PG's Capitol Notes and DeWeese's 31-member group on schools

Capitol Notes, 3/18/05STRANGE BEDFELLOWS. Who knew that a liberal Democrat like Rep. H. William DeWeese of Greene County had something in common with a conservative Republican like President Bush?

But the issue of improving public schools in Pennsylvania has brought them together.

DeWeese, the state House minority leader, this week introduced legislation to create something called the 'Commonwealth Commission on the Provision of Public Education.'

If approved by the Legislature, it would be a 31-member group that would, by Oct. 31, 2006, 'make recommendations on the current system for the delivery of public education and related services to children in pre-school through and including bachelor degree level instruction.'

'What we want to do is make education better,' DeWeese said. 'This is something to which we can all be agreeable.'

DeWeese said Bush has taken the lead in the matter by creating the federal No Child Left Behind law, which sets standards for schools, students and teachers to meet over the next 10 years.

'It has impacted nearly every aspect of public education throughout the United States,' DeWeese said. He is hoping this new panel will 'take a holistic look at the entire public education system' in the light of the new federal requirements.

The way to make education better, in the eyes of the one's who are in power, is to make a new commission.
The approach of making a new panel, such as the A+ Schools or the Mayor's Commission on Public Education, is no insurance for better schools. That approach is a joke, as are the two organizations mentioned.
Another harmful, failed approach that didn't help our schools but only caused harm was championed by Michael Diven and a couple of others who were elected to city office. Michael formed a PAC (Political Action Committee) with Gene R and Jim M to sway school board election results. A bull in a china shop could have done less harm.
The Pgh Public School Board soon spun into a national embarrassment.
We can all agree that public schools are in need of some serious help. President Bush, state lawmakers and I know that schools are not in great shape.

The best way to handle these issues is to electe people who care greatly about these matters and not allow the elected leaders to pass the responsibility and in turn the blame to some other authority or hatched 31 board as mentioned in the story from DeWeese.

I'm against the creation of more red tape. Let's not create more frustrations without accountability.

Grant to preserve photojournalist's trove of images

Grant to preserve photojournalist's trove of images: "Every Monday for the past 21u20442 years, Lippincott has worked with archivist Kerin Shellenbarger to catalog roughly 8,000 Harris images.

How long?
Is this some librarian joke with a Dewey Decimal reference? April Fools comes early?
I'd love to see the Harris collection online. I'd love to have it happen in our lifetime.
If the collection was put into the public domain, it would be done 100-times faster.

Carrick Shooting Shouldn't Cause Frenzy

As a resident and community activist in the city neighborhood of Carrick, I was disappointed to hear of the fatal shooting of a student outside of the high school, but not overly surprised.

I grew up in a rural community and went to an elementary/middle/high school campus that looks remarkably like the Columbine high school where several kids went on a killing spree years ago. Residents of that previously sleepy town didn't run to their nearest urban area, afraid of gun-toting teens. Likewise, Carrick residents shouldn't run for the hills after this tragedy.

Parents need to be responsible for their kids' activities, before, during and after school. Immediately upon hearing of the shooting, I predicted that the actors knew their victims, it was probably drug-or-pseudo gang related, and that there would be plenty of fear to go around.

News reports indicate that the act was caught on video. They already have suspects. I truly expect arrests within a week.

Within the next few days a city leader, or prospective city leader, MUST unveil a plan to help parents--single parents, married parents--everyone who has children in Pittsburgh. Counseling, after-school activities, motivational speakers, family experts, etc. At foundation or private expense. A challenge to the "downtown community" to help any parent who needs it.

Carrick has the city's largest baseball league. Just last week, we signed up our son for another season of shagging flies and hitting sharp grounders up the middle. Carrick's baseball community does its part. It's a guarantee that none of the actors involved in today's shooting were a part of Carrick's baseball community.

Parents should allow their students to go back to Carrick High School. Maybe not tomorrow if they are particularly concerned. But without question, people in the community shouldn't fold up their tents and go into a tizzy.

Hertzberg steps out to allow for special election on May 17

Alan Hertzberg is setting aside personal compensation and is quickly resigning from his city council seat to allow for the special election to occur on May 17.

The special election would have cost the city an extra $60,000 if it was held on another date.

Alan did the right thing and did so for the good of the city.

Last year I pushed and pulled at Harrisburg to hold the special election for the 42nd State Senate to be held on May 17. That move saved $250,000. The proper date was selected so we'll not only save more money, but engage more voters in the selection of the public officials.

