An accidental Pittsburgher - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Kevin McClatchy had to squint.Golly.
Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, ...
More swimming pools could be reopened Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor said yesterday that he hopes to open 17 or 18 city swimming pools this summer.What does the Aquatic Task Force say about these pools? (giggle, giggle)
That's up from 14 last year, but down from 31 in 2003.
Getting the pool ready to open. Unravel the "red tape."
This outdoor pool also resides, in part, under a building. So, the pool is part outdoor and part indoor. The building above is a "rec center" of sorts. It holds badminton courts. The city's stadium is next door -- just 50 yards away (behind and to the right of the photographer's position).
Progress Pittsburgh Forums :: View topic - Writers Wanted: Writer’s Wanted
Writers for Pop City, a new e-magazine and Web site with features on economic development, technology and business, arts and culture, and remarkable people and places. The goal is to document the continuing transformation of Pittsburgh through lively articles that portray the authentic and thriving Pittsburgh. Contact editor at tcerto@adelphia.net and log onto www.popcitymedia.com.
Day of decision - Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewRead the entire article for more insights.
You look back two years ago, out of 193 House incumbents seeking re-election, only 15 had opponents in both the primary and general election. This year it is a hundred and something....
A: I don't have any sense of that because I think that the people are not looking at it as a party problem but as a government problem. You would think that the Republicans would have more to lose, because they have been in control of the Legislature for 14 years. It's not an irrational argument for people to say, "Well, gee, 14 years you've controlled the House and our Senate - and where's our property tax relief?" But the Democrats haven't exactly been a force for change and improvement, either.... There really isn't a difference between the parties. It's not a partisan problem, it's a government problem. We need to reinvent our government in a way that actually responds to the needs of citizens - that addresses the real problems that we have, whether they are economic or social or anything else, and that people have confidence that it's working for their benefit. We don't have that now. The Issues.PA poll that came out yesterday shows that confidence in government is at an all-time low. That reputation is well deserved. The people in office have not done a good job. Period. End of story.
Bike to work!
Scene from the West End on a recycle a bicycle event hosted by Citiparks in the past.May 15–19 is Bike to Work Week!
Help get the word out about these fun events intended to network, grow, and promote the Pittsburgh bicycling community!
Monday, May 15 – Biker Breakfasts from 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
* Whole Foods, East Liberty
* City-County building, downtown
* Carnegie Library in Oakland
Tuesday, May 16 – City Council proclamation will acknowledge Bike to Work Week
Wednesday, May 17 – Bike Breakfast at Carnegie Mellon (8am outside of the University Center)
Wednesday, May 17 – Commuter Clinic
* Bike Pittsburgh Executive Director Scott Bricker will offer tips on getting to and from work on two wheels, 7 p.m. at REI on the South Side
Friday, May 19 – End of the week party at the Brillobox (Corner of Penn and Main in Bloomfield). Come out and meet fellow Pittsburgh bike commuters and Bike Pittsburgh – the folks working to make the city better for bicycling. Members get 1 free drink!
Learn more about Bike Pittsburgh at www.bike-pgh.org. We’re working hard to make biking to work, shopping, and exercising by bike safe and fun for everyone in Pittsburgh!
Bike to Work Week is part of Great Outdoors Week which includes Venture Outdoors Festival (May 20th on the North Shore between the stadiums) and Pedal Pittsburgh (May 21 at Station Square Amphitheater.
Encourage others to bike to work.
Offer to meet a coworker somewhere along the way —- such as the Eliza Furnace Trail or Highland Ave. -— so you can ride to work together.
Make the most of MapHub and ByCycle or get involved with a BikePool to find routes and fellow riders.
Host your own biker breakfast! Bring coffee and bagels to share with your coworkers who ride in. You’ll be very popular.
Talk to your employer about installing bike racks, lockers, and even showers to encourage more people to opt to ride instead of drive to work.
Looking for more information? Please feel free to contact info -at- bike-pgh.org.
Bicycle vs. car facts:
According to a survey conducted by the Federal Highway Administration, 40 percent of all trips are within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work. Yet more than 82 percent of trips five miles or less are made by personal motor vehicle.
