February 15, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Commentary-Editorial, Podcast
On our podcast, "Two Rivers, 30 Minutes," we recently talked about gun violence --- especially the emotional impact it has had on the Mon-Yough area --- and asked if there's anything we can do about it.
In 2017, there were 109 homicides in 2017. Nearly three dozen of them were in the Mon Valley in communities such as McKeesport, Swissvale and Turtle Creek, but practically no community of any size was unscathed --- and virtually all of the homicides were the result of shootings.
Our guests were Vanessa Mayers-Snyder, a community engagement & mediation specialist for the Center for Victims, and Shira Goodman, executive director of CeaseFire PA.
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February 12, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Homestead Borough will receive $100,000 toward creation of a one-mile-long trail and bike park that will provide a direct connection between the Eighth Avenue business district and the Great Allegheny Passage bicycle trail.
The grant was one of 45 projects in 22 counties --- totalling $41.5 million --- funded last week through grants from the state Department of Transportation's Multimodal Transportation Fund.
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February 12, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport officials are thankful to unionized police and public works employees for helping the city contain personnel costs --- especially when it comes to health insurance.
Council last week unanimously approved new three-year labor agreements with both bargaining units, who are represented by Teamsters Local 205 in White Oak.
The contracts provide unionized police officers with wage increases of 4 percent in the first year and 3 percent in the second and third years; and public works employees with a wage increase of 2.5 percent in the first year and 1.5 percent in the second year, McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko said.
Among other concessions, police officers will pay a deductible on their health insurance for the first time, while public works employees are accepting a wage freeze in the third year, Cherepko said.
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February 12, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
(Submitted photo courtesy Heartland Hospice)
Heartland Hospice is seeking volunteers with the compassion to offer a smile, an ear and a warm heart to patients and their families, says Patrick Fisher, volunteer coordinator in the Irwin office.
The service covers the Mon Valley, Westmoreland, Washington and Allegheny counties, as well as part of Armstrong County, he says.
Volunteers are needed to visit with patients who have serious and terminal illnesses, so that staff can help assist their families in need, Fisher says.
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February 12, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements, Duquesne News, White Oak News
(Submitted photo courtesy The Crew Missions)
The Crew Missions is looking for volunteers --- including individuals, groups, churches, nonprofit organizations and clubs --- to help local residents in need.
The Clairton-based charity completes household maintenance projects for elderly and disabled residents in the Clairton, Duquesne, Glassport, McKeesport, Pleasant Hills, West Mifflin and White Oak areas.
Since 2013, a spokesperson said, The Crew Missions has helped 79 homeowners.
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February 09, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News
An unidentified 20-year-old man is in critical but stable condition at a hospital after a shooting Thursday night in West Mifflin.
Allegheny County police Lt. Andrew Schurman said in a prepared release that the victim was shot in the 4700 block of Coal Road, near the Munhall border. The incident happened at about 8 p.m.
The county police homicide unit is investigating. No further information was released by police.
February 09, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A former McKeesport man accused of selling the heroin that killed a woman in 2016 has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Henry T. "Bundles" Little-Proctor, 27, pleaded guilty to five counts of violating federal narcotics and firearms laws and was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Cathy Bisson in Pittsburgh.
U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said Little-Proctor distributed both heroin and fentanyl, a highly potent painkiller up to 75 more times than morphine, between 2015 and July 2016.
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February 08, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Crime and Police News, Duquesne News
A $1,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of suspects in connection with the shooting of two people on Jan. 21 in Duquesne.
Police said the victims --- two men and a woman --- had left a private social club in the early hours of the morning and were parked in the 1000 block of Lincoln Avenue.
At approximately 4 a.m., a silver car pulled alongside their vehicle and someone began shooting into their car, police said.
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February 08, 2018 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Commentary-Editorial
Opinions expressed in editorials and commentaries are those of their authors, and are not those of Tube City Community Media Inc., its board of directors, volunteers, contributors or donors. Responsible replies are welcome.
Jacqueline Edmondson is chancellor and chief academic officer of Penn State Greater Allegheny.
“McKeesport Rising” is an ambitious project intended to address urban blight, joblessness, and morale in the city. Announced by Mayor Michael Cherepko in January 2018, this project invests in the city and will transform the landscape and opportunities for citizens in the region.
Similar efforts are underway in Braddock, Duquesne, and other Mon Valley communities. Penn State Greater Allegheny is playing a role in these important efforts by leveraging an Invent Penn State grant to address the educational and economic needs of the region.
Penn State Greater Allegheny is proud of its roots in McKeesport. The campus began in the 1930s as a center to develop workforce and labor education in the region.
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February 08, 2018 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: History
I recently stumbled across an October 1949 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story about McKeesport, which includes this photo of two women standing at the intersection of Locust Street and Lysle Boulevard.
Except the street signs still bore the name "Jerome Boulevard," years after the street was renamed for Mayor George H. Lysle, who died in 1947.
"Street signs show a resistance to change," the caption says. What? Say it ain't so!
