First the good news: Paul Elliott, the California real-estate agent selling the People's Building, called Tube City Online Thursday night to say that he's received a solid offer from a developer who is experienced in historic preservation.
While he can't name the potential buyer yet, Elliott says the party has rehabbed other older buildings and is excited about the People's Building. The preliminary sales price is $495,000, Elliott says.
We could use some good news around here, so keep your fingers crossed. Spring has sprung, and Easter is a time for rebirth. I don't mean to be sacrilegious, but the resurrection of the People's Building could bring the rest of that block of Fifth Avenue back from the dead.
. . .
Now the bad news: Much of the upper deck of the parking garage at Century III Mall is closed, as this picture taken Saturday afternoon shows. I suspect this is because the mall management doesn't want to pay to patrol the lot and plow the snow for the handful of customers still using it.
But remember what the marketing manager said a few months ago: "Century III Mall is lively and well ... it is very much business as usual there." She called the mall "a central shopping destination."
Um, yeah. Right. That's why they've got most of the garage closed.
And here's a story from a few weeks ago, in which the mall manager says the facility is "going all out" to attract new tenants, particularly doctors and other professionals.
Well, here's one of the entrance ramps off of Clairton Boulevard. It's roped off because of all the potholes.
I'm just an ignorant layman, but not filling potholes doesn't seem like a strategy that will attract more tenants to their mall. In fact, if I were a doctor looking for space and I found half the parking garage closed, and the entrance road was more holes than pavement, I would run --- not walk --- to another facility.
Just to gild the lily, I also shot some extremely crummy video.
(Yeah, it's pretty poor, but in fairness, I was trying to dodge the mall cops.)
I predict there will be a flea market in the parking lot of Century III before the end of this year. And when that happens, prestigious tenants will flock to Century III.
Remember, nothing says "quality retail and professional destination" like a parking lot full of people flogging troll dolls and mismatched socks from the back of Chevy vans.
. . .
I did have a real reason for visiting the vibrant, lively shopping destination known as Century III Mall. Sears, Roebuck & Co. --- the official underpants supplier of Tube City Online --- sent me a coupon good for $10 off my next purchase, but it's only good through the end of the month.
I've been mulling over purchase of a DVD recorder for some time, and I decided that the balance on the old Sears charge is low enough to risk it. I've found Sears to be surprisingly competitive on electronics. They beat Best Buy and Circuit City on a lot of items. (There's your shopping tip for today.)
Sure enough, Sears had a nice selection of DVD recorders, including a swell looking Panasonic job with a built-in four-head VCR and a digital TV tuner. Hot diggity! That would enable me to watch digital TV signals with my old TV.
I was reading the instruction manual when a clerk came over. "Do you have any questions?"
"How does the editing work on this one?" I said.
"Oh, we don't have any of those," she said. I must have looked dumbfounded, because she said, "we're sold out ... we've been out of those for a while."
"Are you selling the floor model then?" I asked.
"No."
"When are you getting any more?"
"I don't know."
I moved over to a cheaper Toshiba model. "We're out of that one, too," she said. "Actually, we don't have any DVD recorders."
"Why are you displaying them if you don't have any?" I said.
"Sometimes we have them, but they sell out as soon as we get them," she said.
"Well, I'm kind of disappointed," I said, "because I've got this coupon, and it expires at the end of the month."
"Oh, those coupons aren't good for electronics anyway," she said. "Read the back."
. . .
Sure enough, the coupon isn't good for home electronics, car or home repairs, most appliances, special-order merchandise, brand-name clothing or a bunch of other items. That leaves ... well, basically store-brand underpants.
I'm fixed for Sears, Roebuck underpants right now, so I left empty-handed.
That's a heck of a business model they've got at Sears' TV department. It's basically a museum of DVD recorders, but they don't sell any. (They make it up in volume, I suppose.)
Between Sears sending out coupons you can't use on merchandise they don't have, and Century III's owners refusing to maintain the parking lot, it's no wonder that the mall remains such a "lively" central shopping destination.
Did I say it'll have a flea market before the end of the year? Maybe I should have said the end of the month.
Easter snuck up on us this year, didn't it? As Jack Bogut noted this week, he hasn't gotten all of the tinsel out of his living room carpet yet, and now it's full of plastic grass.
It didn't sneak up on people who use Skyline Drive in West Mifflin, of course, because city physician Rudy Antoncic and his wife have put up their bunny display again. Frankly, I look forward to this annual tradition more than I do the NCAA basketball tournament.
If the weather stays nice today, drive up and take a look. Because if the weatherman's right and the snow starts to fly tonight, you may only see the tops of the bunnies' ears tomorrow.
