Filed Under: News || By Submitted Report
Category: News || By Submitted Reports
A city resident and incoming freshman at Penn State's campus in McKeesport has been awarded a national scholarship from Major League Baseball.
Ta'Juan Dutrieuille, an engineering student, has been named one of the recipients of the 2012 Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities scholarship by the league's charitable arm.
Dutrieuille and 11 other recipients were recognized at the 20th RBI World Series, held July 31 to Aug. 12 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.
A graduate of Woodland Hills High School, Dutrieuille was a pitcher for the baseball team sponsored by American Legion Post 63 in Swissvale, and pitched and played third base for the Woodland Hills varsity softball team.
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
Live music and lively barbecue share the spotlight
this weekend at Renziehausen Park.
The McKeesport Rib Fest returns Saturday, Sunday and Monday to the area near the Lions Bandshell, corner of Eden Park Boulevard and Tulip Drive, a spokesman said. This year's festival adds fireworks and a car cruise on Sunday.
Vendors open at 2 p.m. Saturday and will be selling barbecue and other refreshments through 9 p.m. The Buddy Mac Band takes the stage at 4 p.m., while Tres Lads go on at 7 p.m.
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
Inspection crews will be working on two area bridges, beginning Tuesday, and periodic delays could occur.
Crews from SAI Consulting Engineers will be inspecting the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., through Sept. 17, said Jim Struzzi, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. Lane closures will occur as needed but all ramps will remain open, Struzzi said.
Meanwhile, crews also will be inspecting a bridge on Route 837 near Kennywood, Struzzi said. The work will continue Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, weather permitting.
Lane closures will occur as needed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The bridge carries Route 837 over a rail yard between North Second Street and Oakmont Avenue. Crews from Mackin Engineering and the Sofis Rigging Company will conduct the inspection.
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
Kicked out of public housing, the tenant rented a house from a private landlord. The landlord kicked the tenant out for non-payment.
So the tenant rented another house. And another. And another. Four times in six months, the same tenant was evicted.
"If any one of them had done a background check, they could have avoided that," said Diane Raible, deputy executive director of the McKeesport Housing Authority.
During an informational session Wednesday night at the Palisades ballroom, Downtown, local officials and MHA representatives said landlords need to take responsibility for their tenants, or face increased pressure from police and code-enforcement officers. About 50 people, including two city council members, attended.
Rental properties are an acute concern right now in McKeesport, Mayor Michael Cherepko told the crowd, because about half of all city housing units are rentals.
"We realize that this is your livelihood," Cherepko said. "We're not asking you to turn your rental properties into mansions. We are asking you to make sure they're not eyesores."
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Category: Commentary/Editorial || By Jason Togyer
The late Phil Musick called them "things I think I think." The late Bruce Keidan called them "loose items from a tight-leaf notebook." I call them "cluttered items from an empty mind," because if a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what's signified by an empty desk?
. . .
In Pennsylvania, according to radio commercials, you "have the right" to change your electricity provider or choose a free taxpayer-paid charter school.
You do not have the right to vote without a government-approved photo ID.
Can I change my gubernatorial provider? I'd like Dick Thornburgh back.
. . .
I'm fascinated by the commercials during "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" ... nothing but ads for politicians, denture creams, arthritis pain relief, adult diapers, Werther's Originals. What's the target demographic for those two shows? Age 80 to deceased?
. . .
We recently returned from a week in Ontario. You can tell right away that you're back in the States: There are no recycling bins in public places in the U.S.
In Ontario, there are recycling bins in most public places --- restaurants, malls, even gas stations. Of course, in the Mon Valley, we have enough problems getting people to put the trash into trash cans, much less recycling it.
But boy, I quickly got used to dropping my pop bottle (yes, they say "pop" in Ontario) into a recycling bin at the beach, the mall or wherever. It would be nice to have the same thing here, though I'm pretty sure anyone who suggested it would be accused of being a Marxist-socialist gun-confiscating liberal tool of the mighty United Nations conspiracy.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
Tube City Community Media Inc. (OK, actually, the editor of this "esteemed" website) has created a new trail map for the McKeesport Trail Commission.
