November 26, 2020 |
By Kristen Keleschenyi | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
Ma's Pantry volunteers Louise Beswick, Catie Sickler and Edward Sites, president, helped distribute the boxes of non-perishable food items part of the East Allegheny Gobble Giveaway. (Kristen Keleschenyi photo for Tube City Almanac)
East Allegheny School District collaborated with numerous community organizations to provide food, flu shots, clothing and school supplies to hundreds of local families at a Gobble Giving event held at the junior-senior high school on Monday.
Organizations on hand included the Allegheny County Health Department, Communities in Schools, Ma’s Pantry, Duquesne University School of Pharmacy, Turtle Creek Community Services, Auberle, and Nutrition Inc. Seventy percent of students that attend East Allegheny schools qualify for free or reduced lunches.
“There is a high level of food insecurity in the Mon Valley,” says Melanie Readal, public health administrator for the Allegheny County Health Department, “that's why a lot of times when we do events where we do work with our community partners and municipalities that we encourage food distribution just to make sure that we're decreasing the stigma around food insecurity.”
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November 26, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko is hopeful that an “amicable solution” can be reached that prevents the city’s 75-year-old LaRosa Boys & Girls Club from closing.
Meanwhile, state corporation records hint that a new organization is being formed to help sustain the club.
On his Facebook page, Cherepko said that on Tuesday, along with State Sen. Jim Brewster and State Rep. Austin Davis, he had a video conference call with leaders of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania to discuss the future of the LaRosa Boys & Girls Club on Ravine Street.
“I am very pleased with the meeting and wholeheartedly believe we will be able to reach an amicable solution that will allow us to serve our community in one way or another at the club’s current location,” Cherepko said.
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November 25, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Letters to the Editor
Donna Strangis Dowd writes about the announcement that the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania intends to close the LaRosa of McKeesport Clubhouse:
I was greatly dismayed upon reading about the recent closure of the LaRosa Boys & Girls Club by Lisa Abel-Palmieri, chief executive officer.
There have been several attempts over the past two years to work with her to ensure the continued success of the club that Mr. Sam LaRosa created — literally from the ground up — 75 years ago. All of the efforts of the board and directors have fallen on deaf ears.
The club was not running at a deficit — it had a waiting list of children to take advantage of the programs and activities that were being offered by the club. So I have to ask, what is the true meaning behind the closure of a club that has a rich, storied 75-year past in the McKeesport community?
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November 24, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Politics & Elections
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld Allegheny County’s decision to count absentee and mail-in ballots that were signed, but not dated.
The 4-3 decision Monday affects ballots in both Allegheny and Philadelphia counties — and is crucial in the 45th Senatorial District race between state Sen. Jim Brewster, McKeesport Democrat, and challenger Nicole Ziccarelli, Lower Burrell Republican.
Brewster and Ziccarelli were tied last week as Westmoreland County officials continued to review disputed ballots. On Monday, after additional ballots were reviewed, accepted and counted in Westmoreland, Ziccarelli moved into a 4-vote lead out of 131,968 votes cast, according to reports posted on the county’s website.
If Allegheny County now counts and certifies its remaining 2,349 ballots, Brewster would move into a 96-vote lead, according to public figures available on the election board’s website.
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November 23, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church is taking orders now for a fish fry Dec. 4.
Spokeswoman Dorothy Ikach said all orders must be placed in advance. The deadline is Wednesday (Nov. 25). No sales will be made on the day of the event.
The fish fry comes on the heels of the church’s recent “Small Taste of Serbia” takeout event, Ikach said.
The menu includes hand-breaded haddock on a hard roll. A la carte items include halushki (sauteed cabbage and noodles), Spanish rice, French fries, sauerkraut and bean soup, apple strudel, and palachinke (cheese filled crepes).
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November 23, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
UPDATE: On Monday, Carnegie Library of McKeesport announced that no computer use will be permitted.
(Submitted photo via Facebook)
Carnegie Library of McKeesport is temporarily limiting some in-person services due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Allegheny County.
Beginning this week and continuing for at least two weeks, no browsing or in-person programming will be permitted inside the library or the White Oak branch, said Vincent D’Alesio, acting director.
The temporary restrictions are designed to comply with the Allegheny County Health Department’s “stay-at-home” advisory.
“This service model will be reviewed for changes in two weeks,” D’Alesio said. “We apologize for any inconvenience.”
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November 22, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
State Rep. Austin Davis greets a visitor during Saturday’s event. (Submitted photo)
Eight hundred Mon Valley families received free Thanksgiving turkeys and ingredients for side dishes during a giveway Saturday morning at McKeesport Area High School.
The giveaway was held as a drive-through event to ensure social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. McKeesport police helped direct traffic as cars waited along Eden Park Blvd.
The giveaway was arranged by Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and state Rep. Austin Davis of McKeesport. Volunteers loaded boxes into the back seats and trunks of cars “bucket-brigade” style in the parking lot of Tiger Stadium.
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November 20, 2020 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport’s Boys & Girls Club bears the names of both founder Sam LaRosa and benefactor Walter C. Shaw Sr. (Tube City Almanac photo)
The grandson of the founder of the LaRosa Boys & Girls Club is surprised and disappointed by the parent organization’s decision to close the 75-year-old institution on Ravine Street.
Don Michel of Cranberry Twp., whose grandfather, the late Samuel R. LaRosa, founded the club in 1945, served on the board of directors of Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania for more than 10 years, until July 1.
Michel, who had also served as vice chair of the board for the past five years, said the relationship between the Pittsburgh-based parent organization and the suburban clubhouses has been deteriorating.
“What I see is a shift away from operating brick and mortar facilities that carry high levels of overhead, and trying to shift to operating in somebody else’s facilities,” Michel said Friday. “So we’re no longer a safe place for kids to gather. We’re a provider of programming.”
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November 20, 2020 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, White Oak News
Bella, 8, canine companion of Autumn and Dan Dougherty, models a sweater for tomorrow’s “Fido Walk.” (Submitted photo)
White Oak Rotary Club will host a “fido walk” at 10 a.m. Saturday to raise money for the White Oak Safe Animal Haven.
Rotary member Dan Dougherty said the fundraiser is designed to replace the “Fido Ball” gala usually held in November.
“With COVID-19, that naturally couldn’t happen, so we came up with the idea of a 5K to replace it this year, and call it the Fido Walk,” Dougherty said. “Folks are invited to bring their dogs to walk with them if they’d like, as long as they’re under control and cleaned up after.”
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November 20, 2020 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A McKeesport woman and her two children escaped serious injury after a teen-ager shot at their car on Market Street, city police said.
The suspect, Michael Singleton, 18, of McKeesport, thought he was shooting at one of his rivals, according to a police report.
Singleton is suspected of being in a street gang, police said. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond pending formal arraignment Jan. 8 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
According to a report, the victim stopped for a stop sign at the intersection of Market Street and 13th Avenue at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 25 when she heard gun shots, and the back window of her car shattered.
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