I remember attending a North Huntingdon Township zoning hearing when Redstone Presbytery was first proposing to build a senior citizen community on the site of the old Menzie Dairy farm.
As with any large proposed development, a couple of dozen people had turned out to cry, "not in my backyard!" Never mind that Redstone was planning to build a self-contained community for people who, for the most part, don't drive and would never put kids into the school system; or that Redstone was planning to leave most of the farm to grow wild. (As Redstone rightly pointed out, the Menzie farm could have been turned into McMansions or a few hundred tract houses or even a shopping center, with the associated traffic and water runoff problems those would bring.)
No, these folks just didn't want to see anything change. Ever. Chalk them up as part of the BANANA brigade: "Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone."
One lady stood up to tell the zoning board that she liked to get up in the morning and watch the sun rise over the old Menzie barn. If Redstone Highlands was built, she wouldn't get to see the sun rise over the barn any more, she said, and that was wrong.
I sat in the audience silently, but thought: If you like to watch the sun rise over the barn so much, buy it. The property owner has the right to do with the property whatever they want, so long as it's legal, and so long as it doesn't adversely affect the other property owners.
In the end, Redstone Highlands was built. Lincoln Way didn't descend into anarchy and chaos, most of the Menzie Farm is still covered in trees and fields, and the view of the sunrises from the surrounding housing plans hasn't been impacted. (By the way, I was just up at Redstone Highlands last week to visit an old friend: It's quite nice --- better than many of the hotels I've stayed in. And the apartments are larger than the house I just bought.)
I've been thinking of that hearing since word leaked that Joe Chiodo was selling his bar in Homestead. At a meeting this week of the Steel Valley Historical Review Commission, many residents turned out to urge the board to reject Chiodo's plans to sell the property to Walgreen's so that they can build a new drugstore.
Look, the last thing the Mon Valley needs is another mega-pharmacy. You know, the kind where you can buy chocolate chip cookies, alarm clocks and 47 different kinds of suntan lotion, but the prescription counter is hidden way at the back of the store. Personally, I like a drugstore that looks like a drugstore, preferably run by a kindly druggist who wears a white coat and closes the store early on Wednesday so he can go golfing.
I'm an unabashed nostalgia buff. I've hated to watch the five-and-dime stores close, one after the other. I also hate to see small, independent businesses close and be replaced by chains --- and I put my money where my mouth is. I patronize local stores, even if I have to drive out of my way or pay a few pennies more than I'd pay to Wal-Mart. The unique character of Eighth Avenue in Homestead and West Homestead will die a little when Chiodo's is gone --- just as the character of the avenue died a little when the Levine Brothers closed their hardware store, or when Isaly's closed.
But if Joe Chiodo wants to sell his bar to Walgreen's, or whomever, let the man sell it, and wish him the best of luck and good health. According to Jen Vertullo in The Daily News, Chiodo told the Historical Review Commission: "I want to retire from that bar. I have to retire from that bar. I'm tired. I need a rest. I don't care if I sell it; I'm closing the doors."
In the end, the plans were approved by the commission, but not without a fight, and not without two people voting against them: Walter Haglund and David Gilland.
I don't doubt that their objections are sincere and reasonable, but what do they propose? That Joe Chiodo, at age 86, be forced to run a tavern that he doesn't want? That the borough of Homestead take it over as a public utility? That it be turned into the museum of dusty beer mugs?
If they like Chiodo's Tavern so much, then they should take out a small business loan and make a counter-offer for the property. Otherwise, they have to give into progress. Nothing stays the same, and it probably shouldn't.
After all, something was on the property before Joe Chiodo opened his bar. If someone had prevented him from opening the tavern back in the 1940s, then the valley would have never had the chance to accumulate all of the wonderful memories of Chiodo's Tavern and its mystery sandwiches.
And something eventually will replace Walgreen's. At least we can only hope so.
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Speaking of Eighth Avenue, here's another Tube City Almanac speedtrap alert: West Homestead police have set up a speedtrap at the intersection of West Eighth Avenue and West Seventh Avenue (Route 837). That's about a half-mile east of the Glenwood Bridge.
Also, North Versailles Township police are clocking traffic on East Pittsburgh McKeesport Boulevard, just past the McKeesport city limits near Allmor Towing. You have been warned, so obey the speed limits and get the lead out of your feet. And keep sending your speedtrap alerts to jt3y at dementia dot org.
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Alert Reader Rich takes issue with my assertion that only physical products add real money to the economy:
Only those creating a physical product add real money to the economy? What, were you born in the Mon Valley or something? Try telling it to the thousands employed at PNC, Mellon, or even US Airways or UPMC. None create physical products as their main business. Are these companies not employing us and adding to the local economy? If PNC does a better job than a other financial services companies, they get more customers and may hire more people here, no?
