December 29, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: White Oak News
White Oak council has passed the borough's 2018 budget with no tax increase --- but with the caveat that it may re-open the spending plan next month.
And they did so without Council President Ron Massung, who resigned from borough council after 26 years.
At a special meeting Thursday, council voted 6-0 to accept the $5.4 million budget, which fixes real estate taxes at 6.66 mills. Borough Manager John Palyo said the total spending plan is roughly the same as the 2017 budget.
But, Palyo said, with new council members being seated on Jan. 2, they may exercise their prerogative to re-open the budget. Under the state's borough code, they would have until Feb. 15 to do so.
"Being a reorganization year, the new council is going to want to look at everything that has been proposed," Palyo said.
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December 28, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: Announcements
The developer of a proposed luxury hotel in the former Westinghouse Air Brake Co. "castle" in Wilmerding will receive $1 million in state assistance toward the rehabilitation of the site.
The grant, from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, was announced Thursday by state Sens. Jim Brewster of McKeesport and Joe Markosek of Monroeville.
“The repurposing of the Westinghouse Castle is a signature project that will generate local economic activity and create jobs," Brewster said in a prepared statement.
Empty since 2009, the so-called "castle" on a clearing near the corner of Marguerite Avenue and Bluff Street was built in 1896 on the site of the previous WABCO offices, which were destroyed by fire.
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December 28, 2017 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Allegheny County Health Department has issued a warning to residents of the Wilmerding area after a cat suffering from rabies was found in the 400 block of Orient Avenue.
“We strongly urge all residents to avoid any kind of contact with a wild or stray animal, particularly those in Wilmerding, where the rabid cat was found,” Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the health department, said in a statement. “If any animal appears to be acting strange or becomes threatening, residents should notify their local animal control service, the police or the Pennsylvania Game Commission immediately.”
A woman who was scratched by the cat has been referred for treatment, Hacker said. The cat also was exposed to other animals, including pets, in the Wilmerding area.
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December 28, 2017 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: White Oak News
(This story will be updated as additional information becomes available.)
Two people are dead following a house fire in the 3000 block of State Street in White Oak.
Matt Brown, chief of emergency services for Allegheny County, said the fire was reported at 3:44 a.m. Thursday. Upon arrival less than five minutes later, White Oak police and firefighters found the house fully engulfed by flame, Brown said.
Firefighters entered the house and found two people dead on the first floor, Brown said. Their names have not yet been released pending notification of next of kin, he said.
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December 23, 2017 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Duquesne News
(Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
A Duquesne-based company that bills itself as one of the largest manufacturers of pillows and bedding accessories in the United States will receive a grant that could clear the way for future expansion, according to a state senator.
State Sen. Jim Brewster said American Textile Co. is receiving a $1.5 million grant to allow it to remediate part of the former U.S. Steel Duquesne Works, where its headquarters and a factory that employs more than 200 people is located.
Both part of the existing factory space as well as part of the neighboring property will be cleaned and cleared of contamination left over from steelmaking operations, Brewster said in a prepared statement.
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December 22, 2017 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
Two people, including a teen-ager charged as an adult, face preliminary hearings next week on charges they shot at a security guard at a McKeesport apartment complex.
Dailan Smith, 26, of McKeesport and Jahi Rox, 17, of Duquesne are each charged by McKeesport police with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment. Both also face additional charges.
They are being held in the Allegheny County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bond.
McKeesport police said a security guard was on duty at Hi-View Gardens on Dec. 6 when a car slowly approached him from the 700 block of Sixth Avenue just before 9 p.m. Police said the car stopped and someone inside the vehicle yelled, "I'll smoke you (expletive)" and began shooting.
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December 21, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Above: McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, Big's Sanitation president Joe Eori Jr., and Matt Gergely, assistant to the business manager at McKeesport Area School District, load Christmas hams for delivery to local families on Wednesday. Photo special to Tube City Almanac)
More than two dozen McKeesport families received surprise gifts of Christmas hams on Thursday thanks to a gift from a Rostraver Twp. business.
Joe Eori Jr., president of Big's Sanitation, donated the 28 hams "because I just wanted to give something back," he said.
"My dad was born and raised here and graduated from McKeesport High School," he said. "All of my relatives are from around here. If you have the means to give something back, then everybody should do so."
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December 21, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Above: Members of the Mon Yough Chorale perform during a holiday concert Sunday at Sampson's Mills Presbyterian Church in White Oak. Photos special to Tube City Almanac.)
In the 19th and early 20th century, singing for fun and public entertainment was a common American pastime.
Companies and ethnic clubs like McKeesport's Swedish Singing Society and the Turners (originally known as the Turn und Gesangverein --- the "Gymnastics and Singing Union") sponsored choruses, concerts and even competitions.
Over the years, public singing faded away, and so did most of the community singing groups. But in McKeesport, the Mon Yough Chorale keeps the tradition alive.
The chorale --- now comprised of 35 to 40 volunteer performers under the direction of Ben Filippone --- recently completed a busy December schedule with a concert this past Sunday at Sampson's Mills Presbyterian Church.
Portions of that concert will be broadcast at 8 a.m. Dec. 24 on WEDO (810) and WZUM (1550/101.1), and the full concert will be broadcast at 3 p.m. Dec. 24 on Internet station WMCK.FM.
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December 21, 2017 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Members of the "Mad Hatters," a group of knitting enthusiasts that meets at Carnegie Library of McKeesport, visited the city's Kane Regional Center on Monday to share more than 100 pairs of handmade leg warmers with residents.
The group also read a holiday story to residents and served refreshments.
The hatters meet Thursdays and took their name from the hats they knit for chemotherapy patients who have lost their hair.
For more information about the group, call (412) 672-0625.
(Submitted photos: Mary Rose Bendel, Carnegie Library of McKeesport)
December 20, 2017 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport City Council has extended its contract with Big's Sanitation through the end of 2018.
But Mayor Michael Cherepko said that his administration is exploring whether the city should purchase its own trash trucks and perform the work with its own employees.
"We've talked about it before, and I think we will finally be in a position to do that in 2019," he said.
McKeesport has used private contractors for trash collection since at least the early 1980s. Big's, located in Rostraver Twp., Westmoreland County, has been collecting the city's trash and recycling since January 2015, and also holds refuse collection contracts in neighboring Port Vue, White Oak and North Versailles Twp.
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