Mark Roosevelt of Pittsburgh Public Schools and High School Reform: long rant on news article. Wrong way, wrong talk.

Let's sort through another pile of B.S. about our schools from the light of the Post Gazette. It becomes another great example of exactly how we should NOT operate in this city.

City plan for high schools may mean big change City plan for high schools may mean big change
Study will be unveiled this week

The task force was a closed door process. The task force didn't keep minutes. The task force didn't hold open meetings. The task force was full of hand-picked "yes" people. The task force for right-sizing for K-8 from a year ago had NO people from the ranks of the teachers. Meanwhile this task force is way to heavy from the ranks of the teachers and administrators. The task force is built to curb dissent.

From the get-go, the high school task force efforts are suspect.

Mark Roosevelt dispatched a tiny, select (elitist) group of administrators and boosters. The process was designed to shut out throngs of others as volunteers. Citizens and parents were shut out of the process. This public school district acted as if it was a foundation board operation. Homework wasn't done with any peer review.

The success stories from around the country always point to one main theme. No matter what -- communities with high performing schools have high performing students and tons of parent engagement. It takes a village. Everyone gets involved in every capacity in many dimensions. Then the students, staff, teachers, administrators and board performs.

If you want to sustain the failures -- lock out the parents in talks of reform. Mark Roosevelt fumbled as did this high school reform weenie group.

There is nothing more critical than parent engagement. Nothing.

Furthermore, that's the one element that is the weakest in our public school landscape.

We do have poor test scores. Pittsburgh does have high dropout rates. Dropouts and failed tests take a back-seat to how the school district slams the door in the face of its parents, customers, neighbors, ministers, coaches, advocates, voters, citizens, business owners, unions, employees.

Let's check out success stories of schools around the country, and the world. Let's look at how parents and families can soar in their educational lives -- by working together.

The Pittsburgh Public School district is academically troubled. It isn't financially troubled. But its biggest sticking point is its trouble when dealing well with its populations and especially parents.

There is a brain-packed trend to mull upon. Let's take our big, mostly empty, poor performing schools and say we're going to make them into smaller schools and call this a success. Our schools are shrinking because the people who can depart. The grass is greener in other school districts for many people, so they leave. They vote with their feet. They get feed up with the helpless feelings and blocks put up from the school landscape.

So, the pathway to victory is to have smaller schools! What????

We've got smaller schools!

Don't shoot for the size of the school. That was the same line of poor logic that was pushed down upon the citizens in the rightsizing plans of last year with the K-8 reform.

Parents don't give a rat's ass about the size of the school. Nor do voters and taxpayers.

We want schools where people learn great lessons! We want educational institutions that teach our kids how to become productive citizens in today's marketplace.

We want the school district to bring value to our communities. That means a district with a mandate to educate students ages K to 12th grade should focus on K-12 education and do a good job there. That means that the Pittsburgh Promise is out of bounds and not a high priority, when a majority of our kids can't pass 9th grade algebra.

Algebra is A + B = C. Pittsburgh Promise is Z. It doesn't matter. Smaller Schools is Y. Y and Z don't matter.

What is this 'capping of school size' trend? Elitist! Why cap and make haves and have nots?

I don't want caps. I don't want glass ceilings. I don't want to keep kids down. I don't want to prohibit excellence.

I want gangplanks to greatness. I want a rush to results. I want satisfaction to skyrocket.

He wants speed limits. I want hyperdrive.

Mr. Roosevelt wants to propose "breaking schools." News flash: The schools are already broken. How about if we "heal schools." The thing to do is "heal students." Fix the educational landscape of families in this region.

Let's think about "semi-autonomous 'learning communities'" for a few moments. I think that the best semi-autonomous learning community is a family. Furthermore, a thriving learning community isn't semi-autonomous. It is engagement and embrace of all assets and resources. To be semi-autonomous means you have to exclude and build walls.

Think of the internet. I want it everywhere. IP everwhere. I want learning everywhere. I want all resources at the ready and at our disposal when it comes to real learning enviroments.

The learning community here -- is called ... earth, if not universe. Pittsburgh Public Schools needs to play a dynamic role within our global marketplace of thinking, ideas and lessons. I think a call to 'semi-autonomous learning community' is really not about being in a modern urban community. The "semi" part must be the code word for thinking with only half your brain.

Enrollment at small high schools often is capped at 300 to 500 students.

We had a small high school -- South Vo Tech. It was closed. They called it too expensive. It was too expensive because it was too small. We turned our backs on those students in recent times and now we're saying what they had was just what we want. Unreal double-talk from a clueless district.

So, if we really want 'small communities of learning' -- then I look forward to the re-opening of South Vo Tech. The truth hurts. Their statements are lies, but they can be put to the test.

We've had small schools in K-5 settings that were 'capped.' They too were closed because the size of the school was not fitting into the cookie cutter model that the school district wanted in its rightsizing agenda. The schools were filled. The schools were closed anyway.

This is all wrong.

You need to put the right number of kids into the right sized buildings. Furthermore, the buildings are already built. The buildings are there. So, the factors are numbers of students.

In very recent times the bone headed school leadership has been saying that this school should have 500 students -- but the building is only able to contain 400 or 350. So, there are a number of building expansion plans to make these buildings fit the number that some rightsizing plan wrongly requires.

The concept that Pitsburgh's old school leadership needs to consider in every discussion is capacity. If a school or even a bus functions with X amount of bodies -- then that's where we start.

Schools that are filled to capacity should not be closed.

For PAT, bus routes that are filled to capacity should continue to operate.

Meanwhile, Pgh Public School District spent a lot of money to rehab the once great Westinghouse High School. The building is majestic. It is modern and bright and jewel for any student, staff, teacher and community group. But in the real world of today's educational landscape, Westinghouse High School functions at a fraction of its ideal capacity -- based upon its building size.

Let's cap these learning communities based upon the existing building capacity. This is a functional measurement that goes into the forumula right from the beginning.

You don't try to cram 10-tons of students into an 8-ton container.

We've got schools that have been rightsized and they are jammed.

An honest approach to space would be welcomed. The A+ Schools report should contain a much better inventory of the phsysical assets, for school buildings, open and closed.

As South Vo Tech shrunk in its number of students, the thrid floor was closed. Students didn't attend classes in those classrooms. Easy adjustments need to be a priority.

The luckiest districts have financed restructuring with millions of dollars committed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

I'm not looking to live in a lucky district. I don't want to live in a 'lucky town.' I want to live in a place where we value and teach how to be self reliant. I want our schools to be valued for doing an excellent job in teaching our kids -- and luck has little to do with that mission. It is hard work dealing with everyone. It is hard work to put all the facts on the table and really get to understand a topic area -- and not have a blind spot. I want to say that Pgh Public Schools can thumb its nose to soft money of the Gates Foundation. That money can go to hopeless places -- like Philly -- where they have two stand alone slots parlors and are really lucky.

Listen to this double talk. First, "The traditional American high school is really an anachronism.

It was designed 100 years ago and really hasn't changed much since," said Naomi Housman, director of the National High School Alliance. As a result, she said, many schools aren't preparing students for today's world or holding students' interest on a daily basis. "They want to be engaged," Ms. Housman said. "They're just not finding it in the traditional high school.

Second, we are told this task force ran around the nation looking at schools throughout the country.

Don't paint with a broad brush. Some schools work. Some don't. And more to the point. Some schools are going to work for some kids while they fail other students. I'm a Libertarian swim coach so I understand the theme, "Different strokes for different folks."

The failure that makes the continual theme of hopelessness stems from the lack of choice.

Of course the trickle-up campaign didn't work. That's more smoke and double-talk.

Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, said high school improvements for years took a backseat to elementary school restructuring. But the desired "trickle-up" effect -- the idea that good habits established in primary years would pay dividends in high school -- didn't materialize.

You want a good high school, work on high school education. You want good pre-school -- focus on pre-school education. You want a good high school, don't focus on college education when the kids are in the K-12 setting. Stick to the focus area. The Pittsburgh Promise is a trickle-up idea that is going to flop.

I've been a stay-at-home dad who has objected to advanced pre-school efforts in the educational community. Head start is nice for some. But, head-start programs should NOT be mandatory. Head start programs might make great head-start programs, but they are NOT the key for making great elementary schools. We could use some head start efforts in the community. But, I don't want to see the school district spend a lot of effort in that domain. A K-12 district needs to cooperate with head start educators and parents. But, a K-12 district, needs to focus on K-12 students.

Mr. Roosevelt has called high school improvement the year's top priority -- and I think his stance is nothing but a joke. If Roosevelt wanted to tackle high school education he'd be doing a dance with the public. He hides behind a task force of hand-picked cronies.

There are many things that can be done to improve our high schools, and I'll cover them in depth. They have not been done for years. The ideas I want to advance are cheap. They'd make a huge improvement. They would have happened already if Mr. Roosevelt and the board really cared. I think these folks are motivated by CYA tactics. They want to talk the talk, yet cover they're backsides. Few are really interested in making system wide changes and making those changes stick in the greater community.

Voting with one's feet looks like this:

35 percent of city students, including nearly half of all black males, drop out of high school. Other students, dissatisfied with academics and environment, opt for charter or suburban schools.

I don't want a task force to shape a plan. I want a school board and superintendent to shape a plan. I want to engage the public in efforts of peer review so as to shape a future.

District Chief of Staff Lisa Fischetti said board members tomorrow will hear about lessons the task force has learned and how that information will shape a plan, to be unveiled in the spring, for improving city schools.

