May 12, 2006

People’s Building Changes Hands

I was remiss in not noting several days ago that The People's Building has indeed changed hands, as scheduled ... but not at a sheriff's sale. It was pulled in advance at the request of the people holding the mortgage.

Pat Cloonan reports in The Daily News (no link available) that the idea continues to be converting the historic old office building into loft apartments, and that the state housing finance agency is involved.

The last time the building was sold, the transaction caused red flags to pop up all over the Almanac's radar screen. This deal appears to be a little bit better for the city, and the building. Cloonan reports that the deal was handled by Pacific Coast Investment Company of Seattle, Wash.

Among other things, Pacific Coast held some of the paper on the Phoenix Coyotes' arena in Arizona, and a check of some newspaper databases reveals that they also handled the sale of the Stambaugh Building in Youngstown and loaned money to Aliquippa Community Hospital, so it appears as if they're familiar with real estate in depressed communities. They've also helped develop some shopping centers.

As best as I can tell, Pacific Coast specializes in risky real-estate developments --- and the People's Building would qualify as one of those at this point. They offer loans --- often at higher than normal interest rates --- and then sell shares of the mortgage to investors.

On the one hand, they've got a track record. But on the other, they've had their hands slapped a few times by regulators --- once for allegedly selling insurance without the proper licenses, another time for failing to deposit investors' funds in a timely manner and for not disbursing them on schedule.

According to the Seattle office of the Better Business Bureau, Pacific Coast paid a $100,000 fine, plus costs, under the terms of a consent order with Washington regulators. The state noted that the company "self-reported" its problems and "changed its procedures" to prevent any further violations.

A major business database lists Pacific Coast's credit rating as "very good" as of October 2005 and "good" as of December 2005.

I'm still wary, but a little bit more hopeful, that the People's Building is going to have a useful life again. I sure hope someone justifies that faith ... soon.

. . .

To Do This Weekend: McKeesport Little Theater, Coursin Street at Bailie Avenue, presents Schmidt and Jones' musical "110 in The Shade," 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Call (412) 673-1100. ... McKeesport Symphony Orchestra presents "Visions of Spring," 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the auditorium of McKeesport Area High School, 1960 Eden Park Blvd. Call (412) 664-2854 ... Pittsburgh Area Jitterbug Club hosts dancing at the Palisades, Fifth Avenue at Water Street, at 8 p.m. Saturday. Call (412) 366-2138.

Posted at 07:58 am by jt3y
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May 11, 2006

Briefly Noted

It's time for another installment of that occasional Tube City Almanac feature we like to call ... In The Mon Valley, Good Government Is On The March! (Cue: "March of Time" theme.)

According to Linda Metz of the Observer-Reporter, one teacher in the Ringgold School District (serving Donora, New Eagle, Mon City and the metropolitan Finleyville area) is suing another for slander.

The suit alleges that the defendant accused the plaintiff of "sexual misconduct" with a principal, an assistant principal, and a security guard during last year's high school prom.

Gee, that must have been some prom. Did they play Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher"?

In essence, the defendant heard rumors of alleged "hanky panky" and reported them to administrators. The administrators (according to the O-R) suspended the plaintiff from work.

Now, writes Metz, the attorney for the teacher being sued is arguing in Washington County Common Pleas Court that the district should be the real defendant for failing to investigate the rumors fully, and for failing to protect her identity.

Meanwhile, Ringgold's picnic at Kennywood (which was itself the topic of angry debate a few years ago ... yes, that's right, they couldn't agree on whether to have a picnic at Kennywood) is May 28. That should be a very interesting day. They're liable to be bopping one another with the Wack-a-Mole hammers in the arcade.

Ringgold needs to hire someone to test the coffee in the teacher's lounge. And maybe the water, too. Something strange is going on down there.

Nevertheless, today, in the Ringgold School District, Good Government is clearly ... on the march! ("March of Time" theme: Up and Out.)

...

In other business, it's another Almanac Speedtrap Alert, this one for people from the Mon-Yough area who drive to Downtown Picksberg using Irvine Street and Second Avenue through Glenwood and Hazelwood.

During morning and evening rush hours, city police have been stationing a motorcycle cop on the "racetrack" stretch between Hazelwood and the B&O railroad underpass, where the speed limit is 25 miles an hour but most traffic is moving a lot faster. Since practically everyone is speeding, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.

I've also seen them pull a clever little trick that I think they learned from the state police. They'll park a marked squad car in plain view on Irvine Street. Traffic slows down near the cop car, and then speeds back up again --- just in time for another officer, in either a squad car or on a motorcycle, parked a quarter-mile down the road, to nail the speeders.

Now, some people call that a "speed trap." Me, I call it a "motorist-derived revenue enhancement measure."

...

Finally, the Quote of the Day comes from Ryan Kish's front page account in last night's Daily News of the trial of the man accused of shooting Shelton Flowers to death at the Loews Waterfront movie theater in West Homestead.

