April 08, 2019 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment, North Versailles Twp. News
Musicians join actors onstage in this moveable house during East Allegheny's "Bright Star," with bluegrass/country music by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. (Bonnijean Cooney Adams photo)
If you go...
|
|
East Allegheny High School presents “Bright Star”
Where: 1150 Jacks Run Road, North Versailles Twp.
When: 7:30 p.m. April 11, 12 and 13, with an additional matinee at 2 p.m. April 13
Tickets: $12 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens for the evening performances. All tickets are $6 for the matinee. Available at the main office in the high school, by calling (412) 824-8012, or will be sold at the box office beginning 45 minutes before each performance. Additional show information at www.eachoir.org. |
“Laugh, cry, and find your way home again,” is the tagline director/producer Amanda Rosco suggested as a way for East Allegheny students to explain the essence of this year’s musical, “Bright Star.”
Written and composed by Steve Martin -- comedian, actor, musician, author, playwright and producer -- and Edie Brickell, the musical is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina just after World War II, with flashbacks to 1923.
The music is a mixture of bluegrass and country, and grew out of their collaboration on “Love Has Come for You,” a 2013 Grammy-winning bluegrass album with Brickell’s lyrics and singing and Martin on banjo.
“Bright Star” opened on Broadway in 2016, and was nominated for a number of awards.
Read More
April 05, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A fire that destroyed a two-story brick duplex on Ridge Avenue in the city on Thursday afternoon is under investigation by the Allegheny County Fire Marshal's Office.
Emergency personnel said the fire was reported just after 12 noon in the vacant structure at 904 Ridge St.
McKeesport fire Chief Jeff Tomovcsik said that when firefighters arrived, smoke was visible and fire had spread to both the first and second floors, and a second alarm was struck.
Read More
April 05, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport police Chief Adam Alfer, police Officers Sebastian Cencich, Nicholas Probola, Charles Thomas Jr. and Sheena Leszczynski, and McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko. (Tube City Almanac photo)
McKeesport City Council welcomed four new full-time police officers and congratulated two other first-responders on their recent promotions.
At Wednesday's meeting, police Chief Adam Alfer introduced police Officers Sebastian Cencich, Nicholas Probola, Charles Thomas Jr. and Sheena Leszczynski. All were hired 12 months ago as part-time McKeesport police officers and have recently been made full-time in the bureau, Alfer said.
In addition, Detective Sidney Summers of the narcotics squad has been promoted to sergeant, Mayor Michael Cherepko said.
Read More
April 05, 2019 |
By Mary Shelly | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Resident Mark Dixon speaks to Pittsburgh City Council during a special meeting convened to discuss the region's air quality. (Mary Shelly photo/Point Park News Service)
The number of people dying in Allegheny County from exposure to air pollution is comparable to the numbers of people dying from opioid abuse and addiction, said a Carnegie Mellon University professor who has studied air pollution’s effects.
“There (are) approximately 250 attributable deaths each year in Allegheny County from exposure to fine particulate matter, PM 2.5,” Neil Donahue, CMU professor of chemical engineering, chemistry and engineering and public policy, told Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday.
“If you monetize that, that corresponds to about $2.5 billion a year in environmental damages,” he said. “It’s a calamity of the highest order.
”
The special meeting between members of Pittsburgh City Council, representatives of the Allegheny County Health Department and environmental leaders, was prompted by recent issues at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Plant.
Read More
April 04, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Conflict of Interest Note: The writer has a conflict of interest. He is a U.S. Steel stockholder.
(Photo by Mark Dixon, Blue Lens, LLC, via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.)
U.S. Steel has completed repairs to pollution-control equipment at its Clairton Plant ahead of schedule.
But the announcement Thursday by a company spokesperson comes after several days during which federal authorities said air quality measured at the Liberty Borough monitor was the worst in the entire United States.
On Monday, the Allegheny County Health Department issued a new fine of nearly $708,000 against U.S. Steel for what it called "continued emissions problems" at Clairton Plant during the second half of 2018.
The county has now issued fines of more than $2 million against U.S. Steel since June 2018. In February, PennEnvironment and the Clean Air Council notified U.S. Steel that they intend to sue the company in federal court for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act.
Read More
April 03, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
UPDATED with additional details from Allegheny County police; age of the deceased has been corrected.
A 33-year-old man was killed Wednesday afternoon in Duquesne in what police described as a failed robbery attempt.
Police said the deceased man, whose name was not released, attempted to rob a jitney driver at gunpoint --- but the jitney driver, 73, turned out to be armed as well, and shot him.
No charges have been filed against the jitney driver.
Allegheny County police Lt. Ken Ruckel said in a prepared statement that investigators would turn over details of the case to the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office for a recommendation.
Read More
April 03, 2019 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment
Dancers rehearse a tap number, under the direction of Serra graduate Cassie Fedor, who returned to her alma mater to choreograph the show. (David P. Adams photo, special to Tube City Almanac)
If you go...
|
“The Wizard of Oz”
Serra Catholic High School
200 Hershey Drive (Haler Heights)
McKeesport
7 p.m. April 3-6
Tickets: $8 for adults, $5 for students, available by calling the school office at 412-751-2020, or at the door.
|
If Dorothy Gale had as many family connections as the cast, crew -- and even the director -- have called upon to help produce Serra Catholic High School’s spring musical, she may never have left Kansas.
In “The Wizard of Oz,” which opens today and runs through April 6, siblings are cast as leads, a Serra grad returns as choreographer and gets to work with her brother, while Ryan Gedman’s brother creates his Tinman costume and paints sets.
Although Alani and Abby DiLonardo have performed in previous Serra musicals, this is the first time they have shared some serious stage time.
Alani is Dorothy, while Abby is the Cowardly Lion. Savino DiLonardo is part of the elementary ensemble.
Read More
April 03, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A soft-spoken seventh grader and a respected community leader last week told the McKeesport Area School Board they support the creation of a black student union.
The concept was first discussed in detail at the Feb. 27 board meeting.
During the public comment portion of the board's monthly meeting, Stephanie, a seventh-grade student, told the board that a black student union would help provide kids with skills in dealing with the consequences of their actions.
“You may ask why we want it,” she said. “It's not that we want it, we need it. It teaches kids right from wrong. If you take that away from us, we have nothing.”
Read More
April 03, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Graduate students from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University toured the Mon Valley on Saturday as part of a project to study technological challenges to redeveloping the region.
Led by Rick Stafford, distinguished service professor of public policy, the students in the course titled "Societal Consequences of Technological Change" visited sites in Braddock, Duquesne and McKeesport, stopping for lunch at the Tube City Center for Business & Innovation (the former McKeesport Daily News Building).
Read More
April 02, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A former school bus driver has been jailed after state investigators alleged that he tried to solicit a juvenile for sexual activity.
Todd M. Murray, 55, who investigators said has addresses in Port Vue and Elizabeth Twp., is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond pending a preliminary hearing April 10 before Magisterial District Judge Beth S. Mills in Forward Twp.
Murray was charged with dissemination of pornography to minors, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility.
The bus company for which Murray worked, Pennsylvania Coach Lines, has cooperated fully with investigators, said a spokesman for state Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
Read More
