This is one of those infrequent Sunday Almanac updates to let you know that I had the pleasure last week of interviewing Bill Scully Sr., drummer for The Arondies, a garage-rock trio from Clairton that had a monster local hit with "69" in the summer of 1965, then disbanded.
If you're within range of WRCT-FM's massive 1,750-watt blowtorch signal on 88.3 mHz, you can hear excerpts of the interview at 7:30 p.m. tonight. You'll even find out what an Arondie is ... well, sort of.
Yes, I should have mentioned this earlier, but I just finished editing the program at 3 o'clock this morning.
Depending on the wind and whether any puffy clouds or kites are in the way, WRCT's signal sometimes reaches as far east as the Homestead Grays (nee High-Level) Bridge, so if you're in the Mon Valley, your reception is likely to be poor. But you can listen online at wrct.org.
In other news, I'm hearing rumors that Terrelle Pryor has signed a letter of intent. He plans to attend Penn State Greater Allegheny.
I don't think they're credible rumors. In fact, I think they're the voices in my head. (It's the sleep deprivation talking.)
Along the same lines, Professor Pittsblog made a provocative point last week. Everyone keeps talking about where Pryor is playing football, he pointed out. No one has mentioned where he might get an education.
Silly professor. Everyone knows that the football gravy train runs forever. Just ask Mike Webster.
I understand that several pro athletes have been advising Pryor about his future. I kind of wish --- for his sake --- that one of them was retired Steelers defensive back The Honorable Dwayne Woodruff.
Woodruff and many other members of the "Super Steelers" of the 1970s have conclusively proved that there's life after football ... if you get an education.
During the high school football playoffs at Heinz Field last year, I was disturbed at how carefully and consciously the WPIAL and its member schools are emulating the trappings of professional sports, right down to the graphics on the scoreboards. To me, this rush to commercialize high school athletics is the biggest argument against holding the football championships at Heinz Field.
College athletics at the Division I level have been big business for decades. It wasn't inevitable that high school athletics had to follow.
Yes, sports pundits on cable TV and the Internet have turned Pryor's story into a three-ring national media circus. But they're just following the lead of the WPIAL and local school districts, who invest very little time emphasizing the "scholastic" part of "interscholastic athletic league."
Maybe Western Pennsylvania taxpayers need to remind our local school boards why we pay school taxes. It's to educate our kids, not to provide a farm system for the Big Ten Conference.
Yeah, I really do need a nap.
The new mortgage fraud task force created by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan is actually one of the best things to happen for consumers in a long time.
So says Mike Mauer, housing and financial counselor at the nonprofit Mon Valley Initiative, based in Homestead. He says snarky comments recently aimed at Buchanan by the Almanac were off-target.
"It used to be traditional in banking that if you wanted a home mortgage, you would go to a local mortgage banker," Mauer says. "He lived in the community and he would educate you about what you could afford, and then put you into a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.
"Now, mortgage brokers take no responsibility," he says.
. . .
Deregulation of the mortgage industry, combined with low interest rates, fueled a land-office business among mortgage brokers. Some of them were honest. Some of them weren't.
"Do you know what it takes to become a mortgage broker?" Mauer asks. "Seven-hundred dollars to the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, an office, and a phone number."
Much of his job is "pre-purchase" counseling. If someone wants to buy a house in the Mon Valley and hasn't owned a home before, or isn't sure how to qualify for a loan, Mauer can assess them for risk and recommend strategies.
"I pull out your credit report and go over it line by line," he says. "If you stink, I can work with you until you un-stink."
. . .
Lately, however, an increasing number of Mauer's clients are coming in after getting a mortgage through a broker that advertised on TV or radio. Some of those brokers have since disappeared.
Some of Mauer's clients were sold mortgages far beyond their means.
Their brokers --- eager for higher commissions --- falsified or fudged income statements or lied about their applicants' credit.
They pushed prospective homeowners to take out mortgages they couldn't afford, or signed them to adjustable-rate mortgages without clearly explaining what would happen to their low initial payments once interest rates went up.
. . .
Then the brokers sold the mortgages to lenders, took their profits and went out of business, Mauer says: "They make their money, sell their loans, and they're done, and since their corporations are shells, you can't go after them personally."
"I take calls now from people who say, well, I'm getting delinquent on (my) home loan," he says. "I do a reverse assessment." If there's evidence that the mortgage broker falsified an application or misled a homeowner, Mauer calls the U.S. attorney's office.
Buchanan's task force is a consumer protection move, Mauer says, and will make it much easier to report fraudulent lenders.
. . .
There's a silver lining for the Mon Valley, he says. Real-estate prices are so depressed here that mortgage fraud and the resultant foreclosures are hardly as widespread as they are in the Sunbelt states.
