June 20, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements
Shown in blue are "qualified opportunity zones" in the Mon-Yough area approved last week by the U.S. Treasury Department. The zones provide tax benefits for investors who have earned profits from stocks, bonds or real estate. (Map courtesy Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.)
McKeesport, Duquesne, Glassport and North Versailles Twp. may benefit from a new federal program designed to encourage investors to spend some of their profits on business development in impoverished communities.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department accepted a recommendation from Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to designate 300 different census tracts across the state as "qualified opportunity zones."
The opportunity zone program, created in 2017 under Congress' sweeping year-end tax reform legislation, allows investors who have profited from "capital gains" --- the sale of stocks, bonds, real estate or other investments --- to postpone or eliminate some of their taxes on those profits if they invest in an "opportunity zone."
“I’m excited to see us move forward with this program,” state Rep. Austin Davis said. Nine census tracts in Davis' 35th Legislative District are included in the program.
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June 19, 2018 |
By Cami DiBattista | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne has done away with a requirement that police officers live within the city.
At last week's meeting, Mayor Nickole Nesby said Duquesne eliminated the rule so that the city can make an "honest effort" to make sure all races and both sexes are represented on the police force.
She publicly encouraged potential candidates to apply for openings in the police department.
Council approved police Chief Tom Dunlevy’s recommendation to offer a permanent position within the department to Lee Bartalicius. In other personnel moves, council accepted the retirement of longtime employee Jeanne Dowdle and voted to name Quincy Zitelli the city's acting code enforcement officer.
Council voted to terminate code enforcement officer Allan Chiesi. Nesby said the city would make no public comment about Chiesi's termination.
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June 19, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
A "cash bash," tennis tournament, 5K race and fun run, and a golf outing are the highlights of a four-day fundraiser in July for the McKeesport Hospital Foundation.
The 41st annual Dr. Frank R. Bondi Invitational begins with a "cash bash" at 6 p.m. July 27 at the Boston Spectrum in Elizabeth Twp. Tickets cost $20 and include admission, dinner and a number for cash drawings held every 15 minutes.
On July 28, a doubles round-robin tennis tournament will be held at The Racquet Club in Monroeville. Tickets for the tournament are $100 and include prizes, trophies, snacks and dinner. The tournament begins at 12:30 p.m.
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June 19, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Lack of water is being blamed for the spread of a fire that destroyed this home in the 2600 block of Cleveland Street on Saturday morning. The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is promising upgrades to the distribution system in the next 12 months. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
The authority that provides water to McKeesport and neighboring communities plans $2.1 million in upgrades to the distribution system in Grandview and other parts of the city.
"The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County has invested more than $3 million on our McKeesport system in the past 12 months to improve both water supply and quality," said Matthew Junker, authority spokesman, in a prepared statement. "Further investments of $2.1 million are planned in the next 12 months."
Lack of water volume in Grandview is being blamed for the spread of a fire that destroyed a house on Cleveland Street on Saturday morning, and damaged five others. The authority did not release details on exactly how the new investments will address that low water volume.
Water tankers were called from Lincoln Borough, Monroeville and as far away as Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland County, as McKeesport firefighters and volunteers from several neighboring communities worked to bring the blaze under control.
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June 18, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, Sports
(All photos: Vickie Babyak, special to Tube City Almanac)
Steamy temperatures and scorching pavement didn't faze entrants in the 2018 Greater Pittsburgh Soap Box Derby, held Sunday morning on Eden Park Boulevard in front of McKeesport Area High School.
The annual Father's Day tradition has been held for 36 consecutive years, but actually dates to the 1950s.
The top finishers in each category will be headed to the All-American Soap Box Derby World Championships, to be held in July in Akron, Ohio.
Photographer Vickie Babyak braved the heat to grab these images.
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June 18, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A sign urges passersby to help two families burned out of the home that once stood at 2615 Cleveland St. (Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
Little remains of a house in the 2600 block of Cleveland Street that burned on Saturday morning --- sending four members of the Sostaric and Murphy families to the hospital.
A lack of water from local hydrants hampered efforts by McKeesport firefighters to fight the blaze, which spread to a neighboring home a few feet away, and got hot enough to melt the siding from three houses on the opposite side of the street.
Neighbors said it isn't the first time that a lack of water has hampered firefighting efforts on the street. One neighbor, who asked that his name not be printed, pointed to a vacant lot directly across from the home that burned to the ground Saturday.
"That house over there burned a few years ago," the neighbor said. "That vacant lot a few doors up? That was two houses that burned. Every time, same problem --- no water."
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June 16, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
(UPDATED with name of young man who was killed.)
A shooting Saturday morning in Duquesne left one young man dead and another hospitalized.
Duquesne police said in a release that officers were dispatched to the corner of Auriles Steet and Viola Alley at 1:18 a.m. when multiple callers reported hearing shots fired.
Upon arrival, police said, they found a white Chevrolet Impala stopped on Newford Alley, with the doors open. Inside the backseat, police found a 15-year-old, suffering from gunshot wounds. The victim, identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office as Daevion Raines, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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June 14, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Washington County man with ties to West Mifflin is headed to federal prison after prosecutors said he sold heroin while on probation.
Maurice "Reece" Frezzell, 35, faces nearly 29 years in prison after his convictions this week before U.S. District Judges Arthur J. Schwab and David S. Cercone.
U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady called Frezzell "a career criminal and one of the most significant heroin and fentanyl dealers in Washington County" and said that people are "safer today, now that he is behind bars."
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June 14, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Clairton man pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing the drugs that led to the death of a local man.
Skyler Carter, 37, faces 20 years to life in prison and up to a $1 million fine, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said in a prepared statement Thursday. U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab scheduled sentencing for Oct. 4 at the federal courthouse in Pittsburgh.
Prosecutors allege that Carter had supplied fentanyl, an opioid painkiller, and cocaine to a co-defendant, Katie Spratt, which Spratt then sold to a victim identified only as "A.B.," causing his overdose death on June 5, 2017.
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June 13, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
McKeesport officials, including city Administrator Tom Maglicco, community development director A.J. Tedesco, Mayor Michael Cherepko and fire Chief Jeff Tomovcsik, with representatives of Pennsylvania American Water Co. The company awarded a $1,000 grant to the fire department for the purchase of new hose nozzles. (Submitted photo)
Firefighters in McKeesport, Clairton, Glassport and Lincoln Borough are among those at 68 public safety agencies across the state receiving grants this month from Pennsylvania American Water Co.
The utility company announced that $50,000 is being disbursed through its annual Firefighting Support Grant Program to help fire and emergency services units to purchase protective gear, lifesaving equipment, firefighting apparatus and training materials.
“We are proud to support the critically important service provided by our communities’ emergency responders,” said Jeffrey L. McIntyre, company president, in a prepared statement. “At a time when funding and volunteers are stretched thin at many fire departments, our Firefighting Support Grants enable us to partner with and assist the dedicated men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our customers’ homes and businesses.”
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