Some of the Tiger Band musicians prepare to step off during a short break from intermittent heavy rain during their annual camp. (Bonnijean Cooney Adams photo for Tube City Almanac)
If you go...
“SOLARbration!” parent and public preview night
Where: Weigle-Schaeffer Memorial Stadium At McKeesport Area High School
A giant sun prop stage in the middle of the field will be featured when McKeesport Area High School Marching Band kicks off its 2021 season with a return to competitions, festivals, and home and away football game performances.
“We wanted it to be exciting, festive, happy, a celebration of life,” band director Drew DeCarlo said of the “SOLARbration!” theme.
Band booster Mark St. Clair designed the sun prop, with painting by Anna Chapell.
A trailer for the show in May on the band’s YouTube site showcased how different cultures throughout history have celebrated the sun. “After last year (with COVID-related performance restrictions and other difficulties), we wanted something very different,” DeCarlo said. “There is a lot of percussion, even a rainforest-like sound.”
The Casturo family has been awarding scholarships at International Village for three decades — and didn’t want to break the streak just because there was no event last year.
Usually, two scholarships are announced on the last night of the event, Tracy Casturo said.
This year, despite a severe thunderstorm on Thursday night that forced entertainment at Renziehausen Park to end early, four winners of Casturo Family Educational Achievement Awards were announced from the main stage.
Two scholarships were awarded for 2021 and two for 2020, Casturo said Friday. “We have been doing this for 29 years and didn’t want to skip it” for 2020, she said.
The Rankin Junior Tamburitzans practiced for months for their day on stage. The group performed Wednesday night. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
Despite intermittent rainy weather and hot, humid days, many residents from McKeesport and surrounding areas came out to Renziehausen Park to enjoy different nationality foods along with entertainment.
Held Tuesday through Thursday, the three-day celebration of ethnic heritage was welcomed after last year’s cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Susan Skvarla of Irwin, who attended along with her husband, Skip, said their favorite foods are halushki, pierogies and stuffed cabbages. Skvarla said she hadn’t been to International Village for years because it fell on days when she was vacationing.
“A friend mentioned International Village was happening so Skip and I wanted to have the experience this year,” she said.
Despite three recently repaired holes in Rebecca Street and shiny new bolts on this fire hydrant near McKeesport Auto Body — site of a massive fire on July 16 — officials of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County will not confirm or deny they have done any work in the area. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Almost a month after a massive fire destroyed a McKeesport car-repair shop, the water authority serving the city has lifted the final restrictions on drinking water in the area.
In giving five homeowners the “all clear” on Thursday to resume using their water, the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County also hinted that it will take legal action to recover what it called the “excessive” costs of dealing with the contamination of the water supply in parts of the lower 10th Ward.
But when pressed on who or what the authority wants to hold responsible, a spokesman refused to answer questions.
“I have told you all I have to say on this issue today,” Matt Junker, authority spokesman, told Tube City Almanac on Thursday afternoon.
Members of Rainbow Volunteer Fire Co. relax after a parade in Pitcairn in 2018. (Rainbow Volunteer Fire Co. via Facebook)
After 19 years as a firefighter, Brandon Schmidt knows how volunteering can strengthen the bonds between neighbors.
“My dad has been here for over 40 years. The satisfaction you gain can’t be put into words or a dollar value,” said Schmidt, chief of White Oak’s Rainbow Volunteer Fire Co.
One of two volunteer fire departments in the borough, Rainbow recently wrapped up its recruitment week.
Schmidt leads a team of 42 active volunteers from ages 19 to 89, along with eight to 10 associates. The volunteers handle everything from fighting fires to raising funds.
Some afternoon thunderstorms didn’t dampen enthusiasm on Tuesday as McKeesport residents celebrated the return of International Village following a one-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coverage of International Village by Tube City Online is being supported this year by donations from the public, as well as the following individuals and organizations:
Train rides, live music and a dip into the Heritage Hill Pool were all part of the fun at this year’s White Oak Community Day.
Held Saturday at Heritage Hill Park, featured vendors included Paint Parties & More, the White Oak Rotary Club, the Rainbow Volunteer Fire Co. and the FIRST Robotics team from McKeesport Area High School.
For Debbie Washowich, co-owner of Paint Parties & More, participating in community day was a natural fit.
A fire in a pile of construction debris on Thursday afternoon was likely started by a lit cigarette, McKeesport firefighters said.
Crews were dispatched to the 500 block of Fifth Avenue, Downtown, when callers reported that debris in a large metal dumpster was on fire.
The blaze was quickly extinguished. Firefighters and McKeesport police reviewed surveillance video and determined that a cigarette probably ignited construction material that had been discarded, said Gene Esken Jr., deputy fire chief.
Two city firefighters sustained burns battling what a McKeesport deputy fire chief called an “aggressive” and “very, very hot” blaze at a vacant home on Versailles Avenue.
McKeesport police and the Allegheny County fire marshal’s office are investigating the fire at 3004 Versailles Ave., which Gene Esken Jr., deputy fire chief, said is suspicious in nature.
“The home has been unoccupied for several years,” he said. “There is no gas service to the house and although the electric meter was attached, there was no one living in the house.”
About 80,000 workers have left the local labor force since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the area’s largest employers are finding it harder to fill vacancies.
According to a recent study by the Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh, employment in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area in May 2021 was only 93.5 percent of what it was in May 2019. Of major American metro areas, only Cleveland, Boston and Detroit saw larger declines.
Experts blame a variety of factors, including health care workers who are burned out after 18 months of the pandemic and a lack of college students in the local job-training pipeline.
The problem in Pittsburgh is aggravated by two factors — a high percentage of older workers who were already near retirement age, and a stagnant and declining population base.
“There is evidence nationally that older workers have disproportionately dropped out of the labor force due to COVID,” said Chris Briem, a regional economist at the University Center for Social and Urban Research at the University of Pittsburgh. “The Pittsburgh region has a relatively older workforce, so if older workers were more impacted by COVID, it would make sense we are seeing concentrated impacts here.”
