January 17, 2024 |
By T.J. Martin | Posted in: White Oak News
Late last month, White Oak Borough Council passed a 2024 budget with no tax increase. But now it looks as though they’ll change their collective minds.
At a special meeting Dec. 28, council passed a budget of $6.48 million which included using approximately $892,000 from the borough fund balance and no tax increase. That left about $723,000 in the fund balance.
But at its regular January meeting, council voted unanimously to reopen the budget and hold a special meeting Feb. 1 to consider a new 2024 budget which contains a 1-mill real estate tax increase.
“Revenues are decreasing and expenses are increasing,” Finance Committee Chairman Jason Russell said in explaining the proposed change to his fellow councilpersons.
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January 12, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Members of the McKeesport Little Theater’s Juniors Program performed selections from Disney’s Aladdin Jr. at Thursday’s school board meeting. The show opens tonight (Friday). (Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
McKeesport Area School Board has accepted the resignation of the firm that was providing security in district buildings and will retain a new company within 60 days.
The move comes after a guard for Homeland Intelligence & Protective Services LLC of McDonald was arrested and charged this week with having a sexual relationship with a now 17-year-old student.
The guard, Alexis Brown, 24, of McKeesport is charged by Allegheny County police with unlawful sexual contact with a student, corrupting the morals of minors and unlawful contact with a minor. She is awaiting a preliminary hearing Jan. 29 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi.
Board members and staff spent Thursday’s monthly meeting reiterating that student safety remains paramount.
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January 12, 2024 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment
Members of the cast of Disney’s “Aladdin Jr.” at McKeesport Little Theater prepare for the show’s opening on Friday. (Photos by Bonnijean Cooney Adams for Tube City Almanac)
If you go...
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Disney’s “Aladdin Jr.”
Where: McKeesport Little Theater, 1614 Coursin St.,
www.mckeesportlittletheater.com
When: Friday, Jan. 12 and Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.;
Sunday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. and Friday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.;
Sunday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $15 for adults, $10 for students. Tickets available
through the MLT website or by calling the theater.
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Those who love the story of Aladdin should thoroughly enjoy the latest Juniors’ show at McKeesport Little Theater.
Disney’s “Aladdin Jr.” musical stage production features an expanded storyline that includes Aladdin’s fellow street urchins Babkak, Kassim, and Omar, who become his best friends, supporters, and rescuers.
There are some different songs in the stage version, but plenty of familiar tunes, too.
The theater is transformed into the town of Agrabah just in time for opening night, Friday (Jan. 12) with a colorful production complete with stunning costumes and great musical selections performed by a live pit.
Some of the actors are veterans of the Juniors program and have performed together there or elsewhere, while others are just getting their feet wet in theater.
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January 12, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
McKeesport unit of the NAACP and a group of churches will host a community-wide program Sunday to celebrate the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The event begins at 4 p.m. at Zion Baptist Church, 1300 Locust St., and will include a mime performance, church choirs, and a short skit, said Brenda Sawyer, unit president.
The Rev. Richard W. Truss, pastor of Zion, will be the featured speaker. The theme of the event is “Dream the Impossible Dream.”
Light refreshments will be served. Other churches participating include Christ Temple AME, Trinity Church of God in Christ and Macedonia Baptist Church of Duquesne.
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January 11, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Politics & Elections
State Sen. Jim Brewster speaks to the media about the COVID-19 pandemic during the summer of 2020 as former Gov. Tom Wolf looks on. Brewster has announced that he will retire at the end of his current term. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
Confirming speculation that emerged in December, state Sen. Jim Brewster this week announced plans to retire at the end of his current term.
The McKeesport Democrat said Thursday that serving the 45th Senatorial District “has been an honor, privilege and pleasure,” but that after 14 years in the state senate, “it is time to explore other options and take on new challenges.”
Local elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, paid tribute to Brewster’s career in public service, which also has included stints as a McKeesport city councilman and mayor from 2003 to 2010.
“Jim Brewster has upheld a lifelong commitment to McKeesport and the entire Mon Valley,” Cherepko said in a prepared release. “He is a hardworking, goal-oriented leader, who has always strived for the growth of our region. He does this with a kind heart and genuine concern for his neighbors and constituents. I’m proud to call him a mentor and a friend.”
The race to replace Brewster is expected to be hotly contested.
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January 11, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A Duquesne woman is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond in connection with the death of her three-month-old son from a head injury.
Alisha L. Parker, 26, is charged by Allegheny County police with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of children in connection with the death on Sunday of Dal’von Means.
County detectives allege that Parker was intoxicated at ther time of her baby’s death, and that an autopsy indicated the infant had a skull fracture that could only have been delivered by someone with the strength of an adult.
Police allege Parker attempted to blame the infant’s death on her other child, age 3, who she described to detectives as “jealous” and “dangerous,” telling investigators the other child “gotta go.”
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January 08, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News
(This is a developing story and will be updated if necessary.)
A former security guard at McKeesport Area High School was arrested Monday on charges that she had a sexual relationship with a now 17-year-old student.
Alexis Brown, 24, of McKeesport is charged by Allegheny County police with institutional sexual assault, corrupting the morals of minors and unlawful contact with a minor. She was being held in the Allegheny County Jail Monday night awaiting arraignment.
In affidavits filed in Allegheny County Night Court, police said the relationship was reported in early December. Police accused Brown of striking up a relationship with the student over Facebook Messenger that they described as “casual” at first, but which investigators allege turned sexual in nature.
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January 08, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Members of a city-based credit union have approved its merger with a larger thrift in Moon Twp.
At a meeting Thursday at McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center, shareholders of Parkview Community Federal Credit Union OK’d a merger with Clearview Federal Credit Union by a vote of 336 to 74, according to accountants from McKeever, Varga & Senko, who oversaw the ballotting.
The merger is expected to take effect July 1. The agreement has already been approved by federal regulators.
Lisa Florian, president and chief executive officer of Clearview, said there are no plans to close either of Parkview’s offices in McKeesport or North Huntingdon Twp.
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January 06, 2024 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Although McKeesport Area School Board meetings have returned to the Internet, board president Mark Holtzman said he hopes that residents will still attend in person when they are able.
“We encourage the public to come,” he said.
Monthly meetings are a chance for citizens to voice concern, however, if a “major issue” arises in the district Holtzman hopes interested parties won’t wait weeks to articulate the problem.
“Please see the superintendent,” he said. “I'm sure she'll address it and take care of it accordingly.”
At Thursday’s agenda meeting, board members extended wishes for a happy new year, and also welcomed new school district police chief Brenda Sawyer
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January 06, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Prosecutors in Tennessee withdrew two citations against McKeesport’s mayor, who said he is grateful to supporters who stood by him following a November incident at a Nashville nightclub.
“I knew it was a misunderstanding and that everything would work out, but I’m so grateful to have this case dismissed and for the system to view it as I had,” Mayor Michael Cherepko said Saturday.
Cherepko was cited by Metro Nashville police after an incident Nov. 19 at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row. The mayor, who was on vacation with his wife, had been at the bar earlier in the evening, then went back to look for a missing credit card.
Security guards flagged down a passing police officer and asked Cherepko to be cited for criminal trespassing and public intoxication.
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