Information that should shape a plan is called 'data.' The data should be online for all to see.

Here is another task that a real task force might do. Examine the data collection and data reporting to the public. Examine the formulas for operations in Pgh Public Schools and beyond. Make accountability evident in both school performance and finances. I want to know teacher, building, classroom, grade and subject perfomances -- in real time. This would be a fine task for a task force. Then we'd have transparent models and knowledge for making better choices.

This next statement give a serious worry for two reasons. First, evolution occurs in many tiny steps. Organic changes are healthy. Give us piecemeal. Don't give radical shifts that ignore the results of the past. The results of the students at the schools that were re-tooled were thrown out the window and not even published in the A+ Schools report. They want to churn and not keep a record of where we've been.

While some districts have remade high schools on a piecemeal basis, she said, Pittsburgh's effort will be system-wide change that builds on current "pockets of excellence."

There are pockets of excellence within the PPS, but they have never been noticed nor rewarded. Often, they are discounted. Furthermore, the pockets of excellence within the elementary schools, the magnet schools where foreign languages are taught from K and up, has been discounted. The right-sizing plans didn't center upon the pockets of excellence.

The gifted education plan is a pocket of excellence and it is under a cloud of cuts too.

Another worry: Let's not design a school improvement plan and lean upon marketing savvy. Put lipstick on a pig and claim victory.

Other than CAPA, a theme-based school, the next best theme was Vo Tech. And, South Vo Tech closed. If you liked theme-based schools, Janis Ripper, where you fighting for the continual operation of South??? I did.

"We liked the theme-based schools," said Janis Ripper, the principal assigned to coordinate the task force.

The buzz word, academies, seems more like a CYA task, given the recent rightsizing.

Ms. Ripper said team members observed enthusiastic instruction and innovative ideas, such as "academies" -- one example of a small learning community -- to isolate ninth-graders from upperclassmen in a building. But cold data on achievement gains were elusive.

Cold data was elusive. That's what I mean. We need a task force to uncover and insure cold data.

There is an educational trend -- new is better. New is better when asking to spend more money. New is better when you don't know where you are going. New is better when you didn't do a good job with the not-so-new.

"Some of the schools had some data," she said. "But one thing to keep in mind with high school reform: Because it is so new, a lot of schools were in the process of a two- or three-year plan. Data wasn't as available as we'd like."

Likewise, I'm certain that the data isn't going to be available to defend a massive change to the landscape of our high schools in Pittsburgh.

Paul Vallas, chief executive officer of the School District of Philadelphia, said he's pleased with a continuing overhaul there that's increased the number of high schools from about 50 to 80.

Exactly. "continual overhaul."

He said the district with 180,000 students, more than six times Pittsburgh's enrollment, has moved toward smaller schools with college preparatory curriculums, signature programs and dual enrollment arrangements that allow students to take college classes. Nineteen of the high schools are charter schools. In all, 30 district and charter high schools met federal performance standards last year.

Again, the good is the fact that there are some charter schools. But, the problem is that the Pgh Public School board and administrators have always been fighting the charter schools. They've put up many roadblocks to specialized private and charter schools.

The dual enrollment part is nice as it comes closer to what I'd like to see. Rather than dual enrollment, give enrollment freedom. Get rid of the confinements of high school choice. Allow any kid in the city to go to any school. It can't be quite that simple, but it should be.

"I like to say we've gone from failure to adequacy. Now, the key is to get to excellence," said Mr. Vallas, who's faced some of the same academic and financial problems as Mr. Roosevelt.

Could someone please explain the financial problems of Pgh Public Schools. Just saying that they are there is not a real way to lead. That's call crying. Poor, poor us doesn't wash from my perspective. Why, exactly, does the district think it is with financial problems? -- Perhaps because of the charter schools???

No matter their neighborhoods, Mr. Vallas said, Philadelphia students have a choice of at least three high schools. BINGO. But our choice in Pittsburgh can be for eight or ten schools.

North Carolina's Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District offers signing bonuses of as much as $15,000 to build elite teacher corps at four low-performing high schools. ... Humm... Did you hear swim coach David Marsh is going to MAC and starting a program of excellence. His job brings a $1-million pay check. Interesting. Now we're talking "sizable."

Thanks for the article Joe.

Summary: A year long effort to reform our high schools is a wonderful idea. Too bad the process and efforts so far just compound the problems. I want to get to the roots of the problems, as do plenty of others. This article proves, again, to me, that Roosevelt's leadership is without a firm grasp of the keys to our situations.

Furthermore, I've got different ideas. Others have solid ideas as well.

Forum: Ban trans fats. Don't be silly. Ban the bans!

Forum: Ban trans fats Pittsburgh should step up to the plate and ban trans fats in restaurants, argues diet and wellness author WILL CLOWER

It is silly to promote a ban on trans fats in Pittsburgh or elesewhere in the US. The nanny state arguments are the same old intrusionist nonsense.

His writing seemed critical of one of our favorite words by associating it with childish tendencies rather than with enlightened self-interest:
"The real problem is more fundamental. It comes from that kernel, lodged deep within each of our foot-stomping, you're-not-the-boss-of-me Libertarian hearts, that screams that no one can tell us what to do."

And if you feel inclined to write a LTE in response, here's the PG LTE email address: letters@post-gazette.com

The use of a capital "L" instead of small "l" in that sentence is wrong. Don't write "civil Libertarian hearts."

Riddle: What's round on the outside and "high" in the middle?

Riddle two: Erik, shown in two photos from yesterday's meet at Deer Lakes (we won) is wearing a special swim cap. Can you tell what it is and why he'd wear it?
On the blocks about to help win the free relay. Erik swam 3rd. In our league, the age group relays are co-ed. That is a nice feature. Our 11-12 "A" medley relay got second (D.P.,E.Mc.,E.R.,D.M.) but they won the free relay (E.Mc.,D.M.,E.R., D.P.). Both were exciting races.

After swimming his leg -- he cheered for his mates.

New arena stupidity from SEA. Haste makes waste -- fools!

This shows exactly how stupid the Stadium and Exibition Authority is. Unreal. Haste makes waste.

I'm calling for a new, different, better location for the new hockey venue. Meanwhile, these bone heads are pressing ahead on site prep for the wrong location.

New arena hopes advance on 2 fronts New arena hopes advance on 2 fronts
Site preparation work to begin while Penguins haggle with local officials

Saturday, January 06, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The city-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority is pressing ahead with preparations for a new arena even as state and local officials get down to the nitty-gritty of trying to cobble together a deal to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

Think again.

Some would ask, "Do they think at all????"

The removal of asbestos from buildings is fine. But who is paying for it?

Two enter races for City Council

Who on the Pgh school board isn't running for another office? Four of the members were rumored to be in races. Others have run or tried to mount campaigns for other offices in the past.

I like Patrick. He is a good guy. He beat D. Harris in the past -- and that was a great change for the school board. Now, if he wins a seat on city council, he'll be with her on council, if she is lucky enough to win a full term too.

My favorite to replace Patrick Dowd on the Pgh Public School Board is Stephanie Tecza. She would be a splendid addition to the school board.

Two enter races for City Council Patrick Dowd is among the Pittsburgh school board members hoping Superintendent Mark Roosevelt will agree to a contract extension.

Perhaps Mr. Roosevelt should have asked Mr. Dowd for a similar commitment.

Mr. Dowd, 38, of Highland Park, one of Mr. Roosevelt's most ardent supporters, has decided to run for City Council this year instead of seeking a second term as District 2 school board representative.

Coaching takes a back seat to Parenting. Daddy Cower Power

I've blogged about this recently in another posting. Scroll down. But, it would be good to salute the parenting perspectives in the conversations and community buzz.

I've resigned coaching positions to re-set priorities to parenting.

Now that the Steelers get to hire the next coach, I'm pulling for Mike Singletary. We both have a connection to Chicago and Baylor University.

Clarke Thomas: Some big bills are coming due

Clarke Thomas: Some big bills are coming due Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote in a 1904 case: 'Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.'

Is hockey civilized?

Are the owners of the Civic Arena slum landlords? Isn't that close to being uncivilized? Don't they already get a lot of taxpayer money from the RAD tax?

This would make an interesting concept map.

Sunnyhill-Dot-Org has video snip of Joe Jencks from 2006 concert we hosted

Sunnyhill-Dot-Org Special musical guest for Sunday, Jan 7 -- Joe Jencks

On Sunday morning, Joe Jencks is playing for our Chapel and for the opening music of the main service (led by Sue Richmond).

Mini championship meet in central PA

community.centredaily.com The most competitive regular season high school swim meet in all of Pennsylvania will take place at 10:00 am this Saturday at the Kinney Natatorium of Bucknell University.

Western PA's high school swim landcape needs more big-time meets, beyond WPIAL and STATES.

[412] Ho, ho, yo to Running Mates and beyond. Post Festivus. Yet no Octopus

Finally. I sent out an email blast to my 412-list.

I had gone about six months without using the blast list. That was a long time.

[412] Ho, ho, yo to Running Mates and beyond. Post Festivus. Yet no Octopus [412] Ho, ho, yo to Running Mates and beyond. Post Festivus. Yet no Octopus

The message twists and turns -- as does life. Oh well. Still waters run deep, from time to time.

R.I.P: You don't get to choose when you die, generally.

We remember Bob Palmer, Catherine's father.

Catherine went to Maine this afternoon. She flew into Boston and her brother picked her up at the airport. They drove together to Maine. Twenty minutes after they arrived, Mr. Palmer passed.

