Paramedics say they're scapegoats for city's snow response A couple of medics pointed out that they were in town and working during the snowstorm while Mayor Luke Ravenstahl was out of town. He had gone to a Laurel Highlands ski resort to celebrate his birthday.Golly. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Council will hold a hearing at 10 a.m. April 5 on the city's response to the February snowstorm.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Paramedics say they're scapegoats for city's snow response
Tomlin says Big Ben called him within hours of accusation
Of course he did. He's the coach. Coaches take those calls. Coaches don't wish for them, but we expect them.
Tomlin says Big Ben called him within hours of accusation: "Ben Roethlisberger called Steelers coach Mike Tomlin in the early hours of March 5 to inform him that a 20-year-old woman had just accused him of sexual assault in Georgia.Call your coach. Coaches are not the person to turn to at the last resort -- but a prime, early, and trusted source for all sorts of players.
State College, PA - PIAA State High School Basketball Championships
State College, PA - PIAA State High School Basketball Championships Return This Weekend All-session tickets are good for the following doubleheader dates and times:
Friday, March 26, 2010 at noon – AA Girls’ Final
Friday, March 26, 2010 at 2pm – A Boys’ Final
Friday, March 26, 2010 at 6pm – AAAA Girls’ Final
Friday, March 26, 2010 at 8pm – AAA Boys’ Final
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at noon – A Girls’ Final
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 2pm – AA Boys’ Final
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 6pm – AAA Girls’ Final
Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 8pm – AAAA Boys’ Final
Single-session tickets are also available now and cost only $8 for adults, $5 for Penn State students, and $4 for students 18 and under. Don’t miss the action as the state’s best high school boys and girls basketball teams converge at the Jordan Center! For more information, visit www.piaa.org.
PIAA Basketball players that recently played at the Bryce Jordan Center:
• DeJuan Blair went to Schenley High School and was named 2007 player of the year for Class AAAA. He went to Pitt and was drafted to the San Antonio Spurs, where he currently plays.
Participation 3.0 - E-Democracy.org
Participation 3.0 - E-Democracy.org: "Participation 3.0 - Social media in local public life for engagement, transparency and problem-solving.
Participation 3.0 is E-Democracy.org's next generation local online civic engagement initiative for 2010 forward. It represents a new and third wave of activity since our founding in 1994. Today, we seek to connect local people everywhere with the best ideas and opportunities for local online civic engagement."
A Tea Party comes to Pittsburgh on April 3, 2010
This isn't my perfect cup of tea, but for many, it is.
"Announcing The Pennsylvania Tea Party 2010!
DATE: Saturday, April 3, 2010
TIME: 12:00 NOON
LOCATION: Allegheny Landing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
[The Allegheny Shore between the 6th and 7th Street Bridge]"
Environmental Justice in the City April 8-10, 2010
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary's Metro-Urban Institute will convene its 14th annual Urban Intensive Weekend conference April 8-10, 2010. This year's conference will be a national dialogue on ecological and social justice as tasks to be addressed by the Church of Jesus Christ through both evangelism and community organizing.
Utilizing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s theology of "The Beloved Community," this conference will explore strategies to bring people interested in saving trees and endangered species together with people concerned about gun-violence, poor schools, and poverty to help create a more physically and spiritually healthy environment for all.
Registration fee is $75. Fee includes all conference events and meals.
Visit The Metro-Urban Institute for complete information. Call 412-441-1393 or e-mail swerth@pts.edu with questions.
This three-day event (Thursday afternoon through Saturday) will focus on the theme: Building the Beloved Community: Environmental Justice in the City and will include practitioners in environmental and social justice as well as some of the leading scholars and pastor-scholars from Pittsburgh and various sections of the nation. The conference is the Second Calling for the Order of the Day dialogue among African American Presbyterians throughout the PCUSA.
The distinguished career of Dr. Gayraud Wilmore, Professor Emeritus of Church History, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA will be celebrated. In 1963, Dr. Wilmore became the first African American Professor to join the faculty of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
The conference will include presentations, site-visits, and community-based workshops led by community groups, and churches, schools giving participants an opportunity to interact with leaders of faith-based efforts in their host communities where positive changes are occurring.Registration Information
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Utilizing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s theology of "The Beloved Community," this conference will explore strategies to bring people interested in saving trees and endangered species together with people concerned about gun-violence, poor schools, and poverty to help create a more physically and spiritually healthy environment for all.
Registration fee is $75. Fee includes all conference events and meals.
Visit The Metro-Urban Institute for complete information. Call 412-441-1393 or e-mail swerth@pts.edu with questions.
This three-day event (Thursday afternoon through Saturday) will focus on the theme: Building the Beloved Community: Environmental Justice in the City and will include practitioners in environmental and social justice as well as some of the leading scholars and pastor-scholars from Pittsburgh and various sections of the nation. The conference is the Second Calling for the Order of the Day dialogue among African American Presbyterians throughout the PCUSA.