Kish writes that a prosecution witness testified that he heard "four or five" gunshots from at least two different weapons as he left the men's room.

Assistant District Attorney Stephie Kapourales asked the witness if he was sure that he heard two different weapons.

To which, Kish reports, the witness responded: "I'm from Braddock, ma'am. I know gunshots."

Posted at 08:18 am by jt3y
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May 10, 2006

Lookee, Lookee, Lookee: Artifice Cookie!

The Post-Gazette editorial board put a hurt this week on incumbent state Rep. Ken Ruffing, a Democrat from West Mifflin ... or is it actually Brigadoon? After all, it seems like he only surfaces around election day, and then disappears back into the moors for two years.

Not only did the P-G endorse Bill Kortz (one of the "PA Clean Sweep" candidates) for the Democratic nomination, it also pointed out Ruffing's habit of vanishing into the mists whenever the villagers ask too many questions:

He voted for the 16 percent to 34 percent pay raise and took it. Then he voted to repeal it. He said he donated the raise to an autism-awareness organization, but he did not return a reporter's phone calls when asked for documentation on which group received the money. The incumbent also did not attend his interview with the Post-Gazette editorial board, although he said earlier that he would.

"Any legislator who refuses to answer questions about his record should not be rewarded with another term," the paper declares.

Meanwhile, WTAE-TV alleges that when Ruffing does answer questions, his answers aren't reliable.

The Allegheny County Democratic Committee sent out a mailing that features a picture of a slovenly man, sitting on the couch, watching TV. The text makes reference to a WTAE-TV news report that found Ruffing was actually at home when he was supposedly voting on a property tax reform bill in Harrisburg.

I didn't see the report when it first ran back in November, so I decided to go watch it. It's both amusing, and kind of sad.

Reporter Paul Van Osdol asks Ruffing if he was in Harrisburg for the vote. "I was there for the first day of the special session," Ruffing says. When Van Osdol tells him that no, WTAE has video of him, in West Mifflin, checking his mail that day, Ruffing petulantly replies, "Do you have it on tape? Fine. Well, then run it."

Of course, the transcript of Van Osdol's report makes at least one serious mistake (it calls Ruffing a "U.S. representative"), and as you Alert Readers know, no one is perfect, including the Almanac's editor. Maybe Ruffing just misspoke.

But his flip answer sure sounds like that of a kid caught with his hand in a cookie jar, trying to act tough: "Sure, you caught me, but they were just cookies."

Yeah? Well, they're the taxpayers' cookies, and if you don't think you owe the taxpayers some answers, then perhaps you've had enough.

...

In addition to Kortz, Ruffing is also being challenged by C.L. "Jay" Jabbour, longtime bête noire of former state representative and current West Mifflin Councilman Richard Olasz Sr.

Jabbour (who most recently served on county council, but resigned to run for the legislature) probably has the best name recognition in the district after Ruffing, simply because of his longevity.

But Kortz is the only candidate who appears to have a campaign website, so I'll link to it.

He also has a blog, but it appears he doesn't quite know what to do with it. As of this Almanac's writing, the last (and only) message on Kortz's blog is dated March 5. It reads (and I quote):

"Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!"

Of course, his constituents don't appear to know what to do with it, either. The last (and only) comment as of this writing? "Hi, this is a comment. To delete a comment, just log in, and view the posts’ comments, there you will have the option to edit or delete them."

...

Well, we may not be computer savvy at times, but we sho' nuff love us some dirty tricks in the Mon-Yough area.

While there is a website called kenruffing.com, one look will tell you it isn't run by Ruffing. In fact, it's not clear who's running the website ... it's registered through an anonymous service in Arizona called "Domains By Proxy."

The very same service is also the registered agent for the stopmatta.com website.

Perhaps the allegations on those websites are accurate and fair. But it's awfully hard to judge their credibility when the people making the accusations hide behind anonymous Internet proxies.

...

In Other Business ... Alert Reader Jeff of Hempfield Township, who says "fooey" to my argument that deadbeats (like those in Hempfield) should have to pay for police protection like everybody else, passes along a poll by the Pennsylvania Economy League in which residents were asked about that very issue:

Despite pressure to control state spending and keep taxes down, there wasn’t much public support for requiring local communities relying on state police for protection to pay for this service. The poll found under a third (29%) said local communities should pay. Close to two-thirds (63%) said state government should continue to provide this service for free.

I would like to see how the question was phrased, and how many people knew the background of the issue. I don't think many people in urban areas of the state realize that large, suburban communities like Hempfield in Westmoreland County and Canton Township in Washington County are not paying for local police coverage. If they did, I think they'd be just as perturbed as I am.

But I suspect that the only people who really have strong opinions are people who live in places with police departments --- like Greensburg and North Huntingdon --- that abut communities sponging the state police. And since they're not much of a voting bloc, this issue is clearly a non-starter.

Posted at 07:33 am by jt3y
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