Filed Under: News || By Jason Togyer
Category: News || By Jason Togyer
The election for mayor of McKeesport is eight days away. Tube City Almanac asked Council President Michael Cherepko, the endorsed Democratic candidate, and City Controller Raymond Malinchak, an independent, to answer 12 questions about their plans for the city if they're elected next week.
In the interest of fairness, each candidate was asked the same questions, in the same order, and each was given 10 days to respond.
The questions cover topics believed to be of interest to McKeesport residents and property owners, including:
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
Ray Malinchak is an independent candidate for mayor of McKeesport in the Nov. 8 election. The city controller for eight years, Malinchak has also served on the McKeesport Area School Board, McKeesport Industrial Development Authority, and McKeesport Zoning Hearing Board.
He is a registered consulting engineer in the nuclear and power engineering industry with a masters degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and with the U.S. Army for two years in the Signal Corps as a cryptographic technician.
(To read Mike Cherepko's answers to the same questions, click here.)
. . .
1.) Almanac: If you were trying to convince someone to move to McKeesport --- either a family or a business --- what would you say?
Malinchak: McKeesport provides good access to Pittsburgh business and cultural districts, professional and collegiate sports facilities, shopping centers, universities, hospitals and the airport.
The MASD's $84 million building program has been progressing at a rapid rate. In the near future, MASD will have three of among the best, state-of-the-art elementary school buildings in the county. MASD administration has recognized the challenges in education --- performance, grades --- and is dedicated to making improvements.
The concentration of religious, medical, sports, shopping, educational, cultural, historical and recreational opportunities in the Renzie Park region and City are exceptional. Each opportunity offers an abundance of free or reasonable cost parking.
Residential housing and commercial building offer a wide price range and are relatively affordable with respect to other bedroom communities. The waterfront property is shovel-ready for development.
The short-term financial stability of the City is assured with a recent collection system sale for over $24 million. The City has about $19 million in cash reserve and has reduced its long term debt over $5 million.
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Category: News || By Jennifer Sopko
McKeesport Area School Board adjourned another regular meeting on Wednesday with an empty seat. And if residents file a petition asking a county judge to fill the vacant position left by former board president Wayne Washowich, the matter could end up in court.
On Wednesday, the eight remaining board members were divided 4-4 over a replacement for Washowich, who resigned from the board in September as he and his wife have moved to Elizabeth Township.
Nominated to fill the remaining two years of Washowich's term were Ivan Hampton, former dean of students at McKeesport Area High School, and Trisha Gadson, social worker and wife of high school basketball coach Corey Gadson.
School directors Christopher Halaszynski, Joseph Lopretto, Thomas Maglicco and Patricia Maksin voted for Hampton, while James Brown (by phone), Joseph Chiaverini, Mark Holtzman and Steven Kondrosky voted for Gadson*.
The board is also without a president since Washowich's resignation.
Solicitor George Matta said any resident of the school district could petition the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas for a hearing to appoint a new board member. The board would also have the option of calling a special meeting to vote on another candidate prior to a hearing on that petition, Matta said.
Residents can file a petition starting Monday, as the 30-day period following Washowich's resignation will have expired. Petition forms will be available at the MASD administration office.
The board also recognized its former president at Wednesday's meeting, presenting Washowich with a plaque commemorating his "selfless service to the students of McKeesport Area School District" during his 14 years as a member of the school board from 1998 to 2011.
Washowich, who served as president for seven of those years, thanked the board for the time he spent with them.
"We had a lot of fun, we had some difficulties throughout those years," Washowich said. "Our heart is in McKeesport and always will be."
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports
"Trick or treat" hours in the city and Dravosburg will be 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, McKeesport Police Chief Bryan Washowich announced.
In Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln, North Versailles, Port Vue, Versailles, West Mifflin and White Oak, trick-or-treat hours are 6 to 8 p.m. Monday.
. . .
Meanwhile, students at Penn State's McKeesport campus will hold a special Halloween event for local children in kindergarten through third grade.
From 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, members of the Student Government Association at Greater Allegheny Campus will host an alternative "trick or treat" in the Student Community Center, says Linda Curinga, campus spokeswoman. The event is designed so that students can collect treats in an indoor environment away from traffic and bad weather.
