Of course Bruce Kraus is ignorant to a problem that the helped to fuel

https://triblive.com/local/false-narrative-about-south-side-violence-bad-for-neighborhood-business-councilman-says/

History teaches prudent lesson on Pitt stadium. Hey Brian O'Neill

PG, April 4, 1999

Brian O'Neill Column

History teaches prudent lesson on Pitt stadium

"Pitt stadium will be razed..."

Sorry to see you feeding into the "done deal mentality." And, its nine-time national champions, not six.

Some of the mentions in the opinion article include:

• money corrupting games
• venerable structure
• tradition
• there was no innocent days of yore!
• obscure novel, Stadium, 1931

Listen:

1. Pitt Stadium was built with bonds. Big deal. Lots of businesses and buildings are built with bonds.

2. "The students, fervid old grads and townspeople who had nothing else to do, came to the stadium on Saturday afternoons, but seldom with enthusiasm."

   Yea. Yawn. So what is the point. The fans are not going to get excited when the home team losses all national significance. This is a timeless understanding. People would rather win than not.

Productive people don't spectate, they live

Pittsburgh should cater to the busy people in our communities, and not spectators anway. We, the citizens, want among other things, more spaces to engage with one another. These are high-level playgrounds. We like the idea of sports performance complexes, but they need to server citizens with much better cost/benefits.

One can live while in the role of a spectator too. In the stands one can build releationships. One can also appreciate a struggle of time, space and releationship in others, and learn for themselves.

Desirable for Bettering Releationships

Pitt needs students, old grads and idle townspeople to come to its campus on Saturdays. Pitt does not need empty seats on the North Side on Saturdays.

The Game and the Process of Games

The NCAA handbook has swelled in size from the times of Sutherland. Pay to players was not formalized in scholarships as it is today. Pay to players is nothing new. Scholarships of this era are under the table too, as they are not out in the open. Ask a coach or the athletic department to publish their scholarship levels telling who is funded and to what level. Ask a baseball coach, or a sports coach with another cap on scholarships if those numbers are public knowledge, and they are not. There are privacy reasons, sure. But todays ills are the same as those of the past. Scholarships are given and taken in an under-the-table maner as they are not out in the open. These scholarships are formalized and legal documents, but are not out in the open on the top of the table for sure.

Purity

Who said anyting about being pure? Why not argue and refute virginity as a reason to raze Pitt Stadium. The Brian goes on to write, "Better players engorged the stadium." Snicker. Seems you do have a dirty thought -- engorged!

Beano Cook

Beano is a pigskin prognosticator of national stature, and that makes him a gambling advocate, in turn less pure, in turn of under-the-table transactions. To say what Beano says is anything but a "gambling" perspective is unwise. If Beano says Pitt should move to the new Steelers stadium, I'm of a heart to say that the move should not happen all the stronger. You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. Just above you had a purity thread, and then below you switch to a source of the worst kind for purity.

Beano = Gambling
Gambling = Not Pure
Beano = Raze Pitt Stadium

I say do the inverse of what Beano says. For example: The CHOKE folks worked withing the system with the County Health Department to prohibit the opening of a new coke plant in Hazelwood. The Health Department uses consultants who are engineers who get paid by the polluters. Its the corporations that spend to keep their operations alive. Beano Cook is one of the polluters in sports today. His opinion has an inverse effect on what is right. He is biased won't say anything otherwise to go counter to the "done-deal mentality."

Same to with the PG. Thanks for helping in the arguements to keep Pitt Stadium.

Case in point: I've talked to a number of journalists and reporters in Pittsburgh in the past months. More and a couple have told me that they think that the closing of Pitt Stadium is a terrible idea. They are dead-set against it. However, they don't want to loose their jobs. They don't want to loose press-passes once the new stadium opens. They do not want to buck up against these vindictive leaders who are on the other side of the arguement.

Sad for them. Sad for us. Sad for my neighbors too.

