Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf talks to local and state officials during a tour of the McKeesport electric-resistance weld pipe mill recently purchased by Dura-Bond. From left, Jason Norris, president of Dura-Bond Industries (with back to camera); Wolf; McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko; state Sen. Jim Brewster; and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. (Submitted photo courtesy City of McKeesport.)
Editor's Note: This story was written from a recording of the tour.
The new owner of McKeesport's last remaining pipe mill last week told Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf that "the challenge is enormous" but Dura-Bond is committed to turning the facility around.
"We have a family ethic and we're here to create jobs and put people to work and, in turn, take care of the business, and hopefully the business will take care of us," said Jason Norris, president of Dura-Bond Industries Inc., who gave a tour on Friday to Wolf and other local and state officials.
A family owned, Westmoreland County-based company, Dura-Bond took ownership of the former U.S. Steel electric-resistance weld mill in December. The mill is not running yet but Dura-Bond is making the necessary repairs to put it back into operation, Norris said.
At least six people were arrested after what police described as a "chaotic" brawl at a bar Saturday morning on Evans Avenue.
McKeesport police said a fight broke out at about 1:55 a.m. inside the Double S Saloon and spilled into the street.
As the first officers arrived, police said, at least 10 people were in the street, "fighting and throwing punches," with another 10 or more watching. One man was armed with a pool cue, police said.
Officers needed pepper spray to subdue two people, while another man was bitten by a K-9 officer and taken to UPMC McKeesport hospital for treatment, police said.
McKeesport Area School District residents could pay a little bit more in property taxes next year, and no one on the school board is pleased about it.
The preliminary budget of $65.7 million adopted last week by a 5-4 vote of the school board would increase the tax rate from 16.74 mills to 17.37 mills.
School Directors Ivan Hampton, Mary Jane Keller, Joe Lopretto, Patricia Maksin and Scott Smith voted in favor of the preliminary budget; James Brown, Christopher Halaszynski, Steven Kondrosky and Mindy Sturgess voted no.
"I'm not one for a tax hike, but we can blame our governors for that," Lopretto said. "Mr. Corbett has done some serious damage to all the school districts in the state and Mr. Wolf really hasn't done too much either. Mr. Trump hasn't hasn't helped us either with the Secretary of Education he put in there."
A McKeesport man died Saturday night after being shot in the 1800 block of Wesley Avenue in the city.
Antonio Wallace, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene, said a spokesman for the Allegheny County police homicide unit, which is investigating the incident.
Police said Allegheny County 9-1-1 received a report of a shooting at 10 p.m. Saturday. McKeesport police arrived and found the victim. No further details were released by county police.
Owners of existing businesses as well as people interested in starting their own business are being invited to a free workshop to discuss the opportunities and challenges involved.
The free business financing workshop will be held at 6 p.m. June 27 at 501 Braddock Ave., Braddock, and is being sponsored by Dollar Bank and Mon Valley Initiative.
Above: Cadet Evan Reed of the McKeesport Area High School Junior Air Force ROTC program places an American flag at the city's War Memorial on Lysle Boulevard during Memorial Day observances Monday. (Tube City Almanac photo)
More than 100 people gathered Monday morning at the city's War Memorial on Lysle Boulevard to commemorate the lives of those from the Mon-Yough area who died in service to their country.
Participants included area veterans' organizations, the recently restarted Junior Air Force ROTC program at McKeesport Area High School, members of the high school band and choir, and current and retired elected officials.
Memorial Day is not just the "unofficial start of summer," McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko said. "It's very sad that all too often we forget what the true meaning of Memorial Day is," he said. "All of you who are here --- you don't forget. Let's make sure we remind others as well."
(Above: Staff of the Mon Valley Independent pose for a picture to celebrate the Monessen-based paper's one-year anniversary. Mon Valley Independent photo.)
More than a year after the closure of McKeesport's 131-year-old Daily News, two other local print newspapers are expanding into the Mon-Yough area.
Munhall's weekly newspaper, The Valley Mirror, which serves communities in the West Mifflin, Steel Valley and Woodland Hills school districts, has added coverage of Dravosburg, Glassport and Port Vue, among other McKeesport suburbs.
Meanwhile, Monessen's new daily newspaper, the Mon Valley Independent, celebrated its one-year anniversary on May 2 by beginning to sell papers in McKeesport.
At stake for both the Independent and the Mirror --- at least in part --- is the revenue from legal advertisements that Pennsylvania municipalities are required to place in newspapers of "general circulation." McKeesport officials are already considering a shift of the city's legal advertisements from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to the Mon Valley Independent to save money.
Jamie Matson was awarded "Best of Show" at the McKeesport Art Group's 59th annual Spring Art Show, held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Jacob Woll Pavilion, Renziehausen Park.
Matson's oil painting, "Heron Rising" (above), received the top prize in the competition, judged by Renie Pollock, longtime art instructor, president of the Greensburg, Pa., Art Center, a former art gallery owner, and curator of the Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival Exhibits.
There were 93 entries in this year's competition, said Jan Catalogna, Art Group president. Also on display were paper gowns crafted as props by the McKeesport Area High School art department for the school's recent production of "Cinderella."
The City of McKeesport will host its annual Memorial Day ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday in Memorial Park at the corner of Lysle Boulevard and Market Street, a spokeswoman said.
Participants will include City officials, Allegheny County officials, local veterans, students enrolled in McKeesport Area High School’s Air Force JROTC program, and members of the McKeesport Area High School Tiger Band.
The keynote speaker will be JROTC Cadet Corps Commander Kyle Nelson.
The events will be broadcast live --- weather permitting --- beginning at 10 a.m. on Internet radio station WMCK.FM, which can be heard using the Streema, Tunein or Radio.net smartphone apps, the free WMCK.FM Android app, or via the WMCK.fm website. The event will then be re-broadcast following the 6 p.m. news Monday for the benefit of people participating.
Neither glass slippers nor fairy godmothers are necessary to attend this year's 59th annual Spring Art Show by the McKeesport Art Group.
But a little bit of the magic from McKeesport Area High School's production of "Cinderella" will be on display. Handmade, full-size paper gowns that were created as props for the recent school musical will be exhibited at the art show, which opens at 5 p.m. today at Jacob Woll Pavilion, Renziehausen Park.
Jan Catalogna, president of the art group, says the gowns --- made by the school's art department --- are "gorgeously crafted." Few of the people who attended the high school's production of "Cinderella" got to see the gowns up close.
"It's a shame that so few people saw them during the running of their play," she says. "Needless to say, we are excited to be able to share this work with the public."