It's the fifth year that Penn State students have held the event. Students in all McKeesport Area School District elementary schools were sent home with flyers about the event, Curinga says. For questions about the event, contact the Student Affairs Office at (412) 675-9493.
. . .
'Carnegie' Ghost Screening: The Carnegie Library of Homestead is featuring a special screening of an episode of the "Ghost Hunters" TV show called "Ghost of Carnegie" this Saturday --- in the place where the "hauntings" depicted allegedly occurred.
The episode, which first aired on the SyFy Channel on Sept. 20, follows the TV show's crew as it explored the Carnegie Library and Music Hall in the middle of the night. They supposedly encountered "disembodied voices shouting frantically, doors mysteriously closing, books moving by themselves on the shelves and the voices of ladies giggling in the basement locker room long after everyone had gone home."
Two screenings will be offered Saturday, with a matinee for families at 4 p.m. and an "after dark" 7 p.m. show.
Special tours of the library basement, locker rooms, Music Hall and other sites of supposed "paranormal activity" will take place after the screenings. Cookies and refreshments for kids will be served, and wine and beer will be available for adults.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and will be available at the door. For more information, all (412) 462-3444 or visit the library's website.
. . .
Trick, not Treat: Traffic on the Boston Bridge will be restricted Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as work on the span continues, says a district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. Overnight closures originally planned for these nights are canceled, and the bridge will be open and unrestricted Thursday and Friday nights.
Daytime single lane alternating use traffic will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 31 through Nov. 4. No overnight closures are scheduled next week.
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Category: Commentary/Editorial || By Jason Togyer
Opinions expressed in today's Almanac are mine alone, and do not reflect the opinions of the directors of Tube City Community Media Inc. or any other person or organization.
. . .
After less than two months on McKeesport-licensed, White Oak-based WEDO (810), the daddio of the raddio is off the air again. The Post-Gazette reports that Porky Chedwick's weekly oldies show has been discontinued because it didn't have a sponsor.
"It wasn't a good situation," Chedwick told the newspaper's Adrian McCoy, adding that he was working "week to week" on a trial basis. "I don't want to broadcast under those conditions. I want to be off the air."
WEDO's general manager, John James, told the P-G that as a commercial station, WEDO needed "business or corporate sponsors" to keep the show going.
Nobody asked me --- and John James has forgotten more about local radio than I'll ever know --- but isn't it a radio station's job to find sponsors? Was a 93-year-old man expected to go out and sell his own commercials?
. . .
It's a sad state of affairs when a McKeesport-licensed radio station (which otherwise fills its hours with paid programming from doctors and preachers) is unwilling to give up one hour a week for the only Pittsburgh-area disc jockey to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum --- a Mon Valley native who got his start at another AM radio station just down the river in Homestead.
(You could also say it's a sad state of affairs that Porky can't get an hour a week on a radio station in Pittsburgh. But I can only tilt at one windmill at a time.)
If this sounds unduly harsh, I apologize. I admit it might also sound like sour grapes. Two years ago, WEDO approached Tube City Community Media Inc. about airing our coverage of International Village.
I offered to produce the broadcast and brand it as a WEDO co-production. I told WEDO they could take as much or as little of the programming as they wanted. Or, I would supply a few short sound-bites if they didn't want to carry the whole thing.
WEDO counter-offered: They would sell me the time for $200 an hour.
I was later told that WEDO had made the same offer to the International Village committee. They declined, and so did I. I'm not going to pay $200 an hour for the privilege of doing someone else's work.
. . .
There used to be such a thing as "broadcasting in the public interest." Thanks to the Federal Communications Commission under former Presidents Clinton and Bush II, that quaint notion no longer exists.
Although the airwaves are technically a public resource, owned by the American people, there is no obligation for any radio station to serve its local community, other than with a bare minimum of public-service announcements. I'm fairly certain that WEDO no longer even offers the token five-minute daily newscast that was produced for the station by the Daily News.
I don't mean to single out WEDO --- the other "McKeesport" station, WMNY (1360), schedules its one hour of McKeesport programming at 6 a.m. Saturday mornings.
Let's also not let the rest of the radio stations serving the Mon Valley off the hook. Many of them also have schedules filled with program-length infomercials, which is perfectly legal, but does nothing to inform, enlighten or entertain the American taxpayers who ostensibly give radio stations a license to borrow --- not own! --- the public's AM, FM and TV frequencies.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I've been paid to produce a few program-length radio commercials myself. But, um, I might not be invited to do that any more.)
