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.”
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September 16, 2021 |
By Emily Scott © Public News Service | Posted in: Politics & Elections
Five of seven judges’ seats in the Supreme Court chamber in the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. (Ruhrfisch photo via Wikimedia Commons. Used under CC BY-SA 4.0, Link.)
Emily Scott, Public News Service:
Pennsylvanians will vote this November to elect judges in the state’s three appellate courts, and a virtual candidate forum next week will allow voters to get to know those running for the Commonwealth, Superior and Supreme Court positions who will make influential decisions.
Two seats are up for grabs in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, and one each in its Superior and Supreme courts. Pennsylvania differs from some states in that it votes for judges in partisan elections, rather than by merit selection.
Debbie Gross, chief executive officer of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, said it limits the information voters can gather from candidates as they are expected to remain impartial in light of issues that could arise on the bench.
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September 15, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
Renovations on White Oak’s municipal and maintenance buildings are nearly complete, the borough’s engineer told council on Monday.
“Work on the borough building is 85 percent done, and the maintenance building is 80 percent done,” Borough Engineer Ken Hillman said at this week’s workshop meeting. “We’re just waiting on the approval of the rubber roof for the borough building, and we still need to do some gutter and flat roof work on the borough building.”
Hillman also announced that electrical work at Heritage Hill Pool has been in progress since after Labor Day.
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September 14, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Sheree Kegley uses cake decorating tools to finish one of her “dessert candles.” Kegley’s store, Bleuu Candles, is the newest business in Downtown’s re-opened Executive Building. (Tube City Almanac photo)
The sundaes, cupcakes, parfaits and birthday cakes at Bleuu Candles look good enough to eat — but you’d probably just better sniff them instead.
Everything — including the icing, the sprinkles and the cherries on top — are made of wax. Proprietor Sheree Kegley taught herself to make and decorate scented candles, in varieties such as tropical fruit, cinnamon, birthday cake, chocolate and peach, as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
“It was COVID-borne,” she says. “I lost both of my jobs during COVID, so I taught myself. I’ve been making candles for about a year now.”
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September 14, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A city woman was found dead Monday morning outside her home on 25th Avenue in Christy Park.
Karli Short, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said. Her father told Pittsburgh’s WTAE-TV his daughter was five months pregnant at the time of her death.
“The pain that I feel is indescribable,” said Brandon Short, a McKeesport native, Penn State University trustee and former All-American linebacker. “A parent shouldn’t lose a child. That’s not the way that the world is supposed to work.”
In a prepared statement, Allegheny County police said first responders were dispatched to the home when a caller to 9-1-1 reported a woman was “down.” They arrived to find Short suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Short’s body was found at the rear of the home, the medical examiner’s office said.
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September 13, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
The organizers of a North Versailles Twp. hayride announced Monday they are committed to continuing the event following a shooting on Saturday in which one teen-ager was killed and another one seriously wounded.
In a statement released via social media, Haunted Hills Hayride said “our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims associated with the senseless act of violence that occurred at our facility.”
According to Allegheny County police, a teen-ager from Penn Hills who was attempting to intervene in an altercation near the event’s ticket booth was shot and killed by another youth, who then fled the scene.
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September 13, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Updated with comment from Central Catholic High School.
The teen-ager who was shot and killed outside of a hayride in North Versailles Twp. on Saturday night was trying to intervene in an argument, Allegheny County police said.
Now, homicide detectives are asking for the public’s help to identify the person responsible for the death of Steven Eason, 15, of Wilmerding, and who injured another teen-ager from Penn Hills whose name has not been released by police.
Meanwhile, East Allegheny School District is offering grief counseling to students who may have been present at Haunted Hills Hayride on Saturday night, or who may have known one of the two victims.
As many as 100 people may have been present at the time of the shooting, police said, which took place near a ticket booth, according to witnesses.
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September 12, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Wilmerding teen-ager died, and another youth is in critical condition, following a shooting outside of a North Versailles Twp. attraction on Saturday night.
Steven Eason, 15, was pronounced dead at a hospital emergency room at 8:49 p.m., the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. His assailant is still at large, Allegheny County police said.
Few details were available, but witnesses said the shooting happened just after 8 p.m. near the ticket booth at Haunted Hills Hayride on Route 48. They described the aftermath as chaotic.
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September 10, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Traffic restrictions are possible next week while crews do survey work on Route 837 between Clairton and Dravosburg.
A spokesman for the state Department of Transportation said workers from JMT Inc. and Monaloh Basin Engineering will be marking utlities and surveying the road between New England Road and Lebanon School Road, beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, weather permitting.
Lane restrictions will occur in various locations from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays through Sept. 20, the PennDOT spokesman said.
Flaggers will assist motorists through the work zone.
September 10, 2021 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
East Allegheny High School band members Sophia Scuilli, Jacob Ankney, Wayne Burnam, Daniel Cipcic and Austin Phelan turn up the brass. (Kristen Keleschenyi photo for Tube City Almanac)
The theme of this year’s show for the East Allegheny High School marching band is love. “Love is the Answer” had a sneak preview for friends and family at Churchman Stadium on Aug. 28 and debuted to the public at Sept. 4’s football game at Serra Catholic High School.
The three songs featured include “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “After The Love Has Gone.” The show’s message is something band director Justin Rosco says wasn’t an accident.
“We wanted something positive and fun,” he says.
This year’s band is one of the smallest Rosco has worked with during his career at EA, with just 40 members, 12 of whom are in the color guard.
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