Alan's move turn up the heat a bit for the city council race. The Republican candidate needs to get into gear.

Anyone want to run for the office under a LIBERTARIAN banner, please contact me. Tonight the Libertarians are meeting at 7 pm at Ritters Diner in Oakland/Shadyside area.

NEPA News - busted for living the high life on Ben Franklin's good name

Corruption. Caught. Outcome.

NEPA News: "Leaders such as Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and former Gov. Tom Ridge instructed McGeehan to 'shake trees' to bring new businesses to the region, McGeehan said, and he did that by traveling and hosting parties at which he could network.

Read about the fat cats in the comments or click the link above.

I have a no problem with fat cats in the private sector but they don't sit well in my view in the public sector.

I remember the Pittsburgh Ben Franklin center -- and how worthless they were as I approached them. I was there on a number of instances and was always left with a bad impression.

I had also been to the small business incubators in Evanston, Illinois with Northwestern Univ. too. The contrast was real. These pretentious characters are part of the continual decline of the Pittsburgh business climate.

Fontana resigned. Next phase begins.

Wayne Fontana, thanks for the five years of service. Thanks for tendering your resignation. Now let's start the discussion on how to best serve the citizens and taxpayers of the region.

The meeting in County Council was on the wild side. A new crisis is here. Headlines in the papers are sure to point out that the 1-2-3-4 plan is headed to court.

One eight-to-sevewn vote dodged a year-long delay. The final vote was with three on the minority side.

Everyone was in agreement, the system is broken. Some think it will take three years to fix it. I ask, why? What was happening the last three years?

My solution, "assessment buffering." More to come on that in the weeks to come.

Venture outdoord hits a bump in the road with insurance

Sad news from our outdoor friends on insurance is in the comment section.

When the Rec Centers and Swim Pools closed, I put a message to the firefighters union to ask them to come to the rescue in terms of insurance help. Coordination matters.

The Pittsburgh Park District would be another way to get solutions to insurance problems.

See the comments.

City of Pittsburgh needs GOP mayoral candidate, a PG statement

City of Pittsburgh needs GOP mayoral candidate The rest of you just have to work on your sales pitch. That argument I've heard so often on talk shows -- 'You people are idiots. Why don't you let us run that city we hate?'' -- will need polishing before November.

For the record, I love Pittsburgh.

The rest of the article is interesting.

Mr. Reform falters, so says the trib. But Lamb isn't dead yet. His rebirth could come in a new race. Mine, no less!

Pittsburgh Tuesday takes - PittsburghLIVE.comThe mayoral campaign of Allegheny County Prothonotary Michael Lamb continues to go nowhere fast. To wit, the Democrat's transportation 'plan' talks of pumping more money into the Port Authority instead of fixing the badly broken agency. Lamb also gushes over the proposed high-speed magnetic levitation train and the North Shore Connector. Both are boondoggles of the highest order. Some 'plan.' 'Mr. Reform' is dead.

We did get the deer in the headlight glaze to vanish when asking Lamb about the Mon Valley Toll Road. A few months ago he was without comment. He's on the campaign trails and has no comment on a vital issue. Well, at least he is moving and showing some progress there in the right direction.
But, by and large, the reform tag misses the mark. So, I agree with the Trib's editorial snip.

But, Lamb isn't dead yet. In the Mayor's race, Lamb might be. But, Lamb has a chance of getting a new gust of wind if he would only switch races. Lamb could still jump into the PA Senate race slated for May 17.

Fontana, D, has yet to resign from County Council. Fontana, the expert that he is, might be too valuable to county council in this new crisis in his field on his watch. Fontana might need to stay right where he is to fight off the court cases that are sure to arrive.

Michael Lamb could fill in for Fontana as the Democrat's entry into the race for PA Senate to fill Jack Wagner's old seat.

Next year, Fontana might be able to get a job within Lamb's office.

Michael Lamb's father is a former majority leader in the PA Senate. The younger Lamb, 42 now, should have entered this race months ago.

Lamb, however, to his credit, says he can't allow Bob O'Connor to become Pittsburgh's next mayor. He, too, cares a great deal about the future of our city and region. But the time is too short.

Lamb could pull out of the Mayor's race, get the endorsement of the Dems with a deal with Fontana, and run for Harrisburg. Lamb, and his supporters, could then influence the Mayor's race in the fall's general election. But that effort would take, T E A M W O R K.

