Steel Valley Matters

Steel Valley Rotary 12th Annual Big Band Dinner Dance

2012-02-14T19:01:00.004-05:00

Saturday March 31, 2012

Westwood Golf Club

St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish Fish Fry

2012-02-08T22:26:00.003-05:00

Every Friday

12 Noon to 7pm

World Famous Fish Sandwich, Shrimp, Haluski, Pierogies & More.

Eat In or Take Out - 412-462-1743

St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish
363 W. 11th Ave,
Homestead, PA 15120

Jack Butler waited a long time to get into the Hall of Fame

2012-02-06T00:37:00.002-05:00

How long has Jack Butler been waiting to get into the Hall of Fame?

He played his last game in 1959, before 18 of the 32 current NFL head coaches were born, and his eligibility for the Hall of Fame began 48 years ago. In that time Butler watched all but one of the other players who joined him on the NFL’s 50th Anniversary Team go into Canton without ever getting the call. The call finally came on Saturday as Butler was the one Seniors Committee nominee to earn election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“I never thought it would happen, but here I am!” said Butler after getting the news.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s article about Butler’s election has some information that makes it even clearer that Butler was playing in a very different football world than the one we live in right now. When he got to the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 1951, Butler was a wide receiver. The team switched his position to defensive end before he finally settled in at cornerback.

by Josh Alper on February 5, 2012, 9:13 AM EST

Steel Valley development projects detailed

2011-11-13T07:55:00.000-05:00

Officials in three boroughs that reap benefits of The Waterfront are trying to drum up support for projects they say will build on the success of the retail complex.

Local and state politicians and development and business representatives on Thursday held a news conference at the West Homestead Borough Building to detail plans for residences and a cultural center expansion, saying they are key to continuing the revitalization of Munhall, Homestead and West Homestead.

"We're trying to link The Waterfront and its success to the business district and the municipalities to rebuild that," said Homestead Council President Drew Borcik, who is also co-chairman of the Steel Valley Intergovernmental Initiative.

The projects would be part of what has been dubbed "The Avenues of the Steel Valley" —Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth avenues — which run through all three towns and hosted a bustling business district before the decline of the steel industry.

Groups, including the Steel Valley Enterprise Zone Corp., are working with government loan and tax credit programs to rehabilitate buildings and attract small businesses, said Chuck Starrett, Enterprise Zone coordinator for the corporation.

One of those efforts is a planned expansion of the Bulgarian-Macedonian National Educational & Cultural Center on West Eighth Avenue in West Homestead.

The 81-year-old organization has outgrown the building it has occupied since 1936 — 22,000 visitors toured the facility last year — so it plans to add a cafe, gift shop and museum space in an adjacent lot, President Patricia Penka French said.

With a $150,000 grant from Allegheny County, the cultural group this fall acquired an adjacent lot with three dilapidated buildings, Executive Director Walter Kolar said. It then used $100,000, three-fourths of which came from a Steel Valley Enterprise Zone loan, to demolish the buildings.

The project's $1.1 million cost, including a $250,000 grant match from the state, would mostly be raised from donors.

French expects ground to be broken in the spring.

North Shore-based developer a.m. Rodriguez Associates Inc. also announced plans to develop One Homestead, which would include a 30-unit apartment building with ground-floor commercial space on Eighth Avenue. The plan also includes 18 townhouses, three loft units, community space and a leasing office in the former post office on Amity Street.

The developer is purchasing the property for $68,000 from the county.

Work on the $12 million project to create the low- and moderate-rent units is contingent upon funding assistance, including $10 million in tax credits from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency by April, he said.

By Tory N. Parrish, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 11, 2011

Special Preview Screening of a New "Ghost Hunters" episode called "Ghost of Carnegie"

2011-10-26T20:14:00.003-04:00

Ready for a true Pittsburgh-style haunting?

The Carnegie Library of Homestead is featuring a special preview screening of a new "Ghost Hunters" episode called "Ghost of Carnegie" on Saturday, October 29.

Previously aired on the Scfy channel on September 20th, this is a unique opportunity to see it where it happened. The episode, which airs again on the SyFy Channel (Channel 680 on Verizon) at 11 a.m. on Halloween day -- Monday, October 31 -- follows the Ghost Hunters crew as they explore the Library and Music Hall in the middle of the night, and encounter disembodied voices shouting frantically, doors mysteriously closing, books moving by themselves on the Library shelves and the voices of ladies giggling in the basement locker room long after everyone has gone home.

Two screenings will be offered Saturday night, a matinee for families at 4 p.m. and an "after dark" 7 p.m. show.

Special tours of the Library basement, locker rooms, Music Hall and other sites of reported hauntings at the Carnegie Library will take place after the screenings.

Cookies and refreshments for kids will be served, and wine and beer will be available for adults.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and will be available at the door.

Wear your costume for more fun!!

Carnegie Library of Homestead (Located in Munhall)
510 E 10th Avenue,
Munhall PA 15120
412-462-3444
www.homesteadlibrary.org

Allegheny Passage trail link under way

2011-10-07T20:56:00.000-04:00

Four bicyclists who were about to embark on a five-day Pittsburgh-to-Washington, D.C., ride got a surprise sendoff Thursday from one of the main architects of the Great Allegheny Passage trail.

Jack Paulik, project manager for Regional Trail Corp., was at The Waterfront to monitor the start of work on the newest trail improvement -- a 3,000-foot dedicated bike lane on East Waterfront Drive in Munhall.

The lane will begin near the giant blue Marcegaglia industrial building, hooking directly with the recently opened 3-mile section that goes to Grant Avenue in Duquesne. It will follow East Waterfront Drive past the historic Pump House to near the first apartment building, linking with another trail section that dives behind the apartments and several office buildings and restaurants.

The bike lane will be 9 feet wide to accommodate two-way traffic, Mr. Paulik said. It will be separated from vehicle traffic by a 5-foot-wide buffer strip, marked with delineator poles (sometimes called "candles") every 32 feet. Two 12-foot-wide lanes will be maintained for cars and trucks.

"I don't think anybody's done a bike lane like this in the region," said Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance. "Munhall Borough was phenomenally cooperative."

Restriping the road and installing the delineators and signs should take about two weeks, Mr. Paulik said.

Original plans called for building the trail through the Marcegaglia property, but after prolonged discussions, company executives decided not to allow it, Mr. Paulik said.

Aside from the wasted time, that might have been a blessing -- the cost of the bike lane is about $42,000 (paid for by the Colcom Foundation) while building the trail on the Marcegaglia site would've cost an estimated $400,000. The savings will be invested in other trail improvements.

Completion of the bike lane leaves the one-mile gap across the Sandcastle Waterpark and Keystone Metals sites as the only incomplete piece of the Great Allegheny Passage. Progress has been made on design and financing for that section and construction on the Sandcastle property may begin this fall, Mr. Paulik said.

The last piece will be finished sometime next year, but with federal Transportation Enhancement funding in the mix, the project is subject to a complicated review process that makes it difficult to give a specific completion date, he said.

The bicyclists, all from Frederick, Md., were making their first ride on the passage, which goes from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., where it meets the C&O Towpath to connect to Washington.

They delayed the start of their trip by a few minutes to get a preview from Mr. Paulik of the scenic new trail section connecting The Waterfront to Duquesne, and to have their picture taken with him.

"Your money's done good work," said Gaye Eckenrode, who was joined by friends Megan Miller, Randy Austin and Jeff Austin for the ride.

Friday, October 07, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazett

Quick Getaway for Fall

2011-10-03T17:59:00.003-04:00

• What to do: The scenery changes dramatically along a new leg of the Great Allegheny Passage that officially opened in June in Homestead and connects with a well-marked existing bike route to Boston -- a round trip of roughly 24 miles. It brings riders up close and personal to Pittsburgh's industrial heritage -- U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Works, Braddock Locks and Dam on the Monongahela, warehouses and rail yards -- and transforms into bucolic trails at Boston (where you can continue on to Washington, D.C., if you want).

• Where to start: Anywhere in the Waterfront complex in Homestead, but many park at the Pump House lot, across from Lowe's Home Improvement store. You'll have a short ride on the sidewalk before reaching the paved bike trail.

• What to see: You'll cross a new 170-foot-long bridge in Whitaker over six sets of active train tracks, then follow the trail behind Kennywood's rollercoaster and Pit Fall. In Duquesne, you'll cross a 110-foot-long span in the RIDC industrial park and then another bridge over the Mon into McKeesport. The route follows the shoreline then turns off the bike trail, over active railroad tracks and into town. Follow the white bike symbols on the sidewalk on Lysle Boulevard. A Great Allegheny Passage sign at the McKeesport Municipal Building on Lysle invites cyclists to use the restrooms there. The route follows along Gergely Riverfront Park and you'll pick up the bike trail again to cross the Albert V. "Bud" Belan Bridge (15th Street Bridge) that connects McKeesport with Port Vue and Liberty over the Youghiogheny River.

On the other side, cross Liberty Way (be careful with the traffic -- this is the busiest spot you'll cross) and follow the route on lightly traveled River Ridge Road (we never saw a car on it) and connect once again to the bike trail. You'll soon pass through Dead Man's Hollow, where the trail along the Yough becomes flat, shaded and beautiful. There are public restrooms on the left at Boston Ballfield Park and farther down the trail bike and kayaking rentals, shops and eateries in Boston

.• Fun factor: Definitely 8, for the back-door peek of Kennywood.

Friday, September 30, 2011

By Virginia Linn, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cultural center in West Homestead starts new season of fundraising sale

2011-10-03T17:56:00.001-04:00

Since moving from Iowa to Pittsburgh a year and a half ago, Jim and Susan Graham have been sampling the region's ethnic offerings.

On Saturday, the Greenfield couple stopped by the Bulgarian-Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center in West Homestead for the opening day of the center's most popular fundraiser -- Soup Sega!, which means Soup Now!

They bought creamy mushroom noodle soup, spicy tomato with dill dumplings soup, and cheeze banitza, bite-size cheese strudels filled with feta and cottage cheese.

Saturday was the start of the nonprofit organization's 13th sale of takeout homemade soup and other foods. The sale is held four days a week and runs until the first week of May.

David Harabik of Munhall plans to stop in weekly for the foods he said he cannot get anywhere else: meatball noodle soup and spinach banitza.

Other soups made from traditional Bulgarian recipes include gluten-free Balkan bean; vegan white bean; spinach and rice; lentil; and potato leek.

A popular vegan soup is spicy African yam, which contains yams, peanut butter, onions, carrots, tomatoes and garbanzo beans.

Other foods for sale include gyuvech, or beef stew with cabbage, green beans, carrots, potatoes, okra and other vegetables; pulneni chushki, or stuffed peppers; yagni, spanak I oris, or lamb with spinach and rice in a savory sauce; and cherry/apple strudels, or layered phyllo filled with a cherry/apple/walnut mixture with cinnamon.

The sale funds about 75 percent of the center's operating costs of roughly $1,500 per month.

Organizers hope that next year customers will be able to dine outdoors in a garden. They plan to create one on 20,000 square feet of adjacent property the organization recently acquired through a $150,000 Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund grant from Allegheny County.

The center also was awarded $250,000 in state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding, which requires $250,000 in matching funds. Once secured, that funding will be used to construct the garden and a cafe and gift shop at the center building and install a parking lot on the newly acquired land.

Center president Patricia French of Mt. Lebanon, whose parents were co-founders of the center in 1930, said she envisions a daily food sale once the garden opens, with dinner served on weekends.

It was her idea, while brainstorming for a new fundraiser in 1998, to hold Soup Sega!

"I had no idea it would take off like this," she said.

The sale is held 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Bulgarian-Macedonian center at 449 West 8th Ave. The cost of soup is $7 per quart, or $3.50 per half quart. Food items range from $5 to $7 and can be ordered via telephone or online. Weekday orders should be telephoned in advance. Payment is by cash or check only.

