September 02, 2010

Child Recovering After Police K-9 Incident

(News)

A 6-year-old Christy Park girl is recovering from injuries suffered during an incident with a city police dog.

Police Chief Bryan Washowich said Wednesday night the department is reviewing its dog training and handling procedures after yesterday's events, which also injured Patrolman Francis Angert and the girl's mother.

Neither the girl nor her mother were identified by police.

"At this point, it looks like it was an unfortunate accident," Washowich said.

According to Washowich, with the start of classes in McKeesport Area School District, police officers were asked to check their beats and make sure no children were missed by school buses.

Angert was on routine patrol Wednesday morning near the intersection of 30th Avenue and Rockwood Street with his K-9 partner, Nero, when he spotted the girl and her mother, who are related to Angert, according to police.

As Angert talked to the girl's mother about giving the girl a ride to school, the mother unexpectedly opened the back door of the squad car, Washowich said.

Nero interpreted the action as a threat, the chief said.

"The dog can't differentiate between a friend and a foe," Washowich said. "Unfortunately, the dog was doing what it was trained to do."

The child was bitten on the abdomen and treated at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Washowich said. The mother and Angert also were injured as they separated Nero from the girl. Angert received wounds to his hand that required stitches.

An 15-year veteran of the department, Angert received a city medal of valor last year for saving the life of a Bethel Park officer who was injured during a training exercise with Nero.

Nero and other police K-9s were among the featured attractions at International Village last month, where they put on demonstrations of skill and agility and posed for photos with visitors.

Nero is temporarily off-duty until he can be evaluated by a dog trainer, Washowich said.

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September 01, 2010

City Council Considers Gas Lease on 12th Ward Site

(News)

A Westmoreland County company will ask city council tonight for permission to drill for natural gas near the site of a proposed new elementary school in the 12th Ward.

Under the proposal from Penneco Pipeline Corp. of Delmont, as many as six gas wells would be drilled on a few acres of the so-called "Palkovitz property" near Renziehausen Park.

But the wells would be conventional "surface" wells, not the more controversial and expensive wells that access gas trapped in the Marcellus shale layer nearly a mile below the ground. And they would not interfere with possible construction of a school on the 27-acre parcel along Eden Park Boulevard, city officials said.

The 18-month lease would pay the city $10,000 per year until the wells were drilled, plus a 12.5 percent royalty on any gas obtained. In addition, the city would receive up to 400,000 cubic feet of free natural gas per year.

. . .

Penneco officials will answer questions from council at 6:30 tonight in the Public Safety Building, 201 Lysle Blvd., Downtown. The regular council meeting begins at 7 p.m.

During a discussion at Tuesday's council work session, city officials didn't have possible production figures available for each well, but said the amount of revenue would be small compared to deeper wells that access gas in the Marcellus shale.

(An analysis by the Almanac suggests that each well would net the city between $2,000 and $7,500 per year in royalties, though much higher figures are possible.)

Nevertheless, the lease --- if approved by council --- would be an important step, Mayor Jim Brewster says.

"One of the things that I've been trying to do is open up the new revenue streams that we're going to need over the next decade," Brewster says. "Fortunately, we have an opportunity in that we have access to gas on a property that (the city) already owns."

. . .

Gas wells have been a common sight in Western Pennsylvania since the 1900s, and the Palkowitz parcel is actually part of the so-called "Snake Hollow Gas Belt" that was the site of the famous "McKeesport gas boom" --- a rash of speculation in 1919 that saw thousands of wells drilled.

Indeed, Pennsylvania has more gas wells than any other state except for Texas --- about 55,000, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. City officials said a gas well is already located next to the Palkovitz property, behind the former Babe Charapp Ford dealership on Eden Park Boulevard.

A state database shows seven gas wells in McKeesport's city limits, with three more in neighboring Versailles and 20 in White Oak. More wells dot Port Vue, Glassport, Liberty, Lincoln and other communities.

