April 08, 2020 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: White Oak News
White Oak Council used Facebook and teleconferencing technology to hold its first meeting since Gov. Tom Wolf’s mandatory stay-at-home order went into effect March 23.
In attendance at the special meeting April 1 were Council President Chuck Davis and Council Members Lou Bender, Ed Babyak and Julie Opferman.
The meeting was streamed on the borough’s Facebook page. Participating via phone due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions was borough manager John Palyo, engineer Kenneth Hillman, solicitor Patricia McGrail, Mayor Ina Jean Marton, council members George Dillinger, Kenneth Robb, George Pambacas and administrative assistant MaryAnn Winemiller.
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April 02, 2020 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: Duquesne News
Patrick Dowd of Allies for Children passes meals to Rob Quigg of Eat ’n Park during a delivery on Wednesday. (Richard Finch Jr. photo for Tube City Almanac)
School may be out across Pennsylvania, but buses are still on the streets in Duquesne, delivering lunches to students at each of five regular bus stops, with the help of Eat ’n Park and funding from PNC Foundation.
The school district developed the plan to deliver meals to students during the statewide school shutdown in cooperation with Eat ’n Park, Pennsylvania Coach Lines, United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, PNC Foundation, Allies for Children and 412 Food Rescue.
Duquesne is not the first school district to deliver meals to bus stops. A similar program is in place in Pittsburgh Public Schools through a joint initiative with A+Schools, the Latino Community Center and 412 Food Rescue.
“We offer breakfast and lunch meals on Monday that include food for Monday and Tuesday,” said Sue Moyer, district superintendent. “On Wednesday we provide food for Wednesday through Friday, families can come right to the bus stop, we are able to provide food not only for students, but for their families as well.”
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April 02, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Commentary-Editorial
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko on Wednesday released the following letter to residents:
With the novel COVID-19 coronavirus making an impact not only on our operations here at the City of McKeesport, but in the daily lives of each and every one of our residents, it is important that we remind ourselves what makes the McKeesport community strong.
As we continue to observe social distancing, hygiene and safety recommendations from national and state officials, it is important that we keep open our lines of communication with our neighbors, local businesses and local leaders.
Check in on folks who may need assistance with food or other services during these uncertain times, and be on the lookout for new information via regional news outlets and the “City of McKeesport — Mayor’s Office” Facebook page for local updates to changes in our services as well as surveys that help the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania determine what resources may be needed in our community.
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April 02, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, West Newton News
(West Newton Center for Active Adults, via Facebook)
The manager of the senior citizen center in West Newton said the facility is closed to the public during the coronavirus pandemic, but is still offering assistance via email and telephone.
Paul A. Kurzdorfer III, manager of the West Newton Center for Active Adults, said there is no timetable for reopening, but that the facility will use guidance from the state health department and will send updates to WTAE-TV and other local media.
“Though the center will remain closed to the public for the foreseeable future, staffing is still available to answer phone calls and emails on Mondays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m,” Kurzdorfer said. “The center continues to offer home-delivered meals to those participants enrolled with the county (on a limited delivery schedule), as well as lunch take-out at the center on Mondays and Thursdays (to be enjoyed in the comfort of your home).”
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April 02, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Streets in Myer Park, Haler Heights, Grandview and Peterson Plan and areas near the hospital all will be targeted for paving in 2020 under the city’s McKeesport Rising program.
The walking trail in Renziehausen Park also will be repaved and restored.
At Wednesday’s meeting, city council by 7-0 vote awarded a $723,428.50 contract to El Grande Industries of Donora, Washington County, to mill and repave portions of Evans Avenue, Fawcett Avenue, Fifth Avenue, Hospital Way, James Street and Marshall Drive.
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April 02, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
* CORRECTION: This story was corrected after publication.
An architect’s rendering of a typical GetGo store, from the Giant Eagle website. City officials said they could not confirm any details of the proposed facility. (Giant Eagle website)
McKeesport city council has endorsed a traffic study from Giant Eagle, which plans to build a new GetGo convenience store and gas station at the foot of Hartman Street in the East End.
At Wednesday’s meeting, council agreed by 7-0 vote to adopt and endorse the transportation impact study for the store, which would be built on the current site of a car wash and several other properties along East Fifth Avenue.
In light of social distancing guidelines from county, state and federal authorities, three councilors — Jamie Brewster-Filotei, Lu Ethel Nesbit and Keith Soles — participated in the meeting via conference phone. Other council members sat six feet apart in city council chambers at the Public Safety Building.
The only spectators were reporters from the Mon Valley Independent and Tube City Almanac.
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March 31, 2020 |
By Emily Pidgeon | Posted in: Commentary-Editorial
(Image courtesy National Institutes of Health)
March was Endometriosis Awareness Month. One in 10 women suffers with endometriosis.
Writer Emily Pidgeon is sharing her story to explain what the month has meant to her, and also in hopes that her story “speaks to other women out there who may be suffering in silence.”
What does it mean when someone says “quality over quantity”?
Most people would agree their first thoughts are of products. You get what you pay for. When you buy cheap, you get cheap.
But what is the cost of quality of life? I don’t know if we will ever be able to put a price tag on it. It is of epic proportions. It requires making decisions that are so monumental, that faced with greater adversity, you make them anyway.
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March 30, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Duquesne News, McKeesport and Region News, White Oak News
CORRECTION: McKeesport city officials said the public is being asked not to attend Wednesday’s council meeting for social distancing reasons. We apologize for the error.
This story was edited after publication.
Port Vue (above), North Huntingdon Twp. and White Oak are among local municipalities that have closed playgrounds as well as basketball and tennis courts to discourage groups from congregating. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Although playgrounds are closed and police have been needed for traffic control outside of crowded banks and supermarkets, life during the coronavirus pandemic is continuing in Mon-Yough communities.
But shutdowns, closures and restrictions are expected to remain a fact of life continue well into the spring, and possibly the summer.
Some communities are canceling municipal meetings, while others are moving them online and inviting the public to participate.
On Monday, Allegheny County officials announced that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is doubling every three days. There are now 290 cases and 38 people currently hospitalized, county officials said.
There were 158 confirmed cases on Friday.
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March 30, 2020 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Jon Delano of KDKA-TV moderated a March 12 forum on public education at Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Speakers included State Sen. Jim Brewster, state Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa Jr., and state Rep. Dan Miller. (Richard Finch Jr. photo for Tube City Almanac)
On the night before Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all K-12 schools shut down, legislators at a forum in Homestead said the state law governing charter schools is out-of-date and unfair to public school systems.
Frank Dalmas, superintendent of Sto-Rox schools, told the audience at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit that coronavirus wasn’t the biggest threat to his district — charter schools are.
The problem is in the hands of state legislators, he said. “What are you going to do to help solve this problem?” Dalmas asked Democratic legislators who also attended the event on March 12. “Is it your caucus? Is it the Republican caucus? Is it because the charter school lobby is so powerful and strong that you guys can’t come up against it?”
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March 27, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Two residents of the county’s skilled-nursing facility in Glen Hazel have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Friday.
Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said both residents of the Kane Community Living Center were tested after they were running fevers that could not be explained. They remain at the facility in isolation, she said.
On Wednesday, the Glen Hazel center reported that an employee had tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee in question did not have any direct contact with residents and had not worked since March 19, said Dennis Biondo, director of the county's four Kane Community Living Centers, which include the McKeesport facility at the foot of Ninth Avenue.
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