More information on the fundraiser and the center: 412-461-6188, 412-831-5101 or www.bmnecc.org.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

By Margaret Smykla

Margaret Smykla, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

‘Ghost Hunters’ set sights on Homestead haunts

2011-09-20T20:12:00.000-04:00

Ghosts at the former Homestead police station are ready for their close-up.

They, along with borough officials, will be featured on the Syfy original series "Ghost Hunters" Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Homestead police Chief Jeff DeSimone is featured in one of the promos for the episode titled "Ghost of Carnegie."

"Can't wait to see it," he said Monday morning. "I actually found out by accident (when it was airing). I was watching the show last week, and I saw a commercial for this week's show. Lo and behold, there I am on TV."

Crews filmed part of the episode outside the facility near the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Amity Street in May.

Officers were interviewed, and police secretary Vicci Kenna. Kenna was filmed in a place she thought she would never have to return -- the old station's basement.

Paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson were not at the station during that part of production.

DeSimone said he is not sure what findings will be presented Wednesday.

"It goes to editing and they do whatever. We're just curious to see how the show turned out," he said.

Kenna promised Monday morning that the TV spotlight will not "turn" her "Hollywood."

"I am so ready (for the show)," she said. "They want my autograph now because they figure that afterwards, when I make it big, then I might charge for autographs. I said, OK. I'll never forget where I came from."

Kenna and the chief said the department will not have a viewing party.

"We're gathering at our own abodes," she said.

Another trailer on the show's website, video.syfy.com/shows/ghosthunters, shows investigators using devices and a dog to search for paranormal activity at the music hall in the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Munhall.

Library president Dan Lloyd said the hunters explored the entire facility, including the athletic club, the pool, the boiler room, the main hall, the adult reading room and the music hall.

"They had all kind of equipment set up, listening devices and stuff," Lloyd said.

Staffers reported hearing and seeing unexplainable phenomena. A mysterious death in the pool was reported by the old Homestead News Messenger in November 1899.

According to that report, Robert E. Peebles, 25, died Nov. 28 around 10 p.m. "under mysterious circumstances" and "was found dead in 8 feet of water."

The episode promo online did not show the pool.

Lloyd said he is not sure what they are going to show, but he and library staff are anxious to find out.

"I think it's good," Lloyd said of having the library be part of the show. "It's fun. Some people take it seriously. If that's what they're into, that's fine.

"It gives us an opportunity to tell our story about a pretty historic place. I have friends that watch it religiously. We're all going to be watching it.

"We were going to try to put something together to watch it in the music hall, but we just were so busy with so many other things that we didn't get to do it. I'm sure most of the library people will be watching."

Ghost Hunters is not the first paranormal group to investigate the former police station, which originally was built as a post office. Hauntings Research conducted a study in May 2010 and released its findings in September of that year.

Hauntings Research founder Ed Ozosky said at the time that the jail cells contain a vortex for souls and spirits crossing into and out of the living world.

"I totally lost track of how many people were in there," Ozosky said. "One of the reasons there were so many people is that it literally had an open doorway for spirits to come and go ... (finding) a vortex is very rare."

The Greater Pittsburgh Paranormal Society gathered nearly 30 hours of video and 100 hours of audio at the former police station in 2008.

The recordings reportedly revealed screams coming from the basement and human figures moving about in a locked office.

DeSimone said the Syfy show could be a positive thing for Homestead.

"If nothing else, I look at it as something on the lighter side of life," he said. "It definitely isn't a bad thing. Sure as hell beats somebody getting shot, or a fire, or a murder.

"It's all been a pleasant experience. I made some new friends. I keep in contact with them. They're down-to-earth people. When I talk to them, we don't even talk about ghost investigations."

Even with all of the explorations and findings, the chief remains skeptical about the supernatural activity in his jurisdiction.

"I'm no further ahead in how I felt now than I felt before," he said. "With all the investigations and stuff they've done, I don't believe, I don't disbelieve, I don't know and I still don't know."

Syfy is available for Comcast customers in the Steel Valley, West Mifflin and vicinity on Channel 41; in Monroeville on Channel 60; and in McKeesport, Elizabeth and Irwin areas on Channel 127. On FiOS systems, Syfy is Channel 180; on DirecTV, it is Channel 244, and on Dish Network, it is Channel 122.

By Michael DiVittorio, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Steelers' great Butler gets Canton nomination

2011-08-24T19:54:00.000-04:00

Former Steelers cornerback Jack Butler took his longest leap in his long wait at the door of the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he became one of two Seniors Committee nominees today.

A Pittsburgh native who lives in Munhall, Butler, 83, joins guard Dick Stanfel as the two seniors finalists for election in the Hall's Class of 2012. They will join 15 modern-era candidates on the ballot; the other candidates will not be chosen until December. The two seniors do not compete with the modern candidates for a spot in the Hall but are voted on separately and often both seniors are elected.

Both Butler and Stanfel were members of the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1950s.

Butler, a 6-1, 200-pound cornerback who played at St. Bonaventure, played nine seasons with the Steelers from 1951-59. He earned Pro Bowl honors four straight seasons (1956-59) and was named first-team All-NFL in the final three years of his career. Butler had 52 career interceptions for 827 yards and four touchdowns that included a league-high and career best 10 interceptions during the 1957 season.

Butler, who never played football in high school, went undrafted but, as the press release from the Hall of Fame stated, "quickly developed into one of the finest defensive players of the decade noted as not only a great interceptor but also as an outstanding tackler." When he retired because of a leg injury that nearly killed him, he was second in career interceptions in the NFL. He returned four of them for touchdowns, along with scoring on one fumble return.

After his retirement, Butler became a coach briefly, then went into scouting with the Steelers and became director of the BLESTO scouting network, a job he held for four decades.

Stanfel, a second-round pick from San Francisco by the Detroit Lions in 1951, was regarded as a premier guard during his era. He al;os played for the Washington Redskins, where he retired after the 1958 season.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Biketoberfest focuses on Steel Valley Trail

2011-08-13T10:48:00.000-04:00

You may have noticed there are a lot of bicyclists pedaling their way along a recently opened portion of the Steel Valley Trail between the Waterfront shopping center and the Riverton bridge crossing the Monongahela River from Duquesne into McKeesport.

Organizers of the upcoming Biketoberfest 2011 on Oct. 1 have noticed the increase in two-wheel traffic and are hoping their event will serve as celebration of the trail and its recreational and economic potentials.

"You're getting to see a part of this region that is a real gem," said Maury Burgwin, president of the Mon Yough Area Chamber of Commerce, referring to cyclists who travel a newly opened section of the Great Allegheny Passage trail which runs from the Historic Pump House on Waterfront Drive in Munhall to the RIDC City Center of Duquesne industrial park. Tours of that trail section as well as a leg that continues across the river into McKeesport and on to the Boston trail head in Elizabeth Township in part or in whole, will be a feature of Biketoberfest, as will live music, food, crafts and family-friendly activities.

The MYAC and the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area are hosts for this event, which goes from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Rivers of Steel pump house will serve as the starting and end points for 5-, 10-, 20- and 30-mile tours. Proceeds generated by the event will benefit the Chamber of Commerce.

"The more people that are aware the trail is here, the better," said Burgwin, adding he sees the trail as a means of "promoting the Mon Valley big time" to local trail users and tourists from all over the world.

Mark Urbassik, chairman of the MYAC board of directors, developed the idea for the bicycle tour as a way to reach out to the communities along the trail and bring outdoor activities into the Mon Valley. In addition to showcasing the present trail and its potential for future development, Urbassik said organizers are also "trying to highlight the industrial and steel heritage of the region. There's a lot of history there for sure."

The new part of the trail provides cross river views of the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock and the Westinghouse Bridge between East Pittsburgh and North Versailles Township. It passes below Kennywood Park, offering a view of its roller coasters, and has two bridge crossings of active railroad lines.

Sherris Moreira, director of marketing and tourism development for the Rivers of Steel, said docents from her organization will be providing tours of the pump house that day. The pump house will also play host to its last Community Heritage Market of the season that day.

The weekly market, which got under way this summer, regularly features food, crafts, local artists, businesses and farmers, as well as entertainment and demonstrations.

Moreira said the new section of trail which officially opened June 17 has meant a big increase in interest in the pump house because of its proximity to the Waterfront trail head. Before the trail opened, between five and 10 cars a day would park in the pump house lot. After the trail leg opened, she said as many as 50 to 100 cars a day are being parked in the lot.

"We decided let's make it as bike-friendly as possible," Moreira said. She said there is now a vending machine at the pump house stocked largely with sports drinks favored by bicyclists, and bike racks where cyclists can secure their machines.

Rivers of Steel was happy to partner with the chamber for the upcoming ride and Moreira said the heritage group is looking at hosting its own bike event in the spring, probably with help from the chamber. She said the two groups working together is "a natural pairing."

"We have this great historical site and the trail helps promote and revitalize" the local economy, she said. Moreira sees the trail as an avenue for spreading throughout the Mon Valley the prosperity presently enjoyed by businesses at the Waterfront.

Biketoberfest will be rain or shine. Registration runs from 8-11 a.m. The cost is $20 for adults, $10 for children under 18 and $50 for families for those who register before Sept. 16. The cost for those who register Sept. 17 or later is $25 for adults, $15 for children and $60 for families.

Participants will receive a T-shirt commemorating the event; shirts are not guaranteed for late registrants.

There are other ways to support the event including water station sponsorships for a donation of $50; bronze sponsorships for $150; silver sponsorships for $250; and gold sponsorships for $350 donations.

The event is meant to accommodate riders of varying physical abilities with a 5-mile family ride around the Waterfront; a 10-mile ride to Duquesne and back; a 20-mile ride to McKeesport and back, and a 30-mile ride to Boston and back.

For more information or to register, call 412-678-2450.

By Eric Slagle, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Saturday, August 13, 2011

Shop for a Good Cause and Support the Steel Valley Salvation Army

2011-08-12T16:34:00.001-04:00

Raising more than $38 million for charities across the country since 2006, Macy's Shop for a Cause is a unique one-day-only shopping event created to support local charities' fundraising efforts. This year, Macy's will partner with the Steel Valley Salvation Army to invite customers to participate in Macy's sixth annual "Shop for a Cause" charity shopping event. Macy's 2011 Shop for a Cause will take place on Saturday, August 27th at all area Macy's locations. Customers can purchase tickets now from the Steel Valley Salvation Army at 104 East 9th Avenue in Homestead.

"Macy's is committed to giving back to our local communities. Our annual Shop for a Cause Program, which has raised more than $38 million for local and national charities in the past five years, is meaningful for us because it gives our customers and associates an opportunity to give back to the local charities, schools and non-profits that matter a great deal to them," said Martine Reardon, Macy's Executive Vice President of Marketing. "We are proud to offer our customers an easy way to make a positive difference while enjoying great savings at Macy's."

Macy's has provided The Salvation Army in Homestead with shopping passes to sell for $5 each. The organization will keep 100% of every ticket it sells. The more The Salvation Army sells, the more money it will raise. By purchasing a shopping pass to the event from The Salvation Army, customers support vital community programs and services while enjoying a day of spectacular discounts, entertainment, special events. Pass holders will enjoy special discounts on most regular, sale and clearance purchases all day. Some exclusions apply.

Macy's, the largest retail brand of Macy's, Inc., delivers fashion and affordable luxury to customers at more than 800 locations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Macy's stores and macys.com offer distinctive assortments including the most desired family of exclusive and fashion brands for him, her and home. Macy's is known for such epic events as Macy's 4th of July Fireworks® and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade®, as well as spectacular fashion shows, culinary events, flower shows and celebrity appearances. Building on a 150-year tradition, Macy's helps strengthen communities by supporting local and national charities that make a difference in the lives of our customers.

For ticket information, call Sandra Wolfe, Steel Valley Salvation Army Case Manager at 412-461-2460.