"I've been out in the woods in Washington County and Greene County, and you can't go too far without finding a gas well --- it's not a new technology," Brewster says.

Most of Pennsylvania's gas wells are relatively shallow wells, not deeper wells into Marcellus shale, and are classified as so-called "stripper" wells that produce less than 60,000 cubic feet (60 Mcf) of gas per day.

. . .

According to the Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania, a newly drilled shallow gas well (PDF) produces up to 16,544,000 cubic feet of gas (16,544 Mcf) per year --- about 45,000 cubic feet (45 Mcf) per day. The state Department of Environmental Protection says most wells, however, produce less than 11,000 cubic feet (11 Mcf) per day --- about enough to fuel a single-family home for a month.

With gas currently selling for less than $4 per Mcf on commodities exchanges, if each well produced only 11 Mcf per day, the city would net less than $2,000 per year. At 45 Mcf per day, the city would net about $7,500 per well per year.

. . .

However, there have been some highly publicized accidents recently involving gas wells. In July, two people died after a gas well exploded near Natrona Heights in the northern part of Allegheny County.

Although gas well procedures are inspected and regulated by state authorities, Brewster told council members they shouldn't hesitate to ask tough questions of Penneco.

"There's no haste to approve this until you're thoroughly aware of everything in the country," he said.

. . .

Drilling will not impinge on a new elementary school proposed by McKeesport Area School District. The wells would be drilled at the southwest corner of the site, said Dennis Pittman, city administrator, while the school has been suggested for the northern part of the parcel.

However, plans for the school have been on hold since June, when district officials announced they were considering other alternative locations. The city has received no updated plans from the district since then, Pittman said.

The lease, if approved by council, would also guarantee Penneco an option to drill in Renziehausen Park if the park was ever opened for gas drilling. Although city officials have been investigating for almost a year whether it's possible to drill horizontally to reach Marcellus shale gas underneath the 258-acre park, they have no plans to allow surface well drilling, Pittman said.

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August 29, 2010

Solar Panel Plant Eying City Site

(News)

The city is close to landing the East Coast manufacturing plant for a company that designs easy-to-install solar panels for homes and small businesses.

McKeesport is in the running because the state has the right incentives and is "focused on jobs," says Bob Bennett, a co-founder of United States Green Energy Corp.

The plant would reportedly be located at the RIDC Industrial Park on the former U.S. Steel National Works site, but Bennett tells the Almanac he can't yet confirm any details. "We're still very early in the process," he says, "so it's a little difficult to talk about anything."

According to a legislative aide to state Reps. Marc Gergely and Bill Kortz, a $750,000 grant has been approved to enable USGEC to purchase equipment for a facility in McKeesport.

"Without this step, it would not have happened," says Bennett, a former Westinghouse Electric Corp. executive. McKeesport "has good incentives, there's a very good manufacturing workforce available, and there are a lot of suppliers we work with who are in the area."

. . .

The company is currently based in Fredericksburg, Va., but that facility has been described as temporary. Bennett says the company is very interested in locating its first permanent factory in Western Pennsylvania.

Contrary to public perception, Pennsylvania's business climate is very friendly, he says --- especially for renewable energy companies that make items such as wind turbines, batteries and solar cells.

"Of the states that I've dealt with recently, Pennsylvania is head and shoulders above any of them," Bennett says. "Pennsylvania has a set of incentives, people know what they're for and where they are, and they're focused on jobs."

. . .

As for McKeesport, Bennett is familiar with the Mon Valley --- he worked at Westinghouse's Monroeville Energy Center and lived in Mt. Lebanon --- and says it has very influential and passionate advocates.

"We were encouraged to look at Western Pennsylvania by a number of people on the state level," he says. "I'm very happy with the state. When you live there, you only hear about the bad things. But there are a lot of things that Pennsylvania has that, for instance, Virginia or North Carolina don't have. They're not as focused or aggressive."

