Italy Road Trip, anyone?

The deadline for the Creative Commons Technology Summit CFP has been
extended to Friday, May 1, 2009.

Creative Commons is a non profit organization that builds tools that help realize the full potential of the commons in the age of digital networks. Launched at the end of 2002, Creative Commons licenses have set the standard for sharing cultural works (i.e., "content", "media", etc.), following in the footsteps of free and open source software. Over the past five years we have also actively developed and contributed to technologies that complement its public licenses, with the aim of using software to enhance the discoverability and practical [re]usability of content -- to help users manage content, as opposed to software designed to help content manage users (i.e., DRM). In 2006 Creative Commons launched Science Commons, a project applying similar principles to science and research. ccLearn was launched in 2007 to help minimize barriers to sharing and reuse of educational materials.

Creative Commons holds its third technology summit on June 26, 2009 at Aula Magna Lingotto - Politecnico di Torino in Turin, Italy. Creative Commons Technology Summits are a forum for exploration of technology built upon and enhanced by Creative Commons licenses and work in the Semantic Web arena.

Call for Presentations

Creative Commons is seeking proposals for presentations or panels to
be presented at the Technology Summit. Topics of interest include:

* RDFa and ccREL implementations/deployments
* Creative Commons related applications (unique or interesting
integration of licensing, as well as reports on consuming or
repurposing CC metadata
* Provenance of information in Semantic Web applications
* Digital copyright registries ("copyright 2.0"), especially in
relation to the above technologies

Presentation slots are 30 minutes long; if additional time is required, email Nathan Yergler (nathan@creativecommons.org) to discuss options. Send proposals in the form of abstracts to techsummit@creativecommons.org by Friday, May 1, 2009.

Travel funding is unavailable.

More details are available at
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Creative_Commons_Technology_Summit_2009-06-26.

City eliminates no-bid contracting

City eliminates no-bid contracting City eliminates no-bid contracting

I'd love to see all the details of this new policy. Can anyone send me a copy of the policy or have it posted in this blog - or URL?

Perhaps the policy can be put into law by city council. Then the policy can be put into effect for every authority too.

Schools

Capital Tweets

Stadium renovation plans approved in Montour

Stadium renovation plans approved in Montour: "The plan creates a main entrance by the gymnasium/pool building and a fine arts entrance on the back of the building, near the cafeteria and auditorium. The 9th- and 10th-grade gym will become the main one for competitions, with an entrance of its own."

In the WPIAL, the schools have separate gyms in high schools for 9th and 10th graders. In the city, we've got schools with one gym for those in 6th to 12th grades. So, Jr. High, JV and Varsity -- with both boys and girls teams -- all striving for time on the same space.

Pittsburgh's own world changer, Jessica Flannery, gives address at CMU this week.

Jessica Flannery co-founded Kiva.org. Grew up in Penn Hills. Went to Beulah Church as a child and came to have a first view of poor people there. Her high school days were at North Allegheny. Undergrad as a Bison at Bucknell. Recently, hangs with Bill Clinton, basket-makers, Oprah and other idealists using small investments to create entrepreneurs the world over.



No, that's not basketball! But she is a yoga instructor and surfer too!

Next, I gotta dig for that link to Kiva TV and the poll with Time Magazine for clicks to her as she is ranked as one of the top 100 women of influence this year. Plus, there were some nice interactions from the audience.

Feel free to embed the video into your own blogs and elsewhere. It is in the public domain. Ask if you want the large media files. This segment is 45-minutes.

Jessica and her parents:

Jessica with Erik Rauterkus, 14, 8th grader at Pittsburgh Frick. Erik cut some school and road his bike to hear the guest speaker. Erik has worked to raise money locally for Kiva.org efforts in a few different ways. As a student council member, the profits from a school dance are being put into a Kiva.org loans.

As a mmember of this year's Coming of Age Class at Sunnyhill.org, a service project with a designated offering raised more than $1,000 for Kiva.org too.

License update vote - Wikimedia Elections

Wiki news and democracy.

License update vote - Wikimedia Elections: "The Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation invites the Wikimedia community to vote on this proposal to license Wikimedia material so it is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC-BY-SA), while retaining dual licensing with the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL).

NYRA of Southeast Florida - Home

NYRA of Southeast Florida - Home We are the National Youth Rights Association of Southeast Florida, Inc., a youth-led organization committed to defending the civil and human rights of young people in the United States through educating people about youth rights, working with public officials and empowering young people to work on their own behalf. We believe certain basic rights are intrinsic parts of American citizenship and transcend age or status limits. We are a group of students, neighbors, and friends who want to attain for the youth of America the rights that they deserve.

Can't wait for summer!

Love this photo.

From phillips-swim

Dive on in. This is the start of a swim race at the city's Elementary School Championship Meet. Billy, here in the photo, is in 4th grade. He can walk on water as he is a splendid dancer.

Visit Diversity in Aquatics

Curfew Center

Pittsburgh delays action on proposed curfew center: "Pittsburgh delays action on proposed curfew center"

What is the cost-benefit break down of a curfew center in Pittsburgh?

Cost $500,000 for the first year. Picked up only a few kids in the past.

Look at city streets and see kids 10, 11, 12 at 11, 12, 1 and 2 AM. It is part of a deeper problem in their lives. Not criminalize. Goal of police is to address needs.

Say what?

Where is the packet of information?

RFP, 3RY, Arrests #, victimization, age groups, time spans of day, etc.

Learned about previous mistakes. Changed type of facility. Looks like a residential home, not a jail. Changes in policy and warnings. ??

Want to implement curfew ordinance but can't without the curfew center.

Proposal concentrates on other things in the day. Police are going beyond with a drop-in center, outreach, counseling.

Identify kids that need intervention! OMG.

What happens in year 2? (Kraus question about renewal of contract.)

$500K is a lot of money. Will review statistics. Enforcement. Placements happens. That 3RY does track the kids. What? They won't wait for young people to come in -- I guess they'll go out and nab and nag the youth.

Accountability model has 5 point system to measure affects. Permanency. Number of families. How to value. Looking to increase level of social functioning. Deterred from making at risk decisions. Education another metric. Not engaged in education when out of school. Follow-up 30, 60, 90 days. Concern of safety and life skills. Linking them.

Additional info is a resource index by type, just delivered today.

Have a continumem of services. Run a drop in and homeless center in Strip District. Yadda, yadda about all the other good things they do -- but way beyond the curfew center. You have to go to where they congregate. Not to be a night facility only. Intend to be a broad program.

It will be a program we will all be proud of.

Age group we are targeting is 16 and under, I think.

None from the mayor's office is at the discussion for this major policy discussion. Sheilds want to get to the thinking behind the program. Wants to know about the research of effectiveness and data. The police were asked to prepare the RFP, not a body of work. Others are higher up -- make the decision.

Curfew centers are not wise, IMHO.

Reduce crime and victimization. Address the needs of the kids. Get them in touch with the contacts that they need.

Nothing on gang suppression.

Shields: Curfews are popular. Sound wonderful. Public expectation is not

Numbers of 46 in 1996. Lesser in 97.

A public education opportunity. Accomplished by the outreach efforts. A different level of engagement.

Shields says you don't need a curfew nor curfew center to intervene. Curfew center is 16 and under. So, getting that age group needs to happen in the wee hours of the day??? Golly.

Every paper Doug Sheilds looks at does not support the curfew center. It is a feel good program that is politically smart where the people eat it up and it shows no benefit at all.

This is about a RFP response.

We've had no money. Nada. Loose bit of $500,000 that would be good to target at youth. But, not to curfew center. Not even marginally effective.

Crime stats show that juvenile crime, under 16, it is 10:30-11:30 am or right after school. The crime in that age group disappears in the late hours.

Truancy center is different and what 3RY is getting at.

Shields want to nix it. Put the $500,000 in parks and rec and do an outreach program. In the past, the police didn't do the outreach as it was a nuisance to them. Police say it isn't my problem and not what I need to focus on. Rather, worry about 18, 19, 20 year olds on the street.

Policy without analysis is folly. FOLLY. There is one of my favorite words! Thanks Doug. Finally, who took the biggest hit in the city's crisis? The kids. They saw reduction in crossing guards, closed pools, closed rec centers. Gone. My kids wants to see money invested in kids -- not in a curfew center. I'd rather open rec centers and help agencies. Not the suspension of civil liberties.

Jim Motznik will support the bill. The old numbers were a failure. But what was then and what will happen is much different. We are not able to pick up those kids on the street. There is a need for the curfew center? Sensitive matter. In the past it was jail-like. Police would give warnings. Give more warnings. Didn't work. Now there is no warnings.

