January 12, 2023 |
By Amy George | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, North Versailles Twp. News
The Westmoreland Heritage Trail connects Saltsburg to Trafford, via Monroeville. A proposal is underway to connect the trail to the Great Allegheny Passage via North Versailles Twp. and Turtle Creek. (Daveynin photo via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
Changes coming to the regional trail network could make it easier than ever for Mon-Yough area bicyclists to reach destinations in Monroeville and Westmoreland County.
Currently in the works are plans to extend the current Pittsburgh-to-Maryland trail — the Great Allegheny Passage, or GAP trail — deeper into local communities. One such plan — the Turtle Creek Connector project — would extend the Westmoreland Heritage Trail through Turtle Creek and North Versailles Twp. to meet the GAP, which serves McKeesport, Duquesne and Homestead.
Once a bustling network of railways akin to the region’s industrial history, these converted trails have seen new life in the past few decades and continue to develop with innovative community visions.
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January 12, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Councilwoman Elaine Washington ironed out a few street department “goals” for 2023 at the governing body’s first meeting of the year.
“New street signs,” she noted. Some need to be installed, while others need to be replaced, she told council.
Washington said the post office gave the city a warning about subpar signage “a few years ago,” and she thinks it’s time that street signs should be a priority.
“We also need to look at overgrowth, especially on Route 837,” she said. “It is our [Duquesne’s] responsibility.” She hopes crews will tackle that project in the late spring.
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January 11, 2023 |
By Jason A. Mignanelli | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The parishioners who attended the final weekly Mass at Corpus Christi Church on Versailles Avenue looked on with sadness Saturday afternoon at the beautifully decorated altar, still adorned with a manger scene and Christmas trees.
The final communion hymn touched everyone deeply as the choir from above sang, “Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.” As the organ fell silent, the entire church erupted with applause. Many of the parishioners continue to send letters to the bishop hoping for a miracle.
Parishioners at Corpus Christi Church, the former St. Mary Czestochowa, are afraid that they’ll have to die or get married to ever come back into the building.
In accordance with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh’s “On Mission for the Church Alive” campaign many parishes in and around Pittsburgh have merged into regional clusters. Corpus Christi is now part of Mary, Mother of God Parish, which also includes churches in Christy Park, White Oak and East McKeesport.
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January 06, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements
The Mon Yough Chorale, a community chorus, will begin rehearsals for its Spring session at 7 p.m. Jan. 22, a spokeswoman said.
Rehearsals are held at Sampson's Mills Presbyterian Church, 1665 Lincoln Way, White Oak. Chorale president Donna Dineen said all sections are open, with a great need of tenors and basses.
“If you’ve sung in your high school, college or church choir in the past and are looking to get back to singing, this is a great opportunity,” she said. “There are no auditions. Just sit in on a rehearsal and then decide if you want to join. For more information, visit our website, monyoughchorale.org.”
January 06, 2023 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
For months, Tom Shaw has been Duquesne Police Department’s “acting” police chief. That changed Tuesday night as the Mayor Scott Adams and city council removed the interim title from his resume.
By a 4-0 vote, council this week named Shaw the permanent police chief. Councilman Tim Caldwell was absent. Shaw also was unable to attend the meeting, because he was away on business, Adams said.
Council also named Duquesne police Lt. Karra Vance assistant police chief. Vance served as acting police chief after former police Chief Thomas Dunlevy was placed on leave in 2021. Dunlevy was fired by city council on Dec. 6.
Both appointments took effect Wednesday.
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January 05, 2023 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News, McKeesport and Region News
A local business owner who is challenging McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko in this year’s election has been arrested by state drug enforcement agents and accused of being part of a cocaine trafficking ring allegedly led by his campaign manager.
Corry J. Sanders, 52, who obtained a pardon for a previous drug offense through the efforts of now-U.S. Sen. John Fetterman and other elected officials, is charged by the state attorney general’s office with two counts each of drug possession, possession with intent to deliver and delivery.
The arrest — originally reported by Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV on New Year’s Eve — was confirmed Thursday afternoon by the attorney general’s office.
Investigators allege that Sanders sold cocaine to a confidential informant on two separate occasions, including at his Locust Street barbershop, Kool Kutz, in November 2022.
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January 04, 2023 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, helps families living on low incomes pay their heating bills in the form of a cash grant. (Photo illustration courtesy Pennsylvania Department of Human Services)
Higher fuel prices and a bitterly cold start to this winter mean it will cost more for most people to heat their homes, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
There is help available for qualifying Pennsylvania households. Applications are being taken for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program through April 28 by the state Department of Human Services.
Patrick Cicero, consumer advocate for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, said no matter your home’s heating source, you do not have to be behind on your bill to be eligible for a cash grant.
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January 04, 2023 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Commentary-Editorial
Above: State Rep. Nick Pisciotanno, West Mifflin Democrat, takes the oath of office on Jan. 3 alongside newly elected state Rep. Arvind Venkat of McCandless. Pisciotanno was first elected to the state General Assembly in 2020 and was re-elected in November 2022. In addition to West Mifflin, his district includes Baldwin Borough, Dravosburg, Glassport, Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place neighborhood and Whitehall. (Photo courtesy Pennsylvania House of Representatives.)
State Rep. Nick Pisciottano is chairman of the newly formed House Democratic Subcommittee on Labor, Energy & Development. He represents the 38th Legislative District in Allegheny County, which includes parts of the Mon Valley and the South Hills. Pisciottano writes:
We’ve seen it over and over. A crisis like the recent potential railroad strike is only fixed when the working people who truly drive our economy are asked to once again “tighten our belts” and make concessions.
President Biden was given a terrible choice: support workers exercising their fundamental right to collectively bargain, demand fair treatment, and, if necessary, strike — which would potentially wreck the national economy — or use the government’s unique power over the rail industry and force workers to accept a contract, damaging his record as a worker-first leader who wants to rebuild the American middle class.
Biden put the American economy first. But it didn’t need to come to this.
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January 03, 2023 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Duquesne man accused of killing the police chief of a small Allegheny Valley borough and wounding another police officer died following a confrontation Monday afternoon in the city of Pittsburgh.
Allegheny County police said Aaron Lamont Swan Jr., 28, formerly of Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood, died after exchanging gunfire with several officers in a wooded area off of Columbiana Street in the Homewood-Brushton section of Pittsburgh.
Swan is suspected of killing Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire and wounding a Tarentum police officer following a foot chase in Brackenridge’s business district on Monday afternoon.
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January 03, 2023 |
By Dianne Ribecca | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
Freezing temperatures and high winds over the Christmas weekend caused a water pipe in a sink on the second floor of East Allegheny High School to rupture and cause flooding, the district announced.
According to a letter written and posted on the school district’s website by the Superintendent of Schools, Alan Johnson, the water damage was quite significant, and affected the second-floor science wing and the rooms below on the first floor and basement levels.
As a result of continued cleanup and testing to ensure the building is safe, seventh through 12th graders attending the junior-senior high school will learn remotely this week through Jan. 6.
Logan Elementary students will resume classes in person as usual.
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