Bennett told the Almanac it's too soon to say where the facility might be located or how many people it might employ.

. . .

According to published reports, the company foresees a $150 million per year market for its product --- easy-to-install, mass-produced solar panels that take the place of conventional building components --- and hopes to employ up to 250 people in the next 18 months.

The grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority is designed to help USGEC purchase a laminating machine to manufacture shingles and siding, according to the statement from Gergely and Kortz.

The announcement from Kortz and Gergely says the company will likely be taking over the former McKeesport Connecting Railroad roundhouse at the east end of the RIDC Industrial Park, located on the site of the former U.S. Steel National Works.

. . .

"This new machine will be part of the company's planned production facility in a restored roundhouse at a former steel mill," Gergely says. "This will breathe new life into a former industrial site and support the development of renewal energy."

The city has been aggressively marketing the RIDC Industrial Park to potential tenants since Dish Network closed a call center in March.

Several high-tech firms are already located in the RIDC park, including Maglev Inc. and Consolidated Power Supply.

Kortz called the grant a "further demonstration of the state's commitment to investing in green energy technology that will help this emerging industry to create jobs in Pennsylvania and protect our environment."

. . .

Earlier this month, the Richmond, Va., Times-Dispatch reported United States Green Energy is making solar panels --- banks of photovoltaic cells that turn the sun's energy into electricity --- that are designed to directly replace conventional roofing and siding.

One such roof has already been installed and four more are planned.

Bennett told the newspaper that existing solar panels are hard to install and must be custom fit at great expense.

USGEC's panels are designed as off-the-shelf components and manufactured to standard dimensions. A solar roof made of USGEC's components can pay for itself in terms of power savings within five years, the newspaper reported.

. . .

Bennett and his partners have each invested $1.5 million of their own money into the company, according to the Times-Dispatch, and have not taken any loans or used any venture capital.

"I've been in the energy business forever," Bennett told the Almanac. "My partners and I are completely dedicated to this. There are still a lot of details to work out, but this is the critical first step."

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August 26, 2010

Help Wanted

(Announcements)

With the school year getting underway, Tube City Community Media Inc. seeks a writer to cover McKeesport area schools.

The reporter will be responsible for at minimum attending McKeesport Area School Board meetings and filing a story the next day. Additional coverage of Propel McKeesport schools and Serra Catholic High School will also be encouraged.

Tube City will pay $25 per assigned story upon publication, or negotiate other compensation upon request.

Previous experience is useful but not required --- this is an ideal job for a high school or college student or budding freelance writer seeking clips. Accuracy, clarity and reliability will be prized more than writing skill.

Persons seeking or holding political office should not apply.

Writing samples and personal or professional references will be needed. For details, email j togyer at g mail dot com.

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August 24, 2010

Briefly Noted: MAHS, Other Schools Explore Health Care Careers

(News)

A new initiative will help freshmen at McKeesport Area High School and five other public high schools learn about career opportunities in health care.

The city-based Consortium for Public Education announced this week that it will help launch Pathways to Health Careers at McKeesport Area High School, as well as at Munhall's Steel Valley High School and Pittsburgh's Carrick High School.

Other non-profit groups are launching the program at Pittsburgh's Langley, Peabody and Taylor Allderdice high schools.

Pathways to Health Careers will connect schools with health care providers and other resources to create programs that explain to ninth-graders the necessary educational steps to become a doctor, nurse, technician or other health care professional. The programs will give students information about job availability and salaries, and help them choose their educational goals.

The programs are designed to help students achieve the career education mileposts outlined in the state Department of Education's Career and Work Standards, a Consortium spokeswoman says.

Health care is now the Pittsburgh area's largest single employment sector, and UPMC McKeesport hospital is the city's largest employer. UPMC and the Hospital Council of Western Pennsylvania are working with the Consortium to develop the program and provide resources to students, a spokeswoman says.

Linda Croushore, executive director of the Consortium, says the partnership "just makes sense" for both her organization and the Mon Valley.

