Filed Under: News || By Jason Togyer
Category: News || By Jennifer Sopko
The partial renovations at Francis McClure Intermediate School are close to completion, but the grounds still remain a construction zone, McKeesport Area School District officials said last week.
Meanwhile, the district is still waiting for the state Department of Environmental Protection to approve an erosion and sedimentation plan for the new school planned at the site of the demolished Cornell Intermediate School before it can break ground. The plan was submitted last May, officials said.
School directors are also awaiting a decision from the state Department of Education on their PlanCon D application for the proposed new elementary-intermediate school on part of the former Buck estate, a location that the district is pursuing by eminent domain. The application requests partial state reimbursement of the construction project.
During a public comment period at Wednesday's board meeting, swimming coach Scott Smith told officials he was concerned about a seeming lack of progress over the on the McClure and Cornell projects over the last several months, considering the unseasonably mild winter, and hoped that the board would continue to monitor the costs.
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Category: News || By Jennifer Sopko
Sharp-dressed students were on the agenda last week at the McKeesport Area School District.
School officials said that Maryland-based sporting goods manufacturer Under Armour may soon be naming the high school football team one of its "Under Armour Undeniable" programs based on its athletic achievements. Meanwhile, the district will soon solicit public comments on a dress code for all students.
At Wednesday's meeting, School Director Trisha Gadson said the board's Legislation and Policy Committee has developed a timeline for the implementation of a proposed new dress code throughout the district.The committee expects to distribute this week a one-page flyer to local community leaders with its proposals, soliciting feedback from the public, Gadson said.
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
A lady brandishing a Shop 'n Save circular made a beeline for the sharp-dressed man in the dark suit who was greeting customers at the new Bottom Dollar Food store in Christy Park.
"It says here you match prices," she said to the man, standing in the produce section. "I want to know if you'll match the price on this ground beef." The man shook his head and smiled.
"Sorry, I can't help you," Mike Cherepko said. "I don't have any control over that. I'm the mayor of McKeesport."
It was a simple case of mistaken identity. But there was no mistaking the excitement swirling around the grocery store that opened its doors Thursday morning --- the first newly constructed grocery store in the city in at least four decades.
Despite a cold, steady drizzle, customers began lining up at midnight for a chance to claim one of 200 bags of free groceries. By 8 a.m., the line wrapped around the building, and cars had spilled out of the parking lot and into the surrounding neighborhoods.
. . .
A discount division of Salisbury, N.C., based Food Lion, Bottom Dollar is challenging Giant Eagle on its home turf with seven new stores in the Pittsburgh region. Local officials are hoping the Walnut Street location helps bring a critical mass of new businesses to that corridor.
"People realize that Downtown is not going to be what it was years ago," Cherepko said. Walnut Street "is the new business center for the city of McKeesport. You're going to see shoppers here from Elizabeth Township, Liberty, Port Vue, White Oak --- I think this store is going to be a huge success."
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
Weather may have played a role in the accident that sent the city's solicitor to the hospital early Sunday morning*.
City police Chief Bryan Washowich said an 2004 Cadillac SUV driven by J. Jason Elash, 40, of McKeesport was traveling south on Route 48 when it went out of control on a curve between Old Long Run Road and the entrance to Olympia Shopping Center. The SUV left the road and struck an office building located at 716 Long Run Road.
The building houses a variety of electronics companies and a local office for Comcast Cable, and is owned by Paul F. Rost Electric Inc. of Greenock, according to county tax records.
Elash was the only person in the vehicle, Washowich said. The road was "ice patched" at the time of the accident, he said. According to the National Weather Service at Moon Township, temperatures dropped to 11 degrees at 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
Elash was transported by ground to UPMC Mercy Hospital for medical treatment and his SUV was towed from the scene, Washowich said. The investigation is ongoing. City firefighters and McKeesport Ambulance Rescue Service also responded to the scene.
City officials said Elash has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
(Editor's Note: Updated Thursday PM to add new information, quotes.)
A state Supreme Court decision throwing out a proposed redistricting map appears to preserve the Mon Valley seat currently held by state Sen. Jim Brewster, at least through 2014.
