Republicans consider Pittsburgh - PittsburghLIVE.com

I blogged about this elsewhere a day or two ago, so I'll repost my thoughts here.

Short answer: Pass.

We don't need the Republican Convention here in Pittsburgh for many reasons. The biggest reason is we don't have the right spaces. If we had a new arena along with the old, existing, Civic Arena, then we'd be with a different discussion. We need to have a net gain in terms of assets. Let's build a new arena and keep the old arena. And, let's make all of these facilities owned and operated by the private, not the public, sector.

Republicans consider Pittsburgh - PittsburghLIVE.com: "Before the Democrats settled on Boston, Pittsburgh had a real shot to host the Democrats' 2004 convention, said David Morehouse, a Beechview native who served as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry's traveling chief of staff. Morehouse now works as senior consultant for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the hockey team's attempt to build a new arena.

China set to pardon shunned athletes

The outside wall of a Recreation Center in China that we visited.

SI.com - Olympics - China set to pardon shunned athletes - Friday February 17, 2006 5:23AM Chinese sports officials have repeatedly said the country is unlikely to repeat its Athens haul of 32 golds in 2008.
But state media and national coaches have made far bolder predictions and by most indications China appears determined to top the medals table when the Games come to Beijing.

Five rings, but not Olympic Rings, exactly, on a fence / divide at the swim pool in Chengdu, China.

TV 11 Promo: Lot of Shame

There are snakes and groundhogs in an empty lot and people are waiting for someone to come clean it up.

What's so bad about snakes and groundhogs in an idle bit of land? Snakes might eat upon the mice and rats.

Furthermore, why don't the people who are waiting for someone else to come and clean the lot just do it themselves? They might be able to turn the ground into a presentable space if they just did the work. Why wait for someone else?

We need to be self-reliant. If you see the news clip when it airs, let me know the details. Or, we'll watch the TV 11 web site.

Press release about fact and errors on Krane

Speaking to the school board: Among other things, "Don't Sell South."

The statement as part of the wiki: To PPS on 2-13-06 - Platform.For-Pgh.org

Or, as a one-page PDF: Statement to the Board and Administrators of Pittsburgh Public Schools is available in a PDF format, one-page. This can be printed and handed out to school teachers, PTOs and others with an interest in the schools.

Original posting was 2-13.

Councilman urges diligence to avoid TIF max-out

Diligent. To lay the shovel down, that is diligent.

Councilman urges diligence to avoid TIF max-out 'We have to be very diligent about prioritizing what projects get [TIFs],' said Mr. Peduto.

NONE is diligent. Enough is enough. NO to ALL TIFs.

We should want sustainable business ventures here. We should not need to bribe others to move and open here. If they come in with a TIF, then we'll never get the real expansion here that is needed.

We don't have any more money to be tossing it around as we used to do. We're broke.

And, we don't want to be doing what we should NOT be doing. Government needs to govern and get out of the development business. Then, we get developers who want to govern.

Urban League forum tonight targets safety in, around city schools

Urban League forum tonight targets safety in, around city schools ... Residents have called for more crossing guards to watch over children in the Hill District and other neighborhoods. Salaries for about 140 guards have been a matter of contention between the city and district in past years, with the city paying for them so far this year.

Crossing guards.... They matter too.

City maxing out tax breaks - PittsburghLIVE.com

TIFs, explained well in this article, stink. The tax break goes to the corporations. The corporation pays less and the bills are increases for the little guys.

City maxing out tax breaks - PittsburghLIVE.com Pittsburgh is preparing to save PNC Financial Group $18 million on a new $170 million skyscraper with a special tax-financing offer, and that plan -- almost guaranteed approval by local taxing bodies -- would edge the city closer to a state-mandated limit on such deals.

I've been against TIFs for years. Back in 2000 I ran on a platform that said, "NO MORE TIFs." In 2005, I said we should change the laws for TIFs in Harrisburg. In 2006, I still say -- NO MORE TIFs. None.

TIFs are very clever. They were master-minded and perfected by Tom Murphy. People from around the world have come here to see how it has been done - and they've done a decent job in duplication of the desired effects -- ripping off taxpayers who pay their fair share.

TIFs take away from school kids who are in schools today.

TIFs take away from police presence, garbage collection, rodent control and traffic engineers who need to keep our streets and sidewalks operational.

TIFs take away from home owners who then have to pay more because a downtown skyscrapper pays $18-million less than it should. And, PNC Plaza already got a $30-million GRANT from Harrisburg's Rendell anyway. The $18-million goes on top of the $30-million. The subsidization of that building is greater than $1-million per floor.

Q & A with the PFT

I'd love to get the endorsement, and some campaign funds, from the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers. 412 431 5900

My dad is a retired Pittsburgh Public School teacher of many years.

More insights.

Medal Contest

The top nations in terms of total medals so far:

Noreway = 11
RUSSIA = 9
USA = 7

Those who have entered the contest I promoted last week are all going to get a gift from me in the mail. Deadline has passed.