"Every career exploration opportunity that we bring into our region's public schools also serves the region's imperatives for workforce development," she says.

Gina Barrett of the Consortium and faculty at each of the high schools will help students design and lead the programs at each location, according to the plan submitted to the JHF and United Way.

Besides helping students explore health and science careers, the plan is also designed to let students develop leadership and teamwork skills, Barrett says. It also brings out ideas that faculty might not have explored, she says.

"We've had a lot of success with this model because students often can engage their peers in ways that might not always occur to adults," she says.

. . .

Construction Will Close Route 30: New steel beams will be put in place at the bridge being built across Route 30 in North Versailles Township.

The work will force the highway to close on Friday night and remain closed through early Monday morning, says Jim Struzzi, district spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

Under a $4.5 million contract, Gulisek Construction Co. of Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, is replacing the bridge that carries Greensburg Pike over Route 30 just west of East McKeesport. Work is expected to wrap up this fall.

The posted detour takes motorists around the construction zone using Greensburg Pike and Warren Drive, which serves the North Versailles Wal-Mart and Great Valley Shopping Center.

Next week, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction on Route 30 near Greensburg Pike for additional construction work. The restrictions will be in place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly, Struzzi says.

Route 30 in North Versailles serves about 22,000 cars on an average day, according to PennDOT traffic volume maps.

. . .

New Homebuyer Workshop Slated Sept. 18: Mon Valley Initiative will host a free pre-purchase housing workshop from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 18. All participants who successfully complete the workshop, which meets U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development criteria, will receive a certificate that's required to obtain certain community development mortgage loans from local lenders, says Mike Mauer, MVI housing counselor.

The workshop will be held at MVI's office, 305 East 8th Ave., Homestead. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided, and parking will be free.

To register or get more information, call Mike Mauer (412) 464-4000 or visit MVI's website.

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August 23, 2010

What About Bob?

(Commentary/Editorial)

Tube City Almanac has repeatedly pointed out that Bob Nutting is running his baseball team just like he runs his newspapers --- on the cheap. And although Nutting's newspapers stink, they make gobs of money.

So this weekend's revelation that the Pirates are raking in profits even while they're stinking up the National League should not have come as much of a surprise.

Here's "the best of" (a relative term, to be sure) Tube City Almanac regarding the king of crappy baseball and even crappier newspapers, Bob "Gives Pirates Fans" Nutting:

. . .

(from July 31, 2009)

Nutting Ventured, Nothing Gained

Possible reasons why Pirates owner Bob Nutting keeps sabotaging his own club:

• Worried that successful season will push him into higher tax bracket


• Doesn't want Washington Nationals to feel lonely at bottom of standings


• Has instilled same "quality control" in baseball team as in his newspapers


• Thinks it's like golf and has been trying for low scores


• Strategy to keep Pirates unique? Leave "winning" to Steelers and Penguins


• His giant piles of money make it hard to see good talent


• At heart, he's more of a Phillies fan


• Needs smaller crowds for planned move to Helen Richey Field


• Hoping for federal government bailout


• Just three more lousy seasons makes it an even 20!

. . .

(from June 11, 2007)

Nutting From Nutting

If Nutting is running the Pirates to make them as cheap as possible, it should come as no surprise. "Cheapness" has been a virtue of his family's newspaper chain for decades.

Ogden Newspapers dominates West Virginia (and) southern Ohio, and it has properties in other parts of the country as well, including several in central Pennsylvania, like the Altoona Mirror.

I've seen probably 10 or 12 different Ogden newspapers on a semi-regular basis over the years ... (Many) Ogden papers look slapped-together; instead of local news coverage, they're stuffed with cheaper syndicated features.

Chris Stirewalt, a commentator for WBOY-TV, the NBC affiliate in Clarksburg, says the Ogden chain's key to success has been "lean newsrooms and aggressive ad sales" which has left many West Virginia towns with a newspaper that "reads like a Rotary Club bulletin and is staffed by those too busy to think" ...

