PGH is a City

When I first moved to Pittsburgh, the Strip District was my instant favorite neighborhood. I immediately became a regular shopper there enjoying all of its eateries and ethnic stores. However, I never expected that in a few short years this awesome place would continue to grow and evolve into an...

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It seems like every month lately, there are new shenanigans from PWSA.In January, we had the mistaken decimal point water bills where consumers ended up with bills up to 100 times what they owed. The entirety of PWSA's customers also were notified that they were signed up for Utility Line...

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Flooded Fifth & Liberty St. intersection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1907, originally uploaded by trialsanderrors.The picture above is from downtown Pittsburgh in 1907.Rain and mild temperatures are predicted for the rest of the week. Will we get new opportunities to take pictures of a flooded downtown?"The National Weather Service forecast calls for...

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West Carson Street has been in the news a lot lately. Last week, community groups were protesting the site of a proposed Strip Club on West Carson Street. They object to its location directly adjacent to the Onala Club, an alcohol and drug recovery center.Early Tuesday morning, a mere 0.3...

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While most of us rejoiced when the city announced that after 3 weeks it was resuming its enforcement of the snow shoveling ordinance, Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski has this to say:"It's a minor thing to me," he said.I wonder if that's what Mr Kaczorowski would say to Ernestine Ross...

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Like most people, I let out a sigh of relief when the city publicized a post-snowmageddon reprieve for parking tickets and shoveling fines. There was just too much snow too quickly for most of us to keep up with it.After two weeks of reprieve, this Monday February 22, meter maids...

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When I read about a Strip club opening up next to a space for recovering addicts, I can't help but think about how "economizing" on space wound up with a mental health, drug and alcohol treatment center, which introduced mentally disabled Jennifer Daugherty to her killers. Maybe we'll have public...

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I'm all for relaxing liquor laws and restricting the PLCB, so at first glance State Sen. John Rafferty's proposed new bill to expand beer sales sounds great. But even I have to blink an eye and hold on a minute when I read this:'A crowd of about 150 people, many...

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Way back in 2006, a new study finds blogging was more popular. Do I need to remind the study-makers that: "Facebook was then opened on September 26, 2006 to everyone of ages 13 and older with a valid e-mail address." People used to blog more because it was the...

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What do people respond to? News and information.Given the age of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging, people expect information to be flowing constantly. As long as you have electricity and an internet connection, you can send out information on all these mediums and more.Throughout snowmageddon, the Port Authority operated a twitter...

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On Monday, I thanked professionals and neighbors alike for their hard work during this storm. But not everything was hunky-dory in Pittsburgh during this storm.Businesses are suffering because people can't drive or ride to them. Schools are going to be extending their school year and/or eliminating holidays after 3 days...

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Thank you to all the good Samaritans who helped their neighbors shovel.Thank you to the plow drivers who worked ridiculous shifts to bring the roads to the almost-passable states they're at now.Thank you to the Port Authority bus drivers braving the roads so the rest of us don't have to....

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It's been over 6 months since my last installment of the mass-transit-acre. That's not to say there haven't been accidents in the meantime, but this week's accidents were especially avoidable and/or destructive. Luckily, no one was killed.Feb 2: Port Authority bus drives into a parked PennDOT salt truck. The driver...

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One door closes, another door opens and all that.UPMC Braddock officially closed on Sunday, but today County Executive Onorato announced plans to demolish the former hospital and build office-space in its stead.Mayor Ravenstahl vetoed prevailing wage legislation on New Year's Eve, but the new crop of City Council has once...

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Allegheny County and Braddock learned a difficult lesson in today's UPMC minute. Judge Eugene Strassburger decided that despite much paperwork passed between the county and UPMC, UPMC has no legal obligation to keep the Braddock hospital open. The lesson? When the county enters into an agreement with UPMC, make damned...

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Obviously, I'm upset about the alleged beating of a high school student (Jordan Miles) by 3 undercover cops in Homewood. I'm upset that the Fraternal Order of Police doesn't see anything wrong with the "aggressive" arrest of a boy with a bottle of pop. It's especially trying to believe that...

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From the Post-Gazette (via the PGH Comet): In 2001, council approved legislation mandating a $9.12 an hour wage plus health insurance, or $10.62 without, for virtually every worker whose job was paid, supported or subsidized with city money. "Everywhere that our shadow falls, we will ensure that workers receive...

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There are times when it seems bloggers are just a bunch of whiners. Then there are times when bloggers accomplish something great. Special thanks and shout-out to That's Church and PGH Comet for their hard work. Welcome to the USA to the 53 Haitian children who arrived this morning at...

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Maybe you, like I was, were busy around the holidays. Maybe you, like I did, let this little snippet of PWSA (Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority) news slip by:Board member Patrick Dowd said better news is the introduction of optional insurance that will be added to customer bills as of...

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As is said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I firmly believe that Councilor Bruce Kraus has his heart in the right place. He wants to make life better for his South Side constituents. He constantly receives complaints about rowdy drunken revelers pissing on lawns, damaging private...

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2009/2010 is having a rocky transition in Pittsburgh Politics. With about 8 hours to spare in 2009, Mayor Ravenstahl vetoed city council legislation that had passed unanimously 10 days prior without so much as making any opposition public knowledge in said prior 10 days. Then in the first session of...

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"Some think live table games are a bad hand." Some think over-legislation is bull shit. In particular, me. Either make live table games legal and tax them, or don't. Don't make certain live table games legal and others illegal so that an electronics game vendor can make an extra buck.Not...

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"I have issues with both [declared contestants], to be honest," Councilwoman Theresa Smith said yesterday. Mr. Burgess seems too close to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, she said, and Mr. Peduto seems too far away.Councilman Peduto has shown backbone. He took a strong stance against Ravenstahl's tuition tax. However, he has repeatedly...

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Multiple choice question:What's the #1 reason Pittsburghers move away?a) They want to live in a sunny climate.b) Not enough bands and music acts have Pittsburgh on their tour list.c) They want to pay more for housing.d) They can't find a job........And the answer is?d) JobsAnecdotally, every person that I've talked...

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When Toby Keith and whoever has enough money can open a bar on the South Side, then you knew Bruce Kraus's stop-gap measure of a "saturation limit" on bars in the South Side wasn't going to fly in the courts. This was proved yesterday by the Allegheny Court of Common...

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