Cycling at least 20 miles a week cuts in half your risk of heart disease compared to non-cyclists who take no exercise, according to the British Heart Foundation. The British Medical Association also recommends that you cycle daily.Grant and Erik sit in the back seat of a bike in a bike shop -- before we purchase it. Photo from May, 2005, when we were in Chengdu, Southwestern China. We rode that bike all around that city for four weeks. We'd go back to various bike shops, on a near daily basis to get various fixes and adjustments. It was like a fine-tuned sports car.
A month later, as we were about to depart China, Erik and Grant got to wheeling and dealing with a crowd of bike "experts" and "prospective buyers." The bike was "for sale" and the boys were trying to make a bargain with some locals. None spoke English.
The model American male devotes more than 1,600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and searches for it. He earns the money to put down on it and to meet the monthly installments. He works to pay for gasoline, tolls, insurance, taxes, and tickets. He spends four of his sixteen waking hours on the road or gathering his resources for it. And this figure does not take into account the time consumed by other activities dictated by transport: time spent in hospitals, traffic courts, and garages; time spent watching automobile commercials or attending consumer education meetings to improve the quality of the next buy. - Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity
The bicycle also uses little space. Eighteen bikes can be parked in the place of one car, thirty of them can move along in the space devoured by a single automobile. It takes three lanes of a given size to move 40,000 people across a bridge in one hour by using automated trains, four to move them on buses, twelve to move them in their cars, and only two lanes for them to pedal across on bicycles. Of all these vehicles, only the bicycle really allows people to go from door to door without walking. The cyclist can reach new destinations of his choice without his tool creating new locations from which he is barred. -Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity
Multiple fences beteen the spectators and field. SI.com - Olympics - Beijing to boost patrol force for '08 Games to 50,000 - Friday May 12, 2006 7:52AM Beijing will build a 50,000-strong civil patrol force by 2008 to bolster security ahead of the Olympic Games, a Chinese newspaper said on Friday.
The force would comprise 70 percent permanent residents, 20 percent retired soldiers and 10 percent from Beijing's non-permanent resident population, the Beijing News reported.
Already 21,000-strong, the force would grow to 30,000 by the end of the year, the newspaper quoted police official Miao Lin as saying.
The government had already spent 200 million yuan building the force, the official added.
Patrol members were responsible for checking criminal activity, accident damage control, venue security, assisting in emergency situations and managing dangers within their jurisdiction, said Liu Yucheng, a Beijing Public Security Bureau official.
In addition to a fixed monthly salary of up to 700 yuan ($87), members would receive accident and injury insurance, and bonuses for assisting in emergency situations and making arrests that led to criminal charges, Liu added.
Police stop people and an instant crowd gathers right around the action. When we were stopped by the police, while on our bike, we were encircled within moments. The circle of onlookers was five deep and 20 or more around.
We are almost a week away from the Fourth Annual Walk For A Healthy
Community presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at the Chevrolet Amphitheater in Station Square. We have a few very special announcements to make to all of those who've registered to support DePaul School For Hearing and Speech.
* Registration begins at 7:45 a.m. and it's recommended that you arrive for the Walk before 8:30 a.m.
Brainstorming could remake Fifth-Forbes Mayor Bob O'Connor's effort to chart a new course for the run-down Fifth and Forbes corridor Downtown takes another turn next week. But you'll need an invitation to take part.By invitation only. Right. That is a fine way to get a consensus plan that you want. Just invite who you like.
While Mr. Murphy came under fire for not being inclusive enough in his planning for the Fifth and Forbes corridor, Mr. Dettore does not believe that will be a problem this time around.Every base -- now that POP has a blog -- they can say they have 'bloggers too.' There were few others who even knew what to do with the 'blogging concepts' back when there was a plan of public participation in 2000 and 2001. That was a joke too. Every base has been covered..... Give me a break.
"I think every base has been covered," he said.
kdka.com - Indictments Announced In Huge Drug Bust "This is fantastic for our city," said Mayor Bob O�Connor.Where are the visitors to the All-Star Game going to go to get their drugs? Not to a two-bit auto repair place nor a hauling company with trucks an at.
GOP's Hillman backs Democrat - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Hillman said her endorsement of Wagner is part of the 'Run, Baby, Run' campaign, an effort to get more women elected to the state Legislature. Hillman also noted that there is no Republican candidate on the primary ballot.
Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Laurel: To Friends of Dormont Pool Inc. A door-to-door campaign has raised enough money to open Dormont Pool this summer after all. The borough council this week reversed a decision to close the pool that's in need of major repairs. It also approved a deal that will see the grass-roots group pay for those interim fixes. The effort redefines for the better what the word 'community' really means."
WPXI.com - News - Students Walk Out In Protest At Plum HS ... About 60 students walked out of school in protest of the proposed 2006-2007 school budget.
In the new budget, students would have to pay a $50 participation fee to play sports or other activities.
Also, anywhere from six to 20 teachers positions could be eliminated.
School board officials said it is to help the district cut its budget, which is currently almost $2.2 million in the red.
The protesters said it's not fair to make the students have to compensate for the district's financial problems.
Student Sarah Urbanowicz said, 'We don't deserve to have our teachers cut who help us so much. This morning they told us we could write letters and stuff that would work but they didn't listen to us in the board meeting. Why would they listen to letters? We can't take this so we walked out.'
Posted by Amy Gahran
Where Is That Stephen Colbert Video Now?
Stephen Colbert's now famous/infamous performance at the April 29 White House Correspondents Association dinner launched an online firestorm. C-SPAN shot and broadcasted the video, which was immediately recorded and widely reposted online by enthusiastic Colbert fans, Bush detractors, media critics, and others.
C-SPAN, which holds the copyright to that video, recently asked the popular video-sharing sites YouTube (http://youtube.com) and iFilm (http://ifilm.com) to remove the Colbert performance from their offerings. Both services complied. (Although, as of this writing, iFilm is offering an ABCnews.com closeup video of President Bush watching (http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2724944) Colbert's "audition tape" spoof -- and appearing none too pleased.)
C-SPAN recently announced (http://www.c-span.org/special/colbert.asp) that it has entered into a non-exclusive arrangement with Google Video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879) "in order to increase the Colbert event's free availability. We worked with Google because they agreed to post both dinner segments in their entirety with links to c-span.org."
Of course, the Colbert video is distributed far and wide, and is by now impossible to recall -- from the fan blog Thank You Stephen Colbert (http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/) and video-sharing site DevilDucky (http://www.devilducky.com/media/45146/) to respected media organizations like Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/politics/2006/04/30/colbert_press/inde
x.html) (where I first saw it).
I can understand C-SPAN wanting to protect its copyright. However, when news footage "goes viral," there's no containing or corralling it. So the question becomes, what can news organizations do -- if anything -- to leverage such viral runaways? Please share your thoughts on this in a comment below. I'd love to hear some ideas on this.
On Friday, June 2, "The Nation" and CampusProgress.org will co-host a FREE Student Journalism Conference at the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C.
Student writers will have the opportunity to come together for a day of conversations, workshops, panels, and trainings featuring numerous "Nation" editors and writers, including Katrina Vanden Heuvel, David Corn, John Nichols, Liza Featherstone, William Greider, Eric Alterman, Laura Flanders and Victor Navasky, among many others.
Registration is free including meals. A limited number of travel stipends are still available. Both undergraduates and graduate students are welcome.
The application deadline is May 15.
For more information, http://www.alternet.org/nationinfo or, to apply, http://www.alternet.org/nationapply
For progressive journalism, Kristina Rizga, Editor, WireTapMag.org
Pittsburg....Brigadier Briefings report:Click that link (above) already.
Last night, we enjoyed the debut of City Theatre's "Honus and Me", a magical and fast-moving play with great Pittsburgh connections -- past and present -- that the whole family will enjoy. For an audio preview and ticket information, visit http://slbradio.com/slb/citytheatre.html.
Did you see this poll that shows when asked, Pennsylvanians most often called the state legislature "greedy?" It's a big deal, especially since those polled weren't given multiple choice answers - they came up with the word on their own. Other words used to describe them include “crook,” “poor,” and “corrupt.”More pointers and details in the comments.
