City school budget released

City school budget releaseddip into the reserve fund

$21.9 M deficit

6-percent spending cut, across-the-board.

Humm.... When does across-the-board really come to be understood as cutting what should be cut and keeping what should be retained, if not improved upon.

Dick's buys naming rights to Colo. sports complex

Seems like a nice investment and complex. Too bad it is in a different time zone.

Dick's buys naming rights to Colo. sports complex Dick's Sporting Goods has signed a 20-year naming rights deal to put its name on a Colorado property being touted as the largest soccer sports complex in the world.

The new Dick's Sporting Goods Park, scheduled to open in April, will be home of the Major League Soccer team Colorado Rapids and will include an 18,000-seat outdoor stadium and 24 outdoor fields, according to the announcement from site owner Kroenke Sports Enterprises.

The sports complex will anchor a 917-acre public-private project in Commerce City, Colo., that will also include a new municipal hall, retail stores and a visitors' center for the nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ryun's run ends in DC

PittsburghTrib.com Ryun, a Kansas Republican and once the world-record holder in the mile, lost in his bid for a sixth term in the House.

'I am really, really grateful for all that you have done,' Ryun said in conceding. 'There are so many rich stories and rich memories. I cherish those.'

Congressman Ryun was pushed out in the blistering given to the Rs yesterday. He is a friend to 'audiology' and was helping in a specific healthcare effort.

Jason, you'll be hearing about this shortly.

Ryun is hearing impaired and wears hearing aids. Years ago he helped with our book about hearing and athletics called, "Time Out! I Didn't Hear You." http://rauterkus.com/PDF/SPORTS/TIMEOUT.PDF

Best of luck at the Ryun Running Camp in 2007, http://www.ryunrunning.com/ryun/.

City questions URA's blight designation request

Breaks on Blight!

City questions URA's blight designation request The city planning commission yesterday questioned the city Urban Redevelopment Authority's application for blight certification as part of its plan to aid development of the old Nabisco plant site in East Liberty.

The URA is seeking blight certification as part of pursuing tax-increment financing, or TIF.

Think again! Pittsburgh needs to end TIFs. Plus, Pittsburgh needs to end the expansion of the designation of blight. Blight is everywhere, because they designate blight throughout the city.

The former NABISCO plant does NOT sit in an area of blight. Nor should the former plant get a TIF.

Election Day +1

Quote from the P-G coverage:

Mr. Swann dodged interviews and spoke in vagaries, ...

Bingo!

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania won't elect a person to stand with the people when the candidate hides from the people and attempts at honest, direct, communications on issues.

An elite glow came from the Team 88 efforts in the early stages. At the end of the campaign, candidate Lynn Swann was doing line dances with seniors in Homestead. And that interaction is a new verse of the same message -- don't engage in issue discussions.

Lynn Swann and Bob Casey both used the same playbook in terms of being a good guy in a suit that says little. Meanwhile, Rendell and Santorum are both bold. Swann's sticking point was being unknown beyond the celebrity status and football legacy.

Good guys with little to say, or I could say, GREAT GUYS who are new to the scene and choose to play defense in terms of political discussions won't win.

Casey is unlike Swann because Casey has run for public office in the past. Casey ran and won and ran and lost. But Casey has run.

Swann should be gearing up for County Council, perhaps as the at-large candidate. Or, for County Executive. Or, for State Rep in 2008. I think it is too late to have Swann move into the city and run for mayor in 2007.

Swann needs to stand on his issues and ideals all by himself. I'd love to see Swann dance in political circles in isolation. Win or loose, it won't matter. But, Swann needs to gain confidence and trust with the people in the realm of being a political governor.

Surprises, close finishes highlight races for state House seats

Spin the truth.

Surprises, close finishes highlight races for state House seats Petrone wins big in 27th
Rep. Tom Petrone, D-Crafton Heights, easily won a 14th term over GOP challenger William Ogden, 45, a Crafton councilman.

Mr. Petrone, 69, said his re-election showed that constituents in the district are satisfied with his representation and service.

'People who came to the polls they were not dissuaded by any negative comments made about me,' Mr. Petrone said..

The negative comments made about Petrone came from citizens in the district, and not the other candidate. The other candidate, Bill Ogden, spoke in a negative way about Petrone being in office for 13 terms and in favor of term limits. Petrone had been in Harrisburg for 26 years. That isn't a negative -- by falsehood.

Another biggie that was talked about by Ogden was the pay raise. Petrone voted for the pay raise. Petrone took the pay raise. Petrone said he gave the pay raise to chairty -- but only proved that he gave $100 of it away to a widow of a veteran. The rest remains unaccounted.

The only other point that was made as far as a negative about Petrone is the fact that Petrone is on the urban affairs committee in the PA House. Nuff said.

Citizens including Carl Sutter of the district have been spreading the negative messages.

Hacking Democracy -- HBO special, now online

Check it out.