Both a church and a social service organization, The Salvation Army began in London, England in 1865. Today, it provides critical services in 124 countries worldwide. The 28-county Western Pennsylvania Division serves thousands of needy families through a wide variety of support services. To learn more about The Salvation Army in Western Pennsylvania, log onto www.salvationarmy-wpa.org. The Salvation Army ... Doing the most good . . . for the most people . . . in the most need.

SOURCE The Salvation Army

West Mifflin’s Community Day and Crime Watch Parade

2011-08-12T16:19:00.002-04:00

West Mifflin’s 2011 Community Day is rapidly approaching and a wonderful day is being planned. As Mayor ( and the Mayors wife) of this great Borough, one of my responsibilities is to organize the Crime Watch Parade that precedes the event at noon on September 10. I am busy making arrangements for various businesses to be a involved in this parade and therefore, I am inviting you to put a vehicle, walkers or a display in the parade to represent your organization.

Line-up begins at Holy Spirit Church at 11:15 at 2603 Old Elizabeth Road and the Parade follows to the Allegheny County Airport where the Community Day event actually takes place. (Approximately ¾ mile)

There will be booths representing many of the churches, non-profits and for profit businesses that reside in West Mifflin. Entertainment and great food will also be available, with a fireworks display at the end of the day.

This is the second year for the event to be held at the Airport (it was always been held at the high school) and it has provided a great space for the thousands of people who attend. Due to the timing of this event, (10 years after 9/11) we are hoping to honor our veterans and all who lost their lives since and during that horrific time.

Everyone loves a Parade and it would be wonderful to see so many organizations represented.

If you have questions, please call Denise Kelly 412-287-3402 for clarification; otherwise please respond if you are able to be in the Parade by e-mail at neecie1362@aol.com

Denise Kelly

Bulgarian Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center Acquires Property; Expansion Plans in Progress

2011-07-28T10:07:00.002-04:00

We are pleased to announce that we have officially acquired the properties adjacent to our Center on West Eighth Avenue! We will use this expanded area to provide enhanced parking for our guests, to develop an ethnic Bulgarian cafe and to enlarge our museum, gift shop, kitchen and storage areas.

We have just been awarded a $250,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant from the state of Pennsylvania to help us implement our expansion plans. We will be launching a major fundraising campaign to match these grant dollars. In addition, we have been fortunate to receive a grant of $150,000 from the Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund (CITF) of the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority to begin work on Phase I of the expansion project. Learn more .

Plans and engineering drawings have been drawn up. Demolition of the adjacent dilapidated buildings is now underway and should be complete by the end of September 2011.

The Bulgarian Center has been a familiar fixture in West Homestead since 1935. Through the years we've worked hard to renovate our facility, making it safer, more comfortable and attractive, and more handicapped-accessible for the thousands of people who visit us each year. Grants from organizations such as the Allegheny Regional Asset District, the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation, and the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation helped make these improvements a reality and we are grateful to all who contributed. Now we will finally be able to fulfill the final part of our strategic plan, and to help the Borough of West Homestead in its redevelopment programs.

Carbon monoxide detectors available through COG grant

2011-07-28T09:25:00.000-04:00

After Homestead Mayor Betty Esper was sickened by a carbon monoxide leak in her home last year, she decided she wanted to make others aware of the importance of having carbon monoxide detectors.

Ms. Esper, a tenant in her building and the tenant's friend were taken to the hospital by ambulance after they were sickened in the Nov. 20 incident caused by a stuffed-up furnace chimney.

"I passed out on my porch, but I didn't know why I passed out," she said.

Ms. Esper told the Post-Gazette after the incident that she was fortunate to have collapsed outside, where the fresh air may have revived her. Ms. Esper did not have a carbon monoxide detector, though her tenant's detector went off after they all felt "woozy."

On Wednesday, state Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, presented the Steel Valley Council of Governments with a check for $5,000 to put toward more than 400 detectors to be distributed among the communities the COG serves -- Braddock Hills, Dravosburg, Homestead, Munhall, West Elizabeth, West Homestead, West Mifflin, Whitaker and Clairton.

An Lewis, executive director of the COG, said Ms. Esper approached the council and said she wanted to secure funding for detectors and give them to people in Steel Valley communities.

"Sen. Costa helped us obtain a $5,000 grant through the Department of Health," Ms. Lewis said. After that, Ms. Lewis called around until she found the best deal on carbon monoxide detectors -- she got 412 detectors for about $12 each from Lowe's Home Improvement.

About 40 detectors will be given to each community, which will be responsible for distributing them. To inquire about receiving a detector, residents should contact their borough office.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

By Annie Tubbs, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH: The city that helped build the country works to rebuild itself

2011-07-19T00:13:00.001-04:00

“Pittsburgh town is a smoky ol’ town. Solid iron from McKeesport down. All I do is cough and choke. From the iron filings and the sulphur smoke.” — Woody Guthrie, 1940s

No more.

A quarter century after the steel mills that built the nation shut down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s second largest city is a cleaner and greener place, endowed with culture. No longer dark and smoky, Pittsburgh has reclaimed itself.

Its energy now flows to medicine, technology, environment and finance. Its once blighted red light district now sports theaters, galleries, restaurants and residents. Last year, Forbes magazine called it America’s most livable city. But the grit, daring and determination that once mined coal and made girders to support the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge still course through veins here. Everywhere you turn, there are vestiges of the past and the people who were part of it.

A tradition of innovations

The Heinz History Center is a good place to start exploring. This industrial modern six-floor museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, was once an ice house. Its exhibit, “A Tradition of Innovation,” traces the city’s evolution through Stephen Foster’s songs, Rachel Carson’s environmental warnings, Dr. Thomas Starzl’s organ transplants and Mister Rogers.

Undergirding it all was steel. Andrew Carnegie, a tough Scottish immigrant short in stature but long on vision, built an industry here that both defined and defiled Pittsburgh for nearly a century. Italians, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians and Irish streamed in, ready to work long hours for a better life in a city that came to be known as “hell with the lid off.”

They, too, shaped the city as they clustered in neighborhoods that retain ethnic flavors today.

When steel was king

To get a handle on what life was like when steel was king, I headed southeast along the Monongahela River to Homestead. Ten miles of continuous steel mills once lined this valley, belching smoke, fire and fumes day and night.

Thousands of workers turned out a third of the nation’s steel. But times and technology changed. The mills aged, foreign steel was cheaper and we didn’t need as much of it. By 1986, the party was over. Homestead Works closed. Most of its buildings have been razed. A shopping mall, Waterfront, moved in, as did nature and herds of deer.

The Rivers of Steel Heritage Area uses what remains to tell the story in a small museum in its headquarters, the Bost Building. Twelve-hour shifts were common. Despite oppressive heat, workers wore long johns to absorb sweat. In the hottest parts of the plant, they wore fireproof suits and hinged wooden sandals under their boots; sometimes they got so hot they smoked.

Language was no barrier

There were fun times, too, as immigrant groups shared unfamiliar foods, dances, music and wedding rituals with cookie tables.

“Few people spoke English,” said Pat French (born Paina Jordonoff to Bulgarian parents) and immigrants banded together in ethnic clubs for companionship.

Today, French’s Bulgarian/Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center in West Homestead sells 14 kinds of homemade soup every Saturday morning, September through May. On Saturday nights, they dance. Come at 7:30 p.m. and you can take a lesson before the fun begins. When their shifts ended, many workers headed for Homestead’s bars.

Jerry Miller has transformed what he says was a “really bad bar right outside the entrance to the mill” into a friendly bistro called Blue Dust, a name for powdery iron ore. He’ll regale you with way-back-when stories while you quaff beer and try his scrumptious smoked brisket.

Cool water and a heated battle

One of the few remaining structures is Homestead’s restored Pump House. It once sucked seven million gallons of water a day from the river to cool steel. Interpretive signs tell the story of the 1892 Battle of Homestead when unionized workers, locked out of the plant by Carnegie’s anti-union partner, Henry Clay Frick, rioted as Pinkerton agents arrived to guard the plant. Ten men were killed, seven Homesteaders and three Pinkertons.

A free cellphone walking tour of the Homestead Works is available, as well as one about the battle. For groups of 10 or more, a tour called Babushkas and Hard Hats can be arranged through Rivers of Steel.

An incredible hulk

Across the river from the Pump House, the Carrie Furnaces made the iron needed for steel. Two of the original seven blast furnaces remain, huge and hulking, dark and rusty.

Jim Kapusta was on the labor gang there for 19 years. Some days he worked in the dungeon loading coke and iron ore into Larry cars that fed the furnace. Other days he climbed to the top to make repairs. When the siren sounded, he stood back as molten iron poured through chutes into torpedo cars that hurtled down rails to the steel mill.

Now Kapusta, a volunteer, helps take people through the furnace when it opens for tours. “I love this place,” he says. “When I come back it’s like coming home.

Legacies

Although steel made Carnegie the second richest man in the world, he believed that “a man who dies rich dies disgraced.” As a philanthropist, he left great treasures to enrich the lives of the “toilers of Pittsburgh” who had made him wealthy. In the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, a dinosaur fossil bears his name: Diplodocus carnegiei.

Carnegie financed an expedition to Utah to “get one for Pittsburgh.” In bronze, Carnegie oversees the foyer of his opulent Music Hall. A mural in the Carnegie Art Museum preserves a patch of black grime from the days when smoke and soot coated everything in the city. And more than 3,000 Carnegie libraries dot Pittsburgh and the world.

Other legacies are found in Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods. 'Burgh Bits and Bites offers food and history walking tours in several of them. On a recent tour in Bloomfield, Pittsburgh’s Little Italy, our group climbed stairs and found ourselves in Maria Mercanti’s kitchen, where she shared her Italian heritage along with roasted red peppers, stuffed mushrooms and limoncello.

Another tour took us to The Strip, Pittsburgh’s gritty immigrant marketplace, for a gastronomic escapade of ethnic specialties. We sampled everything from Mancini’s pepperoni roll and S&D Polish Deli’s pierogies to Parma’s prosciutto and the Lahad family’s hummus, made fresh three times a day.

The beat goes on

A favorite Pittsburgh pastime is to ride the incline up to Mount Washington, where the homes are luxurious, the restaurants upscale and the view of the city aerial.

Few know that Mount Washington was once called Coal Hill. Its hillsides, riddled with coal mines, were part of the steel story. They were bare and ugly, traversed by rickety wooden steps. As the mines closed and trees grew back, the hillsides became dumps for everything from old tires to old cars.

In keeping with its “why not” spirit, Pittsburgh is reclaiming these hillsides, carving out Emerald View Park with trails and overlooks. It will be another legacy to the vision, hard work and determination that you find in this city.

For more information: www.visitpittsburgh.com

TAKE IN A BALLGAME

Don’t forget to take in a baseball game and see the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, one of the top 10 baseball stadiums in the nation according to Major League Baseball. For ticket availability and prices, visit the Pittsburgh Pirates’ page at http:// mlb.mlb.com/ index.jsp?c_id=pit.

www.pennlive.com

Monday, July 18, 2011, 1:30 PM

Rainbow Kitchen Farmers Market

2011-06-28T20:23:00.000-04:00

Citizen's Bank parking lot, E. 8th Ave and McClure St. Homestead, PA.

FRESH, wholesome and affordable locally grown fruits and vegetables!

Community Heritage Market at the Pump House

2011-06-20T21:43:00.002-04:00

Every Sunday starting, June 26 · 12:00pm - 4:00pm

Location
The Historic Pump House
880 East Waterfront Drive Munhall, PA

Created By
Rivers of Steel Heritage Area

More Info
Come join us as we celebrate the first Community Heritage Market at the Pump House on Sunday, June 26th from 12 PM to 4 PM! Support local artists, crafters, businesses, farmers, and musicians and enjoy an afternoon of fun at the Historic Pump House. This is event is presented by Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, with funding assistance from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Park Service, and the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Parking is free and the market is open to all ages!

The Community Heritage Market will occur every Sunday through August.

For more information or to become a vendor, please contact Bridget Bradley at bbradley@riversofsteel.com or 412-464-4020 ext.46.