My father-in-law, but much more importantly, my wife's dad and my kids' grandpa, was 73. He had some hard weeks, physically. Word from New Years' Weekend was that he had take a turn for the worst. He was in the care of hospice and at home. His two children are at his side along with his friends in Maine.

The plans were to have Catherine return to Pittsburgh on Saturday night. A memorial will be held in the weeks to come. Details unknown now.

This is the first grandparent to pass for my kids. They've been blessed to know them all.

One classic line from Mr. Palmer -- "Fix the problem, not the blame."

Peace.

The "Pride" Mentor Sweepstakes

Can't wait until March, 2007.

Pride - The "Pride" Mentor Sweepstakes The “Pride” Mentor Sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”) is intended for viewing and participation only in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (“U.S.”)

Modern PRIDE guy(s).

Photo was taken of Pitt's recent co-captians in Irvine, California, in August 2005 at Nationals. D (left) is a swimmer from Philly. J (right) is now doing his student teaching at CV and made his cuts to the Olympic Trials. He's been the summer coach at Green Tree.

Movie Trailer. The story of PDR (Philadelphia Department of Recreation), which created a number of top 16 swimmers, National and NCAA finalists, and Senior/Junior National qualifiers. One year the team won Junior Nationals. Brielle White, Michael Norment, Atiba Wade, Valerie Patterson, are all products of PDR and the program led by Coach Ellis. There was a really good article on this team in The New York Times Magazine back in the mid 1990s.


Hosea, Pittsburgh's version of Philly's PRIDE story. Coach H.H. coaches at the Kingsley Center and Carrick H.S. Here he is coaching in the summer at Highland Park Pool.

Take the LCB and pull the plug on the entire agency

Pennsylvania does not need the LCB. (Liquor Control Board)

Thanks for your courage, outgoing chairman.

Fire the new CEO. Close the entire organization. Ed Rendell messed up again to benefit his cronies.

To spend more time with his family. Parenting becomes a priority for coach!

Is his wife going to have another baby?

No, he's a dad to a high school sophomore. His baby is a sophomore.

Good for you Coach. Too bad you can't retire in Carnegie or Crafton.

We need more 'full-time dads.'

But this line, to spend more time with the family, gets abused. Michael Jordan used it, poorly. Be like Mike was the marketing slogan. We stay-at-home dads were excited when M.J. said he was going to join our ranks. Then a few weeks later, he moved into team ownership roles and beyond in D.C. He pimped himself into the parenting parade for cover for a career venue switch.

Time will tell.

Parenting is a tough job. It is tough when the kids are babies. It gets tougher as they grow. Often parenting is toughest as the kids enter high school.

Pittsburgh Jack's Place -- Zooming into the bloggers' domain with facts and insights

He's back. Not Jason. But Jack!

The blog, Pittsburgh Jack's Place, saw a posting that looked very much like a comment on my blog about the ex-pol Dwadida. I too was about to blog about the cover story in the present Pgh City Paper -- but it was lurking in the drafts folder.

Well, his rant as an unsigned comment must have tickled his calling back into the blogger life.

Good to have you back, Jack. He posted today, Jan 4, 2007. His last posting was October 25, 2004.

So, what did you do on your summer vacation?

PittsburghJack's Place Out with the Old
Regarding the cover story in the current issue of the Pittsburgh City Paper about the generational shift in Pittsburgh party politics, there is at least one glaring issue that requires clarification.

I sense that Pgh Jack, like me, would be happy if Mike Dawida, stayed only as a fleeting memory in our shared political history -- and didn't freshen his resume with a run for office again in 2007.

My comments on the sperm to cronie cover story -- beaten to the punch -- will come later.

WP: New Orleans repeats mistakes - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

WP: New Orleans repeats mistakes - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com 'There are areas where it doesn't make any sense to rebuild -- they got 20 feet of water in Katrina,' said Tom Murphy, a former Pittsburgh mayor who served on an Urban Land Institute panel for post-Katrina planning. 'In those places, nature is talking to us, and we ought to be listening. I don't think we are.'

Logic Trip concerning a caller about the Civic Arena

He said he worked for 31 years at the Civic Arena. He said he loves hockey.

The City and County has been acting like a slum landlord in its handling of the Arena in recent years.

So, he feels it makes sense to tear down the arena and build a new one.

Hold the phone, pal.

If the arena has not been managed well, who is to blame? Is that the Stadium and Exibition Authority? Is that the city and county? Is that the managers of the civic arena? Who manages the arena now?

If the arena was run down -- do you think the poor treatment should be rewarded? Run things down and trash things -- then it gets an upgrade??? That's churn. That's not healthy.

The city starved many things in the past. They city starved Fifth & Forbes district without washing the streets, without fixing sidewalks, without allowing for facade fix-up funds to building owners -- as provided to all the other sections of the city.

And if the city and county is a slum landlord, whey not fix this concept. Let's make sure that the new arena is owned and operated by another entity other than the public. The public agency has proven to be a slum landlord then we don't want to allow that to continue. Don't build a new arena and put it into the hands of these slum landlords. Put the new venue into the hands of those who are going to care. Put the team in an ownership role, not the city.

A big downfall of the IOC plan was the building of the facility with the windfall of the cheap slots license and then the giving of the facility to the public agency.

Billionaire Mark Cuban asks President Bush to cancel inauguration parties - Wikinews

Blast from the past:

Billionaire Mark Cuban asks President Bush to cancel inauguration parties - Wikinews January 4, 2005

United States – Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, has asked U.S. President George W. Bush to cancel the inauguration parties that are planned in his honor and redirect the cost to aid for Tsunami victims.

'It’s up to President Bush to set an example,' Cuban said in his web blog. 'Could there be anything more confusing and shocking than to read that our country was offering $35mm in aid to the areas affected by the tsunamis, but that the cost of inauguration parties would be about $40mm?'

Elevator Points for Dan Onorato, now on KDKA radio with Marty Griffin

Encourage the Pens to play 10 games a year in other cities until the new arena is built in Allegheny County.

Take the Pens off their game.
Build good-will.
Drive new fans to the Pens & Pgh elsewhere.

We (Pens, public, local goverment officials) must find a better location for the new hockey venue: Building off the lower hill delivers more profits and customer satisfaction.

Airport corridor, Neville Island, North Shore, next to the Convention Center, Parkway Center Mall, Settlers Cabin vicinity are possibilities.

PAT needs to quickly deploy E-Z Pass technology -- electronic, debit-card bus passes -- for all ridership. Data on efficiency and capacity is absent. Route cut factors are on a whim. PAT needs real-time and accurate data on the system. An electronic bus pass overhaul, first, ends fare jumpers, fraud, theft, and subsidizations can occur to those who need transit allowances (needy, seniors, students, special populations).

Road trip..... Bye, bye, birdie?

Poll: Who should be the Miami Dolphins next coach? | naplesnews.com | Naples Daily News

The NFL's Miami Dolphins are in the hunt for a new head coach now that the ex-LSU coach is headed to 'Bama -- Roll Tide Roll!

Talk goes to assistants with the Steelers as well as a throw back contender: "Bring Don Shula back." Is that the same Don Shula, and NOT his son who was coaching elsewhere recently???

Poll: Who should be the Miami Dolphins next coach? | naplesnews.com | Naples Daily News Possible candidates to replace Saban include Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, former Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman, San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, Indianapolis assistant Jim Caldwell, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow and Pittsburgh Steelers assistants Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhut.

Perhaps they could get Jim Leyland to coach the Dolphins too as he won them (Marlins) a World Series once.

Then there is Chuck Noll, former Steeler coach, who picked up a vote or two as a write-in at the November 2006 general elections.

Young Stanley, the Penguin, checking the shoe leather of the fan base. (That's Grant in front row on the right.)

Pittsburgh Penguins STATEMENT from Mario

Penguins and "We, The People."

Official Home of the Pittsburgh Penguins: STATEMENT FROM PENGUINS OWNERS MARIO LEMIEUX AND RON BURKLE best ensure the economic health and long-term future of the Penguins franchise

Dear Luke, Dan and Ed,

The line above, from the Pen's web site, is your hook. That's your focus. Mario wants economic health. Mario wants long-term prosperity.

Staying in Pittsburgh is going to deliver more prosperity for the Pens and its owners.

Mario wants an "upside." He wants ROI (a Return on Investment). Mario has a business.

Furthermore, Mario doesn't trust you. Nor should he. Backslapping isn't going to work here as the opportunities have soured.

Tell Mario he can own and operate the Convention Center and we'll do a deal to get a new venue next to the Convention Center in The Strip District.

Tell Mario we'll fit a new venue on the North Shore. Fans in the region, Mario's customers, are familiar with the North Side venue for sporting facilities. Put the hockey arena on the footprint of the proposed, state subsidized outdoor concert venue that the Steelers wanted. The Pens and Steelers can cooperate. Besides, the Steelers don't like the new slots parlor. They'll like the Pens.

Tell Mario we'll give him plenty of land out by the airport and the new highways there. He can build a Penguins Village, like an Olympic Village.

Tell Mario he can build out on Neville Island, near another highway, near customers.

Mario's land purchase of recent years in the Civic Arena's neighborhood can be leveraged into the package as Don Barden said he'd devote money to The Hill.

When we talk about the big picture -- getting long term economic health for the franchise -- there are plenty of great options that offer a much better situation than re-building in the same area of the city.

My other post from earlier today offering him games elsewhere and cooperation with the civic arena can be like the cherry of your discussions.