---

Gambling Stinks

Think of it in a perspective of the definition of sports as advocated here. Sports are games of time, space and releationship. Gambling is not a releationship builder. Gambling is not a space sensative activity, as it happens around the world. And, gambling is not much of a time game either. Gambling is anti-sport as it sets out to lessen all values of the game, time, space and releationships. Gamblers can't even bet upon who is going to win -- there are "favorites" and they change the rules of the games themselves as a team can win by 2 points -- and not cover the spread. How defeating.

Gambling is not sports and it greatly hurts sports.

Tainted but Valid Somewhere

Beano is a Pitt grad. Beano is a friend of Pitt and Pittsburgh. Beano has many releationships that might have some roots due to sports. There is much to build upon there, to make a sports person's opinion ring true, but the tainting is going to take great amounts of drilling to get to the sports person within Beano.

Youth Jobs deadline and a big story request from Mark@Rauterkus.com

Hi Friends and Fellow Travelers in these times of Protests and a Global Pandemic:

CYBER SWIM CAMP as part of Pittsburgh Public Schools Summer Dreamers should deliver 27 days of literacy, math and swimming -- all from the comfort of your living room. All virtual.

HELP! This is my call to you and yours -- as we want to have "STORY TIME" as part of our CYBER SWIM CAMP for 4th and 5th graders. I hope to collect 30 or more, 5-minute stories with something to do about water. 

Can you share a story, please?

Story should have a start, middle and end. Use your phone record it. Don't need any slides, just a story that can keep the attention of the students and be a launch point for more discussions about vocabulary, challenges, water, safety, fun, by-gone days, whatever.

Example stories are assembled at https://S6.CLOH.org/category/story

Deadline for families in the city schools to apply for that program (up to grade 5) is pressing in the next hours. 

https://www.pghschools.org/summerdreamers  

- - - -

Youth in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have one more day to finish their applications for the job program targeted to income qualified individuals giving 6 weeks of work at 25-hours at minimum wage. Age range is 14-21. Deadline pushed to June 6, 2020. 

The number of applications might be at an all time low as it has been hard to reach and obtain the applications to work from the students without school visits.

https://Partners4Work.org

I was hoping to get some youth, especially athletes, interested in work with me and my digital projects with publishing content on swimming, sports, fitness and wellness at web pages, their own sites, collaborative concept maps, and more. https://Earn.CLOH.org. 

Lifeguard training should be in high gear, but we all know that's off for now. As guard and training opportunities arise, I'll post at https://Guard.4Rs.org, or email me.

Without swim pools, many turn to OPEN WATER SWIMMING. See my feature for the International Swim Coaches Association.

https://Blog.SwimISCA.org/open-water-swimming-feature/

Primary election day and a peaceful protest merged this week. Its been 19 years since I was first on the ballot as a candidate for mayor. Short reflections on Facebook or at https://rauterkus.com/election-day-and-a-flashback-to-a-campaign-from-19-years-ago/

Please stay safe this summer.

Call or email if you want help in getting us a recorded story.

Fwd: The First Friday | American Chestnut Trees • New Blooms • A Note from Your Gardener

Face plant. And I am not talking about summer bulb planting. 

Talk about a total lack of nuts, except chestnuts. 

These people take $20M of city taxpayers money each year. 

Hello!

PS: My gardener do not write this crap. What about "your gardener?"

Mark R

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy <awenk@pittsburghparks.org>
Date: Fri, Jun 5, 2020 at 7:19 AM
Subject: The First Friday | American Chestnut Trees • New Blooms • A Note from Your Gardener

THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREE The American chestnut was once considered the largest, tallest and fastest-growing trees. The wood was rot-resistant, straight-grained, and suitable for furniture, fencing, and building. The nuts fed billions of wildlife, people, and their livestock. It was almost a perfect tree. That is, until a blight fungus killed it nearly a century ago. The chestnut blight has been called the greatest ecological disaster to strike the world's forests in all of history. Pittsburgh serves as the home to 30 American chestnuts, residing in Frick and Highland Park. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy continues planting this rare species for research and experimentation.  "I am replicating breeding work that the American Chestnut Foundation is embracing by taking advanced genetic hybrids and planting them out with surviving chestnuts trees and letting open pollination occur," Phil Gruszka, Parks Conservancy director of horticulture and forestry said. "I will never see the benefits of this, but my grandchildren might."  Parks Conservancy advocate and supporter, Kitty Brunkhorst, took a particular interest in this project.  "I learned that Phil was working with (Parks Maintenance Manager) Dick Wilford to plant American chestnut tree seeds about two years ago. It was somewhat funny to me to think of these two men finding a secret place to plant and tend these seeds, planning to see what did and didn't work," Kitty said.  "I've been concerned about trees in Frick Park for a long time, as I live nearby and spend many hours in the park. The fact that they were attempting to revive a native species seemed worthwhile," Kitty explained. To learn more about the American Chestnut and how genetic engineering can potentially revive these trees, click here. If you'd like to explore the work that the American Chestnut Foundation is doing to restore this species, click here.  "So you do a lot of planting?"  This is a question I receive often when people realize I'm a professional park gardener. Fun fact – we spend most of our time pulling weeds!  Yes, we plant trees, bulbs, and annual flowers, but this is a small fraction of what we spend our time doing within Pittsburgh's parks. The types of vegetation we plant in the parks have very specific windows in which they can be planted.  Planting trees takes approximately five days in the spring and five days in the fall. We also spend approximately two days in the fall planting bulbs and spend four-to-six days in May planting annuals. However, we spend days - actually, weeks - pullings weeds! The flower beds in the parks are planted with perennial plants that bloom year after year, so they don't require planting, but they do require regular weeding. We even pull weeds during the winter months. In the park woodlands, pulling vines from trees and removing woody invasive shrubs is a form of weeding and this is how we spend our winter months in the parks. We don't use herbicides to control weeds, so it's up to our team of park gardeners and volunteers to remove them.  Your Gardener, Angela Yuele  A compilation of the Parks Conservancy's Horticulture and Forestry team's (also known as the 'Sassies') favorite plants.  Let's talk about summer flowering bulbs! Plant these underground structures in the spring and enjoy colorful blooms through the summer! Learn about some of our favorite plants below. Jaci Bruschi, Gardener | CANNA  This cultivar is a 'South Pacific Scarlet.' It's a great cultivar of Canna from the South Pacific series; it will grow to about four-to-five feet it can be planted in a container and in a garden bed. Though it is not hardy to our zone, you can dig the bulbs up at the end of the season and save for next year's planting.   Angela Yuele, Horticulturist | GLADIOLUS  Gladiolus are an old-time favorite. I fondly remember my grandpa being very proud of his Gladiolus!  These are a tender summer bulb, which means they need to be dug up, or purchased, every year and replanted. The bloom time is brief on theses beauties. To prolong the bloom time you can stagger plantings in two-week intervals. This is a popular plant for flower arrangements as well!  Robin Eng, Restoration Gardener | GRAPE-LEAF ANEMONE Grape-leaf or Japanese anemone produce great mounding heaps of lush dark green foliage year-round. Then as the major blooms of summer appear to be dying back, they put out great cloud-like plumes of blossoms, raised above to foliage on graceful flower stalks. Although not native to the United States, these great perennials are well worth a spot in any sunny garden. Colors vary from white to shades of pink, and blooms can last for weeks on mature plants. If you're looking for a perennial addition to prolong the flowering season of your garden, this one comes highly recommended!  Maggie Herrick, Restoration Gardener | MONTEBRETIA  A member of the iris family, Montebretia (Crocosmia spp.) is a late summer bloomer that will give your garden interest into the fall. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and birds will be especially happy with the flowers and the seedpods that follow and provide a food source. The strappy, sword-like foliage demonstrates the relation to irises and provide a texture contrast to other plants. These flowering corms come in a range of heights up to five feet and a variety of striking colors. They are salt and drought tolerant, prefer full sun, but can tolerate some shade and make great cut flowers. Mulch these plants heavily or bring them inside during the winter to help them survive.  P.S. Remember, parks and greenspaces have never been more vital. The time you spend outdoors during rejuvenates your body and mind. Honor that time and the essential role nature plays in your daily life by choosing to make a donation today to support the parks you know and love.  Every little bit counts. You received this email because you are subscribed to General Parks News from Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. { 45 South 23rd Street Pittsburgh, PA 15203 © 2020 Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. All rights reserved.