. . .
Admittedly, picking on local AM radio stations is probably penny-ante when Clear Channel --- which owns 850 radio stations, including six in Pittsburgh and three of the top five in this region --- is laying off hundreds of employees.
But one of the arguments against big corporate radio operators, such as Clear Channel, is that locally owned independent stations are better at serving their communities than out-of-town conglomerates. In many cases, at many radio stations, and in many cities, that's true.
Alas, it's hard to make that argument when the elder statesman of Pittsburgh radio can't get a measly 60 minutes on WEDO in McKeesport. And I don't think it's out of line to say that Mon Valley residents should expect better from a business in our community.
. . .
Got Something to Say? Tube City Community Media is committed to printing viewpoints from residents of the McKeesport area and surrounding municipalities. Commentaries are accepted at the discretion of the editor and may be edited for content or length.
To submit a commentary for consideration, please write to P.O. Box 94, McKeesport 15134, or email TubeCityTiger -at - gmail -dot- com. Include contact information and your real name. A pen name may be substituted with approval of the editor.
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Category: News || By Submitted Reports
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Category: News || By Jennifer Sopko
At least one member of the McKeesport Area School Board is going public with his concerns about the district’s ability to afford a projected future $3.1 million payment for three school construction projects — and he doesn’t see it happening without a tax increase.
“With the board spending this kind of money, they would almost have to raise the millage by the cost of living for several years,” school director Thomas Maglicco said in a phone interview.
At its open agenda meeting last week, the school board discussed a suggestion from Janney Montgomery Scott to proceed with a bond issue financing two of the district’s three building projects — the almost-complete expansion of Francis McClure Intermediate School and the construction of a new elementary/intermediate school at the site of the former Cornell Intermediate School.
. . .
Construction at the Cornell site is scheduled to begin once the state Department of Environmental Protection and Allegheny County Conservation District approve the erosion and sedimentation plan, school officials said. The third project — a proposed new elementary/intermediate school on part of the former Buck estate — is still in limbo, after McKeesport city council denied the district’s site plan in September.
Board members said that with interest rates at historic lows, it’s a good time to proceed with the bond issue.
At its September meeting, school board officials estimated total construction costs for all three projects at around $84 million.
. . .
According to Maglicco, the proposed financing for the Francis McClure and Cornell projects would be structured so that the district’s annual payment would be $3.1 million beginning in the 2014-15 school year.
“I know that these buildings cost money and building all three together at one time is going to cause us to come up with a large sum of money in about three or four years,” he said.
“We can’t raise the millage fast enough to come up with the money to pay for this in 2014-2015,” he added.
. . .
Under Pennsylvania Act 1 of 2006, any real estate tax increase above the so-called index — which is calculated based upon the cost of living and the district’s aid ratio — would need to be voted on by referendum.
If the board decided to raise the millage in the district next year by the index, which is 0.44 mills — less than half a mill — that increase would only generate a little over $300,000 in additional revenue.
“I don’t think the board has any plans to increase the millage above the index,” said David Seropian, district business manager, at last week’s open agenda meeting.. . .
Although Maglicco said he’s not opposed to building the new elementary-intermediate school, he feels the board should conduct more research and review the most recent census for a more accurate financial picture before moving forward with the project.
“I think the school could afford the two current projects, but because of the increase in these projects from what we originally believed these schools were going to be … I have some concerns about the finances that the district would have to come up with … to pay for these three elementary schools,” Maglicco said.
Maglicco also said that he wants to see a complete breakdown on the financing before voting on authorizing Janney Montgomery Scott to proceed.
. . .
Rather than incurring that much debt, Maglicco said, the district should take advantage of “other sources of income” to offset construction costs, including early retirements and grants.
One source could be a new charitable educational foundation that the board could establish to benefit the district. Superintendent Timothy Gabauer mentioned the foundation at the open agenda meeting, but said details are not finalized.Gabauer described it as “an opportunity for us to get more partnerships and bring a lot more revenue into the district for certain things that we are currently doing and things we anticipate doing.” More information on the foundation will be revealed as the board looks into filing the necessary paperwork, Gabauer said.
. . .