The distinguished career of Dr. Gayraud Wilmore, Professor Emeritus of Church History, Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA will be celebrated. In 1963, Dr. Wilmore became the first African American Professor to join the faculty of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
The conference will include presentations, site-visits, and community-based workshops led by community groups, and churches, schools giving participants an opportunity to interact with leaders of faith-based efforts in their host communities where positive changes are occurring.Registration Information
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Monday, March 22, 2010
Mike Tomlin concerned about Steelers’ franchise, Big Ben
Mike Tomlin concerned about Steelers’ franchise, Big Ben: "Tomlin and the Steelers are doing the right thing by letting the legal process work itself out when it comes to Roethlisberger’s situation. But the reality is that the organization should be concerned. Its starting quarterback has been accused of sexual assault twice in the last year and a half and while he may have not done anything wrong in either incident, this is the third time in the last four offseasons were Big Ben has gotten into some kind of off-field complication.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that Roethlisberger’s future in Pittsburgh is in doubt."
A Medical Doctor and Insider -- Congressman, Ron Paul on Healthcare Reform
Congressman Ron Paul - Healthcare Reform Passes - Texas Straight Talk Following months of heated public debate and aggressive closed-door negotiations, Congress finally cast a historic vote on healthcare late Sunday evening. It was truly a sad weekend on the House floor as we witnessed further dismantling of the Constitution, disregard of the will of the people, explosive expansion of the reach of government, unprecedented corporate favoritism, and the impending end of quality healthcare as we know it.Read it and whatever.
CD Release Concert & Party at Our House on the South Side - Soon.
Feel invited:
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0ByN94c3Pp4BpMGJjNDZkNTItN2U5Yi00ZTc3LWExMDAtZGRmYWI0MjVmOTM4&hl=en
Click the link to a one page PDF hosted as a public Google Document.
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0ByN94c3Pp4BpMGJjNDZkNTItN2U5Yi00ZTc3LWExMDAtZGRmYWI0MjVmOTM4&hl=en
Click the link to a one page PDF hosted as a public Google Document.
World Summit on Media for Children and Youth - Karlstad, Sweden 2010
This would be a fun road trip, to Sweeden.
World Summit on Media for Children and Youth - Karlstad, Sweden 2010: "JOIN US IN KARLSTAD
World Summit on Media for Children and Youth Karlstad Sweden 2010 will be a summit for 1500 delegates from 80 countries preparing with children and youth for a new media world in the 21st century. It will offer you great opportunities to network, to be part of debates, to be interactive and to be part of workshops to share your perspective, experience and expertise. World Summit in Karlstad will be the most important meeting place in 2010."
W&J German day lets students showcase knowledge in different ways - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Rauterkus is a German name. But, that's about it for me when it comes to this.
W&J German day lets students showcase knowledge in different ways - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'The best part is the process of getting ready for the event,' said Gary Harger, a German teacher at Schenley High School and the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies. 'These are the things a student remembers, not grammar or bookwork.'
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Fw: Municipal Debt Train Wreck ahead
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: "Bob Logue" <ucblogue@verizon.net>
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2010 19:07:04 -0400
To: <Undisclosed-Recipient:;><Invalid address>
Subject: Municipal Debt Train Wreck ahead
Too many towns, too much debt: Welcome to Pennsylvania
By Jeremy Boren and Brad Bumsted
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, March 21, 2010
| |
The small town of Westfall in Pike County this month quietly became the first municipality in Pennsylvania to declare bankruptcy.
It might not be the last.
"A train wreck is coming, and, because of my position, I think it's my duty to alert people," said George Cornelius, secretary of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. "Some of these municipalities may get into a situation where they have no choice; bankruptcy is the only option left."
Cash-strapped municipalities suffering from the industrial decline, population loss and overwhelming tax increases common in the Rust Belt face a "downward spiral," Cornelius said. He wouldn't single out cities but said a major reason is that Pennsylvania is bloated with local governments and many resist cutting costs through government consolidation with neighbors.
"We have municipal boundaries that were drawn in a different era that bear no relationship to current economic realities," he said.
Act 47, the state-managed safety net that provides "financially distressed" cities with state-prescribed recovery plans while requiring them to cut costs, "failed in its essential purpose," Cornelius told the House Appropriations Committee last month. In November, he predicted that "financial distress is almost assured" for all mid-size and large cities in the state.
Since 1987, 25 cities and towns, including Pittsburgh, fell into state receivership. Six escaped. Eleven languished there for a decade or more. The state's capital could be the next. Harrisburg officials are contemplating selling City Island Park, parking garages and other public assets to cover a looming debt larger than the city's annual budget.