New section of Great Allegheny Passage trail opens

2011-06-12T20:28:00.003-04:00

Mon Valley area set, but last link delayed

A nearly three-mile section of the Great Allegheny Passage in the Mon Valley, described as one of the trail's most scenic, will open next Friday.

"Awesome" was how Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, described the new asphalt-paved segment stretching from Grant Avenue in Duquesne to The Waterfront complex in Homestead.

But Ms. Boxx also said Thursday that a goal of completing the last remaining section of the Great Allegheny Passage, the piece at Sandcastle Waterpark, by November is not going to be met.

"We don't have the funds in hand," she said. More than $1 million has been raised toward the estimated $3 million cost, and trail advocates are hoping Gov. Tom Corbett releases a $750,000 grant that state Sen. Jay Costa got added to the capital budget.

County Executive Dan Onorato had set a goal of Nov. 11, 2011 -- 11-11-11 -- for finishing the section and completing the 150 miles of trail linking Pittsburgh with Cumberland, Md., where it joins the C&O Towpath to Washington, D.C.

Design work is under way on the Sandcastle segment. Trail developers were unable to relocate utility lines before the waterpark opened as they had hoped, Ms. Boxx said.

A 10 a.m. ceremony next Friday will open the newest trail segment, which features views of the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Plant, Braddock Locks and Dam on the Monongahela River and even the Westinghouse Bridge over the Turtle Creek valley, she said.

The ceremony will officially open up the section where two bridges were erected last summer -- a 110-foot-long span in the RIDC industrial park in Duquesne that crosses three sets of Norfolk Southern Railway tracks, and a 170-foot-long bridge in Whitaker over six sets of tracks operated by Norfolk Southern and Union Railroad Co.

The section already has had its unofficial debut, as bicyclists and walkers have been checking it out.

"We didn't want to deny people access [before the official opening] when there was no reason," Ms. Boxx said.

The new Whitaker bridge will be the site of the ceremony. Rather than cutting a ribbon, the celebrants will raise a ceremonial railroad crossing gate, she said.

Friday, June 10, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Homestead, PA now connected to DC by trail

2011-06-10T02:14:00.000-04:00

PLEASE JOIN US TO CELEBRATE!
Homestead, PA now connected to DC by trail

June 17, 2011 at 10:00 am
at the Whitaker Bridge ramp*

A new, amazing 3-mile section of the Great Allegheny Passage will be opened for trail use. This section includes two new bridges and the scenic former U. S. Steel coke gas pipeline road.

Help us thank the funders, the landowners, the contractors, and the volunteers.

Bring your bicycle and ride the new section after the event.

RSVP to admin@atatrail.org or call 724 537 6905.

* Please enter at Guardian Storage (1002 East Waterfront Dr. Munhall, PA 15120) to be directed to parking for the event.

Rebirth in Homestead: the Carnegie Library

2011-06-01T08:44:00.001-04:00

Comedian Paula Poundstone will be there Friday. Patti Smith showed up in 2007 just after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. David Crosby and Graham Nash recently played to a sellout crowd, as did Nickelodeon's "iCarly" star Miranda Cosgrove.

Is there a glitzy new entertainment venue in town?

Not exactly, unless you consider the century-old music hall at the Carnegie Library of Homestead to be glitzy, with its terrific acoustics, a thousand seats of burnished wood, a coffee shop (whose grand opening is Friday during the Paula Poundstone performance) and a wine bar.

The recently renovated hall, along with a new fitness center, reading room and other amenities have transformed the Homestead library -- located in Munhall -- from an antiquated white elephant of a building in a faded neighborhood into a self-sustaining multipurpose facility for a newly reinvigorated community.

At a time when nonprofits and other "community benefit" organizations are reeling from cuts in public funding, the Homestead library is a textbook example of social enterprise and reinvention, experts say, using revenue from the music hall and its fitness club memberships to stay viable. The library's core mission has been preserved, and then some: you can check out a book or use a computer, take a Spinning class, have a cup of coffee or see a show.

There's more to come: a swimming pool in the basement -- the longest continually operating heated pool in Western Pennsylvania, complete with marble columns reminiscent of ancient Rome -- will be renovated, as will an old bowling alley, which may become an indoor baseball training facility.

"They've captured the spirit of the original Andrew Carnegie vision for libraries in building and renovating what he originally saw as a community center with multi-function outreach, updated for the 21st century," said Marilyn Jenkins, executive director for the Allegheny County Library Association, which comprises 45 libraries -- including the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, which isn't affiliated with Homestead.

"If we had told people in Pittsburgh that we were going to take a 113-year-old library and turn it into an engine for economic development that would drive business to the Waterfront and surrounding communities, they would have said we were crazy -- but most people think I'm crazy anyway," said Dan Lloyd, a Munhall insurance agent who is widely regarded as the driving force behind the library's renovation.

Mr. Lloyd, who chairs the library's 11-member board, may have ruffled some feathers when he first joined in 2004, but few people are complaining now except, he noted, for some who said they were shocked -- shocked -- that alcohol was being served during music hall performances.

Bookings have dramatically increased thanks to the efforts of Brian Drusky, a local concert promoter who took a chance on Homestead when others wouldn't, Mr. Lloyd said. When he first started contacting entertainment promoters about bringing acts to the music hall six years ago, he was told "it will be a cold day in hell when we bring a show to Homestead."

"Who's sorry now?" he asked a visitor, only half-jokingly, adding that when Ms. Cosgrove, then 17, appeared at her sold-out show in January, 100 young fans paid extra and lined up an hour beforehand in the old shuffleboard room to meet the young star.

Mr. Lloyd's "aha" moment, he says, came in 2006, when he attended a seminar led by Michael Kumer, executive director at Duquesne University's Nonprofit Leadership Institute, who talked about the ways "community benefit" organizations could survive.

"What we do is coach organizations, to assume that they have hidden assets and can creatively look and explore ways to leverage those assets to create new and diversified income streams," said Mr. Kumer, who said he was aware of Mr. Lloyd's subsequent efforts.

The library was designed by the architectural firm of Alden & Harlow, which designed the Duquesne Club, and is believed to be the third library in the United States built by Carnegie after those in Braddock and the North Side.

"I totally admire what they're doing in Homestead. Libraries have to change with the times," said Vicki Vargo, executive director of the Carnegie Braddock library -- Mr. Carnegie's first library. While in a more economically depressed community than Homestead's, Braddock's library is renovating its own music hall and has transformed what used to be a bathhouse in the building into a ceramic studio.

While a $1 million endowment established by Carnegie helped the Homestead library stay afloat during the 1990s, the 2008 recession meant a $300,000 drop in its worth, forcing the board to lay off its executive director, library director and a music hall employee.

"Many corporations lay off at the bottom end of the ladder, but we could not do that because it would have meant a cut in services," said Mr. Lloyd. Instead, he and other board members are managing the facility themselves until they are able to afford to hire an executive director.

The library's operating budget is $850,000, not including capital expenditures -- of which only $161,000 came from government funding in 2010. Last year, $150,000 from a community block grant was used for infrastructure improvements, along with $50,000 from the Allegheny Foundation to renovate and enlarge the children's and teen areas.

The children's library, across from the new adult reading room, is a marvel. Its walls, ceilings and columns were hand-painted in trompe l'oeil fashion by artist Elizabeth White, while the teen area -- called "the Sky Room" -- was painted in shades of dark blue, punctuated with stars, by artist Ian Green.

The adult reading room was also restored to its original design.

Professionals were hired to do much of the work, but Mr. Lloyd and a number of other volunteers spent nights and weekends stripping floors, sanding and painting to reduce costs.

They even laid the tile themselves in the coffee shop -- named after Mr. Lloyd's Aunt Betty Jane Lloyd, who donated $10,000 to complete it.

On Friday, music hall patrons for the first time will be able to go to Aunt B's coffee shop for a cup of joe, unless they're in the mood for a glass of wine.

And while they're imbibing, they're helping their local public library survive.

"It's all about people stepping up to the plate," Mr. Lloyd said.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

By Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

O'Hara sculptor immortalizes Smiley cookie in Waterfront statue

2011-05-31T22:17:00.002-04:00

Smiley, the Eat'n Park cookie recognized throughout the Pittsburgh region, is celebrating his 25th birthday year with a statue of himself at the Waterfront.

"We wanted to do something special for Smiley ... and immortalize him," said Kevin O'Connell, senior vice president of Eat'n Park Restaurants, at a Tuesday news conference. There, an excited, costumed Smiley waved at people and pulled down the purple curtain to reveal his stationary counterpart.

"Smiley is one of the most recognized icons in Western Pennsylvania, and he's come to life as our mascot," O'Connell said.

Eat'n Park officials unveiled the new, glossy statue of Smiley, which stands about 5 feet, 4 inches tall inside the Homestead restaurant, close to the entry area.

The statue version of Smiley, a cookie created in 1986, looks exactly like the costumed mascot who appears at Pittsburgh events: a red cap, blue eyes and mouth, blue legs and red shoes. Restaurant officials say they expect thousands of kids to get their pictures taken with the giant cookie guy.

Not just a sugar cookie, Smiley participates in community causes, such as with Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, O'Connell says.

"It's hard to imagine that, in 1985 in Pittsburgh, there were no Smiley cookies," he said. "They're such a big part of our community."

O'Hara sculptor Ron Seman created the Smiley statue, which weighs about 200 pounds, out of steel and foam, and is covered with shiny epoxy material. Seman took about three months to complete the statue.

"Most of my projects are not nearly as fun as this," said Seman, president of his company, The Object Works.

Cliff Miller, vice president of creative services for Eat'n Park Restaurants, said Smiley's massive popularity comes from his universal appeal.

"It's a known fact that if someone smiles at you, you naturally smile back," Miller said. "Smiley is always smiling at you. Smiley is always happy, obviously."

And he's a yummy sugar cookie to boot, Miller said. What's not to like?

Eat'n Park might commission more Smiley statues for other locations in the future, he said.

By Kellie B. Gormly, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish First Ever Carnival

2011-05-23T14:23:00.004-04:00

The days and times are:
Thursday & Friday – 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.,
Saturday – 5:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Sunday from 2:00 – 8:00 p.m.

This event will be a collaborated effort between the St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish and the West Homestead Fire Department.

Our Carnival includes something for people of all ages: games, rides, funnel cakes, nationality food booths, nightly entertainment, raffle tickets, a large flat screen television to be raffled & bingo.

The nationality booths include: Polish, German, Italian and American. Parish bakers will provide the Bakery.

The nightly entertainment will include:

May 26, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. “Besame” (Columbian Band),
May 27, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. “Cuieado” (Tango Music- dance instructors included),
May 28, 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. “Sanford Effect” (Reggae)
May 29, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. “Real Deal” (Classic Rock).

For more information and directions to the church, please call the parish office at 412.461.1054 or check us out on Face Book.

363 W. 11th Ave. Extension
Homestead, PA 15120

www.facebook.com/stmaxparish

Foursquare: https://foursquare.com/venue/2087035

Volunteers Needed for The Steel Valley Community Gardens

2011-05-20T22:50:00.003-04:00

Steel Valley Community Gardens through the Western PA Conservancy and Young Life of the Steel Valley will plant flowers on Saturday, May 28th, beginning at 9am at the garden at the foot of the Homestead Grays Bridge, the garden at 7th and Amity Streets, and 15th and West Street.

Volunteer help from the community would be greatly appreciated.

For more information contact Jesse Saunders at 412-874-6584.

The Carnegie Library of Homestead

2011-05-17T20:20:00.002-04:00

510 E 10th Avenue
Munhall, PA 15120
412-462-3444

Many in our community have inquired of me as to just how our library operates. As President of the Board of Directors, I thought it might be a good time to discuss just what we do and how we do it so that everyone in the community would have the same first hand information. While our library is “free to the public” as Andrew Carnegie prescribed when he left us this wonderful facility, we are not government owned or operated. We are a 501 C3 non profit corporation that is managed by a board of directors made up of regular citizens that are appointed and volunteer to serve. Presently we have eleven board members made up mostly by members of the community.