Also at last week’s agenda meeting, the board briefly discussed a general timeline for the 2012-2013 budget. Under state law, it must soon decide between two options — either pass a preliminary budget before the general election or pass a resolution by Dec. 15 stating it will not raise taxes more than the index.
The school board has historically opted for the latter, Seropian said, and will likely pass a preliminary budget in May and the final budget in June.
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
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Category: News || By Submitted Reports
McKeesport police are asking for the public's help in locating a missing Dravosburg man.
Charles Argyle, 47, was last seen Sunday night on Scott Drive in Dravosburg, police said. He is a white male with brown hair and eyes, approximately 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs 195 pounds.
Argyle was wearing a blue and gray bandanna, blue jeans, boots and a "fanny pack," police said. They believe he could be in danger. Anyone who has any information is asked to call 911 or McKeesport police at (412) 675-5015.
Update: Emergency personnel confirm that a body believed to be Argyle's was found Wednesday night in a wooded area of Dravosburg. Foul play is not suspected.
. . .
Boston Bridge Closures Continue: The Boston Bridge is closing nightly, weather permitting, as workers complete the renovation of the span over the Youghiogheny River.
Jim Struzzi, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said crews are replacing the downstream sidewalk and painting the bridge substructure and upper truss. The work requires the bridge to close nightly at 7 p.m. and reopen at 5 a.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
Motorists should use the posted detours, Struzzi said. Cars are requested to use Finney Road, Liberty Way and Washington Boulevard, while large trucks must use Routes 51 and 837.
The bridge reopened last week to traffic during daylight hours. All work is scheduled for completion in December, Struzzi said.
. . .
In Other News: PennDOT crews are sealing cracks this week on Stewartsville Hollow Road and Pennsylvania Avenue in White Oak, Struzzi said. Motorists should use caution and plan for possible delays.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
(Political Candidates: Deadline for submissions to Tube City Almanac is Friday, Oct. 28. Entries will be published beginning on Oct. 31. Details below.)
. . .
As a public service, Tube City Community Media Inc. makes available this space as a free outlet for local political candidates --- with strings attached.
If you know any political candidates, please let them know of this opportunity. Deadline is Oct. 28; profiles will be published at Tube City Online on Oct. 31.
Profiles received after the deadline will be published at the editor's option, time permitting.
. . .
Free Space for Candidates
1.) Any candidate for a municipal or school board office in the Duquesne City, McKeesport Area, South Allegheny or West Mifflin Area school districts* may submit a candidate profile for publication at Tube City Online.
2.) "Candidate" includes anyone who has formally announced a candidacy for the Nov. 8 election.
3.) Candidate profiles may include biographical information, statements on various issues, and website URLs or other public contact information. Personal attacks on other candidates and commercial endorsements or other irrelevant information are not permitted. In case of any dispute over content, the decision of the editor is final.
4.) Candidate profiles must be 400 words or less. Handbills and fliers are acceptable submissions, but may be modified to fit the space or converted to plain text. Tube City Online reserves the right to edit for style with or without notice, at the editor's option.**
. . .
Complete rules follow after the "more" link and are subject to change at any time.
Thanks for your cooperation, and for running for local office!
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
Another 13 abandoned homes are scheduled for demolition city wide.
At its October meeting, city council by 6-0 vote awarded a $92,700 demolition contract to Lutterman Excavating of Unity Township, Westmoreland County. Lutterman was the lowest of three bidders.
But Councilman Darryl Segina --- although he voted to award the contract --- said he "will not vote for another demolition list" until the city has a "comprehensive plan in place to deal with our housing stock and the quality of life in our neighborhoods."
The city is not properly enforcing its property maintenance codes, Segina said. "I think we need to address these things rather than just knocking these houses down," he said. "We have a landlord-tenant act, but it doesn't do any good to enact one if we don't enforce it."
. . .
Segina also repeated a plea for the city to use its authority under the state's Neighborhood Blight Reclamation and Revitalization Act, which was signed into law last year. The law, also known as "Senate Bill 900," allows municipalities to target out-of-state property owners with criminal charges and to obtain liens against their other properties to pay for remediation costs.
"It's about time we do something before these neighborhoods deteriorate to the point where no one wants to live here any more," Segina said.
