July 28, 2006

Sweet Smell of Excess

I came through Elrama and West Elizabeth the other night, and even if I hadn't seen the old, familiar landmarks along the road, my nose knew exactly where I was.

It's the worst smell I have ever smelt, and whoa, lawdy, mama, it was powerful that night --- acrid, like burning plastic, with a chemical "tang" that stings the eyes and nose. Imagine a pile of styrofoam cups is on fire, and then toss in some chlorine bleach --- that might approximate the effect.

As far as I can tell, it comes from the old Hercules (now Eastman) chemical plant, just north of Floreffe in Jefferson Hills.

I used to drive that stretch of 837 several times a week when I worked down in "Little Worshington," and I never got used to it. If I was heading north, I'd take a big gulp of air while passing the notorious Ashland Oil depot (looking for any leaks as I passed), and try not to inhale again until I saw the Martin's Furniture warehouse.

The stench is especially pungent at this time of year, when the temperatures and the relative humidity levels both hit the high 80s, and winding up the windows of your car is no help at all: The odor seeps right through, literally scalding the insides of your eyes and nose until you get near the Elizabeth Bridge and finally blow the last clinging remnants from you.

Luckily, you're soon in Clairton, where the sooty, sulfurous smoke of the coke works is almost a comfort: Mmm ... it's just coke gas.

Now, I'm not some wacko environmentalist --- I realize that if it weren't for petrochemicals, you wouldn't be reading the Almanac right now, because we wouldn't have plastics for many of the parts that go into a modern computer.

(OK, if you want to get technical, the West Elizabeth plant doesn't make "plastics" --- it makes resins used in adhesives and glues. But let's go with my plastics/computers analogy right now.)

My point --- and I do have one --- is that I can accept that if we want to have modern conveniences, we do need to manufacture the raw material, and that manufacturing produces by-products that we have to tolerate.

I just don't understand how (or why) anyone could live in that valley and smell that crud day in and day out, and yet there are houses directly across Route 837, within sight of the chemical plant.

If any of the folks who live down there should happen to read this, could you please tell me how you tolerate that smell? Do you get nose-ectomies? And why on Earth would you buy a house down there? Because the Eastman-nee-Hercules plant has been there as long as I can remember.

. . .

A little searching reveals that residents of that valley are monitoring the air quality. This 2004 story from the Trib by Reid Frazer reports that some are taking air samples with the help of Clean Water Action.

Another story, by Alison Heinrichs and also from the Trib, notes that five of the seven school districts surrounding the Eastman plant and other factories report higher than normal rates of asthma.

Five chemicals linked to various ailments (including leukemia) have also been found in the air in that area in higher-than-normal concentrations.

Look, I want to stress that I'm not some anti-industry kook. As a McKeesport kid who grew up in the waning years of the steel industry's glory days in the Mon-Yough area, I know that a puffing smokestack means that my neighbors are working.

And as an asthma sufferer, I'm willing to accept a little dirty air once in a while if it means a better economy for the region. (Heck, I can walk out my front door and see Irvin Works, and if I have to wash some grit off of my car every so often, well, I don't mind.)

But I don't need any fancy tests to tell me that breathing that stuff in Floreffe is bad for you --- my nose knows.

. . .

Speaking of things that stink in the Mon Valley ... this story from Bentleyville stinks bad.

A man who had 17 previous convictions for drunken driving was sentenced Monday to four to eight years in state prison for running down and killing a 15-year-old jogger in August of 2004.

Police say Armand Pistilli Jr. was traveling 72 mph in a 40-mph zone when he struck Alexzandra Loos near Bentworth High School. Just a month earlier, he'd caused a multi-vehicle accident on I-79 near Canonsburg.

Terri Johnson's story in the Observer-Reporter has more detail. Pistilli's attorney called Loos' death an "accident," and was sharply corrected by the judge: "This is a crime. This is not an accident."

Seventeen prior convictions? Anyone can make a mistake, but 17 times? Eight years in prison isn't enough.

And it's too bad they can't also lock up his idiot friends and family members who kept giving this guy a car after his first and second DUI arrests.

Oh, I know, they'd say he needed his car to get to work.

Yes, and the Loos family needs their daughter back, too.

. . .

To Do This Weekend: Sorry if this Almanac seems a little bit heavy. Here's something on the lighter side: St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 220 Eighth Ave., Downtown, will hold a chicken barbecue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dinners come with your choice of two sides. Call (412) 664-9379. ... If you missed that one, then get out to North Huntingdon on Sunday, where Stewartsville Lions Club is selling chicken barbecue from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Norwin Towne Square. Call (412) 751-4308. ... Barbecue goes well with country music (and as John Kerry might not have said, "who amongst us does not love country music?"), and Dallas Marks is playing two local gigs --- tonight at Bootsie's, 699 O'Neil Boulevard, (412) 672-1120; and Saturday night at Kanczes City Saloon, 915 Duquesne Boulevard, Duquesne, (412) 466-9666.

Posted at 07:09 am by jt3y
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July 25, 2006

There's Good News Tonight

At times, it seems like the Almanac is full of griping and moaning. Sometimes, it helps to remember that there are lots of good things going on the Mon-Yough area, too. Here are just a few items of good news you may have missed:

. . .

