January 03, 2018 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: White Oak News
(All photos: Special to Tube City Almanac by Vickie Babyak.)
White Oak councilmembers and Mayor Ina Jean Marton were sworn in during a special meeting at the borough building on Tuesday night.
Above, Magisterial District Judge Thomas Miller is shown preparing to administer the oath of office to newly elected Councilman George Dillinger, returning Councilman Kenneth Robb, new Councilman Sean Robb and Marton.
Council elected Councilman David Pasternak to serve as president, Councilman Kenneth Robb to serve as vice president and Dillinger to serve as president pro tem.
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January 02, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A fast-moving New Year's Day fire has likely destroyed a home in the 3000 block of Versailles Avenue and caused some damage to a neighboring structure.
Five people were displaced by the blaze, according to the American Red Cross.
McKeesport fire Chief Jeff Tomovcsik said a resident of the home called 9-1-1 to report the blaze at 6:54 p.m. Monday. When the first units arrived at the brick, single-family home near the corner of Versailles and Freemont, the first floor was fully engulfed by fire, the chief said.
"It didn't take long before it spread to the second floor," Tomovcsik said. The volume of fire on the first floor slowed firefighters' progress for some time before they could enter the house, he said.
Extremely cold temperatures also made fighting the fire difficult, Tomovcsik said. According to the National Weather Center in Moon Twp., temperatures dropped to 6 degrees Monday night, with a windchill of -11.
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December 29, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements
It's only the fifth day of Christmas, but if your true love says your Christmas tree is losing its needles and becoming less than attractive, you may be looking for a place to recycle it already.
McKeesport and Allegheny County both have solutions.
City residents may drop off natural Christmas trees --- not artificial ones --- behind the Number 2 fire station in Renziehausen Park, said a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Cherepko.
The trees must be stripped of any lights and decorations. The old trees are ground up for mulch and used in city parks and playgrounds, the spokeswoman said.
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December 29, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: White Oak News
White Oak council has passed the borough's 2018 budget with no tax increase --- but with the caveat that it may re-open the spending plan next month.
And they did so without Council President Ron Massung, who resigned from borough council after 26 years.
At a special meeting Thursday, council voted 6-0 to accept the $5.4 million budget, which fixes real estate taxes at 6.66 mills. Borough Manager John Palyo said the total spending plan is roughly the same as the 2017 budget.
But, Palyo said, with new council members being seated on Jan. 2, they may exercise their prerogative to re-open the budget. Under the state's borough code, they would have until Feb. 15 to do so.
"Being a reorganization year, the new council is going to want to look at everything that has been proposed," Palyo said.
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December 28, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements
The developer of a proposed luxury hotel in the former Westinghouse Air Brake Co. "castle" in Wilmerding will receive $1 million in state assistance toward the rehabilitation of the site.
The grant, from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, was announced Thursday by state Sens. Jim Brewster of McKeesport and Joe Markosek of Monroeville.
“The repurposing of the Westinghouse Castle is a signature project that will generate local economic activity and create jobs," Brewster said in a prepared statement.
Empty since 2009, the so-called "castle" on a clearing near the corner of Marguerite Avenue and Bluff Street was built in 1896 on the site of the previous WABCO offices, which were destroyed by fire.
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December 28, 2017 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Allegheny County Health Department has issued a warning to residents of the Wilmerding area after a cat suffering from rabies was found in the 400 block of Orient Avenue.
“We strongly urge all residents to avoid any kind of contact with a wild or stray animal, particularly those in Wilmerding, where the rabid cat was found,” Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the health department, said in a statement. “If any animal appears to be acting strange or becomes threatening, residents should notify their local animal control service, the police or the Pennsylvania Game Commission immediately.”
A woman who was scratched by the cat has been referred for treatment, Hacker said. The cat also was exposed to other animals, including pets, in the Wilmerding area.
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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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