Theresa Smith has lots of concerns. In the past, it was in the West End. It was not successful. The ones that needed to be picked up were 18 and older. So, the police couldn't pick them up. The community resource list is missing lots of names too. That is a lot of money. Not one rec center in West. What is the role of CYS? Lots of un-clarity. For me, parenting is huge. Work with the parents. Address them. Otherwise, putting a band-aid on the problem.

Darlene Harris asked lot of questions then. Still. How many hold? 24 over night. Undetermined number in the day. Bed capacity is up to 24. Don't think 24 is going to be necessary. Will take kids home if parents can't get them.

Policy is still under review. Command staff and FOP need to make input and get cheif's approval. City council does not have to worry about the police policy. City Council won't have a say, other than NOW, at the purse string level.

D. Harris wants to know what the policy is before voting. Good go! Policy is in step with the ordinance.

Police hand-off to curfew center after de-brief. Hungry? Phone numbers?

I would like to eliminate the curfew ordinance. That can be done by an act of city council. Darlene wants to see something more well rounded, for 17 year olds, for truency. I want to see something evaporate. A truancy center is not a curfew center.

Patrick Dowd talks about the amazing history of 3RY, of 129 years. Facility is already obtained. Would open in June. Lot of work has already happened. Mayor said it would be opening and city council had not approved it. The 3RY contract is for 1 year and then a review occurs and all bets are off. Burn the mid-night oil.

The RFP got only 2 bids. But only 1 qualified bidder.

They don't know how to anticipate the "demand." Depends upon the police.

What about crime reduction? Well, they'll look at interactions with services. This is public safety document not a youth policy effort. This is being billed as a curfew center that is going to reduce crime. Few crimes are with those ages and very few at those times.

Want to provide healthy alternatives and preventative measures. So, don't do a curfew center. Do recreation.

Homeless of youth in city? Trend lines? Population growing? Data is in the shadows of city.

Dowd: This should not be done by the city by itself. Use county, school, 3RY, and surround the kids. The others are not part of this RFP. Before we authorize this, we need to talk more clearly about the roles of others (school district, county) in this. Wants more people plugged in that is going to put kids in the center.

Dowd sounds like a 'no' vote.

Tonya Payne: What is the intent of the bill? Was there an increase in numbers of violators since we closed the old center? Perhaps there was some chatter in the community for it. We probably should be looking for collaboration with county. Often the actors are not from the city, but outside the city.

The $500,000 should be spent proactive to open rec centers and hiring more youth in summer. That's the track I want. Payne is perplexed about why they are down this path. Look at doing a public hearing. Hear from the administration. Where is Director Huff?

Great suggestion. Hold a public hearing. Holding for a vote for other long-winded comments.

Ricky Burgess: We have an ordinance on books that can't be enforced because we don't have a curfew center. The line-item is in the budget. Some $300K or more is just in the housing component of the yearly contract.

I'm interested in an engagement center for the youth. We need a 24 hour place to call to get social services. Wants to mold the curfew center into a youth engagement center with links to a complete, total program. He is not sure how to carve this out. Willing to offer his services to craft this. The curfew center is only one of the components.

We need a curfew center PLUS. Case management, educational concerns. Part of this can be shifted to the day part. Adjust it for social services.

Wants a public hearing. Wants to craft something that will be more effective for that population.

Bill Peduto: Yadda, yadda. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Peduto thinks it might help way into the future. Would be willing to vote YES for this right now.

Bill Peduto's accountability level will come one year later.

A public hearing is going to come.

Doug Shields is going to get exercised about this because there is no data to support the curfew. We put more analysis in how to tear down a house in Hazelwood than we put in to the decisions on care for our youth.

Nonsense to couch this as a curfew center.

Don't embrace the idea of a failed policy of a curfew in America.

Talk ends about 1 pm.

Technology Leadership Institute: Teachers

Looks like a great program for high school kids in the city.

Technology Leadership Institute: Teachers: "TLI is an opportunity for your student to get a head start on their career in computers and technology. Is your student interested in Web design? Robotics? or Computer Programming? Then TLI is for your son or daughter!

My son has swim practice to 9:15 am. So, he has a conflict. Oh well.

Getting geared up for the weekend trip to Bloomington

Why the $15K for a review of Water Authority Bond Deals was foolish and nothing about 'knowledge is power.'

City council voted 6-3 to not spend $15,000 to hire an outside firm to conduct a review (call it audit, investigation, whatever) of the recent bond dealings of the Water Authority.

I'm fine with that vote. But, I'm not fine with some of the thinking and statements that swirled around this topic. Time to flush.

Bruce Kraus said "Knowledge is power." That's funny.

First of all, city council does have power. But, power does not come with a $15,000 audit by some dis-interested party. Power, instead, resides upon the votes that empowered the water authority to advance with such deals. Months ago, council voted to enable the authority to extend its life which empowered them the opportunity to enter into bond deals with serious questions.

The power is in the vote. The power needs to be applied at the correct time. Power does not linger in a re-do.

Council needs to deploy its power, as keepers of the purse strings, in wise measures when the votes are cast. Council fumbled its chance at power when it entertained Don Walko, D, state rep and water authority board president, as he pulled the wool over the eyes of council then.

Want to talk about power -- let's talk about J.P. Morgan and other finance types who conduct these bond deals. They are able to steal by the millions from the public treasury. They can't be taken down by a $15,000 audit from some disinterested firm. Never go big game hunting with a pea shooter. That's not smart. It isn't powerful either.

The plain English explanation of these deals might be nice. But that isn't going to trip a giant in the slightest.

If that firm wants to work again in the finance sector, it isn't going to pick a fight for $15,000 fee with J.P.Morgan.

Furthermore, if the audit did provide real investigative eureka moments, it would be called 'spin' and would be discounted.

If you want power, turn to the controllers -- for the city, county (perhaps) and state. They have audit powers. And, they are the ones that are to review the dealings of government. Council is to legislate. Controllers audit.

If more muscle and power is necessary, then investigate with the state attorney. The subpoena has power. Call for that. When people steal money from the government, they should go to jail -- or worse. In China, the bureaucrats that cheat the system are killed. France gave the world the guillotine. Those are not the tools of power for Pittsburgh's city council.

The bottom line isn't passing a bond deal. The bottom line isn't complicated bond deals with windfalls by the millions. The bottom line is going to jail. Fix expensive mistakes with jail. If you want to look out for the public interest, even after being hoodwinked, the math that aids the interest of the taxpayers money should be part of the settlement of damages. There is the real bottom line.

Bram wrote in a comment thread on this topic that he does NOT care that the Council should have caught this the first time around. Plus, he does NOT care that it would be better if our Controller to do it. Jeepers. You should care. Purpose matters. Watchdogs need to stay awake and care. I care that we don't have over-reaching members of city council who stretch so much that they remain meaningless for decades to come.

Memo to Council: Get it right the first time. Don't squander your power. I knew that this was a sour deal from the get-go.

Memo to Council: Let the controller do audits.

Memo to Controller: Get moving already.

Memo to Jack Wagner, State Auditor: Hello!

Memo to Tom Corbett, State Attorney General: Hello!

Memo to voters: Don Walko isn't to be trusted and shouldn't be a judge.

Memo to gov reformers: All authority board members should be held accountable with retention votes as a regular part of our charter's framework, until the authorities are liquidated in full. (Pun alert.)

BBC - James Reynolds' China: China's Olympic venues now

BBC - James Reynolds' China: China's Olympic venues now: "China's Olympic venues now"

When are those high school musicals? And, what is the capital of Texas?

Debate meltdown

I'm a big fan of having 'running mates.' Running mates help in many ways.

For instance, running mates can help you get to the finish line in a marathon. Hope all in a cool down stay healthy leading into the Pittsburgh Marathon. Taper time.

Running mates can also help as attack dogs so as to raise issues that are best said by those who are not the top-of-the-ticket candidate. Both Patrick Dowd and Luke Ravenstahl need running mates when jabbing about the lack of debates and the sorry efforts of rescheduled opportunities -- or not.

Humor clip from Hulu, the #2 video site on the web, behind only YouTube, shows Saturday Night Live and President Obama's return to the White House after his trip to Europe and elsewhere.

The 250 isn't over yet -- not until we says its over.

Washington County woman drowns in Fla.

Washington County woman drowns in Fla. Authorities say a tourist from Washington County, Pa., has died while scuba diving with her husband off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

The Broward Sheriff's Office says 58-year-old Mary Darnley, of Eighty Four, was diving with her husband Saturday morning when the pair began to swim to shore. She never made it. Other nearby divers found her body floating in the water. She was pronounced dead a short time later at a hospital.

Debate details

The League of Women Voters is partnering with the PA League of Young Voters and KDKA-TV to present a televised mayoral debate on April 15th at 7:00 PM. The public is invited to submit questions in a video or a written formatin advance of the debate.

