September 03, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Even with nearly three weeks of summer to go, LuEthel Nesbit of ACTION-Housing says local residents should be getting ready for winter now. Temperatures briefly hit 85 degrees in Downtown McKeesport last week, but more pleasant weather is in store this week for the Mon-Yough area. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Most Mon-Yough residents are probably still savoring the last tastes of summer and hoping for a few remaining barbecues or dips in the swimming pool.
But even though fall is still nearly three weeks away, Lu Ethel Nesbit of ACTION-Housing's weatherization program says now is the time for local residents to get ready for colder temperatures.
Nesbit, who also serves as a McKeesport city councilwoman, has been working in weatherization since 1983, originally with the Steel Valley OIC. She's currently the administrator of ACTION's McKeesport weatherization office, which serves much of the Mon Valley.
"We operate all year-round and we take applications year-round," Nesbit says. "We would prefer that they apply in the summer, so that they don’t have their doors open in the dead of winter, when they’re freezing."
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September 01, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Scenes from an August painting class at the West Newton Center for Active Adults. (Courtesy West Newton Center via Facebook)
The West Newton Center for Active Adults, 103 E. Main St., will host a community open house from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 17, a spokesperson said.
A full day of events is planned to showcase the many programs that the non-profit organization --- also known as the West Newton Senior Center --- has to offer for the West Newton area.
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September 01, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
West Newton Public Library’s annual “Tea on Broadway” this year will pay tribute to a longtime community booster and volunteer.
The event will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 22 at the Le Grande Banquet Room, 105 S. Second St., West Newton, a spokesman said. Doors will open at 12 noon.
A limited number of tickets are available and are now on sale at the library, 124 N. Water St., or Gary’s Chuck Wagon Restaurant.
This year’s event will pay tribute to Emma Jean Pritchard (above), who died in March at age 97. Pritchard was a longtime supporter of many charitable and community causes in West Newton, and a volunteer at the library.
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September 01, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The Mon Yough Chorale, a community chorus based in White Oak, is having an open house and its first rehearsal of the fall-winter season at 7 p.m. Sept. 8, a spokeswoman said.
The group meets at Sampson's Mills Presbyterian Church, 1665 Lincoln Way, White Oak.
A regional, volunteer group, the Mon Yough Chorale accepts members with an interest in community singing, at any skill level, the spokeswoman said. No auditions are required.
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August 30, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Two separate construction projects have the potential to cause delays beginning Tuesday, the state Department of Transportation has announced.
Weather-permitting, crews will begin drainage improvement work on a stretch of the road from Clairton through Dravosburg, Duquesne and West Mifflin, said Steve Cowan, PennDOT District 11 spokesman.
The shoulders of the road also will be repaired as part of the $3.79 million contract, Cowan said. Single-lane alternating traffic will be necessary at various locations where the work is being done.
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August 30, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Michael Abraitis III, president of the board of directors of Carnegie Library of McKeesport, cuts a ribbon being held by White Oak Mayor Ina Jean Marton to officially open the facility’s new parking lot Aug. 9. Looking on are state Sen. James Brewster, state Rep. Austin Davis, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko and other library board members. (Vickie Babyak photo, special to Tube City Almanac)
Just a few hours after Carnegie Library of McKeesport cut the ribbon to its new parking lot, all 30 spaces were filled.
“We were all so excited,” said Colleen Rauschenberg Denne, library director, with a laugh.
The $256,000 project answered a long-standing need at the facility in the city’s Seventh Ward, which opened in 1900 with the help of a grant from steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
McKeesport’s library was the 12th of nearly 1,700 Carnegie libraries constructed in the United States during his lifetime.
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August 30, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A STAT MedEvac medical helicopter lands at Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin. The facility is one of the busiest general aviation airports in Pennsylvania, with up to 75,000 takeoffs and landings every year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. (Kevin A. Geiselman photo via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.)
A state grant will provide $900,000 to upgrade the terminal and apron area at Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin.
The grant is being made by the state Department of Transportation's Aviation Transportation Assistance Program, Aviation Development Program and Multimodal Fund, state Sen. Jim Brewster said this week.
“Allegheny County Airport is a regional resource that enhances development potential throughout the Mon Valley,” Brewster said. “An improved airport, in addition to the new Mon-Fayette Expressway and other local economic projects, creates business development opportunities for the area.”
Opened in 1931, Allegheny County Airport is the largest general aviation airport in Western Pennsylvania, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
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August 29, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, North Versailles Twp. News
Wilmerding Community Center board member Melissa Allenbaugh shows the indoor swimming pool to John Callahan of North Versailles Twp. during the open house held on Aug. 24. The grand opening will take place Sept. 3. (Richard Finch Jr. photo special to Tube City Almanac)
Greg Jakub has been involved in the Wilmerding Community Center project ever since “the YMCA handed me the old keys and closed the door.”
At an open house Saturday at the former Wilmerding YMCA, Jakub, the borough's mayor, said he would like to see people coming to the center to socialize as well as exercise.
“We have people that used to come in here, they didn’t swim, they came to sit and gab and that’s what we want to have happen again,” Jakub said. “All the hard work is finally paying off, but we're still a work in progress and there are things that need to be done.”
The center officially opens to the public on Sept. 3.
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August 28, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Photo by Mark Dixon, via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons.)
A group of 63 local elected officials --- including state Sen. Jay Costa, state Reps. Austin Davis and Summer Lee, and the mayors of Braddock, Duquesne and East Pittsburgh --- have signed an open letter calling for stricter air pollution regulation and tougher penalties on violators.
The letter --- released Wednesday during a press conference held by an activist group, PennEnvironment --- came two days after U.S. Steel was hit with another federal lawsuit over emissions from its Clairton Plant.
“Allegheny County is a great place to live — but air pollution is threatening residents' health,” says the letter, available on PennEnvironment's website. “Pittsburgh is a beautiful place to live, work and raise a family — but not if the air will make us sick.”
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August 28, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Submitted photo)
The eighth-annual "Joan Burns Fun Walk 4 Kane" will be held Sept. 14 to raise money for activities for residents of Allegheny County's four Kane skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. at Kane McKeesport, 100 Ninth Ave. at Water Street, and the walk begins at 9:30 a.m. A picnic on the Kane lawn will follow. The first 100 people to register will receive a T-shirt.
The registration fee is $20, but will be waved for anyone who turns in donations and pledges of $50 or more, a spokesperson said.
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