The homes slated for demolition are at 914, 1715 and 2704 Jenny Lind St.; 716 Franklin St.; 2714 Grover St.; 1713 Sumac St.; 506 Romine Ave.; 2811 Grandview Ave.; 908 Park St.; 1404 Boquet St.; 1101 Park St.; 2724 Milburn St.; and 317 12th St.
. . .
Funding for the demolitions will come from a grant from foundations overseen by Pittsburgh newspaper publisher Richard M. Scaife and from federal community development block grant money, says Bethany Budd Bauer, the city's community development director. But because the city doesn't have the full $92,700 available, not all of the houses in the contract council awarded will be torn down this year.
Still, it's welcome news to residents such as Cindy Downes of Milburn Street, who thanked Mayor Regis McLaughlin and other city officials for targeting the vacant house on her block. "It looks like we're finally making some progress," she said.
. . .
Some of the homes on the demolition list are owned by out-of-state landlords. In one case, a landlord is a real-estate trust in the British island of Bermuda, a known haven for companies looking to avoid prosecution and taxes.
County tax records indicate the Milburn Street home is owned by a man from Cabazon, Calif., who purchased the one-story frame house in 2007 for $3,250. McKeesport Area School District and Allegheny County have filed liens against the property for unpaid taxes dating to 2008.
The Boquet Street house is owned by a real estate management company in Elmhurst, Ill., while the Park Street home is owned by a company based in Bermuda, and was "flipped" three times in 2005, for $6,500, $12,000 and $23,900. Two of those sales took place on the same day.
The other homes are owned by former or current McKeesport residents --- in some cases, deceased --- or by residents of nearby communities; tax records indicate the Franklin Street home is owned by a North Huntingdon Township couple, who also own other properties in the city.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports
The authors of a new postcard history of McKeesport will sign copies of the book Saturday.
Michelle Tryon Wardle-Eggers and John Barna are the featured speakers at McKeesport Heritage Center's annual Founder's Day Celebration. The talk begins at 2 p.m. in the center's Boycott Room, 1832 Arboretum Drive, Renziehausen Park. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served.
Barna, a photographer and historian, and Wardle-Eggers, historian and executive director of the Heritage Center, are authors of the new book "McKeesport," the latest in Arcadia Publishing's Postcard History Series.
Their program will begin with a brief history of the postcard, then look at some of their favorite McKeesport postcards and share some stories behind the making of the book. Following the talk, Wardle-Eggers and Barna will sign copies of the book. Other local history titles also will be available for purchase.
For more information, visit the center's website or call (412) 678-1832.
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Art Group Meets Monday: Bethel Park-based illustrator John Hinderliter will be the featured speaker at Monday's meeting of the McKeesport Art Group. The public is invited to attend.
An award-winning illustrator and fine artist, Hinderliter was born in Atlantic City, N.J., and moved to Pittsburgh in the mid-1970s to attend The Ivy School of Professional Art, where he graduated with honors and immediately began his career as an advertising artist.
In 1985, Hinderliter struck out on his own as a freelance illustrator. Over the past 20 years, he has worked for a wide range of clients and has exhibited at numerous galleries in the area, such as Planet Art Gallery, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, World West Galleries, Melega Gallery, Arts in the Garden and 707 Penn.
A past member of the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Hinderliter is currently a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators.
The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the graphic arts room of McKeesport Area High School, 1960 Eden Park Blvd. Light refreshments will be served following the meeting.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report
More than two dozen local agencies and organizations will meet with the public and talk about their services this Saturday at the Palisades, Downtown.
The Community Expo is being sponsored by McKeesport Blueprint Communities and the Federal Home Loan Bank, says Lani Temple, organization chair.
"It's really quite a variety of vendors, and we think it's going to be very nice," she says. "Each table is donating a door prize, and each person with have information about their organization, and the types of services they offer."
Refreshments will be sold. Doors will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There are 28 organizations in all that will discuss private and government services available to residents and homeowners, including Auberle, Gateway Health Plan, UPMC McKeesport, McKeesport police and fire departments, PNC Bank, Huntingdon Bank, McKee's Point Marina and Prudential Preferred Realty.
Also meeting with visitors will be state Sen. Jim Brewster, County Councilman Bob Macey, and staff from U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle's office.
It's the first time in several years that such a neighborhood services fair has been offered, Temple says. The last such expo was organized by the city's Weed and Seed Program.
