(Today ... Downtown Development and Duckling Photos! Who could ask for more?)
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First, The Good News: A vacant lot near the McKees' Point Marina and at the entrance to Downtown may soon be developed after being empty for more than 30 years.
The bad news? It's for a satellite county courthouse, which won't pay taxes.
The so-so news: If it happens, it's development that will bring traffic back to Fifth Avenue --- namely court workers, cops, lawyers, and people waiting for cases to be called --- which could support local businesses, which means jobs. But some proportion of the people hanging around will be criminal defendants.
Anyway, Jennifer Vertullo had the story in last night's Daily News:
Mayor James Brewster announced Wednesday that the city is working with the DA's office on what could be a $4 million construction project at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Market Street.
Parties have been engaged in discussion for years --- envisioning a Mon Valley location for satellite courtrooms, row offices, bond clerks and attorneys. Now, the project is becoming more than a vision.
City Administrator Dennis Pittman said Zappala wants a land commitment by July 1. He said city officials are confident the district attorney will bring County Executive Dan Onorato on board and the facility will be built McKeesport.
On 4 June, PITTSBURGH began to fight a typhoon which by early next day had increased to 70-knot winds and 100-foot waves. Shortly after her starboard scout plane had been lifted off its catapult and dashed onto the deck by the wind, PITTSBURGH’s second deck buckled, her bow structure thrust upward, and then wrenched free. Miraculously, not a man was lost. Now her crew's masterful seamanship saved their own ship. Still fighting the storm, and maneuvering to avoid being rammed by the drifting bow-structure, PITTSBURGH was held quarter on to the seas by engine manipulations while the forward bulkhead was shored. After a 7-hour battle, the storm subsided, and PITTSBURGH proceeded at 6 knots to Guam, arriving 10 June. Her bow, nick-named "McKeesport" (a suburb of Pittsburgh), was later salvaged by fleet tug MUNSEE (ATF-107) and brought into Guam.
In case you missed it, Chris Briem of Null Space has apologized for what he calls his "superficial mischaracterization of the fine City of McKeesport." As only a humble chronicler of various minutia, I cannot officially accept apologies on behalf of anyone, but I'm happy to pass it along.
And since yesterday was the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, it's worthwhile to remember these stirring words:
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Amessment: Speaking of Null Space, make sure to read Briem's comments on the assessment mess.
As he points out, Allegheny County's base year system is just as screwed up as the systems in neighboring counties, some of which haven't re-assessed their properties since the 1980s.
Do you think it's fair that the new McMansions going up in Hempfield and North Huntingdon are being assessed at 1973 values? I don't either.
Properties should be assessed every year or two based on their fair-market values. Period. Some people will see their taxes go up; some will see their taxes go down. (In the interest of full disclosure: Mine would go up.)
People can rant about "fairness," but there is no way that a "base-year system" --- freezing tax assessments at some arbitrary year in the past --- is "fair." It's inherently unfair, and that's what Judge R. Stanton Wettick pointed out this week by saying it's unconstitutional.
I hope Allegheny County does appeal this decision to the state Supreme Court, and I hope they do overturn base-year systems, so that all of the counties in the metropolitan area are forced to compete on a level playing field in terms of property taxation. There is no way that the Mon-Yough area can compete for development with places like Cranberry Township as long as Butler County is still valuing properties at their 1969 levels, for crying out loud.
In the meantime, I am formally coining a new word to describe the property tax valuation system in Pennsylvania:
A•mess•ment (ə-mĕs'mənt) (n.) (c. 2007): The act of screwing up the evaluation of the taxable worth of property by politicians who are trying to placate voters instead of using the fair-market value of homes and businesses. I wish I knew what my school taxes were going to be next year, but I can't make out a budget because of the amessment.
As the Mon-Yough area's leading online source of misinformation, I feel compelled to mention the ongoing, vocal protest against Ferree Kennels, the city-based animal control company that's under fire for what activists say is cruelty.
What started as one or two people protesting owner Ken Ferree's use of carbon monoxide to put down stray cats has turned into war, with animal-rights activists (you'll pardon the expression) "dogging" Ferree at local council meetings and trying to get his contracts canceled.
On Sunday two dozen demonstrators picketed his kennel on Lysle Boulevard and on Monday speakers urged West Elizabeth council to rethink its decision to authorize Ferree to trap and kill strays.
Besides the carbon monoxide, protesters are also upset that he's killing cats without collars the same day he catches them.
In Tuesday's Daily News, reporter Stacy Lee quotes Ferree as saying the activists are "radicals" and that they're conducting a "vendetta" against him that includes insults and slurs.
I've noted before that Ferree doesn't make a strong case for himself. He says that using carbon monoxide to euthanize animals is not against the law, but testifying before city council last year, he called it "an approved method that's used by people who commit suicide."
