As if things couldn't get worse on the transportation front...

So it seems nobody picked up on this sunday pg story about the State footing the bill to repair roadways damaged by underground mining:

"Our roads are taking a considerable beating from longwall mining," said Jim Kleissler, executive director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, a grassroots nonprofit group concerned with coal mining. "It's incredible that they can keep doing this at taxpayer's expense."

Each panel of coal undermined beneath the interstate is costing Pennsylvania taxpayers $1 million to $2 million in repairs, due to a 1962 decision by the state Mining Commission not to purchase the mineral rights beneath Interstates 70 and 79 when they were being built.

How did nobody at the time think it might be important to preserve the ground under which our ROADS PASS OVER??!?!

So far, seven coal panels from the Pittsburgh coal seam have undermined I-79 in Greene County, costing taxpayers between $6 million and $12 million in repairs, and it isn't stopping any time soon.

Foundation Coal Company operates the Emerald and Cumberland mines, which are located next to each other, and together are mining 17 panels of coal 400 to 500 feet beneath the interstate. The panels cross underneath the roadway, and nine more are to be mined during the next two years.

The speed limit was reduced and two lanes of traffic were recently closed because the Emerald Mine is removing the eighth panel of coal, which is more than two miles long.

When the first panel was mined in 2004, the roadway cracked and heaved in both the northbound and southbound lanes, and guide rails were bowed and twisted. During the next three years as panels were removed north and south of the first panel at a rate of two a year, more of the same damage continued.

This State, and particularly southwestern PA has a huge looming transportation problem, and not just mass transit - might as well throw underground threats on the pile.

Just wait until ten years after 80 is tolled and see how much $ has to be thrown at repairing the PA Turnpike due to increaseed truck traffic, along with the focus that will be upon retrofitting our bridges.

Not only is the infrastructure crumbling - look at the logistical snafu that literally brought traffic to a stop during the February snowstorm.

Come wind, rain, sleet or hail, nothing can stop PA transit authorities from failing to deliver - or our officials from really understanding the scope of the problem.

Nonsense

From yesterday's trib op-ed about open records:

Among requested exemptions: 911 recordings, autopsy reports, salaries of mid- to low-ranking workers at state-related universities and applications for opening casinos. Says committee Chairwoman Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, "We all understand this is a balancing act, and we're looking to find the right fulcrum."

No refutation in this worthless editorial – what is the Trib’s argument for having these matters become public?

But hey, who doesn’t want their loved one’s autopsy report as part of the public record.

I’m all for open records, well mostly – though more discussion is necessary to solve the problem of open salary access (it’s already hard enough for government to attract the best people) and personal privacy (in matters like the one mentioned above).

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From today's PG -

"Our bridge engineers use these numbers to manage our system and help us decide on prioritizing bridge needs," PennDOT Secretary Allen D. Biehler said in a statement accompanying the release. "The numbers should not be viewed as a measure of whether a bridge is safe or not. If a bridge is open, it is safe for travel." Mr. Biehler has said all 54 steel deck truss bridges in the state -- 28 owned by PennDOT and 26 others owned by cities or counties -- will be inspected by the end of November.

Brilliant. Just brilliant. Since the I-35W was open, I guess it was safe for travel.

How do these people get cabinet level positions? Does it require a removal of the brain-mouth filter?

Goings-on of interest

Just when you thought all the mills around here had closed, the PG finds this...

When Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle came under scrutiny last year for authorizing $27,000 for a controversial study written by her mother's boyfriend, she defended the study and its author saying, "He's a Ph.D. He's qualified." Lee Otto Johnson, who submitted the 85-page report on city health issues that consisted of reports written by other agencies and an essay on race and religion, does list a doctorate on his resume from Columbia State University.

But it's a school that never existed except as a company that sold phony degrees to people willing to buy them.

In another case that made headlines, the Pennsylvania attorney general sued the owners of a diploma mill called Trinity Southern University in 2004 after state employees paid $398 to obtain a master's of business administration for a cat named Colby Nolan.