McKeesport Blueprint Communities now includes 15 partner organizations and will soon publish a book listing different city organizations and services that will be supplied to banks and real estate agents as a way to market the city, Temple says. For more information, call (412) 673-7000.
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Category: History, News || By Jason Togyer
Radio host Garrison Keillor has noted that it's depressing to be considered an expert on a topic when there's so much you don't know. I know the feeling well.
Not a week goes by someone doesn't ask me for help with some McKeesport-related issue (ironic, since I don't live within the city limits, and never have). I especially get a lot of requests for information about local history.
(A quick aside: The producers of a TV documentary about the late Nick Perry contacted me recently, asking me to serve as a consultant. When I told them I don't work for free, and that I would need some sort of a modest payment, they suddenly lost interest and stopped emailing me. That's showbiz!)
And yet, I'm hardly an expert, and there's so much I don't know. It's all too obvious when I get something like Michelle Tryon Wardle-Eggers and John Barna's new book "McKeesport," the latest installment in the popular "Postcard History Series" produced by South Carolina-based Arcadia Publishing.
. . .
Not to be confused with Arcadia's previous book about McKeesport --- written by volunteers from McKeesport Heritage Center --- this is an entirely new paperback. crammed with more than 200 images, mainly from the late 1890s through the 1950s.
Many of these postcards are from the center's own collection, but others have been loaned by collectors. While all of the images are rare, it's safe to say that many are one-of-a-kinds and would never be seen by the public without this book.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I am hardly an impartial reviewer. John is a regular contributor to Tube City Almanac, and Michelle is executive director of the Heritage Center, where I serve as a member of the board of directors. Ah, but it's a small town.)
. . .
What are some of the gaps in my McKeesport knowledge? I didn't know that the old R.E. Kaplan Furniture Store on Fifth Avenue started out as a hotel. I didn't know that St. Stephen's Magyar Church (now sadly abandoned and decaying) on Beacon Street was the first Hungarian Catholic church in the United States.
I also didn't know that McKeesport's first library was established in 1875 (long before our present Carnegie Library, which itself dates to 1902) or that McKeesport National Bank (the present City Hall) was built on the site of a fruit orchard.
I didn't realize just how beautiful the city's East Park neighborhood --- now in disarray --- once was, or that the area near the water treatment plant was once home to a distillery for "Old Possum Hollow Whiskey."
Virtually every one of this book's 126 pages are filled with little nuggets like this, usually going far beyond a simple description of the postcard scene to add context and explanations.
. . .
Arcadia's local history series has been around for more than a decade, and they're sold not just in bookstores but also in discount and drug stores such as Walgreen's. The books follow a rigid formula --- they're pocket-sized paperbacks that contain mostly photos and not much text --- that doesn't allow for much serendipity; if you've seen one Arcadia history book, you've seen 'em all.
And because each book is narrowly focused on a single topic ("Ligonier" or "Pittsburgh's Streamlined Streetcars" or "The Early Days of Professional Football in Western Pennsylvania") there isn't much to suck someone into an Arcadia book if they don't already have an emotional connection to the topic. Few people from Skokie, Ill., are going to find anything of interest in a McKeesport book.
The historical content of Arcadia's books can be scant, because it's confined mainly to photo captions, and what history remains can sometimes be uneven because the quality of the authors varies. I've found some whopping errors in a few Arcadia paperbacks. (Of course, I also made some, ahem, bad mistakes in my own book.)
. . .
Happily, this book is undoubtedly among the most fact-packed of Arcadia's titles. John is a historian of no small ability, having produced some amazingly informative and well-researched local history pieces (collaborating in many cases with Dave Sallinger) while at the Daily News. Michelle holds a master's degree in history from Kent State University and is previously published as well. These are two authors who know their topic and know how to dig for details.
If there's a fault to be found, it's that a book of postcards necessarily leaves out some subjects. Postcards tend to depict places and buildings, so we get a lot of views of scenery, and postcards are designed to promote the positive aspects of life. Rarely (if ever!) has a postcard ever shown scenery from the seedy side of town.
In other words, no one made postcards of McKeesport's biggest tourist attraction during the early 20th century --- its notorious prostitution district, Brick Alley!