And there's no shortage of good, 1950s through '70s vintage homes available for $60,000 or less.
"In housing, we're just like in our own little world," he says, laughing. "Here, if you make 32 grand, you can live like a potentate."
. . .
MVI serves Braddock, Charleroi, Clairton, Duquesne, East Pittsburgh, Homestead, Monessen, North Braddock, Rankin, Swissvale, Turtle Creek, West Newton and several neighboring communities.
But not McKeesport, 'cause if you know McKeesport, it always goes west if everyone else is going east. The city's development corporation is not a participating MVI agency.
For information about programs for new homebuyers in Our Fair City, contact the McKeesport Development Corp. or the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development.
. . .
Mon Valley Initiative and PNC Bank will host a workshop for first-time homebuyers from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at the Marriott Courtyard in The Waterfront, Homestead.
Counselors will advise residents how to know if they qualify for a loan, how to determine what home price they can afford, and what to do if they have poor credit. Bankers will explain closing costs, points, fees, and interest rates.
A free lunch buffet will be served, but seating is limited. Call (412) 464-4000, ext. 4008.
MVI homebuyer flyer (PDF document)
A few days ago, I mentioned CCAC South Campus' production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues.
Well, the subject came up again on Saturday during my radio show:
WRCT-FM, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008 (1.79MB, MP3)
. . .
A Sprinkle of Politics: Check out what Barack Obama's got in each hand in this photo from Wednesday's Washington Post:
If he'd have been carrying a Starbucks cup, he'd have lost my vote right away. But two dozen Dunkin' Donuts?
Well, all I have to say is: Would you like a booth, Mr. President? Or are you sitting at the counter?
No wonder he creamed Hillary on Tuesday. She even had a glazed look in her eyes.
My car has something called Traction Control®, which ... well, let's let the owner's manual describe it:
The Traction Control® system ... is a driver aid which makes your vehicle easier to handle primarily on snow and ice covered roads.
Wheel spin sensors allow excess rear wheel spin to be detected by the Traction Control® portion of the anti-lock braking system (ABS) computer. Any excessive wheel spin is controlled by automatically applying and releasing the rear brakes in conjunction with engine torque reduction. Engine torque reduction is realized via the fully electronic spark and fuel injection systems.
If you should become stuck in snow or ice or on a very slippery road surface, try switching the Traction Control® system off.
From the National Politics Desk: Over on the right is a cartoon from the British magazine Private Eye.
I read about Gov. Ed Rendell's plan to spur the Pennsylvania economy, most notably his intention to provide low-income families with a $400 one-time rebate ("Rendell Budget Has Tax Rebate for Poorer Families," Feb. 5). His reasoning is that although these families are exempt from state income tax, they have been hit hardest by increases in fuel, medical care and food costs.
What he fails to mention is that under most circumstances, they are eligible for Medicaid, food stamps, including special allowances for clothing, car purchases and repairs, along with day-care subsidies, Low Income Home Energy Assistance grants and a federal earned income tax refund, which can be substantial depending on the number of dependents.
Actually, several people have asked me. "Hey, doofus," they say, "when the hell is your damned book coming out?"
Fall, I keep telling them. The season when the Pirates are out of contention, and the Steelers are still generating false hope in the hearts of millions.
The last two weeks, I've been viewing the edits made by Penn State Press. They've been surprisingly gentle; in fact, almost all of the changes have either improved the flow or corrected some embarrassing mistakes. (I twice mixed up "complimentary" and "complementary," for instance. Ouch,)
You may remember that last May I posted a page of the book with my marked-up corrections to show how the revision process works ... at least for me.
Well, here's that same passage after being returned by Penn State's manuscript editor, and I'm still making revisions.
All of you aspiring writers of books, blogs and poems on the walls of Turnpike rest rooms: Revise, revise, revise. Never let your first draft be your only draft.
. . .
On a Related Note: The Daily News is running a lot of letters-to-the-editor lately submitted by out-of-town writers, and which focus on national issues. Most of those letters are being churned out indiscriminately to newspapers across the country by so-called "astroturf" PR campaigns.
The letters to the editor basket at any newspaper gets a wee bit thin at times, so I'm calling on all readers of the Almanac to do their part.
Take time today to write a letter to the editor of the Daily News on some local issue. The address is Letters to the Editor, The Daily News, Box 128, Our Fair City, Pa. 15134, or mcknews@dailynewsemail.com.
Please, don't make Craig Galik of Duquesne, Ray Figola of Liberty, Eddie Stanko of North Versailles, and Oren M. Spiegler of Upper St. Clair do all the work.
Let's all strike a blow for more variety in letters-to-the-editor of the Daily News.
(The preceding was a public-service message paid for by the Philanthropic Council to Make Things Nicer.)
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