Dowd says he'll run against Ravenstahl for Pittsburgh mayor

Giving new meaning the the expression, it is all academic, Dr. Dowd is going to stand for office.

Dowd says he'll run against Ravenstahl for Pittsburgh mayor: "Pittsburgh Councilman Patrick Dowd will challenge Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in the May 19 Democratic primary, he said today.

Here is the question for Pittsburgh. What nonprofits and community groups are going to step up and sponsor candidate nights so as to begin the process of public discussion of ideas. And, there are three candidates, so I've heard. We'll see if Carmen's name is even mentioned in the news article in the paper on Tuesday.

Research: The United States Military Academy Prep School - Home Page

Doing more research into the concept of Prep Schools in advance of my public comment tongiht to the Pgh Public School Board about the concept of 13th Year as part of the new I.B. School framework.

Welcome to The United States Military Academy Prep School - Home Page The U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School, known as USMAPS, the Prep School, or West Point Prep, was formally established in 1946, but the 'history' of 'prepping' of soldiers for West Point has been done since Congress enacted legislation in 1916 authorizing appointments for soldiers to West Point. The school exists today as an 'avenue of opportunity' to a carefully selected group of soldiers and civilians by providing them the academic, leadership and physical skills that will prepare them for success as cadets at the United States Military Academy.

Steelers kicker arrested after towel tussle

Steelers kicker arrested after towel tussle towel tussle

You should have heard the heartbreak outside of Reed's house on Halloween when he wouldn't play with kids on a trick-or-treat mission. Glad we didn't push it.

But next year, we'll know what to deliver in our 'reverse trick-or-treating' efforts.

Kellogg and Michael Phelps, update

From Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director Drug Policy Alliance Network:

Thanks to you, the campaign against Kellogg's for dumping Michael Phelps has gotten the media's attention. We've been the subject of hundreds of news articles, as well as a segment on CNN.

Now is your chance to increase the heat: http://dpa.convio.net/site/R?i=e7qCxfef2lT9ib75PCLUIA..

We've swamped Kellogg's with comments on their phone lines, and
now we can make sure they listen by sending an email urging them to
retract their statement on Phelps:
http://dpa.convio.net/site/R?i=eWqEO4XzM2xNKly4TJN3LA..

DPA Network has already contacted Kellogg's asking for a meeting, and I'll let you know what we hear. With thousands of drug policy reformers like you taking action, they'll have to respond:
http://dpa.convio.net/site/R?i=qiiuL4sVk34F-p306fhHMw..

Believe it or not, a South Carolina sheriff is considering going after Phelps himself and has already arrested eight people associated with the party last fall at which he was photographed. So it's more important than ever to stand with Phelps and make our voices heard: http://dpa.convio.net/site/R?i=pqIz9Sgio0a06HG4vYYgDQ..

There should be no more marijuana arrests for Michael Phelps or anyone else. And Kellogg's should renew their contract with him. Contact them today to keep this concern at the forefront of Kellogg's -- and the public's -- minds: http://dpa.convio.net/site/R?i=9L7HdXFen3Q8WsrJ-6fXTw..

For more insights, you can check out this thread.

Petition for Independent Inspection and Evaluation of certain schools concerning asbestos

Print it, sign it, return it.

Petition as a Google Document is here. It's not an attachment -- it's stored online at Google Docs. To open this document, just click the link above. Content of the petition below. The forces at work on these efforts are fellow volunteers with great concern about the Pittsburgh Public School district. They publish and gather online at another blog, PURE Reform and website. PURE Reform stands for Parents United for Responsible Education Reform.

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Petition
for Independent Inspection and Evaluation

February 16, 2009

GIVEN
that incidents of asbestos plaster failure at the Schenley High
School facility in 2007 caused the Pittsburgh Public School district
to arrange for an “Asbestos Plaster Potential Hazard
Inspection” report on the Schenley building, obtain a
consultant’s opinion as to the risk of danger in connection
with asbestos plaster in the building, and adopt an enhanced
monitoring and maintenance program at the building, and

GIVEN
that extensive asbestos plaster with a history of significant failure
has also been found to exist at the McKelvy, Vann, and Woolslair
buildings, and

GIVEN
that there is no indication that asbestos plaster potential hazard
inspections were arranged, consultant opinions as to plaster risk
were obtained or enhanced maintenance programs were adopted for the
McKelvy, Vann, or Woolslair buildings, and

GIVEN
that the consultant’s stated opinion that the plaster in the
Schenley building had “maintained its integrity for
approximately 90 years, and then started to fail almost universally
across the building” is contradicted by inspections and reports
by the district’s environmental consultants,

WE,
the undersigned citizens of the City of Pittsburgh, hereby
petition the School Board for the Pittsburgh Public Schools for
an asbestos plaster inspection and opinion of risks, dangers and
relative condition of such plaster by an independent expert, of four
school buildings: Schenley, McKelvy, Vann, and Woolslair.