Teamwork. Humm. The debate stage for the Mayor's Primary among Dems is sorta busy. Les, Bill, Hop and others are there to engage Bob. The frontrunner might get more than 50% of the vote. But, in 2001, Bob got 30K votes. Meanwhile in 2004 Kerry got 114K and Bush got 39K.

This year, the November election could be important.

Think again.

Trib's Tuesday Takes gets an echo from these quarters:

Pittsburgh Tuesday takes - PittsburghLIVE.com
Rule of law scofflaws: Allegheny County Council today is scheduled to vote on Executive Dan Onorato's 4 percent property assessment cap. Other than the fact that it's illegal, only exacerbates the quest to make assessments accurate, and will allow more expensive properties to escape paying their fair share, hey, it's a great idea. If the Democrat-controlled council approves of the plan, it will be guilty of malfeasance. Oh, and if Councilman Wayne Fontana participates in the vote, the candidate for state Senate who should have resigned weeks ago will have violated the county charter. What a crew, eh?

I'm on the agenda to speak at tonight's county council meeting. My topic, "County Charter." I should speak at the end of the meeting.

Pointer to Mojo Collins concert on Saturday, from Wilburn

This Saturday, March 19, Mojo Collins will be performing for the Calliope Legends Concerts at the First Unitarian Church in Shadyside. Admission is $15.00. Mojo is a singer songwriter and does blues, southern folk, pop, classical and contemporary. He is a good storyteller and gives a very good show. He has performed with or opened shows for Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin and Big Brother & the Holding Company, Steve Miller, Santana, The Grateful Dead, Ike and Tina Turner, Muddy Waters, Leon Redbone, Sly and the Family Stone, Blue Cheer, The Spinners, Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs, Keith Shealy, and the incomparable Stevie Ray Vaughn. The show starts at 8:00 PM.

He will be performing live at 11:00 AM on the Saturday Light Brigade (SLB) 88.3 WRCT- FM with Larry Berger. From 2-4 he will do a workshop: “FOLK AND BLUES ROOTS” at the Church, registration is $25.00 and advanced registration required for workshop, Calliope Office - 412-432-0333.

You can sample his music at www.mojocollins.com.

Remaining Legends Concerts:

April 23. 2005 - Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen, Contemporary and traditional folk music; strong harmonies and energetic performances of classic story songs. www.compassrosemusic.com

June 4, 2005 - Rachael Allen: Original, folk, traditional folk & contemporary folk; soulful and powerful. www.lookeyhere.com

Or, you could go to a boxing event and witness the jolts as the grey matter squishes around in the heads of young fighters.

Merging Sterrett and Rogers into Reizenstein leaked as an option

School board considers making Sterrett, Rogers into Reizenstein 'pods' School board members are considering closing two high-performing middle schools and transferring their programs to Reizenstein Middle School, potentially eliminating two popular alternatives to Reizenstein that have helped persuade parents to keep their children in Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The idea of having a performing arts school without a stage needs serious review.

I wonder about the news timing of this release. Why is it being published now? Is this the doings of the school officials who need to change the conversation away from the shake-up in top administrators? Is this another evil plot to highlight the warts of the city life and get more to flee to suburban schools? Where is A+ Schools, Mr. Lamb? What about the rumor of a move of Rodgers to share the downtown digs of CAPA in the Cultural District?

Another two dozen questions emerge from this story.

If it is broken, fix it. If it is working, let it flourish. One of our trends is to break what works and offer band-aids to what is broken.

Close the schools where the learning is light. Sadly, we've done the inverse and this again looks to be the pathway being pondered.

Ohio University Men play in NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 18

Ohio (21-10), a 13 seed, plays fourth-seeded Florida (23-7) at 11:25 a.m. CST on Friday, March 18 in Nashville.

The Bobcats earned an automatic bid to the tournament by defeating Buffalo 80-79 in overtime Saturday night in the finals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament while the Gators upset No. 4 Kentucky 70-53 in Sunday's Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game.

Ohio Athletics to Announced Ticket Distribution Policy Monday Morning. See the comments.

The days are getting longer now. Journalist, Activist, Sunshine

Sunshine Week is a nationwide effort to let people know which public records they're entitled to see and to pressure lawmakers to change rusty, poorly written or too strict statutes that keep citizens from peeping behind the curtain of governmental secrecy.

At the candidates night last week in Windgap, I was the third with a background in journalism to speak. Being open is part of the efforts to be more democratic.

Happy Pi Day

Today, Monday, 3.14, is Pi Day. Enjoy.

