February 20, 2023 |
By Dianne Ribecca | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
The East Allegheny School Board has voted not to renew the contract of district Superintendent Alan Johnson.
At this month’s meeting, the board voted 5-4 not to rescind a previous motion to let the contract expire.
Voting against contract renewal were School Directors Merle Pusey, Robert Trout, Cortney Verner, George Yusk and Dan Ziober.
February 20, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council will consider a proposal to dissolve the city’s 28-year-old redevelopment authority and pass its duties over to Allegheny County.
At this month’s council meeting, Duquesne Solicitor Myron Sainovich said the Duquesne Redevelopment Authority was created in 1995 but hasn’t been active in many years. Sainovich noted that Mayor R. Scott Adams could appoint members to the commission, but hasn’t. The agency has “no debts, no contractual obligations,” he said.
The redevelopment authority could have been closed three years after its inception, so there are no other legal obstacles, according to the solicitor.
February 15, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Supporters lined Richland Avenue in Dravosburg to view the funeral procession. (Vickie Babyak photo special to Tube City Almanac)
(Written and reported by Vickie Babyak and Jason Togyer)
Thousands of McKeesport-area residents lined the route of a funeral procession for a city police officer killed in the line of duty.
Many held signs saying “We Support Our Police” or American flags as the hearse carrying Officer Sean Sluganski, 32, passed through Dravosburg and McKeesport on its way to Jefferson Memorial Park in Jefferson Hills.
Sluganski was interred just after 5 p.m. in a private ceremony at Jefferson Memorial Park. An Allegheny County emergency dispatcher broke into police radio traffic and called Sluganski’s call sign, 11-16, three times.
McKeesport police Chief Adam Alfer then responded and declared that Sluganski, McKeesport police Badge 300, “is now off-duty.”
“You have completed your mission here, and may you rest in peace, knowing that your strength and love lives on through your mother, your fiancee, your daughter, your sisters, your family and friends,” the dispatcher replied, “and your honor lives on through us all. Thank you for a job well-done, officer. You will truly be missed.”
February 14, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Editorial Cartoons
“The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”
—Sir Robert Peel, 1788-1850
U.K. prime minister, 1834-35, 1841-46
Founder, London Metropolitan Police Service
. . .
“There is no higher calling than that of a policeman. I would rather be a policeman than President.”
—August Vollmer, 1876-1955
Police chief of Berkeley, Calif.
Professor of police administration, University of California at Berkeley
February 13, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Map courtesy Allegheny County)
The funeral Mass for a McKeesport police officer killed in the line of duty on Feb. 6 will be restricted to family and invited friends and colleagues, officials have announced.
Officer Sean Sluganski, 32, will be interred Tuesday at Jefferson Memorial Cemetery in Jefferson Hills following a Mass of Christian Burial at 12 noon at St. Albert the Great Church in Baldwin Borough.
Police and county officials are asking residents to respect the wishes of the Sluganski family and not attend the church service, which is closed to the public. Although media will be permitted to cover events outside of the church, photography and video inside will not be permitted, a county spokesperson said.
February 12, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A McKeesport patrol car has been decorated with bunting and parked at the city’s war memorial on Lysle Boulevard in honor of Officer Sean Sluganski, 32, who died Feb. 6. A city man has been charged with fatally shooting Sluganski and seriously wounding Officer Chuck Thomas Jr., 35. (Tube City Almanac photo)
After the murder of Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire in January, North Hills attorney Ed Kress distributed signs throughout the community saying “We support our police.”
He was hoping not to have to repeat the gesture for a long time.
But Kress and former state Rep. Marc Gergely of White Oak, who were fraternity brothers at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, found themselves pressed into service again after McKeesport police Officer Sean Sluganski was shot to death on Feb. 6, and fellow Officer Chuck Thomas Jr. was injured.
This weekend, they've been working hard to get up to 1,500 signs distributed along the planned route of Sluganski’s funeral on Tuesday.
February 10, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council on Tuesday accepted the resignation of two police officers. Mayor R. Scott Adams thanked officers Joseph Hayes and Brian O’Toole for their service. Adams also wished the duo the best on their future endeavors.
Assistant Police Chief Kara Vance told council she has been working on obtaining an $88,000 grant for department upgrades, according to new City Manager Scott Crawford.
“She does the work,” he said. Vance has made steps to obtain a new police vehicle, and that is to be “rolled over” into a separate grant to increase the department’s fleet by three automobiles. The authorities are looking into the lease for the high-mileage vehicles, and Crawford promises more information as it becomes available.
February 10, 2023 |
By Dianne Ribecca | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
A company that promises to help school districts control costs by reducing the amount of energy they consume made its pitch this week to the East Allegheny School Board.
At this month’s committee meeting, representatives of American Building Maintenance said engineering upgrades and other improvements could stretch the school district's budget further.
ABM said that an engineering walkthrough of East Allegheny High School and Logan Elementary School saw aging equipment that the school district could upgrade or replace to provide energy savings that will, in turn, offset the costs of upgrades, replacements and repairs.
For example, their recommendations included connecting time controls to exhaust fans in the school buildings and lighting, especially for lighting in the stadium.
February 10, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News
The union representing McKeesport police has created a memorial fund to benefit the family of an officer killed Monday in the line of duty.
City police Officer Sean Sluganski, 32, a Baldwin native, died at the emergency room of UPMC McKeesport hospital following an encounter with a suspect on Grandview Avenue. Another officer, Charles Thomas Jr., 35, was seriously wounded and flown to UPMC Mercy Hospital, Uptown. He is now recovering at home.
Carl Bailey, president of Teamsters Local 205, based in White Oak, said the union was “shocked and saddened” by the attack on its members.
“Sean Sluganski served his community because he cared so deeply about it,” Bailey said in a prepared statement. “He was the personification of those values which compose the soul of the badge — honor, courage, loyalty, integrity, selflessness, the confidence of the community and public trust.”
February 09, 2023 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Commentary-Editorial
(Submitted photo courtesy of Jonathan Stark)
Jonathan Stark is the owner of the People’s Bank Building and the Executive Building, Downtown, as well as several other commercial and residential properties around the city. He writes:
I’m not originally from McKeesport. When I try to explain to people why I love McKeesport, they don’t understand. They aren’t from McKeesport.
When my wife Jen and I moved to neighboring White Oak in 2005, I remember being totally impressed with the old architecture, beautiful homes and the stories about what many would agree was the best city in Allegheny County to grow up in at one time.
I was intrigued. I had never seen anything like it where I grew up in Westmoreland County.
I remember introducing myself to a few police officers when I bought my first downtown building in 2008 and asked them what I should expect. They told me that it’s a big city and has all the same problems that any big city has. I got to know those officers and became good friends with many of them and other firefighters, EMS, local politicians and residents.