FOR
purposes of this petition an “independent expert” is a
qualified individual or company that has not performed work for the
Pittsburgh Public School district at any point during the past five
years and that at this time has no arrangement to begin performing
work for the Pittsburgh Public School district, and who is mutually
agreeable to both the Pittsburgh Public School district and to a
community group to be designated by the undersigned petitioners.

Swimmers love clean water

Boy, 9, takes handgun to school

Bad twist of events without a shot being fired due to some heads up work in the classroom by a teacher.

Boy, 9, takes handgun to school: "Students and teachers will be greeted by metal detectors today, though police said the incident is isolated.

Sounds like the buddies needed to get a handshake too.

Putting in metal detectors isn't going to make me feel any safer. Rather, it would make the conditions worse. This is a school for grades K to 5. For middle schools, I'm okay with that type of homeland security hassle tactic. Not so much for the elementary schools.

Is this the only case?

How much is this going to cost in terms of equipment and personelle? Put three folks on the doors and then there are fewer to coach basketball, reading and stand to guard on the street for traffic.

Autos are more of a worry than guns. Let's be sure the outside of our schools are safe with kids as they hit drop-off zones -- often on the wrong side of the street.

Pgh Public Schools -- Now with SOME closed for Thursday, was 2-hour delay

Day off for SOME -- but not all. Check
http://www.PghBoe.net

Art and Code, an event at CMU that I might attend

This looks like an interesting event.

Art and Code ART AND CODE is a symposium on programming environments for artists, young people, and the rest of us. The event takes place the weekend of March 7-9, 2009 on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. It features hands-on workshops and a conference showcase for eight different creative toolkits -- programming languages made by artists, for artists.


Visit Art and Code

TV troubles

DEAD AIR (News)
By: Chris Young - February 12, 2009
Comcast removes independent WBGN from its lineup
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws//gyrobase/Content?oid=58808

Need a link to the petition.

Chip in $1 for a competitor

Watch this video.



In other aquatic news:

Phelps apologizes to Chinese fans for behavior - 02/12/09 BEIJING (AP) -- Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps has apologized to Chinese fans for what he called his regrettable behavior after he was photographed with a marijuana pipe.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/more/02/12/phelps.china.ap/index.html

it’s a twestival. - Uncle Crappy

it’s a twestival. - Uncle Crappy: "it’s a twestival.

Dangerously Irrelevant

Dangerously Irrelevant: "Parents are using online tools to push on schools

growingupassumingyoucanpublishThe Washington Post recently published a really interesting article on the ability of well-connected parents to influence the decisions of their local school districts (hat tip to The Science Goddess). The term ‘well-connected’ refers to parents’ abilities to use online tools to communicate and mobilize (rather than to their connections to people with power).

Old Stone Inn in West End nominated for historic status

Old Stone Inn in West End nominated for historic status: "The Old Stone Inn in the West End, which is more than 200 years old, has been nominated for city historic status, stalling demolition plans.
The inn, at 434 Greentree Road, will have to go through hearings by Pittsburgh's Historic Review Commission. The prospective owner, Harris Masonry Inc., had applied for a permit to demolish the building and was expected to receive one within days when John DeSantis nominated the property for historic status last week.
The first hearing on the matter is likely to ...

New amphitheater to open at Station Square

New amphitheater to open at Station Square New amphitheater to open at Station Square

What about Sandcastle? What about the North Shore?

Feb meeting at Bloomfield-Garfield Corp with four members of the school board

The Bloomfield-Garfield Corp has been holding meeings about the pending fate of Peabody High School and overall high school reform. Last week's meeting included four of the nine school board members.

Some comments about I.B. surfaced.


This is nice and a bit of self-interest as my kids are a part of this option. Both have been in a language magnet since grade K.

The root of the problem is that the hard questions are being ignored. This exchange points out the frustration and the level of skepticism.



Meanwhile, Mark Roosevelt was on the radio today as a guest of show host, James Roddey. I'll quote from that show in another posting. However, it was so sad to hear the softball questions that Mr. Roddey offered to Mr. Roosevelt. Yawn.



The fact are clear. We know nothing. But, the reality is that the writing is on the wall. Kids in 8th grade should not sign-up to attend Peabody in the fall of 2009. The rumors are sustained and are killing the school. Those there now get to hunker down.

