December 28, 2017 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: White Oak News
(This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.)
Two people are dead following a house fire in the 3000 block of State Street in White Oak.
Matt Brown, chief of emergency services for Allegheny County, said the fire was reported at 3:44 a.m. Thursday. Upon arrival less than five minutes later, White Oak police and firefighters found the house fully engulfed by flame, Brown said.
Firefighters entered the house and found two people dead on the first floor, Brown said. Their names have not yet been released pending notification of next of kin, he said.
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December 23, 2017 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Duquesne News
(Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
A Duquesne-based company that bills itself as one of the largest manufacturers of pillows and bedding accessories in the United States will receive a grant that could clear the way for future expansion, according to a state senator.
State Sen. Jim Brewster said American Textile Co. is receiving a $1.5 million grant to allow it to remediate part of the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Works, where its headquarters and a factory that employs more than 200 people is located.
Both part of the existing factory space as well as part of the neighboring property will be cleaned and cleared of contamination left over from steelmaking operations, Brewster said in a prepared statement.
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December 22, 2017 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Two people, including a teen-ager charged as an adult, face preliminary hearings next week on charges they shot at a security guard at a McKeesport apartment complex.
Dailan Smith, 26, of McKeesport and Jahi Rox, 17, of Duquesne are each charged by McKeesport police with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment. Both also face additional charges.
They are being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bond.
McKeesport police said a security guard was on duty at Hi-View Gardens on Dec. 6 when a car slowly approached him from the 700 block of Sixth Avenue just before 9 p.m. Police said the car stopped and someone inside the vehicle yelled, "I'll smoke you (expletive)" and began shooting.
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December 21, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Above: McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, Big's Sanitation president Joe Eori Jr., and Matt Gergely, assistant to the business manager at McKeesport Area School District, load Christmas hams for delivery to local families on Wednesday. Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
More than two dozen McKeesport families received surprise gifts of Christmas hams on Thursday thanks to a gift from a Rostraver Twp. business.
Joe Eori Jr., president of Big's Sanitation, donated the 28 hams "because I just wanted to give something back," he said.
"My dad was born and raised here and graduated from McKeesport High School," he said. "All of my relatives are from around here. If you have the means to give something back, then everybody should do so."
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December 21, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Above: Members of the Mon Yough Chorale perform during a holiday concert Sunday at Sampson's Mills Presbyterian Church in White Oak. Photos special to Tube City Almanac.)
In the 19th and early 20th century, singing for fun and public entertainment was a common American pastime.
Companies and ethnic clubs like McKeesport's Swedish Singing Society and the Turners (originally known as the Turn und Gesangverein --- the "Gymnastics and Singing Union") sponsored choruses, concerts and even competitions.
Over the years, public singing faded away, and so did most of the community singing groups. But in McKeesport, the Mon Yough Chorale keeps the tradition alive.
The chorale --- now comprised of 35 to 40 volunteer performers under the direction of Ben Filippone --- recently completed a busy December schedule with a concert this past Sunday at Sampson's Mills Presbyterian Church.
Portions of that concert will be broadcast at 8 a.m. Dec. 24 on WEDO (810) and WZUM (1550/101.1), and the full concert will be broadcast at 3 p.m. Dec. 24 on Internet station WMCK.FM.
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December 21, 2017 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Members of the "Mad Hatters," a group of knitting enthusiasts that meets at Carnegie Library of McKeesport, visited the city's Kane Regional Center on Monday to share more than 100 pairs of handmade leg warmers with residents.
The group also read a holiday story to residents and served refreshments.
The hatters meet Thursdays and took their name from the hats they knit for chemotherapy patients who have lost their hair.
For more information about the group, call (412) 672-0625.
(Submitted photos: Mary Rose Bendel, Carnegie Library of McKeesport)
December 20, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport City Council has extended its contract with Big's Sanitation through the end of 2018.
But Mayor Michael Cherepko said that his administration is exploring whether the city should purchase its own trash trucks and perform the work with its own employees.
"We've talked about it before, and I think we will finally be in a position to do that in 2019," he said.
McKeesport has used private contractors for trash collection since at least the early 1980s. Big's, located in Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland County, has been collecting the city's trash and recycling since January 2015, and also holds refuse collection contracts in neighboring Port Vue, White Oak and North Versailles Twp.
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December 18, 2017 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A North Versailles Twp. homeowner shot at intruders attempting to break into their home, Allegheny County police said Monday.
County police Lt. Richard Mullen said in a prepared statement that several people attempted to force open the door of a house in the 300 block of Foster Road at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
The homeowner, whose name was not released by police, opened fire.
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December 18, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Above: Signing the paperwork completing the sale of McKeesport's sewerage authority are Jeffrey McIntyre, president of Pennsylvania American Water; McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko; and Dale McCall, chair of the Municipal Authority of the City of McKeesport. (Submitted photo)
Pennsylvania American Water Co. today completed its purchase of the assets of the Municipal Authority of the City of McKeesport.
The sale, valued at $159 million, includes wastewater treatment plants in the city's lower 10th Ward, Duquesne and Dravosburg, sewer lines and infrastructure serving 64,000 people in those three communities as well as East McKeesport, Elizabeth Twp., Glassport, Liberty, North Versailles Twp., Port Vue, Versailles and White Oak.
After all of the debts and obligations of the sewerage authority were satisfied, the city netted more than $40 million, officials said Monday. The money is already in a city account, though portions of it must be escrowed while the authority's remaining business is wound down.
What it means for consumers:
Continue to pay your MACM bill as scheduled. Pennsylvania American Water will begin sending bills Jan. 1.
Sewerage rates will not increase for at least one calendar year and rate changes will have to be approved by the state Public Utility Commission.
Customers who pay in person at the office in Christy Park may continue to do so. A collection box is also available at McKeesport City Hall.
The same phone numbers may continue to be used until customers are told otherwise. The MACM billing department may be reached at (412) 673-0850.
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December 16, 2017 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
(Updated 11 p.m. with victim's name)
One man is dead following a shooting Saturday morning on Spring Street.
Allegheny County police Lt. Andrew Schurman said emergency crews responded at 11:43 a.m. after callers reported a man was lying in the street and unresponsive just off of Jenny Lind Street.
The victim, identified as Mahlik Cash, 21, was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead at the scene, Schurman said.
The killing is the 13th in McKeesport and the 29th in the Mon Valley so far this year, according to statistics from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office.
Schurman said county homicide detectives are investigating. No further information has been released.
