Barnestormin - new blog with some new thoughts to spread

Welcome to the blog landscape. Barnestormin Barnestormin
Columns and personal essays by Jonathan Barnes, covering Pittsburgh news, writing and other topics.

Are we going to see a spending spree as the Murphy-ites flee? -- URA set to buy property on Fifth

URA set to buy property on Fifth The URA is proposing to pay $246,000 for a small four-story building at 212 Fifth owned by Candy-Rama Inc. It plans to pay $630,000 for a larger four-story building at 214-218 Fifth owned by Alfred B. Nunan next to G.C. Murphy's that currently houses three businesses, including a hat store that has been at the location for decades.
The acquisitions will add to the 15 properties the URA has purchased Downtown as part of Mayor Tom Murphy's effort to assemble land for the proposed redevelopment of the ragtag Fifth and Forbes retail corridor.

My view is NOT shared by that in the article. Herb Burger said that "anything the URA acquired Downtown is good new." Herb, my advice to you is, Think again!
We are getting a new mayor at the first of the year.
This might be another golden opportunity for those who might want to be the next Pittsburgh mayor to say something in public -- or on the internet.

Mount Washington to host Run for Roch

Another run for the running mates. The notice of this event came to me from a Mt. Washington friend, Tracy.

Mount Washington to host Run for Roch
Race to remember well-known runner who drowned last July...

Email blast: Come out to race with me - or worship instead

Hi Friends and Neighbors,

I hope your summer is going as well as ours. I'm still blogging. http://Rauterkus.blogspot.com

Since I've not sent much email since the election, let me say thanks again to all who have helped, voted, or just watched and tolerated -- in any way. Your listening, awareness and occasional critical remarks are huge helping acts from my perspective.

Our 2005 race for PA Senate is behind us. Next up, another type of race, the Pittsburgh Triathlon. http://www.PittsburghTriathlon.com. See my blog to order fan club and running mate t-shirts. =;0

After surviving both the senate race and a swim-bike-run, we'll strongly consider a race for the open seat in my district for Pittsburgh City Council.

If the triathlon isn't your cup of tea, the other Sunday invite is to a more spiritual pursuit. Consider a concert / service from our friend, Mindy Simmons, at First Unitarian in Shadyside on Morewood at 10 am. http://www.first-unitarian-pgh.org/

Mindy provides the splendid song, "One World" for our community and campaign CDs. She is a gem with voice and guitar. Cost is $0.

Shifting gears, here are some ideas I've been spreading around for Pittsburgh's sake.

++ Sell Pittsburgh's new, Convention Center to the pending casino operator as part of the deal. Put the casino within the Convention Center. The Convention Center is a white elephant and is a drain on taxpayers. The casino operators can better deal with market conditions -- not the Stadium and Exhibition Authority. This solution gets income more quickly and with multiple sources (gambling windfall + building's
value).


++ Extend the URA's sale of its excessive land parcels within neighborhoods by allowing not only the "adjacent property owners," but also the "near by property owners" to take ownership from the city / public authority. Vacant lots sell for $500, minimum, but just to the willing who are adjacent. The URA owns more than 10,000 lots and parcels throughout the city. The URA inventory of land -- still in
limbo -- is still absent.


++ In 2001, as a candidate for Mayor, I called for the end of all Eminent Domain -- as a bold, strong, local measure. With the recent Supreme Court ruling, more are tuned into the trend and issue. When property can be taken, investments are sure to occur elsewhere. Beyond the struggle for "rights," their saga leads to dropping property values. That cycle generates storms for cities and individuals in many ways. The call to "end eminent domain" has become more "mainstream" and "urgent."


++ As a recent Libertarian candidate for PA Senate, let me assure you, I'm NOT getting any $10,000+ pay raise -- like both of my opponents. Shamefully, NEITHER raised a negative peep nor objection while on the legislative floor in Harrisburg. I'm not so tight lipped. Being "prudent" I would have never gone for the pay raise. Being "open" and "outspoken" I would have sounded alarms and raised my voice in loud
protest.


++ Allow Kennywood a "free ride" on the collection of the one-percent RAD tax. Kenneywood's gate helps subsidize its competitors. Furthermore, let's "think again" on the entire RAD tax plan.