NUKED: Firefighters Ballot Question about Standards

The Firefighters had put a ballot question on for November, 2004. But that one was knocked off the ballot by Mayor Murphy. The second generation question was put onto the ballot for May, 2005. But that was taken off by the firefighters.

The question was to insist upon the fire standards. But that standard was put into the new contract, about to be voted upon by council.

So, there will be no ballot question for the voters of the city from the firefighters. The other ballot question has to deal with the county row office reform measure.

On Wednesday, I expect to see a showing of citizens to rally about their closed fire houses. Time will tell if this gets to be a hot issue in certain parts of the city, or not.

GOP's candidate missing in action? - PittsburghLIVE.com

GOP's candidate missing in action? - PittsburghLIVE.com Sometimes they vanish immediately after their failed campaigns, sometimes during them. The common denominator among recent Republican mayoral aspirants is that, politically speaking, the utter futility of their bids causes them to evaporate like steam.

'I'm not going to disappear,' James Carmine vowed shortly before being trounced by Mayor Tom Murphy in 2001. Has anyone outside the Carlow University classrooms where he teaches philosophy heard from him since?

Yes.

I pick up the phone. I do outreach. I know about Carmine now -- and I even put a bit on a recent blog entry about Professor Carmine. Since you asked, I provided an answer.

Carmine is going to put his energy into helping Mark Brentley, Sr. beat Sala Udin in the Dems primary in the City Council District 6 race. That race might be a three way race and there are sure to be others in the hunt too. A Republican is on the ballot and a friend is going to run as an Independent. So, there are many putting in efforts to unseat Sala.

By the way, I'm a former GOP candidate for mayor. But Eric, no sense in letting truth get in the way of a good story.

Primary challenges -- and quote that hits the nail on the head

Primary challenges - PittsburghLIVE.com 'We're not politically affiliated. We want fiscal sanity,' said James Menegazzi, head of Concerned Citizens of Mt. Lebanon. 'We also would like to see more balance with the focus of the board -- more attention to the education process and less emphasis on capital-improvement projects like pools and buildings.'

Great concept and words: Finscal sanity. My word choice, "being prudent." Same difference.

The other interesting words that I enjoy reading is the attention to process and less emphasis on capital-improvement project. Wonderful. Even in this case, the target is a swim pool. It is so true. I've been harping about too many "bricks and mortar projects." We need to think again. It isn't about building. It is about programming.

Parks make a delicate state issue

Lodges for parks a delicate state issueLodges for parks a delicate state issue

Sunday, March 13, 2005, By Bill Toland, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- There are still some true outdoorsmen, the kind who could survive a week in the woods armed with a folding knife and some matches. But they are greatly outnumbered by the semi-outdoorsmen, the kind who enjoy hiking or fishing or hunting, but at the end of the day prefer a soft bed and a nice meal to a sleeping bag and a tent.

That is why Pennsylvania is thinking of building overnight lodges at some of its state parks within the next few years. The new lodges may resemble what you can already find at ski resorts or larger national parks such as Yellowstone or Yosemite -- conference rooms, restaurants and residential suites equipped with television sets, kitchenettes and other modern amenities.

But in pursuing the lodges, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources must perform a delicate balancing act, drawing new classes of visitors without offending those who think parks ought to be largely kept in their natural condition....

Parks are a state issue. This is an area I am most qualified to ponder and lead.

My sister and her family resides in a state park at a county facility. It is much like a lodge. It is a youth hostil in a beautiful setting.

Parks matter.

Programming in parks matter too.

Finally, I'm not certain that these parks should be building lodges with taxpayer money when the times are lean. Growing Greener matters too.

Election Reform Task Force meeting in Harrisburg on Thursday

The Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition, PBAC, and the chair of the Libertarian Party in Pennsylvania announced an election reform task force meeting on March 17 to focus on changes that will have a minimal impact at best on voter turnout.

We hope to bring their attention to the much larger issue of ballot access where the facts are in our favor. According to U.S. Census data, 7.7 percent of the people in our nation didn't vote in 2000 because they didn't like the candidates. Our research reveals that assuring third party candidates a place on the ballot is the best way, hands down, to improve voter participation. The PBAC has prepared and submitted a report to the coalition outlining our position.

We need your help to drive that message home to the Election Reform Task Force this Thursday. We are hoping some of you might be able to attend the meeting to support our speakers. Having a showing of support in the audience encourages our presenters and adds emphasis to our points with the task force.

The meeting is from 10 to 4 pm on Thursday, March 17, 2005, at the North Office Building, Ground Floor, Hearing Room 1, Topic - Voter Participation.