More Vacant Houses Face Wrecking Crews

April 12, 2022 |

By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Another 200 to 250 vacant homes in McKeesport will face the wrecking ball soon, Mayor Michael Cherepko has announced.

City council this month awarded a $174,600 contract to Betters Company Inc. of Lincoln Borough to demolish 30 structures under Phase 6 of the “McKeesport Rising” program, and the mayor promised that contracts on 100 to 110 houses are expected at the May and June meetings.

Betters was the lowest responsible bidder, officials said.

The city’s Seventh Ward is receiving particular attention, Cherepko said.

 
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Dura-Bond Purchases Former U.S. Steel Facility

April 11, 2022 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

(Tube City Almanac photo)


Dura-Bond Industries has purchased U.S. Steel’s former electric-resistance weld pipe mill, one of the last remaining vestiges of the industry that made McKeesport “the Tube City.”

Along with the 317,000-square-foot McKeesport Tubular Operations building, the Westmoreland County-based company also purchased the 34 acres of land on which the plant is located. Sale price was $715,000, a spokeswoman said.

The deal includes an easement for the Great Allegheny Passage biking trail, which city and state officials have been working to re-route along the Monongahela River waterfront.

“Tubular products have been part of McKeesport’s history for over 120 years, and we are proud to continue the tradition,” said Jason Norris, president of Dura-Bond. “Our country desperately needs pipeline infrastructure to transport domestic natural gas to fuel our future. We are also exploring opportunities that may exist in hydrogen transport and pipelines used for carbon sequestration.”

Dura-Bond has been leasing the facility since 2017 and made substantial investments updating the production lines.

 
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Hospital Honors Local Organ Donors, Recipients

April 07, 2022 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Jeffrey Alvarez, nursing director at UPMC McKeesport, liver transplant recipient Gene Wagner and Leslie Lash of the Center for Organ Recovery & Education display a flag for “National Donate Life Month.” In 2021, the hospital facilitated transplants of four life-saving organs, 32 corneas and more than 1,000 tissues. (Tube City Almanac photo)


Gene Wagner of North Huntingdon Twp. isn’t sure how he contracted non-alcoholic cirrhosis, which began destroying his liver.

But he’s sure of one thing: He must have had a guardian angel looking out for him.

Wagner, who received a partial liver transplant from a living donor in 2021 at UPMC Montefiore hospital in Oakland, said the entire process had too many strange coincidences to be merely fate.

Wagner joined UPMC McKeesport staff on Thursday for a celebration to mark the beginning of National Donate Life Month.

Last year, UPMC McKeesport facilitated the transplant of four life-saving organs, 32 corneas and more than 1,000 tissues, said Leslie Lash, who serves as the hospital’s liaison to the O’Hara Twp.-based Center for Organ Recovery & Education.

 
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Mon Yough Chamber Slates July 15 Golf Outing

April 07, 2022 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements

Mon Yough Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual golf outing July 15 at Youghiogheny Country Club, a spokesperson said. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit the Healthy Food Center.

Events will include sign-in at 9 a.m., shot-gun start at 10 a.m., hors d’oeuvres in dining room at 3 p.m. and a banquet and awards ceremony at 3:30 p.m.

The club is located at 901 Greenock-Buena Vista Road in Elizabeth Twp. Individual packages start at $30 for dinner and reservations must be received by July 1. For more information, visit the chamber’s website.

 

One Man Charged in Burglary, Second Sought

April 07, 2022 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News

A Penn Hills man has been arrested and charged in connection with a burglary at a Dravosburg vape shop, and McKeesport police are searching for a second possible suspect.

Officers responded Tuesday night to the Richland Avenue business when callers to Allegheny County 9-1-1 reported a burglary was in progress. According to a police report, upon arriving at the scene, officers observed a man dressed in all black clothing in the alley behind the store.

Police said the man matched a description provided to 9-1-1 of one of the burglars. When the man could not adequately explain why he was in the vicinity, he was detained for questioning, police said.

 
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City Man Held Following Foot Chase

April 07, 2022 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News

A city man is being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $25,000 following a foot chase through Downtown streets on Tuesday evening.

Vincent W. Pinkney, 46, is charged by McKeesport police with unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license and resisting arrest. He faces a preliminary hearing April 18 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi.

McKeesport police said two officers were eating dinner at a restaurant on Lysle Boulevard when they observed several people behaving suspiciously in the parking lot of a business across the street.

As the officers exited the restaurant to investigate, they heard a gunshot in the vicinity of May Street, at which point the individuals ran, according to a police report.

 
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Port Vue Police Targeting Abandoned Vehicles

April 06, 2022 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Port Vue News

Port Vue police will be targeting abandoned, unlicensed and inoperative cars and trucks marked on borough streets, Chief David Petruski has announced.

“We are striving to maintain a healthly, neat and visually pleasant community here in Port Vue,” he said. Officers are looking for vehicles that have expired inspection stickers, expired registration plates, no license plates, or that are in junk condition, including heavily damaged, rusted out, missing tires and other major components.

Police will be tagging abandoned and junk vehicles with a so-called orange tag and they will be subject to removal, Petruski said. The borough’s junk car ordinance applies to vehicles kept on private property as well as public streets, he said.

 
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Bank Presents Check for Redevelopment Effort

April 06, 2022 |

By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements

First Commonwealth Bank recently presented city officials and the McKees Point Development Group with a $100,000 check. The bank is one of four partners that are together funding a six-year program to reuse the Penn-McKee Hotel, renovate homes and remove blight in the Downtown area, including the buildings seen in the background. (Submitted photo)


First Commonwealth Bank recently presented the McKees Point Development Group with a $100,000 check to help fund another year of a six-year Neighborhood Assistance Program.

The non-profit group is working to redevelop the Penn-McKee Hotel for reuse, demolish blighted buildings in the city’s Downtown area and help provide home repairs to city residents.

Partners include Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh and ACTION-Housing. Additional funding is being provided by Duquesne Light, Noble Energy and UPMC Health System, who are utilizing state tax credits.

 
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New Play Has Strong McKeesport Ties

April 04, 2022 |

By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: Entertainment

Frances Dell Bendert as Mom and Bailey Lee as herself rehearse a scene from "Papa." (Coleman Ray Clark photo courtesy New Hazlett Theater)

If you go...

   

‘Papa’ by Bailey Lee

Where: New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh

When: 8 p.m. April 7; 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. April 8

Tickets: General admission $25, artists $15 with promo code, students $15 with valid ID. (412) 320-4610 or at www.newhazletttheater.org

An original play with strong ties to the McKeesport area is making its world debut this Thursday at the New Hazlett Theater in Pittsburgh.

Papa” is the story of Hall Lee, who came to the United States from the farmlands of China when he was approximately 15 years old, settling and living most of his life along Jenny Lind Street in McKeesport.

Bailey Lee, his granddaughter, wrote the play, created the concept, and stars as herself in the production. It’s about things her grandfather suppressed to protect the family and assimilate into American culture, plus the sometimes complicated relationship among three generations of Asian Americans, Lee said.

 
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One Hurt in Sumac Street Shooting

March 30, 2022 |

By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News

An unidentified man is in critical condition following a shooting late Tuesday night on Sumac Street in the city.

Allegheny County police said city officers received a ShotSpotter alert in the 1400 block of Sumac at around 11:42 p.m. Police arrived and found evidence of a shooting at that location.

A short time later, police said, a victim arrived at the emergency room of UPMC McKeesport suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Allegheny County police homicide detectives are investigating. Anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call the county police tip line 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.

 

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