June 12, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Letters to the Editor
James Sikorski Jr. of Luzerne County writes regarding June 4's story, "$344K State Grant Will Fund City-Wide Safety, Traffic Improvements."
Sikorski is "Pennsylvania Advocate" for the "National Motorists Association," which describes itself as a "grassroots alliance of motorists joined together to protect our rights."
It should be noted that versions of this same letter have been sent to other publications around the state:
Sadly, the speed kills myth is alive and well in Pennsylvania. A real 25-state analysis was done of NHTSA data, which showed that 1.6 percent of crashes are caused by excessive speed. Barely above zero, then.
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June 11, 2019 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Announcements, White Oak News
Above: White Oak Mayor Ina Marton enjoys the company of Luke and Chewie during the Yappy Happy Hour on Friday, which was organized by the White Oak Animal Safe Haven fundraising committee.
The event included puppy-friendly lattes and ice cream treats for humans provided by McFeely's Gourmet Chocolate.
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June 11, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Healthy Snack: The library will mark "National Eat Your Vegetables Day" by serving free, healthy snacks from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. June 17 on the library grounds.
Reading Social: The Reading Social group will be viewing and discussing the PBS-TV American Masters presentation of "And Still I Rise," a biography of the late poet, activist, writer and playwright Maya Angelou. The discussion at 12:30 p.m. June 19 will meet at the library and is free and open to the public.
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June 06, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac file photo)
McKeesport's historic People's Bank Building will likely have a new owner by the end of the month.
The mostly vacant 80,000-square-foot structure was transferred to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of McKeesport for $1 and is now under agreement to be sold to a new owner, said A.J. Tedesco, the city's community development director.
The buyer is Jonathan Stark, owner of Legion Arms and Compulsive Paintball, who also is developing a new commercial building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Market Street at the one-time site of the Memorial Theater.
"We have a lot of work to do," Stark said. "Lots and lots and lots of work to do."
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June 06, 2019 |
By Griffin Gordon | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
* CORRECTION: This story was corrected after publication.
With the presidential election of 2020 looming, Allegheny County officials are testing new kinds of voting machines.
The board of elections will hold a public meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday (June 7) in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse, downtown Pittsburgh, to discuss the options and hear from three experts regarding election security.
On Wednesday at CCAC South Campus in West Mifflin, residents got a chance to try different kinds of voting technology for themselves. The machines being demonstrated could be broken down into three basic methods: entirely paper ballots, entirely automated ballots, and hybrid ballots that combine paper and electronic systems.
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June 06, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Pittsburgh's public television station and the Carnegie Library of McKeesport are teaming up to open the state's second "Wash and Learn" laundromat library at Olympia Shopping Center.
A celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Friday (June 7) at the Olympia Coin Laundry in Versailles, said Colleen Rauschenberg Denne, executive director of the library. The event is open to the public.
In cooperation with WQED Multimedia, the Allegheny County Library Association, and the international charity Libraries Without Borders, the McKeesport library is installing bookshelves and wi-fi hotspots at the laundromat.
The library hopes that customers of the laundry “will be introduced to some of the resources the library has to offer and become regular library users," Denne said.
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June 05, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Conflict of Interest Note: The author has a conflict of interest. He is on the McKees Point Development Group. See previous coverage of this issue and the note at the end of this story.
An architect's rendering depicts the former Penn-McKee Hotel as part of a shopping and entertainment district attached to McKeesport's waterfront. (Nina Chase/Merritt Chase Architects via Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh)
(PDF reader required)
Up to $141 million in tourism money that could be spent in McKeesport is leaving the area, and at least part of that could be captured along the city's riverfront if the right attractions were in place.
That's according to a study of the area around the Penn-McKee Hotel that was done for city officials by the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh.
The report concludes that reusing the long-vacant hotel is "costly" but feasible, and recommends that funds be raised to mitigate environmental problems, prevent the building from further deterioration, and make it more presentable to investors.
The study was released Tuesday night during the regularly scheduled city council meeting and is available for viewing at the mayor's office.
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June 04, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
* CORRECTION: This story was corrected after publication.
Audible sensors for the sight-impaired will be added to this busy intersection with the help of a state grant. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
McKeesport officials will create a traffic safety program to look for ways to improve pedestrian safety and reduce speeding and accidents in the city.
In addition, the busy intersection of Lysle Boulevard and Coursin Street --- where "near misses" between cars and pedestrians are frequent --- will get improved crossing signals, and the intersection of Versailles and Evans avenues will be entirely revamped.
The improvements are being funded in part through a $344,000 grant from the state's Automated Red-Light Enforcement Fund. The grant was announced last week by state Sen. Jim Brewster and state Rep. Austin Davis.
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June 04, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
(UPDATED after publication.)
Two people, including a 17-year-old, face charges after police say they opened fire on one another following a fight at the Harrison Village housing complex on Monday afternoon.
A third woman who is accused of giving a handgun to one of the shooters also faces charges, and Allegheny County police are looking for a fourth person who fled the scene.
A 22-year-old man whose name was not released was hospitalized with a leg wound, police said.
The shooting came 24 hours after Ciquann Dudley Jr., 17, of McKeesport was found shot dead in the 1300 block of Tube Works Alley, about two blocks away.
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June 03, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A McKeesport teenager was found dead Sunday afternoon after a shooting in the city's Third Ward.
The Allegheny County medical examiner's office said Ciquann Dudley Jr., 17, was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting in the 1300 block of Tube Works Alley.
Allegheny County police said he had been shot multiple times. His death has been ruled a homicide.
Friends and family said Dudley was a student at McKeesport Area High School. He is the second student killed in less than a month.
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