The map, unveiled last week at International Village, shows the route of the McKeesport-Versailles LooP and the connecting trails, as well as trail-side amenities such as restaurants and stores.
Click to enlarge.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
Winners of the $50 gift cards from Westmoreland Pools & Spas were Arlene Falvo of Port Vue and Darlene Behanna of Glassport. The cards are going out today by U.S. Mail.
The drawing was held live on our webcast at 9 p.m. Thursday night, by the very scientific method of shaking up the bucket of entry slips, flagging down the first person we saw, and asking them to draw a winner.
Thank you to Westmoreland Pools for donating the prizes, and thank you to everyone who stopped at our booth during International Village!
Thank you to these sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible.
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Category: Announcements || By Jason Togyer
Fireworks tonight and a closing ceremony performance by Scott Blasey of The Clarks will close out the 53rd International Village at Renziehausen Park. If you can't make it out, you can listen live here at Tube City Online.
Remember, we need your tote bags! We've partnered with The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project to collect gently used tote bags next week during International Village.
Plus: Stop by our booth for a chance to win a $50 gift card from Westmoreland Pools & Spas! Two will be given away -- no purchase necessary, and winners need not be present to win.
Thank you to these sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible.
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Category: Announcements || By Jason Togyer
Thank you to everyone who tuned into our webcast! Despite some rain, there were plenty of people at International Village for opening night.
The forecast for the next two nights is perfect --- temperatures in the upper 70s and clear skies. And we have plenty of free stuff to give away --- including two $50 gift cards for Westmoreland Pools and Spas. So, please stop by and say hi!
Now, the bad news. Even though our intended audience is on the Internet, we like to be able to say that International Village is "on the radio," even though by law, our so-called "Part 15" broadcast is limited to the confines of Renzie Park. Well, our FM radio transmitter appears to be toast. (The FM transmitter malfunction does not affect the webstream at all.)
Our broadcast range is supposed to be limited to 200 feet. Yesterday, our range was more like 200 inches.
Diligent work by volunteer Derrick Brashear and one of our board members, Dan Malesky, led us to the conclusion that one of the transistors in our little transmitter has fried. Our name may be "Tube City," but our equipment does have solid-state components, not vacuum tubes. (Derrick even made a special trip up to Radio Shack in Olympia to scrounge for parts, to no avail.)
The good news is that tomorrow, we are going to try our backup AM transmitter, just so that we can continue to say that International Village is, indeed, on the radio dial in McKeesport --- even if it's only a small sliver of McKeesport. If this works, I'll post the frequency here and on our Facebook page. Stay tuned, so to speak.
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Category: Shameless Horn-Tooting || By Jason Togyer
Want a free button like this one? Stop by the Tube City Online booth at International Village today, tomorrow and Thursday!
Oh, and our live broadcast is up and running ... mostly. Our 92.3 FM transmitter has gone a little bit farkakte, and you probably won't be able to hear it. But the webstream is loud and proud, so tune it in. (Mobile-friendly website here.)
Stop by and say hello, hola, bonjour, ciao, hallo, or just "yo." (We're next to the Trib Total Media booth. Ironic what?)
We need your tote bags! We've partnered with The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project to collect gently used tote bags next week during International Village.
Bags will be donated to pantries served by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Drop them off at our booth next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Plus: Stop by our booth for a chance to win a $50 gift card from Westmoreland Pools & Spas! Two will be given away -- no purchase necessary, and winners need not be present to win. (Details at the end of this entry.)
Thank you to these sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
We need your tote bags! We've partnered with The Pittsburgh Tote Bag Project to collect gently used tote bags next week during International Village.
Bags will be donated to pantries served by the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Drop them off at our booth next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Plus: Stop by our booth for a chance to win a $50 gift card from Westmoreland Pools & Spas! Two will be given away -- no purchase necessary, and winners need not be present to win. (Details at the end of this entry.)
Thank you to these sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible.
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Category: History || By M.F. Bowers
Excerpted from "Memoirs of McKeesport," edited by Bruce A. Yount and published in 1960 as part of the city's Old Home Week celebration.
. . .
Who did most for McKeesport almost a century ago?
Many old-timers would vote for John H. Flagler, who brought the National Tube Co. here in 1872.
