Category: News || By Almanac Staff

Tedesco Takes Oath: Above, newly appointed city police Chief Al Tedesco accepts congratulations from Mayor Jim Brewster following his swearing-in at last week's council meeting. Tedesco replaces Chief Joe Pero, who retired in November after 20 years' service.

Brewster says that Tedesco --- who was serving as assistant police chief, and who also plans to retire shortly --- has agreed to accept the position temporarily as the city searches for a new police chief.

"Joe's accomplishments are well-documented, and Al was a big contributor to those accomplishments," the mayor said. "I feel very confident that we'll move on without skipping a beat."

Both Pero and Tedesco have promised to make themselves available to the new police chief to aid the transition, Brewster said.

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Palisades Report Released: City officials released to the Almanac, Daily News and Post-Gazette a memo from the Redevelopment Authority of the City of McKeesport summarizing year-to-date expenses and revenues for the Palisades Ballroom.

The report (PDF, 430KB) shows the facility --- owned by the Redevelopment Authority but operated by a separate non-profit corporation --- generating $54,000 in income versus $58,000 in expenses through September.

An accompanying note from Robert Callen, authority chairman, notes that the Palisades should "break even or have a surplus" by the end of the year: "I see no city subsidy toward its operations in 2010."

City council last week called for an audited financial statement before a proposed 2010 subsidy of $36,000 is released to the Palisades; Callen's memo to the city, dated Nov. 12, notes that $24,000 of this year's subsidy had not yet been disbursed.

(Editor's Note: The low resolution of the PDF is the editor's fault, not the city's.)

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Brunch with 'Cat': McKeesport Little Theater will hold a "green eggs and ham" brunch with "The Cat in the Hat" before this Sunday's matinee of "Seussical: The Musical."

Reservations are required and must be made before Thursday. The menu consists of scrambled eggs (green tint is optional), ham, muffins, juice, coffee and cookies, and the cost is $10 per person, plus tickets for the show.

Call (412) 673-1100 or visit the MLT website.

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Rothermel to Deliver Commencement Address: The chief executive officer of the region's largest food bank will deliver next week's fall commencement address at Penn State's campus in McKeesport.

Joyce Rothermel, who helped found the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in 1980, is a graduate of St. John's College in Cleveland and the University of Dayton. Before helping to launch the food bank, now located in Duquesne, Rothermel was an elementary school teacher and associate director of the Thomas Merton Center's Ministry for Justice and Peace in Pittsburgh.

She currently serves as chair of the government relations committee of the Pennsylvania Association of Regional Food Banks and in leadership roles in other national and regional non-profit organizations. Last year, Rothermel was awarded the Frieda Shapira Medal for excellence in non-profit leadership by the Forbes Funds and the Jewish Healthcare Foundation.

Greater Allegheny Campus' commencement ceremony for fall 2009 graduates is slated for 7 p.m. Dec. 17 in the Wunderley Gymnasium.