March 16, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Kane Karsteter-McKernan, administrative professional with UPMC Health Plan, and Michele Dudek, nurse coordinator for employee health at UPMC McKeesport, prepare to check in someone arriving for a COVID-19 vaccination. (Tube City Almanac photo)
Simeania Young of Braddock was in a good mood Tuesday morning after receiving her first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at UPMC McKeesport hospital.
Young, 49, said she spent last year urging her two grown children to be careful, and asking people not to visit. “I was scared to death,” she said yesterday, as she waited a mandatory 15 minutes to ensure there were no complications. “Some people are still not taking it seriously. Especially if they didn’t get sick, they didn’t think it was a big deal.”
Now that she’s on the road to vaccination? “I feel like I can plan a summer vacation this year,” Young said.
She was one of 400 people who were part of a mass vaccination event Tuesday at the Mansfield Building’s Ahmad Conference Center. They will have to return in 28 days for a second dose.
Read More
March 16, 2021 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
Nearly 80 East Allegheny School District teachers and support employees are on schedule to be vaccinated against COVID-19, Superintendent Alan Johnson told the school board this week.
A clinic was set up at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit offices at the Waterfront in Homestead, and distribution of the one dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine began on March 11, he said. The focus for the first round has been on vaccinating elementary school staff, Johnson said.
“Just to give you an idea of the demand for this, there were a total of 7,400 doses allocated to Allegheny County for educators and there were 18,000 requests for the vaccine,” he said. “So obviously demand exceeded supply.”
Read More
March 16, 2021 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses in Allegheny County hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for grants of up to $50,000 to help offset their losses.
The COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program began accepting applications on Monday at the county’s website.
“The hospitality industry is that sector of our economy which has probably been hardest hit by the pandemic,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “Thanks to the efforts by the state legislature to provide this funding, we will be able to provide financial grants to small businesses in the county with operations most impacted by COVID-19.”
Read More
March 15, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Announcements
Financial assistance is now available to help Allegheny County residents struggling to pay rent or utilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Allegheny County Emergency Rental Assistance program has a total of $79.9 million to distribute to eligible county residents. Of that funding, $43 million came from Act 1 of 2021, which state Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law last month.
Applications can be submitted online through Allegheny County’s website at covidrentrelief.alleghenycounty.us, or at www.compass.state.pa.us.
Read More
March 15, 2021 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The Allegheny County fire marshal is investigating the cause of a blaze Monday morning that displaced three people from their home in the Grandview section of the city.
McKeesport fire Capt. Jim Shields said firefighters were dispatched at 11:26 a.m. when a caller to 9-1-1 reported a house fire at 1801 Abraham St.
When crews arrived, flames were visible at the rear of the two-story, wood-frame house, and a second alarm was dispatched. No one was home at the time of the fire, Shields said.
Read More
March 11, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
A year after the COVID-19 pandemic hit Pennsylvania, White Oak is preparing to reopen its municipal building to the public with limited hours.
At Monday’s council workshop, Borough Manager John Palyo announced that the office is getting ready to welcome the public again in the spring.
“I know we’re all eager to return to some sense of normalcy,” Palyo said. “We’ll have limited hours at the borough building. The Norwin Aqua Club also wants to use Heritage Hill Pool for a nominal fee, as they have in the past.”
Read More
March 09, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
The City of McKeesport and the American Civil Liberties Union have reached an agreement that settles a lawsuit brought by four residents after the January council meeting was closed to the public.
Under a consent order approved Tuesday by Allegheny County Judge John T. McVay Jr., the city will provide “meaningful public access” including live-streaming audio or audio and video of proceedings; will permit the public to submit comments in writing as well as audio, video or both; and will permanently preserve those comments in the public record.
Although both sides said they were satisfied with the arrangement, each also accused the other of playing politics.
“Today’s settlement is a total win for government transparency and democracy,” said Reggie Shuford, executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of city residents Fawn Walker-Montgomery, Courtney Thompkins, Tracey Jordan and Janina Riley.
Read More
March 09, 2021 |
By Sarah Turnbull | Posted in: White Oak News
Protestors lined Lincoln Way in front of the White Oak municipal building March 5 to draw attention to the borough’s feral cat ordinance. (Amanda Coats photo via Facebook)
After 20 years of rescuing dogs and cats, Amanda Coats’ passion for animals remains strong. Over the last 10 years, Coats has trapped, neutered and returned 1,000 cats in the Mon Valley.
As a trap, neuter, return volunteer, Coats, of Murrysville, works with community cats and their caretakers to keep the animals healthy, along with educating citizens and legislators on how to best care for homeless cats.
“Cats can be in suburbia, farms, on the streets … really anywhere humans are,” Coats said. “And they can have up to four litters a year. One colony can have anywhere from five to 50 cats.”
In December, White Oak council passed an ordinance making it unlawful to continue feeding feral cats if it causes a nuisance to neighbors, prompting a protest from 25 animal lovers outside the borough building on March 6.
Read More
March 05, 2021 |
By Siana Emery | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Tiffany Wampler’s children are some of many in the McKeesport Area School District attending school virtually. Their father is considered high-risk for COVID-19, so attending school in person is not an option. However, they’re struggling with the district's online learning platform.
At February’s school board meeting, Wampler told directors about her eldest daughter, an eighth-grader at Founders Hall Middle School. Prior to virtual learning, she was an NHS student with consistently high grades. However, she has been struggling with the online program, and her grades have dropped significantly.
“I get letters from the school stating my children are possibly failing, which I don’t even understand because they sit in front of me from 8 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon,” Wampler told the school board. “This program is not working.”
Read More
March 04, 2021 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
An Allegheny County judge on Wednesday directed McKeesport officials to find a way to allow the public to fully participate in city council meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a hearing held over video-conferencing, Judge Jack McVay Jr. ordered the city to postpone the council meeting scheduled for that evening, and present him with a plan to prevent future violations of the state’s Open Meetings Law.
“You can have a meeting as soon as you implement what was proposed,” McVay said.
On Tuesday, four residents, including former councilwoman Fawn Walker Montgomery, sought an emergency injunction against the city for its plans to close Wednesday’s meeting to the public, and filed a lawsuit accusing the city of violating the Open Meetings Law as well as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Read More
