Category: News || By Staff Report

New Fitness Center Opens Thursday: The YMCA of McKeesport will cut the ribbon on its new fitness center Thursday morning.

A spokesperson says a ceremony opening the exercise and meeting facility is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the former Frank R. Bondi Medical Building on Evans Avenue, across from UPMC McKeesport hospital.

The 122-year-old Y, which has been struggling under a mountain of debts incurred by previous management, closed the gymnasium and fitness center at its headquarters on Sinclair Street in June 2009.

Officials from the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh have been providing management help and last year told The Almanac they expect to eventually absorb the McKeesport organization, which is one of only two YMCAs in Allegheny County not already part of the Pittsburgh YMCA.

The Sinclair Street building, opened in 1922, had become too expensive to operate, officials said.

Off-site programs for children and teen-agers have continued to operate as usual.

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Food Bank Auctioning Coaster Tickets: Coaster fans have until Sunday to bid on their chance to be one of the first 200 people to ride Kennywood Park's new "Sky Rocket."

The Duquesne-based Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is auctioning the first 200 tickets to the highest bidders via its website.

Bidders will be allowed to choose their seats, with the highest bidder getting first choice, a food bank spokeswoman says.

Minimum bids are $50, which includes a "ride-all-day" pass and Kennywood souvenirs. The first ride on the "Sky Rocket" is slated for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

A so-called "launch coaster," much like the old "Laser Loop," "Sky Rocket" will not be propelled by a chain lift. Its two trains each will hold 12 riders and travel a 2,100-foot track.

The ride is being completed in the area formerly occupied by the "Turnpike" ride.

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Rankin Bridge Closing Slated: Traffic on both directions of the Rankin Bridge will be stopped tomorrow morning several times to allow delivery of steel beams, the county's public works department has announced.

The stoppages will take place between 5 and 6 a.m. --- before morning rush hour --- and will take no more than 15 minutes at a time, a spokesman said.

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Lincoln Way Work Ongoing: Traffic delays are possible on Lincoln Way in White Oak while crews attempt to repair damage caused by heavy rainstorms in June 2009.

Crews from Plum Contracting of Greensburg are working on improving the shoulders of the road between Route 48 and the Westmoreland County line, says Jim Struzzi, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Workers will reduce traffic to a single, alternating lane as needed on weekdays through June 30, he says. The restrictions will occur between 7 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Lincoln Way is one of several state-owned roads in Allegheny County where storm damage is being repaired by Plum Contracting under a $1.3 million contract, Struzzi says.

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