HBO's special, Hacking Democracy. Finding out how America counts its votes.

SI.com - Olympics - Olympic-spirited Beijing considers car-free days for 2008 - Monday November 6, 2006 11:23AM

SI.com - Olympics - Olympic-spirited Beijing considers car-free days for 2008 - Monday November 6, 2006 11:23AM: "Beijing ponders car-free days for '08

BEIJING (Reuters) -- Beijing may expand a campaign to urge people take public transport to work and could introduce totally car-free days ahead of the 2008 Olympics, an official said on Monday. A voluntary effort over the China-Africa summit at the weekend to encourage people not to drive was successful, cutting down on traffic and clearing away pollution, said Du Shaozhong, deputy head of Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau.

'We believe that cutting down on driving is helpful to the general Olympic spirit,' Du told a press conference in increasingly rich Beijing where some 1,000 new cars hit the streets each day."

Citizen Driven -- my *ss!

Last week I got tossed out of a Grant Street meeting, of sorts. I'm still pissed.

Just don't tell me that a project is going to be "citizen driven" when it has taken five years, and the next stages in the process include work with the legal department, operations from the Planning Department, a RFP, then a community engagement meeting at the tail end of the efforts.

That's not something I'm going to buy into, in the slightest.

If something is 'citizen driven' -- then the citizen meetings happen at the outset.

Furthermore, don't expect me to think for a moment that the South Side Local Development Committee, (SSLDC), speaks for us -- the citizens.

I don't speak for citizens. But I do know what citizen driven looks and feels like. And, that those on Grant Street can't hoodwink me without an objection.

We have a dark spot in our South Side Community -- behind the South Side Hospital. Another year comes and kids throughout the city are getting into vans on school nights to play hockey at a facility near the airport. We only have one indoor ice rink in the city -- and it is the Civic Arena. It is a little hard to get ice time there. And, they want to tear it down too.

This year I talked about the closed indoor ice rink about 30 times at community meetings as I campaigned. Dozens of ideas have been floated. But, the city has been putting everything on ice -- go figure.

I get calls every other month from developers of sports facilities that would like to use the area for coaching, for kids, for community, for everyone's benefit. But nothing happens.

The former operator of that facility failed. But the biggest failure then was the lack of oversight. That is how leases are to work. When the lease holder fails to hold up his end of the deal -- you come in and change the locks.

This isn't a mayor's issue yet. But it will be in 2007. It was in 2006. And I'm still frustrated by those on Grant Street.

Fairy Tail

A young person asks, "Do all fairy tails begin with, 'Once upon a time, ...?'

An elder answers, "Another series begins with the words, "When I'm elected..."

Look out.

kdka.com - Murphy Staffer Who Appeared On KDKA Told To Leave

Another segment on another day.

kdka.com - Murphy Staffer Who Appeared On KDKA Told To Leave Murphy Staffer Who Appeared On KDKA Told To Leave

Andy Sheehan Reporting

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH There are new developments in the story KDKA Investigator Andy Sheehan broke Thursday night about Congressman Tim Murphy.

Evidence obtained by KDKA reportedly shows members of his staff are working his reelection campaign which is a direct violation of congressional ethics rules.

Now, Sheehan has learned a Murphy staffer who appeared in his story showed up for work Friday morning but was told to leave.

Jayne O'Shaughnessy doesn't call herself a whistle blower but she says she felt compelled to speak about goings on inside the Murphy office.

And she believes that may have cost her the job.

'The taxpayer are picking up the tab and don't know about it or didn't know about,' said O'Shaughnessy.

O'Shaughnessy is on vacation today.

Ethics board lies dormant despite charges - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Ethics board lies dormant despite charges - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Ethics board lies dormant despite charges

By Jeremy Boren

Members of Pittsburgh's 3-month-old Ethics Hearing Board still haven't met despite several charges against city employees of ethical wrongdoing.

Duhh... Come on folks.

The trend is to make excuses for doing nothing or little. These excuses won't fly smoothly in the future.

Action! We want action!

Bill Ogden on Property Tax

Mini profile on TV.

My space.com page for Emmas Revolution fans

www.myspace.com/emmasrevolutionfans: "EMMA'S REVOLUTION Folk / Folk Rock 'truth, hope and a dash of irreverance'

Why can't they count our votes! Good song.

Now has 78 plays. Send it higher.


Here are the gals playing in a Pittsburgh House Concert.

You Tube has video story of KDKA's TV story that hits hard against Congressman Tim Murphy

Folks, you can't use the state or federal office to help in a campaign. Duhh!

This is a great investigative report from KDKA TV. Getting the staffer on camera my prove to be fatal for Murphy's hope to finish his next term, or get elected.

Sadly, I don't think that the Dem has the juice to get out the message in a weird district that spans three counties. I don't want to make excuses, but it would make for a great topping for a hard waged campaign.