== Mini recap of my ballot participation in the May 17, 2005, special election includes: ==

I was out-spent 250-to-one by the Republican candidate but out-voted by a five-to-one ratio.

In the 250-polling places, 249 scored votes for me.

I did equally well in the city and the suburbs.

My Democratic opponent generated nearly 20,000 votes from a base of more than 90,000 registered Democrats registered and within the 42nd district. That means that each Dem netted about 1/5th of a vote for Fontana. Meanwhile, my 2,542 total votes flowed from a base of just 250 registered Libertarians in the district. I'm proud to say each Libertarian generated TEN votes for the Libertarian while each Democrat delivered one-fifth of a vote for the Democrat.

My cost per vote was $1.30. Meanwhile, my Dem and Republican opponents spent nearly $2-million for 33,187 total votes giving them an AVERAGE cost per vote at $60. Diven's performance was worse!)

Athe ballot box just two blocks from my front door, in our three-way race, I got 23% of the vote.

Thanks again for everything. I'll be back.

Throw 'em all out - Letters in the Trib go 1, 2, 3 and Brian O of PG tells it best

Throw 'em all out - PittsburghLIVE.com
It is time for all taxpayers to become diligent voters and vote against all incumbent members of the state House and Senate.

See comments for each letter, all strong. The tide is rising.

Pay raises for legislature hooked to raising the minimum wage - reactions from Ls

Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania
3863 Union Deposit Road #223
Harrisburg, PA 17109
1-800-774-4487
www.lppa.org

For Immediate Release:
Date: 07/12/2005

For more information contact:
Doug Leard at 215-646-1502 or
David Jahn (Chair) at 610-461-7755


Governor Rendell recently told reporters that he would demand a minimum-wage increase from lawmakers in exchange for endorsing a legislative pay raise. Rendell favors boosting Pennsylvania's minimum wage to $7.15 an hour.

Our legislators are already among the highest paid in the country and their performance does not warrant a pay raise. Rendell compounds the damage to Pennsylvanians by using the pay raise as a hammer to pound through a minimum wage increase that will hurt Pennsylvania’s economy and poor.

How does a minimum wage increase damage our economy and hurt the poor?

First, minimum wage increases destroy jobs. Unless a business creates additional revenue to cover the enlarged salary expenses, the business must spread their work among fewer workers. Companies are thus pushed to inhibit hiring and potentially eliminate existing jobs. Teenagers and others seeking initial job experience that will allow them a first step onto the economic ladder are usually the ones impacted.

A study in 2004 by Duke University supports this claim. The study found that increases in the minimum wage decrease job prospects and increase the number of unemployed minimum wage workers.

Second, minimum wages limit businesses and workers economic freedom. As Doug Leard, Media Relations Director of the Libertarian Party explained, “when I first started working, I was willing to work below minimum wage to get established in my field of interest. Once in, I was confident I could work my way up the ladder. Increasing the minimum wage makes it harder to get that first step onto the success ladder.” This sentiment is supported by a study of economists at Florida State University and Miami University of Ohio that found that full-time workers hired at the minimum wage received a median pay increase of 13 percent within their first year.

A minimum wage increase hurts the poor by destroying jobs and providing workers with less employment options. Rendell’s proposal is bad for Pennsylvania!

The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States with over 600 officials serving in office throughout the nation. Please visit www.LP.org or www.LPPA.org for more information on the Libertarian Party.

Positive pressure to support the schools' I.B. program and foreign language studies

A dedicated crew of parents from various schools have been meeting to insure the continued strength of the language programs within magnet schools among varous Pgh Public Schools.

A resource listing that gives research as to why this type of studies is so effective can be sent to you via email if you notify me.

Time will tell what the next boss of the school district plans to do.

Race Uniform

Wear a real fashion statement and make a positive, political, community statement as well. Get your own t-shirt for $15. Simply make a $15 donation with the Pay Pal donation button (found on the left-hand side of this blog) and then send an email saying you want a t-shirt too. We'll get the first five who order their new t-shirt at the Triathlon. Otherwise, we'll get it to you around August 1.

The Elect.Rauterkus.com logo is printed on the front and back, to be better seen as we come and go.