When people are depicted, they generally look like upper-middle-class Anglo-Saxon Protestants --- despite the fact that McKeesport was increasingly a city of immigrants after 1900, and had a growing African-American population by 1930.
But even those omissions tell us something about American values and life before 1950. Furthermore, this book is hardly intended to be a detailed history of McKeesport; instead, it's a very well-organized and thoroughly researched overview of McKeesport's boom years that just happens to be told using a very accessible (if limited) means --- old postcards.
. . .
Though its books may follow a cookie-cutter format, Arcadia has done Americans a great service by popularizing local history and making it affordable and accessible to everyone. Michelle and John have likewise done a great service to McKeesporters --- past and present --- by reminding us all of the city's glorious past.
And while I enjoy looking at photos from the past, my fondest hope is that books like this will inspire people to imagine what McKeesport could look like in the future.
. . .
"McKeesport" by Michelle Tryon Wardle-Eggers and John W. Barna retails for $21.99. It may be purchased at McKeesport Heritage Center (1832 Arboretum Drive), Pittsburgh-area Barnes & Noble stores, or via Amazon.com.
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Category: Cartoons || By Jason Togyer
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
City officials will likely sign a consent agreement with the federal government in order to receive $750,000 in promised community development money. But they aren't happy about it.
"This is blackmail," City Administrator Dennis Pittman says. "Come December, if this moratorium is still in effect, we will be laying off employees, or unable to make our bond payments. But it's blackmail."
Blackmail, perhaps, but Mayor Regis McLaughlin is recommending that council agree to terms being dictated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and several council members seem inclined to agree.
. . .
"My suggestion is that we sign that paper," Councilman Darryl Segina says. "The consequence of not receiving any community development block grants would be grave. We'd be reliant on the county for them. We'd lose our community development department and the ideas that come out of that department."
HUD is currently withholding $750,000 in already approved community development block grants because it says the city hasn't done enough to create "fair housing opportunities" for minorities and low-income residents.
In recent years, McKeesport has used those federal grants to tear down abandoned houses, purchase fire equipment and hire community policing officers. HUD says the city should be spending 3 percent or more of the funding to counsel residents about housing vouchers, provide small grants and loans for people to do renovation and remodeling, study the needs of poor and low-income residents, and perform environmental assessments on areas with high concentrations of public housing.
HUD also wants McKeesport to hire a "fair housing officer," says Bethany Budd Bauer, the city's community development director. HUD would set the role's qualifications.
Programs done by third-parties such as McKeesport Neighborhood Initiative, McKeesport Housing Corp. or McKeesport Housing Authority don't count, HUD says, and neither do programs funded by other government entities, such as Allegheny County.
. . .
HUD has repeatedly singled out high rates of poverty in the city's Third Ward --- which includes the Harrison Village public housing complex --- and Seventh Ward, which includes the area around Cornell Elementary-Intermediate School.
In an email to city officials on Sept. 22, a HUD administrator called the city's existing efforts "half-hearted" and "smoke and mirrors" that have "achieved almost nothing."
The city's existing fair housing programs have "a history of failure or near-failure," said Michael Jansen, regional director of HUD's office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, "with absolutely no targeting at the desired locations."
. . .
At least one member of city council agrees. "I really think he has a point," Councilwoman Fawn Walker-Montgomery says. The city's community development money seems to be spent on third-party agencies, with little directly reaching neighborhoods or residents, she says.
"A lot of activities are being done by volunteers --- which I support, and I am a volunteer," Walker-Montgomery says. "But the money doesn't go to those volunteers --- it goes to the YMCA or some other group."
But Pittman says that demolition of abandoned houses in the Third and Seventh Wards has improved the surrounding neighborhoods by removing blight and crime.
He adds that the city has provided grants and low-interest loans for residents and specifically targeted the Seventh Ward for new housing development, including the new homes on the site of the old Menzie Dairy Co. and the old reservoir along Union Avenue. In fact, Pittman points out, HUD officials participated in ribbon-cuttings for those homes.
. . .
The demand that McKeesport counsel residents on how to use housing vouchers is absurd, Pittman argues. Two out of three city residents already receive some form of public assistance for housing, he says.
"Somebody is trying to make a name for himself at HUD, and they want to make an example of us," he says. "It's absolutely unfair."
