September 24, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements, Duquesne News
Members of Clifton Pitts’ family and local officials join state Rep. Austin Davis and state Sen. Jim Brewster during a ceremony to celebrate the designation of a portion of Route 837 as the “Clifton P. Pitts Memorial Highway.” (Submitted photo courtesy state Rep. Austin Davis)
A portion of state Route 837 in Duquesne and West Mifflin has been renamed to honor the late Clifton P. Pitts.
Local, county and state officials gathered Friday morning at Macedonia Baptist Church to dedicate part of the road as the Clifton P. Pitts Memorial Highway. Pitts died in November 2020 of complications of COVID-19. He was 76.
Pitts was born in Pittsburgh but grew up in Duquesne. In the 1970s, Pitts worked as a community activist throughout the Mon Valley, working for a local anti-poverty campaign and also volunteering his time to fight segregation and racial discrimination, and to encourage Black residents to register to vote and run for local offices.
Read More
September 24, 2021 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: Announcements, North Versailles Twp. News
Trick-or-treat hours in North Versailles Twp. will be 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 31, commissioners announced this week.
Other upcoming events include homecoming festivities for East Allegheny Junior-Senior High School.
The homecoming parade through the township will begin at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 30, and there will be a tailgating event at the high school stadium on Oct. 1 before the 7 p.m. football game versus Deer Lakes High School.
The township parks & recreation department will sponsor a night at the Haunted Hills Hayride from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 14. Tickets are $6 for township residents and must be purchased by Oct. 11. For more information, call the parks & recreation department at (412) 823-6602, extension 104, or email nvtparks@verizon.net.
September 24, 2021 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
North Versailles Twp. will join an organization that helps return vacant and abandoned properties back to the tax rolls.
At the September meeting, commissioners unanimously voted to join the Tri-COG Land Bank.
Founded in 2017 by Turtle Creek Valley Council of Governments and Steel Rivers Council of Governments, the land bank was created to deal with the increasing nuisance of vacant and abandoned properties in the Mon Valley and the blight they create.
“They have authority, if this township joins, to identify properties that qualify and the land bank can then acquire ownership, rehabilitate them, sell them and get them back on the tax roll,” said township solicitor Greg Evashavik.
Read More
September 23, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
The borough building will be ready in time for Election Day, White Oak council announced Monday.
Borough engineer Kenneth Hillman told council that renovations are nearly complete.
“Flat roof work on the borough building will start tomorrow, Sep. 21. The insulation should arrive by mid-November. Signs are being constructed, the sidewalks and lighting are in…it’s just around the corner,” Hillman said.
In related news, plans for the borough’s 2022 street paving program are underway, and various properties are being surveyed, he said.
Read More
September 23, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Crime and Police News
“I don’t know if I can ever find peace” if the murderer of Karli Short (right) isn’t brought to justice, said her father, Brandon Short. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of her killer. (Submitted photo courtesy Short family)
The family of a pregnant woman found shot to death at her Christy Park home are hoping that a reward will entice someone to come forward with information that leads to the arrest of her killer.
At a memorial service Thursday morning at Renziehausen Park attended by friends, local officials and police, the family of Karli Short, 26, announced the $20,000 reward had been put up by Richard Bazzy, owner of Shults Ford.
Short’s body was found Sept. 13. Short was pregnant with a boy — her first child — at the time of her death, according to the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office. She was due to give birth in February 2022.
“We know the narrative,” said Short’s cousin, Troy Blackwell, a coach at McKeesport Area High School. “We know the first things that were in people’s heads. That wasn’t the case at all with her.
“That completely wasn’t her,” he said. “There wasn’t any underhanded stuff that she was involved in.”
Read More
September 22, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Three men face charges following an incident Monday afternoon in Renziehausen Park that resulted in the recovery of drugs and a stolen handgun.
Two of the suspects were apprehended after they fled police and crashed their car into a metal barrier along Eden Park Boulevard, McKeesport police said.
No injuries to bystanders were reported, but police said “multiple people and children were in the park area at the time of this incident, thus putting them in danger.”
McKeesport police said officers were dispatched to the Jakomas Blue-Top Pavilion just before 4 p.m. after 9-1-1 callers reported a fight was in progress. While en route, police said, a caller reported hearing what might have been a gun shot.
Read More
September 20, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Paul Fields portrays McKeesport's first Black police officer, George W. Simmons, during the 2016 Living History Tour. (Submitted photo courtesy McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center)
Tickets are on sale now for McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center’s seventh-annual Living History Tour, 12 noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 2 and 3.
A spokesperson said guests will to enjoy a walking tour while learning stories of some of the notable, famous and infamous McKeesporters who were laid to rest at historic McKeesport & Versailles Cemetery. To ensure social distancing protocols can be maintained, tours will be limited in size.
Admission is $12 for adults and $6 for students.
“The Living History Tour has become a signature event for the Heritage Center,” event chair Andi Cartwright said. “It’s a unique opportunity for folks from McKeesport and surrounding communities to learn about McKeesport’s past by taking a glimpse into the lives of some really intriguing characters.
Read More
September 20, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
The 21st annual Mon Valley HIV/AIDS Awareness Walk will be held Oct. 2, a spokeswoman said.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 walk will be a virtual event for the second consecutive year.
The event will start with a Zoom kick-off event at 9 a.m., said Abbie Godollei, outreach coordinator for the Turtle Creek-based Human Services Center Corp. After the virtual event, participants will be encouraged to go out in their neighborhood or local park to walk in solidarity with other walk participants in Allegheny County, she said.
The walk is organized by the Human Services Center Corp.’s HIV/AIDS Working Group and continues to be the only HIV/AIDS Awareness Walk in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Godollei said.
Read More
September 16, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Submitted photo)
The 10th anniversary Tour de Mon bike ride will return to the Great Allegheny Passage on Oct. 30.
U.S. Steel has returned as the presenting sponsor, said the Mon Yough Area Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the annual trek. The ride begins and ends at the historic “Pump House” near the Waterfront in Munhall.
“Tour de Mon” is a pleasure ride, not a race. Riders have their choice of going a full 20 miles to Boston and back; 15 miles to McKeesport and back; 10 miles to Pittsburgh's Hot Metal Bridge and back, or eight miles to Duquesne and back.
Read More
September 16, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Dani Kramer, land-based program coordinator for Allegheny CleanWays, gives direction to a crew of “DumpBusters” cleaning up illegally dumped trash along Federal Street in the city. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
In just three hours last week, a team of “DumpBusters” removed more than 7,000 pounds of junk and 21 old tires from an abandoned home on Federal Street in McKeesport.
How did the team — including 13 volunteers from Compass AmeriCorps — keep from getting overwhelmed when confronted with all of that trash on Sept. 10?
Lexi Garcia, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., said it helped to remember they were changing a community, a little bit at a time.
“It’s easy to feel hopeless about how one person can make a difference,” Garcia said. “But you have to keep that passion going.”
Read More