Now everything makes sense. I understand where Tawanda was coming from - I’d be frightened of a cat with an MBA.

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I’m just glad there wasn’t any rioting by the poor folks who still didn’t have power last night. Though this person sounded quite upset:

"I can't breathe. It's just horrible, horrible," said Sandi Pickering, who has been without power in her Squirrel Hill home since Thursday. "It's getting dark now and I'm freaking. I'm a nervous wreck."

Has anyone else ever been downtown the Duquesne Light customer service center?

Poor Sandi probably just got back and was emotionally damaged.

The best way to describe it is…jail. There is a big plexi-glass box at the reception desk surrounded by safety glass, accompanied by a security guard. No employees in sight. You sign in, and fill out a form, then hand it to the security guard. An employee emerges from the back, and presses a release to open the box from their side of the security glass. You wait until your name is called. You head back into a narrow room with four windows. You pick up a phone, and stare through more safety glass into the soulless cold eyes of the Duquesne light customer service representative who looks at you as if you are some kind of ferocious Mon River-creature.

Moral of the story, don’t let your roommate pay the electric bill so late that you are forced to go to electric jail to get it turned back on.

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A sad day for Shadyside food and beverage connoisseurs .

Anyone who has ever been to Harris Grill (and perhaps, had the Cheeses of Nazareth) will agree the sooner it can be reopened, the better. Nice people, great outdoor seating area and atmosphere. A real shame.

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For those involved in the Burgher’s comment area on this post - a timely musing in the PG:

Here's a quick snapshot of men's thoughts on their professional pursuits, according to an upcoming survey in the September issue of Men's Health magazine. A full 60 percent of men said they work 41 to 60 hours per week, while 82 percent said they take work-related calls after hours. At the same time, 24 percent said they spend half of their day or less actually working. Employees feel more entitled to breaks during work hours because they're tethered to the office round the clock, said David Zinczenko, Men's Health editor-in-chief. "Our definition of work has changed," he said. "We're much more likely to be connected to the office 24-7."

I’m wondering if someone from the Mayor’s office wrote that…

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From The Comet’s headline…everyone should read this .

Seriously.

Way to go Bram.

Robin Hood Rendell steals laptops from weed n’ seed, gives to classrooms for the future

At least that’s my theory in response to this article in Today’s PG from Rich Lord.

While others may be at odds on the severity of last week’s storm, I think everyone can agree that misplacing 55k worth of computer equipment isn’t beneficial when trying to procure dough from the Feds.

As staff swirled, Washington expressed concerns. A six-page November letter to Mr.Ravenstahl from a Justice Department accountant indicated that Pittsburgh hadn't kept track of time staff spent on Weed and Seed, had failed at "monitoring of equipment and inventory procedures" and had used $31,145 that wasn't authorized on TV ads, computers and other expenses."

The administration has submitted revised budgets and new procedures, but hasn't heard from the Justice Department on whether its reply was adequate.

From February through April of this year, there was no full-time city staff dedicated to Weed and Seed. Ms. Buchanan shifted Mr. McLean into the program full time to try to hold it together. "You don't even want to know what people in the neighborhoods say" about the program's status, said Mr. Chatman, now working on Erie's Weed and Seed effort but living part time in Pittsburgh. Community leaders tell him communication has suffered. "It's kind of hard to talk when there's a revolving door."

The real loser in this isn’t as much the Mayor, who can plead “transition”, but the communities who already face an uphill battle in convincing residents that this program is good for their neighborhood.

Recent successful dialogue by community leaders in Sheraden and the West End neighborhoods and by community leaders in coordination with the Coro Center in the hilltop communities have demonstrated that the locals really do have a vested interest in repairing these once - thriving neighborhoods now rife with abandoned properties and crime.

When a community is finally able to turn the corner on popular support, the city should be right there and prepared to respond. Delays only reinforce the downward spiral sentiment that has these citizens so frustrated in the first place.