Flagler blazed a hot trail to prosperity to have his plant referred to as the "backbone of McKeesport." It has expanded time and again. At one time the tube works was credited with having the largest mill of the world under one roof.
When Flagler, first president of the tube company, came here, much of Riverview Park, Christy Park, Highland Grove, the hills of the Westside and for miles around was farm land. Only one railroad, the B&O, had entered the city. There was no huge works on Camden Hill (Editor's Note: Irvin Works in West Mifflin) and not a wheel turned in Glassport, Port Vue, Clairton or Duquesne.
The first tube works here, land and all, it was said by Mr. Flagler, cost less than $100,000.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report
McKeesport's American Cancer Society Relay for Life will be held this Saturday and Sunday on the track at McKeesport Area High School, 1960 Eden Park Blvd.
A spokeswoman says events begin at 8 a.m. Saturday with the set up of tents. Teams should check in at 9:30, and opening ceremonies begin promptly at 10 a.m.
The national anthem will be performed by Kim Shaw of the Rehab Relayers, while the Rev. John Yohe of Bower Hill Community Church, Mt. Lebanon, will deliver the invocation.
City Mayor Michael Cherepko, White Oak Mayor Ina Jean Marton, state Sen. Jim Brewster, state Rep. Bill Kortz and Allegheny County Councilman Bob Macey will help welcome participants. A complete schedule is at the end of this article.
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Category: Commentary/Editorial || By Jason Togyer
(Commentaries are the opinions of individual authors, and do not reflect the views of Tube City Community Media Inc., its volunteers or officers.)
There have been two well-publicized mass-shootings in the past month, one at a Colorado movie theater and another at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.
Why are those national tragedies, but seven fatal shootings in McKeesport are just another 30 seconds on the news? When are President Obama or Mitt Romney going to issue a statement expressing their regrets on the tragedy of seven dead people in McKeesport --- and of the city itself, which is fighting for its life?
I haven't written anything about this summer's rash of street violence in McKeesport --- yes, there was another fatal shooting last night, this one at a house on Coursin Street --- not because I'm ignoring it, but because I have nothing useful to add.
Everyone knows what the problems are. No one can seem to solve them --- or seems to want to.
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Category: History || By M.F. Bowers
Excerpted from "Memoirs of McKeesport," edited by Bruce A. Yount and published in 1960 as part of the city's Old Home Week celebration.
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
State transportation department officials are advising motorists of possible delays as work continues on Routes 837 and 885 in West Mifflin.
Work on the bridge continues tomorrow on a bridge that carries Route 837 across the Union Railroad near the entrance to Kennywood Park, said Jim Struzzi, spokesman for PennDOT District 11.
Crews are replacing expansion joints and repairing concrete approach slabs on the bridge between Herman Avenue in Duquesne and Hoffman Boulevard in West Mifflin. Traffic will be reduced to a single lane in each direction from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 21.
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Category: History || By M.F. Bowers
Following up our excerpts from Walter Riggs' "The Early History of McKeesport," we are reprinting portions of M.F. Bowers' "Memoirs of McKeesport." Like Riggs' history, this article originally was published in 1960 as part of the city's Old Home Week celebration.
Bowers was a celebrated journalist for the Daily News whose lively articles about McKeesport history and personalities are collected in scrapbooks at the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center in Renzie Park.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
Thank you to these sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible. Listen to the village live this Aug. 14, 15 and 16 from your computer or mobile device!
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
Thank you to these sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible. Listen to the village live this Aug. 14, 15 and 16 from your computer or mobile device!
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Category: History || By Walter L. Riggs
Excerpted from "The Early History of McKeesport," published in 1960 as part of the city's Old Home Week celebration.
Beneath those rugged elms, that hew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
The above verse from Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" might well describe the original cemetery or graveyard set apart by David McKee for the interment of his neighbors and their families. Its location, using present street names, would be on the north side of Ninth Avenue at Locust Street, running northwardly to the James Penny Plan and westwardly to Tube Works Alley.
There were no lots in the graveyard, and when a member of a family died, the kin of the dead person would merely go to the graveyard, select a suitable spot and dig a grave; the coffins were wooden boxes, usually made by the friends of the deceased, or if made by a carpenter, the cost was $5.
