Archive for February, 2009

By Moriah Balingit
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Munhall Police Chief Patrick Campbell said he was sickened when one of his officers, Michael Curtin, was charged last year with soliciting teenage girls online for sex and offering them money to allow him to suck their toes.

So he said he was disappointed when Mr. Curtin, who was fired by the borough a year ago when allegations arose, received only five years probation under a plea agreement when he was sentenced two weeks ago. The probation terms forbid Mr. Curtin from using computers or texting on his cell phone.

He said earlier this week that he planned to write a letter to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office expressing his disagreement with the way the case was handled.

“With the severity of what the charges were and the fact that he was placed in a position of trust and authority in this town, I think it would be appropriate to see some jail time out of that,” he said.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09057/951716-55.stm ]

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Move over Ty Pennington. You’re about to get some competition from students at Steel Valley High School who are planning their own Mon Valley version of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

About 100 students — members of The Future Is Mine and the Environmental Club and some of the high school’s vo-tech students — plan to spend May 1 and possibly May 2 making outside improvements to 15 homes within the school district’s boundaries.

The work will include such activities as cutting grass, planting flowers and grass, mulching, pulling weeds, painting and building ramps.

The event is part of Pittsburgh Cares Hands on Pittsburgh project, which will involve more than 2,000 youth and adult volunteers working throughout the region on volunteer projects.

But instead of being assigned to one of the more than 100 service projects sponsored by Pittsburgh Cares, the Steel Valley students decided to create their own project that benefits residents of the district, said Ryan Dunmire, a business education teacher at Steel Valley High School who is the sponsor of The Future is Mine.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09057/951715-55.stm ]

From shuttered storefronts to near-empty corridors, hard times have hit some of the region’s largest shopping malls.

Once the pillars of local consumerism, malls from Frazer to Monroeville to West Mifflin are struggling with vacancies as the nation’s deepening recession takes its toll on retailers and shopper confidence.

At Century III Mall, one wing of the sprawling West Mifflin complex is nearly empty because of an exodus of stores. By a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette count, more than 30 storefronts are empty.

In Frazer, the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills is coping with some 37 vacancies, as the huge ranch-style mall continues to struggle to find a niche since its opening in 2005.

And in the east suburbs, Monroeville Mall, where the 1978 cult classic “Dawn of the Dead” was filmed, finds itself amidst a real-life retail horror story, with roughly 20 empty storefronts by the newspaper’s count.

Some local malls are bucking the climate, most notably Ross Park Mall, which has become an upscale mecca with stores like Nordstrom, Tiffany’s, Michael Kors and L.L. Bean. But even it isn’t immune. About a dozen stores were vacant during a recent visit, although new tenants have been named for six of them.

Experts say it’s no surprise that area malls are taking it on the chin, with retail sales slumping nationwide and big-name chains such as Circuit City, Boscov’s, KB Toys and Steve & Barry’s going bankrupt.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09053/950837-28.stm ]

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Council President Rich Fitzgerald came to the Carnegie Library of Homestead yesterday bearing a significant gift — a $150,000 check from the county Department of Economic Development.

The funds came from a Community Development Block Grant and will be used to begin infrastructure improvements in preparation for the installation of an elevator that will make all three floors of the library, built in 1898, accessible to the disabled, said Library Board President Dan Lloyd. The library is still seeking funding for the elevator.

The grant was the second major gift recently received by the historic library, which is actually located in Munhall. The library board plans to soon renovate and enlarge the children’s and teen area with a $50,000 grant from the Allegheny Foundation and a $10,000 gift from Janney Investments.

The project will enlarge the current 850-square-foot children’s library by about 50 percent, said Mr. Lloyd, who is also a Munhall councilman. He made the announcements at a late-day news conference yesterday at the library.

[ Full story available at: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09050/950267-100.stm ]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Two Homestead residences were destroyed and two others damaged in a pre-dawn fire today. One resident was treated for smoke inhalation.

The two buildings that were destroyed were a duplex at 344-346 E. 11th Ave. and the house behind it at 1106 McClure Ave.

A resident of 344 E. 11th Ave, identified as Patricia Hoston, was taken to UPMC Mercy for smoke inhalation. That was the only reported injury.

About eight people had to be evacuated from four houses after the fire started after 6 a.m. Initial indications from fire officials is that the fire was ignited by a candle.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09046/949379-100.stm ]