Similarly, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl wants to lease city parking garages and meters for 50 years to infuse at least $200 million into Pittsburgh's anemic pension funds and avoid a state takeover of the pension system. The funds contain 30 percent of the money needed to cover $899 million in long-term obligations.
Pittsburgh remains under state oversight. Its general debt payments consume 17 percent of the city's budget, and anticipated deficit spending could begin eroding the city's surplus next year. (End quote from the Tribune Review article).
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************
This is just the initial segment of the excellent Tribune-Review article which goes on to share more info about how cities and towns are trying to deal with their budgetary problems. (A copy of the full article is attached to this message.) One proposed solution discussed in the article was annexation of neighboring municipalities. Pittsburgh did that many decades ago when the North side (a once prosperous independent Old Allegheny) Carrick and perhaps other boroughs were annexed into the City Of Pittsburgh. What eventually happened was just a bigger blighted, declining Pittsburgh with even bigger financial problems, crime problems, etc. Yes, merging municipalities would mean some savings on duplication of services, but since such a large number of Pennsylvania municipalities are in economic trouble, wouldn't merging two depressed municipalities (without changing the economies of either) eventually just make one bigger economically depressed municipality.
Doesn't it make more sense to try to help the cities and towns grow and prosper? Let's think outside the box for once...and try reversing the decline by attracting more residents to make our towns and cities home for their families. More residents....mean more revenue from existing taxes; more customers for existing businesses, and a magnet for new businesses to serve the growing population.
Answer this yes or no question for yourself: If all property taxes --school, county and municipal--were abolished on all primary residences--homesteads\farmsteads--would there be a greater attraction for individuals and families to buy homes and live in our municipalities?
Ownership changes attitudes. Stakeholders have greater pride in their homes and communities. With a growing population there would be fewer abandoned properties, fewer closed schools and houses of worship, fewer closed businesses and our communities would be revitalized WITHOUT ANY COSTLY, INEFFICIENT GOVERNMENTAL PROGRAM.
Read below the damage done to communities by abandoned properties...with statistics from the Federal National Mortgage Administration (Fannie Mae).
ABANDONED PROPERTIES: According to the Federal National Mortgage Administration's Fannie Mae Foundation, the impact of abandoned properties is much greater than most people realize.
Quote from Fannie Mae Foundation: "Of all of the conditions that adversely affect neighborhoods, abandoned properties may be the most destructive, because they exacerbate many of the other problems communities face, including: Decreasing property values. The presence of abandoned properties in a neighborhood significantly affects the value of the remaining properties. A Philadelphia study found that the presence of one abandoned property on a block reduced the value of the other properties on the block by nearly $6,500 each. (End quote.)
S.T.O.P. believes high property taxes, absentee landlords and predatory lending are all major contributors to the ever-increasing number of abandoned properties and increasing decline and blight in our communities throughout Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia roughly one in every ten homes and lots are abandoned. Pittsburgh has had an average of 350 newly abandoned properties every year. While it is often looked upon as an urban problem, there are many abandoned homes and properties in suburban and rural Pennsylvania.
Abandoned properties provide NO TAX REVENUE to the municipality, school district and county. The municipal government is obligated to try to care for the abandoned property to prevent them from becoming crack houses or fire traps endangering nearby homes or businesses; and the municipal government is often required to expend thousands of dollars per property to demolish the slum properties and clean up the sites.
THE STOP LEGISLATION CAN HELP REVERSE THIS BLIGHT AND REBUILD OUR COMMUNITIES. AND DO IT WITHOUT ANOTHER MULTI-MILLION DOLAR TAXPAYER- FUNDED PROGRAM. LEARN MORE AT www.undercoverclub.com (hit on the STOP Page) and www.grandoldusa.com
Abolishing all property taxes on primary residences will make many of those abandoned homes and properties desirable again. Punishing a homebuyer with higher property taxes for purchasing an abandoned or dilapidated property and investing substantial money and sweat in upgrading the home and land is stupid. Knowing they could make the improvements without penalty—since there would be no property taxes ever imposed on their home--would encourage investment by private citizens. More residents means more revenue from the local earned income tax, per capita taxes, and Emergency and municipal services tax; the Emergency services tax; plus more attract and keep more businesses that pay business taxes to the municipality. The STOP Primary Residence protection legislation has been proven fiscally sound and viable by the PA State Government's Legislative Budget and Finance Committee's experts. Any questions? Write Bob Logue at ucblogue@verizon.net
Testing if and how well Teachers teach
P-G article about teacher evaluations highlight;
Planning and prep
Classroom dynamics
Learning environment
Responsibilities
But what can not happen is what was quoted in the article. The process can not be the same for all of the teachers. Everyone can not be "the same." Some are better. Some are worse. Some need extra coaching. Some need only professional observation.
All the students are not the same. Nor are the teachers and administrators.