State Sen. Sean Logan, a man whom I generally respect and admire, is waxing grandiose about the prospect of slot machine parlors in Western Pennsylvania, as Pat Cloonan reports in The Daily News:
"When we hear estimates of the slots parlor in the city of Pittsburgh, we hear about $125 million to build it," state Sen. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, said. "That's a lot of construction jobs, that's a lot of material, and that is even before you throw in if Mario Lemieux gets awarded the slots parlor."
But while Logan has expressed support in the past for 1935 Inc.'s plan for a racetrack that could include electronic gaming or slots, he doubts the Biros family's South Versailles Twp. effort will bear fruit.
"I appreciate their desire to get a license and to compete for a slots parlor," he said. "The language (in the bill recently signed by Gov. Ed Rendell) prohibits that, though."
Heinz Kerry denied using both the term "activity" and the word "un-American." She was half right. It was only when a persistent McNickle informed her she definitely had said "un-American," that Mrs. Kerry --- also realizing McNickle was the editorial page editor at one of the region's more conservative papers --- flew off the handle.
Thus the style or lack thereof with which Mrs. Kerry delivered her message became the focal point, rather than her message's substance.
In a campaign where the Democrats have staked out the position that --- among other things --- George W. Bush is a liar, they'd be well-advised to do their level best at being truthful. And denying your own words scarcely an instant after you've uttered them, and had them recorded for posterity on videotape, falls short of the bar.
Granted, Heinz Kerry's dishonest response hardly measures up to the accusations opponents have leveled against Bush regarding Iraq. But the truth is the truth, and both sides ought to be sticking to it.
When you spend a lot of time in the car, you start to get irritated by the little things you see over and over again. Especially when you have no life, like me.
Take super-stretch limos. Who decided that a super-stretch limo was classy? Certainly not people who actually have class. The Mellons aren't riding around in 40-foot-long Cadillac Escalades, nor are members of the British royal family. (For what it's worth, Queen Elizabeth 2 has a Bentley Arnage limousine, and it's only 32 inches longer than the stock sedan.)
If you want to look classy on your way to a wedding or party, rent something restrained from one of those "black car" services --- a steel gray four-door with discretely-tinted windows. That's what the corporate CEOs and hoi polloi prefer. Riding around in a super-stretch limo only marks you as a nimrod with no taste, or a 16-year-old on your way to the junior prom. (Not that those two things are mutually exclusive.)
Cars are proportioned a certain way for a reason; years of study and hard lessons learned on the showroom floor have taught designers that certain ratios and angles are pleasing to the eye, as well as functional. Stretching those designs a few inches here and there doesn't ruin them, but adding 20 feet of length does. Especially when the car is made up of aerodynamic complex curves, but the panels that are inserted for the stretch are flat.
Besides being ponderous, traffic-clogging eyesores, many of the super-stretches are hacked-together messes when examined closely. PennDOT crews tacking steel plates together over holes in the road do a better job of welding than some of the companies that cobble together super-stretch limos. There's a reason that the insides of those things are filled with overstuffed upholstery, and the outsides are decorated with chrome doodads --- they're trying to hide the sloppy seams.
As if regular Hummers weren't bad enough, the latest trend is toward stretched Hummers --- wouldn't a nice Greyhound bus be more practical (and economical)? But it gets worse: Someone recently sent me a link to an eBay sale of what's advertised as the "first-ever" 2004 Chrysler 300 super-stretch limo. It's being sold by an outfit in Orange County, Calif., called DC Motors.
Gee, and here I thought the new Chrysler 300s were already as ugly as a car could get; thanks, DC Motors, for setting me straight! You've definitely raised the bar for awful auto design. Why not chrome-plate a toilet bowl and bolt that to the hood as the final coup de grace?
The one thing that really sets off a super-stretch limo, in my opinion, is a set of those spinning momentum rims, which are all the rage in the Mon-Yough area right now. (For all I know, they were the rage in California 10 years ago; keep in mind that most trends hit the Mon-Yough area about a decade behind the rest of the world.)
In fairness, although I've seen a few limos with momentum rims, most of the cars I see with them are absolute junk heaps --- clapped-out Pontiac Bonnevilles with strips of paint falling from their fenders, rusty Buick LeSabres blowing blue smoke, and Nissan Maximas with black plastic garbage bags taped over their busted rear windows.
Since momentum rims cost a few hundred dollars a piece, it seems to me that some of these folks would be better off investing their money in an Earl Scheib paint job, or an engine rebuild. Or maybe a bus pass.
(Man, I've really slipped into full-blown Andy Rooney rant mode. But don't stop me now, I'm on a roll.)