The shoulder logo says Platform.For-Pgh.org.

Dear Registered Athlete, (gulp) That's me. Our t-shirts / uniforms for pick-up soon!

The 8th Annual Seagate Pittsburgh Triathlon & Adventure Race is only a couple days away! Friends of the Riverfront is proud to bring you this exciting event on Sunday, July 17th at North Shore Riverfront Park.

Seagate returns as title sponsor. Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacturing and marketing of hard disc drives, providing products for a wide range of Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing and Consumer Electronics applications. The Company is committed to delivering award-winning products, customer support and reliability, to meet the world's growing demand for information storage.

Race packet pickup and expo will be held at the North Shore Riverfront Park on Saturday, July 16th from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM, to be followed by a pasta dinner from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

Trizilla , Western Pennsylvania's first and most complete world-class triathlon specialty bike store and training center will be on hand to perform bike inspections and showcase its wide array of products. You can also stop by the Trizilla store at 15 Freeport Road, Aspinwall, PA on Tuesday (7/12) through Friday (7/15) of race week to get your bike inspected.

An athlete information guide (PDF) with everything you need to know about the race, including a race itinerary, course information and maps, race awards and amenities, driving directions and lodging information is online.

PLEASE REVIEW THE ATHLETE INFORMATION GUIDE CAREFULLY, AS IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KNOWING PRIOR TO THE RACE.

Working against yourself often Governor?

Rendell Declares Tremendous Victory' As Own Plan is Defeated
In a classic effigy of Jekyll and Hyde, Governor Ed Rendell claimed victory against himself this week by announcing he had negotiated a partial restoration of the cuts to the Medicaid budget he proposed in February.

"Only Gov. Ed Rendell could claim victory against himself," said Republican State Committee Chairman Eileen Melvin.

Led by the voices of the state's hospital and nursing home communities, Gov. Rendell's Medicaid proposal drew a chorus of criticism from medical caregivers and providers.  If the governor's plan would have become law, limits would have been imposed on the number of times eligible women and children could access hospitals for their medical care and the number of monthly prescriptions available to enrolled recipients, most notably scores of Pennsylvania senior citizens.  The Rendell strategy would have created huge fiscal strains on the state's hospital systems through a precipitous rise in uncompensated health care costs.   

Gov. Rendell's proposal to enact the $500 million in cuts to Medicaid was roundly defeated late last month as both Democrats and Republicans in the Pennsylvania House voted down the plan in unanimous fashion.  After negotiations with Republican legislative leaders reached their apex over the July 4th Holiday, Governor Rendell was quick to claim credit for the restorations saying, "This is a tremendous victory"  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/5/05)

"Coming from a governor who vetoed his first state budget, I guess this move should come as no surprise," added Melvin.

Top Minister says that all public sectors need open source solutions

Put this up into the scoreboard as another way we are falling further and further behind.

EUROPA - IDABC - Norwegian Minister says that all public sectors need The Norwegian government is taking large steps in their software policy: everybody in the public sector has to develop a plan for use of open source solutions within 2006. The Norwegian Minister of Modernization, Morton A. Meyer, presented new plan for information technology in Norway called "eNorge -- the digital leap," where one of the points concerned open standards and open source.

You know how the Pittsburgh Pirates are always way behind? That feeling is creeping over the entire country, and mostly our city, in terms of technology. We are behind. We are way behind.

When I ran for mayor in 2001, I had a strong open-source policy. That type of thinking has taken root elsewhere.

Do you think Bob O'Connor is going to be talking about open-source software?

Do you think Ed Rendell is going to be pushing open source either?

Pittsburgh still needs to get its act together, and we've got a long way to go.

Drenched with Dennis

Dennis is blowing around the heartland and might be in Pittsburgh in a day or so. What's your take on the weather?

Our Green Tree Great White Sharks Swim Team had two rain out meets called two or three weeks ago with the Crafton squad. Twice, mother nature rolled in a big thunder storm. This week is a make-up date. Figures.

We've got two evening meets this week. For our league, that is a lot.

Then the other worry is the pending, Sunday morning Triathlon that includes a 1.5 k swim in the Allegheny River. If we get a good bit of rain, the river is going to be fast, high and nasty. If we get a lot of rain close to the event, the swim might be too dangerous.