The two-page, 4-3 ruling issued last night, said the map violated state law and freezes the current districts in place.
That will force a Republican-led committee to draw a new map of state legislative and senatorial districts statewide, which is unlikely to be complete and approved in time for this year's May primaries. (Read the ruling here.)
According to published reports, it's the first time in 40 years that the state's high court has rejected a redistricting plan. Democrats, who are in the minority in both houses of the state General Assembly, had complained that the Republican map didn't group together neighboring towns, but instead divided up communities strictly for partisan advantage.
. . .
More than 70 people --- some private citizens, others representing activist groups such as Common Cause --- filed objections in the Supreme Court to the plan. Among those were city Mayor Michael Cherepko and state Rep. Bill Kortz, Democrat of Dravosburg, who said in their court filing that fracturing the present 45th District would hamper efforts to "unify the communities in the historic Mon Valley region."
"It's nice that the Supreme Court recognized that common people and common areas should not be split up," Brewster, a McKeesport Democrat, said Thursday. "When the majority party has control of the process, we know that they'll try to improve their standing. But this map was not drawn fairly."
Although the court has not issued its full, written decision, Brewster expects the current districts to be frozen until after this year's elections. State legislators are elected every two years.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports
State Sen. Jim Brewster today announced that he will host three student aid seminars for local students and their parents.
"In these tough economic times, paying for a college education is a steep challenge," Brewster said. "It is imperative that college students explore eligibility for every college grant or loan prospect. My seminars are aimed at helping families understand what's out there, what they may qualify for and how to apply."
The free seminars on financial aid and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid applications will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 noon on the following Saturdays:
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Category: Hardscrabble Mon Valley Watch || By Jason Togyer
In case you missed it, the story I discussed back on Jan. 17 has finally run. Pam Fessler, a correspondent with NPR, traveled around town with state Sen. Jim Brewster and Mayor Mike Cherepko, and spent time at Womansplace and the Bethlehem Baptist Church.
The story was called "In Former Steel Town, Residents Question GOP Candidates' 'Entitlement Society' Talk," and ran on public radio stations nationwide during NPR's "All Things Considered."
Unfortunately, Fessler worked almost no cliches into her story, which renders her ineligible for the Milbank-Littwin Award for Parachute Journalism.
The Milbank-Littwin --- depicting a broad brush on a field of bull flop --- is likely to be awarded to a reporter who best exemplifies the old media tradition of "phoning it in" and making sweeping generalizations based on a few scant minutes of research. Since Fessler spent two days actually getting to know her subject, this story just didn't qualify for the Milbank-Littwin.
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Category: Announcements || By Jason Togyer
Snap! went Teenie Harris' camera, as Marva Louis, Katherine King and Portia Trotter rode the carousel at McKeesport's Olympia Park during the summer of 1939.
Snap! went Teenie Harris' camera, capturing world heavyweight boxing champion "Jersey Joe" Walcott as he sparred with Ben Skelton at Rainbow Gardens Amusement Park in 1951.
Snap! There are the ladies of the Bethlehem Baptist Church getting ready for a Women's Day luncheon in 1958.
Snap! There's McKeesport welcoming President Kennedy in 1962.
For nearly 40 years, Charles "Teenie" Harris --- also known as "One Shot," because he rarely made mistakes --- documented life in Western Pennsylvania for The Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation's best-known African-American newspapers. Harris' camera didn't discriminate --- black and white, famous and infamous, young and old were all recorded for the pages of the Courier.
McKeesport Heritage Center will mark Black History Month with a program about Harris at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 19. Laurence Glasco, a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, will be the guest speaker. The program is free and open to the public.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports
Shakespeare comes to town this weekend as the Three Rivers Theatre Company visits Penn State's campus in McKeesport.
A relatively new local repertory company that showcases young actors, Three Rivers will present "Hamlet" at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Cultural and Fitness Center on the Greater Allegheny Campus.
Tickets are $20 and will be available at the door. Penn State Greater Allegheny students will be admitted free, while all other students with ID will be admitted for $10.
