When: Monday, September 3, 7:00 AM. Gather at 6:45 AM morning)
· Ride rain or shine – if it's important, let's do it.
· Check the WPW website (www.wpwbikeclub.org) for any last minute messages
Start location: Oakland - Schenley Plaza (next to Carnegie Library)
You should also be aware that major controversy has developed at the convention over proposed rule changes which would take control over much of the nomination process away from the state and local parties and put it in the hands of the national leadership. These changes are a direct assault on the traditions of the party and would silence the voice of the grassroots in much of the decision making process. Many grassroots activist groups and prominent leaders have come on board opposing the changes. The Republican Liberty Caucus was one of the first, but we've been joined by Eagle Forum, FreedomWorks and many Tea Party Groups. These are goups we're often at odds with ideologically, but we all agree that the integrity of he party and standing by republican principles is of the highest importance.Here are some resources to help bring you up to speed:Proposed Rule Changes from CommitteeMinority Rules Committee ReportRLC of Maine Statement on Rules ControversyMorton Blackwell (Virginia Delegate) Letter to DelegatesRLC Chairman's Letter to Delegates and ActivistsEagle Forum Statement on RulesFreedomWorkds Press ReleaseThis issue will be voted on again in committee Tuesday afternoon and go to the floor of the convention sometime later Tuesday. We urge you to contact your state delegates today if you can and encourage them to support the Minority Report against the report of the Rules Committee.
| Ken Krawchuk has sent you a message. Date: 8/22/2012 Subject: Hear my commercial on talk radio! Folks: Don't want to receive e-mail notifications? Adjust your message settings.
|
Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward
this email to a minimum of twenty people on their
address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United
States of America will have the message.
This is one idea that really should be
passed around.
_*Congressional Reform Act of 2012*_
1. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/31/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.
Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in
Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their
term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive
the message. Don't you think it's time?
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!
If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete.
You are one of my 20+ - Please keep it going, and thanks.
The start of the modern Civil Rights Movement can be traced to the demand by Black veterans for equal access to beaches and swimming pools after World War II. A photo of a motel manager pouring muriatic acid on the heads of swimmers made front page news across the country and is widely credited with influencing the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 the very next day. With few exceptions, virtually every attempt to integrate swimming pools and beaches resulted in violence, even after the Supreme Court overruled segregation. Most municipal pools chose to close rather than to integrate. Today most public swimming pools are as segregated as they were in 1964, including Minneapolis.
The link between academic success and exercise, specifically cardio-vascular exercise, is clearly demonstrated. The more physically fit a child is, the better they perform academically. Swimming has the added benefits of teaching strategies to overcome fear and build self-confidence. Swimmers have the highest GPAs and graduation rates.
Police on the look out for a white car with front-end damage
Another hit-and-run took place in Pittsburgh, this time on Penn Ave in Point Breeze.
We have very little information at this point, but we are saddened to report that at 5am, 46-year old Homewood resident, James Price, was struck from behind and killed by a hit-and-run driver on Penn Ave at Penfield Ct in Point Breeze.
Witnesses say that the driver was in a white car, which sped off toward East Liberty at about 60 mph and now has front end damage. So far, a description of the driver has not been released.
As reported by WPXI, a witness said that "on the side of the road was a bicycler. He had his headlight on and everything. Then two cars ahead of us, going 50 or 60 mph just blew him off his bike." Further reports detail that the victim was wearing a helmet and had a rear light and reflector as well.
According to the Post-Gazette, Mr. Price was the father of an 11-year-old daughter, and that he had gotten in shape over the last two years by riding several times a day, helping to alleviate his diabetes.
"He was going on a positive path," said his niece, Briana Jackson, whom he was encouraging to ride.
Mr. Price was the first person killed within Pittsburgh city limits while riding a bike since June 2010, when 6-year old Tyrique Snowden Hill was killed in the Knoxville neighborhood. Previous to that, Timothy Kish struck and killed Rui Hui Lin in Oakland in 2009. That crash was also a hit-and-run, but Kish turned himself in after several days. We can only hope the driver of today's crash does the same.
Please be alert: If you see a white car with front end damage or have information on the suspect, please call Pittsburgh homicide detectives at 412-323-7800.
Putting an End to Hit and Runs
Earlier this month, Governor Corbett signed "Sean's Law," closing the loophole for fatal hit-and-runs. Spearheaded by Rep. Dave Reed (R-Indiana), the law Sean's Law is named after the Indiana County cyclist, Sean Pearce, who was killed by a hit and run driver in Burrell Township.
The bill closed a loophole, that unintentionally gave a hit-and-run driver an incentive to flee especially if the driver is intoxicated. It increased the penalty for a fatal hit-and-run accident from a third-degree to a second-degree felony.
A fatal hit-and-run carries a mandatory prison term of at least one year, with a maximum sentence of seven years. By comparison, a fatal crash that involves a drunk driver is a second-degree felony with a much stiffer penalty range of three to 10 years.
Because of this difference, drunk drivers involved in a deadly crash would face less punishment if they leave the scene and turn themselves in later (when they are sober).
The bill signed by the Governor on July 5, unfortunately won't be in effect until September.
We'll keep our readers updated as details of this tragedy unfold.
Annette Werner
July 23, 2012
PPS Public Hearing
Last month I spoke about the implications of reports that Schenley's plaster is not actually Asbestos Containing Material ("ACM").
At the time, I assumed that recent testing had been done in connection with proposals for the sale of the building.
Since that time, I have learned that the testing showing only trace levels of asbestos was actually done by Kimball in May 2009.
Although there were many news releases about how asbestos plaster was thought to be a problem at Schenley, there were apparently no news releases with corrected information when the May 2009 results were received. This failure to inform the public of corrected information is especially disturbing in light of two documents that I am including with my testimony:
1) A copy of a February 2009 petition, presented at the February 2009 public hearing and signed by 200 Pittsburgh residents, requesting an inspection of the Schenley plaster and,
2) A Right to Know Law request I submitted in April 2009 requesting a copy of "All reports prepared as part of the current facilities study regarding the condition of buildings and work needed for the Schenley, McKelvy/Miller, Vann, Woolslair and Connelly facilities (once these reports have been received by PPS)." (The deJong/Kimball team conducted the facilities study).
Also enclosed is an example of a document showing that at least since 1998 it has been industry practice to retest suspected ACM using the point count method when initial tests showed asbestos less than 10%, due to findings that labs were greatly overstating asbestos levels on initial tests. http://www.fiberquant.com/ic7pcnt.pdf For some reason retesting was not done until AFTER the vote to close the building.
Can you understand how something like this affects public trust and confidence in the school district?
If PPS continues on a path toward disposing of this public treasure, I think it is very important to have a full investigation and accountability by those responsible for the failure to conduct adequate tests prior to the vote to close, the failure to disclose results when new tests were finally done, and the resulting waste of public funds and loss of this building.
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