Category: News || By

Miscellaneous leftover news items that we have to use up before they go bad:

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Five new city police officers are expected to hit the streets next year, with the assistance of a state grant.

Frank P. Durante, Floyd M. Gault, Bryan P. Morris, Julian Thomas and Justin Toth, all of the city, are entering the Allegheny County Police Academy and expect to graduate in January, officials said.

City council this month approved a deal with the state to fund training expenses for the five, and obtain reimbursement from the state.

In a separate move, council also OK'd an application to the U.S. Justice Department for $14,154 to help pay for four new police cars.

The new cruisers will replace cars which have been damaged in accidents, or which have racked up so many miles as to be unrepairable.

Three of the cars are going into the patrol fleet; the fourth, a four-wheel-drive vehicle, will be used by police Chief Joe Pero, whose current car will be added to the police motor pool, officials said.

The federal grant will pay for the first year's lease payments on the four new vehicles.

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The former Penn-McKee Hotel and Eagles lodge are among 30 blighted properties that city council has approved for demolition.

Council voted 5-0 to accept the recommendations of Building Inspector Chris House and Fire Chief Kevin Lust that the properties are dangerous and pose a health and safety danger.

The condemned buildings include four houses in the 2900 block of Grover Avenue, three in the 1100 block of Craig Street, and others throughout the city, including several in 10th Ward.

As reported by the Almanac last month, the Eagles lodge on Market Street was the former home of a prominent local doctor, Henry W. Hitzrot, and was built in 1892 at a cost that would top $1 million in 2008 dollars.

The building was sold to the local lodge, or "aerie," of the Fraternal Order of Eagles in 1911. That lodge disbanded more than 15 years ago for lack of members.

A non-profit corporation called Museum Hair Institute now owns the Hitzrot house. State records indicate the principal officer of MHI is Henry W. Russell, and according to a report in the Pittsburgh Business Times, MHI recently obtained a $300,000 mortgage on the building.

The Penn-McKee, built in the 1920s, was the site of the first debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon and once boasted a nightclub and a ballroom in demand for weddings, formal gatherings, meetings and other events.

After years of decline, the hotel became a boardinghouse for transients and the indigent and closed in 1985.

Although county tax records list a corporation called "See Bee Inc." as the hotel's owner, a White Oak evangelist told the Almanac last month that he is trying to save the building.

No demolition date for any of the structures has been set.