We are NOT part of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh but rather an independent library that is part of the 44 member Allegheny County Library System (ACLA). While most of the many library services that we offer are totally free, other activities and use of our facilities come at a cost such as our fitness club memberships or a ticket to a concert. Indeed the fees derived from our fitness club and our music hall operations are what keep the library doors open six days a week. Excellent management by our board and staff over the last few years resulted in ZERO cutbacks to hours and services and in fact saw expanded service offerings, while many other libraries faced severe cutbacks and potential closure with an uncertain outlook for the future. While we aren’t yet assured of another 113 years, our short term future is bright!

Our library operating budget is a little over $850,000 not including capital expenditures. That said, we probably receive about $500,000 form state and local governments to pay our employees and our expenses right? WRONG with a capital W! Even before the Rendell administration cut library budgets 20% in 2009, State library funding had been less than adequate and most libraries were dependent on local government donations. Our cut was about $18,000 and Governor Corbett’s budget hasn’t cut anymore and has in fact added a few programs back that were cut in 2009. Of our $850,000+ budget in 2010, we received $161,000 or 19% from state, regional and local governments broken down as follows: State basic aid $61,306 (based on populations served), RAD $82,903 (based on a very controversial and formula which we fought hard for), and $15,000 from the four municipalities that designate us as their library. For 2011 Munhall has stepped up to $20,000, Homestead $1,500, West Homestead $2,000, Whitaker zero, and a $2,000 gift from West Mifflin, even though they have not designated Carnegie of Homestead as their library.

If you did the math ($850,000 -$161,000) you would have realized that we have $689,000 to make up in our operating budget. In order to produce the revenue necessary to pay our 25 or so employees ($321,000), the utilities ($96,000), payroll taxes and insurance ($64,136), new books and materials ($36,000), and all of the other expenses, we rely on our so called “social enterprise ventures”. It is our fitness club memberships, our room rentals, pool party rentals, gym floor rentals and exercise classes that contribute from our fitness club side. From the music hall operations, our national concert series provides another stream of incomes like hall rental, beer and snack concessions, web site advertising and ticket fees that have made a major contribution since the fall of 2008 when we started doing concerts. Additionally, we apply and receive operating grants that help defray some costs as well. The balance of our operating budget comes from our endowment, about $132,000 per year the past three years, down from an excess of $200,000 in 2007. It is this kind of prudent fiscal belt tightening that will lead to future success for the next 100 years.

To summarize, the citizens of the community need to know that we have made great strides in cost cutting without cutting programs or services, while simultaneously increasing all of our revenue streams, renovated the adults reading room, the children’s library, the teen space, added a computer lab and coffee shop, an elevator (which had been talked about for 20 years) and just opened our new welcome center all in the last four years. We have quietly done nearly $750,000 of renovations over the last four years to improve our facilities to better serve our patrons. Why not stop in to take a look around, read a book, take out a DVD, or just to relax check out the new coffee shop!

Dan Lloyd
President of the Board
www.Homesteadlibrary.org
www.librarymusichall.com
www.flickr.com/photos/cloh/

Finally, if you would like to make a contribution or think you would like to offer more in the way of volunteering or if you may be interested in board service, please send your inquiry, questions or resume to Dan Lloyd, Carnegie Library of Homestead, 510 E Tenth Avenue, Munhall, PA 15120.

HOME COOKED BY DONNA

2011-05-09T12:57:00.003-04:00

Dan Lloyd, owner of a large local insurance agency and a local property developer, while ordering dinner at Home Cooked by Donna in the winter of 2009, began talking business with the owner. Donna's was originally located in a small space in the 200 block of Homestead and was formerly called Worthy's Ribs. On occasion you can still get some of those great ribs when not sold out. Donna Boyer, owner operator on "Home Cooked by Donna" expressed her interest in operating a "sit down" restaurant in the area, as opposed to just a take out place. Dan, impressed with the diner type home style food and generous portions, told Donna that he hopes she finds a place and can stay in the area. Hoping to keep a business in the area that already had a following, Dan, while ordering another meal a few weeks later, tells Donna that his son owns a building at 406 East 8th Avenue in Munhall, and he could make it a restaurant. The building was formerly operated for over 30 years as the Nite Cap Lounge. In January, the two came to terms on the rent and they hope to make the transition to the new space by May 2010. Construction was begun in January 2010 by Dan and a small crew. Construction took much longer than expected but the new restaurant with seating for 40 opened without much fanfare in September 2010.

Since opening, Donna's has been cranking out some of the best home cooked food in the burg one carefully prepared plate at a time. In addition to the great food the interior is warm and friendly and is just a cozy quiet place to enjoy a meal. While the restaurant doesn't host a parking lot, there is ample on street parking, and the short walk around the block or just down the street is somewhat refreshing in contrast to the mega-lots we have gotten used to. For his efforts, Dan did manage to get one of his favorites on the menu; turkey devonshire. If you like hot roast turkey or homemade meatloaf and potatoes, you'll get none better that at Donna's, and should you manage to eat it all, have a nice nap!

Home Cooked By Donna
406 E. 8th Ave.
Munhall, PA 15120
412-464- 1450
www.facebook.com/homecookedbydonna

A small dine in or carry out food establishment family own and operated. Serving fresh, good, & healthy portions of daily "home cooked" meals. Our very diverse menu offers breakfast, lunch, & dinner six days a week.

Amity Street entrance to Waterfront to close May 9

2011-05-08T09:08:00.001-04:00

Construction work at two railroad crossings will close the Amity Street entrance to The Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead on Monday May 9, 2011

CSX and Norfolk Southern will install new sections of rail panel and resurface the crossings with concrete and asphalt to smooth the ride for motorists, said Sean Campbell, general manager of CAMSCO Service Inc., which is managing the work zone.

The street will be closed at East Sixth Avenue starting at 9 a.m. Monday May 9. It is scheduled to reopen by 9 p.m. Friday May 13, Mr. Campbell said.

Mayor Betty Esper arranged to have the project start after Mother's Day, she said, so shoppers buying gifts or taking their moms to dinner would not be inconvenienced.

Shoppers can reach The Waterfront via its two other entrances, from the Homestead Grays Bridge and Route 837 at East Waterfront Drive.

Friday, May 06, 2011

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Negro League signs to line bridge

2011-05-07T14:31:00.001-04:00

Plaques will honor Grays, Crawfords

The lineups haven't been announced yet, but the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, legendary baseball rivals in the Negro Leagues, will be matched up again next week.

A series of signs honoring the teams will be unveiled Thursday on the Homestead Grays Bridge at an event hosted by Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Homestead Mayor Betty Esper, the Pirates and the Josh Gibson Foundation.

It will be 9-on-9, as nine signs commemorating the Grays will line the side of the bridge carrying traffic toward Homestead, and nine markers depicting the Crawfords will bedeck the Pittsburgh-bound side.

"The idea was to honor both of the teams and the Negro Leagues," said Mr. Onorato's spokesman, Kevin Evanto.

The display is the culmination of a decade-long dream of Ms. Esper, who began gathering support in 2001 for renaming what was formerly the Homestead High-Level Bridge to honor the Grays, the dominant Negro National League team of the 1930s and 1940s.

At the time she mentioned a goal of draping banners of Grays players along the bridge, which was renamed in 2002.

"Mayor Esper has been a driving force behind this," said county spokeswoman Megan Dardanell.

Rather than banners, the display will be metal signs, in the shape of elongated home plates, bearing photographs of the great players and owners of the teams. The signs were designed by Pittsburgh sports artist Dino Guarino, who has painted images of many of the region's great athletes, including Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, Mario Lemieux and Arnold Palmer.

"We think this is a great part of not only baseball but Pittsburgh folklore," Mr. Guarino said. "More and more people should be aware of it."

The photographs are black-and-white but the signs are accented in Prussian blue for the Grays and cranberry red for the Crawfords, he said. Each will have the team's logo on the back.

The metal signs will hold up better against the elements than vinyl banners, Mr. Evanto said.

The Homestead Grays were established in 1912 but the team's roots went back more than a decade before that. They competed in the Negro National League from 1935 to 1948 and won nine straight pennants from 1937 to 1945.

The Crawfords played independently in 1931 and 1932 and in the Negro National League from 1933 to 1938.

Although the names of the honorees haven't been revealed, it's a sure bet that catcher Josh Gibson, who played for both teams, will be among them. Mr. Gibson hit more than 800 home runs during a 16-year career and was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1972.

The Josh Gibson Foundation is celebrating the centennial of the great catcher's birth this year, and is headed by Mr. Gibson's great-grandson Sean.

"These guys have done a lot for baseball and are very seldom recognized," Mr. Gibson said. "That bridge gets a lot of traffic. People will have a chance to learn more about these two great teams."

Pittsburgh, he added, "has always been at the forefront of doing things like this."

Saturday, May 07, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Kennywood's Open!

2011-05-07T12:17:00.000-04:00

Ghost hunters back in Homestead

2011-05-07T11:59:00.003-04:00

Stars of the Syfy original series "Ghost Hunters" are trying to find out what people in Homestead already know — that the former police station near the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Amity Street is haunted.

Film crews were recording outside the facility Friday evening. Officers were interviewed as well as police secretary Vicci Kenna. Kenna was filmed in a place she thought she would never have to return, the old station`s basement.

"It`s very exciting, but it was still creepy in the basement," Kenna said. "Very creepy. Even worse because it`s all empty and really weird, but I think this is exciting. It will prove to everybody now, hopefully, that we were not crazy. We have worked with the other world. We have worked with the other side of whatever."

Paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson were not at the station Friday. The hunters conducted their investigation at the former station last Saturday.

"We`ve had a good experience here," producer Mike Peebles said.

Hunters also investigated another location about an hour away from the Steel Valley area. That area was not revealed Friday.

Police Chief Jeff DeSimone gave the hunters a tour of the facility.

"I`m tickled pink that they chose to come to Homestead, and I`m just excited that they`re here," he said. "I`m looking forward to whatever evidence they might have uncovered."

Ghost Hunters is not the first paranormal group to investigate the former police station, which originally was built as a post office. Hauntings Research revealed its findings in September 2010 of a study they conducted in May of that year.

Founder Ed Ozosky said at the time the jail cells contain a vortex for souls and spirits crossing into and out of the living world.

"I totally lost track of how many people were in there," Ozosky said of the souls inside the former station. "One of the reasons there were so many people is that it literally had an open doorway for spirits to come and go... a vortex (detection) is very rare."

The Greater Pittsburgh Paranormal Society gathered nearly 30 hours of video footage and 100 hours of audio recordings in 2008, and they reported screams in the basement as well as human figures moving about in a locked office.

DeSimone said the Syfy group may have more or different findings than the investigators.

"These guys are by all means the premier organization," the chief said. "They`re the ones on TV. They each employ different methods even though they are similar. Each has its own way of doing things."

Peebles said he could not talk about what was found, only that it will be shown in an episode within the next two to three months for the show`s seventh season.

"They really won`t tell us anything about the investigation," Kenna said. "Just that it`s over and they need to interview the people that have experienced things and worked in the building."

Hunters also burned the midnight oil at the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Munhall last Sunday.

Library president Dan Lloyd said the hunters explored the entire facility including the athletic club, the pool, the boiler room, the main hall, the adult reading room and the music hall.

"They sought us out and heard from a number of people (that the library was haunted)," Lloyd said. "They dug into the history of the area and library. (The show`s) going to have to do with the history of the Mon Valley."

Lloyd said athletic club director Edward Child reported he saw something unexplainable. He also noted someone died in the pool in November 1899.

According to a report in the former Homestead News Messenger that month, Robert E. Peebles, 25, died Nov. 28 around 10 p.m. "under mysterious circumstances" and "was found dead in eight feet of water."

"A lot of people don`t know this, but it`s something that I knew because I do a lot of reading," Lloyd said. "There are some odd circumstances surrounding this guy`s death."