Predictions welcomed.

Hogs -- Trib and the pay raise for state reps and state senators

In Harrisburg, the hogs slop themselves. See the comments.

Pandas and Parenthood

Baby Panda lives to be one-day old in DC.

Photos and more insights to come soon.

When in China, we got to visit the Pandas in a special Panda reserve. This year, our favorites were the "RED PANDAS."

City's slip in population isn't all bad news -- sugar coated news spin

City's slip in population isn't all bad news... But lately, he's been unable to get the city to rein in nuisance bars near his home. 'I'd like to live in a small city with some normalcy,' he said....

Exactly.

If we have a small city feel -- why do we have the big city burdens?

If we have the quaint burgh attitude -- why do we have the big-city headaches?

If we have that kwel neighborhood character -- why do we have the overspending of a metropolitan glitter that isn't helpful, isn't prudent, and isn't going to spread the neighborhood character?

The one's in power in the past have been trying to make Pittsburgh what it isn't. We have to be what we are. We have to be ourselves. We have to be with comfort when we look into the mirror.

I'm not saying we can't aspire to greatness, work to solve the cancer problems and have our kids flourish.

We are not Disney. We are not a beach town. We are not the Big Apple. We are not just about entertainment.

Our needs and our wants have not been on the same page between those who live here and those who have been getting elected.

Huge casino perils Downtown's profile - Think Again

Huge casino perils Downtown's profile
Planners worry how building could change the look of cityscape

Imagine dropping a building nearly the size of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the Downtown riverfront. Or in the heart of the Golden Triangle. Or near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Think again!
Rather than the massive new building as a casino, I think we should sell the new, under-performing, high-cost to maintain, convention center, owned by the SEA (Stadium and Exibition Authority) and make it the casino.

Sell it now, or soon.

That's the deal for Pittsburgh. The casino operators can re-tool it for the slots and allow for business to flow with the conventions.

Turn the Convention Center into the Slots Parlor. In a way, this is a move to privatize the convention center and get it off the backs of the government officials.

Face it, the convention center and the casino are going to be either friends or foe on each and every convention that comes to town. Put the ownership under the same, white elephant, sloped roof.

Suspect mentions missing girl in blog

This is one way to drive traffic to your web site.

Suspect mentions missing girl in blog - PittsburghLIVE.com Suspect mentions missing girl in blog

MINNEAPOLIS -- The convicted sex offender accused of kidnapping two children in Idaho wrote about a missing Minnesota girl on his Weblog, and investigators are now looking into whether he might have had anything to do with her disappearance.

I want the authorities to check every lead. But, some in power seem to be going hog-wild about the internet and computers.

In other news, from Friday's PG, we learn of another bone-headed mistake from a school bus driver. The kicker at the very end of the story, police seized his computer.

Driver who forgot kids is charged

July 8, 2008, Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Kennedy school bus driver was arrested yesterday on charges that he left two 4-year-olds with special needs belted into their seats for more than two hours in his driveway and never dropped them off at school.

Milton Kappert Sr., 65, was released on his own recognizance after being arraigned before McKees Rocks District Judge Mary Ann Cercone.

"Stupid mistake," Kappert said, shaking his head as he sat in Cercone's office.

Allegheny County police charged him with two counts each of reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of children.

Police noted that the temperature was in the 80s on June 30, and the children's parents said in interviews with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the youngsters were sweaty or excessively thirsty upon returning home.

In an affidavit, detectives said Kappert picked up the children to take them to the Early Learning Institute in Kennedy but they never arrived.

Kappert needed to go to the bathroom, but decided he could not wait for a line of buses unloading students at the school so he went to his home on Ellwood Court nearby, police said.

Kappert told police he left the children belted into their seats with their windows opened about six inches and went into his house. He spent five minutes in the bathroom, took a five-minute phone call and "then forgot that the children were still on the bus and went into his 'normal afternoon routine.' "

Police said Kappert told them he did not realize his error until 2:10 p.m., when the son of Samantha Ray of Ingram walked into his house. The other boy, the son of Leanne McClean of Robinson, was still in his seat.

Kappert works for the Montour School District, which provides transportation services to the Early Learning Institute's Kennedy facility. He said he has driven a bus for eight years and is a former electrician.

