Munhall

By Mary Niederberger
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The president of the Steel Valley school board and the district’s superintendent walked out of last night’s meeting as a resident was attempting to discuss a citizen coalition she is trying to form to work with the board and administration on district projects and programs.

The abrupt end came after a meeting during which the board, at the recommendation of Superintendent William Kinavey, eliminated three administrative positions and created another without much explanation.

After the board’s actions and during the citizen comments portion at the end of the meeting, resident Sharon Ford had used the three-minute time limit the board has imposed on public comments. She wanted to continue, but board President Joseph Ducar announced her time had expired and immediately gaveled the meeting to a close. Then, he and Dr. Kinavey abruptly walked out of the meeting.

The rest of the board, with the exception of school director Edward McCallister who was absent, remained and continued a discussion with Ms. Ford for approximately 20 more minutes. Several board members explained to Ms. Ford that it is common practice for public bodies to impose time limits on comments.

Ms. Ford has exceeded the time limit during previous addresses to the board and has tried to maintain that it is not legal for the school board to enforce the limit.

In the end, board members encouraged Ms. Ford to prepare and deliver a written report to board secretary Mark Cherpak to be included in the packets that they receive on the Fridays before board meetings. The hope is that would eliminate the need for long presentations by Ms. Ford.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09175/979489-100.stm ]

By Ken Fibbe
Tribune-Review

The Carnegie Library of Homestead receives “horrendous” support from government and is seeking more money to combat the effects of the recession on the library’s music hall and fitness center, board president Dan Lloyd said.

“We aren’t in dire straits, but we still need more money,” Lloyd said.

Marilyn Jenkins, executive director of the Allegheny County Library Association, said the four municipalities the library serves gave it about $25,000 last year, far less than the $5 per capita the state requires. Munhall, Homestead, West Homestead and Whitaker have a combined population of about 19,000 people.

The Regional Asset District, funded by an extra 1 percent on the county’s sales tax, supports 44 libraries in Allegheny County and gave $67,000 to the Homestead library last year. The library could get more RAD money by 2010 if the library association approves a funding formula that would lessen emphasis on municipal support, Executive Director David Donahoe said.

[ Full story available at: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_625426.html ]

By Karamagi Rujumba
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In a field of knee-high grass behind the hulking frame of what is left of Carrie Furnace — an expanse of blast furnaces that once produced as much as 1,200 tons of iron per day for the former Homestead Works of U.S. Steel mill — sits a rusted torpedo car.

The cylindrical container made of steel, together with hundreds more, was at one time an indispensable tool in the steel producing days of the Mon Valley. Back when massive steel factories still churned plumes of smoke over much of the region, torpedo cars didn’t sit rusting away.

They were used to treat and transport iron via a hot metal rail bridge that runs across half of the Carrie Furnace site in Rankin and Swissvale, over the Monongahela River, and into Homestead where it was made into steel.

That era is long gone, but Allegheny County, which in 2005 bought the 168-acre land parcel where the Carrie Furnace had operated for 102 years, is in the final stages of environmental cleanup and expects to start marketing the land for redevelopment this year.

[ Full article available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09138/970906-56.stm ]

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

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 ]