September 09, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Mon Valley area households that are struggling to make ends meet due to the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible for up to $1,000 in emergency assistance.
Stephanie Eson, operations and community programs manager for the Human Services Center Corp., based in Turtle Creek, said the agency is one of four in Allegheny County that have been selected to provide the assistance.
Funding is being provided under a federal Community Services Block Grant and administered by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services and the state Department of Community & Economic Development.
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September 08, 2020 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
Students in the East Allegheny School District are in their second week of instruction during a school year that is different from any other.
The current pandemic has made planning for this year an incredible task for administrators and staff.
At the end of June, a new superintendent was appointed to help lead the fold into this uncharted territory, but Alan Johnson is no stranger to western Pennsylvania. He was the superintendent in the Woodland Hills School District before he retired at the end of the 2017-18 school year.
“In the eight years I worked at Woodland Hills, I fell in love with Allegheny County — eastern Allegheny County especially,” Johnson says. “It reminded me of my home in Johnstown. There are so many similarities.”
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September 08, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
This is one of the injection-molding machines from Magic Creations Inc. that’s being sold, according to a Connecticut-based auctioneer. (Photo courtesy The Branford Group)
A Connecticut-based auctioneer is selling off plastic-molding equipment from a Christy Park company that manufactures ice-cube trays, food storage bins, laundry baskets, trash cans and other items.
More than 250 molds and eight plastic injection-molding machines used by Magic Creations Inc. are being sold to the highest bidder beginning this week by The Branford Group, according to Ali Wade, marketing director for the auctioneer.
Magic Creations is located in the former G.C. Murphy Co. and Ames Department Stores distribution center between 28th and 31st avenues.
Although the equipment is being auctioned, the company is not going out of business, said an employee at the office who would not give his name or any other information to a reporter.
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September 07, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
James J. Blatnik, AFL-CIO community services liaison for the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council, paints park bench metal frames before the wood is replaced on the bench. (Tube City Almanac photo by Vickie Babyak)
McKeesport city officials, the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council, local union members and their families worked together on Saturday morning to participate in a beautification day at Renziehausen Park.
Because the annual Pittsburgh Labor Day Parade, picnics and other celebrations were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, union members instead organized “Labor’s Weekend of Service” at several locations in the Pittsburgh area.
Darrin Kelly, a Pittsburgh firefighter and president of the labor council, said it was an opportunity to highlight the commitment of union members to serving the communities where they live.
“We are embracing this opportunity to honor the frontline workers who are helping usget through this pandemic and to show what organized labor is all about,” Kelly said. “We are all in this together, and it’s never been more important that we all take care of one another.”
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September 04, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center will hold a flea market in the parking lot from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 5), a spokesperson said.
All proceeds will help to support the heritage center.
Furniture, toys, housewares, jewelry and other items will be available. The heritage center is located at 1832 Arboretum Drive in Renziehausen Park. For more information, call (412) 678-1832 or visit www.mckeesportheritage.org.
September 04, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A pump failure at the McKeesport water treatment plant caused a lengthy outage on Friday night, a spokesman for the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County said.
But it wasn’t just a lack of water that had some city residents frustrated — they said a lack of information from the water authority also left them high and dry.
Authority spokesman Matthew Junker told Tube City Almanac an electric motor that drives one of the pumps at the plant failed at about 7:30 p.m.
Crews had difficulty getting a second pump into operation, which caused water pressure to fall, he said.
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September 04, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A.J. Tedesco, McKeesport community development director, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, HUD Pittsburgh Office Field Director Michael Horvath and HUD Region III Administrator Joe DeFelice talk following a visit to the vacant Penn-McKee Hotel, Downtown. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Less than a month after visiting McKeesport to encourage the city to take advantage of the Financial Opportunity Zone program, a federal official returned with two colleagues to help him make his case.
McKeesport needs a team of “cheerleaders” to sell the city’s advantages to prospective investors, said Joseph J. DeFelice, Region III administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.
“You have proximity” to Pittsburgh, DeFelice said during a roundtable discussion Thursday morning with business owners, elected officials and community leaders at the Palisades Ballroom, Downtown.
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September 03, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
K&K Roadside Service has received the city’s permission, with conditions attached, to continue operating along Patterson Avenue. (Tube City Almanac photo)
City council has granted an occupancy permit — with conditions attached — to a Patterson Avenue car repair shop that neighbors have claimed looked more like a junkyard.
At Wednesday’s meeting, McKeesport council by 4-2 vote approved a conditional use application for K&K Roadside Service, LLC, to continue operating in the 2200 block, near the entrance to Myer Park.
Councilmen Jim Barry Jr. and Keith Soles voted no, and Council President Richard Dellapenna Jr. was absent due to a professional obligation.
Although the neighborhood is zoned for residential use, an auto-repair shop has been located on the site for decades. But since K&K moved onto the property from Braddock, neighbors have complained repeatedly to McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko and several members of council.
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September 02, 2020 |
By Emily Pidgeon | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
This massive door in the former bank vault at the People’s Building weighs an estimated 15 tons, says owner Jonathan Stark. (Emily Pidgeon photo for Tube City Almanac)
Jane Jacobs, the writer and journalist who in the 1960s helped popularize the idea of preserving city architecture, once said, “New ideas often need old buildings.”
The Peoples Union Bank Building, with its high vaulted ceilings and old fashioned charm, has been a fixture in McKeesport’s skyline since 1906. Owner Jonathan Stark has ideas, and bringing commerce back to this old building is an important duty he holds dear to his heart.
Purchased by Stark in the late summer of 2019, the People’s Building has had a bit of a facelift and cleanup as well as some more serious construction in the past year. That included repairs to a section of the brick veneer that had pulled away from the exterior, with the potential to cause damage to cars and people below.
Stark was able to repair the damage before any major issues occurred and restored the brick without a hiccup.
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August 26, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A man arrested by McKeesport police in December on weapons and drug charges has now been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said the four-count indictment, unsealed Wednesday, charges Jermaine Pawlik-Curry Sr., 35, with violating federal weapons and drug trafficking laws.
McKeesport police and Allegheny County probation officers went to Pawlik-Curry’s home on Dec. 18 to confirm that he was complying with the terms of his parole.
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