                                                           

Wayne Fontana's Fumbles

Just because it surfaced again. This is not an April Fool's joke, sadly. 

The vote went in favor of the extra tax for the parks

Fwd: Nurture, Invest, Lead: Dr. Hamlet Reflects on the 2018-2019 School Year

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Superintendent Hamlet
Date: Thu, Jun 13, 2019 at 6:15 PM
Subject: Nurture, Invest, Lead: Dr. Hamlet Reflects on the 2018-2019 School Year

As our students and staff begin summer break, I'd like to take this opportunity to update you on work accomplished by staff and teachers and share more efforts underway this summer to continually raise the bar on student outcomes.

For the start of the 2018-19 school year, we rolled out new curricula in Algebra and K-5 Mathematics, building off recent curriculum updates in English Language Arts. Our 60 academic coaches continued to help teachers adapt and learn new, proven techniques to improve achievement. We launched programs that reduced out of school suspensions significantly and invested in education technology to help us track student achievement in real time and guide students as they navigate the college admission process.

Already, students are responding. The percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced on the 2018 PSSA increased on all three exams. Performance of our African American students also increased on all three PSSA exams. Graduation rates improved for all students by 10.4 percent to 80.8 percent in 2017. Additionally, students of both genders and African American students saw increases.  In fact, the graduation rate for African American students in PPS surpassed the state by 3.7 percent.

We're not going to turn around achievement overnight, but these gains provide evidence that our strategic plan is guiding us in the right direction. 

Nurture

Implementation of our strategic plan focused on the most vulnerable students.

We had to go back to basics and make sure our students are nurtured, so they are ready to learn. When I became superintendent, I learned that schools in many disadvantaged neighborhoods didn't have nurses or librarians. Graduation rates needed improvement, especially among our African American males and the out of school suspension rate was one of the highest in the state. ESL students, one of our District's fastest growing populations, were underserved. We increased translation supports and moved students out of sheltered ESL classrooms and into spaces where they can find a balance of support and challenge.

Now, in addition to eight community schools, all campuses have access to nurses and at least half-day librarians. This school year, we completed the implementation of Positive Behavior and Intervention Support (PBIS) and Restorative Practices to all 54 school buildings. Instead of the first line of defense being suspension, students now have trained staff focused on coping skills and conflict resolution. 

The state didn't think we could roll PBIS out to all schools this quickly, but having successfully done so with colleges in my former district, I was confident in our ability to accomplish this goal. More importantly, we couldn't wait because for every year we waited, we risk another student leaving school and potentially winding up perpetuating the poverty cycle or worse. School-age children belong in school, focused on learning not on the streets, where they must focus on survival. As a result, the number of days students have missed school due to suspension has declined by more than 1,500 days. 

Invest

This school year, in addition to investing in new curricula, we also invested in educational technology. We know that technology has the potential to become the great equalizer in bridging the achievement gap among students from underserved populations. In a world where students will be expected to use technology to find unfamiliar locations, look up information, or work with other people, we must prepare them accordingly.

Through the use of technology, we are able to engage students in their learning, provide much-needed intervention and enrichment, assess academic progress, and provide teachers valuable data to identify areas of need while cultivating innovative ways to improve teaching and learning. 

One of these investments, called Naviance, offers college and career planning for middle and high school students. The software helps guidance counselors walk students through the process of identifying their strengths and interests and exploring careers and colleges to create personalized plans for life beyond high school. Our District now joins a growing number of large public-school systems across the country, including some of the largest urban districts which have embraced this platform as a proven career readiness tool.

