September 25, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Editorial Cartoons
For the family and friends of Samantha Kalkbrenner and the Serra Catholic High School community, and everyone impacted by Wednesday’s tragedy.
And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand
—hymn by the Rev. Michael Joncas
September 22, 2023 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Students, teachers and members of the McKeesport-area community hold candles during a prayer service Thursday night for Samantha Kalkbrenner. (Photo by Adam Reinherz for Tube City Almanac)
A Thursday evening prayer service in memory of Samantha Kalkbrenner brought hundreds to McKeesport’s Serra Catholic High School.
As hymns were sung and candles held, mourners recalled Kalkbrenner, a 15-year-old sophomore from Dravosburg who died tragically Sept. 20 following a crash between a car and a Serra school van at the intersection of Richland and Third avenues in Dravosburg. Kalkbrenner was a passenger in the van.
Five other people, including three other students, were injured in the collision.
A crowd of perhaps 400 people, including students, teachers, staff and members of the McKeesport community attended the vigil, held at the football stadium on the Haler Heights campus.
“Although she is no longer with us, her life will never be extinguished,” Serra Catholic Principal Robert Childs said. “When our lives are difficult and seem unbearable we will remember her smiling face and her kind words.”
September 20, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
BREAKING: This is a developing story and will be updated. It is subject to change.
Updated with statements from Serra Catholic High School, Bishop David Zubik and State Sen. Jim Brewster.
A 15-year-old student from Serra Catholic High School died Wednesday morning following a crash in Dravosburg, emergency personnel said.
Samantha Lee Kalkbrenner of Dravosburg was pronounced dead at the scene just before 8 a.m., the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said. She was a passenger in a school van operated by Serra that collided with a car at the intersection of Richland and Third avenues, witnesses said.
Three other students and the drivers of the van and the car also were injured, officials said.
All school activities were cancelled Wednesday and remain cancelled through Sunday, the high school announced on Wednesday afternoon. Teachers will be available on the school’s Haler Heights campus on Thursday to counsel students who are grieving, a spokesperson said.
A prayer service on campus is being planned at 7 p.m. Thursday. All are welcome to attend, the school said.
September 20, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
CORRECTION: This story was corrected after publication to remove a sentence speculating about the cause of the crash. We apologize for the error.
McKeesport police and state safety investigators are probing a crash Monday afternoon that injured two sanitation workers and two bystanders and damaged a half-dozen parked cars in the city’s Third Ward.
Rob Smith, president of Big’s Sanitation in Rostraver Twp., said a truck that was working a route in the area of Jenny Lind Street lost its brakes and rolled down the hill, collding with several cars in the parking lot of Ryco Inc. along 13th Avenue at Walnut Street.
The company collects residential trash in the city under contract.
The truck stopped just short of the Ryco building, Smith said.
September 20, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Duquesne man died Tuesday morning after being struck by a tri-axle dump truck in Wilmerding, Allegheny County police said.
The medical examiner’s office said Jerome Prysock, 65, was pronounced dead at the scene just after 5 a.m.
The accident happened before sunrise. County police said Pitcairn police were dispatched to the area of the Tri-Boro Expressway just above Maple Avenue and that the driver of the truck, who was not identified, remained with the victim.
September 19, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
Family and friends of Quanisha Ball, 31, want her death to bring more awareness to the need for pedestrian safety. Ball’s mother, Courtney Thompkins, has distributed flyers near the intersection in DeKalb County, Ga., where her daughter died. (Photo left, courtesy Thompkins family; at right, Dan Whisenhunt photo for Decaturish)
A McKeesport woman has organized a walk on Wednesday (Sept. 20) to bring attention to her daughter’s death while crossing the street in Georgia.
More than 100 family members and friends will gather at 10 a.m. at the trailhead for the Great Allegheny Passage under the Boston Bridge in Elizabeth Twp. in memory of Quanisha Ball, 31, and then walk two miles.
That’s the distance, her mother alleges, that the driver who struck Ball continued on his way before returning to the accident scene outside of Atlanta.
The driver was never charged. Wednesday would have been Ball’s 32nd birthday, said her mother, Courtney Thompkins.
“It’s the first birthday since my baby isn’t here,” Thompkins said. “Quanisha was an amazing sister, daughter, a leader and we all admired her 31 years on this earth. And we miss her so much.”
September 19, 2023 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: Politics & Elections, State & Region
Election Day is less than two months away, and for the process to go smoothly, Pennsylvania needs a lot more poll workers. Many of the 8.7 million registered voters in the state would be eligible to work at the polls for the November 7th municipal elections.
Lauren Cristella, League of Women Voters board member and president and CEO of the Committee of 70, a voter education group, said 40,000 Pennsylvanians are needed twice a year to ensure elections happen.
The state is also recruiting 17-year-olds to serve as poll workers, if they get permission from their school principal and a parent or guardian.
“Poll workers are our first, best defense against election fraud, anything that would cause disenfranchisement of voters,” Cristella said. “Fully-staffed, well-trained poll workers make voting easier for everyone. So, we took that as an important part of our mission, to make sure that these important roles are filled.”
September 19, 2023 |
By Yousuf Lachhab Ibrahim | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Penn State University Greater Allegheny celebrated its 75th anniversary on Saturday with a “Blue & White Watch Party.”
Visitors went to the campus in McKeesport to eat free food and watch the Penn State Nittany Lions play the Illinois Fighting Illini on television.
Only 30 feet from the cafeteria where the watch party was held, the PSUGA men’s soccer team faced off against the Christendom College Crusaders from Front Royal, Va.
“We really wanted to celebrate the campus’ 75th anniversary in a way that honored our connection to the community,” said Megan Nagel, interim chancellor and chief academic officer. “Our alumni, our current faculty, staff, employees — We just wanted to make sure we had an event where anybody knew they were welcome to attend for free, eat for free, bring their kids. And I think we've achieved that today.”
September 17, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Julian Calabro of McKeesport gets help with a form from State Rep. Matt Gergely. (Tube City Almanac photo)
More than four dozen motorists signed up for free replacement license plates Saturday afternoon at McKeesport Area High School.
State Rep. Matt Gergely, who organized the event along with McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, said many Pennsylvania motorists have complained in recent years that the paint is peeling from the license plates on their cars, making them unreadable.
Officials have been unable to identify what, exactly, caused certain plates to fail, he said, but it seems to relate to a change in the way the license tags were manufactured several years ago.
Although Pennsylvania will issue new license plates, free of charge, for anyone who has an illegible plate, Gergely said the process is inconvenient, in part because the form must be witnessed by a law-enforcement officer and notarized.
September 17, 2023 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: Duquesne News, McKeesport and Region News
Community members recruited to be part of “The Village” recently greeted students as they arrived for the first day of school in Duquesne. (Submitted photo courtesy Allegheny Intermediate Unit)
Superintendents from the Clairton City, Duquesne City and McKeesport Area School Districts are spearheading efforts for greater communal support.
Through a newly formed program titled “The Village,” local school leaders are encouraging community members to help educate and mentor local children.
McKeesport Area Superintendent Tia Wanzo said she conceived of the idea in July. At the time, Wanzo was thinking about the African proverb, that it “takes a village to raise a child,” she said.
Wanzo reached out to Clairton City Superintendent Tamara Allen-Thomas and Duquesne City Superintendent Sue Mariani about gathering a group of villagers — business owners, clergy, school board members and retirees — to dedicate their time and wisdom to today’s youth.