Everything needs to be square, fair, just, documented and able to be defended and explained. But--- that isn't the SAME.
I think that bigger meaning is what she meant.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Planning and prep
Classroom dynamics
Learning environment
Responsibilities
But what can not happen is what was quoted in the article. The process can not be the same for all of the teachers. Everyone can not be "the same." Some are better. Some are worse. Some need extra coaching. Some need only professional observation.
All the students are not the same. Nor are the teachers and administrators.
Everything needs to be square, fair, just, documented and able to be defended and explained. But--- that isn't the SAME.
I think that bigger meaning is what she meant.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
6 practices
Say yes.
Be generous.
Love more.
Trust ourselves.
Speak up.
Slow down.
Humm.
The above is from Patti Digh.
Last one does not work. But it is relative.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Be generous.
Love more.
Trust ourselves.
Speak up.
Slow down.
Humm.
The above is from Patti Digh.
Last one does not work. But it is relative.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Anonymous Bloggers get blasted on P-G's front page
Perhaps there would not be a need for so many anonymous bloggers if the watchdog media was really doing its job. The media has a critical role to play in our free and open society. Too often the fumble, sadly.
The school superintendent's cronyism should nor be talked about only in faceless and nameless blogs -- as per the example in the P-G article. But I fail to remember any such article about any high raking official in any newpaper. So, blog away folks. And think for yourself as you both read and write.
I am sure that those in power would love nothing more than to contol all the power and communication streams.
By the way, in PPS with the superintendent, our issues are not with cronyism, exactly. Other ills, still untold, by the media, exist. Plus, a great deal of the blogging happens with folks who sign their words to their names.
I don't favor the anonymous, nor do I ever play in that space -- but -- I do defend it. Their freedom and mine are linked. We all should care, as we should all be careful with our words.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
The school superintendent's cronyism should nor be talked about only in faceless and nameless blogs -- as per the example in the P-G article. But I fail to remember any such article about any high raking official in any newpaper. So, blog away folks. And think for yourself as you both read and write.
I am sure that those in power would love nothing more than to contol all the power and communication streams.
By the way, in PPS with the superintendent, our issues are not with cronyism, exactly. Other ills, still untold, by the media, exist. Plus, a great deal of the blogging happens with folks who sign their words to their names.
I don't favor the anonymous, nor do I ever play in that space -- but -- I do defend it. Their freedom and mine are linked. We all should care, as we should all be careful with our words.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Fw: NAMLE Extends Board of Directors Nomination Period
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: NAMLE <vdomine@namle.net>
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:45:26 -0400 (EDT)
To: <mark@rauterkus.com>
Subject: NAMLE Extends Board of Directors Nomination Period
| |
| |
NAMLE | 10 Laurel Hill Drive | Cherry Hill | NJ | 08003 |
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Fw: DR News: House Per Diems
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
From: Tim Potts Democracy Rising PA <tim@democracyrisingpa.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2010 22:35:46 -0400 (EDT)
To: <mark.rauterkus@gmail.com>
Subject: DR News: House Per Diems
Democracy Rising Pennsylvania | |||||
|
Restaurant proposed in Schenley Plaza
Restaurant proposed in Schenley Plaza: "Eat'n Park Hospitality Group is proposing to build a full-service sit-down restaurant in the parking lot turned park, with completion expected in the spring 2011."I still long for the parking lot.
On Friday there must have been 300 people sitting on the lawn on Soliders and Sailors, near the cannons that can hurl on Hazelwood, should West Mifflin ever attack due to the RAD tax on Kenneywood tickets. I was shocked. So many sitting on the lawn and not in front of TVs cheering for the Pitt hoopers.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Naming rites
A P-G article on sports about nicknames. Schenley is mentioned.
Meanwhile, few know that Pittsburgh Obama High School is on the way. Once again, while at High School States, we talked with many people and most are sure we are joking when told of the new name to come. B.O. High.
The Eagles!
Naming rites: "From Valley's B.B. Flenory and Schenley's Jeep Kelley in the 1970s, to Monkey Cersosimo and Admire 'Pickle' Carter of Beaver Falls today, nicknames flourish in hoops circles.One of the best, yet not used pet name will be, "The Last Spartan." Schenley is closing. Then what? Powerful.
One of the best nicknames ever in WPIAL or City League sports had to be 'Onion,' the standout point guard of Schenley's powerful PIAA championship team of 2007 that included DeJuan Blair and D.J. Kennedy. Onion is Jamaal Bryant, who got his name at a young age because a youth league coach said his head was shaped like an onion. Seemingly no one knew 'Onion' as Jamaal Bryant."
Meanwhile, few know that Pittsburgh Obama High School is on the way. Once again, while at High School States, we talked with many people and most are sure we are joking when told of the new name to come. B.O. High.
The Eagles!
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