Lead

Our quest to improve student achievement was laid with a strong foundation. You may remember that in 2016, I ordered the most in-depth third-party analysis of the Pittsburgh Public Schools system. I was hearing from stakeholders like you, including foundation leaders and parents, that the District was stuck. And the numbers reinforced what I was hearing. So, we had to do a deep dive. This analysis included 137 recommendations. It's overwhelming. But we took this analysis, and we met with thousands of parents, staff, and community members to form our strategic plan, Expect Great Things. So far, 72 of the recommendations have been fully implemented.

I'd like you to know that my staff and I are committed to working tirelessly toward completing more recommendations. Here are some efforts on our summer agenda:

• The rollout of On Track to Equity, a robust plan that details intentional efforts underway to eliminate racial disparity in achievement levels of African American students. Equity is one of four strategic themes in our strategic plan. The plan meets a requirement of our MOU with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission to deliver, in writing to the Equity Advisory Panel (EAP), an implementation plan that details, "the action steps which the District will take in order to accomplish the terms of the MOU." We view the completion of the plan as an opportunity to move beyond compliance to demonstrate for all stakeholders our commitment to reaching our desired outcomes for students.  We continue to finalize the plan with the EAP and expect to release a final plan to the public this summer. 
• Implementation of Let's Talk! This interactive platform will streamline our Parent Hotline, Call Center calls and emails as well as all PPS social media chatter into one cohesive Dashboard. K12 Insight will provide onsite training of the 'Let's Talk!' platform and professional development on best practices in customer service. The platform will automatically assign ownership of all cases and issue alerts to the assigned staff, as well as alerting leadership with any significant concerns that may be arising. By housing all stakeholder communications in one centralized dashboard this will allow the District to enhance our customer service and to engage our community as a whole.
• The 2^nd Annual Summer Leadership Academy's theme is Removing Barriers to Advance Teaching and Learning. The goal of the Summer Leadership Academy is to utilize district talent as an intentional capacity building strategy to strengthen systemic implementation of research-based pedagogical practices all aimed at advancing teaching, learning, and student outcomes. The Leadership Academy will provide School Leadership teams with the opportunity to participate in an intense professional growth experience. 

While we're moving full steam ahead, we must recognize that we can't always rush progress. Consistent nurturing, investment and leadership are the key ingredients that will get our students where we know they can be, reaching their highest and greatest potential.

Dr. Anthony D. Hamlet

Superintendent of Schools

Pittsburgh Public Schools

341 South Bellefield Avenue. Pittsburgh, PA  15213

412-529-3600 (W)  |   412-622-3604 (F)  |superintendenthamlet@pghschools.org

Meet Leon Ford

https://theincline.com/2018/07/06/inside-leon-fords-political-awakening-and-his-new-plan-for-political-action/?mc_cid=988d57c28d&mc_eid=34ac9ed7ff

Finally! Putting some political action into the political realm. It isn't just about voting. It is about candidates and policies and practices and more. 

Fwd: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - rally on Sunday

Protect The First Amendment!!  Save Democracy in America!!

Come to the Rally, Sunday, June 10, 11 am, 34 Blvd. of the Allies

Distribute this notice widely!!   


------- Forwarded message ----------

From: John H

With the advent of the hard-core and proudly neoliberal Keith Burris as managing editor of the Post-Gazette and the censorship of Rob Rogers editorial cartoons which depict Trump in a bad light, perhaps it's time we reconsider whether buying the paper is a priority in our lives.  The recent changes in the Post-Gazette's editorial policies are really difficult to swallow.  See the attached article, which indicates that it has even been noticed in New York City.

John

Article: Trump's assulst on a free press takes a new

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByN94c3Pp4BpLWJqdDYzaV9DTGVJUU5EOG9JbWZuSXQ2TUZj

Michael Diven and Wayne Fontana spent lots of money and paid plenty to printers and postmaster

Both Diven and Fontana ads were over the top. 

