June 24, 2024 |
By T.J. Martin | Posted in: North Versailles Twp. News
East Allegheny School Board has adopted a final 2024-25 school year budget which includes the first real estate tax increase in the district in more than a decade.
The increase, however, is slightly smaller than that in the preliminary budget approved last month and unlike that budget, the final budget doesn’t add to the district’s overall budget deficit of more than $5 million.
The final budget has $46.24 million in both revenues and expenditures, according to Director of Fiscal Services Toni Valicenti. The budget was approved 8-0 with board member Macey Kinard absent.
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June 24, 2024 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Amber Webb and her daughter pose with Vincent D’Alesio on his final day with the library and say their goodbyes. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
After nine years of service to Carnegie Library of McKeesport, staff and parents have bid farewell to the man who younger patrons knew as “Mr. Vince.”
Vincent D’Alesio was hired in 2015 by the Carnegie Free Library of McKeesport to fill the role of children's librarian, and in 2021 he was promoted to library director.
After approximately nine years of dedicated service to the library, local schools and communities served by the library, D’Alesio has begun a new community outreach position at the Mars Area Public Library, where he will provide literacy activities for all age groups and do some grant-writing.
Saturday was his final day of work at the McKeesport library.
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June 20, 2024 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: Announcements
A smoggy haze covered McKeesport after wildfires swept parts of Canada, spreading smoke over much of the northeast United States. A climate scientist said freak weather events such as forest fires, severe thunderstorms and heat waves are becoming more common in Pennsylvania due to climate change. (Tube City Almanac file photo)
Summer officially arrives today, and a climate scientist is warning that future heat waves in Pennsylvania will be longer and hotter than the current one affecting much of the Mid-Atlantic region.
The National Weather Service in Moon Twp. has issued an excessive heat watch for Pennsylvania, including parts of east-central Ohio and the northern panhandle of West Virginia, through Saturday. The heat index is expected to reach 100 to 104 degrees every day this week.
Fiona Lo, climate scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund, said climate change has increased and will continue to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including heat waves in Pennsylvania.
“In the future, we’ll expect heat waves will likely be hotter, last longer and occur more often. And this will happen in Pennsylvania and all over the U.S. and likely over the globe,” Lo said. “This summer is predicted to be warmer than normal for Pennsylvania, and this is due to the shifting weather patterns from climate change.”
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June 19, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Source: National Weather Service)
Related: Record-breaking heat bakes Mon-Yough area; cooling centers opened
Temperatures above 90 degrees pose unique health risks because they’re so close to our core body temperatures of 98 to 99 degrees, a local doctor said.
“Heat transfer from your body surface to the environment becomes less efficient the closer the ambient temperature is to core body temperature,” said Dr. Thomas Kessler, a family medicine specialist in Trafford and Irwin who also practices at UPMC East in Monroeville.
“Humidity is also is an important factor,” Kessler said. “Sweat helps us regulate body temperature via evaporation. If humidity is too high, producing sweat becomes more difficult. As an analogy, you can't be cooled off by sweat if you're submerged in a swimming pool, because your sweat won't evaporate. The combination of high heat and humidity can be very dangerous.”
The mid-Atlantic is currently trapped under a so-called “heat dome” that’s roughly centered over Ohio and Pennsylvania, but which extends from Michigan to New York.
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June 19, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
(Tube City Almanac photo)
Related: Local doctor offers tips for staying healthy in extreme heat
The last time the Mon-Yough area had a stretch of heat like this was ... never.
Nevermind (if you can) the high temperatures near 100 degrees every day this week. The National Weather Service in Moon Twp. said Tuesday that low temperatures are expected to remain above 70 degrees through Sunday.
NWS forecasters said that in 154 years of record-keeping, Pittsburgh has never had a six-day or more stretch of low temperatures above 70 in the month of June. The last time it happened at all was in July 2011.
An excessive heat warning is in effect for the entire region through 8 p.m. Saturday. In a prepared statement, the NWS said “prolonged dangerous hot conditions” are likely, with heat indexes — the way the temperature feels, when combined with humidity — ranging from 105 to 110 degrees each day.