Preview of a welcome from Luke to Mario:

Hi Mario. Hope Kansas City's trip went well. How about if the Pens play 10 games a year in KC until you get to move into your own brand-new venue in Allegheny County. Let's draw up a more flexible lease for Mellon Arena for next year so you can play some of the home games in other cities in 2007-2008 season.

Take them off their game, but don't stray from their goal, profits.

Honz Man won't run for ACE -- asked by GOP to run against Dan Onorato

Honz Man like Dan Onorato. Honz Man won't run for the Chief Executive slot. And, he says, he was asked by the Allgheny County GOP to run for the office.

Honz Man is injured. He has a bad leg or foot. He is doing his show form him home in recent weeks.

I'd say it would be hard for Honz to run when we can't even walk.

This isn't the year for a Honz Man Campaign. Get well first. Furthermore, don't pull a Lynn Swann. Honz should run for PA Senate. Honz might do well to run for PA House. Or, run for both in the same year, 2008.

I was at the Allegheny County Election Department today doing some research on the write in votes. I know that the Honz Man got some votes. Same too for Marty Griffin. Also, Rob Louge got a good number of votes. Some for Governor, some for US Senator.

Honz should get into politics. We need to keep putting attention into the local races.

My prediction is that the Honz Man might do as well as Bill Green did in his recent election for D.M.

stay at home, lockstepping local leadership

Rep. Dennis O'Brien became speaker of the PA General Assembly by defeating former speaker Rep. John Perzel in a 105-97 vote.

O'Brien, R, got nominated by the D. And, O'Brien got six Republicans to break ranks with the R leadership. These voted for O'Brien: Reps. Kerry Benninghoff (R., Center), Jim Cox (R., Berks), Brad Roae (R., Crawford), Sam Rohrer (R., Berks), Curt Schroder (R., Chester) and David Steil (R., Bucks).

Meanwhile, three Democrats in the House split from D leadership and voted for Perzel: Reps. Thomas Caltagirone (D., Berks), Angel Cruz (D., Phila.) and Rosita Youngblood (D., Phila.).

Summary: All the locals went with leadership -- lockstepping into the future without breaking ranks. None of them were original.

Furthermore, should a Libertarian, or a Green, or an Indie be in the PA House in Harrisburg, then more interesting deals would get made with these 'lone wolf reps.' Kings would be made by these lone voices, as I'd expect.

It only took a few to topple the log jam. I'd rather see the few be real thinkers and real reformers -- other than the backstabbing among cronies.

You Tube from 2004 - faded messages with faded protests

Big cuts are here from PAT. Duhhh....

Launch point from years ago.

Concept Map of Transit, a starting point. Link to transit pages at my Platform.For-Pgh.org.

SOS & Save Our Transit with Silly Old Slogans

Protesters marched downtown today and had a few fleeting moments before tv news cameras today outside of the city-county building on Grant Street. I counted no more than ten protesters. And, they are the regulars, as pointed out by a security guard inside the building working at the medal detector.

My message to them: Change the message and you'd have 100 others standing with you. For years, you've been barking and taking a beating. For years, the strategy has been failing.

They say:

Save Our Transit

No Service Cuts

No Fare Hikes

Dumb, dumb, dumb. They've been there with the same messages and it isn't working.

I don't even want to march with them these days.

They should be saying:

Stop the Tunnel!

But no. They defend the tunnel. They don't want to be real advocates for real reform.
He wasn't at the rally.




The screen on the top of this green box is what we need. The Octopus system in Hong Kong is wonderful. Think of E-Z Pass as used on the Turnpike but for all transit riders.

Dealing with the Pens and Politicians in Pittsburgh

The arena in Kansas City is not done. The building is not yet finished. So, no building sits waiting for the Penguins or any other NHL team, yet. The waiting might begin in the fall.

The lease for Mellon Arena for the Penguins expires at the end of this season.

Advice for Dan Ororato, Luke Ravenstahl and Jeff Koch, of Pittsburgh's City Council and a member of the Sports & Exhibition Authority, PA Senator, Wayne Fontana, also a joker on the SEA:

+ Invite the Penguins to sign a one year lease for Mellon Arena. Make the lease extension offer.

+ Invite the Penguins to play up to ten games per year at other venues until a new venue is built in Pittsburgh. And, the Penguins want to play 10 games in K.C. and 10 in Houston each year, let them do it.

The Penguins should be free to move. The Penguins should be free to stay and scout around a bit.

Should the Penguins build a fan base in Houston and Kansas City, they'll be building bridges back to the city of Pittsburgh too. Hell, let the team play games in Hamilton too. Play 4 in each town. Play in 4 different towns. That might get people in those towns hooked on the Pens and get them to future games in Pittsburgh. I think it would be cool to have the Pens play some home games in other cities while we work through this venue crisis.

That's cooperation.

That's a community solution.

That's a win-win solution.

That buys good will. And, the politicians deserve nothing from the Pens in the category of 'good will.' The politicans have done nothing.

Yesterday a member of city council, Tonya Payne, told me that she does not want to see the Penguins move off the the hill. Well, Tonya's wants and the reality of the situation are not the same. She is out of touch and too selfish. If anyone insists that the Pens stay in The Hill -- the Pens will depart. The grass is greener elsewhere when staying put means the upper downtown area and lower hill.

I want to be sure that the Pens have a long-term home in Pennsylvania. I want to have a solution that won't be back in the faces of the city and its fans again in 10-20 years.

A new public financed arena owned by the public authority with a 10, 20 or 30 year lease is going to mean we repeat the same old story again in 10 or 20 years. The Pens should have the juice to design, build, upkeep and own its own facility forever. And, the deal for the Pens needs to be one that makes that organization healthy too, without tax subsidization.

The leaders are going to need some creativity. And, this is what I fear most.

Dan Onorato and Luke Ravenstahl and even Governor can not begin the conversation with a re-hash of "Plan B finances." That isn't what any sales person would do. That isn't what Mario really wants to hear.

The sales process begins with questions to qualify the buyer. Overcome objections. Don't jump to finance matters.

Furthermore, it is the public officials job to tell the Pens that when they leave the Civic Arena, it is NOT their building. They'll leave their lease and the building will remain. So, if the Penguins want to come back and play 10 games a year as turn-back-the-clock games at our Civic Arena -- fine. We might be able to work out that deal.

Then the Pens could build a new arena out by the airport and make lots of money in multiple deals. Plus, a few times a year the Pens could have a golden opportunity to hold a special game in the city at the Civic Arena.

The Civic Arena isn't the best venue for the mega rock shows. Fine. But, there is a future for that building beyond the Penguins. And, if the Pens are willing to craft a deal and venue in the area, the Civic Arena might be a perfect venue for supporting other activities associated with the team and its fans -- beyond game-day hockey nights.

Ballot Access News � Blog Archive � Pennsylvania Releases Official Returns

Get this! We hold an election but don't count the vote?

Write in candidates score as 'write in' and not as they should?

Ballot Access News � Blog Archive � Pennsylvania Releases Official Returns Pennsylvania Releases Official Returns

December 22nd, 2006

On December 22, Pennsylvania released its official returns. Carl Romanelli was credited with 645 write-ins. He was the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate who fought to be on the ballot. His true write-in total will never be known, since 23 of Pennsylvania’s counties didn’t canvass write-ins. These 23 counties include some of the most populous counties in the state. They include Centre (the county that includes State College), Erie, and Philadelphia Counties.

I looked hard for the write in results from Allegheny County and can't find them on the web. Where are they?

The rail road worker from the eastern side of Pennsylvania who wanted to run for US Senate had the pleasure of being knocked off the ballot and getting more than $900,000 in bills -- thanks to undemocratic democrats. Then to add more insult, the write in vote count is unknown.

We demand, as the PA Constitution says, "free and equal elections." That should be everyone gets equal status. A person who is less isn't equal. Count them all. Tell the results. Do your jobs!

Sports Business News: Two Steps Back and maybe one big step forward for the NHL

Sports Business News: Two Steps Back and maybe one big step forward for the NHL: "Councilman William Peduto, expected to be the next Pittsburgh Mayor, was also an Isle of Capri supporter, and questioned whether Plan B could win legislative approval, if that is needed. 'My bottom line on Plan B is, show me the money,' he said."

Predictions for the year to come

Cute.

Predictions for the year to come Feb. 13
Ending speculation about his future career, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum enters race for Republican nomination for mayor of Pittsburgh. He calls questions about his lack of a Pittsburgh address 'an irrelevant topic created by the media.'

Feb. 22
Scurrying to prevent the Penguins' threatened departure for Omaha, local politicians unveil Plan J, which would use state funds to cover the Dormont pool with an ice rink and roof and install 17,200 portable seats.

Swimming sisters help each other overcome adversity

Swimmers shine!

Swimming sisters help each other overcome adversity Swimming sisters help each other overcome adversity
Pooling their strength

Treason! To say that a state rep's vote for speaker is "treason" should that choice go to one outside his party is just the talk of a jackass!

Treason????

More of them need to be swept out of office. But talk of treason --- think again!

 

Going to City Council Chambers to speak about the new arena on Jan 2 at 10 am

I'm going to attend and speak for 3-minutes before the Pittsburgh's City Council meeting and share a few pointers about the Penguins and the hope of a new arena.

The new arena could have glass pedestrian walkways.

Ballot Access -- one of the many top priorities

Pennsylvania's Constitution guarantees "fair and equal elections." However, nominees for statewide office from the two major parties need merely 2,000 primary election ballot access signatures to qualify for the November general election. Others need more than 67,000.

That doesn't sound fair and equal to me. How about you?

I urge you to bring fairness to statewide elections by passing the Voters' Choice Act.