To do so go to the KDKA web site below:

http://kdka.com/formsection?fid=969642

Steel-City Stonewall Democrats is having a Debate Party in conjunction with the above debate at 6:30 PM at There Video Lounge, 931 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Come Watch the debate.
Free Pizza http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=91091553447&ref=mf

Baseball. He's back!

How many games out of first are the Pirates now?

Remember how we were told that PNC Park would turn around the losing ways of the Pirates?

Remember how we were told that it would be impossible to buy single game tickets to PNC Park -- and that every game for years would be sold out?

Those were the days.

Going to a college or high school or sandlot game is still a much better proposition for my sporting interests. There, a local team almost always wins.

Trivia question: The photo of the field show in the posting is where? Bonus Q: What's its significance?

Verona man drowns in athletic club pool

Verona man drowns in athletic club pool The Allegheny County medical examiner's office will perform an autopsy on a Verona man who drowned in a swimming pool at the Downtown Athletic Club of Pittsburgh yesterday evening.

The office identified the man as Lorenzo Williams, 38, of Verona.

Paramedics were called to the athletic club at 1 Bigelow Square near Mellon Arena about 7:30 p.m. on reports of a man drowning in a pool. Homicide detectives were also notified.

Kiva.org co-founder visits CMU on Monday

I'm going to pull my 8th grade son out of school to hear this lecture at CMU.

The Heinz College's Institute for Social Innovation is pleased to welcome Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva.org, the world's first peer-to-peer online microlending website, to Carnegie Mellon's campus on Monday, April 13 for a public lecture. Jessica will be speaking on microfinance and microlending, and her experiences with Kiva.org. If you have an interest in microfinance, international development or social innovation, this opportunity is not to be missed.

Monday, April 13, 2009
12 to 1:30 p.m.
Hamburg Hall room 1000
4800 Forbes Avenue, Carnegie Mellon's campus
Lunch will be served.

Please RSVP to social-innovation@andrew.cmu.edu

Jessica Jackley is a co-founder of Kiva.org, the world's first peer-to-peer online microlending website. Kiva lets internet users lend as little as $25 to specific developing world entrepreneurs, providing affordable capital to help them start or expand a small business. Kiva has been one of the fastest-growing social benefit websites in history, connecting hundreds of thousands of people through lending across over 150 countries.

Jessica first saw the power, beauty and dignity of microfinance while working in rural East Africa with microenterprise development nonprofit Village Enterprise Fund on impact evaluation and program development. Sector-agnostic about social change, Jessica has worked for public, nonprofit, and private organizations including the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Amazon.com, Potentia Media, the International Foundation, World Vision and others.

Jessica's work with Kiva has been featured in a wide array of media and press including Oprah, the Today Show, CNN, BBC, NBC, ABC, PBS, NPR, the WSJ, NYTimes, the Economist and more. Jessica speaks widely on microfinance and social entrepreneurship, and serves as a director on several boards related to microenterprise development, including Opportunity International.

Jessica holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with Certificates in Global Management and Public Management, and a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from Bucknell University.

Jessica is a trained yoga instructor, avid surfer and poet.

Erik's service project at our church, Sunnyhill.org, with his classmates in this year's "Coming of Age" program was a fundraiser for a Kiva.org account. They raised than $1,000 from our church with the help of a designated offering.

Erik also works with his middle school student government and they devoted some efforts to Kiva.org as well. The 'profits' from a dance went to Kiva.org.

The beauty of the Kiva.org efforts is that the funds are invested into various small business ventures (entrepreneurship) in the present. However, the funds are returned so that in the future, additional investments can be made by those to follow. So, other 8th graders at our church will be able to monitor what has happened and re-invest, if not re-double the efforts, in years to come. Same too with the International Studies students.

A few years ago, TalkShoe.com folks put together a 24-hour telethon of sorts to benefit Kiva.org. Erik and I co-hosted an hour of that show.

Our biggest introduction to micro-credits came with a former minister at our church, David Parke.

Schenley's Spring Musical for 2009 is Return to The Forbidden Planet

Show dates are April 23-25 and Apr 30-May 1 and 2! The show will be held at Peabody High School in the auditorium. Tickets are $7. See Ya There!

Last year, we went to the musical at Schenley and it rocked.

We also went to the CAPA musical. Details about that are welcomed too.

Tweet your postal code - E-Democracy.Org

Great, great, great idea.

Tweet your postal code - E-Democracy.Org: "Take the #LocalDay Pledge Now to Spread the Word, by Tweeting:

* On May 1 join me on #LocalDay and tweet your neighbors using your Postal/Zip Code - http://e-democracy.org/tweetlocal

Then follow 'localday' via Twitter for updates."

Some comments at Pittsburgh Comet to Anonymous. Hoppy Easter

The Pittsburgh Comet: Last Week's Financial Fireworks, Part II

I said 'pussyfooting,' in part because Councilwoman Darlene Harris bemoaned Lamb's delay of an Animal Rescue audit.

'Conspiracy' confirmed with Dowd's desire for an outside agency audit via an RFP, NOT by Controller Lamb himself -- so it would not delay OTHER PENDING AUDITS.

BTW, I'm not trying to get elected. Ds Walko, Dowd, Motznik and Ravenstahl plus Peduto (unopposed) are seeking election wins. Smith and Payne seek votes too, FWIW.

Hoppy Easter, Anonymous.

---

I don't argue with the math.

To use your example, would you get in a position to owe $400,000 on a house that still needs like $4 TRILLION to fix (ever hear of the rain water run-off problem that hasn't been addressed) and is worth about $40,000?

I argue with the value delivered in light of the price paid in the past considering the costs yet to occur.

I also argue about the delivery of good governance by those in office today as well as in the past.

You should win the argument about the math. Must suck being a bean counter in a time without any beans yet great hunger.

The greater goal is for good government with purpose, not good math by those who deliver folly.

---

Even More in the thread:

Bram Reichbaum might have posted in part:

People seem to be missing that this is not a resolution tearing up and burning the bond deal, nor is it a resolution declaring Patrick Dowd a hero and a genius. It's an audit to explain to us the risks and the likely outcomes of that bond deal.

Mark - This is the first time I've heard it alleged that Michael Lamb is lazy and incompetent. I shouldn't dismiss it out of hand, because I'm not a financial whiz and maybe Mr. Lamb is simply charming as he gives off an air of credibility.

(Also ... the 3rd party isn't being asked to "govern", it's being asked to perform a financial analysis. I don't see how this is philosophically abhorrent.)

However, I don't see that these are important differences. If we could get a full accounting of the bond deal tomorrow by kidnapping executives at JPMorgan and tickling them, I would be in favor of that. I don't care that the Council should have caught this the first time around, I don't care that it would be better if our Controller to do it. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, and knowledge of that bond deal -- if it can be discovered that our vendors misrepresented its terms or otherwise failed to maintain minimum standards of due diligence -- gives us the power to rescue ourselves from that deal.

That's the bottom line. Figure out how to get out of the bad deal, if we need to. That's why I want the audit on my desk tomorrow, when it might be used in concert with those efforts presently coming out of Erie, Butler and elsewhere. It's worth a measly $15K to potentially save the City tens or hundreds of millions. That's a lot of swimming pools. Why not let the City find a way to go back and fix its expensive mistake? It starts with an audit.

Jeepers. This is so far off the mark I should devote a whole new post to it. But, it is Easter and I'm on the bunny trail.

I second the motion that Bram should find the bond deal executives and tickle them. This would be productive even if one blogger gets some giggles.

The bottom line is not for legislative branches to figure out how to get out of bad deals. The bottom line for those who would manage and conduct bad deals with government funds is jail time. In China, it is worse. In historic France it is the guillotine.

Bad finance deals with public money need to be investigated by State Attorneys, DAs, prosecutors, high ranking public officials with investigative powers, controllers even. Then, as findings reveal goofy deals, political hay can be harvested and champions for taxpayers can be made.

A hero's birth would not hatch from $15k third party audits of disinterested contractors hired by a legislative branch.

First, the audit is going to be suspect. It will have its spin. It will be discounted.

Second, the audit firm, with its $15k pay day, is not going to tool the bond finance folks who steal by the millions. That firm will want future jobs, I imagine.

How about we agree to settle on the subpoena process?

More to come about knowlege and power.

Six day school week suggested

The US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, called for a six-day school week. He also wants year-round classes, higher pay for teachers, better paid for better teachers and more choices for parents to send their kids to any school so long as the parents are handing their kids over to the schools.

There are many days when I do a better job teaching my kids and their friends than the schools. Those days are often on the weekends and summers.

I understand that I'm not a typical parent. But come on. What do you think the education secretary is going to say.