Lloyd also noted people reported books falling off shelves for no apparent reason, among other unexplained phenomena.

The season premier of Ghost Hunters is scheduled for June 1, and is set in Hawaii.

Ghost Hunters airs on Syfy Wednesdays at 9 and 11 p.m. EST. Check local listings for station information.

This is the second time Ghost Hunters came to the Steel Valley area. Hunters went into a few homes for the show`s first season.

Peebles said he could not remember what was found at that time.

By Michael DiVittorio, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Saturday, May 7, 2011

Film Notes: Labor movie series kicks off with factory fire doc

2011-04-25T22:29:00.003-04:00

Two films about the deadly 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire will be shown Thursday 4/28/11 to mark Workers Memorial Day, honoring those killed on the job.

The Battle of Homestead Foundation will open its annual movie series with a documentary about the March 25, 1911, catastrophe that killed 146. A fire broke out in the upper floors of a New York garment factory where workers, mostly young Jewish and Italian women, were unable to escape due to locked and blocked doors.

Some tried to jump to safety but found certain death on the sidewalk below. Firemen's nets were broken by the force of bodies, ladders proved to be too short to reach those trapped, fire escapes were missing or overrun, and many women burned to death as shocked onlookers stood helplessly nearby.

The series at the Pump House of the old Homestead Works will show "Triangle Fire," an hour-long "American Experience" documentary produced to mark the anniversary of the tragedy, along with a 9-minute short, "Triangle Returns: Young Women Continue to Die in Locked Sweatshops."

The program is free and starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at 880 E. Waterfront Drive in Munhall.Also scheduled as part of the series, all free (although donations accepted):

• "Coal Country" -- Documentary exploring the impact, benefits and costs of mountaintop removal in contemporary West Virginia. Screens at 7:30 p.m. May 26.

• "One Day Longer: The Story of the Frontier Strike" -- This film examines one of the longest strikes in American history, as workers at the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas went on strike in 1991 after the company slashed wages and benefits. The strikers held a 24-hour picket line for more than six years, and none of the union members ever crossed it. 7:30 p.m. June 30.

• "Struggles in Steel: A Story of African-American Steelworkers" -- A photography exhibit will accompany this documentary by filmmaker Tony Buba and activist and one-time steelworker Ray Henderson. They tell the forgotten story of the struggle for equality in Pittsburgh's steel industry and the labor movement through archival footage and eloquent recollections. 7:30 p.m. July 28.

• "People and Power, The Struggle Continues: A History of Steelworkers, 1880-1980" -- An overview of Pittsburghers with special attention paid to the Homestead plant, the 1892 lockout and strike, 1919 strike, organization of the United Steelworkers, post-World War II era developments, and fight against plant closings in recent decades. 7:30 p.m. Aug. 25.

• "The Coca-Cola Case" -- Documentary investigating charges of union busting and far more serious offenses at bottling plants in Colombia, Guatemala and Turkey. 7:30 p.m. Sept. 29.

• "Newspaper of Record: The Pittsburgh Courier, 1907-1965" -- Pittsburgh filmmaker Kenneth Love or an associate will introduce this new documentary tracing the Courier's rise to a national paper with 14 editions. It served as a record of African-American life and a vanguard of the civil rights movement. 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27

For more information, see www.battleofhomesteadfoundation.org or call 412-831-3871.

Friday, April 22, 2011

By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Carrie Furnace Hard Hat Public Tours Kick off 2011 With “Rankin Deer Head” Artist Tim Kaulen

2011-04-13T12:12:00.001-04:00

The 2011 season of the Carrie Furnace Hard Hat Tours will be kicked off at noon on Saturday, April 30 with guest tour guide Tim Kaulen (www.timkaulen.com) who was instrumental in creating the well known “Rankin Deer Head” sculpture on the property. Kaulen will offer an artist’s perspective of Carrie Furnace and the popular sculpture he helped create with other members of the Industrial Arts Co-Op more than a decade ago. A regional public artist, Kaulen is well-known for his use of recycled materials in projects seen at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Southside Riverfront Park, to name a few.

The Carrie Furnace complex, now managed by the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation as of 2010, used to be part of the US Steel Homestead Works. At one time, the site was key to preparing the country to enter World War II and providing the iron to create armor plating for ships and tanks. The pair of furnaces operated from 1907 to 1978 and the site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Future plans for the site include its development into a heritage park with an interpretive center.

Public tours of the century old iron-making complex will also be held at 9 AM, 10 AM and 11 AM April 30, followed by Kaulen’s special presentation at noon.

Other public tours will be held 9 AM, 10 AM and 11 AM May 21, June 18, August 20, September 17 and October 15. On June 17, another special tour guide, Landscape Ethicist Rick Darke (www.rickdarke.com) will speak at the Historic Pump House on the topic of “Carrie Furnace in Global Context: New Parks and Gardens Forged from Industrial Landscapes.” He will also guest tour guide at noon June 18 at the Carrie Furnace complex. His work has been featured on NPR, the New York Times and Garden Design Magazine. The author and photographer of many books, he was also featured in: “Fallingwater” and “The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Gardening”, both to be published later this year.

For more information or tickets, contact Stacy Drane at 412.464.4020, ext. 32 or sdrane@riversofsteel.com

Spring Heritage Market at Historic Pump House in The Waterfront

2011-04-13T12:07:00.001-04:00

Held 10 AM to 3 PM April 23

(Munhall, Pa) – Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is sponsoring a Spring Heritage Market 10 AM to 3 PM April 23 at the Historic Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront Drive, located in The Waterfront - a popular Pittsburgh area shopping district. The ethnic artisan market is a means for the national heritage area to support and promote the diversity and cultural history of the Pittsburgh region.

Free and open to the public, the event will include authentic, ethnic heritage art, such as Bulgarian-Macedonian pottery, Moroccan purses, Native American beadwork and Irish collectibles. Crafts representing the Pittsburgh region’s more recent green heritage include pop industrial art, handcrafted jewelry and baubles made from recycled materials, among others.

The event will also include a taste exploration of our region’s diverse culture with foods representing Cuba, Bulgaria-Macedonia, England and Hungary, among others. Sample soups, teas and chocolate and purchase other foods, such as homemade cookies and breads from The Rise Above Bakery and Cafe or Easter treats from Dorothy’s Candies.

Music will be provided by Mostefa Hnadi,owner of Global Market Retail, on the doumbeck drums in the morning and in the afternoon by Joe Grkman, Jr., - of the award-winning Slovenian Polka band Grkmania, who play regularly at Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh’s Southside. Visitors can also take part in a Pick-a-Prize Auction, with chances to win items such as Bulgarian pottery and tickets to the Pittsburgh Irish Festival.

The Historic Pump House is also on a trailhead of the Great Allegheny Passage via the Steel Valley Trail, and Golden Triangle Bike Rentals will be offering free bicycle rentals for brief path explorations. The market location is the historic site of the 1892 Lock and Strike. The structure was barely a year old when it took its place in history as the site of the infamous “Battle of Homestead.” On July 6, 1892 the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Pinkerton Guards hired by the Carnegie Steel Company clashed on the banks of the Monongahela River beneath the Pump House – now considered one of the most dramatic conflicts in American Labor history. Today the Pump House is the only brick structure that remains of United States Steel’s Homestead Works. Now under the auspices of Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Pump House can be rented for private events.

For more information, please contact Sherris Moreira at 412.464.4060, ext. 46 or smoreira@riversofsteel.com.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is managed by the non-profit Steel Industry Heritage Corporation (SIHC) in partnership with the National Park Service and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. SIHC works with communities throughout the region to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the cultural, historic, recreational and other resources associated with steel and steel-related industries. The goal of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is to use these resources to encourage community revitalization through cultural tourism, historic preservation, natural and recreational resource conservation, cultural and educational programs and related economic development. Rivers of Steel National Heritage area encompasses Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties. For more information, visit www.riversofsteel.com

Steve Pellegrino’s latest one-man show: ACCORDION STORIES

2011-04-13T12:04:00.000-04:00

Story telling at its best interspersed with music and song.
Benefits Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank

April 28, 29, 30, 2011 8pm

Greybox Theatre, 3595
Butler St Lawrenceville PA 15201

Tickets: Adults: $15 plus food item(s)
Student/Youth: $12 plus food item(s) (Group rates available)

For tickets: www.QMproductionsinc.com, call 412-576-0898 or purchase at the door

The endlessly entertaining Steve Pellegrino grew up in the Mon Valley, the son of an immigrant Italian family, whose lives were affected by the great depression, union organizing and WWII. “The accordion and songs I heard growing up are used as connective tissue to share a family history as it reveals moments in our social and cultural past in America since the 1920’s. It is as much a reminiscence of growing up in these times as a history lesson in the saga of one of America’s great industrial valleys.”

QM Productions, Inc. is a non-profit production company in Pittsburgh producing quality music and theater events to raise money for local charities. Our audiences have the pleasure of seeing great shows and the satisfaction of helping those in need simply by attending our shows.

For further information:
www.QMproductionsinc.com
Nancy Gordon Galluzzo, President and founder - 412 576 0898

Spring Heritage Market at the Pump House

2011-04-09T01:43:00.001-04:00

Saturday, April 23 · 10:00am - 3:00pm

Ethnic foods and crafts; button box music; free bike rides on the Great Allegheny Passage; Pick-a-Prize Auction and other surprises!

The Historic Pump House

880 E. Waterfront Drive

Munhall, PA

Just past Lowe's and across from U.S. Steel Building.

www.riversofsteel.com

St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish Fish Fry

2011-04-06T20:55:00.003-04:00

Every Friday
11am to 7pm.

HUGE Fish Sandwich, Jumbo Shrimp Dinner with Steak Fries and Cole Slaw, Crab Cakes, Mac & Cheese, Pierogies, Potato Pancakes & homemade baked goods.

Eat in or take out (412) 462-1743

St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish
363 W. 11th Avenue Extension
Homestead, PA 15120

www.facebook.com/stmaxparish

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

2011-04-02T21:13:00.000-04:00

COMCAST

Day of Caring!

The Carnegie Library of Homestead

10^th Ave in Munhall

Minor repairs, painting, landscaping, etc.

COMCAST will donate

$20.00 per volunteer to the Library

Saturday, April 30, 2011

8:00 AM – 12:00 noon

For more information, please call 412-292-4066

‘Mercy and the Firefly’ inspired by life in Homestead

2011-03-31T01:32:00.002-04:00

Point Park’s REP theater company combines themes of crime, forgiveness in ‘dark comedy’

Even though Cassidi Parker was not cast in the Pittsburgh Playhouse premiere of "Mercy and the Firefly," she had developed such a connection with the play that she stuck around as assistant director in case something opened during production.

Parker's intuition proved correct when she was cast as an added character, Aisha, a week before tech rehearsal, placing her at the right place at the right time during the play about a nun saving a student from the violence of gang warfare.

"It's an uncomfortable play because the show is not hiding anything," Parker, a sophomore musical theater major at Point Park, said in a telephone interview last Wednesday. "The audience should go in with a clean slate, willing to accept something that is not like what they have seen before."

Parker will join The REP, Point Park's professional theater company, in performing the play, written by Amy Hartman and directed by Melissa Martin, at the Pittsburgh Playhouse throughout the month of April.

"Students should go see the play because they need to be aware of what is going on around us outside of Point Park's walls," Parker said. "The issues in the play are not even that far away from us."

The play tells the story of a nun named Lucy who teaches at an East Los Angeles Catholic school, an area plagued by gang warfare. Lucy witnesses and prevents a student's attempt to murder a fellow student, Aisha. After getting arrested for going into hiding with Aisha, Lucy learns the following day that Aisha has been murdered. In desperation, Lucy kidnaps Mercy, the murderer, and they flee to Homestead, Pa. in order to extract Mercy from becoming a gang's soldier within the violence.

"The audience will see the characters struggle to do what's right even when it is the hardest thing to do," Parker said.