Nevertheless, it's Good Friday, and I don't really feel like tackling any serious issues today. Let's have some fun instead.
. . .
Vocabulary Test: In last week's issue of the Valley Mirror, editor Tony Munson coined some new words that he thinks the Mon Valley needs:
Kennymilk --- To assess a tax on only one business in a municipality
Borosack --- The firing of a borough manager, solicitor, police chief or other department head following a change of borough council president
Ravenstile --- An elected official who behaves like a 10th grader
Silbergone --- A business that moves out of a municipality because of high taxes
Minimunist --- A person who believes that the smaller a municipality --- and therefore the more numerous --- the better
Isodemolists --- People who believe passionately in a one-party political system and fight hard to keep representatives of any other party from serving on municipal councils and school boards.
Heh heh heh. Between Munson's editorials, Jim O'Brien's column and the chicken-dinner local news items, my Valley Mirror might be the best 50 cents I spend each week.
. . .
That's What I Want: OK, so I promised to keep things light, but the Angry Drunk Bureaucrat summed up my feelings this week when he said, "Anyway, this whole recent economic ... erm ... s---storm, has me nauseous, scared, and frankly trying to figure out how to capture and eat squirrels from my neighbor's yard."
"I'm worried less about a recession than inflation," James Lileks wrote on Monday. "I'm worried most about a recession, inflation and a jolly round of trade wars, coupled with fragile banks, overcapacity, diminished consumer confidence and aggressive messianic collectivism. Something about that smells familiar. I love studying the thirties and forties, but not first hand."
Of course, Lileks comes at these things from a fairly neoconservative point of view. (The "messianic collectivism" line is a shot at Ron Paul and Barack Obama, methinks.) I love the guy, and I've bought several of his books as gifts for people, but he views the world through Hugh Hewitt-tinted glasses.
As a mushy-headed liberal, something smelled familiar to me in the 1990s about the aggressive drive to privatize utilities, allow banks to sell securities and insurance, provide stock market access to amateurs, and lend money to people unqualified for credit.
But I share Lileks' feeling that the Great Depression is something best experienced secondhand.
So last year, when I read John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash: 1929 and Robert T. Patterson's The Great Boom and Panic, I got a real sick feeling in my stomach. Since then I've been trying to sock away some money in a savings account and pay off my credit cards as fast as I can.
The good news, I suppose, is that if another Depression hits, parts of the Mon Valley won't be able to tell the difference.
. . .
No, No, A Thousand Times No: Well, that was a sour note. So here's something light: I dare you to watch this. Egad.
By the way, I have no nostalgia for the 1970s. None. Zero. And that video is a reason why.
. . .
To Do This Weekend: Happy Easter! If you're looking for a local church, we have a semi-complete list here. And if you have an event going on this weekend, post it in the comments below.
The server logs show a noticeable upward bump in readership since the recent mentions in the Post-Gazette.
Thanks for checking in, folks, and I hope you'll stick around. In case you're wondering what www.tubecityonline.com and the Tube City Almanac are all about, this is a non-profit (actually, negative profit!) website primarily concerned with issues around Allegheny County's "second city" and the adjoining communities.
The Almanac is updated several times a week. It's where I occasionally commit journalism, pontificate on local issues, and generally make a nuisance of myself.
It's just one small part of the bigger website, Tube City Online, which has been on the Web in various forms since 1996.
There, you'll find some Mon-Yough area history, along with information for new arrivals and visitors (like restaurant reviews), and "fun stuff" like photos.
I am also planning a major new feature that will allow the community to get more directly involved. The computer experts at Skymagik Internet Services, the local small business which hosts this website, are working on it right now.
I am a lifelong resident of the McKeesport area (Versailles, Liberty Borough and West Mifflin) except for a year in Monongahela, Washington County, and two years when I lived in the dorm at college.
I have no political agenda, except that I dislike stupidity in local government. I also get tired of people wallowing in self-pity or apologizing for living in the Mon Valley. I have a strong interest in promoting the McKeesport area and encouraging citizens to get involved.
Oh, and occasionally you'll see our editorial consultant, the Tube City Tiger, popping up to offer his comments, like here and here.
He tends to have pretty strong opinions, and my advice is don't make him mad. Those teeth aren't just for pudding.
A Westmoreland County high school senior yesterday made his college selection official.
Terrelle Jones, 17, of Rostraver Township will be attending California University of Pennsylvania.
The announcement was made to his mother, younger brother and grandmother in the kitchen of the family's home in Collinsburg.
No representatives of the media attended. The news was not reported on ESPN, Fox Sports or local TV.
