June 05, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Photo courtesy Dress for Success Pittsburgh via Facebook)
Dress for Success Pittsburgh will hold an event from 1 to 3 p.m. June 17 at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, 1507 Library Ave., a spokeswoman said.
The non-profit group provides business-ready clothing, shoes and accessories for women and female-identified persons who are applying for jobs and need wardrobe items to attend employment interviews.
Attendees can also receive personal care items, connections to interview and resume support, and other assistance.
Registration in advance is suggested by calling (412) 672-0625 or visiting the library’s website.
June 05, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A two-alarm fire Tuesday afternoon that destroyed an abandoned house on Grover Street has been ruled accidental by the Allegheny County fire marshal’s office, but the cause remains under investigation.
According to county officials, the blaze was reported to Allegheny County 9-1-1 just before 5 p.m.
First-responders found the two-story wood-frame structure at 2719 Grover St. completely engulfed in flames and a second alarm was sounded, McKeesport deputy fire Chief Tom Perciavalle said.
No utilities were connected to the home and the blaze is suspicious in nature, Perciavalle said. Allegheny County property tax records indicate the house was owned by a White Oak woman, but according to published reports, she died in 2022.
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June 03, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Lawrence County man is jailed without bond pending a preliminary hearing on charges that he shot a fellow partygoer at an event on Marshall Drive in the city’s Haler Heights section.
Vance Lee Sykes, 30, of New Castle, formerly of Pittsburgh, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, carrying a firearm without a license and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the Memorial Day weekend incident.
Sykes also was wounded during the incident, according to a criminal complaint, which alleges that at least five shots were fired — two by Sykes, and third by another, unnamed person.
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May 31, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Allegheny County police continue their investigation of a shooting incident Sunday night in Haler Heights that sent two men to local hospitals with what were described as non-life-threatening injuries.
Details remain sketchy. The incident was reported at around 7 p.m. at a home in the 100 block of Marshall Drive, emergency personnel said.
Neighbors have speculated that a party was in progress at a private home and that an argument began, but county police have declined to confirm any details.
Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that exempts police reports from public open-records laws.
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May 30, 2024 |
By T.J. Martin | Posted in: East McKeesport News, North Versailles Twp. News, Wilmerding News
East Allegheny School District property owners could see their first property tax increase in more than a decade.
The school board has approved a preliminary 2024-25 budget containing a mileage tax increase of just over 1.05 mills. School board members Tisha Thomas and Merle Pusey voted against the preliminary budget and Robert Trout was absent.
The preliminary budget must be voted on at next month’s school board meeting.
Director of Fiscal Services Toni Valicenti said the state dictates a maximum millage increase that every district can impose and the proposed increase in East Allegheny is half of the maximum allowed by the state.
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May 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A man from Pittsburgh’s North Side is being held in the Allegheny County Jail after McKeesport police allege he forged and attemped to cash more than $4,700 in paychecks from a city contracting business.
Sherman S. Jones, 46, is charged by McKeesport police with six counts each of forgery and passing bad checks, three counts of access device fraud, and theft by deception.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 3 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi.
In an affidavit of probable cause, McKeesport police said that a plumbing contractor in the city reported Nov. 14 that someone had forged six paychecks from their business and attempted to cash them at a check-cashing store in Homestead.
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May 29, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The McKeesport support group of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will hold its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. June 5 in Room 122 of the Frable Building, Penn State Greater Allegheny, a spokeswoman said.
The meeting is open to families and friends of loved ones living with mental illness.
A “care and share” session will be held. This opportunity offers understanding and support unique to those who are affected by mental health conditions of loved ones, the spokeswoman said.
For more information about the McKeesport meeting, call (412) 527-6600. For the NAMI Helpline, call (412) 366-3788 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
May 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Brandon Short, center, and his wife Mahreen, right, with their late daughter Karli, left, outside the library at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport. Brandon Short is a Penn State alumnus and a member of the university’s Board of Trustees. Karli Short was murdered in 2021. Her ex-boyfriend is awaiting trial on charges connected to her death. (Submitted photo courtesy Short family, all rights reserved)
Friends and family of Karli Short will hold a fundraiser June 7 to raise money for the scholarship fund in her name at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport — and for additional scholarships which will soon be extended to students at the University Park campus.
The third-annual Karli Short Better Tomorrow Scholarship Fund dinner will be held at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown Pittsburgh. Tickets are available online and start at $225.
Short, 26, a personal care worker who also had a catering business, was found dead outside her Christy Park home on Sept. 13, 2021. She was approximately four months pregnant at the time.
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May 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News, Wilmerding News
Patton Street Bridge (Submitted photo courtesy Allegheny County)
The Allegheny County Department of Public Works will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. June 6 to discuss the upcoming replacement of the Patton Street Bridge in Wilmerding, a spokesperson said.
The hearing will be held online using the Microsoft Teams video conference app. Registration in advance is required by going to Allegheny County’s website. A link and phone number to attend the meeting will be emailed to those who register.
The Patton Street bridge links the north and south sides of Wilmerding over Turtle Creek and also provides a transportation link between North Versailles Twp. and Monroeville.
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May 23, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Letters to the Editor
Thomas Lorenchick of Versailles writes:
As per your recent article, (“MASD Board Questioned on School Policing,” May 10), I think that Ms. Walker-Montgomery raises some valid points in her analysis of the problems in McKeesport Area School District.
However, I would ask the question: Does this problem arise from nomenclature? I have seen the word “police” used on vehicles associated with institutions of higher education. They used to say “campus security.” Now, it seems this trend has trickled down to high schools.
The word “police,” in my opinion, should be reserved for municipalities, states and the military. And, yes, they are a necessary part of any civilized society, often laboring at a difficult job.
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