Hartman wrote the play during the Bricolage Urban Scrawl, a theater event which challenges artists to write and stage a new play within 24 hours. After several rewrites, Hartman asked Ronald Allan-Lindblom, the artistic director of the Conservatory of Performing Arts (COPA) at Point Park University, to attend a reading of the play in Pittsburgh a little over a year ago. Lindblom liked it so much he announced at the reading that the Playhouse would produce it.

The story plays off of Homestead's economic and societal climates.

"I think the poverty in Homestead inspired me," Hartman said. "It used to be this working class town, and then the steel mills moved and all these generations lost their jobs, homes and neighborhoods. The factories were bulldozed, and now you see stores like J. Crew and L.L. Bean there. That dichotomy is alarming to me."

The set, designed by COPA's Head of Design Stephanie Mayer-Staley, will depict Homestead's depressed state.

"The entire set is floating so that it appears not real," said Penelope Lindblom, associate professor of theater arts, who plays Vivian Clark, Lucy's mother who takes in Lucy and Mercy when they move to Homestead. "It is a little bubble in time, and as the play progresses the set recedes so that ultimately there is only trash and an empty backyard, and the house the cast lives in disappears."

Staley traveled straight to the setting for inspiration.

"[Staley] went to Homestead and took all these interesting pictures, and one was of this house that was repaired with doors, which made up all of the walls," Lindblom said. "The house on the set is made up of all these mismatched doors, which symbolically might represent every door as an opportunity. Which way will the characters go?"

The play tackles a number of tragic problems within the characters' lives.

"There are some huge issues in the play," Lindblom said. "We are talking about suicide, rape and murder, but it is still funny at the same time."

Lindblom describes the play as a dark yet poignant modern tragedy.

"The main characters are sad, damaged people who live on the fringe of society," Lindbolm said in an interview last Tuesday in the COPA office. "Lucy is in the heights of spiritual enlightenment as a nun and falls out of God's arms because she cannot force herself to forgive Mercy for who she is and what she has done."

According to COPA Marketing Director Chris Hays, the audience will witness an emotionally charged production.

"The audience will leave feeling troubled and emotionally invested in a chilling tale and tasking journey," Hays said. "It is a dark comedy that will make you laugh until you cry."

And yet, theme of forgiveness is depicted in the play.

"One of my lines says it all: to forgive the unforgiveable is as close to God as you're ever going to get," Lindblom said. "Everybody in this play has issues with forgiveness. It shows the only way you can heal yourself is to forgive others. It does not have to be religious or spiritual; it can be moral and ethical. That is my interpretation."

Sharon McCune, who plays Mercy and has been involved with the play since its conception, thinks students should see the show because of that theme.

"There are adults, a student, a mother and a daughter all asking for forgiveness," McCune said in an interview at the Playhouse last Tuesday. "There's some stuff about drug abuse, and that is periphery to how people relate to one another and how it affects how you grow up and the choices you make. The play shows it is never too late to be forgiven or ask for forgiveness."

pointparkglobe.com

By Nicole Chynoweth

Published: Tuesday, March 29, 2011

West Mifflin Senior Center

2011-03-29T08:40:00.000-04:00

The new West Mifflin Senior Center, operated by Life Span will have a ribbon cutting on Monday April 4th @ 9:00 AM at the West Mifflin municipal building 3000 Lebanon Church Road, West Mifflin, PA 15122

Steel Valley: A memoir in stories and poems

2011-03-26T21:00:00.000-04:00

Michael Adams will read from his book Steel Valley and lead a discussion afterwards of life in the Steel Valley during the heyday and decline of the steel industry. He will be joined by Charlee Brodsky, a professor of photography at Carnegie Mellon University, for Thursday’s presentation at the Homestead Library.

Where: Carnegie Library of Homestead
510 E 10th Ave
Munhall PA 15120
http://www.homesteadlibrary.org/

When: Thursday, April 14 5 to 6:30PM

This event is free.

Michael Adams grew up in West Mifflin, PA. He has a Master’s degree in planning from the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a planner for the Allegheny County Planning Department in the 1970s. His latest book is Steel Valley (2010 Lummox Press http://www.lummoxpress.com/lummoxpress/indexlp.htm ) . He is the author of five other books and winner of the 2007 Mark Fischer Poetry Prize. He now lives in Lafayette, CO with his wife, Claire.

Charlee Brodsky, a professor of photography at Carnegie Mellon University, has photographed the steel valley from when the mills were standing in the 1980s until they were razed and the Waterfront built. She produced two books, one with Judith Modell Schacter entitled Homestead, A Town Without Steel; and From Mill Town to Mall Town with writers Jane McCafferty and Jim Daniels.

Emily Salsberry

Library Services Coordinator/Youth Services Librarian

Carnegie Library of Homestead

510 E 10th Ave

Munhall PA 15120

p 412-462-3444

f 412-462-4669

Check out our blog! www.homesteadlibrary.blogspot.com

West Homestead tourist attraction needs room to grow

2011-03-25T22:55:00.001-04:00

Some call it a national treasure. Others see it as a local gem.

Whatever it's called, it is a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction in West Homestead: the Bulgarian Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center.

More than 23,000 visitors to the Pittsburgh region last year visited the facility, including 18 tours of 40 people apiece, conducted from September through May.

"Those visitors represented 48 states and 25 nations," said Patricia French, the center's president.

But its popularity has created a slight problem: lack of parking for visitors and the need to expand the museum for a new kitchen, gift shop and cafe, she said.

"We currently have two kitchens, but would like to have one new, modern kitchen," she said.

The Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County recently approved a grant of up to $150,000, under the county's Community Infrastructure & Tourism Fund, toward the center's $1.3 million expansion.

French is hoping the state approves a $250,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant previously authorized for the center.

The money will help to buy two buildings and three contiguous lots, adjacent to the center on West Eighth Avenue, needed for the expansion. The buildings will be demolished.

"We hope to establish between 35 and 40 off-street parking spaces," French said. "Right now, visitors park on a dirt road."

Founded 80 years ago as the Bulgaro-Macedonian Beneficial Association, a group to service 850 families of Bulgarian and Macedonian heritage who resided in the region, the center's membership today is a mixture of various nationalities. And it is no longer a beneficial society.

"The center helps instill tradition and customs that forge a strong sense of community, regardless of one's ancestry," said French, whose parents were co-founders of the center.

The center houses a museum, library, archives, performing dance ensembles and a learning area.

The museum and library are in the building's bottom floor and feature paintings, sketches, musical instruments, journals and audio and video recordings, plus graphics and academic manuscripts.

While these attractions draw visitors to the center, there's another ingredient that brings people to the site -- or call for it to be sent to them: the soups.

About 12 years ago, the organization embarked on its Soup Saga, a venture to sell the many ethnic soups commonly made by its members and volunteers, French said. Soup sales now pay for about 60 percent of the facility's operating costs.

This includes 14 soups, such as chicken soup with farina dumplings (the most popular), Balkan bean and spiced wheat.

"It's the only place locally which doesn't serve pierogies, haluski or fried fish," she said. "We currently are awaiting a report from Ireland, where we sent our soup recipes, on how the soup sales went."

By Sam Spatter
FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 17, 2011

May opening set in historic site for Homestead Flea Market

2011-03-25T22:40:00.002-04:00

A veteran antiques dealer is launching the Homestead Flea Market near Pittsburgh with a grand opening planned for May 21. Iris Ramos, who owned an antiques business in California, has been searching for the right location since she moved to Homestead, Pa., three years ago. She finally found an 800-square-foot storefront for her swap meet in a historic building at 812 McClure St. “I was looking for a larger location, but the building is so beautiful, and the rent is very fair,” she says. “I live in the community, and I hope to make this a place that will serve the neighborhood.”

The location features 15-foot-high pressed tin ceilings and fine wood floors. The building has been a martial arts studio and a grocery store. It has room to fit just 20 vendors. “It’s a micro-mini flea market serving Pittsburgh and the local community,” says Ramos.

Space rental starts at $15 for both Saturday and Sunday; the market will be open on those days from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, Ramos says she will not charge vendors rent during May. “The first two weekends are free,” she says, “I want to get the buzz out that ‘Wow, there’s a new flea market.’ ’ The grand opening will also feature free antique appraisals. Ramos is advertising on Craigslist to spread the word. For more information, call Iris Ramos at (412) 537-9336.

fleamarketzone.com

March 24, 2011 by Michael Alterio

Developers predict 'renaissance' in Homestead

2011-03-03T20:58:00.000-05:00

Daniel and Ellie Valentine have seen a lot of changes in Homestead since they opened their restaurant, the Tin Front Cafe, on East Eighth Avenue on Sept. 15, 2009.

"There have been a number of businesses that have opened just in our block," Mrs. Valentine said.

New stores that have opened nearby include Mostly Mod, which sells vintage home furnishings and art, Swagger World, which sells urban contemporary clothing and Emil's Modern Furniture, which offers custom built-in cabinets.

In addition to new businesses opening in Homestead, Mrs. Valentine said the Tin Front itself has experienced increased traffic because of new neighbors.

A new restaurant, Smoke Barbeque and Taqueria, is expected to open at 225 E. Eighth Ave. this month, in a building owned by developer Joe Ranii of Cityscape Construction, Homestead.

The takeout restaurant, featuring traditional Latin food for breakfast and lunch, will be run and managed by partners Jeff Petruso and Nelda Carranco.

Mr. Ranii said Homestead is poised to make a transformation such as the one that occurred on the South Side. He believes Homestead's metamorphosis will take place more quickly than did the South Side transformation, which happened over two decades.

During the South Side renaissance, Mr. Ranii first worked on the former Brady Street Bridge Café building, which now houses Mallorca. After continuing to work through that renaissance, and was invited to take part in the restoration of Homestead by urban designer David Lewis, Daniel Valentine's stepfather.

Mr. Ranii said Homestead's unique location makes it a prime spot for redevelopment.

"I think the potential of Homestead is unlimited," Mr. Ranii said.

Mr. Lewis, Mr. Valentine, Mr. Ranii and architect Walter Haglund are part of a loose-knit group of independent developers called the Downstreet Consortium, dedicated to improving Homestead's historic district.

Mr. Ranii said his apartments in the 225 E. Eighth Ave. building rent from $800 to more than $1,600 per month.

Both Mr. Ranii and the Lewis-Valentine family rent to young professionals, rather than students, he said. One of his tenants runs a boutique bakery, and another owns an art gallery.

Mr. Valentine said the goal of the Downstreet Consortium has been to create "a critical mass" of new businesses on the 200 block of Eighth Avenue and for them to spread into the community.

Buildings are undergoing transformations in other areas of Homestead as well, Mr. Valentine said.

Steelers backup quarterback Charlie Batch, a Homestead native, is renovating a former bakery and warehouse building between Sixth and Seventh streets into apartments.

Three recent additions to Amity Street include the Blue Dust restaurant and bar, Posh nail salon and Katie's Candy, which opened last year.

Mr. Valentine's mother, Judi Tener-Lewis, and stepfather, David Lewis, own seven buildings in Homestead. Their first, the former Moose building, was the site of Judi's store, the Annex Cookery, for six years.

Now the Cookery is located next to the Tin Front at 218 E. Eighth Ave.

The Tener-Lewis-Valentine family has created four 1,700-square-foot loft apartments in their buildings at 213 and 215 E. Eighth Ave. across the street from the Tin Front.

They started the loft apartment renovations in late 2005 and finished them in 2007.

Daniel Valentine said his family also put in a four-bedroom, 21/2-bath apartment above the restaurant, doing the renovations in 2008 and 2009.

When asked about the income from the Tin Front, Mr. Valentine said: "I think it continues to grow and improve."

Mr. Valentine said all three men obtained National Historic tax credits through the National Trust, which helped primarily with interior renovations.

They also obtained façade easements through the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County's Streetscape program, and obtained loans through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency for interior apartment renovations through that agency's mixed use financing program.

Steel Valley Enterprise Zone also helped fund renovations of each building developed by the consortium.

