Filed Under: News || By John Barna and Jason Togyer
Category: Announcements || By Submitted Reports
Motorists who use the Parkway East or Tri-Boro Expressway are being prepared for possible delays as two construction projects get underway.
In addition, state highway crews are repairing slide damage on Dillie Road in North Huntingdon Township, a spokesman said.
. . .
The outbound lanes of the Parkway East are being restricted to a single lane in Monroeville, beginning today, as crews apply sealant to a new bridge, says Jim Struzzi, PennDOT District 11 spokesman.
The restrictions will occur from 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. The bridge carries the Parkway East --- Interstate 376 --- over Business Route 22 between the Monroeville off-ramp and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Struzzi says. The work is part of a $19 million project that began in 2010. The prime contractor for the project is Swank Construction Company of New Kensington.
. . .
Meanwhile, in East Pittsburgh, concrete patching will get underway next week on the Tri-Boro Expressway between East Pittsburgh-McKeesport Boulevard and O'Connell Boulevard, Struzzi says.
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Category: Announcements || By Submitted Report
Kids and young adults ages 6 and up interested in playing organized sports are invited to free clinics that are coming to the Mon-Yough area this summer.
An Allegheny County spokesman said the clinics at local ball fields and community centers will begin June 18 and continue through July 27 at locations around the region.
The clinics will come to Renziehausen Park July 12 and 13, and to Auberle July 25-27. Hours are 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., weather-permitting. Other clinics are planned in Duquesne, Glassport and Rankin.
The county offers community-based sports clinics through federal Community Development Block Grant funding. The clinics are free and offer instruction in proper sports techniques to help each child perform to the best of his or her ability.
The clinics also emphasize fundamental rules of play and fair play. For more information, call the county Parks Department at (412) 350-2478.
A complete schedule follows.
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Category: Another Viewpoint || By An Editor
"I have not come here today with a prepared address. The committee in charge of the exercises of the day have graciously excused me on the grounds of public obligations from preparing such an address, but I will not deny myself the privilege of joining with you in an expression of gratitude and admiration for the men who perished for the sake of the Union.
"They do not need our praise. They do not need that our admiration should sustain them. There is no immortality that is safer than theirs. We come not for their sakes but for our own, in order that we may drink at the same springs of inspiration from which they themselves selves drank.
"I can never speak in praise of war, ladies and gentlemen; you would not desire me to do so. But there is this peculiar distinction belonging to the soldier, that he goes into an enterprise out of which he himself cannot get anything at all. He is giving everything that he hath, even his life, in order that others may live, not in order that he himself may obtain gain and prosperity.
"And just so soon as the tasks of peace are performed in the same spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion, peace societies will not be necessary. The very organization and spirit of society will be a guaranty of peace.
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Category: Shameless Horn-Tooting || By Jason Togyer
Point your browser at McKeesportInternationalVillage.com. If that's too much to type, InternationalVillage.info also will work.
The website was built at the request of the International Village committee and is being donated to the city by Tube City Community Media Inc. (me) and Skymagik Internet Services (my friend, Tom Schroll). It's a work in progress --- I have a lot more yet to add.
If you're wondering why we have two URLs, City Councilman Dan Carr, who chairs the International Village committee, felt that ".com" domains are preferable to ".info" domains. I can't argue that. But we also wanted a shorter domain for people using Twitter or mobile devices.
. . .
And I have another project I've been working on. Michelle Wardle-Eggers, executive director of McKeesport Heritage Center, and I are trying to start a Mon-Yough counterpart to the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council that will help network McKeesport-area arts and cultural groups.
We held our first brown-bag meeting a few weeks ago, and more than 20 people showed up. The next time someone tells you that people in McKeesport "don't care," you tell them they're full of crap.
The name is the McKeesport Regional Cultural Association.
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
Four students from the Mon-Yough area were among those honored in an annual Congressional High School Arts Competition.
First prize went to Iesha Grady of Penn Hills High School, whose pastel drawing will hang in the U.S. Capitol for one year, said Matt Dinkel, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, Forest Hills Democrat. Grady's artwork was selected from among 45 entries, Dinkel said.
Local winners included Maggie Morgans, West Mifflin Area High School, second place, pastel drawing entitled "Snowmaggedon"; Stephanie Taylor, South Allegheny High School, fifth place, oil painting entitled "Shades of Green."
Taylor, who also received an honorable mention this year, has placed artwork in the competition for three consecutive years, Dinkel said, winning first place in 2010 and second place in 2011.
"I don't know how the judges were able to pick a winner," Doyle said. "The hard work and dedication that these students put into their work is clear, and their artistic talents are quite evident in the artwork they submitted. They all should be proud of their creativity and talent."
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Category: News || By Submitted Report
Several road construction projects in the Steel Valley area are affecting local motorists who visit Kennywood and Century III Mall, or who commute to Pittsburgh.
Repairs to a bridge on Route 837 near Kennywood are expected to continue through June, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation announced.
Crews are conducting structural repairs and replacing expansion dams to the bridge, said Jim Struzzi of PennDOT District 11. Traffic will be restricted to a single lane in each direction nightly from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. weeknights through June 29.
The restrictions will be in effect between Herman Avenue in Duquesne and Hoffman Boulevard in West Mifflin. The work is being done by Lone Pine Construction of Washington County, Struzzi said.
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Category: News || By John Barna and Jason Togyer
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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, Huntington 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, Huntington 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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