Founded in July 2010, Three Rivers Theatre Company is a seasonal, non-profit theatre dedicated to "engaging, entertaining, and fostering an appreciation" for contemporary and classic theater. For more information, visit its website or call (412) 926-8187.
The Fitness and Cultural Center is located near the corner of University Drive and Broadway Avenue on the Penn State campus.
. . .
Students, Landlords Invited to Meet: Penn State Greater Allegheny will hold an Off-Campus Housing Fair from 12 to 2 p.m. Feb. 9 in the concourse area of the Student Community Center, a spokeswoman announced.
Individuals in the community who have rental properties are invited to attend. About 100 students at the McKeesport campus are expected to need off-campus housing during the 2012-13 academic year.
The campus is in need of safe, well maintained and reasonably priced rental properties that are close to the campus. Property owners must pre-register for this event by contacting the Office of Student Affairs weekdays between the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at (412) 675-9181.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
Tube City Almanac was closed today, Jan. 18, 2012.
There are two laws pending in the U.S. Congress that would give federal authorities new powers to control what can be published on the Internet.
These laws are supposed to protect publishers from copyright infringement --- which is important. Tube City Community Media Inc. supports efforts to protect authors, artists, publishers and composers from having their work stolen.
However, leading experts on the U.S. Constitution and communications law argue that these laws would violate American rights to free speech and assembly, as well as our protections against unreasonable search and seizure. (Read more here: "DNS Filtering to Fight Internet Piracy Violates the First Amendment," by Lauren Mack, JURIST, University of Pittsburgh School of Law)
Under at least one interpretation of these laws, Tube City Online could be shut down if we even linked --- without knowing it --- to a page that was accused of infringing someone else's copyright.
We believe this is an important issue, and that you should be aware of it.
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Category: News || By An Editor
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Category: History || By Jason Togyer
(If above video fails to load, click here.)
Charlie Pierce at Esquire's website:
We are all children of the civil-rights movement, whether we want to be or not, whether we are its direct descendants or whether we were adopted into it through the profound changes that movement wrought in the definition of what an American is.
We are all children of the civil-rights movement, and this weekend is our national holiday. There is nothing mysterious about that. We make ourselves mysteries to each other because the cost of knowing our solution may be too ugly to bear.
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Category: Commentary/Editorial, Hardscrabble Mon Valley Watch || By Jason Togyer
Well, another presidential election year must be upon us, because a national reporter has come to Our Fair City to develop a local angle on the candidates. I know this, because I talked to her, and put her in touch with a couple of local officials.
She was very nice (no, I'm not going to say who it was, or for which outlet she works), and I suspect it will be a thoughtful story.
But regular readers of Tube City Almanac (those who drink a lot of prune juice) may remember that back in 2008, political reporters descended on the Pittsburgh area, looking for swing voters and dredging up a lot of Rust Belt cliches in the process.
So I began tracking national media coverage of the Mon Valley --- especially coverage that focused on mill-town stereotypes --- and called it the Hardscrabble Mon Valley Watch.
Well, it's time to resurrect it. I've also created a Hardscrabble Mon Valley Watch Drinking Game. It's lots of fun for ages 21 to 80, and for blood-alcohol levels from 0.08 and up! Read along for official rules, and about our new award for political journalism.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports
Editor's Note: These two items are not related. Please do not show up and do a striptease on the Boston Bridge.
. . .
More Boston Bridge Work: Traffic may be restricted to a single, alternating lane on the Boston Bridge this week, the state Department of Transportation announced.
Weather permitting, traffic will be restricted temporarily during daylight hours so that crews can finish the reconstruction of the bridge, including painting, railing and barrier installation, and "other minor activities," says Jim Struzzi, district spokesman for PennDOT.
The work will be done as needed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and possibly between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday. Flag crews will control traffic.
Workers are wrapping up a $17.3 million rehabilitation project on the two-lane, eight-span steel truss bridge that carries Route 48 and connects Versailles with Elizabeth Township. More than 17,000 vehicles use the bridge daily.
