June 06, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
Duquesne City Council will have its regular workshop meeting on June 26 and its regular meeting on July 1; however, they will enjoy a summer recess in July and early August.
The July 22 workshop meeting and the August 5 meetings are cancelled. The city’s Home Rule Government Study Commission meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. June 16 at City Hall.
In other business, the Duquesne Boys and Girls Club is hosting a three-on-three basketball tournament from 12 noon to 3 p.m. June 19 at Polish Hill Park.
Read More
June 05, 2025 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Wednesday’s school board meeting attracted more than 70 people. (Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
East End Academy, an alternative school located inside McKeesport Area High School, will close June 30.
The decision, which was made during Wednesday’s special board meeting, was approved by school directors.
Several meeting attendees asked where eligible students would receive district services. School director Jason Pavlecic acknowledged local worries.
“This is not the emotional support side of things,” Pavleic told nearly 70 attendees of Wednesday’s meeting. “This is the alternative education program that deals with the expulsions … We will still maintain the emotional support stuff within the district.”
Read More
June 05, 2025 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A 12th Ward man who was reported missing Wednesday evening was found dead a short time later behind his home, Allegheny County police said.
Jeffrey McKenzie, 60, was pronounced dead at the scene off of Route 48, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said.
Police said McKenzie was reported missing at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. McKeesport and Versailles Borough police responded and conducted a search.
McKenzie was found in a creek near the 400 block of Long Run Road, Allegheny County police said. Allegheny County homicide detectives are investigating.
Jim Madalinsky, county police spokesman, said the cause and manner of McKenzie’s death are pending completion of the medical examiner’s report.
“There were no obvious signs of trauma and right now it is not considered suspicious,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
June 05, 2025 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
This rowhouse at 606 Crawford Ave. is on Duquesne’s demolition list. Its owner says he was never notified of plans to tear it down. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
A Duquesne resident had concerns about his properties being on the city’s demolition list. Charles Morgan owns four properties — 600, 602, 606 and 608 — on Crawford Avenue and three have been scheduled to be torn down.
Only 608 isn’t on the list that the city council has been working on for years.
Morgan talked to Duquesne City Council on Tuesday night. He said he’s a truck driver who is gone for long stretches of time. “I haven’t got any notification,” he told city council. “I didn’t get certified mail.”
City Solicitor Myron Sainovich and Mayor R. Scott Adams said the city has had public meetings about all of the properties that are scheduled for demolition, and all have been marked with official paperwork.
Read More
June 02, 2025 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Allegheny County police are investigating a shooting that wounded a man early Monday morning.
Police said although the victim was found near the intersection of Coursin Street and Fifth Avenue, Downtown, a preliminary investigation indicates the incident may have happened at another location.
In a release, the county police Homicide Unit said McKeesport police were notified of a possible shooting at 5:19 a.m. and responded to find the victim, whose name was not released, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to the hospital and is in stable condition, police said.
Anyone with information concerning the incident is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
May 30, 2025 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
The “big beautiful bill” passed by Congressional Republicans may not seem so beautiful to more than 800,000 Pennsylvania residents who rely on local community health centers for health care — including in the Mon-Yough area.
A report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates more than 800,000 Pennsylvanians who rely on local Community Health Centers could face new barriers to care if proposed Medicaid cuts in the bill — which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives — are signed into law.
Locally, there are Community Health Centers on Lysle Boulevard in the city, as well as Miller Avenue in Clairton, Braddock Avenue in Braddock and West Street in Homestead.
Read More
May 30, 2025 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
Staff at Philadelphia’s New Kensington Community Development Corp. greet visitors during a gun-violence prevention event in 2024. The organization is one of many across Pennsylvania whose work is threatened by a loss of federal funding. (Photo courtesy New Kensington Community Development Corp.)
A mass shooting on Memorial Day in Philadelphia marred the solemn holiday and also was an aberration — gun-related homicides across Pennsylvania are down 38 percent this year.
But violence prevention advocates are warning that federal funding cuts threaten key programs designed to curb gun-related crimes.
In Philadelphia, the Cure Violence program run by New Kensington Community Development Corporation is one of 350 groups learning their Justice Department grants would end early.
Amy Perez, vice president of programs for the group, said the cuts affect their entire outreach effort, from a youth basketball league to housing services and nutrition programs.
Read More
May 29, 2025 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
A Dick’s Sporting Goods store. The chain moved its corporate headquarters to the Pittsburgh area in 1994 and has been heavily involved in philanthropy over its history. (Archive photo by Mike Mozart from Funny YouTube, USA; licensed under Creastive Commons CC BY 2.0)
Nearly four years before last week’s dissolution of their partnership, Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation and McKeesport Area School District touted a future full of promise.
Speaking to school directors, parents and community members on May 26, 2021, then-Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. optimistically described the pair’s first project: a six-week long summer camp in McKeesport.
Holtzman, the son of McKeesport Area School Board President Mark Holtzman Sr., left the district in 2022. He is now the superintendent at Hempfield Area School District in Westmoreland County.
Geared for local students from kindergarten through eighth grade, the summer camp program provided “transportation, food and a wide range of activities and field trips such as visiting the zoo, museums and a pool,” according to the foundation. The intent was to give children a “safe and fun place to spend their summer.”
Read More
May 29, 2025 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Area School District said a decision to end its partnership with the charitable giving arm of Dick’s Sporting Goods was made by the foundation, not by school officials. (Adam Reinherz photo for Tube City Almanac)
A McKeesport Area School Board member said long-simmering structural issues between the school district and Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation led to the cessation of a nearly four-year partnership.
In an interview, School Director David Donato implored the public to wait for the facts before reaching a conclusion: “There is no doubt Dick’s stopped this arrangement.”
Following a May 27 announcement that the charitable arm of the Dick’s Sporting Goods chain had ended its partnership with McKeesport Area School District, both sides are looking back — and making accusations.
School Board President Mark Holtzman Sr., who has been singled out for much of the blame by Dick’s and some members of the public, declined comment and referred questions to District Solicitor Gary Matta.
Read More
May 28, 2025 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated with new information as needed)
Guests at the 2022 launch event of United at Twin Rivers included Aimee Watters, executive director of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation; Tim Joyce, chief of staff for then-state Sen. Jim Brewster; Jackie Castma, associate executive director of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation; Brandy Daye, assistant principal, Twin Rivers; then-district superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr.; Tia Wanzo, then-assistant superintendent; then-state representative Austin Davis, now lieutenant governor; McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko; and then state representative, now state senator, Nick Pisciottano. (File photo/Tube City Almanac)
A more than three-year-long relationship between McKeesport Area School District and the charitable arm of Findlay Twp.-based Dick’s Sporting Goods has come to an acrimonious end.
District Superintendent Donald MacFann issued a statement Tuesday saying that Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation had made a “unilateral decision to end the partnership,” which has seen the philanthropy donate what it said was more than $13 million since 2021 to support educational programs at Twin Rivers Elementary School, fund professional and student development, and create a community center.
“Like many of you, the McKeesport Area School Board is deeply disappointed by this unexpected decision,” MacFann wrote.
“Over the course of this school year, MASD has worked diligently with DSGF to ensure our partnership benefited as many students as possible, with a particular focus on supporting their academic success,” MacFann wrote.
Read More