There are some very talented, dedicated people working at Ogden Newspapers --- I've known some of them --- who turn out quality journalism. But unless they're very dedicated to the communities they cover, few people can afford to make a living on the penurious salaries Ogden pays reporters.

There's been little written in the big journalism "watchdog" magazines about Ogden's operating style, possibly because it's a privately held company that operates mainly in very small towns, out of the view of the news media "experts" in New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago ...

(The) Nutting family's supposed stinginess with the Pirates is just part of a pattern that hundreds of writers and editors in Ohio and West Virginia have seen before. And while I'd like to see the Pirates winning, I suspect people in places like Wheeling would be more interested in seeing better quality news coverage.

. . .

(from June 20, 2007)

Avast, Ye Scurvy Dogs!

(A) young salesman came to my door over the weekend. He had (an) overly enthusiastic, cheese-eating grin. "I'm not trying to change your religion," he said, "I just want to talk to you for a few minutes."

"I'm listening," I said through the screen door.

"I'm conducting a survey on behalf of the Pittsburgh Pirates," he said. "As a reward for answering a few questions, we'd like to give you a voucher good towards your purchase of tickets to an upcoming Pirates home game."

"I'm not interested," I said.

"That's cool," he said, "but can I write down why not?"

"Yes," I said. "Write down that I'm tired of Mr. Nutting screwing over the fans, and that I'm not spending a dime on that team until they draft some decent players."

He started to laugh ... and wrote it down. I suspect I wasn't the only one who told him that. I wonder if he's still working for the Pirates, or whatever marketing company sent him out on that suicide mission.

. . .

(from June 20, 2008)

Random Friday

Frankly, you should root for your home team when they're trying their best, but failing. But the Pirates aren't trying. Or, more specifically, the Pirates' ownership isn't trying.

You may wonder how the Nutting family sleeps at night. I say, "On a big pile of money."

They're pocketing money from the fans and the taxpayers, paying lip service to the idea of being competitive, and laughing all the way back to West Virginia, where they invest the profits in a chain of mediocre newspapers and contribute money to things like the "Oliver North for U.S. Senate Committee" ...

The "P" on the caps doesn't stand for "Pittsburgh." It stands for "Painful," "Pitiful," or maybe just "Pathetic."

Give your money to the Nuttings. As for me, I'll drive to Altoona to see a baseball game, even with gas at four bucks a gallon.

Yeah, I'd almost rather see the sheiks of Saudi Arabia profit than the owners of the Pirates.

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August 19, 2010

International Village Webcast 3 to 10 p.m. today

(Shameless Horn-Tooting)

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August 19, 2010

Carrie Furnace Tours Slated; County Seeking Developers

(News)

Ron Gault remembers when U.S. Steel's Carrie Furnace plant was a lot cleaner and had a lot less graffiti. He also remembers when molten iron flowed through the sluices of its casting floors like lava "from a controlled volcano."

As an 18-year-old furnace helper in 1974, Gault helped work the manually operated levers that diverted the 2,600-degree liquid metal into railroad cars for transportation to U.S. Steel's Homestead Works, across the river.

The technology was ancient even then, he says: "It was 100 years old when I got here."

These days, when Gault, who lives in Baldwin, visits the darkened and rusty blast furnaces along the Monongahela River in Swissvale, he feels "like an archeologist finding a dinosaur."

"This needs to be saved and preserved," Gault says.

. . .

After 20 years of effort, that's finally about to happen. Later this month, Homestead's Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area will begin offering a limited schedule of tours of the blast furnaces --- the oldest standing furnaces in North America.

And as those tours get underway, Allegheny County officials will be seeking proposals from developers to construct a mixed-use residential, commercial and industrial development on 168 acres around Carrie Furnace.

The property also would be linked to the Great Allegheny Passage hiking-biking trail to create a new regional tourist attraction.