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June 19, 2024 |
By Submitted Report | Posted in: Announcements
Traffic will be restricted on Route 48 in Boston this week as crews begin work to replace a wall.
A single, alternating lane of traffic will be maintained as crews work in the area between West Smithfield Street and Finney Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday, a district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation said. Crews from A. Liberoni, Inc will conduct the work.
Additional work will begin June 24 to replace a deteriorated block wall in the area. More information will be provided before that roadway closure begins.
June 18, 2024 |
By Tom Leturgey | Posted in: Duquesne News
State Rep. Nick Pisciottano, Duquesne Councilwoman Elaine Washington, Duquesne Mayor R. Scott Adams, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission Chair Hayley Haldeman and Allegheny County Councilman Bob Macey celebrate the unveiling of a historical plaque for jazz musician Earl “Fatha” Hines. (Tom Leturgey photo for Tube City Almanac)
A recording of Earl “Fatha” Hines’s music filled the air outside his childhood home on Tuesday morning as crowds gathered to pay tribute to one of Duquesne’s favorite sons.
At a ceremony in the 600 block of Priscilla Street, local elected officials, historians and jazz fans unveiled a historical marker commemorating the life of a musician and bandleader considered one of the most influential figures in the history of American jazz.
Promising to keep the program tight and quick to avoid impending 90-degree summer heat, Duquesne Councilwoman Elaine Washington, who also serves as President of the Phyllis Wheatley Literary Society, recognized dignitaries, such as Duquesne Mayor R. Scott Adams, county Councilman Bob Macey, state Rep. Nick Pisciottano and Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission Chair Hayley Haldeman.
Macey presented a proclamation from Allegheny County Council and Pisciottano joked that “Fatha” was the “second most famous ‘Hines’ from Pittsburgh.”
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June 18, 2024 |
By Jason Togyer | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
Only rubble remains of a vacant house on Federal Street destroyed in a suspicious fire early Sunday morning. Two neighboring abandoned houses also were destroyed and a neighboring apartment building and garage sustained damage. (Tube City Almanac photo)
The owner of a Jenny Lind Street apartment building damaged in a fire early Sunday morning said the blaze is a temporary setback.
“I’m trying to stay optimistic,” said Ahmad Francis, who also owns city-based Francis Masonry & Construction. “My wife and I were already planning to renovate it. We just have to do a little bit more, that’s all.”
Three vacant homes near the corner of Federal Street and Jenny Lind Street were destroyed early Sunday in a blaze that emergency personnel characterized as suspicious.
The Allegheny County fire marshal’s office is investigating and has not yet determined a cause, a spokeswoman said.
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June 15, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: White Oak News
Wesley Family Services, White Oak officials and East Allegheny’s soccer program will host a kickball game and cookout today (June 15) at White Oak Park and encourage an end to domestic violence.
The Father’s Day Pledge Kickball Cookout will begin at 11 a.m. at the Blue Spruce grove in White Oak Park.
Chris Goyke, head coach of the East Allegheny Middle School soccer team, is scheduled to speak, along with White Oak Mayor Ina Jean Marton.
• Listen: Ryan Conley and Marla Jones of Wesley Family Services were guests this week on our podcast, heard Sunday mornings on WEDO (810) and WZUM (101.1/1550)
The event is part of the national “No More” movement, which promotes awareness and prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault. A spokeswoman said Wesley Family Services is a local ally in a national network of many municipalities, corporations and communities promoting accountability and community involvement to reduce and eliminate domestic abuse.
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June 13, 2024 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News
A Duquesne man was pronounced dead following an incident at a tavern on Eden Park Boulevard in McKeesport.
The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said Bryant Boyd, 64, was pronounced dead just before 1 a.m. today (June 13) outside of Cal’s Cantina.
In a statement, Allegheny County police said emergency dispatchers received a report of the shooting at 12:40 a.m. and found the victim, later identified as Boyd, dead at the scene. Homicide detectives are investigating.
Anyone with information concerning the incident is asked to call the county police tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
