Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report
McKeesport Housing Corp. will hold a free workshop for first-time homebuyers on June 2.
The all-day event at McKeesport Heritage Center, 1832 Arboretum Drive, Renziehausen Park, will include presentations by NeighborWorks, Huntingdon Bank and other experts explaining the "right steps" toward homeownership.
Parking is free and the workshop begins at 8:30 a.m. Lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required. To register, call (412) 281-9773 or (412) 281-1100, extension 121.
For more information about McKeesport Housing Corp., call (412) 664-7003 or visit the website. The event is sponsored by the City of McKeesport, Huntingdon Bank and McKeesport Housing Corp.
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Category: News || By Jennifer Sopko
After hearing feedback from the student body, administration and the community over the past few months, McKeesport Area School Board has approved a new student dress code for the 2012-13 school year by a vote of 8-1. School Director Joe Lopretto was the lone vote against the policy.
School Director Trisha Gadson reported that Wal-Mart's corporate office has agreed to send coupons to the district for students to use to purchase dress code approved apparel and that the district will try to arrange special pricing at the North Versailles Township store.
The board's approval of the policy comes with its expectation that the dress code will continue to evolve, as several school directors, including School Board President Patricia Maksin and School Director Tom Maglicco, expressed reservations over specific requirements but felt that the policy needed to move forward.
In other business at April's school board meeting, a $529,000 grant from the state Department of Education will fund a literacy program for pupils in kindergarten through fifth-grade at McKeesport Area School District.
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Category: Announcements || By An Editor
McKeesport Symphony Orchestra's March 18 concert will be broadcast tonight on Pittsburgh's WRCT-FM (88.3).
The "Mostly Mozart" concert, which featured some of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most famous arias, duets and trios, airs at 7 p.m. on WRCT and may also be heard online at www.wrct.org.
The broadcast comes less than a week before the MSO wraps up its 2011-12 season with a concert spotlighting the movie music of composer John Williams.
This coming Saturday, the MSO will present an evening of popular classics from Beethoven, Debussy and Sibelius, as well as portions of Williams' film scores for the "Harry Potter" series, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and the "Star Wars" series.
That season-ending concert under the direction of principal conductor Bruce Lauffer is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at McKeesport Area High School, 1960 Eden Park Blvd. For more information or directions, visit the symphony's website.
The March 18 concert to be broadcast tonight features soloists Julie McGough on flute, along with vocalists Alexandra Loutsion (soprano) and Kyle Oliver (baritone) of the Pittsburgh Opera.
The concert was recorded by Tube City Community Media Inc., which operates the Tube City Online and Tube City Almanac websites. WRCT is a non-commercial radio station owned by students at Carnegie Mellon University.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report
"George Westinghouse" visits McKeesport on May 19 to talk about his life, work, company and inventions.
Portrayed by Ed Reis of Pittsburgh's Heinz History Center, "Westinghouse" will be the guest of honor during a luncheon at 12:30 p.m. at McKeesport Heritage Center, 1832 Arboretum Drive, Renziehausen Park. "Westinghouse" will begin his presentation at 2 p.m.
Reis, 73, of Baldwin Borough was the executive director of the George Westinghouse Museum in Wilmerding until it was merged into the Heinz center in 2007. A 25-year veteran of the former Westinghouse Electric Corp., Reis has been impersonating Westinghouse --- who died in 1914 --- for several years, performing for school, church and other groups.
The real Westinghouse had 361 patents and founded or acquired 60 companies. His inventions included the railroad air brake, which led to the modern industrial age, and he was a pioneer in alternating current, which brought electricity to communities around the world.
Westinghouse's championing of AC placed him in heated competition with his better-known rival, Thomas Edison, who promoted direct current, or DC, but the fight was decided in Westinghouse's favor because AC was far easier to generate and transmit over long distances.
Tickets are limited and cost $18. All proceeds benefit the volunteer fund of the McKeesport Heritage Center. Call (412) 678-1832.
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Category: News || By Jennifer Sopko
A potential provision in state Gov. Tom Corbett's 2012-13 budget could impose a one-year moratorium on reimbursement of costs for new public school district construction projects in Pennsylvania.
While the final state budget has yet to be passed, the rumors of a funding freeze are enough to worry the McKeesport Area School District about losing reimbursement for several new construction projects planned for the district, including renovation and expansion of Founder's Hall, an update to the district-wide master plan, and changes to the ongoing renovation of Francis McClure and replacement for Cornell Intermediate School.
Unsure of the amount of time available to request proposals from a different architecture firm if the state does cut funding, the board accepted a proposal from the district's current architecture firm, JC Pierce, by a 5-4 vote at its April 25 meeting.
Five school directors --- Mary Jane Keller, Tom Maglicco, Joseph Lopretto, Steven Kondrosky and President Patricia Maksin --- accepted JC Pierce's proposal, which sets an architectural fee of 5 percent of construction costs, not to exceed $400,000. Mark Holtzman, Trisha Gadson, Christopher Halaszynski and Terri Kisan voted against the proposal.
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
(The writer of this story has a conflict of interest. See the editor's note.)
Changes to this year's International Village are designed to return the annual ethnic festival to its roots, organizers say.
Games, slides and other carnival-type attractions will be downplayed, while a new series of educational demonstrations will be added to the three-day celebration, which draws 15,000 to 20,000 people each August to Renziehausen Park.
This year's International Village --- the 53rd --- is scheduled for Aug. 14, 15 and 16.