He wants more, more, more.

I want better, better, better.

We need responsible, motivated, engaged, and thoughtful.

The quote in the paper, Page A3, Trib, April 8, says, "I will do absolutely everything to get myself in the middle of that conversation."

Bingo. That is the key. The education secretary, Duncan, should get in the middle of the conversation rather than getting onto one side of it so as to tug the kids out of extra experiences and into more school time.

Meanwhile, we've got for the first time (perhaps ever) in Pittsburgh Public Schools a week-long spring break. No school this week. None.

I wonder when my wife, kids and a couple of their buddies are going to be back from the Science Center? We've got to go to the gym and pool this afternoon.

Common Sense for Mayoral Candidates: Education Policy

Policy Brief
An electronic publication of
The Allegheny Institute for Public Policy

April 8, 2009 Volume 9, Number 20

A good public school system can be, and often is, an important factor in the overall economic success of a city. At the same time, one thing is certain; bad school systems chase people with school age children away. If Pittsburgh is to reverse the decades’ long trend of population loss, the City’s poorly performing grotesquely expensive school district must stop being a deterrent to the City’s prosperity. However, unlike other City issues, education does not fall under the Mayor’s purview and there is little the Mayor can do directly to control or affect the schools since the District is a creature of the Commonwealth and has an elected Board to govern it. Nonetheless, the Mayor can use the “bully pulpit” powers of his office to lead the charge for changes that can redound positively to the education of Pittsburgh’s children.

We have described and analyzed the Pittsburgh Public School District and its problems on numerous occasions. The District is plagued by rising expenses, poor performance, and declining enrollment. On a per pupil basis the District’s general fund expenditures are currently above $20,000 a year, among the very highest levels in the state. Philadelphia spends less than Pittsburgh at $15,000 per pupil while the state average is just over $13,400. Pittsburgh’s per pupil expenditures are even further out of line when compared to other cities around the country such as Charlotte ($9,000), Houston ($8,000), and Omaha ($9,000).

Latest scores on the state achievement test (PSSA) revealed that only 53 percent of 11th grade students scored at the proficient level on state reading levels and only 44 percent scored at grade level in math. At several of the District’s high schools the fraction of 11th grade students reaching proficiency falls below 20 percent. With scores this low, very few families with school-aged children will consider moving into the City unless they can afford private school tuition.

In an attempt to combat the problem of declining enrollment and to raise the academic achievement of students, the current administration in 2006 unveiled the Pittsburgh Promise, a college scholarship program for graduates of Pittsburgh Public Schools. Again, as we have documented, the Promise has not lived up to expectations for stopping the decline in enrollment or boosting lackluster academic performance.

In a situation this dire with all the negative effects the schools are having on the City, it is incumbent on Pittsburgh’s Mayor to offer a dramatic departure for improving education opportunities for the City’s children. And make no mistake, that should be the priority—not the teachers’ union, not the school board and not the superintendent.

Common Sense Recommendation for Mayoral Candidates:

Work to bring choice to Pittsburgh’s education system.

The mayor could push the Board to adopt the No Excuses approach to education and push for more charter schools. No Excuses programs emphasize decision making latitude for principals in personnel decisions and accountability for performance; a belief that all students can and will learn; and an academic program that is constantly evaluated and rigorously tested. This approach has been successful in other urban school districts around the country.

The mayor can also learn from the Milwaukee model and begin a program to provide scholarships for students to attend private or parochial schools of their choice such as the Extra Mile schools run by the Catholic Diocese and the Extra Mile Foundation. The Mayor should go to the business and foundation community and raise financial and moral support for such a program. The Mayor should also invite other education organizations such as Knowledge is Power to bring their highly successful programs to Pittsburgh. The introduction of meaningful competition could be the step needed to spur significant and positive changes to public education in Pittsburgh.

All the spending, all the programs, all the efforts of many years have been unable to turn the Pittsburgh schools around. And, there is little indication that a major turn for the better is waiting around the corner. Action is needed now. The Mayor can lead the charge to bring real change to education in Pittsburgh. The parents who truly want their kids to have a shot at a good education deserve better than the current system can offer. The moral and the wise thing to do is to break the stranglehold of the public education establishment and focus on true educational reforms by providing real choices.

After all, the primary obligation of the Mayor is to the welfare of the citizens of the City, including its children. Kowtowing to the powerful special interests that waste money and cheat kids out of a chance to learn must end. The taxpayers will be grateful as will thousands of parents who currently have no choice but to put up with the status quo or move out of the City.

Jake Haulk, Ph.D., President Frank Gamrat, Ph.D., Sr. Research Assoc.

Please visit our blog at alleghenyinstitute.org/blog.

If you have enjoyed reading this Policy Brief and would like to send it to a friend, please feel free to forward it to them.

For more information on this and other topics, please visit our web site: alleghenyinstitute.org

If you wish to support our efforts please consider becoming a donor to the Allegheny Institute. The Allegheny Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all contributions are tax deductible. Please mail your contribution to:

The Allegheny Institute
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Thank you for your support.

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I do not think that all charter schools are evil. That has been the feeling with many in the school district and the teachers union.

But, there are more items to mention in the content above and to explain my feelings -- often a bit different than what is promoted by the Allegheny Institute. Even along the lines of 'choice' -- there are things that the mayor and school district can do not mentioned above.

Reactions welcomed, as always, in the comments.

Details

Fifth Ave:

* Will be used as the staging area for all marked police and public safety vehicles.
* The staging area on Fifth will be starting at Bellefield Ave and proceeding west until at least Craft Ave if not further.
* Fifth Ave will be closed starting at 10:00AM till 12:30 PM at which time the west bound curb lane will be open for traffic until 15:00 hours, at which time the funeral processions will begin.
* Allegheny County Port Authority will close outbound bus traffic on Fifth Avenue and move bus operations to Forbes Avenue outbound at 09:30 AM.
* Inbound bus traffic will turn right on Bellefield, then left on Bayard, then left onto Bigelow, crossing Fifth and Forbes and accessing The Boulevard of the Allies through Schenley Park.
* Cross over streets for Fifth Avenue are: Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard; Fifth and Meyran Avenues; and Fifth Avenue and McKee Place.

Funeral Procession Route

• Leave City-County Building on Grant Street
• Take Grant to Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway
• Exit busway at Neville Street ramp
• Neville Street to Fifth Avenue
• Right onto Fifth Avenue
• Right onto DeSoto Street
• Left onto Terrace Street
• Right onto Sutherland Drive, to the Petersen Center

* All three processions will stage on Sutherland Drive

Petersen Event Center

* The Honor Guard will bear the fallen Officers across the patio to Concourse A entrance.
* All uniformed officers attending the funeral will stage on the patio of the Petersen Event Center on Allequippa from Sutherland Drive to the driveway of Sutherland Hall and also in F Lot.
* City of Pittsburgh Police Mobile Command Post will be staged in the loading dock area.

Allequippa Street

* Closed from entrance of OC Lot, east to University Drive at 08:00 AM.

Robinson Street

* From Wadsworth to Center Avenue, both sides of the street will be used as the staging area for buses that will bring Pipe Bands, Color Guards, and transportation for out of town Officers.

Pitt Police Traffic Posts

* Darragh at Victoria
* Darragh at Terrace
* Darragh at Allequippa
* Entrance to OC Lot at Allequippa
* Top of OC Lot driveway (Officer will stage family vehicles)
* Allequippa and University Drive
* Terrace and Sutherland
* Allequippa and Center
* O'Hara and Desoto
* Six Motor Cycles for escorts

It is a great idea to use the busway in moving from Downtown to Oakland.

I expect that the events at the Pete will be carried on local TV or cable, right?

Allegheny presses to restrict where people live

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to court we go.

The lawyers win. The taxpayers loose. And, in the end, the lawyers win as enforcement won't happen anyway.

Allegheny presses to restrict where sex offenders live - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review State laws limiting where sex offenders can live have withstood legal challenges, but Allegheny County's law is unlikely to survive legal scrutiny, several experts say.

The county plans to appeal a federal judge's March ruling striking down the law that prohibited sex offenders from living near schools and other places children gather. But the District Attorney's Office, Sen. Jane C. Orie and the State Association of Township Supervisors have advised county officials that the chances of a reversal are slim.

Election Crimes are happening. The voting machines are failing us.

This is just a snip of the PDF file.


Pointer from Dave Eckhardt.

Once again, the harder you look at them the worse they look.

http://coalition.eckhardt.net/press-2009-04-06.pdf

The Boston Globe has 450 employees with Lifetime-employment contracts

No wonder that company expects to be $85 million in the hole for this year.

