February 03, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The Allegheny County Health Department has approved air-pollution reduction programs for 10 local industrial plants, but rejected six others submitted by plants in Clairton, North Braddock, Port Vue and West Mifflin.
The plans were required under new legislation, approved last year by Allegheny County Council and signed by County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, called the Mon Valley Episode Rule.
The rule requires the health department to warn Mon Valley residents when air quality is likely to be unhealthy; and also requires major sources of air pollution in the Mon Valley to take steps to reduce their emissions during certain weather events commonly called “air inversions.”
When combined with small particles of air pollution and noxious gases, air inversions can create dangerously bad air quality, especially for children, senior citizens and people with lung and heart conditions.
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February 02, 2022 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
North Versailles Twp. commissioners recently honored retired township manager, Patricia Logo, with a plaque for her years of service. Pictured are Greg Evashavik, solicitor; Frank Bivins, board president; Logo; and George Thompson, commissioner. (Kristen Keleschenyi photo for Tube City Almanac)
North Versailles Twp. employees who get or have received their COVID-19 vaccination will receive a $100 bonus.
Township commissioners unanimously approved the bonus at their January meeting. Also approved were five paid days off for employees who contracted COVID-19 if they were vaccinated prior to Dec. 31, 2021.
The additional days are valid through March 31, 2022.
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February 02, 2022 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
A representative of a landlord that owns properties in North Versailles Twp. is questioning the municipality’s recently enacted rental registration ordinance.
Kurt Skvarla of Addleman Realty and Landmark Companies spoke at the January board of commissioners meeting. The company owns apartment complexes on Dix Drive, near the intersection of Routes 30 and 48.
Skvarla said the fees are a hardship for the family run business and might lead to raising the rent for their tenants.
“The North Versailles Twp. license fee on our Dix Drive property is 25 times higher than if that same building was located in East McKeesport,” Skvarla said. He asked for documentation illustrating how the fees were determined and what they are used for.
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February 01, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
• Arrest records published here were provided by the McKeesport Police Department.
• Not all arrest records are published.
• An arrest does not mean the person identified has been convicted of a crime.
• All people arrested are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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February 01, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A man from Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond on charges that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl repeatedly over a period of several weeks in 2020.
Robert A. Clark, 41, was arrested by McKeesport police on Dec. 28 and faces a preliminary hearing Feb. 7 before Magisterial District Judge Eugene Riazzi.
Court officials said bond was denied because Clark has failed to appear for past court dates on 14 separate occasions.
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January 31, 2022 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Social distancing. Vaccine mandates. Quarantines. Remote learning. Animal shelter overcrowding. What do all these of things have in common? They’re all by-products of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Animal overpopulation, and by extension, overcrowding in animal shelters, has always been a problem. But the last two years have been especially challenging.
Tara Czekaj is the 18th Congressional District leader for the Humane Society of the United States. She says that the pandemic has created the perfect storm for pet overpopulation and overcrowding in shelters.
“It’s an issue two years in the making. Homeless animal populations and shelter overcrowding was a concern before COVID – but COVID has exacerbated absolutely everything,” Czekaj says.
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January 30, 2022 |
By Matt Germaine | Posted in: Duquesne News
“All I ask for is a chance,” says Duquesne’s new mayor, R. Scott Adams. (Matt Germaine photo for Tube City Almanac)
Duquesne’s new mayor ran for office with the support of his family and friends, and a goal of trying to “make a difference” in his hometown.
R. Scott Adams, former police chief and council member, was sworn in earlier this month. He replaced former Mayor Nickole Nesby after defeating her in the Democratic primary in 2021.
Adams ran on a platform that stressed financial stability, safety, and the collection of delinquent taxes. The same issues originally inspired him to enter politics when a city council seat opened in 2019.
“With the support of my family, I said I’ll run for mayor and give it a chance because I didn’t want to be one of those people that say ‘what if?’” Adams said. “Maybe I can make a difference here and make change.”
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January 28, 2022 |
By Emily Scott © Public News Service | Posted in: Crime and Police News
(Graphic: ACLU of Pennsylvania)
Keeping track of student arrests and law enforcement referrals is a key tool for transparency and accountability within schools, but a new report found some Pennsylvania schools have regularly underreported data on student arrests.
Analysis by the ACLU of Pennsylvania showed Allegheny County public schools underreported student arrests by 83 percent in the 2017-2018 school year — including Pittsburgh Public Schools, which reported no arrests.
Ghadah Makoshi, community advocate for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said misrepresentation erodes trust in the education system.
The same report also called Allegheny County a hot-spot for students being arrested by police, with local youth being far more likely to be referred to police than students in either Philadelphia or Pennsylvania as a whole.
In addition, the infractions for which students were arrested in Allegheny County are often relatively minor. The report found that Black male students and students with disabilities were at greatest risk for arrest or referral to law enforcement.
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January 27, 2022 |
By Adam Reinherz | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Transportation remains a source of strife for parents and educators in McKeesport Area School District.
Since September, four bus runs have been canceled on a regular basis, leaving hundreds of students without rides to school.
At Wednesday’s board meeting, school Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. said he’s made clear to the bus company that its actions are affecting numerous students.
Holtzman said that during a recent meeting with an Allegheny County judge and representatives of the district’s bus provider, Pennsylvania Coach Lines, reports indicated that 147 buses were canceled this year, disrupting nearly 50,000 rides.
“If you’re frustrated or disgusted or you’re mad at me I get it. I understand. I’ll take whatever responsibility for it,” Holtzman told parents. “Unfortunately, we have no control over the decisions that the bus company was making to not run four buses consistently.”
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January 26, 2022 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The McKeesport affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness will meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 2 at Penn State Greater Allegheny, Frable Building, Room 122. The meeting is open to families and friends of loved ones living with mental illness.
NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness, a spokeswoman said. The group offers understanding and support unique to those who are affected by these conditions.
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