SI.com - 2006 Winter Olympics - Russians continue domination in pairs skating - Monday February 13, 2006 9:40PM

SI.com - 2006 Winter Olympics - Russians dominate in pairs skating - if you ignore 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

In Pairs Figure Skating, there wasn't a scoring flap as there was at the last Olympics. The Russians won with room to spare. But how about those skaters from China: 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

The top pair from the USA got 7th.

What does that do to the skating show that tours the states after the Olympics end? Isn't there generally a "Champions On Ice" show that comes to the Civic Arena? Do you think that the pairs from China are going to be as big as an attraction for the masses of spectators? I don't know.

When we were in China, we did go to a skating facility -- but it wasn't for "ice" but rather "roller skating." We were in the southwest part, much like Florida weather, so ice skating wasn't to be expected.

This skating rink was rather interesting however. It was right on the landing within the large, central sports (soccer) stadium. A roller rink was on the cement within the second level of the stadium. No wasted space.

At another edge within the stadium there was a ballroom dancing studio -- where space was used for dance. The space was not enclosed by glass or anything special, but more like a fence or larger metal gates that could have been locked to keep folks from entering into the areas of the seats in the stadium, but you could easily see the field and such.

Other places around town were used for community dance and more group exercises -- but this dance studio within the stadium was more of a formal ballroom set up with more limited use and coaching, it seemed.

Generally, the Chinees are not only world class at diving and syncro swimming -- they are OUT OF THIS WORLD. So, it goes to reason that they'll be tops in the figure skating too. The sports of diving (springboard, platform, syncro) have a similar artistic yet athletic constitution.

Meanwhile, we Americans, and even my 2nd son, is all RAD about the half-pipe and the snowboarders. Yesterday, he got a hand-me-down board and boots from a bigger kid we have known from school. They share the same birthday. But he is four years older. So, of course, my guy is pumped to hit the slopes and try out the new gear.

Today's P-G reported upon the Pittsburgh connection with the guy skater representing the US. His mom and some other family is local. That's 'neat.'

Too good to be true -- exciting sports news.

Sure, we won the Super Bowl -- but take a seat if you didn't already hear the news that follows. Get out! I was so psyched to hear this...

SI.com - 2006 Winter Olympics - U.S. curling team beats defending champs - Monday February 13, 2006 11:30AM The U.S. men routed the defending Olympic champions 11-5 in the opening game of the curling tournament on Monday, scoring a whopping five points in the eighth end and forcing Norway to concede with two frames to go.

Just when you said, 'pinch me, its too good to be true,' then can the next shocker.

... The Americans followed up by losing 4-3 to Finland when skip -- or captain -- Pete Fenson missed with the final rock of the night.

Pete! What's up with that?

Thursday night's agenda -- hosted in part by Senator Fontana

Beltzhoover to host senator, candidates for meeting night
The Greater Beltzhoover Inter-Agency Network will host an evening with State Senator Wayne Fontana and the candidates running for the District 3 City Council seat on Thursday, Feb. 16.

There will also be information about Medicaid and PaceNet provided during the course of the evening.

The meeting at the St. Paul AME Church,400 Orchard Ave., will begin at 6 p.m. with a reception immediately preceeding the meeting at 5 p.m.

This week's ink in the South Pgh Reporter

I had to cover swim practice -- as the varsity team was at an away swim meet and the back-up coach was sick. Oh well... The coverage worked otherwise.

: The final candidate at the Candidates Night at Arlington was Mark Rauterkus who showed up a few minutes late for the session. The reason he was not there on time was due to a commitment he had with a youth organization he is involved with.
A South Side resident, Mr. Rauterkus has been a tireless worker when it comes to organizing youth activities. He is a strong proponent in making sure that young people play an active role in the neighborhood, noting that is the only way the city can stop its downward trend in the neighborhoods. He feels that if the city budget focuses more on the needs of the young people, rather than catering to corporations that do nothing for the neighborhoods, the city will begin to flourish again.
�People vote at the polls, but they also vote with their feet [moving out of the city] which they have been doing for a long time,� said Mr. Rauterkus, noting the city�s population has dwindled by the hundreds of thousands in the past 30 years.
Mr. Rauterkus said he wants the city to stop giving tax breaks to the wealthy and start focusing more on the neighborhoods because if this trend continues, there will not longer be a base of middle-class residents which is the backbone of the city.
�Our endeavor is about performance, the kids, wellness, accountability, communication, openness, open-source technology, freedoms, personal responsibility, taxing land, prudent spending, real democracy and respect of the marketplace,� Mr. Rauterkus said.

Parking authority rehiring angers union

When you don't have much in terms of campaign cash, it is easy to not over-promise jobs to campaign supporters. So this is a headache I've been able to avoid, by design or by sheer bad luck.

I also devote a lot of my time talking about kids and talking about freedom. Both of those pursuits are low-budget items and not what could be called, "cash businesses" like "parking meters." The meat that goes with meters doesn't meet when talking about kids and freedom. My "meat" of my message looks to be vegan in terms of kickbacks and "pork."