Afterward, there was no reception for crowds of people. Instead, the family celebrated with dinner at Eat'n Park.
Jones, a standout on Belle Vernon Area High School's debate team and a photographer on the yearbook staff, was not heavily recruited by any colleges or universities. Some family and friends believed he was leaning toward trade school or the Marines, but Jones said he always intended to go to college.
However, he admitted that he wasn't sure how the family would pay for it.
Tuition at Cal U. is only $2,600 per semester, but with books, fees, meals and commuting expenses, experts estimate the total cost to the Jones family will top $30,000.
"The loans that Terrelle has to take out are pretty scary," his mother, Tamara, said. "I'm glad he's going to Cal U., because he can live at home, and use my car."
"I played some field hockey, but I'm not really too good at sports, because of my asthma," Jones said. "So I didn't qualify for any athletic scholarships. And I guess my grades could have been better junior year, but I got my driver's license and a girlfriend, you know, so I kind of slacked off."
No famous ex-debaters or former yearbook photographers were available to advise Jones that his junior year slump would hurt his chances to land an academic scholarship in the Big 10.
Jones wants to major in computer science at Cal U. Upon graduation, his state university degree is unlikely to attract high-priced contract offers from recruiters for computing giants like Google.
Although Jones hoped to study computer programming at MIT or Carnegie Mellon, the family found the cost was out of reach.
Tamara Jones works as a nurse at Mon Valley Hospital, while Jones' grandmother is a billing clerk for a local tool and die company. His father is deceased.
Terrelle Jones will have to continue working part-time at a fast food restaurant on Route 51 to pay for gasoline, clothes and other necessities.
His mother admits she worries about him. "Terrelle works until midnight, 1 a.m., then he comes home, sleeps for a couple of hours and goes to school," Tamara Jones says. "He's out there in the car in the middle of the night. I can't fall asleep until I hear him come home. Sometimes, I get scared and cry."
Her son smiles sheepishly when he hears her complaints. "I know she loves me," he said. "She's my mom. But I told her, I got to work."
Despite the challenges that Jones faces, he considers himself lucky to get the chance to attend college.
"My mom always says you have to keep things in perspective," Jones said. "She says people get all worked up over dumb stuff, like sports, and they lose sight of the every day stuff."
Still, said Jones with a little grin, "Sometimes I wish I could have played football."
Editor's Note: The preceding was satire, and all of the people and quotes are fictitious, but any resemblance to any real Mon Valley families was purely intentional.
When you work in radio (even when you have a mediocre career like mine) you never know what to expect when you pick up the phone.
Sometimes it's a listener with a request or a complaint. Other times it's someone more important.
Here's a case in point from my show on Sunday night. I have to give this caller credit: Even though Hillary Clinton is ahead of Barack Obama by double digits in Pennsylvania, this guy is not getting overconfident. He's out there, working the phones ....
Meanwhile, the international media continues to supply dependable and sturdy "gritty hardscrabble Pennsylvania" cliches in their stories about the April 22 primary ... and beyond!
Here's one from the U.K.'s Independent. I realize the British press is not renowned for its accuracy, but this story goes above and beyond that already low bar:
The reality is that Pennsylvania is much more rural and backwater than you'd think from the Big Smoke in the east. Its shoebox shape has terrain that's not unlike a carelessly thrown blanket, with ripples and wrinkles running its length. These relentless mountains and valleys have been both curse and promise to the state.
Watch for deer, which have staged a real comeback, defying the best efforts of trigger-happy hunters in the territory where The Deer Hunter was set.
We're gritty, blood-thirsty, backwater savages. Got it.
At the west end of the state, the towns of Erie and Pittsburgh will muddle your understanding of Pennsylvania again --- they have much in common with the troubled east. So keep a clarity of vision and stick to the middle of the Keystone State, where enlightenment is always just around the bend.
I think I speak for all of Pennsylvania when I say: Huh?
Moving on ... this story from the Great Falls, Mont., Tribune isn't about politics --- it's about the new director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. But it certainly worked in many of the talking points:
Taylor will arrive in Pittsburgh just as the city appears to have overcome its old reputation as a dirty place full of steel mills and pollution. The Places Rated Almanac named Pittsburgh the No. 1 Most Livable City in America two years in a row. It's traded its gritty steel mills for jobs in health care, education, robotics, technology and financial services, according to Allegheny County promotional materials.
It was a good thing that they finally stopped making steel in Oakland, but personally, I still consider the Carnegie a "hardscrabble" museum.