Find out more at PaBallotAccess.org and please let me know where you stand.

Taking a dip with the Polar Bear Club: Air = 49 degrees F; Water = 47

It was fun.

The water felt much like the day at the beach in Maine when there was a heat wave and a stiff wind from land to ocean. The pins in my forearms ached quickly.

Otherwise, my swim was about 30-40 yards. Jumped in at the "go" signal and slugged upstream for about 15-20 yards with most of the others in and out in that time. Not bad. But upon turning around, the dry land called and welcomed with a longing passion.

There must have been 350 people at the Mon Wharf this morning at 9 am. More were flowing in as I was leaving. None were as prepared as me in certain categorys. In other regards, such as tobacco and booze, I was not in their league at all. I was wearing my yellow latex swim cap, pulled over the years to keep out the water. Tip one, keep the ears dry and warm.

I also had my open water swim goggles with the reflective lense. We really needed it today as the sun was bright. Most near me were finding it hard to get good photos because of the bright sun. A few others were noticed with plain old swim goggles. The ones I use offer a great field of vision and are so large that most of my face stays warm as well.

On my feet, the surf booties that tighten above the ankles. They can be made so tight as to keep out all water. My toes were happy feet. The rubber bottoms don't grip worth a darn on the slime covered steep edge of concrete leading from the parking spot and guard rail to the edge of the water, at a 45-degree angle. Thanks to the guy who offered me a hand in pulling me out to the bank. Perhaps I should have jumped at that location and climbed out at the more gradual ramp so as to keep my footing. Otherwise, I'm crawling on my bellie.

Plus, I kept my pull-bouey! That way I could offer it to anyone who might be in need -- or just keep myself on top of the water and swim with the head out in an effortless way.

My outfit was complete with the body glove surf suit that goes to elbows and knees. All in all -- I cheated on the wardrobe. No t-shirt nor trunks for me.

After the exit, it took about 2 minutes and I was warm again. The recovery was quick, but I didn't feel the temptation to re-enter, as many others did.

I had to rush home for some clean up duties around the home/office for a party today. We're going to fire up the Chocolate Fountain, a gift from last year. A few of the guys are going to visit for a play day.

Very little on the web was available about the polar bear club in Pittsburgh. The zoo's new exhibit was easily found. But after today, with all the 'fair weather friends' taking the plunge, I bet we'll see lots of digital pictures at Flicker and Picassa. I hope so as I didn't take a single photo. KDKA and other tv stations were there, of course.

My boys didn't join me. Grant was playing computer games and passed. He pondered the activity long and hard but whimped out. Erik is still sleeping. He's turning more into a teenager with his sleep patterns. He wasn't going to go anyway. No way. He's even worried about sharks with our pending swims in New Zealand with dolphins.

E. and J. and their dad, swimmers on the Carlynton Swim Team, were there and swimming. Good for them. They'll have more stories to tell. I bet I saw 30 or 40 kids under the age of 14.

Another swim group exists. I wish I had pointers to them.

Keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh - Signatures

Keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh - Signatures 11414. Mark Rauterkus Stay in Allegheny County but exit The Hill. Build by airport.

What will 2007 bring in terms of swimming in the river?

Flashback. Splendid flashback.

PostScript: Assignment -- whatever's happening It was reasonably warm and there was no ice on the Monongahela River as more than 100 members of the Polar Bear Club prepared for their annual plunge into the water.

I had thought of doing it for a while.

I've been taking photographs for the Post-Gazette for 25 years. I'm not getting any younger.

So when I got up that morning, I just put on the trunks and a tank top, with my work clothes over. I took an old pair of shoes. I told myself, 'There's always a chance I can chicken out of it.'

But when covering such a predictable event, you need to do something a little different.

I had prepared one of my cameras in case. The underwater camera that we have is a film camera, but it's much easier with the motor drive digital camera. I put it on autofocus and placed the camera in an extra large freezer bag with tape around the lens.

As I stood on the bank, I took some ribbing from fellow news photographers, but my mind was made up. I decided I'd go in five minutes before the group took its leap, so I could get their expressions as they hit the water.

It was not what I'd expected. The water was 38 degrees.

I could not breathe. I felt like there was a ton of bricks on my chest. I could not get enough air in my lungs. I was having trouble.

We'll always have Paris -- 2006 from Dave Barry

Dave Barry remembers the Super Bowl in his year in review:

We'll always have Paris | Chicago Tribune In sports, Super Bowl XVXXLMCMII takes place in Detroit, and by all accounts it's a big success for the Motor City, with huge crowds thronging to both of the restaurants. The Pittsburgh Steelers win a game featuring a controversial play in which an apparent Seattle Seahawk touchdown pass is called back after the Steeler defender-in what is later ruled an accident-is gunned down by Vice President Cheney.

Rat Pack, a Night at the Sands, here we come

We're going to Heinz Hall to see The Rat Pack show tonight. There is a show at 6:30 pm. We're thrilled. More to come from me later. Anyone else catch this show? What did you think? Is there anything specific we should be sure to watch or listen for???

Singer, songwritter -- Joe Jencks -- performance on Jan 7, 2007

Friendship House Concerts is proud to present Joe Jencks at 4 pm on Sunday, January 7, 2007.

Joe has earned wide recognition for his songs about working people, and for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Joe weaves a diverse web of stories with brilliant musical skill, ensnaring even the most rigid of hearts, inviting them to open.

Whether performing at a union conference or folk festival, or at an intimate club or house concert, Joe manages to make any audience feel welcomed, valued, and part of a community.

Joe’s life-long interest in folk music led him to undergraduate and graduate studies in Vocal Music Performance, Choral Conducting, and Music Education. Like any good craftsman Joe applies the skills of this well-rounded training, using his lush and lyrical voice to enchant, heal, and inspire to action. Joe has won numerous songwriting awards for his original work, and has an ability to connect genuinely and intimately with audiences of diverse ages and backgrounds.

Joe is a dual US/Irish citizen living in the US, and merges traditions from both countries in his eclectic and vibrant musical presentation. Joe Jencks’ newest CD Rise As One: A Live Solidarity Concert (2005) is a musical retrospective on the labor movement.

Check out Joe and his music at http://www.joejencks.com

Seating is limited. Reservations necessary. For information and reservations,
call or email:

LLouise & Jim Altes, 412.361.6051, altes -at- potomacnet.com

Suggested donation: $10.00. All proceeds go to the performer.

After the concert, there will be a pot luck dinner. Please bring entrees, hors d'oeuvres, salads, side dishes, or desserts to share.

NEITHER Perzel nor DeWeese

Contact your Representative (and others) NOW and demand that they
vote for NEITHER Perzel nor DeWeese.

Way to go to a lone Democrat (so far) in the PA House who broke ranks and offered his vote against the D party boss, DeWeese.

Seems that DeWeese has time to draft legislation to expand the slots parlors with table games. But DeWeese has no need to contact his own party member about rules to reform the operations of the PA House.

Stripping Democrats who voted against the pay raise of committee positions was an obvious abuse of power by Mr. DeWeese. Those committees had nothing to do with legislative pay, why would it affect them? Mr. Caltagirone rightly does not support an individual that abuses power.

To Joe R,, (and I agree fully, as he posted on another list) what is more impossible to believe is that any Democrat would support a power abuser. Each legislator needs to be able to vote as they see fit without coercive threat from Mr. DeWeese. Please speak to the Democrats about an alternate leader.

HockeyNation talks of Pens and KC

HockeyNation That could be the ad seen soon in newspapers across North America, as Kansas City’s Sprint Centre nears completion. The plan is that if a team is granted to Kansas City for the start of NHL season in 2007 then the rink will be ready with all the latest whistles and bells, the luxury boxes and supposedly a stable base of season ticket holders who have forgotten the horrid days of the Kansas City Scouts.

The new rink comes on line at a convenient time for the deep pocketed would be owners, with the most exciting team of the future, Pittsburgh going through the throes of a broken heart and dream, Kansas City might be the obvious destination for the Pens.

The Times and Democrat - Is my space your space?

The Times and Democrat - Is my space your space? Some teens, though, think adults worry too much -- and say deleting too much defeats the purpose of social networking. Tyler Belden-England, a high school freshman in Pittsburgh, puts the name of his school on his site, but says he's not 'going to be stupid about it.'

NCAA job at RMU for Strength Coach

NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association Robert Morris University is accepting applications for the position of Strength and Conditioning Coach. This is a full-time position with responsibilities to include all aspects of the implementation of a comprehensive strength and conditioning program for 23 intercollegiate teams. The coach will work collaboratively with head coaches and athletic trainers to implement sport-specific programs. Requirements include a bachelors degree, master's or post-graduate degree preferred; at least two years experience in strength and conditioning; and certification by the NCSA. Those interested should submit a letter of application, current resume and a list of three references to Craig Coleman, Director of Athletics, Robert Morris University, 6001 University Blvd., Moon Township, PA 15108; or e-mail to colemanc@rmu.edu. EOE

Gerald Ford: Athlete, Politician, Statesman, Swimmer

cbs4.com - Swimming Hall Of Fame Remembers Gerald Ford In 1977, less than a year after leaving the White House, Ford paid a visit to the International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF), located in Ft. Lauderdale. Ford, promoted the sport as a great way to exercise during his term, and was considered one of the biggest cheerleaders for the ISHOF.

Buck and Bob get interviewed in the TV news segment.

There is a strong tie to Michigan with those guys as well.

Musical? Give these podcasts a listen.

