Monessen Police Investigating Drive-By Shooting

Monessen police are looking for two men involved in a drive-by shooting Tuesday afternoon.

City police were called to Somerset Street around 2:20 p.m. when neighbors heard gunfire.

Police Chief John Mandarino said the suspects, believed to be white or light-skinned black men in a black or dark blue sport utility vehicle, were traveling down Somerset Street when one of the men shot toward a house. The bullets struck three houses on the same block.

No injuries were reported.

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmonvalley/yourmonvalleymore/8084970-74/police-monessen-shooting#ixzz3W0mGI026
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Monessen Teenager Charged In Arson Spree

Monessen police have accused a 17-year-old boy of setting or attempting to set three fires Jan. 16 and 17.

The boy, who was charged as a juvenile and has not been identified, lives near the fire scenes, according to court documents.

The first fire occurred Jan. 16 at a building on 10th Street. No charges have been filed in that incident.

While firefighters were battling that blaze, the boy allegedly set a building on fire at 1220 Knox Ave.

Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmonvalley/yourmonvalleymore/7627912-74/fire-police-street#ixzz3PlY0ur7R
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Shale Oil, Gas Finds Put Mon Valley On Path To Renaissance, Leaders Say

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Washington County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lue Ann Pawlick never envisioned companies connected with oil and gas beating a path to Alta Vista Business Park when it broke ground in tiny Fallowfield, Washington County, in 2001.

Today, three of the five companies in Alta Vista work in the industry. An energy company is set to start construction in the spring, and at least one more is close to signing a deal to locate there.

“We’re trying to keep it a mixed-use business park, but we have to recognize the oil and gas industry is the biggest game in town right now,” said Pawlick, executive director of the Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association. “They are the ones driving demand.”

Ten years ago, Fort Worth-based Range Resources Corp. drilled the first Marcellus shale well in Washington County. Now the county — which dubs itself “Energy Capital of the East” — is home to about 1,000 wells, the most in Pennsylvania.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/washington/6815491-74/county-mon-valley#ixzz3GhruaosZ
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Blame For Blighted Properties In Monessen Reaches Across Globe

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Westmoreland County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mayor Lou Mavrakis drove slowly through Monessen, block by block, pointing out one vacant, blighted building after another in the city of 7,700 along the Monongahela River.

“That belongs to me,” he said, pointing to a house with a collapsing roof that has become the responsibility of the city and the mayor.

Tax records show the building is one of 264 structures and lots in the city that have been abandoned by their owners. More than 26 percent of the city’s 734 blighted properties are owned by people from 24 states and five foreign countries, beyond the legal reach of Monessen officials.

“It’s almost impossible to get in touch with these owners,” Mavrakis said.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/6562693-74/property-owners-monessen#ixzz3ACc2e4tx
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Drugs Found At Scene Of Monessen Slaying

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Westmoreland County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Seven packets of heroin were found outside, just feet from where masked assailants fired at least four shots through a back door, striking and killing Chris “Snaxx” Fincik at his Monessen home.

Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka testified on Thursday during the third day of the second- and third-degree murder trial of Chalsee Hughes that even more drugs were found on a kitchen table.

Prosecutors contend Fincik, 36, was gunned down during a robbery on Dec. 3, 2012, at his Maple Avenue home. His attackers left behind more than $3,200 and 390 packets of heroin, Dupilka said.

Hughes, 21, of Duquesne is charged as an accomplice in the slaying. Police said she used her identification to purchase a $16 box of ammunition that was used in the shooting.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/5842700-74/hughes-dupilka-pinkney#ixzz2xHRIyf3W
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Clairton’s Winning Streak Snapped At 66 By Monessen

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States Public School Districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  It had to happen eventually. Congrats to Clairton High for their record-setting run.

The longest active winning streak in American high school football was snapped at 66 games Friday night in Clairton’s 42-24 home loss to Monessen.

Clairton had not lost since Sept. 4, 2009.  Its winning streak ended tied for the 10th-longest in American history.

The Clairton Bears have won the Pennsylvania Class A championship every year since 2009 but this year’s team was hit hard by graduation.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/high-school-football/clairtons-winning-streak-snapped-at-66-by-monessen-704199/#ixzz2fXx4LWc4