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.
Read More
March 27, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Source: Allegheny County Health Department)
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in several Mon-Yough area communities, and public health officials said now is not the time to become complacent.
“Everyone is at risk of this disease,” said Dr. LuAnn Brink, chief epidemiologist for the Allegheny County Health Department. “There’s no immunity. There is community spread at this point. So please, stay six feet away from everyone and assume everyone has it. And protect yourself by, first off, staying home.”
On Friday, Allegheny County officials said there are now 158 confirmed cases, with 25 people hospitalized. There have been two deaths attributed to COVID-19 including a woman from Greenfield and a man from Clairton.
Read More
March 27, 2020 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Dino DiGaegory and Rich Kugler, behind the deli counter at Lampert’s Market on Eden Park Boulevard. The meat case is fully stocked, though the Kuglers say they never know what's going to be delivered due to supplier shortages. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
Large chain grocery stores are facing difficulties while social distancing is required during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many stores are quickly running out of high demand products and customers have been posting empty shelf images on their social media.
A well-known family-owned business, Lampert’s Fine Meats and Deli near Renziehausen Park, is also experiencing uncertainty. Jan and Rick Kugler have owned their business almost 40 years and said for the first time, they have to limit amounts purchased from their suppliers.
They order from at least six different suppliers and each supplier has cut items on delivery, sometimes in half and sometimes completely, Jan Kugler said. They never know what will be delivered until they unload, she said.
Read More
March 25, 2020 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne area residents have rallied to one another’s assistance after the coronavirus pandemic caused schools to close and businesses to suspend operations.
Mayor Nickole Nesby said a significant number of residents reached out to city hall and local community groups after the COVID-19 virus was identified in Allegheny County — some asking what they can do to help, others asking what type of help they can receive.
Along with Take Action Mon Valley director Fawn Walker-Montgomery and other volunteers, Nesby has been helping to deliver toiletries, food and other donated items gathered from a drop-off site in the city hall parking lot.
Read More
March 25, 2020 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne Mayor Nickole Nesby has declared a state of emergency in the city, calling the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 “a threat to public health and safety, with the potential to cause serious illness or loss of life.”
The proclamation does not require city council approval but was reviewed by Solicitor Myron Sainovich at Nesby’s request.
“I wanted to make sure that I’m doing things right, and the solicitor is here to advise city council and the mayor on what is correct and what can and can’t be done,” Nesby said. “I asked Mr. Sainovich to give me the legal aspect before I released it.”
Other municipalities have made similar declarations. The emergency declaration was important if funding for coronavirus and COVID-19 response is available, and the city needs to be reimbursed, Nesby said.
Read More
March 24, 2020 |
By Ann Belser | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Photo by Ann Belser for East End Print)
Diane I. Daniels had always wanted to work for the Pittsburgh Courier.
It was the paper that changed the civil rights conversation: an African American newspaper that was so controversial, that in the 1920s and 1930s, Pullman porters would hide it in the train and then deliver it to specific ministers down south so that segregationists would not seize the copies and burn them.
All of the great Black intellectuals had written for the Courier in its heyday.
Daniels, a McKeesport native who is now a freelance business writer for the New Pittsburgh Courier, spoke about her experience trying to get a job at the New Pittsburgh Courier following a screening of the 2009 documentary “Newspaper of Record: The Pittsburgh Courier 1907-1965.”
Read More
March 23, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
A Port Authority maintenance worker disinfects surfaces on a bus. (Photo courtesy Port Authority of Allegheny County)
Port Authority of Allegheny County will reduce bus and light-rail service on more than 70 routes due to “substantial decreases in ridership” and operational challenges brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic, a spokesman said.
Routes being affected in the McKeesport area include 56 McKeesport via Second Avenue, 61C McKeesport via Homestead, the P7 McKeesport Flyer and the P76 Lincoln Highway Flyer.
With many offices and businesses closed to the public, and universities and colleges moving to online-only classes, Port Authority’s ridership has plummeted more than 50 percent in the past two weeks, the agency said.
Read More
March 23, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf addressed members of the news media via closed-circuit camera from his home. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered all Allegheny County residents to stay home until further notice except for essential, necessary trips.
At a press conference Monday afternoon, Wolf also extended the shutdown of all K-12 schools for another two weeks, beginning Tuesday and continuing through at least April 6.
The new measures are necessary to slow down the spread of the coronavirus pandemic as cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania are increasing by 100 percent every two days.
“The line is essentially going straight up,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health.
Read More
March 22, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Many churches will be empty during this Lenten season as concerns about the worldwide spread of novel coronavirus has led spiritual leaders to recommend the faithful limit large worship services. (File photo by E.I. Sanchez via Flickr)
For many Christians, the Fourth Sunday of Lent — 21 days before Easter Sunday — is known as Laetare Sunday, and is a day to rejoice during Christianity’s most solemn season.
But today, many churches throughout the Pittsburgh area were empty, or nearly empty.
Last week, the Roman Catholic and Episcopal bishops of Pittsburgh cancelled all public in-person worship in their dioceses as part of their response to the worldwide pandemic of novel coronavirus. They encouraged worshippers to gather online or to pray in their homes.
On Monday, the Most Rev. David Zubik, Catholic bishop of Pittsburgh, cancelled all public Masses in the diocese until further notice. All other activities — including Friday fish frys held by many parishes — also were ordered cancelled.
Read More
March 22, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
St. Mary Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church, 318 26th Ave., will be closed to all public activities until further notice, a spokesman said.
The closure of St. Mary’s and all Romanian Catholic churches in the United States was decreed by the Most Rev. John Michael Botean, eparch of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St George’s in Canton, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
When activities are resumed, they will be announced at Tube City Almanac and on Facebook, the spokesman said. Parishioners who have concerns or questions should call the rectory at (412) 673-5552.