Do you make music? If so, listen to these podcasts. Wonderful and perhaps the best I've heard with musical tutorials.

Pandora Podcast Pandora Podcast

Pens get ballpark figure for arena

Hold the phone. We don't WANT a NEW UPTOWN ARENA. We already have an arena uptown. The Civic Arena is ours. It is paid for. It is historic. Mario and the Pens would not be nearly as happy nor successful if they build a new UPTOWN Arena.

Pens get ballpark figure for arena - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the deal Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are offering the Penguins would give them a new arena with team contributions similar to those made by the Steelers and Pirates for their North Shore stadiums.

Unlike those outdoor venues, an Uptown arena could make money for its operator throughout the year.

'I don't know why (the Penguins) are fussing so much about $3 million a year, if they can get the rental agreement the Steelers and Pirates have,' said Jake Haulk, president of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, a Castle Shannon think tank. 'A lot of this is just posturing.'

I want Mario and the Pens to thrive. I want the region to prosper. I don't want to be held hostage again in another five or ten years.

The Pens need to cut ties to the uptown location and built where there is an upside for the organizations bottom line.

Pittsburgh needs the Penguins to stay in order for a new arena to work, said Megan Dardanell, spokeswoman for Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

Exactly. But, if the Pens leave, the Civic Arena can still work. The Civic Arena is paid for. The Civic Arena can host NCAA Division I women's basketball, again. Duhh....

The Pens can build a new arena with corporate boxes, somewhere else. That will work for them. And, the civic arena can work for low-key events -- like graduation for local high schools.

Political leaders are willing to negotiate such things as the rights to concessions, parking and advertising, Onorato has said.
The Pens can have their own parking, concessions, advertising and condos with their own new arena out by the airport. Build it. Own it. Manage it. Do it.

If we bring in consultants for the deal with the Pens, as we had for the other two stadiums, it will be a sure sign that Onorato and Ravenstahl will not be re-elected. Those deals stunk. Those deals were not made public. Those deals are still the subject of great scorn.

The hype of PNC Park for the Pirates was that there would not be any game day tickets avialable for years into the future. It was smaller than Three Rivers Stadium and PNC Park was to be an on-going sell out. By the fourth game, there were tickets available. There were only five or so sold out games its first year. Seasons at Three Rivers Stadium have been much better attended than seasons at PNC Park. The Pirates suck. The deal for the citizens for the staduims is worse than the performance of the team on the field.

In the summer of 2006, the public treasury was raided again for an upgrade to Heinz Field. We build more seats in the stadium. We build more club box seats too. We, the public, did an upgrade for the Steelers and paid a big part of those improvements.

Why wasn't that reported?

We upgraded the Mellon Arena. We let the Pens keep the money for the naming rights to o. Remember the Blue Seats at the Arena? What a joke.

Bad deals of the past are behind us now. But let's not talk about doing them over again. The consultants and the political leaders struck poor deals for those venues. Let's not let this happen again.

The Pens -- as well as the Pirates and Steelers -- should all own their own venues. They should do the upgrades as they see fit, on their dime.

The Pens would have an easier time with competition for sponsors if the venue was out by the airport. Those who want to sponsor teams at Pitt would have some distance from those that want to sponsor the NHL's Pens.

All the non-sporting events that have income potential can go to the Pens, if they build their own arena.

Save Fort Pitt: Save the Fort Pitt Music Bastion!

Save Fort Pitt: Save the Fort Pitt Music Bastion!: "Save the Fort Pitt Music Bastion!
Only two remnants of Fort Pitt can be found at Point State Park. One is the Block House dated 1764 and erected by Col. Henry Bouquet, a leading British military figure of the day. The other is the unearthed (in the 1960s) and partially restored Music Bastion noted by George Washington (...two of which near the land are of brick...). The brick wall, next to which ran the moat, sits well below ground level in what appears, from even close by, to be a wide, deep, and pointless ditch. It is marked by a bronze plaque, but barely interpreted at all. The fact that the walls are so far underground is fascinating in itself, and speaks not only to the changes to the land made by man, but also the power of river flooding, through which nature is always seeking to resculpt the earth."

PSU's Morelli unloads on Penn Hills coach - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

PSU's Morelli unloads on Penn Hills coach - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 'I'd just say thanks for everything you've done for me. Thanks for trying to bash me as much as you could. It didn't work.'

It didn't work -- or -- did it work?

I don't know. I'm very far removed from that situation and relationship, other than being a Penn Hills grad.

Onorato: Hate makes waste. Now it is a priority! OMG, what about 3 years as ACE and before?

Give me a break.

Onorato's arena goal: Deal finished by Feb. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato vowed yesterday to make keeping the Penguins in Pittsburgh his 'number one priority' heading into the new year and would like to have an arena deal completed under Plan B in two months or less.

This is too little too late in the minds of the hockey fans. Now the ACE (Allegheny County Executive) is in a scramble or else he'll have his head on a -- slapshot out of office just as the Pens puck out of town too.

I think that Dan did too little in the past.

I also think that Dan needs to think again about what really should be done now that we have a new opportunity, a new dawn, a new year.

The best place for the Pens is not in the vicinity of the existing Civic Arena.

You don't want to negotiate until after you've set a vision. You want to establish the goals. You want to have shared priorities understood. You want to overcome objections -- as a good sales person wants. You want to qualify the buyer. You want to get on the same page.

Dan has done nothing in these areas.

Mario is hacked off at the leaders in Pittsburgh for good reason. To jump into a 'negotiation' phase now -- is more sillyness.

Dan is ready to put his offer on the table. That's putting your word out before you think it through.

Time is on the side of Pittsburgh. Time is not of the essence. It was Mario who burned the past six months. Mario is the one who is not returning phone calls as they wait until they see if there is any hope with an IOC objection and legal challenge to the decision of last week.

The lease for the civic arena needs to be extended one season. That offer needs to be put out there for all to see.

The Penguins don't need to be released from its contract with IOC, the Penguins need to break their silence. The Penguins are not slaves to the IOC.

The slots parlor should alter the idea of a new amphitheater next to Heinz Field. That deal should be terminated. Luke should step up and say, 'think again' about that.

And finally, there is a word from Michael Lamb. Where and when did he put in his $.02? Does he have a web site now? Ho, ho, ho... Did Santa bring him a voice?

Jack Wagner says - keep eye on the ball.

Jack Wagner doesn't get it.

On the Marty Griffin Show, KDKA-1020, Auditor General Jack Wagner said, "We have to keep our eye on the ball. That ball is getting a new arena for the Penguins and keeping the Penguins here."

Wrong.

The goal is more about being a place where freedom resides. We need to be free and folks should be free to watch the Penguins too. We need to have flow from our infrastructure so the free people can get from place to place. We have to keep our eye on the ball with the future for our children.

Giving $290-million to Mario today, so he can build a new arena today, is NOT going to do jack for our children. We'll be in the same situations in another 10 years, held hostage (not free) by the sports teams and buzz nuts who want to 'churn facilities.'

Let's keep our eye on the ball, Jack. But it isn't about Mario's new arena. It is about doing the right things. It is about doing the best things. It is about being free, building flow, thinking of the future.

I sent this email to Marty:

---

I agree with you that the Pens presently have a sweet deal on the table concerning the amounts of money offered within Plan B and PA's public treasury.

Nonetheless, a switch in the coversation is in order. You could help -- rather than driving a wedge into the discussion and Pens' fans the community.

Mario's perspectives are bound tightly to hockey game income because everyone is talking only about a possibility of a new arena in the same vicinity of the Civic Arena site -- the Hill District. The Hill wasn't deemed to be the best location for the new slots parlor, nor is that part of the city the best place for a new arena.

The upside for Mario climbs greatly, giving the Pens a sweeter deal, when we talk of the vision of building a new arena where land is plentiful, cheap and where expansion is desired -- near the Pittsburgh Airport.

Then everyone wins -- Hill District, historic preservationists, city, county, region, state, and NHL -- and Mario, of course.

Think of a Penguins Village with new arena, high-rise housing, buziness park, much like an Olympic Village.

Downtown Eastside Enquirer: Vancouver Public Library stays open Christmas Day

We can't do trash pick-up on holidays well. We can't even keep open historic library buildings on regular hours. Meanwhile, in other parts, the libary is open on Christmas. Open hearts. Open heads.

Downtown Eastside Enquirer: Vancouver Public Library stays open Christmas Day

What do you do on Christmas Day when you have no money but time to kill between free turkey dinners on the Downtown Eastside?

You go to the library.

'I'm glad the libary is open,' one guy said as he walked into the Vancouver Public Library in the Carnegie Centre. 'Everything else is closed.'

The Library is paying a staff person to keep the library open, one of those Library Technicians who don't cost as much as a real librarian. She is not actually alone though. The Carnegie security guards are hanging around in the lobby just outside the wide open doors of the library.

Farewell to the Yangtze dolphin

The Public View of Farewell to the Yangtze dolphin

So sad.

Mark Crowley's Letter to the Editor in the P-G

Mark C, wrote to say:

I had a LTE in the Post-Gazette today (Christmas Day) promoting the Voters' Choice Act. In the print version they gave the LTE the prominent spot at the bottom right of the editorial page in its own box and even drew a little sketch for it. I suppose that today isn't one of the days people make it a point to check the editorial page, but I'm glad they saw fit to place it as they did.

Oddly, I submitted it about three weeks ago and they called soon after to confirm my intent to print. Next they just held it, I guess, for a slow time. (Either that or they dug mine back up after they got tired of endless letters from hockey zealots complaining that the award of the local slot casino wasn't the one that would pay 100% for a new hockey arena.)

