June 03, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Lawrence County man is jailed without bond pending a preliminary hearing on charges that he shot a fellow partygoer at an event on Marshall Drive in the city’s Haler Heights section.
Vance Lee Sykes, 30, of New Castle, formerly of Pittsburgh, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, carrying a firearm without a license and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the Memorial Day weekend incident.
Sykes also was wounded during the incident, according to a criminal complaint, which alleges that at least five shots were fired — two by Sykes, and third by another, unnamed person.
Read More
May 31, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Allegheny County police continue their investigation of a shooting incident Sunday night in Haler Heights that sent two men to local hospitals with what were described as non-life-threatening injuries.
Details remain sketchy. The incident was reported at around 7 p.m. at a home in the 100 block of Marshall Drive, emergency personnel said.
Neighbors have speculated that a party was in progress at a private home and that an argument began, but county police have declined to confirm any details.
Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that exempts police reports from public open-records laws.
Read More
May 30, 2024 |
By T.J. Martin | Posted in: East McKeesport News, North Versailles Twp. News, Wilmerding News
East Allegheny School District property owners could see their first property tax increase in more than a decade.
The school board has approved a preliminary 2024-25 budget containing a mileage tax increase of just over 1.05 mills. School board members Tisha Thomas and Merle Pusey voted against the preliminary budget and Robert Trout was absent.
The preliminary budget must be voted on at next month’s school board meeting.
Director of Fiscal Services Toni Valicenti said the state dictates a maximum millage increase that every district can impose and the proposed increase in East Allegheny is half of the maximum allowed by the state.
Read More
May 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A man from Pittsburgh’s North Side is being held in the Allegheny County Jail after McKeesport police allege he forged and attemped to cash more than $4,700 in paychecks from a city contracting business.
Sherman S. Jones, 46, is charged by McKeesport police with six counts each of forgery and passing bad checks, three counts of access device fraud, and theft by deception.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 3 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi.
In an affidavit of probable cause, McKeesport police said that a plumbing contractor in the city reported Nov. 14 that someone had forged six paychecks from their business and attempted to cash them at a check-cashing store in Homestead.
Read More
May 29, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The McKeesport support group of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will hold its monthly meeting at 6 p.m. June 5 in Room 122 of the Frable Building, Penn State Greater Allegheny, a spokeswoman said.
The meeting is open to families and friends of loved ones living with mental illness.
A “care and share” session will be held. This opportunity offers understanding and support unique to those who are affected by mental health conditions of loved ones, the spokeswoman said.
For more information about the McKeesport meeting, call (412) 527-6600. For the NAMI Helpline, call (412) 366-3788 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
May 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Brandon Short, center, and his wife Mahreen, right, with their late daughter Karli, left, outside the library at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport. Brandon Short is a Penn State alumnus and a member of the university’s Board of Trustees. Karli Short was murdered in 2021. Her ex-boyfriend is awaiting trial on charges connected to her death. (Submitted photo courtesy Short family, all rights reserved)
Friends and family of Karli Short will hold a fundraiser June 7 to raise money for the scholarship fund in her name at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport — and for additional scholarships which will soon be extended to students at the University Park campus.
The third-annual Karli Short Better Tomorrow Scholarship Fund dinner will be held at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown Pittsburgh. Tickets are available online and start at $225.
Short, 26, a personal care worker who also had a catering business, was found dead outside her Christy Park home on Sept. 13, 2021. She was approximately four months pregnant at the time.
Read More
May 29, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News, Wilmerding News
Patton Street Bridge (Submitted photo courtesy Allegheny County)
The Allegheny County Department of Public Works will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. June 6 to discuss the upcoming replacement of the Patton Street Bridge in Wilmerding, a spokesperson said.
The hearing will be held online using the Microsoft Teams video conference app. Registration in advance is required by going to Allegheny County’s website. A link and phone number to attend the meeting will be emailed to those who register.
The Patton Street bridge links the north and south sides of Wilmerding over Turtle Creek and also provides a transportation link between North Versailles Twp. and Monroeville.
Read More
May 23, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Letters to the Editor
Thomas Lorenchick of Versailles writes:
As per your recent article, (“MASD Board Questioned on School Policing,” May 10), I think that Ms. Walker-Montgomery raises some valid points in her analysis of the problems in McKeesport Area School District.
However, I would ask the question: Does this problem arise from nomenclature? I have seen the word “police” used on vehicles associated with institutions of higher education. They used to say “campus security.” Now, it seems this trend has trickled down to high schools.
The word “police,” in my opinion, should be reserved for municipalities, states and the military. And, yes, they are a necessary part of any civilized society, often laboring at a difficult job.
Read More
May 23, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
More than 40 volunteers from Peoples Gas placed flags on the graves of 2,000 veterans in McKeesport & Versailles Cemetery last week. (Submitted photo courtesy Peoples Gas)
Volunteers from Peoples Gas fanned out through McKeesport & Versailles Cemetery on Friday to place 2,000 American flags on the graves of veterans.
Despite inclement weather, about 40 employees completed the task in less than two hours with help from Amvets members, said Nick Paradise, Peoples Gas spokesman.
“While many of the veteran graves are in designated sections, plenty were within family plots or otherwise isolated, so our team spread out amongst the 44,000 gravestones to do our best to mark and honor each veteran, as well as the Civil War and WWII memorials,” Paradise said.
Read More
May 23, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: White Oak News
For weeks, residents of White Oak and surrounding communities had heard rumors about the future of their local Giant Eagle supermarket in Oak Park Mall.
When a reporter for Tube City Almanac originally contacted the store, employees declined to comment; however, a few days later, the family that has owned the supermarket since it opened in 1993 released a joint statement along with O’Hara Twp.-based Giant Eagle Inc.
“After more than 50 years in the supermarket industry, the Scozio family has decided to retire and transition the operations of its two Giant Eagle locations at 2001 Lincoln Way Oak Park in White Oak and at 2000 Penny Lane Drive in Penn Twp. to Giant Eagle, Inc.,” the statement said.
The move from independent ownership to corporate ownership was being completed this month.
Read More
