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Police Car Payment Promised Promptly: City officials will have their promised federal stimulus money by the end of the week.

That's the word from Kevin Evanto, spokesman for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato.

"The check is in the mail, and McKeesport should receive it by Friday," Evanto told the Almanac on Tuesday, "specifically, $93,751.24 for four vehicles and $3,665.06 for computer equipment."

As the Almanac first reported Thursday, the city ordered four new Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors in April through a program sponsored by the U.S. Justice Department and funded through the so-called stimulus program that passed the U.S. Congress last February.

The money is part of $3.25 million in assistance to local law enforcement agencies that's being administered by Allegheny County.

But city officials became increasingly concerned because while the cars have arrived at Tri Star Motors in Christy Park, the money hadn't. City Administrator Dennis Pittman said Tuesday night the message from Evanto's office was "great news" and that a staffer in the office of U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Penn Hills, had also called to apologize for the delay.

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Blueroof Open House: City-based Blueroof Technologies will dedicate its newest "smart house" for older adults this Friday on Pennsylvania Avenue in Irwin.

The house near the Target store was constructed for Family Services of Western Pennsylvania, says John G. Bertoty, Blueroof executive director.

At a reception for local officials and human services providers, Blueroof will also demonstrate "retrofittable" technologies that can be added to existing homes, he says.

With assistance from the Quality of Life Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, Blueroof designs houses with devices and sensors that make it possible for people with limited mobility --- including disabled veterans, the handicapped and the elderly --- to live on their own, outside of a nursing home or other group facility.

The first of 13 planned "research cottages" in a proposed Blueroof "Independence Zone" near McKeesport's Downtown was dedicated in September 2009.

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Local Vet Named Hall-of-Famer: A West Mifflin resident and Army veteran will be inducted Friday into the Southwestern Pennsylvania Veterans Hall of Fame.

Mike Mauer, who served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, will be inducted along with other soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in an 11 a.m. ceremony at the Southwestern Veterans Center in Highland Park. The event is free and open to the public.

A life member of West Mifflin's VFW "Intrepid" Post 914, Mauer was an Army photojournalist and public affairs officer assigned to cover units, escort members of the media, and send information back to Army posts and civilian news outlets. He also was named non-commissioned officer in charge of the U.S. Central Command's command information office during the first Gulf War.

His efforts earned the Joint Service Commendation Media from Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf Jr., commander of all U.S. forces during the Gulf War, and the Keith L. Ware Award for journalism from the U.S. Army.

Since leaving active duty, Mauer has served as quartermaster for Post 914, organizing events to support troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and to welcome returning veterans. He and his wife, Marsey, have two daughters, Sarah, a sophomore at Pitt, and Rachel, a senior at West Mifflin Area Senior High School.

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