. . .
Auditions at MLT: McKeesport Little Theater is holding auditions for its upcoming production of "The Full Monty," a spokesperson announced. The auditions will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Jan. 29 and 30. No appointment is needed. Performers should bring 16 or more bars of a musical selection and be prepared to do a "cold reading."
Written by Terrence McNally with music and lyrics by David Yazbek, "The Full Monty" is an Americanized adaptation of the 1997 British movie of the same name. The musical debuted on Broadway in 2000 and won a Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Music."
The musical comedy is the story of six unemployed male steelworkers from Buffalo, N.Y., who decide to organize a striptease act to raise money. MLT is presenting the musical May 4-20.
The MLT is located at 1614 Coursin St. near the Carnegie Library of McKeesport. Call (412) 673-1100 or visit the theater's website for more information.
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Category: News || By Staff and Submitted Reports
(Editor's Note: The author has a conflict of interest. See below.)
Liberty Borough's Good Samaritan Church has vacated the structure it has used since 1959 and is looking for a new home.
The congregation, formerly located in a classic white, wood-frame church at the corner of Liberty Way and Southern Avenue, this week began holding Sunday services in the chapel of the Liberty Manor Personal Care Home across the street, according to a press release.
Good Samaritan is one of more than 40 former Episcopal Church congregations that voted to leave the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh for a new Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh. The dioceses split over theological differences, including the ordination of openly gay clergy, which the Episcopal Church allows.
In October 2009, state Commonwealth Court ruled that all property that had belonged to the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh belonged to the Episcopal Church, not the new Anglican diocese. Last year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected an appeal of that ruling by the Anglican Diocese.
"We are excited about this opportunity for a rebirth as a congregation," the Rev. Peggy Means, vicar of Good Samaritan, said in the press release. "This is a new opportunity in a new year to reach the Mon-Yough area with the love of Jesus Christ."
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
"Working together for a better McKeesport" can't just be a slogan, Mayor Mike Cherepko said Wednesday. It has to be an attitude that's shared by the entire community.
"I think it has to start at the top, and I think it's going to ripple down to the employees, to the task forces, to the citizens and the volunteers," said Cherepko, who took office on Monday.
The transition is "going very well," he said, though city hall is a "little bit chaotic" because many departments are moving their offices. New city administrator Matt Gergely has been "extremely busy" despite "working around piles of supplies," Cherepko said.
Cherepko won McKeesport's top elected office after a bruising election year that saw several sitting members of council running against each other --- and incumbent Regis McLaughlin --- for the Democratic mayoral nomination. Cherepko then faced City Controller Ray Malinchak in the general election.
"It doesn't matter where you were, or whose side you were on, the train's at the station, and it's going to be pulling out pretty soon," Cherepko said. "It's time to go to work."
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
State Reps. Marc Gergely and Bill Kortz will host a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing on "job creation in the Mon Valley" from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Palisades ballroom, Downtown. The hearing is open to the public.
Labor, business and economic development leaders will provide testimony about the importance of supporting job creation policies and offer ideas to expand the local and state workforce, said Kortz and Gergely in a joint statement.
Scheduled to testify are:
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
CORRECTION, NOT PERFECTION: This story was wrong about the time and location of Cherepko's swearing-in.
McKeesport has not just a new mayor, but a new top administrator as well.
In a ceremony Monday, Michael Cherepko was sworn in as McKeesport's 22nd mayor. He succeeds Regis McLaughlin, a longtime member of city council, who was elected in 2010 by council to succeed Jim Brewster upon Brewster's election to the state Senate.
Cherepko, of Fawcett Plan, was a teacher for 12 years in the McKeesport Area School District and served on city council for eight years, including one year as council president. He announced before the election that he would take a leave of absence from his teaching position if elected mayor.
In addition, during council's biennial reorganization meeting on Monday night, Matt Gergely of Haler Heights was named the new city administrator. Gergely, who managed Cherepko's successful mayoral campaign, also will serve as City Treasurer.
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Category: Cartoons, Commentary/Editorial || By Jason Togyer
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