William V. Campbell grew up a block away from the new education and recreation center that now bears his name at Barrett Elementary School in the Steel Valley School District.

Long before he was an Ivy League graduate, father, college football coach and Silicon Valley mogul, Mr. Campbell was a Homestead student and athlete — just last week celebrating the 52nd anniversary of Homestead High School’s class of 1958.

Many of the fields and facilities that Homestead students use today are named for the Campbell family.

William V. Campbell Athletic Field is named for his father, a veteran of World War I, mill worker and a superintendent of schools of the former Homestead School District.

A middle school gymnasium and athletic room at the Carnegie Library of Homestead are named for his late brother, James J. Campbell, a former Navy commander and fighter pilot who, like the younger William Campbell, was a standout athlete at Homestead high.

The new William V. Campbell Education & Recreation Center at Barrett Elementary is named for the boy who grew up watching the Homestead Grays with his dad and who played football and volleyball and ran track in high school.

It’s for the Mon Valley kid who moved to New York City to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees from Columbia University, where he later coached football for six seasons.

And it’s for the local benefactor who has donated about $20 million to his hometown school for athletic facilities, classrooms and technology with what he’s earned as an executive and consultant with some of the most recognizable companies — Apple, Google, Kodak and Intuit, which is best known for its Quicken software.

[ Full article available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10238/1082712-55.stm ]

By Vivian Nereim, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The aging gymnasium is an unlikely place to hold the hopes of a community. The walls are faded orange and the basketball hoops have long been out of service, bare backboards with painted-over graffiti. It is cold in the winter and stuffy in the summer. The floor is uneven, coated with dust.

But parents and stakeholders in Homestead believe that with enough money and hard work, the empty gymnasium off 17th Avenue could become a haven for their children, who have little to do after Steel Valley Middle School lets out except sit in the Carnegie Library or wander the streets.

“If they’re not somewhere safe, then they’re on the corner, or they’re watching somebody fighting,” said the Rev. Terry Groce, the mother of a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl.

For more than six months, the Rev. Jim Cannistraci has been formulating a plan to give Steel Valley Middle School students a safe space to stay after school, supervised and well-fed.

“None of us want to have to go through another school year and not have a place for our kids,” said Rev. Cannistraci, executive director of the Methodist Union of Social Agencies (MUSA), an organization that has provided services for the Mon and Steel Valley for eight decades.

With the school year fast approaching, Rev. Cannistraci and his allies are searching for enough funding to turn the gymnasium into a state-licensed facility where MUSA can host an after-school program for middle schoolers until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.

[ Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10193/1072156-55.stm#ixzz0tTPLbNty ]

School directors at Tuesday night’s meeting unanimously approved a proposed 2010-11 budget with a tax hike of 2.86 mills, setting the millage at 24.07 mills.

The increase is the maximum allowed by the state, with a .86-mill increase through the Act 1 index and 2 mills allowed through special exemptions. Expenses are listed at $27,570,375 and revenue at $27,950,668, leaving an expected surplus of more than $380,000.

“I don’t like it, but I had to approve it,” school director Donald Bajus said.

The budget will be available for public review June 9, advertised for final adoption June 19, and up for a final vote June 29.

District business manager Mark Cherpak said the proposed budget contains all the revenue and expenses as listed at the last finance committee meeting.

Those figures are $11.2 million in local property taxes, $1 million from delinquent real estate collection, $800,000 from earned income tax, $100,000 from realty transfer tax and $200,000 in other local revenue.

[ Full story available at: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailynewsmckeesport/s_683022.html ]

Homestead police have identified a Steel Valley Midget Football Association coach who is facing gun and drug charges in connection with a raid of his borough home.

Police Chief Jeff DeSimone identified Terrence Waddell, 26, of 314 W. Twelfth Ave., Monday morning as the suspect who jumped from a second-story window and landed on his head in an attempt to elude officers executing a search warrant on Friday.

Waddell suffered wrist, head and back injuries as a result of that attempted escape. He was transported to UPMC Presbyterian, and was transferred over the weekend to Allegheny County Jail, where he is being held on $500,000 bond, DeSimone said.

Waddell faces charges of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession with intent to deliver, felony weapons charges, two counts of receiving stolen property, and possibly other charges in connection with the Friday incident, police said.

DeSimone said a collaborative effort among Munhall police, Homestead police and informants led to the investigation that ended with Waddell’s arrest.

[Full story available at: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailynewsmckeesport/s_675108.html]

Steel Valley High School football players got the man they wanted as their new head coach.

The school board on Tuesday unanimously approved the hiring of West Homestead resident Rodney R. Steele II to replace Ray Braszo, who resigned as the Ironmen’s head coach after being hired as West Mifflin Area’s football coach last month.

Steel Valley players Delrece Williams, Jared Juristy and Nolan McGuire, all heading into their senior season, came to the February workshop meeting to lend their support for Steele before the new coaching position even had been posted.

Their request was honored Tuesday night, and Steele was welcomed with a round of applause.

“It’s good getting a fresh start here,” Steele said after the meeting. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to come back home and serve as a head football coach where you reside and where you’re employed. I’m familiar with the kids in the area. I look forward to working with the faculty and administration, and also helping these young men achieve their goals in football and in society as being well-rounded citizens.”

Steele coached many of the team’s current players when he served as Steel Valley Youth Football Organization’s offensive coordinator in 2003 and defensive coordinator in 2004.

[Full story available at: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailynewsmckeesport/s_673148.html]

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The board passed a preliminary budget last week that included a three-mill increase for the 2010-11 school year, which translates to a 14 percent boost from this school year’s budget.

Mark Cherpak, director of operational services for the district, explained following Tuesday night’s regular board meeting that increased costs in staff salary, retirement plans and health benefit payments led to the tax increase.

“Those three factors were the main factors in the increase,” Mr. Cherpak said.

Teachers’ salaries and benefits account for nearly $18 million of the preliminary budget. A little more than $1 million of the budget will be consumed by retirement benefits.

[Full story available at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10056/1038357-55.stm ]

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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 ]

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 ]