As time passed and more and more graves were dug, it be came a problem to find a vacant spot for an interment. If the one digging the grave would find the spot already occupied, he would fill up the hole, move over a few feet and try again.
The conditions in the cemetery became so bad that the borough officials appealed to the Governor, and a special act of the legislature was passed on March 15, 1872, giving the Burgess and the borough council of McKeesport the right "to remove the bodies from the old graveyard in said borough, to sell the ground and purchase other ground for burial purposes."
. . .
Digging Up the Graveyard: The grisly task of removing the dead had not proceeded to any great extent, when, on March 1, 1873, the lot known as the Old Grave Yard was sold to James Evans. Before a deed could be made and delivered, James Neel sued the Borough of McKeesport.
Neel asked for an injunction enjoining the defendants from the removal of the remains of the dead. The defendants, Lewis Mathews, Samuel Fields and James Harrison, were persons employed by the borough and actively engaged in the removal of the bodies. Mr. Neel claimed that he had held possession of a lot in the Old Grave Yard since March 24, 1852, that he had erected a stone wall around it, and had placed an iron fence on the stone wall, and had erected a monument in said lot at a cost of $1,000.
On Oct. 24, 1873, Redick McKee arrived in McKeesport and joined James Neel as a co-plaintiff in said suit.
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
Applications are now being accepted for Penn State's master gardener training program. The classes will be held Tuesday mornings at the Allegheny County Extension Office in Point Breeze.
Penn State master gardeners are volunteers trained and certified by Penn State Extension. Once they complete their training, master gardeners are eligible to answer the public's "green" questions through the garden hotline, and they can offer educational programs to all ages through school programs, a speaker's bureau and Backyard Gardening Lectures at local garden centers.
They actively participate in civic beautification projects, demonstration gardens in North Park, South Park and the Allegheny County Courthouse, and informational exhibits at various events.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
Thank you to these sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible. Listen to the village live this Aug. 14, 15 and 16 from your computer or mobile device!
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Category: History || By Walter L. Riggs
Excerpted from "The Early History of McKeesport," published in 1960 as part of the city's Old Home Week celebration.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
Tube City Online is the exclusive home of live, continuous coverage of McKeesport's International Village! Make sure to listen to the village live this Aug. 14, 15 and 16 from your computer or mobile device, or on 92.3 FM in Renzie Park.
And thank you to our sponsors for making our International Village broadcast possible.
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Category: History || By Walter L. Riggs
Excerpted from "The Early History of McKeesport," published in 1960 as part of the city's Old Home Week celebration.
John McKee raised about $4,500 from the sale of lots in his newly named town of McKee's Port. This amount does not seem to have been sufficient to satisfy his creditors, who, in McKee's words, were "straining every nerve to compel payment."
It became necessary for McKee to sell parts of the plantation not included in the original plan of lots. It is difficult to read the deeds without being conscious of the supreme, but futile, efforts made by John McKee to save his home from the wreckage of his blighted hopes and blasted fortunes.
Piece by piece, the old plantation passed into the hands of strangers; first, parts of the land in the extreme south end of the tract were sold; then, the hilly section to the east; then on April 7, 1798, he gave up the mansion house and 26 acres of land, but he did so with one grand gesture, the demanding and receiving the sum of almost $7,000 as the price of his final capitulation to the inevitable.
In view of the relatively small amounts received from the sale of other parts of the plantation, it would seem that the improvements on these 26 acres must have been quite pretentious to justify so great a price for the property.
Before arriving at the decision to sell the homestead, he left no stone unturned in his search for funds to satisfy his relentless creditors. He even made a trip overseas where he had friends and acquaintances in the hope of getting money.
On January 17, 1798, before making this journey, he executed a power of attorney to his wife and his son-in-law, William Thompson, reciting therein that he had "business of importance to transact abroad which demands my immediate attention, and where as there are sundry judgments against me which are unsatisfied, and other debts due which ought to be paid, and which must be attended to in my absence."
However, he did not leave McKeesport until the latter part of January 1798, and returned two months later, his quest for money having been in vain.
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