If it's not cats, it's golf

For the longest time, my favorite city council quote has been:

Ms. Carlisle said that's an outdated perception. "That was yesteryear," she said. "In 2007, cats are more aggressive than they used to be."

But today I rejoice, for Kim Lyons from the Trib has given us a new gem:

The golf course is as much a city property as the zoo, which also is run by a non-city agency, Shields said. "We own the monkeys, and we own the golf course," he said. "We should take care of them."

It's nice to know that in the midst of handing out a contract lacking any competition whatsover to a firm that just happens to be majority backed by a major democratic supporter, city council has time to stop and care for the monkeys.

Does anyone else get the impression that the Trib finds Mr. Motznik a little off target in this case?

Shields pointed out that under the provisions of Act 47, the city can't use capital funds to reopen city pools.

and

Motznik said that amount of money could be used to reopen two city pools in his district, although capital funds can only be used on improvement projects.

I bet Jim is just doing this for the votes. It's hot outside, and Burghers need their pools. I also hear there is quite a bit of overlap between the anti-cat crowd and the anti-golf crowd. He's probably trying to make up for lost support. That damn Koch.

Goings-on of Interest

Though I do enjoy the drinking and driving line at the end, this PG ed misses the bus (see, anybody can do witty half-assed puns). They skipped right over the good stuff. In my recollection, the assembly authorized these new taxes as "options", potential taxes that would be considered over long and thoughtful candlelit council meetings. Need a memory jog?

Not so fast, countered state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill.

"It's not imposing a tax. This is enabling legislation," said Mr. Frankel. "We need to provide alternatives for county government to be able to raise revenue to support the county effort on transportation." Right now, the only means of raising that money is to increase property taxes, he said, and "the property tax is the last thing we want to raise."

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said: "My commitment to the public is that we're going to fix the cost structure at the Port Authority first" before pushing for any new taxes. Mr. Onorato said that other urban counties, including Philadelphia, have per-drink, car rental and other taxes available to come up with required matching funds for their transit systems. He wants Allegheny County to have a similar menu of items as other cities when it goes looking for the $25 million it needs in matching funds. Combining a 10 percent drink tax with a rental car tax, total expected revenue would come to about $38 million.

County Council President Rich Fitzgerald cautioned against assuming that a 10 percent tax is imminent or inevitable. If the bill passes, the possible tax would be considered in the mix of the normal budgeting process next fall, with public hearings "just like we did with the smoking bill."
If the county adopted an alcohol tax it would not necessarily be the full 10 percent. The key point, he emphasized, is that it would be up to the county, rather than the Legislature. Those who oppose it "don't want Allegheny County to be a home rule county. That's what it sounds like."

Frankel-y, I don't think anyone is suprised. In tax-happy Allegheny County, Donorato will achieve Steeler-like adoration if we see a property tax cut while saving the PAT buses. I also enjoy how the ed board throws a soft little jab at Dan and then follows it right up with a complement. You would think Donorato and the PG have been dating long enough that they could just say what they think without having to sleep on the couch.

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What is wrong with some people? Stories like this make me sick. Though I'm not sure why the PG found it important to share with us that the drive through assailants were "hooting". I hope they catch this knucklehead and dunk him the fry-o-lator.

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Totally awesome. I'm a believer that a new stream of business bearing support from within the community will go a long way in the Hill. As a new student I was told to stay out of the Hill District and don't drive there after dark. Hopefully the new arena / Pitt athletic fields / business development will bring new people into the Hill - based upon location alone it should be seen as the most important investment in city redevelopment, not to mention its contribution to the Burgh community.

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This one got me thinking of how many normal household items could end my life. Honestly, who throws a drill? My childhood memories of Philadelphia are so pleasant, filled with Independence Hall, a big crack in a Bell, a giant walk-in heart at the Franklin Institute, a whiz-with from Pats...

and now it seems like somewhere that Kurt Russel should be dropped in and told to escape from. Snake Plissken for mayor of Philly.