This LTE follows an old formula for getting into the papers to promote the VCA: find a voting/election oriented article, recognize its central theme but make the point that ballot access consequences are at least as important, give one reason why expanded ballot access is good for PA, and finally offer the VCA as a solution. I've used variations of this approach four times in two years to get VCA LTEs
into local papers.

Too bad getting on the statewide ballot isn't as simple.

Mark

---

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06359/748680-110.stm

The real voting problem: third-party or independent candidates are shut out

Paper ballots may stop votes disappearing from recounts ("In Praise of Paper" by Bruce Schneier, Dec. 3 Forum), but they won't stop candidates disappearing from Pennsylvania ballots.

2006 saw no Pennsylvania third party or independent statewide candidates because unfair rules required more than 67,000 ballot access signatures. Major-party statewide nominees needed only their 2,000 primary election signatures.

When the Green Party's U.S. Senate candidate attempted ballot access, Democratic Party lawyers filed suit resulting in ballot denial and a staggering $1 million fine.

Incumbent parties use law and crippling financial threats to silence candidates who serve us all by bringing uncomfortable topics to political debate. Thus, paper backups won't stop disappearing debate from disappearing candidates.

What will? The Voters' Choice Act.

Since 2005, PaBallotAccess.org, a coalition of Libertarian, Green, Constitutional, Reform and other parties, has promoted the VCA. It would implement fairer ballot access rules. We need to push this again in the 2007 Legislature.

While unverifiable recounting is a concern, a far greater concern is censoring debate by unfairly prohibiting ballot access.

MARK CROWLEY, Plum

Running Mate photos from the 2006 Liberatian Christmas Party. Speaker, State Chairman, Chuck Molton, said our gathering and chapter had more people and energy than that of Philly. Professor David of CMU spoke of some of the worries of the county's policy with electronic voting machines and what fixes make sense. Others spoke and showed their brillance too in presentation and daily jazz, including Mark Crowley (in top left of first).

It is December 25 and this guy is eating Chinees Food

Not as spiritual as the Joy To The World pointer. And, I don't know this dude like we knew the string players in our church service last night. But, enjoy.

Hope your day is as nice as ours.

Jewish friends, be sure to visit Grant's blog to see and hear him doing another tune. That was from the Phillips Elementary School holiday concert.

Joy To The World, with 20 strings, at Sunnyhill

Watch and hear Erik, Grant, Phillip, Tess and Marina (left to right) at Christmas Eve service, December 2006.

Steelers, Pirates Disappointed by Slots via Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Hey Houston. We have a bit of a problem. This from the Chron.com, of the Houston Chronicle. Note, this article in Houston isn't harping about the Penguins moving to Texas.

Steelers, Pirates Disappointed by Slots | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "The Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates were surprised and troubled by a state gaming panel's decision Wednesday that allows a gambling casino to be built close to their stadiums, with each team wondering how the slots parlor will affect them on game days.

The Steelers, long opposed to sharing their North Side neighborhood with a $450 million glass-and-steel casino, issued a terse statement that didn't disguise their anger that Detroit developer Don Barden will build the casino only a block away from Heinz Field."

We'll deal with the Steelers, what time is the game anyway, and Pirates in another thread. But let's clear up the facts.

Steelers President Art Rooney II said. "It seemed it was a process that was designed to give little weight to local interests....

No sir Mr. Rooney. First, the statue of Art Rooney with a cigar gives little weight to local health concerns. The no-smoking ban aside, the process gave great weight to local interests. The slots parlor didn't fit in the lower Hill and there were protests. The slots parlor didn't fit in Station Square as there were serious concerns from locals in both South Side and Mt. Washington. Furthermore, no local interest doubt came from the North Side. The Pirates and Steelers don't have ownership of squat in our public built and owned stadiums.

The Steelers could have local interest if the Steelers purchased Heinz Field. Buy it. Get local interest with ownership of the facility you play in.

The Steelers could have had more local interest if it would have built a practice facility on the North Side. The team could have practices over there and you could have rented offices to Dr. Fu and UPMC for an Orthopedic Clinic. So, the Steelers don't have any interest in the South Side either, just for the record. Rooney's Steelers are renters.

The Steelers had an opportunity to build an outdoor concert venue on the North Side. But the state came in with a promise of $4-million as a gift. This was two years ago and I don't remember any concerts over there yet. Fumble! I'm glad that project is in limbo, frankly. We'll get a nice outdoor concert venue on the North Shore, around the glass facade of the river front slots parlor.

The deal of the Stadiums, another broken promise squared, was that the Steelers and Pirates would get their new facilities and have ownership stakes and incentives for development of the land around Heinz Field and PNC Park. That rip off didn't materialize either. Years passed an little to nothing was done. The promise was that mixed use development would come and the teams would be the driving force of that value expansion. The development around Three Rivers Stadium never materialized as was promised back in the 1970s too.

The Steelers and Pirates squandered an opportunity of a lifetime. The deal that was hatched to get Heinz Field, before it was even called Heinz Field and you hogged the naming rights revenue, was crooked and all in the favor of the Rooney family. We've got rid of Steve Leeper and Tom Murphy and the boss of the URA too. The local interests of the ball teams on the North Side can be put into one surface parking lot, after the tailgaters have departed. I see the statement about your new, soon-to-be neighbors as nothing more than trash talk. And, its to #32 and his extended biz buddies too.

Furthermore, the Steelers statement continues, "We will have to consider all of our options in determining how to respond to this decision."

Your options were clear: The Steelers were to pave the streets of the North Side with gold -- and do it with tax-payers money with private developers jumping aboard. The Steelers fumbled. The Steelers didn't get it done. An open hole was presented and you didn't run with the ball -- jagoff.

The North Side should be much, much more than it is today, and it isn't because of the Steelers total lack of leadership and ambition.

The Houston article states, "The Pirates' tone was more conciliatory than that of the Steelers, perhaps because their PNC Park is four or five blocks away from the planned casino."

It is a slots parlor, not a casino. It is NOT the Pirates PNC Park, it is owned by the public. The Pirates rent PNC Park and they get a bunch of free parking spots too.

Last year the SEA, (Stadium and Exhibition Authority) granted a slew of parking spaces to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. This large give-a-way came in Luke Ravenstahl's first SEA meeting. The office people, coaches, players and workers didn't want to pay to park. They wanted a free spot. They cried about the lack of perks to the SEA, a board that is to care for the public interest of these public spaces. The SEA caved and granted the free parking to the Pirates.

The reported loss of parking spots is backwards. The Pirates have been making out on parking. And there is a mega new parking garage between the two sports venues that just opened months ago. I don't think anyone has seen a spot on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th floors -- yet. Because it is never used. But, they were built. And the ramp right onto and off of the highway might come soon too.

The upper decks of the parking structure with ramps to the highway might make for a great place for teens from Robinson and Shaler to gather so as to burn rubber in circles since there is no room lots of security at Ross Park Mall.

Mr. McClatchy, congestion has an upside and doesn't need to hurt. McClatchy asked, "will it (slots parlor) create congestion that hurts everybody?" Most urban aware business people see congestion and density as an opportunity for profits. When fans have the ability to get to the ballpark quickly, it is because nobody wants to go to PNC Park. Getting to Fenway has never been seen as a problem. Getting to Wrigley has been seen as an experience, not a problem. Those navigational worries are what they are because of the urban experience of fans among community.

More worries come in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings of games with the team on the field.

Western Pennsylvania Sports -- Infrastructure that needs some action!

Western Pennsylvania Sports

Visit this group

---

Subscribe to Western Pennsylvania Sports

Email:

Visit this group

We'll destory that bridge when we get to it

The statement, "The fix is in", became a buzz statement back in September, 2005, and pressed on people's minds for more than a year. It may or may not go away in 2007.


View of the speakers.


This is the day when Tom Murphy said, "The fix is in."


Tom Murphy was able to scold the media for not reporting on how 'the fix is in.' But he wouldn't name names and be transparent as he expected the media to be. Some mayor. Then can Bob O'Connor, then Dennis Regan. Now Luke, the young Jedi, in full campaign mode. But, the casino choice was made and the North Side won -- the dark horse.

What is the deal now with the West End Pedestrian Bridge?

West End Bridge from the water. The Pedestrian Bridge might be built on the downtown side of this span. It would be a smooth connection to the North Shore (shown on the left) and the pending slots parlor.

What is the deal with the North Side's outdoor concenrt venue to be built by the Steelers? Two years ago Gov. Ridge promised $4-million in grants to that deal, sadly.



Watch the Video

---

Yesterday I posted these 'old photos' and then today (Sunday) the Trib put this in the paper, proving that this is a quote that didn't go away easily.

Wrong again, Mr. Murphy.

Anyone remember Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy alleging the "fix" was in last year to award the city's sole slots license to Harrah's Entertainment for a Station Square casino?

Thomas "Tad" Decker, head of the state Gaming Control Board, certainly did.

Shortly after awarding a bunch of casino licenses across the state -- including one to a group headed by Detroit's Don Barden, who will operate the Majestic Star on Pittsburgh's North Shore -- Decker became irked when asked by reporters about Murphy's remark.

<a href="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/pittsburghlive.com/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/whispers/s_485486.html/186634330/Position1/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_Dec06/change_300x250.txt/34336162363733303434353734343230?http://www.dollarbank.com/pays/"><IMG SRC="http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/OasDefault/dollarbankP1R3_Dec06/http://ads.pittsburghlive.com/richads/dollarbank/change/300x250_PL.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></a>

"It's hogwash. It's nonsense," he said. "Who was fixing what? It's insane."

