June 24, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
UPMC McKeesport hospital (Tube City Almanac file photo)
Local officials and health care advocates are praising a deal that will give Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield customers access to UPMC hospitals and facilities for the next 10 years.
The agreement, brokered by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Gov. Tom Wolf, was announced Monday --- just a week before a consent decree between the two health giants was scheduled to expire.
Not all of the details were public, but a spokesperson for Shapiro said the deal --- reportedly the longest ever signed between UPMC and a health insurance company --- will cover all UPMC facilities.
State Sen. Jim Brewster of McKeesport called the agreement “excellent and welcomed news” that will relieve “tension and anxiety” for people with Highmark health insurance.
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June 22, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A McKeesport man is charged with criminal homicide after police said he shot and killed someone who was dating his ex-girlfriend.
Marcus Acie-Griffin, 36, was arrested Saturday morning following a police chase through McKeesport and Dravosburg that ended with a crash in the Morton Plan section of West Mifflin.
The victim, Kaine A. Williams, 34, was pronounced dead late Friday night at the scene of the incident in the 1800 block of Sumac Street, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said.
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June 21, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Port Vue woman has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for her role in a narcotics ring that moved large amounts of heroin from New Jersey to the Mon-Yough area, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said Thursday.
Krystle Barretto, 33, also faces four years' probation under the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon in Pittsburgh. Barretto pleaded guilty to federal narcotics charges in February.
Prosecutors allege that along with her fiancee, Jarran Bell, 38, of Port Vue, Barretto was heard on wiretaps conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin.
Federal authorities allege that Barretto arranged for approximately 25,000 stamp bags of heroin to be transported from Paterson and Union, N.J., to the McKeesport area.
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June 21, 2019 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: White Oak News
(All photos: Cami DiBattista, special to Tube City Almanac)
White Oak Borough was among the areas affected by Wednesday’s severe storm.
After the National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for local counties, a storm passed through with produced a large amount of rain in a very short amount of time. The storm caused flooding in multiple areas along Lincoln Way which resulted in the road being temporarily closed in several places.
White Oak Animal Safe Haven, a no-kill shelter that has saved thousands of animals since its inception in 2003, was among the areas that were heavily affected when a small stream --- a tributary of Long Run creek --- overflowed its banks.
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June 20, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Churchill man who was tearing down an abandoned house on Jenny Lind Street has been charged by McKeesport police with firearms violations.
Davon Parms, 45, faces a preliminary hearing Monday before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi Jr. in McKeesport on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, carrying a firearm without a license, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
He is currently free on his own recognizance.
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June 18, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Pollution-control equipment that removes sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide from emissions at U.S. Steel's Clairton Plant is back in operation, the Allegheny County Health Department said late Monday night.
In a prepared statement, a county spokesperson said the department was informed that two control rooms that were damaged by a fire Monday morning were returned to service.
"Accordingly, our inspectors will verify that all systems are back online (Tuesday) morning," the spokesperson said.
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June 17, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
UPDATED with comments from Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
The Allegheny County Health Department has given U.S. Steel 24 hours to develop a plan to reduce its emissions at the Clairton Plant.
If the company doesn't present that plan --- and then get pollution levels from the facility under permitted limits within 20 days --- the county will order U.S. Steel to shut down its coke ovens or face fines of $25,000 per violation, per day.
An emergency order signed by Jayme Graham, manager of the county's air quality program, was issued Monday (June 17) after a fire at the Clairton Plant damaged equipment that removes sulfur dioxide from the plant's emissions.
The order questions the effectiveness of U.S. Steel's emergency strategies to reduce emissions following an earlier fire on Dec. 24 that damaged the same pollution-control equipment.
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June 17, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
U.S. Steel's Clairton Plant in a 2010 photo by Patrick Cain. (Via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons 2.0)
For the second time in six months, a fire has knocked out emissions-control equipment at U.S. Steel's Clairton Plant.
A company spokesman said that a small electrical fire was detected early Monday morning (June 17) in a circuit-breaker panel that delivers power to the byproducts facility at the plant. There were no injuries "and the fire was quickly extinguished," the company said in a prepared statement.
But the blaze knocked out processing equipment that removes sulfur dioxide emissions, the company said.
There are no specific precautions recommended for the public at this time, said Ryan Scarpino, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department.
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June 15, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Chuck Blasko's Vogues kick off McKeesport's summer concert series at Renziehausen Park with a free show at 7 p.m. Sunday.
All of the concerts are held weather-permitting at the Lions Bandshell in Renzie, adjacent to Eden Park Boulevard. Visitors should bring a blanket or lawn chair.
Refreshments are available and members of the McKeesport Lions Club will be collecting gently used prescription eyeglasses that are redistributed to people who cannot afford them, a spokeswoman said.
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June 15, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
A free community meeting to discuss opioid abuse and prevention has been rescheduled.
The event, which was to be held Thursday, has been rescheduled for 5:30 p.m. July 24 at Carnegie Library of McKeesport, 1507 Library Ave., a spokeswoman said.
The discussion will be led by members of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at the University of Pittsburgh and will include information about treatment and recovery from opioid addiction, as well as a panel discussion and training on the use of naloxone, a drug that can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
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