Even better than momentum rims is a nice, oversized vinyl top, especially one that's designed to look like a convertible roof. Sure, I believe that your 2003 Lincoln Town Car is actually a four-door convertible! Boy, you really fooled me!
Maybe vinyl roofs look OK on some older cars --- '69 Ford LTDs or Mercury Montereys --- but they make today's aerodynamic cars look like they've swelled up from a rash. According to the Detroit News, the big 3 automakers have asked their dealers to stop installing them on luxury cars like Cadillacs and Lincolns, because they make the cars look cheap and declasse. The dealers have told the companies to go take a long walk off of a short trunk lid.
Those dealers know that the customer is always right! It's a shame that they haven't noticed that Mercedes-Benz or Lexus dealers don't install fake convertible tops on their high-zoot models.
That may explain why the German and Japanese luxury car makers have been clobbering the snot out of Cadillac and Lincoln for the past 10 years. Who said there's no accounting for taste?
I was about to comment on the way drivers in Western Pennsylvania behave when they get to a four-way stop sign --- everyone sitting there, waving each other through the intersection, so that nobody moves for 10 seconds --- but the nice folks in the white coats have arrived to give me my injection, and I can already feel the Thorazine taking effect.
It's a good thing, too, because a Honda Civic with neon lights just went past my window; it was sporting a tailpipe the size of a manhole and fake Japanese writing all over it. You don't even want to get me started on that subject.
Wow. Do you think the phrase "stop the presses!" echoed through the tiled corridors of the Post-Gazette when this little tidbit of breaking news cleared the wires?
A little-noticed provision in the state's new slot machines bill prevents cities that host casinos from enforcing their own, local guidelines on traffic control, building design and other traditional zoning and planning matters.
The main reason for the zoning prohibition is money.
The purpose of the slots bill is to make as much dough as quickly as possible for both state and local government coffers, said Gary Tuma, spokesman for Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, a key slots supporter. Haggling over zoning and planning requirements takes time and could put a speed bump in the way of collecting gambling revenues.
The restaurant will feature a sandwich menu with hot fare and daily specials, said co-owner Janet Menarcheck, of Pittsburgh, who is partnering with her son, Bill, and her brother, John Stefaniak and his wife, Iva ... "My son wanted to start a business, and my sister, brother and I all have business and restaurant backgrounds. It just seemed like the way to go."
The restaurant will serve as an anchor for further development of the marina and the adjacent riverside Gergely Park, city administrator Dennis Pittman said.
Things I found on the Internet while looking for other things:
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DaimlerChrysler, German-based parent of the old Chrysler Corp., is planning to create a cheap entry level brand to attract younger car buyers, according to the Detroit News:
A Chrysler source familiar with the matter said the vehicles would be sold in Chrysler Group dealerships, but marketed separately, similar to what Toyota Motor Corp. has done with its youth-centric Scion brand. Chrysler has been exploring the new brand for more than a year and likely will decide whether or not it will launch it by year’s end, the source said.
Mr. Arnold and many of his clients have been connoisseurs of vintage appliances for decades, long before the current craze. They found them in junkyards, at auctions and in the kitchens of dearly departed old ladies down the street. In 1995, eBay arrived with its vast inventory of consumer-society castoffs. The demand for almost-antique appliances hasn't slowed since.
Westinghouse Electric (now CBS Corporation) moved its headquarters from Pittsburgh to New York City, amid protests from disappointed Pittsburghers. The two Steeltowns, Pittsburgh and Hamilton, had yet another thing in common: the loss of a company that helped make the cities what they are ...
The "Westinghouse" of current days bears little resemblance to the comparatively small air brake manufacturing company started by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh in 1869. Only the name of the Hamilton turbine plants serves to remind us of the company that helped build Hamilton into a powerhouse of industry.
While Masontown officers were attempting to aid a raccoon that had a jar wedged on its head early Friday, John Dominick, 24, of 163 Penn Ave., McClellandtown approached them and began to kick the animal repeatedly, police said. Dominick was arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness and was placed in the holding cell at the Masontown police station. He was later released. Officers then successfully removed the jar from the raccoon's head, and it was released without injury.
Even then he had clearly awesome social skills. Legend has it that he knew the names of all forty-five of his fellow pledges when he rushed Deke. He ater became rush chairman of Deke -- I do believe he has the soul of a rush chairman. He has that ability to connect with people. Not in the empathetic way that Clinton was so good at, but in the way of making people feel comfortable.
He could also make you feel extremely uncomfortable. He was very good at all the tools for survival that people developed in prep school -- sarcasm, and the giving of nicknames. He was extremely skilled at controlling people and outcomes in that way. Little bits of perfectly placed humiliation.
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