The decision can't wait for years down the road as board member Thomas Sumpter says. The ultimate board vote is not necessary as they can pull administrative strings. The vote to close the school is not even necessary as the school building won't 'close.' Rather, it will be replaced with a different set of teachers, students, goals and opportunities. That isn't a vote to close -- unless you want common sense awareness.


Includes personal experience of being in a blended school from a young adult who attended East Hills and Schenley and took IB. Question about the master plan. Question about the movement away from neighborhood schools to city-wide magnets. Question from NAACP about equity and getting clout for certain committees and how to get picked for committees. Some back and forth while answers getting unanswered and questions mount. The roboitcs program and who's decision it really is, really?

Hear from Randall Taylor:


Thomas Sumpter (19 minutes) talks about his points for the district and his bio.


It was reported that things stayed pretty heated at the meeting. They didn't get too much into the CTE (Vo Tech) possibility. Mostly, the talk was just setting the stage as to what the citizens concerns were, including concerns about CTE, Westinghouse, etc. Hope was that the next step would have been a meeting by the working group . No date was set. Further, they were hoping to obtain more information from Dr. Martin on CTE. His suggestions had been made internally to the PPS administrators and board for the past years.

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Seems that the outrage from the community driven meetings has caused the administrators at the Pittsburgh Public Schools to "think again." They are meeting internally now and are expected to come out with a new, different, better and more thoughtful community process. It is messy. Elections are simple, but politics and community engagement is messy, as it should be.

So for now, Rick F., BGC, has not scheduled another meeting. In a way, it is time for a punt. The ball goes back to PPS. We'll see what they do with it next.

Updated from Feb 9, and Feb 10.

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The 80+ page PDF of info with articles, board reports and such. http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/fixpa/images/0/04/Pittsburgh_Peabody_09.pdf

$300 Million is cash would put the City's pension fund into a healthy position in 20 years

Mayor Ravenstahl says a $300-million cash infusion today would make the city's pension fund to a healthy point in 20-years.

Rather than follow his idea of putting out two RFPs for the possible lease of the parking authority assets, I've got better ideas.

First, sell Heinz Field, a public-owned asset, to the Pittsburgh Steelers for $300-million. Sell Heinz Field now. The team should buy it.

Second, sell the parking garages. Sell them. Don't lease them. Have each parking property liquidated, over time, to buyers. Then, after a bulk of the parking facilities are sold, as is, to new owners, then lower the parking tax to five or ten percent.

A team, a brotherhood

Article about men's NCAA Division I swimming squad. This hits to the point of a "gang mentality." I talked about the "gang mentality" last week in city hall. It is a standard slogan of mine. I want positive gangs, like swim teams.

Technician - A team, a brotherhood After a swim-down and some words from coach Brooks Teal, the women's team exits the pool as the swimmers remove their pink swim caps and grab towels on the way to the locker room, but the men's team remains in the pool.

After the coaches have left, the men's team moves to the center of the pool, treading water long after the meet has ended as the seniors debrief the team. A loud chant announces the meeting is over, and the swimmers finally pull themselves out of the pool to get dried and dressed.

Such is the brotherhood of the men's swimming and diving team.

Then comes the next quote in the article -- about taking a bullet. Wrong. Rather, the positive gang is a way to prevent bullet. The huddle in the middle of the pool is a way to change one's landscape and surroundings so as to be immune to flying bullets and senseless violence.

By the way, the hope of joining such a team is not part of the plans with the Pittsburgh Promise. Kids can't go to NC State with Pittsburgh Promise funding, sadly.

PPS looks at 20 kids entering 9th grade and it isn't good.

Graphic from Pittsburgh Public Schools Administrator slide show:



Review: Twenty students enter 9th grade. The drop out rate for high school students is 35%. So, out of the 20 that started, only 13 graduate high school. Only nine go onto college. Three of them get a degree.

ABT, ABL, WNC?

Other blogs and CP are spinning wheels and kicking up the dust of recycled electrons.

Patrick Dowd might be an ABT (Anyone But Them) candidate (for mayor of Pittsburgh in 2009's D primary), but in a different context. ABT could be: women and/or blacks and/or ex-public safety employees and/or lawyers.

You can dream about an Easter arrival from the "Patcave," (term coined above in the thread, sorta like "Batman's Batcave") a big splash and a change to the world. Or, you can help those who are already trying to do such for some time. Dream or reality.

It seems to me that the train with the "anyone but" slot has left the station. A late arrival to the ballot will diminish those efforts and insure the election of the existing mayor.

But, it isn't too late to get on board with someone from beyond Grant Street.

That is prudent generosity, IMHO. And, until proven otherwise, why so blind?

Glossary:

ABL = Anyone But Luke
ABT = Anyone But Them
WNC = Why not Carmen?