IssuesPA/Pew Poll Shows Pennsylvanians
Dissatisfied with State Direction
Pennsylvanians Have Mostly Bad Things to Say About the State Legislature
May 10, 2006 (Harrisburg, PA) – A new IssuesPA/Pew poll shows that close to half (49 percent) of all Pennsylvanians are dissatisfied with the direction of the state, compared to just 43 percent who are satisfied with the state’s direction. These are the most negative ratings recorded in an IssuesPA/Pew poll since August 2004. These results also show the widespread nature of the dissatisfaction – reaching more than 50 percent in four of the six regions in the state; only one month ago, dissatisfaction was over 50% in only one region.
The poll also shows that rising gas prices are one factor behind Pennsylvanians’ growing dissatisfaction. Mentions of high gas/fuel prices as the most important problem facing the state have doubled in the past month (13 percent now versus six percent in March).
Views of the Legislature
When asked for a one-word description that best describes the legislature, the largest number of Pennsylvanians (69 respondents) said, “greedy.” Though the top ten list of responses includes some positive or neutral words like “good,” “okay,” and “fair,” most have a negative connotation such as “crook,” “poor,” and “corrupt.”
Only a quarter (26 percent) of Pennsylvania residents feel they can trust the legislature to do what is right just about always or most of the time. Nearly seven in ten (67 percent) feel they can be trusted only some of the time or never.
Pennsylvanians’ negative perception of the legislature might carry over into this year’s elections, as two-thirds (66 percent) of voters say that an incumbent state legislator’s vote on the pay raise should be a very important issue in this year’s legislative elections
“The well-reported furor over the Legislative pay raise appears to be having a lasting effect,” said Larry Hugick of PSRAI. “Pennsylvanians express low confidence in the state legislature as whole but have more positive opinions of their own state representatives.
Education
Education has emerged as a key issue in the 2006 elections. Most voters (85 percent) say that making sure high school graduates have the skills they need for college or a career will be very important in determining their vote in the gubernatorial and legislative races this year. Eighty-one percent say that making sure children have a similar opportunity for a quality education regardless of where they live will be very important. Voters were asked to rate the importance of 30 different issues this spring. Only one other issue – providing health care for uninsured children – was rated “very important” by 80 percent or more of the respondents.
Across Pennsylvania, most residents (56 percent) agree that financing education should be the responsibility of the state government. However, a similar majority (53 percent) want local school officials to be in charge of ensuring that public schools provide a quality education.
Gubernatorial Race Still Wide Open
The poll asked Pennsylvania voters about their chances of voting for Ed Rendell and Lynn Swann in the November gubernatorial election. Based on their responses to two questions, three in 10 (30%) voters are likely to support Rendell, another three in 10 (29%) are likely support Swann, and four in 10 (40%) are classified as swing voters, not strongly committed to either candidate. The new poll shows more voters on the fence than the March 2006 poll; the number of swing voters has increased by six percentage points.
Other Findings
Three in four (75 percent) voters statewide say the candidates’ positions on how to best control state spending will be very important to their vote.
More than two-thirds (71 percent) of voters say the candidates’ positions on how to best provide a tax system that is fair, adequate and pro-growth will be very important to their voting decision.
About half (52 percent) think the issue of helping cities and towns solve their financial problems should be very important.
Most Pennsylvanians (63 percent) do not think local communities without their own police department should be charged a service fee for state police protection.
Residents have many reasons for disliking local property taxes. Even numbers of Pennsylvanians (21 percent) say their main complaint about property taxes is that they make home ownership unaffordable and don’t specifically take household income into account.
In terms of reducing the property tax rates, the two least acceptable alternatives are expanding the state sales tax base (27 percent) and increasing the local wage tax (25 percent).
More than a third of Pennsylvanians (38 percent) think that conditions affecting their region’s economic performance have gotten worse in the past four years.
“There are a number of issues that matter to Pennsylvanians, and many of them may be important factors in the 2006 elections,” said Steven Wray, Project Director of IssuesPA and Deputy Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League’s office in Philadelphia. “The candidates’ positions on taxes, jobs and education may be key in deciding what could be a very close race.”
Rip-off: As seen on City Council! - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Got yourself a councilmatic yet?
What? You don't yet own this amazing appliance that conveniently slices, dices and easily purees facts and opinions for insertion into hastily complied research?
That's understandable, I suppose. They can be expensive. Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle spent $28,795 on hers."
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