May 08, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Author and motivational speaker Jon Leonetti will lead a three-day "mission" at Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church in June.
Leonetti, a Catholic radio talk-show host based in Des Moines, Iowa, will be the featured attraction at the "Surge of the Heart" Parish Mission at 7 p.m. June 4, 5 and 6.
The event is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. each night.
May 08, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The Mon Yough Chorale, a community chorus based in the McKeesport and White Oak area, has scheduled several upcoming concerts, including a Memorial Day-themed celebration in Monongahela.
At 6 p.m. May 30, the chorale will perform in a Memorial Day-themed event at the Aquatorium in Monongahela, Washington County, at a ceremony to honor fallen troops.
Immediately following the ceremony, the Mon Yough Chorale will entertain at a reception at Monongahela Valley Hospital, Carroll Twp.
A spokeswoman said the chorale's big spring concert is scheduled for 3 p.m. June 3 at Sampson's Mills Presbyterian Church, 1665 Lincoln Way, White Oak.
May 05, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
There were more than 750 people in the Class of 1968 from McKeesport Senior High School, but planners of an upcoming reunion still need contact information for more than 200 of them.
That's according to Nancy Paradise, one of the organizers of the upcoming 50th class reunion, to be held Aug. 24 and 25.
The reunion will include a dinner on Aug. 24 at the Antonelli Event Center in Irwin, and a picnic at Lake Emilie in Renziehausen Park on Aug. 25.
May 04, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Duquesne News
Ted Dintersmith greets students at Duquesne Elementary School on Wednesday. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
Duquesne Elementary School students enjoyed demonstrating some features of one of their school’s "makerspaces" to a special guest on Wednesday.
Ted Dintersmith, a former venture capitalist turned philanthropist and public education advocate, is on a 50-state tour to promote his documentary film, "Most Likely to Succeed," based on the best-selling book about education which he co-authored.
Dintersmith, whose newest book is called "What Schools Could Be," was in Pittsburgh this week to deliver a lecture at the O'Reilly Theater, Downtown.
When Dintersmith visited Duquesne Elementary, students demonstrated how to use virtual reality displays.
“We’re using virtual reality to visit the Holocaust museum,” said fourth-grader Lyniah McFadden.
May 03, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: History
This week in 2008, from our files:
McKeesport Mayor Jim Brewster declared his intention to "fire Blue Cross-Blue Shield" as the city's health insurance carrier. The pledge came after Highmark, the Pittsburgh region's Blue Cross licensee and its dominant health care provider, raised the rate on one city plan by $620,000 --- nearly 84 percent.
Brewster scheduled a meeting with another health insurance carrier, saying: "We'll give them a little taste of McKeesport competitiveness."
The new executive director of McKeesport's YMCA said that "failure is not an option," but admitted the 120-year-old institution was struggling with an aging building, a declining number of members and serious debts. The McKeesport Y was considering a merger with the larger YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh and the possibility of selling its building on Sinclair Street.
The American Lung Association named Pittsburgh the "sootiest city" in the United States, surpassing Southern California. The dubious distinction was mainly due to high levels of particulates in the air near U.S. Steel's Clairton Works. The facility produces coke, a fuel created by superheating coal in ovens.
An Almanac editorial noted that many chemicals and medicines are made from the byproducts of coke, and that the Mon Valley needs "the high-paying, blue-collar jobs that Clairton Works and coal-mining provide, (but) we also need clean air."
May 03, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport is on track to demolish 300 vacant houses in 2018 in "every ward of the city," Mayor Michael Cherepko said Wednesday.
The effort, part of the mayor's previously announced "McKeesport Rising" initiative, is aimed at stablizing neighborhoods and transforming the entrances to the city.
Council by 6-0 vote awarded a $711,500 contract to Jadell Minniefield Construction Services, Inc., a demolition contractor based in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood neighborhood, to tear down 97 vacant houses.
The city will be holding condemnation and demolition proceedings on another 200 houses in the coming months, Cherepko said, and hopes to award another bid in July.
May 03, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A much-needed reconstruction of Bowman Avenue in the city's Highland Grove neighborhood is expected to begin in a few weeks.
At Wednesday's meeting, McKeesport City Council by 6-0 vote awarded a $181,260 contract to Morgan Excavating of Belle Vernon to dig out the existing bricks, install a new roadbase, and resurface the road from the North Versailles Twp. line to near Cliff Street. Councilman Jim Barry Jr. was absent.
The repairs will require a complete shutdown of the road to through traffic, said Steve Kondrosky, city public works director, and a detour will be posted.
May 03, 2018 |
By Josh Rizzo | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, Sports, White Oak News
(Photo: Penn State Greater Allegheny, via Twitter)
Brandon Short sees the world much more clearly now that he lives in London.
Having a broader world view has strengthened the 40-year-old McKeesport native’s belief in the concept of the American Dream.
That’s why it was important for Short to espouse the importance of higher education in front of a crowd of 110 people during a talk at the Crossing Bridges Summit Wednesday night at Penn State Greater Allegheny’s Wunderley Gymnasium.
Despite some of the country’s flaws, Short believes everyone has a chance for upward mobility. Short, who had a seven-year career in the NFL with the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers from 2000-06, is running for a spot on Penn State University’s Board of Trustees.
May 02, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The new owners of the sewage treatment plant serving more than 64,000 people in the McKeesport area are inviting area residents to inspect the facility --- and ask questions about how it works.
Pennsylvania American Water will hold an open house and offer free tours of the McKeesport Wastewater Treatment Plant from 9 a.m. to 12 noon May 12, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Tours will last about 45 minutes each and will include gifts, refreshments and activities for kids.
“Our McKeesport team treats approximately 13 million gallons of wastewater each day,” said Chuck Schultz, operations superintendent for PAWC. “This open house will provide our customers with a unique opportunity to learn more about wastewater treatment and meet the professionals who make it happen 24/7.”
May 02, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Duquesne News
Around 30 people attended Duquesne’s first town hall meeting, which was held last week to provide community members with an opportunity to discuss their vision of the city’s future.
“The first meeting went well,” Mayor Nickole Nesby said at Duquesne's recent city council meeting. “We had a nice turnout and covered several subjects such as new businesses in the areas and employment opportunities, pending grant applications, the Mon-Fayette Expressway, our health insurance plan and recent audits and payments of past due bills.”
Attendees were encouraged to volunteer for one of the new committees established in an effort to address areas in need of improvement within the city.
The next "town hall" meetings are slated for 6 p.m. on May 8 and 22 at Duquesne Elementary School. All are invited and encouraged to attend.