McKeesport Area School District now has the lowest property tax rates in Allegheny County --- 17.71 mills --- after the passage earlier this month of the 2006-07 budget.

It's worth noting that some school directors and the district's business manager are uneasy about the cut. The tax cut is being facilitated by drawing down most of a relatively small budget surplus this year, and once that balance is exhausted, the district will likely have to increase taxes.

Still, it should provide a little breathing room, even if just for a year or two, for taxpayers in the city, White Oak and Dravosburg boroughs, and South Versailles Township --- and unlike the federal income tax cuts of a few years ago, it's not as if the district had to go into deficit spending to fund it.

Plus, it gives McKeesport an enviable bragging right, even if just for a year. I call it a win for taxpayers, even if it's a wash for the school district.

. . .

By the way: If you haven't seen the high school lately, you haven't seen it. I attended the last concert of the McKeesport Symphony's 2005-06 season and got to nose around the building a little bit. The infrastructure improvements visible from the street --- particularly at the old Vocational-Technical School, or "Voke" --- are only the tip of the iceberg.

Also, the displays of art and vocational projects in the hallways were impressive in both quality and quantity.

. . .

Two local men were recently awarded Carnegie Hero Medals by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. The prestigious award recognizes people who risked their lives in attempts to save others from bodily harm. (PDF file)

Robert H. Blasko of North Huntingdon Township received one of the awards for rescuing a woman from a domestic dispute in the parking lot of Rainbow Village Shopping Center in November 2003.

Blasko, then 71, saw a 36-year-old man grabbing and shaking a woman during an argument and intervened. The man turned as if to walk away, then sucker-punched Blasko twice, sending him to the pavement.

The man was apprehended by White Oak police and is in jail; Blasko was in a coma for weeks and required months of physical therapy to recover.

White Oak police Sgt. Don Govanucci told reporters that Blasko's actions might very well have saved the woman's life, and Blasko says despite the setbacks he suffered, he would do the exact same thing again.

Meanwhile, Jarrett M. Cherok of Whitaker was honored for rescuing his sister and a 47-year-old man from a burning house back in June of 2005.

Cherok, who then lived in Hazelwood, was getting ready for work when he saw flames coming from his sister's house across the street. Barefoot and clad only in jeans, Cherok, then 23, broke down the door and carried his sister to safety.

He then went back into the burning home, crawled upstairs through the smoke, and found her fiancee, badly burned and lying on the second floor. Cherok and his sister suffered from smoke inhalation but recovered; his sister's fiancee died about two months later of his injuries.

I call Cherok and Blasko two impressive individuals, and further proof that real heroes aren't wearing baseball or football uniforms --- in fact, they just might be your next-door neighbors.

. . .

UPMC Braddock is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. (PDF file)

The hospital opened June 27, 1906, in the former Isaac Mills mansion at the corner of Holland Avenue and Fifth Street, after the people of Braddock raised $11,000 and U.S. Steel Corp. contributed another $10,000. The first hospital --- equipped at a cost of $7,000 --- had 30 beds.

During the Depression, Braddock Hospital nearly closed, as many patients couldn't afford to pay their bills. The hospital's operations were turned over to the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1935, and under their guidance, the facility began to grow and prosper again. New buildings were erected in 1959 and 1973, and in 1996, the hospital was taken over by UPMC.

Today, despite being located in a severely depressed community, UPMC Braddock and the affiliated Heritage Health Foundation provide vital acute and emergency health care services to residents of Braddock and the surrounding boroughs.

. . .

Cyber-learning has come to two Catholic schools in western Westmoreland County, according to a story by Mary Pickels in the Trib. Students at Queen of Angels in Irwin and Mother of Sorrows in Murrysville can now take advanced courses in math, foreign languages, science, business and the arts.

. . .

Finally: This is not a Mon-Yough area story, but it's good news for airplane, train and car buffs and "kids of all ages." The landmark A.B. Charles & Son Hobby Shop --- recently given the cruel shoe by the landlords of its longtime location on West Liberty Avenue in Dormont --- will reopen in October in neighboring Mt. Lebanon.

I hesitate to think how much I've spent there over the past 15 years, but whether it was $5 worth of parts or a major purchase, I have always been able to rely on the same, ultra-friendly and competent service from Ed "Bud" Charles, his son Scott, and other employees.

"Bud" (the "son" in "A.B. Charles & Son") has suffered some health problems over the past year and was forced to retire from day to day operations, but from the reports that the Almanac has received, Scott Charles was bound and determined to keep the 61-year-old store operating.

In an age of big-box national chains, there are still some small, family-owned businesses that are surviving and thriving, and I look forward to having Scott Charles separate me from some of my money in a few weeks!

. . .

Editor's Note: I borrowed today's headline from the legendary radio newscaster Gabriel Heatter. Known for his sunny on-air disposition, in real life, Heatter was forced to overcome serious personal problems, including what we would now call clinical depression. His biography at Wikipedia is brief, but nevertheless inspiring.

Posted at 07:17 am by jt3y
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