University of Memphis English Department Chairman Heads to Kentucky | Carbolic Smoke Ball

University of Memphis English Department Chairman Heads to Kentucky | Carbolic Smoke Ball: "It’s official: Eric Link, the high-profile, charismatic chairman of the University of Memphis English Department has left the school to lead the English Department at the University of Kentucky.

I want to know about his supplemental contracts, like for sneakers, tv shows, radio shows, and country club options.

Grants with Port of Pittsburgh Commission

Welcome to the Port of Pittsburgh Commission - Grants: "DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF GRANTS IS MAY 7, 2009 3:00PM

Beginning in 2009, the Port of Pittsburgh Commission has created a small grants program, of $5,000 to $20,000, for non-profits and local units of government in southwestern Pennsylvania. The grants may be used for sustainable, port-related economic development projects. Projects may be educational, recreational, environmental or touristic in nature or support some other economic development activities related to the rivers or streams of the 12-county Port of Pittsburgh district. The 12-counties in the PPC district are: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Butler, Clarion, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland.

Olympic Sports: Women's Softball divorces Men's Baseball -- now with new dates

Women's softball has been hitched to men's baseball in terms of Olympic sports for some time. However, baseball, with the steroid scandals and the less than highest quality players on the teams for the Olympics, soured relations have developed. The International Olympic Committee said that baseball's time in the games is finished. The sport, (baseball) got ejected.

Meanwhile, women's softball got the shaft as well from the Olympics.

Now, the two different sports are hitching up with new opposite sex partners.

Baseball wants in the games again -- with men's baseball and women's baseball.

Softball wants in the games again -- with women's softball and men's softball.

Frankly, I don't think it makes sense to exclude women's softball from the Olympics only because Team USA won every year -- until 2008. Women's softball should stay in the Olympics.

Furthermore, I don't think it makes sense to allow for women's baseball nor men's softball to become Olympic sports. I'd rather see canoe water polo. Furthermore, it is a crying shame if we don't have women's ski jumping in the 2010 winter Olympics. But, that's a different matter.

Baseball to add women's sport to bid

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Baseball will be adding a women's component to its bid to be reinstated for the 2016 Summer Games.

Harvey Schiller, the president of the International Baseball Federation, tells The Associated Press the change will be made in the next few days.

The move comes a few weeks after women's softball rejected baseball's proposal for a joint baseball-softball bid. The two sports are among seven competing for two openings for new sports at the 2016 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will vote in October on which sports to add.

Schiller says women's baseball is a growing sport. He estimates that between 300,000 and 500,000 women play baseball worldwide. Meanwhile, women's softball has given the IOC an option of adding men's softball.

Tragedy postpones mayoral debate and more

To be clear, the tragedy did not postpone the debate, Luke Ravenstahl did.

Tragedy postpones mayoral debate A mayoral debate scheduled for tonight has been postponed.

City Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, City Councilman Patrick Dowd and attorney Carmen Robinson were scheduled to debate at 7 p.m.

However, Mr. Ravenstahl sent his challengers an e-mail yesterday asking that they reschedule.

'The tragic deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers on Saturday, April 4th, has shaken our city to its core,' he wrote. 'The impact of the ultimate sacrifice paid by Officers Eric Kelly, Paul J. Sciullo III and Stephen J. Mayhle continues to reverberate throughout our city, state and country. With that in mind, our scheduled debate should not take place this Monday so that our attention is not diverted from our obligation to comfort the family, friends and colleagues of these fallen heroes.'

The debate was scheduled to be aired live on PCNC, a cable news channel affiliate.

A new date has not yet been set.

Of course, neither of the challengers can object to this request. So, I will.

Has Luke done his homework -- or not?

I'm sure he has been busy. But, he should be busy. That is expected.

Holding a debate could be a perfect time to just what he wishes to do. With a one hour TV presentation, salted for tonight, attention could given to obligations of comfort for the family, friends and colleagues of the police officers.

Rather than scratch the debate, this is a great time to hold an extra meeting / debate. Use the time slot with the candidates to get their views out for others to hear, as life marches on. Stretch the opening statement to five minutes, rather than the typical 90 seconds or so.

But, the problem for Luke Ravenstahl is the fact that one of the other candidates that he'd have to share the stage with is a former police officer. She walked miles in those shoes in the past. She might have known the one officer and his family.

I remember September 2001's political climate. In the 2001 primary, I had tossed my hat into the ring, so to speak, as an opposition candidate to what Tom Murphy was doing to Pittsburgh. I wasn't in the race in the fall of 2001 when 9-11 hit, but James Carmine, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, smooth talker, was.

We had been asking for debates in August.

Later that fall, I even staged one with others at the Carneigie Library Lecture Hall -- and Tom Murphy didn't show up.

After 9-11 there were no political debates -- but -- they election in November still happened, of course, as they should have.

What didn't happen in 2001 was voter education. Those in power love it when that occurs. Accountability evaporates. Watchdogs slumber.

The bottom line, or, at the end of the day, -- there was one debate in the fall of 2001 with the Democrat Mayor. One. That debate was on TV -- but it was held on Sunday night before the polls opened on Tuesday. Good grief.

City Council cancels meetings in wake of shootings: "Pittsburgh City Council has canceled all official business this week in light of the deadly shooting of three police officers Saturday."

Last week, Councilman Bruce Kraus was absent at the Wednesday meeting of council. He was in Erie meeting with the city council there seeking support for a a new law concerning lost-and-stolen guns. That discussion looms large in these times in terms of diminishing Second Amendment Rights.

No clue here as to how those meetings unfolded.

Coverage

Affidavit outlines shootings that left three Pittsburgh police officers dead Earlier yesterday, she called David Shribman, executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, to complain about the newspaper's coverage of the shootings and threaten a lawsuit.

She demanded that the newspaper stop publishing information about her and her son, saying the reporting thus far was not factual and should be limited to the officers and their grieving families.

'You're going to have the biggest lawsuit in the history of the city of Pittsburgh,' she later told a reporter.

IOC officials tour possible Chicago Olympic venues - More Sports - SI.com

Windy City news.

IOC officials tour possible Chicago Olympic venues - More Sports - SI.com: "Earlier, the committee members visited the proposed Olympic Village site on Michael Reese Hospital property on Chicago's near South Side, where they were met by Mayor Richard Daley and former Olympic diver Greg Louganis.

Why is there only a temporary facility slated for Chicago's Olympic bid in terms of the aquatic facilities?

Greg Louganis -- insist that long term facilities be built.

Feuding in the South Hills

Open thread. My thoughts soon.

Feuding in the South Hills: "Intense political battle between former allies Motznik, Diven runs much deeper than May 19 district judge race"

Rangs, a swimming pull tool

Stanton Heights Shootings

Wow. Check the news.

East Liberty TIF is not what Pittsburgh should be doing.

I'm not happy with yet another tax break, a TIF, Tax Increment Finance, that is coming to Pittsburgh. There are lots of reasons for my objection. Here are a few.

The TIF deal was presented by bosses of the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) to members of Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday at a post agenda. The statements from the URA are crazy and way beyond belief. They should be called on the absurd nature of their discussion and presentation -- but all on council seemed to just smile.

A new TARGET store, so the URA said, is not going to take away anything from business in the city council district where it will be built. This is a big development with a big box retailer. They combine three parcels of land for the project and all the money that goes there from customers would not be spent elsewhere in the district. Oh my gosh. Opening a new TARGET in the east end of Pittsburgh is going to impact other business receipts from Ross Park Mall to Monroeville to Homestead's Water Front. It is a regional impact. The URA is right, Target won't offer any detrimental impact to others near by -- such as the ice cream truck that goes around in the summertime.

The TIF comes, but where in the world is the CBA (Citizens Benefit Agreement). Why don't we have one? There was a lot of noise made about CBAs in recent development deals with the hope that they would be a standard point of order. Promises are being made, but they are not being documented in a formal agreement. Rather, the promises are much like campaign pledges -- hot air.

Should we trust in: More than 150 jobs. Most of the employees are going to be residents of city council district 9. Green buildings to certified standards. Better traffic patterns. Pedestrian friendly treatments.

The subject of wage taxes is raised at the table with city council. But the focus of the meeting is about the TIF. What is the topic? Why get hoodwinked? The TIF deal and the other taxes (wage, RAD, parking, etc.) are not to be combined.

Why should the URA pay for sidewalks, street lights and road re-configuration? Is the URA gong to pay for winter-time salting of the streets too? Is the URA going to replace the street lights after they burn out or flip to LED lights? Point being, these basic services are city infrastructure bits that the city should pay for out of its budget -- not the URA's budget. The URA should be doing development deals -- not running public works.