"I don't want to re-invent the wheel by any means," McKeesport Mayor Mike Cherepko says. "International Village is a fantastic event that people look forward to each and every year, and we want to make sure we keep all of the wonderful things about the Village the same."
That includes ethnic food booths representing nationalities of Europe, Africa and Asia as well as continuous free entertainment and dancing nightly.
But there was a sense that adding amusements and games were diluting the focus of International Village, Cherepko says.
"International Village was always designed to be an ethnic festival, and the one thing we wanted to make sure that we do is to continue that tradition and even enhance it," he says. "The last thing we want is for it to become a carnival. That's not what it's intended to be."
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
Work on a $17.3 million project to rehabilitate the Boston Bridge has been completed, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation announced today.
No additional traffic restrictions or closures will occur as part of this project. All work is finished.
"We understand the impacts this project had on the local community and we appreciate the patience and cooperation of everyone while we completed important work to rehabilitate this structure," said Dan Cessna, executive of PennDOT District 11.
"Many unexpected challenges were encountered yet we were able through the determined efforts of our project team and contractor to deliver a great project that will keep the Boston Bridge safe and useable for decades to come."
The project, started in 2010, rehabilitated the two lane eight-span steel truss structure, which carries state Route 48 over the Youghiogheny River between Versailles and Elizabeth Township.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report
McKeesport Little Theater presents "The Full Monty," a musical comedy/drama written by Terrence McNally, with music and lyrics by David Yazbek, and adapted from the 1997 film of the same name.
The stage version transplants the action from England to Buffalo, N.Y. Seeing how much their wives enjoy watching male strippers during a "Girls' Night Out," six unemployed steelworkers decide to try exotic dancing as a way to make some quick cash.
In the process they find renewed self-esteem, the importance of friendship and the ability to have fun. As the guys work through their fears, self-consciousness, feelings of worthlessness and anxieties --- over everything from being overweight to child custody, from bigotry to being gay --- they come to discover that not only are they stronger as a group, but that the strength they find in each other gives them the individual courage to face their demons and overcome them.
The show runs at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through May 20. Call (412) 673-1100 or visit the MLT website. (Due to the nature of the play, no one under age 17 is admitted without a parent or guardian.)
In addition, the MLT will host a special show for a "Ladies' Night Out" at 6 p.m. May 10, including hor d'oevres and wine before the performance. Tickets are $25, and reservations must be made by Monday.
On Saturday, May 12, the MLT's 2nd Stage Players will sponsor a fundraising dinner at 6:30 p.m. before the show. The dinner will consist of Swedish meatballs over noodles, cooked carrots, rolls and butter, coffee, hot tea, iced tea and assorted desserts. Cost of the dinner is $10. Tickets for the show are extra. Reservations are required no later than May 9.
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
Another month, another heated city council meeting.
McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko and Councilwoman V. Fawn Walker-Montgomery traded sharp words last night, with Cherepko accusing Walker-Montgomery of "smirking" and laughing during his remarks, and Walker-Montgomery accusing Cherepko of being disrespectful.
The exchange came after a long, heated discussion between council, the mayor and city Controller Ray Malinchak over the public works department's disposal of scrap vehicles and its policy for purchasing tires.
Unlike last month's meeting, no one was ejected by police, though Walker-Montgomery did excuse herself for a few minutes. The fractiousness seems to be a legacy of last year's superheated political climate, but has clearly begun to wear on everyone involved.
One official lamented privately last night, "Five months into the year, and we haven't yet discussed any city business at a city council meeting."
Cherepko, who has called Malinchak's questions politically motivated, compared the meetings to the movie "Groundhog Day": "Every month, we discuss the same issues, over and over again."
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
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Category: News || By Jason Togyer
One of the most confusing and dangerous sections of the hiking-biking trail between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, Md., is expected to get a lot better this summer.
Volunteers from the McKeesport Trail Commission are working with city officials and the Regional Trail Corp. to re-route a section of the trail between Locust and Water streets to avoid a congested, narrow sidewalk along Lysle Boulevard.
"Lysle Boulevard is not a good trail alignment," said Jack Paulik, project manager for the Regional Trail Corp., during a trail commission meeting last night. "It's probably the worst alignment anywhere on the trail. People tell us all the time, this is where they get lost."
The proposed new alignment would take bikes and hikers onto Fourth Avenue --- behind the Lysle Boulevard parking garage, the Daily News Building and the old McKeesport Municipal Building. Parking would be banned along Fourth Avenue, which would be dedicated for the trail and emergency vehicles only.
Mayor Mike Cherepko and Councilman Dan Carr, who was recently appointed to the city trail commission, are working with the trail corporation on the project, Paulik said.
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Category: Announcements, News || By Submitted Report
The chief executive officer of the Auberle home and foundation will be the keynote speaker at Penn State's spring commencement May 5.
Thirty-three graduates will receive bachelor's and associate degrees from Greater Allegheny Chancellor Curtiss Porter during the 11 a.m. ceremony at Wunderely Gymnasium on the McKeesport campus.
The keynote speaker will be John Lydon, chief executive officer at Auberle and the Pauline Auberle Foundation since 2004. Auberle is a nonprofit social agency serving more than 2,000 at-risk children and their families in eight southwestern Pennsylvania counties. Lydon has been involved with the nonprofit for more than 20 years as a volunteer, board member and board chair.
Prior to working at Auberle, Lydon practiced law in the Pittsburgh area and was founder and president of Lydon & Schubert, a law firm. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Law.
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