June 22, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Scholarship winner Grace Walker (Submitted photo courtesy George and Fawn Montgomery)
A McKeesport Area High School graduate is one of 10 recipients of this year’s James R. Roebuck Scholarships from the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus.
Grace Walker, Class of 2022, will receive the $1,000 award during a virtual ceremony Thursday morning. The awards may be viewed online or via Facebook.
“Grace is a fantastic student but an even better person,” said Dale McCall, head principal at McKeesport Area High School. “She has a very bright future ahead of her, and North Carolina A&T is very lucky to have her.”
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June 22, 2022 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council has approved pay hikes for starting police officers in an attempt to fill some vacancies in the force.
With a unanimous vote, the starting hourly wage for a new officer in the city will be $21.25, up from $19.10. As part of the measure, three current officers will see their hour wage increase to $22.75.
“We are down two or three officers,” said Mayor Scott Adams. The increases will cost the borough an additional $7,000. Adams said other options would have cost the borough as much as $60,000 “and we weren’t going to do that.”
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June 21, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A family of six was displaced Friday evening by a fire that may have begun in a window air-conditioning unit.
McKeesport deputy fire Chief Gene Esken Jr. said two men working at the nearby Zion Apostolic Assembly Church on Jenny Lind Street heard a loud noise outside just before 5 p.m.
When they went outside to investigate, they saw the air-conditioning unit on the house across the street ablaze.
The first units arrived to find flames showing in two second-story windows, Esken said. No one was home at the time of the blaze.
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June 20, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Duquesne News
A fire Saturday afternoon at a vacant house on Ferndale Avenue in Duquesne is suspicious in nature.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the blaze, which was reported just before 3 p.m. at a home near the corner of Ferndale and Fifth Street.
City fire Chief Frank Cobb said crews were dispatched at 2:48 p.m. and arrived to find smoke visible on all four sides of the house and fire showing through a first-floor window.
The home, a one-story brick ranch, was vacant and is currently listed for sale, he said. Property records indicate the house is owned by a limited-liability company in Houston, Texas.
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June 20, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Farmer’s market checks will be available this week for eligible Allegheny County senior citizens who want to buy fresh local produce this summer.
The Allegheny County Department of Human Services announced that checks will be distributed on Thursday (June 23) by the Area Agency on Aging senior center network on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program helps eligible older adults to supplement their diets with locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables by providing a set of four checks for a total of $24.
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June 20, 2022 |
By Jason A. Mignanelli | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Teams of runners from throughout the area will converge on the Mon Valley this fall during the Great Allegheny Passage Relay.
The two-day race is an overnight 150-mile relay run that begins at 10 a.m. Oct. 14 in Cumberland, Md., and ends at 4 p.m. Oct. 15 on Pittsburgh’s South Side. The trail is divided into different legs with each runner contributing at their own skill level.
This is the fifth year for the event, which began in 2018. The event was virtual-only in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan Perry, executive director of the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy, said McKeesport and Duquesne will be critical exchange zones, where runners with fresh legs will take over for their tired team members.
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June 20, 2022 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
The North Versailles Twp. Sanitary Authority is working on a project to repair sewer lines damaged by a landslide four years ago in the Crestas Terrace neighborhood.
Work is set to begin in July, officials said.
With approval from township commissioners, authority officials are in the process of refinancing a 2017 bond note that will help pay for the repairs.
Two lines must be repaired, including one that transports raw sewage away from a pump station in East Crestas as well as another sewer line that feeds the same pumping station.
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June 18, 2022 |
By Emily Scott © Public News Service | Posted in: Politics & Elections
Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race is garnering national attention, with Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz running to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. A new report examines how outside spending from political action committees (PACs) and national donors affects voters.
The report from American Promise includes recent survey results that say more than 70 percent of Pennsylvanians think big donors have too much political influence.
As they can expect to see hundreds of millions of dollars poured into political ads for the Senate race, Bill Cortese of American Promise said “dark money” can create a sense of mistrust among voters.
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June 16, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A McKeesport man is being held without bond in the Allegheny County Jail on charges connected to a shooting Saturday morning in Duquesne.
Deandre Hawkins, 28, faces a preliminary hearing June 23 before Magisterial District Judge Richard D. Olasz Jr. after being charged by Allegheny County police with aggravated assault, simple assault, strangulation and reckless endangerment.
Police said the incident happened near the intersection of Viola Avenue and South Fifth Street, where first-responders responded to reports of a shooting. They found evidence at the scene, but no victim, police said.
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June 16, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Allegheny County police are investigating an accident that injured a woman in a wheelchair on Monday afternoon.
Witnesses said the victim was crossing Lysle Boulevard near Coursin Street just after 3 p.m. when she was struck by Cadillac Escalade SUV.
According to bystanders, the woman and her wheelchair were pinned by the vehicle. She was extricated by McKeesport firefighters and McKeesport Ambulance Rescue Service, witnesses said, and was taken to the hospital.
Police said she was listed in critical condition. Her name was not released by police.
The county police Homicide Unit and Collision Reconstruction Unit responded to the scene to assist McKeesport police.
Investigators said the driver of the Cadillac remained on the scene and is cooperating with 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.