Of course taxes are not to be spent on one's self. They make it sound like the TIF money is going to be spent on other bits of infrastructure elsewhere -- within the same general neighborhood. Hello. That's the way all taxes work, generally. You don't pay taxes to fix your own roof. Covering costs that your create is called investment. Taxes are paid so that the money can go to fund government and areas where there are public rights of way. Duhh. The uptick in taxes should be collected by the city and then spent as the city sees fit. That's ideal government.

What are the pay to play implications of this TIF deal? Research? Where is that database? Mossites (sp?) is the developer.

If the East Liberty area is booming now with all sorts of new biz springing to life there, then the last thing that East Liberty should want is more government money in the mix with an additional layer of red tape. Government needs to get out of the way. New development needs to be sustained on its own with private money.

Fix the traffic circle. Do that as part of everyday government -- not a TIF tied to a TARGET store.

City council and the URA have a role. But it isn't with tax breaks. City council wants to have a bigger role. I want them to get out of the way. And, it takes work to get out of the way at times.

In the end, the TIF is a way to rob the school district. That tax break robs the kids of today. Why not just have the developer pay what is due?

I said that the tax break should not be given so as to cut the income for the school district. Then City Council President, Doug Shields, the man who won't shut up and won't let me talk in public comment, said he wants to short change the school district. Doug thinks that the school district needs to give up money with the TIF if it wants to get the increase in taxes later. Wrong Doug. Why should the school district give up income when it is needed? Why not do public investment into the school instead of undoing the goffy things that the city did wrong in the past? The public investment going to street lights and roads is not going to help our kids be more competitive in the classroom. Doug Shields is double trouble for the school kids of today: He robs what is due to them now. And, what is to come later he skims from the top to spend with the URA.

Why not have the URA have a school investment fund?

YouTube - ChathamChannel's Channel

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The Chatham University Channel"

Spring break is here. Time for a break, of sorts. Enjoy. Refresh.

Woodland Hills Aquatic Team : Job Openings

Woodland Hills Aquatic Team : Job Openings: "Woodland Hills Aquatic Club (WHAT) is seeking to immediately fill their head coaching position."

Pittsburgh Peabody

My $.02.

I posted my initial thoughts at the PURE Reform blog. Here they are again with numbers and a few extra points.

PURE Reform: Proposed options for future uses of Peabody HS: "Proposed options for future uses of Peabody HS"

#1 I think that the plan A should be for 150 IB kids per class, for a total of 600 students, not 500.

#2 Furthermore, I think that we can fit in 50 extra seats for a 13th Grade Option as well. So, round that to 650.

#3 The traditional Frick school (grades 6, 7 and 8) would need to stay at Rise&Shine Middle School. Frick's building is being used as a 6-12 Sci Tech High School. This should be part of the counter plans. What about middle school for IB track? Missing element must be proposed.

#4 Idea: Put 600 at IB Jr. High (Reiz), 200 in each grade (6, 7 and 8). Figure at the leap to HS, 20 kids go each to CAPA & Dice and some to other HSs and even CTE.

#5 By all means, the IB Middle School is NECESSARY to making the IB High -- work. Would 600 in that building be okay with the economics?

#6 Furthermore, the CTE students in certain grades would be able to have half-days at school and half-days at other sites / jobs, etc. The student load with half days could be greater on the CTE side? I know that the kids at South Vo Tech often were out of the building but still in 'school time' as they were on the job.

#7 I don't like the CISCO option. It is a dead technology. It is too much like that offered at computers at Brashear and the Sci Tech too.

#8 All our efforts in networks and tech should be with an open-source approach. Perhaps a computer programming / languages model -- to rely upon the thrust of writing and languages (foreign, PERL, JAVA, etc.) would fit.

I reserve judgment if the idea of a mixed IB / CTE school at Peabody makes the most sense. It is a worthy investigation, for sure.

The boutique option of only IB is something that Mark Roosevelt wanted, I dare guess. That isn't a priority of mine.

#9 How about an IB Jr. Sr High School with one or two CTE options -- such as Robotics and Open Source Programming. Don't get all overboard on new programs that would fill the CTE menu and eat up a lot of space.

#10 I think we should still demand a FULL CTE school to be built. State of the art, etc. Wonderful for the trades. That would be, I dare say, in a new site.

#11 I would like to see single gender, city-wide magnets for public high schools put onto the table. These could also include smaller single gender middle schools too. Perhaps there is a push for 6-12 schools. It might be present as an option.

#12 Put a boys high school at Westinghouse and a girls high school at Reizenstein. Or, do it the other way around. Or, flip the gender at the schools every three or four or five years. The other option would be to use OLIVER HS for one gender and Westinghouse for the other.
Put 75 kids in each grade, 6, 7, an 8. Put 100 or more in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12.

The single gender option would be cheap to implement.
The single gender option would sink or soar on its own merits. If they get a good program and good teachers, more will want to go there.
The single gender public option could and should compete for students with Oakland Catholic and Central Catholic.

#13 When I've sent email to the BGC in the past about ideas and schools -- they've never had a reply or even notice that the messages were read. A simple note in reply would be welcomed.

Sorry I could not attend the most recent meeting at the end of March. Had a conflict that could not be avoided. When is the next meeting? Keep us posted.

Pittsburgh's 3 mayoral candidates agree to debates

Pittsburgh's 3 mayoral candidates agree to debates: Three Democrats have agreed to appear in three televised debates before Pittsburgh's mayoral primary on May 19.

Incumbent Luke Ravenstahl and his challengers, City Councilman Patrick Dowd and attorney Carmen Robinson, will debate live on April 6 on PCNC, the cable news channel affiliated with WPXI-TV, the city's NBC affiliate.

KDKA-TV, the CBS affiliate, will air a taped debate April 15. And ABC affiliate WTAE-TV will broadcast a live, in-studio debate April 20.

All the debates will last an hour and air at 7 p.m.

Where is the P-G sponsored event? What about QED's event?

I think that the Jewish Foundation is also going to host an event, but it might be more of a candidate talk and less of a full-fledged debate.

Neighborhood groups, nonprofits, Sustainable Pittsburgh, -- time to step up!

Education spending of stimulus funding

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan just announced how states and school districts can begin receiving the first installment of education stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
Read the full story.

Edweek.org is hosting an Open House through April 8, so you can get this type of breaking news and access to all of the vital coverage posted recently on the stimulus. Some highlights you won't want to miss while access is totally FREE:

• States Eye Education Stimulus to Fill Budget Gaps
  Local officials are crying ‘foul’ as a growing number of governors make a play for federal economic-stimulus aid for schools.
• Stimulus Providing Big Funding Boost for Early Childhood
  Advocates are betting that the billions of dollars for programs like Head Start are just a “down payment” on future expansion.
• K-12 Taking Primacy in Use of Stimulus Dollars
  Many states are targeting the new education aid at elementary and secondary schools, rather than toward higher education.
• Exclusive Video Interview: Duncan on States That Reject Stimulus Money
  U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan talked with Education Week about the stimulus, school reform, teacher issues, and his pick for deputy.

For complete coverage and to keep fully up-to-the-minute, visit our Schools and the Stimulus page. Stay easily updated on all of the stimulus news: download the Stimulus widget and place it on your Web site, blog, Facebook page, or other personal page. Or get the RSS feed on the stimulus.

In addition to digging into the stimulus, you should also visit our annual report on how well states are incorporating technology into their schools, Technology Counts 2009: Breaking Away From Tradition: E-Education Expands Opportunities for Raising Achievement. Read about the latest research on e-education, find out how to search the internet for quality content, see how your state compares nationally, and download your state report.

During the edweek.org Spring Open House, all articles are available gratis.

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Highlights, edited slightly for brevity are below. Looks like a rehab of Schenley High School is very possible and able to be justified fully.

- significantly more spending flexibility on school construction than many administrators had expected.

- Unveiling the first payments at a school in Capitol Heights, Md.

- funding could be a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.

- to invest significantly in best practices and scale up what works

- stabilization funds used to backfill cuts,

- allows districts to spend funds on new school construction. Lawmakers had opposed funding for school construction during the drafting of the $787 billion stimulus package, which President Barack Obama signed into law in February.

- “[School construction] has the potential to eat up a lot of these funds, particularly for states that don’t have severe funding shortages,” said Vic Klatt, a lobbyist with the Washington firm Van Scoyoc Associates, who previously served as the staff director for Republicans on the House education committee. “People who are hoping a lot of this money will go for education reform activities may be a little disappointed.”

- “In an urban district, if 30 percent of your schools are not [meeting testing benchmarks] and ... all your teachers are doing well on your evaluations, that’s going to be embarrassing.”

- connect student-achievement data to individual teachers,

- track students from high school through college graduation.

- Some states prohibit the sharing of data across systems for privacy purposes.

- more flexibility than anticipated to use money on school construction. The completed bill permitted districts to undertake modernization and repairs.