"We're making sure that we create jobs here," says Dan Onorato, Allegheny County Executive. "We also want to redevelop this prime riverfront property and preserve a piece of the steel industry that made this area great."

. . .

The parcel, which spans Rankin and Swissvale boroughs and touches Braddock, is the last, large brownfield parcel in the Mon Valley available for development, Onorato says.

Proposals will be accepted later this year. County officials envision a mixed-use development that would include houses and boat docks along the river's edge, along with retail stores and light industrial space.

An old railroad bridge that once connected the site to the Homestead Works would be converted for cars, bikes and pedestrians, similar to the "Hot Metal Bridge" that links Second Avenue in Hazelwood with Pittsburgh's South Side.

There is already "a lot of interest" from developers, according to Dennis Davin, the county's redevelopment director.

. . .

Most of the environmental problems left behind have been cleaned up by the county, which has also installed new sewer and water mains, Onorato says.

"I know you don't see anything 'coming out of the ground' yet, but there was a lot that needed to be done first," he says.

Because access to the site is blocked by railroad tracks, county officials are also studying the possibility of an exit ramp into the site directly from the Rankin Bridge, Onorato says.

"We are investing in infrastructure in the Mon Valley," says Onorato, who is running for governor. "Big money. And I will defend the use of federal money to anyone for the redevelopment of these old industrial sites that helped us win two world wars."

. . .

As the county pushes its redevelopment plan, U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, Forest Hills Democrat, is pushing legislation in Congress to get the site taken over by the National Park Service.

For Doyle, the fight has a special meeting. Doyle grew up in Swissvale, and two generations of his family worked at the Carrie Furnace.

"Steelmaking runs in the Doyle family, but when I talk to my four kids about it, they kind of scratch their heads," Doyle says. Pittsburghers and Americans need to rediscover their industrial past, he says.

They also need to remember that Mon Valley steelworkers led the fight "for decent wages and working conditions," Doyle says. "I would not have had the chance to go to college if it hadn't been for the labor movement. We need to make sure people remember that part of our history, too."

. . .

Doyle, Onorato and others credit Augie Carlino of Rivers of Steel with leading the effort to keep the blast furnaces from demolition. Blast furnaces in McKeesport, Duquesne and elsewhere were sold or scrapped, and the former owner of the Carrie Furnaces, Park Corporation, wanted to demolish them as well.

"I never thought I'd be working on this for 20 years," says Carlino, who serves as president and chief executive officer of the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation, which manages the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

"Whatever else happens here, these blast furnaces will stand as a monumental testament to the men and women who worked throughout the steel industry in this valley," Carlino says.

The first blast furnace on the site opened in 1884. Eventually there were seven furnaces, belching smoke and flame 24 hours a day and feeding iron other mills, which turned it into steel. The Carrie Furnace plant closed in 1982 and only two furnaces --- built in 1906 and 1907 --- remain. They were designated National Historic Landmarks in 2006.

. . .

Left open to the elements and vandals for more than 20 years, the furnaces are cluttered with collapsed pipes and beams, and the roofs and walkways sag in places. Carlino estimates that it will cost more than $5 million to stabilize the remaining blast furnaces and prevent them from further deterioration. Some of the money has already been raised, he says.

It will be difficult to get the financially strapped National Park Service to take over preservation of Carrie Furnace, Doyle admits, but says that all of America owes a debt of gratitude to the Mon Valley for helping build the nation.

"We have not given up on this area, and we have to invest in these communities," he says. Doyle has introduced legislation to get Carrie Furnace accepted by the Park Service and expects the effort to take several years.

. . .

For Gault, who left Carrie Furnaces to join the Air Force and now works at Duquesne University, Doyle's enthusiasm for the project is a good sign.

"I was surprised to hear that Congressman Doyle's bloodlines run through this place," Gault says. "That's what it's going to take --- someone with passion."

(Additional photos at the "More" link)

(more)

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