March 06, 2023 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Fifth-grade students from Francis McClure Elementary School delighted board members and school leaders when describing the process of creating a Black History Month gallery walk at a recent school board meeting. (Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
Participation in breakfast and lunch programs at McKeesport Area School District is up across the board, but so are expenses.
Ryan Grados, food services director, told the school board at its most recent meeting that the department is making a profit this year, to the tune of $278,198.
“The reimbursement rate that we received was $2.46 for breakfast, and $4.31 for lunch,” Grados said. “Everybody knows that inflation is hitting us pretty hard, so the state has been generous enough to offer us a higher reimbursement rate; therefore, this year we’re receiving $2.77 for breakfast and $4.51 for watch.”
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March 06, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A local bus company that lost a contract to transport McKeesport Area School District students is suing the city, the district and several area officials, claiming its problems were caused by political manipulations.
Pennsylvania Coach Lines has filed suit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against the City of McKeesport, the school district, state Sen. Jim Brewster, Mayor Michael Cherepko, school director and mayoral candidate Joe Lopretto, former school Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr., and city administrator Tom Maglicco.
The company, based on Rebecca Street in the city, was replaced prior to the 2022-23 school year by Krise Transportation after parents repeatedly complained that Pennsylvania Coach Lines was canceling buses without warning, stranding students and forcing them to miss classes.
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March 04, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
UPDATED with additional details
A brutal week in McKeesport now includes four homicides.
Few details have yet been released about a fatal shooting Friday evening that claimed the life of an unidentified man. Allegheny County police said 9-1-1 dispatchers were notified of a shooting in the 1200 block of Park Street just before 6 p.m. Officers arrived to find an adult male suffering from gunshot wounds.
The victim was identified by the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office as Robert Moore, 58, of the city. He was pronounced dead at the emergency room of UPMC McKeesport hospital, the office said.
No further details are being released by police.
Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
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March 04, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
One of the victims of a shooting Wednesday afternoon in which two people died has now been charged in connection with the case.
Davon Flewellen-Belton, 18, of McKeesport is charged by Allegheny County police with carrying a firearm without a license and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
Flewellen-Belton was one of three people shot in an apartment at Crawford Village on Wednesday afternoon, Allegheny County police said. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bond pending a preliminary hearing March 13.
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March 02, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A fist-fight between several people in Crawford Village on Wednesday afternoon led to a shooting that left two people dead and a third hospitalized, Allegheny County homicide investigators said.
Jerred M. Duncan, 22, of Turtle Creek was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident from a gunshot wound to the chest, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said.
Jordan Eubanks, 30, of the city was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown, with gunshot wounds and died about 90 minutes later, the medical examiner said. An 18-year-old man was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds to the leg, police said. His name has not been officially released.
The shootings happened at around 1 p.m. in Crawford Building 50, county police said in a prepared statement.
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March 02, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport City Council opened its meeting Wednesday night with a moment of silence for slain police Officer Sean Sluganski and four people who were shot — three fatally — earlier in the day.
Two shootings less than an hour apart on Wednesday left residents and local officials again wondering what can be done to stem gun violence in the city.
Wednesday afternoon’s events were “horrific,” Mayor Michael Cherepko said.
“It has been an extremely difficult month for the City of McKeesport,” he said. “An absolute nightmare.”
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March 01, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
(Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated as necessary)
Schools went on lockdown and police from across Allegheny County streamed into the city Wednesday afternoon after two separate shootings in different neighborhoods left three people dead and another hospitalized.
Just after 12 noon, a 47-year-old man was shot to death near a store in the 3100 block of Versailles Avenue, emergency personnel said. Less than an hour later, as police were investigating the first incident, three people were shot in the Crawford Village housing development, according to police.
One man, 22, died in the second incident, while a second victim of that shooting, age 30, died later at a hospital.
Police do not believe the shootings were related and said there is “no threat to the general public.”
The latest deaths make five homicides in the city since Jan. 1.
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko called the incidents “senseless” and said the solution to the violence goes beyond adding more law enforcement to the streets.
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February 27, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
The third in a series of meetings to discuss the community response to violence has been postponed to give families a chance to cheer on McKeesport Area basketball teams that are competing in the playoffs.
The meetings are being sponsored by the McKeesport unit of the NAACP.
A spokeswoman said that due to both the boys’ and girls’ high school teams competing tonight, the meeting will be rescheduled.
The next meeting will discuss strategies and planners hope to get committees in place. She urged parents and other interested residents to attend. The new date will be announced soon, she said.
The girls’ team is playing in the Class 5A semi-finals against Gateway at 8 p.m. The winner will play for the Class 5A championship on March 4.
The boys’ team is playing in a Class 5A consolation round against Fox Chapel at 8 p.m. The winner will advance to the PIAA playoffs as the WPIAL’s seventh seed.
February 27, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A city man is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in connection with a string of convenience store robberies in McKeesport and Munhall.
James E. Harrison III, 26, faces preliminary hearings on March 6 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi in McKeesport and on March 8 before Magisterial District Judge Patrick Campbell in Munhall on 18 different charges, including multiple counts of robbery, simple assault, recklessly endangering other persons and theft.
Allegheny County detectives and McKeesport and Munhall police said that Harrison has been connected to five robberies, including a Jan. 17 hold-up at a market in the 900 block of Union Avenue, two hold-ups at a variety store on Lysle Boulevard in February, and two robberies at a deli on Main Street in Munhall.
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February 27, 2023 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
SPECIAL REPORT — © 2023 Tube City Community Media Inc.
(WCN247.com photo via Flickr, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
After a violent three-month period that has seen three young people shot — one fatally — as well as the murder of a police officer, McKeesport residents are searching for answers.
“This was not how we grew up at all,” McKeesport Area School Superintendent Tia Wanzo said in an interview. “We went through 13 years of school and we may have had one student in our class that passed away — whether it was a car accident or something unexpected — but this is way too much. It’s too common.”
The events, she and other community members said, evidence new realities.
Wanzo recalled her actions following the Dec. 13 death of 16-year-old Chance Naylor. In the aftermath of the student’s murder, she began preparing a statement.
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