- Districts may spend on any activities authorized under the No Child Left Behind Act and other statues—including the federal impact-aid program, which authorizes funds for building new schools.

- Secretary Duncan said the interpretation offers districts the flexibility to work on construction projects that fit local needs. “There’s a need there—there’s a need to do renovation and rehabilitation,” he said. “You have areas that are significantly overcrowded, and children jammed into buildings. That doesn’t work.”

- ... spend tens of billions in taxpayers’ money on virtually anything—including new school construction,

- Districts can use the impact-aid authority to pay down past debt

- a state may not limit how a local district uses its share of the stimulus money.

- “While states allocate the funds, it should be up to local school districts and colleges and universities to decide how to use this emergency aid, not states,” the statement released by his office says.

- States do have discretion in deciding how to spend money in the $8.8 billion Government Services Fund, which can be used for “public safety and other government services,” including assistance for K-12 or higher education, as well as to support administrative costs associated with implementing reporting requirements.

- any states playing “shell games” with stimulus spending would disqualify themselves for future funding. He singled out the $4.35 billion in discretionary money he has dubbed the “Race to the Top” fund.

LTE: Give me liberty

Post-Gazette LTE 4/2/9

Give me liberty

It seems that President Obama's stimulus plan does come with strings attached. That really is no surprise. Over the past nine years we have come to expect the government to give at a cost. Be it "compassionate conservatism" or "hope," we the people end up paying the cost.

The Patriot Act gave us security with a loss of freedom and liberty. The Bush years led to deficit spending by the Republican Congress, and the current administration seems to be following suit. Is there really a difference in the two parties?

On issues of freedom and liberty both parties talk a good game, but in the end both regulate and impose laws that hurt both the individual and business. The Republicans wrap themselves in the flag and challenge your patriotism if you question their motives and policies. The Democrats
surround themselves with various groups and call you names if you disagree with the direction they want to take the country.

In the end, nothing is accomplished. Why? Getting things done means losing an issue to raise funds on or losing an issue to divide and scare the nation into voting against the opponent. Change is the last thing our elected officials in Washington and, yes, Harrisburg want. Real
change would involve them losing power and the citizens gaining power.

I challenge you to find what the government is not involved in as you go through your day. From the amount of water in your toilet to what you can eat or do, the government is there, helping you throughout the day. Big Brother is there whether you want him or not.

JOHN G. PARKS, Pleasant Hills

Cognitive dissonance in Pittsburgh and beyond: Blogging gets as bad as everything else.

Cognitive dissonance in Pittsburgh and beyond: Blogging gets as bad as everything else. Blogging gets as bad as everything else.

I would love to see the city sue for copyright infringement on a re-broadcasting of a city council meeting. That will be the day we get a new city solicitor, for sure.

If I was elected, I'd move to put a public domain statement on everything that the city does.

I'm a big fan of public domain.

As to the P-G interview, the first point would be a claim of fair use. There, humor helps. It is sorta a lampoon in a sick and twisted kinda way. The P-G lawyers are better served looking at employee buy-outs now, not campaign issue noise finding its way on YouTube.

Hell, Matt (or whomever), might want to send the P-G a bill for advertising its P-G web and turning the content into something that others should take notice of.

BTW, I remember when this came before council from the PWSA. It smelled bad then.

Laggard vs. Young Fluke. Humm...

I think that the YouTube clip is effective as a dis-credit to the mount of the campaign. We're watching. How one handles the bumps in the road are telling the most, it seems to me. There are sure to be other chapters.

Set the stage for the debates. They become more important as time shrinks. Carmen could rise as the two men sustain their blazing boyhood ways.

Men in Blue fast break to make officials red faced before the world

Chicago cops protest during IOC visit CHICAGO (AP) -- Chicago police officers unhappy with contract negotiations have picketed outside City Hall -- an action that coincides with a visit by an International Olympic Committee inspection team.

St. Louis TSA run-in

Notice that there are 61 comments. Many of them are better than the audio.

Pittsburgh may consider payroll tax for nonprofits

Mr. Lamb, city controller, misses the mark.

Pittsburgh may consider payroll tax for nonprofits: "Pittsburgh Controller Michael Lamb today proposed a tax shift that would lower levies on businesses, and shift some of the burden to nonprofit employers.

He asked city council and state overseers to consider seeking state approval for a 20 percent cut in the payroll preparation tax, now 0.55 percent of for-profit employers' payrolls, but broadening that tax to include the growing nonprofit sector, which includes hospitals, universities and some insurers.

The goal is not to punish the one sector that has growth. These Dems want to tax anything that moves. Wrong approach. Without the nonprofits, Pittsburgh is dead. Tax the nonprofits, Pittsburgh would die.

There is another approach. Tax was does NOT move. Tax land. Don't tax productivity. Do not tax work. Don't diminish earnings from service to better health and quality of life endeavors (as the nonprofits are, mostly).

We need to put on a moratorium on all nonprofit land expansion. We need to turn more of our physical spaces into taxable spaces -- not nonprofit, tax free spaces.

The land grab, the trampling of neighbors by the nonproft over the taxpayers is the real long term worry of Pittsburgh.

We need to tell the nonprofits that they can expand upward. Not outward.

We need to tell nonprofits to better utilize their existing spaces, consolidate what is already theirs -- but take no more.

We need the controller to lead an audit of all the spaces that are throughout the city and perhaps the county and measure, inch by inch, what is taxed and what is not able to be taxed with property taxes. What properties are owned by nonprofits? What are not?

Then the Pittsburgh nonprofit secret cadre of whimsical givers to Grant Street needs to sign-off on the land shrinkage plan.

This is an excellent time to make the ask as few are expanding. The Catholic Church is closing schools. They have too much land that isn't being used now. They would see a spike in the land value of existing holdings as if there is another nonprofit that wants to move -- they'll consider a move into what property the church already owns.

When you tax earnings -- government discourages earnings. That's wrongheaded policy.

I want nonprofits to flourish here. I want their employees to make money here. I just don't want the institutions to buy up all the land here as we'll have a big crash and my kid's won't be able to live here.

Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, an umbrella group of tax-exempt entities, needs to do an evaluation of the size of its umbrella. And, the city controller can help with an audit of the umbrella's footprint.

Pittsburgh is a space. The city is a space. Where the city is needs to be mapped -- and that is easily done, even with Google Earth for pete's sake. We need a grip on the spaces and the taxes associated with those spaces. That's the future of this city.

If the nonprofits want to build taller buildings, that is going to bring more value to the city. That density is going to be matched by private citizens as well. And, we'll need robust incomes -- without seeing them taxes at higher rates.

With Michael Lamb's position, we'll have higher costs of health care.

With Michael Lamb's position, we'll have government auditors snooping into the books of the Little Sisters of the Poor -- watching for hidden wage taxes.

Those are the wrong ways to lead a city.

The year-by-year breakdown has to be about the size of the nonprofit land holdings and NOTHING else. That's the breakdown that this city is hungry to understand and control.

Audit says Allegheny County sewer fixes could cost $21 billion

Is there any indication that these guys know what they are talking about other than a big cost to a government authority?

Audit says Allegheny County sewer fixes could cost $21 billion 'You should be aware that in the future, your sewerage bill is probably going to cost more than your water bill,' said Mr. Flaherty, adding that the amount of funding the authority needs over the next 15 years will be 'the largest municipal project ever undertaken in our area.'

The root of the problem isn't the what we flush -- our sewerage. No.

The problem is the rain water run off that mixes with the same pipes as what was flushed. In times of a downpour -- you don't want to be at the edge of the river unless you want to see brown trout and worse.

We need to catch more water in times of rain. We need a real awareness of wet weather management -- by land owners, rate payers, citizens and environmental do-gooders too.

Frankly, we need leadership.

Sadly, we've got bean counters in the controller's office and hacks on the authority boards.

View from the BurghChair: April Fools Is On Us

View from the BurghChair: April Fools Is On Us: "Since it's all a joke, on this April Fool's Day I found it appropriate to write about Pittsburgh's Campaign Finance and Ethics Reforms. I just can't stand it any more. Both issues are hugely important and indeed are related to each other. Like conjoined twins, one cannot exist without the other."

My comments:

America isn't the land of the level playing field. Rather it is the land of the free.

A level playing field means that the rich will have better tools to launder money. That's it. Don't fool yourself. Money laundering isn't what we want to teach and promote with our candidates -- so that when they get elected that are even better at it.

Access to politicians does NOT hinge upon campaign donations. Well, that isn't the only key. Those who are elected that don't return phone calls are generally not re-elected -- else they get jobs in the courts.

Chris Chandler's MUSE AND WHIRLED RETORT April 2009

Updated from yesterday, keep reading:

Chris is one of my folk music friends. He always has something fun to report. This month bring some big news for him. We'll need to get him to perform again for us in Pittsburgh.