If the federal government wants to take away the city's community development money, it should also take away all of the group homes and other subsidized housing "they've dumped on us over the years," Pittman says. (One city official noted Wednesday that "the Mon Valley has absorbed a lot of public service facilities that haven't gone to wealthier communities like Peters and Upper St. Clair.")
. . .
Councilman A.J. Tedesco Jr. says the incident may serve as a warning that the city has become too dependent on federal grants and aid.
"Now they control us, because they hold the purse strings," he says. "If we were a business and you were giving us $1 million, you'd want a say-so in how the money was spent."
When the city plans next year's budget, Tedesco says, "we need to look at ways to reduce costs and increase revenues and reduce our reliance on community development money."
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports
McKeesport-area groups are among those asking for donations today during the Pittsburgh Foundation's annual "Day of Giving."
Among those requesting support are McKeesport Symphony Orchestra, Serra Catholic High School and Duquesne's Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Westmoreland County groups are also participating.
The foundation will match a portion of contributions made today to qualified non-profit agencies. Contributions must be made using a Visa or MasterCard.
Only donations made through the foundation's website --- www.pittsburghgives.org --- before 11:59 p.m. Tuesday will count toward the match. More than $3 million was raised during last year's event.
Other organizations of local interest that are qualified for today's event include:
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Category: News || By Jennifer Sopko
The financial impact of the McKeesport Area School District's multi-phase elementary school construction project has residents increasingly concerned about the district's ability --- and the taxpayers' ability --- to afford the $84 million estimated total cost.
At the school board's regular meeting on Wednesday night, residents asked the district not to completely abort the plan for the new elementary-intermediate school, but rather to delay it while the district analyzes the financial feasibility of the project, especially considering the added created by the new Francis McClure and Cornell schools.
The projects encompass the expansion of Francis McClure Intermediate, a new facility at the former site of Cornell Intermediate and a new elementary-intermediate school proposed for part of the former Buck estate (owned by Robert DeTorre) that the district is trying to acquire by eminent domain.
According to board member Thomas Maglicco, during a recent finance committee meeting, accounting firm Janney Montgomery Scott projected a current estimated cost for all three projects at $84 million, with a millage increase of 4 mills.
. . .
Several McKeesport and White Oak residents spoke up at the meeting about the building projects, including Terri Kisan, a candidate for school board in the upcoming election this November. She said that people have shared with her numerous concerns about the effects of a potential millage increase on those with fixed incomes in the community.
"Can we afford moving into the third project if we haven't really started the second?" she asked the board.
Kisan was one of several proponents for keeping George Washington Elementary operating, citing an "excellent turnout" from the community at the school during a recent meet-the-teacher event and ice cream social as an example of the influence that the building continues to have on the community.
. . .
"In my opinion, George Washington looks better to me every day," she said. "I'm just trying to hope that we can somehow finish some of these bigger projects and try to use that school just a little bit longer."
Keith Murphy of the McKeesport Political American African Committee also called for fiscal prudence considering the district's elderly and unemployed populations.
"This is a human condition here in McKeesport that this board is responsible for," he said. "If we want to put these people in bad situations, that's on your back.
"I endorse wholeheartedly the fact that George Washington is still a workable school, still able to facilitate what it needs to do to educate our children," Murphy added. "We need to put the other projects on the backburner."
. . .
Murphy also urged the board to adopt measures to ensure that any construction in the district provides opportunities for African American, minority and female workers --- especially local workers.
"I'm in 100 percent agreement with you that the people in this community need to work," School Director Mark Holtzman told Murphy. "I would like to see the people from the Mon Valley get involved."
. . .
MASD swim coach Scott Smith asked the board about a jump in cost from $21.8 million to $29.3 million for the Cornell project and questioned how the board planned to mitigate the overage.
According to business manager David Seropian and solicitor Gary Matta, the $21.8 million cost was an estimate made three years ago by the district's previous architect, L. R. Kimball. The project's current architect, J.C. Pierce, provided the current $29.3 million estimate.
"Other professionals had advised this board at some point that they believed the building could be built for that amount of money," Matta said. "They explained how much square footage was going to be in that facility. When the current professionals took that idea and developed it into a real building, apparently it couldn't be done for $21 million."
The board took no action on any motions concerning the proposed elementary-intermediate school project during last Wednesday's meeting.
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