Back to politics, and a story from U.S. News & World Report, which proves that it's able to scrabble with the best of them:
Interestingly, SurveyUSA shows more difference in McCain's performance against the two Democrats; it has McCain leading Obama 47 to 42 percent while trailing Clinton 47 to 46 percent. This sounds plausible, with Obama seeming likely to be a weaker candidate in gritty west and northeast Pennsylvania than Clinton.
There's that word "gritty" again. Maybe I should have called this "the Gritty Mon Valley Watch." Some people would say that's redundant; to them I say, "Smile when you say that."
Finally, the unkindest cut of all. The Politico, a relatively new online magazine, compares us unfavorably ... to Ohio:
Poor Pennsylvania. As the national media focuses on the Keystone State, it has earned a new and less than admirable moniker: The other Ohio.
Of course, this description also mirrors the hope of Hillary Rodham Clinton for whom the hard-pressed, semi-depressed Buckeye State presented a political field of dreams. Moreover, to be sure, Pennsylvanias Appalachian string of devastated former mining and mill towns constitutes its own private Ohio.
"The other Ohio." Some how, that doesn't make it as a license plate slogan.
. . .
And Now For Something Completely Different: Let's wrap up with this scene from my favorite TV show you've never heard of, Corner Gas. Any resemblance to tubecityonline.com or any other website is purely coincidental.
My stupid opinions used to be confined to the immediate vicinity. Now, like Hank Yarbo, I put 'em on the Internet so that the whole world can ignore them!
At the risk of tooting my own horn: Toot! Thank you, Brian O'Neill, for noticing this little stagnant backwater of the Internet.
This is not the first time I've made it into a column in the Post-Gazette. When I was in high school, Peter Leo quoted some letters I had written to him. (Yeah, and that and a quarter won't even get you a cup of coffee.)
Some people have claimed that those early publishing successes led me to become a writer, but I think that's a terrible thing to blame on Peter.
I've had a very gratifying response to my newfound fame. So far, three people have noticed.
Despite that tepid response, I suspect the column was probably very well read. It was on page 2, in between two very picturesque ads for breast enlargement surgery. It caught my attention right away.
In the meantime, I'm reminded of the exchange in "Blazing Saddles" between Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder:
"I'm becoming a real underground success story in this town."
"Yeah, soon they'll be willing to say hello to you in broad daylight."
Seriously, it's always flattering to have someone notice what you do, and comment on it. (Well, almost always.)
And I'm very impressed that Brian was able to synthesize my dribblings into something that sounded reasonably intelligent.
That's more than any of my editors has ever done.
. . .
In Other Business: In the comments on Friday's Almanac, Alert Reader Donn wonders what a new owner could do with The People's Building:
Our downtown is not going to rebound, housing for seniors should not cohabitate with a "sober living community" and what retailer would want the once choice location? A Jenkins Arcade concept is no longer economically feasible albeit would be most welcome.
Downtown is not going to rebound in the sense of becoming a major shopping district again.
But if I were marketing Downtown, I'd push it as a place for low-cost "back office" space. The success of the Dish Network call center in the old National Works property proves that McKeesport is well suited for functions that don't require a retail presence, but which are labor intensive and require high-speed telephone and computer connections. Rents are a fraction of those in Monroeville or Cranberry.
Demolish the empty retail space next door (the former Ruben's Furniture, recently a D&K store) to create a loading dock
Install a generator and uninterrupted power supply where the bank vault used to be
Bring high-speed Internet capability to the building
Renovate the building floor by floor
Put a Kinko's or UPS store on the first floor
Put a vending area/snack bar on the mezzanine
Renovate the Lysle Boulevard parking garage
Build a security-controlled pedestrian bridge to the parking garage
Yeah, I know. I have a lot of ideas for spending other people's money.
But none of that seems unworkable. And it sounds like a scheme that would attract small start-up businesses --- web designers, writers, computer programmers --- who wouldn't mind being in a funky old building in McKeesport.
Don't we have some entrepreneurs around who might be willing to make it happen?
. . .
Finally: I know I didn't mention this yet, but I don't really have anything to say except for "Whoooo-hoooooooo!!!"
I think this is the first-ever PIAA title for Serra Catholic in 45 years.
(Like I said, if they've been recruiting, as detractors often allege, they've done a poor job.)
Incidentally, several people have congratulated me on the victory.
Um, for what? Wearing a Serra sweatshirt? Graduating from high school 15-plus years ago?
No, no, no. I didn't do anything. Skeeter Rozanski and his team did everything.
Besides, have you ever seen me play basketball? Pigs on ice are more graceful.
On the other hand, as Brian O'Neill pointed out, I am a proud (but defiant) graduate.
Go Eagles! Baseball and softball season are both here ...
