April 30, 2019 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Photo via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Creative Commons.)
The Spanish parent company of Kennywood is being targeted for takeover by a group of European investors.
According to published reports, a group calling itself Piolin BidCo owns 44 percent of Parques Reunidos and is attempting to purchase the remaining 56 percent for almost $16 per share.
The details were revealed in an filing with financial regulators in Spain.
Based in Madrid, Parques Reunidos acquired Kennywood in West Mifflin, Sandcastle in West Homestead, Idlewild Park near Ligonier and other related companies in 2008. The takeover ended more than 100 years of ownership by the Henninger and McSwigan families.
The Piolin takeover bid was reported Friday by Skift, a blog for travel industry investors, and the Reuters news agency.
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April 30, 2019 |
By Charlotte Hopkins | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Erik Asher of Pittsburgh describes how he produces rosin from marijuana extracts. (Charlotte Hopkins photo/special to Tube City Almanac)
* Correction, Not Perfection: This story was corrected after publication. -JT
Making marijuana legal for medicinal purposes has been a long battle ever since the U.S. Congress first made its use or possession illegal in 1937.
It was only three years ago that Pennsylvania reversed the state's policy on medicinal marijuana and made it legal. On Sunday, McKeesport-based PurePenn and other vendors held a Medicinal Marijuana Health Fair at the Palisades.
At one table, Erik Asher of Pittsburgh showed event-goers how rosin, a concentrated extract of the marijuana plant, is made using heat and high pressure.
The rosin is used in the same way as other forms of cannabis concentrates, he said, including through vaping. “It can be used in edibles and dissolved into alcohol for use as a tincture,” Asher said.
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April 30, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Bruce Roberts and Tom Bergan raise a flag commemorating the S.S. McKeesport, which was sunk by a German torpedo in 1943. Also shown are Adam Striffler Gulaski and Tom Maglicco. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
The sacrifices made by the men of the S.S. McKeesport --- and by other merchant mariners during wartime --- provide a better model for living than the negativity presented by current events, speakers at a memorial service said Monday.
"Their sacrifice was not in vain," said the Rev. Boniface Igba of Auberle, who delivered the invocation during the commemoration of the 76th anniversary of the ship's sinking during World War II. "They serve as an example for us, especially in this time of division and pain and unceasing violence in this great nation of ours."
First launched in 1919 and built in part with steel forged in McKeesport, the ship carried emergency relief supplies for the Red Cross in 1940 and then was pressed into service during World War II to supply allied forces.
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April 26, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A tax on natural gas from Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale isn't a Republican issue or a Democratic issue --- it's a fairness issue, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said Friday.
During a luncheon at the Sunset Room in Elizabeth Twp., hosted by the Mon-Yough Area Chamber of Commerce, Fetterman, former mayor of Braddock, said even hard-core Republican states such as Oklahoma and Texas levy taxes on the extraction of natural gas.
Those states "aren't some socialist dream from some 'tax-and-spend lib,'" Fetterman joked.
After Texas, Pennsylvania is the nation's second-biggest producer of natural gas. Yet only Pennsylvania has no such tax, said Fetterman, who is backing a proposal from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to levy 4.5 percent on natural gas to fund infrastructure improvements statewide.
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April 26, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Taking audience questions during a panel discussion at the Sunset Room in Elizabeth Twp. on Friday were state Rep. Mike Puskaric, Allegheny County Councilman Bob Macey, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, state Sen. Jay Costa, state Sen. Jim Brewster and state Rep. Bill Kortz. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
U.S. Steel should spend more money on anti-pollution technology and less on "lawyering up," said officials at a Mon-Yough Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday.
They expressed their frustration after U.S. Steel on Thursday announced it will again appeal air pollution fines levied against the corporation.
An accident at the Clairton Plant on Dec. 24 knocked pollution equipment out of service for more than three months and put the entire Mon Valley under a health advisory.
"We would rather see (U.S. Steel) make investments not in legal actions --- 'lawyering up' --- but investing in engineers to clean it up," said Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County Executive.
A large contingent of clean-air and public health advocates also attended Friday's lunch, including Johnie Perryman, 75, of Clairton, who wore an air-filter mask for much of the event at the Sunset Room in Elizabeth Twp.
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April 25, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Tube City Almanac file photo)
McKeesport officials have opened their annual event for "hard to recycle items" to all residents of the McKeesport Area School District in an attempt to encourage wider participation.
"Respect Our City, Respect Our Earth" will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday behind the No. 2 fire station in Renziehausen Park, near the intersection of Eden Park Boulevard and Tulip Drive.
Items that will be collected include televisons and computer monitors, keyboards, DVD players, VCRs, radios and cellular phones, a spokeswoman said. Collection bins also will be available for used tires, but they must be removed from the rims first.
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April 25, 2019 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
A free health and wellness fair will be held this Sunday to provide consumers and the general public with information about the uses of medical products derived from marijuana.
The event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Palisades Ballroom, 100 Fifth Ave., McKeesport, is being supported by Mayor Michael Cherepko and is sponsored by McKeesport-based PurePenn and Pittsburgh-based Compassionate Certification Centers.
"It will be a great opportunity for the community to learn about medical marijuana," said Gina Rosso, community liaison for PurePenn.
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April 25, 2019 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Paul Anselmo of New Century Careers. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
Producing a daily newspaper requires more than just gathering information --- researching, writing and editing. It also requires the skills to be able to manufacture and distribute the printed product.
So bringing New Century Careers' machinist training program to the former McKeesport Daily News Building on Lysle Boulevard makes sense in more ways than one, says Paul Anselmo, the organization's president.
"We're not looking to do very much remodeling," Anselmo says. "It's perfect just the way it is."
Based on Pittsburgh's South Side, New Century Careers has provided free manufacturing skills training since 1999. In June, the non-profit will expand its programs into McKeesport and the Latrobe area.
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April 22, 2019 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: White Oak News
White Oak borough council has set 2019 rates for Heritage Hill Pool.
At April's meeting, Councilman Lou Bender said rates for White Oak residents are $60 for a season pass; $30 for a season pass for senior citizens (65 and older); and $5 for a day pass. Proof of residence is required for White Oak residents.
Non-resident rates are $100 for a season pass; $60 for senior citizens; and $10 for a day pass.
During the public comments section of the meeting, a resident asked if the parks and recreations committee would consider adding a daily or weekly adult-only swim time. Bender said the committee would take the request into consideration.
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April 22, 2019 |
By Richard Finch Jr. | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
UPMC McKeesport hospital physician Richard Bondi, M.D., with a cutout of his late father, Dr. Frank Bondi, at the hospital's 125th Anniversary celebration on Friday. (Richard Finch Jr. photo/special to Tube City Almanac)
On a rainy April 19, 1894, a large crowd --- estimated at 1,000 people, according to news reports of the time --- gathered at the McKeesport-Versailles Cemetery for the dedication of McKeesport Hospital.
Due to a light rain last Friday, the 125th anniversary celebration for what is now UPMC McKeesport hospital was moved from the courtyard to the Usman Ahmad, M.D., Memorial Conference Center in the Mansfield Building.
“Today is Good Friday, but it is also a great Friday here at the hospital,” said Mark O’Hern, president of UPMC McKeesport and UPMC East.
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