Election day was on May 17. It was a special election. Fontana won. Diven and then me.

Act 47 recommends -- Throwback to June 30, 2004 and the Trib

Pittsburgh has a new acting director of Citiparks in early 2018, and I'm excited to meet with him about some fun summer plans.

This is a snip from the Tribune, June 30, 2004 when a divided council passes the Act 47 plan. The headline in this part read: Key recommendations of the Act 47 recovery plan:

Playing well with others, in the city, took a beating in those times and never fully recovered.

Thread of Paul of KDKA on FB

Mark Rauterkus posted: I do not remember the KDKA hosted debate among ALL the candidates on the ballot for the recent election for US Congress. Remember when the corporate media in town did the freeze out of the Libertarian who was not spending millions in advertisements for a 6 month job. That's pay to play folly that KDKA was a big part of promoting. Yet the margin of difference between Coke and Pepsi was twice as great with the third choice. Woops. 

Corporate bean counters at KDKA have a hard time counting to three when it comes to choices to offer the voters in terms of debates. Or, just don't do any at all.

Paul Martino Kdka: The standard in most of these debates is...if a candidate is polling less than ten percent, he or she is a fringe candidate with virtually no chance of winning. Therefore it makes sense to focus on the legitimate candidates who will be the eventual winner.

Mark Rauterkus That is a top-down standard that is shameful. It is a corporate policy that is undemocratic and not what we urge you to do. The standard is also that the super-majority of the voters do not even go to the polls because of BS standards such as that.

The real standard is set when the election department puts who is ONTO the ballot. If the person is on the ballot, the standard is achieved. 

We don't need some newsroom, corporate, suit wearing person with power telling citizens who is fit to be on the stage because they didn't pay the advertisement dollars for air-time nor hire the polling corporate buddies to tell you what to do. 

If you really feel strongly in what you post, you should retire. There is no hope for being a journalist then. 

In the real world, the third party person had twice the difference as to who won. In the real world, the third party person is the one who moves the policy for the future. In the real world, a bulk of the Ds and a bulk of the Rs are not going to change their minds and vote a different way because of the debate. Meanwhile, the third party person who is a voter -- a THIRD of the voters these days are INDIE, L, G, S, C, and Unaffiliated, are going to decide who wins. 

People vote with their feet. The region and the city is in decline, still, due to the bias against the individual, perfectly illustrated with this corporate policy. 

You've made Sinclair speak sound like the the song of angels.

Mark Roberts: Mark Rauterkus Sorry. Not everyone can play.

Paul Martino Kdka: Mark Rauterkus the League of Women Voters uses a standard similar to this. Has there ever been a libertarian candidate in the state to receive ten percent of the vote or more?

Mark Rauterkus: Paul Martino Kdka I did.

Mark Rauterkus The League of Women Voters are part of the problem too. The non-voters are crushing them too.

Judy Haluka" This has been true forever. It is called efficient use of resources. Why would you spend vakuable resources on a candidate that has no hope at all?

Mark Rauterkus: Because it is STUPID to think with only HALF A BRAIN. 

BECAUSE it is not efficient to to discount / ignore / prison / embargo / freeze-out / and frustrate a rather large segment of the citizenship. 

The third party candidate represents the 1% or 2% of that minor party as well as the greater majority, 40-60% of the citizens who choose to NOT VOTE AT ALL. 

And most of all, how EFFICIENT are the USE OF RESOURCES so as to SPEND more than $5-million for a job that lasts 6 months (as the term is going to end in 2018) and pays less than $200K annually? The entire efficient use of resources is a total joke because these other candidates in this case BURNED MONEY. They are the definition of INEFFICIENT resource squandering. Did it cost them $200 per vote received? The Libertarian in this case got people to vote for his campaign at $.50 each. Who is efficient, really? Why are the big-spenders the one we want to go to congress and have influence over treasury, taxes, and constitutional matters?

Election brochure and CD Cover for Elect.Rauterkus.com

Some old materials, blast from the past.