The district has put Kappert on unpaid leave pending an internal investigation.

Kappert's attorney, Michael Santicola, said police seized Kappert's computer.

Make no mistakes, please. One can't agree with wrong-headed actions, especially against children. I wonder, why in the world did the police take his computer.
As a footnote, it is great to have back-ups, off site no less. It is great to have services such as Gmail and Blogger.com. Then the data and applications are off site and can't be "taken" by "greedy authorities" for little reason.
I hope to learn that this a bus driver gave the police plenty of other, valid reasons for the taking of his computer. Tell me those reasons, please. Or, what might they be?

Two additional swim pools open - splashing again in Mount Washington and in a RAD park

City to open pools in Mount Washington, Perry North ... businessman Ed Dunlap agreed to pay for operation of Ream Pool, and the city shifted sales tax funding to cover Riverview Pool...

State Rep. Harry Readshaw, D-Carrick, had sought to identify state funding for McBride Pool in Lincoln Place. But Ashley said that funding hasn't materialized.

Riverview Pool is in a RAD park. The four RAD parks should not have seen their closing as the money flows from a different source.
RAD funding is a tangle that needs to be cleared and understood. In my humble opinion, the RAD tax and the RAD board and the RAD operations need to be moderized and put into the junk heap in favor of a new, democractic, Pittsburgh Park District.

In 2004 we had Save Our Summer. Plus, the 2004 efforts saw a big donation come from Paul Renee to open the REAM pool after it was closed for two or more months. That was a band-aid.

Now we have another gracious citizen giving money to open REAM again. Well done there. But, we don't have much beyond the band-aid approach.

Pay raises by the numbers: Who gets how much

The rich get richer:

Pay raises by the numbers: Who gets how much Cabinet officials: Currently ranges between $112,013 and $124,458, would rise to $153,085, or up to 37 percent, for all 18 officials.

Can you name any of the 18 officials in the cabnet? There are 18! Name em, please.

Diamonds dropped in London

SI.com - Olympics - IOC drops baseball, softball from 2012 Olympics Baseball and softball were tossed out of the Olympic program for the 2012 London Games -- the first sports cut from the Summer Games in 69 years.

Baseball and softball will be played in 2008. So, the the sports live for now in terms of Olympics still.
I never liked seeing baseball as an Olympic sport. Good bye. See you in October.
This summer, being the trend setters that we are, it must have been news to the IOC voters that my boys, (ages 7 and 10) have yet to pick up a baseball throughout the summer. The gloves and balls sit here and don't get used. We go in waves with various activities, and the baseball wave has yet to hit in 2005.
I don't have a problem with baseball. I just don't think it is well suited as an Olympic sport. Softball is fine, if both the men and women were to play.

I don't think that this move is a "big mistake" as does Lasorda.

I do think that baseball and softball should be sports in the Senior Olympics and in the Keystone Games. But spare us of those sports in the Olympics. I love scholastic baseball and softball too.

Figure what would have happened if NYC got the Olympics in 2012 and the IOC pulls baseball from the line-up. They were boasting that Yankee Stadium would have been used as a venue for baseball in 2012. Hillary and company should have offered to use Yankee Stadium as a boxing venue. They might have been backing the wrong horse, so to speak.

Baseball also got nailed because of the steriod scandals, as well as the other drugs too I guess. Doping is a big, big topic in international sports and baseball has been lax to the highest degree. Pittsburgh is keen on "between the lines" and the other uses of drugs in the game as well. Those behaviors don't wash in the global world.

Furthermore, the USA Baseball team has been much worse than the USA Hockey squads. Plus some of the best ballplayers in central America don't play internationally either. The sport didn't cover all the bases with a strong line-up, so to speak.

The downside, no other sports were put onto the agenda as official medal sports. I figure that the UK pressures will get rugby and cricket as demonstration sports.

The most damage, however, comes to the entire process. The openness of the vote was absent. The bull-headed meeting organizers wanted to put this just to a voice vote and the IOC booed. The vote totals were not announced. The movement has plenty to learn and understand in terms of democratic leadership. Many of the IOC members felt skunked at the way the meeting fell apart as sports were being considered.