08, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Letters to the Editor
State Rep. Austin Davis writes:
In March, we had to ask the most of our residents: We asked them to stay home.
We asked them to forego their financial security, close businesses and have faith in the government to do the right thing.
“We’ve got your backs,” we said. “Programs will be available to you if you find yourself unemployed as a result of COVID-19.”
And while programs were made available through the federal CARES Act, so many residents and small business owners in my district alone have gone without, falling through the cracks created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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December 08, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: History
What would have been on your Christmas or Hanukkah gift list in 1978?
This week 42 years ago, McKeesport-based G.C. Murphy Co. was offering a Radio Flyer wagon for $7.77, a Polaroid “One-Step” Instant Camera for $29.94, and boys’ jeans — in Murphy’s own “Big Murph” brand name — for $5.97.
The five-and-10 chain had more than 500 stores that year, including locations at 315 Fifth Ave. in Downtown, Olympia Shopping Center in Versailles, 559 Miller Ave. in Clairton, 108 South Second St. in Elizabeth and 129-131 East Main St. in West Newton.
More than 1,000 people worked at Murphy’s corporate headquarters, or “home office” on Fifth Avenue—part of the 500 block now targeted for demolition and redevelopment—and hundreds more were employed at Murphy’s giant distribution center, which stretched from 28th Avenue to 35th Avenue in Christy Park.
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December 07, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
• Arrest records published here were provided by the McKeesport Police Department.
• Not all arrest records are published.
• An arrest does not mean the person identified has been convicted of a crime.
• All people arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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December 06, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, Crime and Police News
The McKeesport police annual fund drive is underway.
A spokesman said the donations are used to purchase non-budgeted items and equipment used by officers while serving McKeesport and Dravosburg, which is patrolled by city police under a contract with the borough.
Donations are strictly voluntary, a spokesman said.
“The items purchased from these donations are used on a daily basis by our police department,” he said. “Several of these items would not have been purchased if it were not for the generosity of the local businesses and private citizens of both McKeesport and Dravosburg.”
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December 04, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
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McKeesport’s 2021 budget cuts more than a half-million dollars in spending and keeps tax rates the same.
“We will continue to try to shrink this budget,” Mayor Michael Cherepko told city council at its December meeting. “I’m looking next year to try to get below $22 million, to $21 million.”
On Wednesday, city council, with six members participating via telephone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unanimously approved the $22.1 million spending plan, which holds taxes at 8.26 mills on structures and 20.5 mills on land.
McKeesport is one of three cities in Allegheny County that has separate millage rates on land and buildings. Each “mill” represents $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of assessed value.
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December 04, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The ramp from the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge to East Fifth Avenue, northbound, will remain closed through Dec. 11, the state Department of Transportation has announced.
A spokesman for PennDOT District 11 said the extended closure is necessary so that crews from Michael Facchiano Contracting of Mt. Lebanon can complete their work repairing joints and concrete.
The original schedule had projected the ramp could re-open last week.
The posted detour uses Bowman Avenue, East Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard and Route 30 back to Fifth Avenue in East McKeesport.
December 01, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Politics & Elections
A federal judge in Pittsburgh has denied a request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order that would block state officials from accepting some of Allegheny County’s election results.
At issue are 2,349 disputed absentee and mail-in ballots that will likely decide the 45th Senatorial District race between State Sen. Jim Brewster and his challenger, Nicole Ziccarelli.
The ballots in question were signed, but not dated, by voters.
In her request last week, Ziccarelli, Republican of Lower Burrell, asked U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan to prohibit state officials from accepting Allegheny County’s certified results, which include those ballots.
Brewster, a McKeesport Democrat, holds a 73-vote lead out of more than 132,000 votes cast.
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December 01, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center has canceled its planned church tour and cookie walk due to the increased number of COVID-19 cases.
A spokesperson said the event, planned for Dec. 12, was scrapped after the Allegheny County Health Department advised residents to stay at home and avoid unnecessary social activities and travel.
The heritage center also will not be participating in this week’s Festival of Trees.
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December 01, 2020 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
East Allegheny School District was set to begin a new hybrid learning model on Dec. 7, but a surge in Covid-19 cases in Allegheny County and a new order from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, put that plan on hold.
At a special meeting held Nov. 23, the board voted to go completely remote until possibly Jan. 19.
The district was operating within a scaffolded learning model that allowed students with individualized education plans to attend classes in-person.
Allegheny is one of the counties in the state now considered an area of substantial transmission. The recent order from the Pennsylvania Department of Health recommends schools in those counties either go completely remote or commit to even stricter in-person mask guidelines.
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December 01, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Duquesne News
Mele & Mele & Sons crews pave an unidentified road following a pipeline construction project. The company is relocating to Duquesne and adding 20 new jobs. (Submitted photo courtesy Mele & Mele & Sons Inc.)
A Rankin-based construction company that has worked on projects at Allegheny County Airport and other prominent Pittsburgh-area locations is relocating to Duquesne’s industrial park.
Mele & Mele & Sons, Inc., has purchased a 14-acre parcel in the City Center of Duquesne for construction of a 16,000-square-foot office building and a 22,000-square-foot maintenance facility.
The firm will add 20 new jobs after relocating, a spokeswoman said.
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