Parking authority rehiring angers union Mr. Stenger and his wife own two houses, one in Brentwood, and one on the South Side Flats. The Brentwood house, which they bought in 1990 for $78,000, has a county property tax break available only to owner-occupied homes. The South Side home, which they bought in 2004 for $5,000, does not have a homestead exemption, and is rented out.
Since 2004, Mr. Stenger has been registered to vote at a second Flats address, owned by a family member.
'[H]e lives in South Side. That's the address that's on his driver's license,' Mr. Onorato said. 'If [Mr. Stenger] didn't qualify, we wouldn't have hired him.'

I do talk a good deal about the parking authority, as in its liquidation.
At least I get a lead on a local voter.

Run, Baby, Run, Reform Initiative Launches Campaign to Elect Women Candidates to Reform State Legislature: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Finally, another politician (or group of politicians) in the local landscape who are able to use MUSIC as part of their message. I wish that this wasn't such a sexists group however, as I would have attended.

Run, Baby, Run, Reform Initiative Launches Campaign to Elect Women Candidates to Reform State Legislature: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance The political satire program included skits and spoofs of songs such as 'There is Nothing for Us Dames', a take off of 'There is Nothing Like a Dame' from SOUTH PACIFIC; 'Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better' and 'Pay Raise', a take off of 'Memories', from CATS.

when they had a meeting some months ago, I passed out my CDs to those who attended. Now I've got a new CD that has a new song, "Lay The Shovel Down."

Statement to PPS Board of Education

Statement to the Board and Administrators of Pittsburgh Public Schools

From Mark Rauterkus, candidate for city council, district 3, special election on March 14, 2006; Vice-chair of Allegheny County's Libertarian Party; parent students who attend PPS (2nd & 4th graders) 412 298 3432 Mark@Rauterkus.com

Feb 13, 2006

Schools need to be woven into the fabric of our communities. Likewise, school planning and communicating must be woven into community.

The "Smoky City Image" sticks to Pittsburgh because smoke still swirls around as deals get hatched behind the scenes.

The new Right Sized Plan is pretty good. It has been pretty good at keeping others at bay. It has been pretty good generating smoke. The Right Sized plan has been pretty good at taking a pretty good district into the future where we'll be pretty darn good.

Pretty good isn't good enough when smoke fills the landscape. Pretty good isn't good enough when our most precious, our kids, face large impacts.

The parent hot line is pretty good. I wanted a robust, open-source, time-saving, interactive communication infrastructure. I suggested this at the November hearing.

Mr. Roosevelt marveled about Pittsburgh's rumor mill. Starve that problem - and don't feed it. Pull the plug on pretty good and make excellence the standard. Justifications and reasonings are necessary. An open defense is necessary, not negotiations. Adjustments are expected.ve Put changes and challenges into the open. Then confidence can take root.

 1. Pre-school needs and numbers seem to be ab- sent from the Right-Sized Plans. Are you going to kick out the pre-school kids from Roosevelt because they've occupied four classrooms, to make room for Bon Air's students, and in-turn open Bon Air for Pre-School?

2. What about the failing Duquesne School System? The region is too small to turn a blind eye to any pocket of despair. We can't ignore. We need everyone's talents to thrive. Let's absorb Duquesne. To sloup of Hazelwood.

3. Bergwin in Hazelwood seems necessary. The Hazelwood site is never going to come back as a thriving, riverfront community if we don't have a school. Regionally, we need Hazelwood to function. With Bergwin closed, the past closure of Gladstone (middle and HS), Duquesne's proximity, the idle land on the site, it doesn't add up to me.

4. South Vo Tech should remain under the ownership of the PPS district. I'm a free market guy, through and through. But there are some public assets that we should not sell off.

The principal at Schenley HS mentioned a possibility of moving students to South for a year while Schenley's rehab occurred. The flexibility of the facility for South for the future is needed -- should new urban high-rise flats be built five block away on the east side of Station Square. If we put 4,000 to 5,000 new residents along the rivers just four blocks away, we'll need a school there. Don't sell South now.

5. Closing Knoxville is a devastating blow to that hilltop community. Perhaps a second middle school for creative and performing arts could fit there. Everyone wants Rodgers to move to their neighborhood, let's repeat the success.

6. When is a K-8 school not a K-8 school? As a parent, if my kids are all in K-8 grades, and they go  to a K-8 school, they need to be in the same school. The research for the K-8 model won't hold true if the model isn't K-8. Call two schools with one principal two schools with one principal, not a K-8 school.

7. Thanks for thinking again about Schenley. Join the WPIAL. Organize school newspapers, district wide. Insist student governments operate in all schools. And, may I join the High School task force, because there is more work to be done.

Wipe out!

Neither the Olympics nor Politics is always fun and games.

SI.com - 2006 Winter Olympics - U.S. luger Retrosi crashes out of Olympics - Monday February 13, 2006 4:41PM And, that the Olympics aren't always fun and games.

'It was a bad crash. ... But the bottom line is that she's going to be OK,' U.S. team leader Fred Zimny said.

Get well soon.

Fontana is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1085 for Health Care Reform

Way to go.

Let's get this discussion moving in the right direction.

I'm at an event on Thursday with Senator Fontana. I'll do my best to give him props for this leadership on a very big problem that faces Pennsylvania.

Publc Statement to PPS Board