Six years ago, after an unusually rainy summer, Center Street Extension near the White Oak Farms apartment complex was closed due to unstable ground.
Fast forward to summer 2019, and heavy storms are still causing problems in the borough, this time in the form of flooding.
Residents brought their concerns to White Oak Borough Council at the August meeting. Anton Leppo, who has lived on Kansas Avenue for about one year, is concerned for his home.
“Every time we have a half-decent storm, everything goes down the hillside and into the house,” he said. “The driveway is like a river coming down. I’m going to lose my house because of this. The foundation is only going to hold for so long.”
Above: New fitness equipment is shown as it's being unpacked at the Wilmerding Community Center, located on Ice Plant Hill. (Submitted photo)
Organizers of the new Wilmerding Community Center will hold an open house this Saturday (Aug. 24) to show off the facility --- and hopefully sign up some members.
Located at the former Wilmerding YMCA, which closed in 2018, the facility has been refurbished and features new fitness equipment, a warm-water swimming pool and other amenities, says Gary Nowading, one of the board members of the new non-profit that has taken over the facility.
The open house begins at 10 a.m. with a VIP reception for local elected officials, donors and other invited guests. From 12 noon to 6 p.m., the facility will be open to everyone for tours, Nowading says.
Serra Catholic marching band members focus on drills while perfecting their playing during camp. (Bonnijean Cooney Adams photo for Tube City Almanac.)
This year's field shows by the Serra Catholic High School marching band will have a bit of Continental flare.
The band was initially considering a field show that would be themed around foods, but that evolved into a focus on France, said Jesse Bush, marching band director, whose students will be playing and even dancing to tunes ranging from “Work Song/At the End of the Day” from “Les Miserables” to the “Can-Can.”
“Each song in the show represents something from France,” Bush said, with solos by instrumentalists and color guard members.
“I think it’s a very fun show for us to do and, with the French theme, is more theatrical than last year,” said color guard senior Anna Osinski, who is featured as a revolutionary in the excerpt from “Les Miserables.” “The guard girls are playing different parts and there’s a guitar with the pit.”
McKeesport Mayor George H. Lysle (left) in the Pittsburgh Bulletin-Index, Jerome Boulevard sign in 1949 (right) in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
What’s in a name?
For McKeesport, 80 years ago this week, it was nine million Depression-era dollars.
In August 1939, the federal government gave Allegheny County and McKeesport officials an ultimatum — either remove the name of Mayor George H. Lysle from Lysle Boulevard, or repay $9 million in infrastructure loans and grants.
Not surprisingly, the money won out, and McKeesport City Council voted on Aug. 16, 1939, to rename “Lysle Boulevard” as “Jerome Boulevard.”
It remained that way until Lysle died in 1947 — though it was a few years before the “Lysle Boulevard” signs went back up.
A McKeesport-based credit union has celebrated the opening of its first branch location.
Parkview Community Federal Credit Union’s North Huntingdon Twp. branch is located at 12260 Route 30, near the Norwin Towne Square shopping center.
A spokeswoman said the branch was designed to be “tech-savvy and eco-friendly.”
A grand opening celebration was held Aug. 10. Regular hours are weekdays 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended evening hours on Wednesdays until 6:30 p.m.
New legislation proposed by a state official from McKeesport would impose larger fines on industrial facilities that violate air pollution standards.
House Bill 1752, which would amend Pennsylvania’s 1960 Air Pollution Control Act, also would require large industrial facilities to have warning systems to alert residents to air-quality emergencies.
State Rep. Austin Davis, who introduced the bill, called it a response both to a Dec. 24 incident at U.S. Steel's Clairton Plant, as well as to a massive fire in June at an oil refinery in Philadelphia.
“These were two incidents that were not only unfortunate but detrimental to the environment and the residents residing in the general vicinity of both sites,” Davis said. “Laws and regulations currently exist to make sure we have clean air and to also monitor industrial sites so that the public is protected from excessive emissions.”
The bill was referred Friday to the state Legislature's Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, where it will likely face a tough road to a vote by the full General Assembly, which is controlled by Republicans.
Tickets: Available at Eventbrite. All proceeds benefit GASP.
Fifty years ago, the goal of the Group Against Smog and Pollution was to be a watchdog, fighting for cleaner air for Pittsburgh-area residents.
One of its targets back when it was formed in 1969 was the then-mighty U.S. Steel Corp., which owned mills up and down the valley.
As GASP celebrates its 50th anniversary, U.S. Steel --- especially its Clairton Plant --- remains in focus, especially after a fire at that facility on Christmas Eve destroyed a desulfurization unit.
Heavy rain that passed through the Mon-Yough area on Tuesday afternoon forced the cancellation of most of the opening night entertainment at McKeesport's 60th International Village.
Although the band Zabava did perform as scheduled in the Jakomas Blue-Top Pavilion at Renziehausen Park, dancing and music on the main stage was called off due to hazardous conditions in the area surrounding Stephen Barry Field.
The planned opening ceremony, as well as fireworks, have been rescheduled for tonight, a spokesperson said. Gates open at 3 p.m. and main stage entertainment is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
Food and most craft booths remained open until 9 p.m. Tuesday, when the gates closed.
CORRECTED after publication to clarify the Renzie Market is a general market, not just a farmer's market. (Aug. 21)
(Photos courtesy Renzie Market via Facebook)
Halfway through its third year, the weekly market at Renziehausen Park is still going strong, even if not everyone in the Mon-Yough area is aware of it.
Joelle Harbert, vice president of the Renzie Market committee, said the current season will wrap up Oct. 12.
Despite being around since 2016, "many of our neighbors have never heard about the market," she said. Located behind the city's No. 2 fire station at the intersection of Eden Park Boulevard and Tulip Drive, the market is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.
Family of the late Jimmy Beaumont gathered at Renziehausen Park on Sunday to unveil a new street sign erected in honor of the late lead singer of The Skyliners.
Beaumont's grandchildren had the honor of revealing the sign on stage at the Lions Bandshell before a concert by the remaining members of the vocal group.
Beaumont, who was born in Pittsburgh but lived in McKeesport's Myer Park neighborhood for nearly 50 years, died in 2017 at the age of 76.
"We truly don't take it for granted that we had a star here in the City of McKeesport," Mayor Michael Cherepko said, "and without question as proud as Jimmy was to be a McKeesport resident, as a city, we were every bit as proud to have him here."
