July 03, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A naked man used a garden gnome to smash the window of a Downtown liquor store and had to be subdued with a Taser, McKeesport police said.
The suspect in the June 21 incident refused to give his name and was charged as a "John Doe" with burglary, indecent exposure, criminal mischief, theft by unlawful taking and public drunkenness.
He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bond pending a preliiminary hearing July 15 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi.
McKeesport police on Wednesday said the suspect has since been identified as Antonio Burton, 33, of Pittsburgh's East End.
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July 01, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: Duquesne News
Former Duquesne police chief Richard S. Adams has been named to a vacant seat on city council, over the objections of Mayor Nickole Nesby.
At its June meeting, council voted 3-1 to name Adams to fill the seat vacated by the May 28 resignation of Fawn McDaniel. Nesby voted no.
Nesby had earlier made a motion to appoint William Danko to council. The motion failed 2-2, with Nesby and Councilman Tim Caldwell voting "yes" and Councilwoman Terra Henderson-Murphy and Councilwoman Elaine Washington voting “no.”
Danko “will bring new ideas to the city of Duquesne," Nesby said. "He can also bring experience as well as diversity to council."
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July 01, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Mark P. Holtzman Jr., McKeesport Area School District superintendent, presents Dennis Halaszynski Sr. with his cap, tassel and 1949 high school diploma from McKeesport Area School District. (Photo by Vickie Babyak, special to Tube City Almanac)
Diane Couch couldn't stop smiling as she held her father's hand Wednesday night.
She and five of her siblings brought 88-year-old Dennis Halaszynski to the McKeesport Area School District meeting on the premise that one of his daughters-in-law was receiving an award.
It was a special case of "better late than never" for the life-long McKeesport resident when he received his high school diploma from district Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. at Wednesday's meeting, during a surprise ceremony planned six weeks ago with the help of school board President Joe Lopretto.
Couch said her father always regretted not earning his high school diploma.
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June 30, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
During May, North Versailles Twp. police department received 890 calls, made 27 arrests and housed eight inmates from East McKeesport and nine from Turtle Creek, commissioners reported at their June 20 meeting.
Firefighters answered 40 calls during May.
Also at the June 20 meeting, commissioners voted to approve payments in the amount of $2,967.38 to West Wilmerding VFC from the 2018 Fire Tax Money and $27,886.35 for Crestas VFC from the 2018/2019 Fire Tax Money, Commissioner Russell Saula said.
The amount approved for Crestas VFC includes an annual loan payment for a fire truck in the amount of $24,835.33, according to Saula.
Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve $800 for the purchase of a camera to be placed in the dispatch center.
June 28, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Volunteers unpack new fitness equipment in the weight room at McKeesport Area High School. (All photos: Richard Finch Jr., special to Tube City Almanac)
McKeesport Area High School became the latest destination on the nationwide Team8 Tour this week, after volunteers with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and United Healthcare's “Do Good, Live Well” employee program gathered in the gymnasium to kick off the two-day event.
The weight room in the high school and the courtyard at Founders Hall Middle School were targeted for improvement. The Team8 Tour is a national campaign aimed at encouraging young people around the country to make healthy choices, build character and learn critical life lessons that will inspire them to be catalysts for positive social change, according to the foundation's website.
McKeesport Area School Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. credited baseball coach Ron Bishop with connecting the district to the program.
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June 28, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Above: Major Bryan Carson has been hired by McKeesport Area School District to teach the Air Force Junior ROTC program for 10 months, beginning July 1. His appointment was approved by the school board Wednesday. (Richard Finch Jr. photo, special to Tube City Almanac)
McKeesport Area School Board voted this week to approve a $69.1 million budget that includes a 0.68-mill property tax increase.
At their meeting Wednesday, school directors voted 6-2 to approve the spending plan for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
School directors David Donato and James Brown voted against the budget, and school director Mindy Sturgess was absent. Donato and Sturgess were absent during the 7-0 vote on the preliminary budget on May 22.
The tax increase takes the district's millage from 19.48 mills to 20.16 mills, and represents a $68 increase on a house assessed at $100,000. It's the second year in a row that McKeesport Area School District has raised its property tax rate.
Francis Weiss, a former MASD employee, told school directors the property tax increase is a burden for herself and other seniors living on a fixed income.
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June 28, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements, Podcast
It's been 65 years since the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision that forbid public schools from being segregated along racial lines.
Yet according to several national studies, U.S. schools are now more racially segregated now than at any time since the 1980s.
Last week on "Two Rivers, 30 Minutes," we talked to Katie Fuller, one of the curators of an exhibit currently at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, now through July 21. "Race and Revolution: Still Separate, Still Unequal" looks at school segregation in the northeastern United States --- including in the Mon Valley at Woodland Hills School District.
You can listen here.
"Two Rivers, 30 Minutes" airs Sundays at 8 a.m. on WEDO (810), 9:30 a.m. on The Pittsburgh Jazz Channel & WZUM (101.1/1550), 3 p.m. on WMCK.FM Internet radio, and as a free podcast whenever you like from our website at almanac.tubecityonline.com/podcast.
June 28, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, White Oak News
(Photo courtesy St. Angela Merici Church via Facebook)
The four-parish grouping of St. Angela Merici, Corpus Christi, St. Patrick and St. Robert Bellarmine will hold its combined Summer Family Festival from 6 to 10 p.m. July 11, 12 and 13, a spokeswoman said.
The event will be held on the grounds of St. Angela Merici, 1640 Fawcett Ave, White Oak and include a flea market, super basket raffle, Kids’ Kingdom, card games, money wheels, midway games, bake sale, bingo and other activities.
The raffle will include a $2,000 first prize, a $1,000 second prize, or a $500 third prize with the purchase of a $2 ticket, the spokeswoman said.
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June 25, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Lauren Byrne Connelly, assistant director for business innovation and technology in the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, will be the featured speaker during a "lunch and learn" session July 11 hosted by Mon Yough Area Chamber of Commerce.
Connelly will talk about small business and minority and women-owned business loans offered by the county.
The event begins at 11:30 a.m. in the IMS Room of Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 E. Waterfront Drive, Homestead. The cost is $25 for chamber members and $30 for non-members.
Registration is required and lunch will be provided, a spokesman said.
For more information or to register, call (412) 678-2450 or visit the website.
June 25, 2019 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment
Rehearsing for "Love, Loss, and What I Wore," a benefit to support McKeesport Little Theater, in front from left, are Nancy Batko and April Ohms. In back are Megan May, Lynne Franks, and Kendra McLaughlin. (Photo: Bonnijean Cooney Adams for Tube City Almanac)
If you go...
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“Love, Loss, and What I Wore”
Where: McKeesport Little Theater, 1614 Coursin St.
When: 7:30 p.m. June 28 and 29; 2 p.m. June 30
Tickets: All seats are $15. Reservations at (412) 673-1100.
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Sometimes the clothes we wore for a special occasion – the prom, our wedding, a funeral – or even that highly anticipated first date that turned out to be a total disaster – trigger memories long after the events themselves have faded.
When McKeesport Little Theater veteran Rose-Lorene Miller read the play “Love, Loss, and What I Wore” by Nora and Delia Ephron, based on a book by Ilene Beckerman, she insisted her friend Linda Baker read it, too.
Baker, who has been affiliated with the community theater in key roles for years, said she liked it so much that she proposed producing it as a benefit. The show runs Friday through Sunday, June 28-30.
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