That's not exactly the image you should want your business to project, unless you're Jack Kevorkian.
And according to the News, Ferree was put on probation in April 2007 by Forward Township supervisors after a heated dispute with a resident there.
This all makes it difficult to sympathize with Ferree and also helps me understand why the so-called "radicals" are able to generate such outrage.
The Mon Valley needs more businesses, and I don't want Ferree to lose his. I don't think he's a sicko, and I don't think calling him "Hitler" and "fat bastard" is appropriate. On the other hand, if he wants to hang onto his contracts, he'd better "put on a happy face" and be nicer to taxpayers. A little kindness and humility would go a long way toward ending this controversy.
And nobody asked me, but maybe Ferree should modify his business practices. Perhaps all kitties go to heaven, but he doesn't have to send them there so quickly.
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In Other News: Several outlets report that Chesterfield's Restaurant on Route 30 in North Huntingdon Township is being sold. (Here's Chuck Mortimer's story in the Tribune-Review.) The property is being leveled to make way for a Starbucks and a Walgreen's.
Owner Barbara Braun and her late husband, Jack, founded Chesterfield's at the former Ben Gross' Supper Club 24 years ago. I've never been a big fan of Chesterfield's, but I'm in the minority; a lot of people love it.
I don't think we need another chain drug store, and if we do, why doesn't someone redevelop the Norwin Shopping Center across the street? But I wish Mrs. Braun the best of luck --- after more than 20 years, she deserves the right to do with her property as she wishes.
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U.S.S. McKeesport: Multiple Alert Readers sent links to Chris Briem's blog Null Space, which on Monday mentioned what I thought was an urban legend:
June 5th is the anniversary of the date when the cruiser USS Pittsburgh had its bow ripped off by Typhoon Cobra in the South Pacific. The ship would not sink and would make it back to port sans bow. The bow itself actually did not sink and was dubbed the USS McKeesport. The Navy probably didn't appreciate the irony of how improbable cooperation was between the City of Pittsburgh and one of its suburbs.
I've heard that story too --- that sailors dubbed the smaller portion "U.S.S. McKeesport" --- and I'd like to see confirmation if anyone has it. The real S.S. McKeesport was a merchant marine vessel that provided emergency supplies to refugees after the German occupation of France in 1940, and was later used by the Red Cross. Yes, Google may be a soul-crushing entity that's destroying newspapers, but I love it. I'd gladly pay for my monthly Google use much like I pay for my telephone --- in fact, I use it more than the telephone --- and I'm astonished that it's free.
One of Google's many features is "blog alert," which allows you to scan blog postings for certain keywords; Google then mails you links to blog entries in which your keywords appear.
Naturally, one of my Google alerts is for Our Fair City, and that blog alert has turned up all sorts of interesting things over the last few months:
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Mom's Diaries: This purports to be diary entries from a Mon Valley woman who was born in 1929 and died in 2004. It's either actually the diary entries of this woman or it's a fantastic conceptual art project, or maybe it's both.
If you're looking for salacious details, don't bother. Instead you get entries like this one for the first Tuesday of June, 1978:
School. Called Carol. Dave came. Had lunch. Waited for his car. Worked on garden. Carolyn brought sprayer. Trimmed hedges. Harry had game. Had early supper. Went to stores. Kroger, Gold Circle, Murphy Mart & Giant Eagle.
To me this is simply a matter of common sense and pragmatics. I have yet to hear a compelling reason why prayer should be included in governmental meetings. What purpose could it possibly serve? The moral authority of any particular governmental body rests in the respective Constitution(s) of the locality in which it resides. That should be enough legitimacy. Why add an extra layer of assumed authority that by its very nature is deeply personal?
The roads to the Mon Valley communities are two-lane, heavy with traffic lights, and not fast-moving. I now understand why the community leaders here think they need a highway ...
The fine young progressives of Pittsburgh, including Bill Peduto, have been loudly against the Mon-Fay as promoting sprawl and the hollowing out of our urban core (it'd help form a beltway around the city).
I'm no particular fan of highways or sprawl. Still, when I look West towards the airport, I see thriving businesses that feed off the airport, Robinson Town Centre, and the combination of the Parkway and the 28X.
When I look southeast, I see lots of available cheap land, already built up with streets and sewerage, and Kennywood as a built-in draw. It makes me wonder whether a bit of sprawl might be a fair price to pay for bringing some of our almost-dead towns back to life.
It's Monday, so it's time for more alleged comedy from my alleged radio show.
I'm not doing embedded audio links any more because they tend to slow down people on dial-up connections ... click here to open a link in a new window.
(You can click on the photo to purchase a finely crafted, diecast-metal 1/18-scale model of a 1966 Cadillac funeral coach. It's a perfect Father's Day present, as long as Dad isn't too worried about his own mortality.)
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