Let's say you're White Oak Borough, and all of the elected members of the McKeesport Area School Board are from the city of McKeesport. There are no representatives from White Oak.
What could you do to correct this problem?
A.) Organize, raise money and field a strong slate of White Oak candidates for next year's election;
B.) Band together with the other communities in the school district --- Dravosburg, Versailles and South Versailles Township --- and petition the school board to change to election by district, instead of at-large; or
C.) Pitch a hissy fit.
If you chose "C," congratulations, you should run for White Oak Borough Council.
. . .
Sorry, but that's the only way I can read last week's news that certain White Oak elected officials think the reputation of McKeesport is so terrible that they should secede from the school district, or perhaps change its name.
(In fairness to those officials, they told the Daily News on Saturday that the name change suggestion was the "least important" item they discussed. It's possible that the Post-Gazette blew the story out of proportion.)
This isn't about the school district being named "McKeesport." It's about the fact that all of the elected school directors are from the city, and several of those are politically aligned with McKeesport Mayor Jim Brewster.
And some people who are upset are pouting, instead of taking action.
. . .
First: If they're truly worried about the reputation of the McKeesport Area School District, nothing is more harmful to its reputation than having elected officials bad mouthing the teachers, students and administrators in public.
In fact, if they wanted to encourage people to move to White Oak, that's the worst possible thing they could do.
. . .
Second: One White Oak councilman was quoted by the P-G as saying that Penn State McKeesport Campus' enrollment "spiraled" when it changed its name to Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus.
Well, spirals must be very small in White Oak.
According to Penn State University's Budget Office, enrollment is up by 22 students, to 783. That's 2.8 percent --- about what Penn State enrollment has gone up systemwide. Maybe I missed the traffic jams on Eden Park Boulevard, but I don't think so.
. . .
Third: Like it or not, White Oak is in the McKeesport area. McKeesport is not in the White Oak area.
McKeesport is three times larger than White Oak. And to get to White Oak, you have to drive through McKeesport. Two of the four main entrances are from the city.
So unless the borough plans to dig up roots and move someplace else, it's stuck with McKeesport as a neighbor.
. . .
Thus, White Oak's best interests are served by having a healthy McKeesport --- and that means a healthy McKeesport school district.
And the city's interests, naturally, are served by having a healthy White Oak, and West Mifflin's best interests are served with a healthy Duquesne, and so forth.
State Rep. Marc Gergely told the Daily News that he's against any name change. "The Mon Valley must continue to be more cohesive, from West Homestead to West Elizabeth," he told the News. Yes. Exactly.
. . .
Laughter may be the best medicine, and this story gave everyone in Pittsburgh another news article from McKeesport to laugh about. Jim and Randy of WDVE had a field day.
But we didn't need more people laughing at us. And those two councilors' comments sure didn't make anyone feel better, or solve any problems in the McKeesport area.
Come to think of it, those two White Oak councilmen hurt the reputation of the McKeesport Area School District. Maybe McKeesport should secede.
Published weekdays (usually), except holidays (and when we have something better to do) at McKeesport, Pa., by Tube City Online LLC, P.O. Box 94, McKeesport, Pa. 15134.
Opinions expressed here are those of the individual authors, and do not necessarily represent those of any organization. No warranty is given or implied for the information and opinions contained herein; the reader uses that information at his or her peril.
Also, objects in Tube City Online may be closer than they appear. If Tube City Online is swallowed, seek professional help immediately. Stop use of Tube City Online if condition persists or worsens. Tube City Online is produced in a facility that also includes Peanuts. Do not expose Tube City Online to open flames and keep it out of the reach of children. Do not back up, as severe tire damage may result. Not responsible for lost or stolen articles. Tube City Online is still not a significant source of saturated fats or Minnesota Fats.
The server logs show a noticeable upward bump in readership since the recent mentions in the Post-Gazette.
I am a lifelong resident of the McKeesport area (Versailles, Liberty Borough and West Mifflin) except for a year in Monongahela, Washington County, and two years when I lived in the dorm at college.
Meanwhile, the international media continues to supply dependable and sturdy "gritty hardscrabble Pennsylvania" cliches in their stories about the April 22 primary ... and beyond!
In Other Business: In the comments on Friday's Almanac, Alert Reader Donn wonders what a new owner could do with The People's Building:
This isn't about the school district being named "McKeesport." It's about the fact that all of the elected school directors are from the city, and several of those are politically aligned with McKeesport Mayor Jim Brewster.
Published weekdays (usually), except holidays (and when we have something better to do) at McKeesport, Pa., by Tube City Online LLC, P.O. Box 94, McKeesport, Pa. 15134.