Care to elaborate, Mr. Decker?

"How can people accuse us of this not being on a level playing field without having some facts? It irritates the hell out of me because it's not true."

Given the inaccuracy of the former mayor's comment, which he quickly retracted, it's hard to blame Decker for being a bit upset.

---

And another:

The Citizens Voice - Loaded questionsThis is a town where backroom deal-making is part of everyday business, so it shouldn’t be surprising that some people believed — and will continue to believe — that clandestine deals were behind the awarding of the state’s slots licenses.

We going to do something about this yet.

ESPN did a ranking of sports. This beat swimming.

Video removed by ESPN.

Today is Festivus!

Happy Festivus. A holiday for the rest of us.

Grant has been saying, "Have a kicking Kwanza."

Teliban Teachers a no-no

Detention never looked like this:

Sturmgeschutz and Sorcery Taliban are explicitly forbidden from working as teachers for the government. The Taliban sees the growing number of schools, especially those that educate girls, as the most dangerous threat. If the Taliban can get to a teacher, they must first warn them to stop teaching. If that is ignored, the teacher is to be beaten. If that doesn't work, the teacher is to be killed. So far this year, twenty teachers (male and female) have been killed by the Taliban, and hundreds beaten, and even more threatened.

The best way to get revenge on those elements of culture isn't with war, but with education.

We shouldn't send soldiers. Rather, we should educate their daughters at fine educational institutions such as Smith, Kenyon, Chattam and Carlow -- and then send them back home.

Quiz: Where am I?

This is a game at JumpCut. The video asks, Where am I?

The correct reply has not yet been left on that groups page.

This post is dedicated to those in Hays and near Mifflin who have been without water, given all (now 10 or so) their water main breaks. Do you think we'd ever see man-hole covers and craftmanship like this around our streets and sidewalks?

Bits&Bytes: CMU kids ponder city-wide wi-fi

Noodle heads noodle behind closed doors:

Bits&Bytes: Comcast unveils higher rates after FCC eases rules A group of Carnegie Mellon University students are putting the final touches on a report considering what a citywide Wi-Fi Internet access could mean to Pittsburgh, but stops short of telling the city what to do.

'It's not our job to say what's best,' said Jon M. Peha, an associate director of CMU's Center for Wireless and Broadband Networking, whose class of about 21 undergraduate and graduate students spent the fall semester doing the work free of charge.

The report, likely to be released to the public sometime in January, sought to present scenarios estimating how much a citywide Wi-Fi Internet network might cost, what one or multiple Wi-Fi providers could expect to earn from each neighborhood, and how city government and services might use the Wi-Fi network.

The class presented its analysis to an invitation-only panel that included city Councilman Bill Peduto, telecom attorney and former city Councilman Dan Cohen, a representative from Verizon and technology nonprofit 3 Rivers Connect. The class is tweaking the report before making it widely available.

There are trade-offs to blanketing the city with Wi-Fi, Dr. Peha said. 'Some parts oft he city are probably profitable' for a Wi-Fi provider but to bring Wi-Fi to the whole city would require additional financial resources, he said.

This is what I've been saying all along. The effort to make the city covered with robust wi-fi is going to present some places where there will be profits and other places where there will be losses. Downtown's might and density is a cherry. One should NOT give away the cherry of the region. The cherry needs to go out as the rest of the city gets coverage.

The Pgh Downtown Partnership picked the cherry in the wi-fi landscape. The next move for city-wide wi-fi is stalled. No doubt: "The wi-fi to the whole city would require additional financial resource." Darn you!

I still think that the downtown wi-fi plan that was to hatch by the All-Star Game (but didn't come on time) was a bad deal for the entire city. I am proven correct -- still.

I'd love to see the report and give it my serious feedback. It might be better to have me address it with my sharp insights and skeptical peer-review, before it goes out to the world.

Call to Flip Side -- ends in a quick click

Happy Festivus Eve.

Headline in today's Tribune Review: "Pens start looking out of town." Exactly!

The Pens should move off The Hill. Move to an Allegheny County destination. Build the new arena near the airport.

The prior caller said, "Show me the money." That isn't ideal. Rather, we've got to guide the conversation into "Show me the upside." There is no room for expansion into other ventures if it stays on The Hill.

Build out an Olympic Village complex with a new arena. Insert RMU grad housing. Set a new vision with room to grow.

The small minded broadcasters said, "The location decision has been established." click.

Going down this pathway, then, the location decision is out of state. The location decision is UP IN THE AIR. Put all options on the table. Pick a place with big upside. Pick a place that people can get to, in their cars, near their homes, near the airport, with room for expansion.

flower currency

flower currency A Hippyesque Post-Hippie Approach To Changing the World

A project to explore a value exchange system, created and owned by children, to enable artists to collaborate on the creation of interdisciplinary art works.

Judge Puts Allegheny Co. Smoking Ban On Hold - News

Judge Puts Allegheny Co. Smoking Ban On Hold - News Judge Puts Allegheny Co. Smoking Ban On Hold
Injunction Stands Until April

On the 12th day of Christmas, Another water main break.

Another water main break repaired in W. Mifflin Another water line in the West Mifflin area developed a leak last night, but this time Pennsylvania American Water Co. reports that it was able to make repairs quickly.

ThePensblog.com comes up with a solution to the new arena funding problem

Funny.

ThePensblog.com: 2. The 'Shoeless Joe Jackson' Initiative

This would be tough for us to execute because we hate to see our Pens lose. However, our plan is to contact the Pens and have them throw the rest of their season; losing every game while keeping an eye on the spread and the over/under for every game. Pens fans everywhere bet against the Pens for the rest of the season. $290 million dollars. New Arena.

I love it as gambling was at the root of the fussing. Use gambling to get the arena back on track.

There is a vote under way too. And, I picked a whinner!

Clever.

Come To the Island of Misfit Reformers!

Crank Up the Radio; Pick Up the Phone. Stream.

Join activists Russ Diamond and Eric Epstein as they fill in for two of talk radio's greatest assets in Central Pennsylvania during the holiday season!

Russ and Eric fill in for talk radio host Bob Durgin on WHP 580 AM from 3:00 - 6:00 pm on Friday, December 22, Tuesday, December 26 and Wednesday, December 27, 2006. The Bob Durgin Show’s toll-free talk line is 1 800 724 5801.

WHP 580 website

The fun continues with The Gary Sutton Show on Newsradio WSBA 910 AM from 9:00 am - noon on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28, 2007. The Gary Sutton Show’s toll-free talk line is 1 800 357 0910.

Listen to the Gary Sutton Show live on the internet. Link to the The Gary Sutton Show

Call in and talk about reform issues, the future of responsible government in Pennsylvania, or whatever else is on your mind! One never knows where the conversation will lead with these two at the helm.

Dates, times and pointers are on the Google Calendar of Mark Rauterkus and Running Mates.

Bill Toland casino chat transcript

Bill Toland casino chat transcript We must not forget our third new arena in the area paid by the state. The Peterson Event Center. The cost over runs alone could have paid a large chunk of the new arena. Why did Pitt not look to combine a multi-use arena with the Pens at that time? They would have had more seatting than the Pete.

FYI: I was against Pitt's building of The Pete on its present location as a basketball only venue. That was a bad deal.

Pitt should have kept Pitt Stadium for one game a year, Akron, etc. And Pitt Stadium was used around the clock for practices for many sports teams and even the band. Pitt Stadium could also have been conditioned to hold graduate housing on an upper ring.

Pitt's new basketball facility should have been able to do ice too. That should have been built at Pitt's new River Campus, down Panther Hollow - in Hazelwood -- at the foot of the Parkway East and perhaps one end of the Mon Valley Toll Road.

More Pitt buildings, such as more graduate student housing, and the UPMC Sports Fields could have been put back on campus. Then they'd have spaces for intramurals and such.

By the way, Bob O'Connor loved those ideas. I delivered them to city council in 1999ish.

Another idea that has merit to speak of again, but not mine, comes when talking about the new stadiums for the Pirates and Steelers, but the Pens were left out. A guy had a great vision of building PNC Park on top of a sunken ice facility. The same footprint would hold both the baseball and hockey venues.

The baseball field is the roof of the hockey facility. Much of the stands and fan infrastucture can be shared. That would have been great.

Today, I guess we could still flood the ballfield and play outdoor hockey with the red line about the pitchers mound.

Wooden Nickles, from running mate, Mark C (again)

At the Allegheny County LPPGH Holiday Party (12/20/2006) one of our speakers, Johannes Ernharth (a past LPPGH chair and financial planner), spoke about some of the deep financial problems facing the country.

He mentioned that it's now illegal to take more than some set amount of change out of the country and that it's illegal to melt our coinage for the value of the metal.
That's the sad result of a money policy that inflates our currency and, thus, drives up the apparent value of most everything else in terms of that inflated currency.

FYI, here is an interesting web site:
www.coinflation.com

It shows the value of our coin money based on its alloy composition and the current value of metals. Note that even that today's lowly penny (largely zinc) is now worth less than the equivalent amount of zinc and copper. At this rate, can we expect wooden nickels sometime after the 2008 election?

Mark

PS -- If you didn't hear about illegal coin melting read this:

http://www.coinflation.com/turn_off_the_smelters.html

Johannes Ernharth digs in his pocket, for a wooden nickle perhaps. On the left is Chuck M, recent chair of the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party and on the right is Harold, a long-time leader among the Allegheny County Libertarian movement.