T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D.. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.

April 1, 2009
Vol X Issue vI
Silver Spring, MD

As I am sure by now most of you have heard, things are pretty a buzz here in chandler land. So I want to first say thanks all of the letters of congratulations for my most recent little blip of recognition on the National Radar screen. Thank you Thank You THANK YOU! It has been a trip!

For those of you who don't know, In Barack Obama's recent national town hall meeting, a question was asked to The President of the United States by YES! Little ol me! I couldnt believe it either, I am still kind of in shock. But all the hype at home afterwards made it even wilder.

It was a simple question really. It was about breaking up the banks. I guess that is why they picked it. But still - Wow! Truthfully, I logged on to ask the question more or less on a lark and didn't think much about it. Then I got an email (a You-Tube message actually) saying it was going to be used!

I mean it's not like I asked all of you to go out there and vote for my question like the people wanting him to address Marijuana legalization. My favorite oxymoron BTW: Marijuana Initiative.

Anyway, I digress. I asked that if the financial institutes are too big to fail what steps are being taken to break them up so they will no longer be too big to fail. His answer, you will recall (at least I thought) was pretty lame. Basically he said, "Tougher regulation." At first I was (honestly) kind of pissed. But then, the phone started ringing and emails started pouring in. Sheeze, I have been trying to get national attention for 20, now 21 years (technically 20 years and 11 months, but who is counting?) and I get more attention for this one thing I did as a lark than the 13 albums I have put out combined!

It was nice hearing from a bunch of people I hadn't heard from in a long time. My mother was impressed. I got a bunch of extra hits on my web page (although not as many as you would think after kind of having a conversation with the President of the United States.) OK, it wasn't in real time or linear, and wasn't really even a conversation at all, I just had my name and home town of Stone Mtn, GA read and then a little U-Tube clip of me reading a from a piece of paper in my bed room. But it was on national TV.

Can't I say I had a conversation with the President of the United States? Can't I have my little moment, just for a second? OK maybe not. It is pretty amazing how many people will contact you just from one little blip on the national media.

Three different people went to my website and then telephoned me to ask if we were related because we had the same last name. Really. One of them called at 2 AM in the morning! I am going to have to remove my cell number from my website.

Well, thats the way I thought about it. It was cool. (except for that) But then, I get an email to the chandler.org account from a company called Schwartz and Lowman who handle advertising for Wachovia Bank. They liked the question too.

Ya see Wachovia was recently bought by Wells-Fargo. They want people to know, that they have heard our concerns and they understand. So they are launching an ad campaign. "Wachovia, we are still in the neighborhood!"

These guys had gone as far as researching my past little newsletters and found the one where I talk about the bank account I had when I was a teenager, and how it got bought by someone and then by someone else and then by First Union and then by Wachovia. Now that Wachovia has been bought by Wells Fargo and they received TARP money, AND in the wake of the AIG bonus brew-ha-ha they want to launch an add campaign. That's where the ad company comes in.

They want me to tell MY story in an ad. "Wachovia, We're still the same bank."

They liked me -- Chris Chandler taking his concerns to the president, and They want people to know that they too are listening.

It's cool I read the first draft of the script day before yesterday. They liked the angle, of little ol broke nobody folk singer trying to make a living and taking his little bits of money to his neighborhood bank and then the bank gets bought and sold. So he manages to get on National Television to ask the president about his concerns. There is a shot of Wachovia executives watching in a big board room and then deciding to invest in a play ground at an inner city elementary school. WAY COOL!

I start the shoot in two weeks here in Silver Spring. So, to any of my stage hand friends that are reading this, I know where you can get some work. I kind of have an in!

Twenty years on the road and FINALLY Chandler catches a break. I am going to be featured in a national TV ad for Wachovia- Wells Fargo. "Wachovia, investing in Neighborhoods since 1953." The thing that honestly excites me, aside from a national Bank hearing my concerns and doing something about it, is the pay. I will make more from this one ad than I did in all of 2008 and 2007 combined!

If any of you know any entertainment lawyers out there I could use a hand because honesty I am in a little bit over my head. There is all this stuff in this contract I just got about my likeness being owned, and what happens if there are repeat commercials. Like what happens if I become like the "Mr Whipple." of Wachovia? Or The Maytag Repairman?

I mean stranger things have happened. But I can't think of any. Wow what a weird two weeks!

Yes, I am still doing the tour in May with Danny Dolinger. I don't think it is going to change that much its just I will be able to make a bit more of a comfortable living for this one commercial. YAY! To comfort. But, don't worry. I will still be keeping it on the road. Speaking of such I will see you between the white lines!

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A.n.n.o.n.c.m.e.n.t.s.

The TV commercial should be running by late spring. I hope to be able to put an advance copy on my web site!
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As part of my contract Wachovia has agreed to forgive the $800 in bounced check charges was complaining about a few months ago. In exchange I have agreed to run an ad for them in this news letter for one year.

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Danny Dolinger and I are STILL doing the NE tour in May. We have some holes in our calendar and would be willing to extend the tour on either end. See dates below.
In particular we would like something in Baltimore and DC.

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Paul Benoit and I are looking for dates on the West coast for July for the Wachovia in your neighborhood House Concert Tour.
I haven't posted much but we have a lot of irons in the fire. We are looking for shows anywhere from Santa Cruz to Courtney, BC.
As well as a date in DC/Balto/Philly June 13 14ish He will be playing with me at X-Fest.

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Paul Benoit and I are looking for dates in England and or Holland for August. Again, nothing is posted but We have some irons in the fire. If you can be of some help here please let us know.

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The Box set continues to do well. If you are interested in obtaining a boxed set featuring the best of the past twenty years on the road click here.
I can still sell the ones I have before I have to add the Wachovia Logo to it.

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I hope to have a book out for the summer that is a compendium of the best of the past ten years of this news letter. T.H.E. .M.U.S.E. .A.N.D. .W.H.I.R.L.E.D. .R.E.T.O.R.T.

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I have a different featured video on my home page each month. I have not completed a new one since the last George Mann Project. I am still working on one for Anne Feeney.

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T.H.A.N.K. .Y.O.U.!
Edward Lowman and Neil Schwartz at Lowman and Schwartz, Barack Obama for answering and staff for picking my question, Jill Hirshorn at Wachovia, Shirley Myers, Anne Feeney, Celene de Loach, The Baltimore Poetry Slam, Brian QTN, Joe and Jay, EEQ, Pat Barnes, CD Baby

H.E.R.E.S. .D.A. .D.A.T.E.S.
(see comments)

http://chrischandler.org/

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Here is the update:

The April 2nd Edition of The Muse and Whirled Retort from Chris Chandler
T.h.e. .M.u.s.e. .a.n.d. .W.h.i.r.l.e.d. .R.e.t.o.r.t.

The April the 2nd edition
April 2, 2009
Vol X Issue vi supplemental
Silver Spring, MD

APRIL FOOLS!

No, ladies and gentlemen - I am not now the Mr Whipple of Wachovia. But thanks so much for believing I was (those of you who did)

I am not sure if I enjoyed the letters of congratulations or the lengthy multi-paged screeds on the evils of Wachovia and how I am a major sell out.

Or even the little walks down memory lane from April Fools 5 years ago when I managed to convince many of you that I was now a motivational speaker for Lockheed Martin and would be opening for the Charley Daniels Band at the Paul Wolfowitz theatre in Langley, VA.

This time around, I managed to fool some of the smartest people I know. Zoinks!

I think my favorite might have been my own entertainment lawyer writing me asking, "What do you mean you need an entertainment lawyer?!"

Someone told me they had read it out in the blog-o-sphere first. HA! I have trouble traversing the Chandler-o-sphere so I will just imagine that part to be true.

OK OK. If any one of you had written me to say you asked a question in Barack Obama's town hall meeting I would have bought it.

Maybe I would have bought that anyone of you was becoming a spokes person for Wachovia. Where my BULL SH@#%*! Flag would have gone up is the fact that Wachovia Bank would hear our concerns and start investing in neighborhoods.

Now that IS a Whopper .

Well, in any event, I felt a second E-Mail is in order. Feel free to reply.

OK OK - I promise not to bug you guys with two E-Mails in a row like this often. I really try to make this strictly a once a month thing. I really do appreciate your kind words and thoughts.

I am going to wait to unsubscribe those of you who did so until after tomorrow in the hopes that this note will at least change some of your minds.

I won't bore y'all with another newsletter - other than to say

THANKS for all the responses.

I swear the people on this list are the absolute coolest folks on the planet!

And since so many of the coolest folks on the planet have asked -I

will give you a few highlights of what is really going on.