Next questions: Where is the DA, Attorney Gerneral, FBI corruption folks and others from the the same party as Murphy? This story should have legs.
Hat-tip and more at 2 Political Juniies blog.

Freedom to fascism . com

New movie, not yet in Pittsburgh.

Commonwealth of PA - Campaign Finance Reporting

Commonwealth of PA - Campaign Finance Reporting: "Campaign Finance Reporting Home"

For K-5, K-8 and ALAs about reading

Letter about reading.

The changes to the grading in the reading programs have been a bit of a hurdle for some of the students and families, yet alone teachers, in the district. A letter is headed to all. Here it is, cut and pasted below.

Superintendent of Schools

SUBJECT: NEW READING PROGRAM FOR K-5 STUDENTS

Dear Parents/Guardians:

The Pittsburgh Public Schools Excellence for All reform agenda recognizes literacy as the primary building block for all learning. One of the objectives of Excellence for All is to increase the percentage of students proficient in reading on the PSSA by the end of 3rd grade from 49% (2004-2005) to 80% by the end of the 2008-2009 school year.

Providing a rigorous curriculum aligned to state standards is critical to achieving the goal of improved academic performance for children at all levels. Among the steps the District has taken toward meeting that goal is the adoption of Treasures, a new reading/language arts program published by Macmillan McGraw/Hill. Treasures is currently being implemented in Kindergarten through Grade 5.

As the District moves from the previous reading program to Treasures, you may notice an initial change in your child’s grades for two specific reasons:

The difference in the way students are tested in the new Treasures Reading Series

The new standardized district-wide grading guidelines

CHANGES IN TESTING:

In the previous program, students read and discussed one selection per week. The weekly tests were then based on comprehension of that story as well as the skills taught. This year, students read three selections a week focusing on the same vocabulary and skills. Then on the weekly test, they read a different text that focuses on the same vocabulary and skills. This is known as a “cold read”.

The advantage of a “cold read” is that the test better measures how well children have learned the skills that were taught as well as strategies they apply as they encounter other “cold reads” such as books, newspapers, magazines, etc.

CHANGES IN GRADING PROCEDURES:

A standardized procedure for grading has been established and implemented throughout the District. This means student achievement in reading will be measured in the same way in each classroom across the District in grades 1-5. The grades are based on weekly assessments, unit assessments and classroom assignments. To measure what your child has learned, a nine-week grade will be based primarily on work that was graded according to these procedures.

Treasures reflects the most recent reading research and represents the first new reading program developed since the release of the National Reading Panel’s findings. Treasures supports Pennsylvania State Standards and the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Further information on Treasures can be provided by speaking to the Principal or Curriculum Coach at your child’s school or by calling the Parent Hot Line at 412-622-7920.

Sincerely,

Dr. Barbara Rudiak

Project Manager, Macmillan

This got coverage in the P-G, after it was blogged about yesterday.

Tougher reading program means low city grades Tougher reading program means low city grades

Friday, November 03, 2006
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Parents of some Pittsburgh elementary school students will find an unwelcome surprise -- unusually low marks in reading -- when their children bring home report cards Nov. 17.

Newspaper stops giving endorsement and publishes full text of candidate interviews instead

� Grand Forks Herald � The election is nine days away - and the Herald's editorial columns should be filled up with endorsements.

Not this year, however.

Earlier in the year, Editorial Page Editor Tom Dennis convinced me and other members of the editorial board that we should try something different. Instead of endorsements, the board would offer interviews of candidates. These would be posted on the Herald's Web site, www.GrandForksHerald.com for anyone interested to read.

Interviews of most candidates have been posted. A few are yet to be transcribed. They should be on the Web site by the end of the week.

This is a great idea.

I would be all in favor of the editorial board endorsement coming along with the full text of the interviews of those meetings. Better still, release the full text of the meetings along with a podcast of each of the meetings as well.

By the way, a full text of the interviews I've been a part of at the Pgh Tribune Review, including audio and video, have been posted to a blog in Never-never Land dot com because I've NEVER been invited to an interview with that newspaper.

So, while the rest of the country is moving these endorsement interviews into the modern age, it is impossible to get candidate interviews with some newspapers in this town.

It is no wonder why there are hundreds of newspapers throughout the nation that are in deep financial troubles. The industry is dying because of a lack of motivation and creativity.

Catherine's quotes hit Woman's Day Magazine - Checkup: Hearing Loss

Woman's Day Magazine - Checkup: Hearing Loss “We live in a noisy world. But our ears don’t split open and start bleeding when we damage them. So you can have quite a bit of hearing loss before you know it.
Catherine Palmer, Ph.D., head of the Center for Audiology and Hearing Aid Services, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Catherine Palmer, Ph.D., is at UPMC's Eye and Ear, and with Pitt's School of Health & Rehab Sciences, -- and she's my sweetheart.

This is on news-stands now.