The Three Rivers Wet Weather program helped pay for installation of a "green" roof on the Tener-Lewis-Valentine family's building at 215 E. Eighth Ave.

The financing made the renovations and restorations feasible, and a lot more development can be done in Homestead, he said.

"There's an amazing stock of municipal buildings and churches that could be easily turned into penthouses, condos and loft apartments," he said.

He said buildings that could be transformed include the former Strand Theater, old Post Office and municipal buildings and the historic churches on Tenth Street.

Thom Betz, Homestead code enforcement officer, said most renovations recently have been done in The Waterfront development, though some have been along Eighth Avenue. Mr. Betz said six new businesses were created in 2010 by rehabbing existing properties in The Waterfront.

Ten houses in Homestead were demolished last year, but seven new ones are being built along Mifflin and East 14th streets, funded with public money through the Mon Valley Initiative, he said.

Anne Cloonan, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com

Thursday, March 03, 2011

By Anne Cloonan
Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Steel Valley Drama Club to Present “Seussical” March 10‐13

2011-03-02T20:45:00.002-05:00

Munhall, PA – The public is invited to attend Steel Valley Drama Club’s production of “Seussical,” by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens March 10 – 13 at the High School Auditorium.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. March 10‐12 and 2 p.m. on March 13.

Admission is $1 for children in kindergarten – grade five; $7 for grades 6 to adult.

Now one of the most performed shows in America, "Seussical" is a fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza!

Tony winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty ("Ragtime," "Once On This Island") have lovingly brought to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, lazy Mayzie and a little boy with a big imagination‐‐Jojo. "Oh, the Thinks You Will Think" as the spirit of imagination transports the colorful characters from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos.

The story centers around Horton the Elephant, who finds himself faced with a double challenge‐not only must he protect his tiny friend Jojo (and all the invisible Whos) from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left to his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him, the only one who recognizes "his kind and his powerful heart." Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community are challenged and emerge triumphant, in a story that makes you laugh and cry.

The main cast includes:
Cat in the Hat ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Ben Bobick (Junior)
Horton ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Aaron Faux (Junior)
Jojo ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Rachel Dudash (Senior)
Sour Kangaroo ‐‐‐‐‐‐ Kelly Bennett (Senior)
Mayzie ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Krystal Waller (Junior)
Gertrude‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Kaylee Rush (Sophomore)
Bird Girls ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Shannon McShane (Junior), Jen Gerhold (Senior), Nikki Kwolek (Senior)
Wickersham Brothers Sean Collins (Senior), Zach Edelmann (Junior), Kenny Baurle (Junior)
Mr. Mayor ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Sean Collins (Senior)
Mrs. Mayor ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Nicole Salapa (Junior)
Yertle the Turtle ‐‐‐‐‐ Zach Edelman (Junior)

Chorus:
Sandy Alhaj
Keona Blakney
Samantha Brown
Samantha Bruener
Sarah Csider
Jacquelyn DiGiannurio
Lauren Drane
Sara Fallon
Jada Griffin
Jordan Hammell
Korey Hammell
Emily Jones
Natalie Konish
Ilyssa Nera
Rachel Pittik
Taylor Stevens
Taylor Wellman
Meghan Wolf
Production Staff:

Director Jonathan Edwards, English teacher Steel Valley Middle School
Costumes Toni Besh, French teacher Steel Valley High School
Choreography Fran Savolskis, owner Fran’s School of Dance in Munhall
Art director Susan Wright, Art teacher Steel Valley High School
Set Design Bob Barko, Steel Valley alumnus
Music Director Lisa Harrier, Stage Right Productions, Greensburg
Choral assistant Sally Altman, Adjunct Spanish Professor, Penn St. Greater Allegheny
Stage manager Earl Pearson
Stage manager Katy Ruffing
Producer Michael Altman, English teacher Steel Valley High School

Tickets are available presale at Steel Valley Activities Office or at the door; for more information, please contact the following:
Steel Valley Activities Office 412‐464‐3600 x2400
Drama Club website: svdrama.com
Email: maltman@svsd.k12.pa.us (Michael Altman, producer)

Biography of Jester Hairston

2011-02-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

Early life

Hairston was born in Belews Creek, a rural community on the border of Stokes, Forsyth, Rockingham and Guilford counties in North Carolina. His grandparents had been slaves. At an early age he and his family moved to Homestead, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, where he graduated from high school in 1919. Hairston, who gave up studies at Massachusetts Agriculture College in the 1920s, went on to graduate cum laude from Tufts University in 1928 and studied music at the Juilliard School. He worked as a choir conductor in the early stages of his career. His work with choirs on Broadway eventually led to his singing and acting in plays, films, radio programs, and television shows. And, in 1937 was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Career

Hairston wrote the song "Mary's Boy Child" in 1956. He also wrote the song "Amen", which he dubbed for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field (1963). He arranged traditional "Negro spirituals". Most of Hairston's film work was in the field of composing, arranging, and choral conducting. Hairston also acted in over twenty films, mostly in small parts, some of which were not credited to him. Among the films he appeared in were bit parts in some of the early Tarzan movies, St. Louis Blues (1958), The Alamo (1960), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and Being John Malkovich (1999).

Hairston appeared on The Amos 'n' Andy Show. He had been in the radio program that was the basis for the TV show. He also played the role of Wildcat (1974-1975) on the show That's My Mama. In his senior years he appeared in the show Amen as Rolly Forbes (1986-1991). His last television appearance was in 1993 on an episode of Family Matters, a sitcom.

In his later years, Hairston served as a cultural ambassador for American music, traveling to numerous countries with choral groups that he had assembled. In 1985 he took the Jester Hairston Chorale, a multi-racial group, to sing in the People's Republic of China, at a time when foreign visitors were still quite rare in that country.

Death

Hairston died in Los Angeles from natural causes in 2000. For his contribution to the television industry, Hairston has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6201 Hollywood Blvd. He is interred at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood California.

2011-02-16T13:06:00.001-05:00

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Mayor Betty In Black and White

2011-02-10T00:45:00.002-05:00

Female mayors making their mark, serving their communities

2011-02-10T00:35:00.001-05:00

Betty Esper ran for mayor of Homestead 17 years ago because she wanted to be able to walk her dog in the park near her home.

"There were gangs in there smoking marijuana," she said. "I told the police, and they said, 'Walk somewhere else.' "

She took her complaints to council and got a similar response.

"My philosophy is, if you want something done, get involved," said Esper, 77, who won her first term as mayor in 1990. After losing re-election in 1994, she returned in 1998 and has been mayor since.

Eileen Miller said she ran for mayor of Springdale on a dare.

When someone told her she "would never win," she took that as a challenge. She wound up beating a long-term Democrat after getting on the ballot as a Republican write-in. She is the first woman to occupy the Springdale mayor's office.

Miller and Esper are among a half-dozen female mayors in Allegheny County.

Voters in smaller towns are more likely to elect a woman as mayor, said Susan Hansen, a professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh. Of the 1,156 mayors of U.S. cities with populations of more than 30,000 as of August, 202 were women, or 17.5 percent, according to the Center for American Women in Politics.

"I love my job. I wouldn't be in it this long if I didn't," said Esper, who bucked the traditional old boys' network to win her job. She plans to continue in office as long as her health is good.

Like many Mon Valley mill towns, Homestead went through a painful transformation during Esper's terms.

When she began working at U.S. Steel's Homestead Works in 1951, Homestead was "a vibrant town with people on the avenue. It was busy all the time."

By the time she left her job in January 1987, "there was nobody left to say good-bye to." The massive mill where she spent three decades -- the foundation of the borough's tax base -- had closed.

Within three years of her election, the borough was placed under state oversight through the Municipalities Financial Recovery Act program, called Act 47. It left the program 14 years later, because of the booming commercial, business and residential development at The Waterfront.

Miller, 59, is used to breaking gender barriers.

She was the first woman inducted into the Cheswick-Springdale Lions Club in 2001 and was president of the local chapter from 2007-09.

A Democrat, she lost the primary vote but won enough Republican write-in votes to get on the GOP ballot in the November election -- and won. Now, she said, party lines don't matter. She just wants to do a good job for the borough.

"It's been a whirlwind," Miller said. Within days of her swearing-in last year, she had to declare a state of emergency because of the Feb. 6 snowstorm that buried Western Pennsylvania in almost 2 feet of snowfall.

She has a wish list of items the borough needs but can't afford. She's seeking donations to try to raise the $1,300 needed to buy two computers for the police cruisers.

She's not ready yet to sign on for another term.

"I'll let you know at the end of the four years," Miller said.

Dorothy "Dee" Quinn decided to run for mayor to try to make a difference in the borough of Emsworth.

"I felt that the borough in which I live needed a little bit of fresh blood," said Quinn, 71.

The incumbent she beat was 78 years old, she said.

The political atmosphere changed since she served on borough council in the early part of the decade.

"People are so angry about everything that is going on, they lash out at everybody," Quinn said. "I can't understand the anger."

Although she likes the job, she isn't ready to commit to a second term.

"It's a learning experience. It's a shame younger people aren't getting interested in it," she said.

Being the mother of two daughters helped Swissvale Mayor Deneen Swartzwelder's political career, she said.

"The mother instinct helps. ... When you deal with kids, it's always compromise," she said. "You're always in the middle. I'm a good moderator."

Swartzwelder, 46, is in the second year of her second term.

"I love it. It is very fulfilling," she said. "I feel like I'm helping the community."

She, too, bucked traditional political circles to get elected.

"The old boys' network is not as strong as it used to be," she said. "There's also an old girls' network. It was definitely a challenge to over come that."

Ina Jean Marton, mayor of White Oak since 2004, got her first taste of politics at age 16 when someone asked her to help out at a polling place.

"I thought that was the greatest thing I could do for my country. I was just so proud," said Marton, a Republican who spent 11 years on borough council but did not expect to become mayor.

Marton knocked on most doors in the borough when she decided to seek the mayor's post seven years ago, and will do it all again in 2014.

"I'll put on my walking shoes and go out again," she said.

Over the past 14 years, Pennsbury Village Mayor Lucy Harper performed 33 weddings.

"A lot of times, the bride likes having a woman officiate instead of a man," said Harper, 63, who spent a term on council before running for mayor.

The unique borough -- which consists of 700 residents in 500 condominiums -- seceded from Robinson 35 years ago.

Although there was one murder during the past 14 years, Harper said enforcing the borough's leash laws and getting dog owners to clean up after their pets is among the borough's chief concerns.

"Pets are our biggest problem," Harper said.

By Craig Smith, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, February 10, 2011

Carrie Furnace site can help local communities

2011-02-08T22:20:00.001-05:00

Carrie Furnace's 165 acres may bolster the future for a dozen communities.

There may be new homes, office buildings, light industry and highway links, as well as a section set aside to mark its steelmaking history. All that will depend on how much private investment Carrie Furnace can draw and how much taxpayer support it gets amid tightening budgets in Harrisburg and Washington.

"It is very important to invest heavily in the communities that surround the Carrie Furnace site," Allegheny County director of economic development Dennis Davin said last week. "It is not going to be walled off from these communities. It is going to be a part of these communities."

Davin said it is something he and retiring county Executive Dan Onorato believed from the start of redevelopment of this former U.S. Steel millsite along both sides of the Monongahela River from Pittsburgh's Swisshelm Park neighborhood to the Rankin Bridge. "If we continue to put the public investment into the communities while we're doing the remediation and infrastructure work," Davin said, "the communities can benefit."

Carrie Furnace reaches into Pittsburgh, Swissvale, Rankin, Munhall and Whitaker and borders on Braddock. Any action may affect Woodland Hills, West Mifflin Area, Steel Valley and Pittsburgh school districts. While part of the former U.S. Steel property is included in the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area managed by Homestead-based Steel Industry Heritage Corp., the county owns most of the development.

It will be multi-use but not meant to rival the adjacent Waterfront on the former U.S. Steel's Homestead District Works property. "We don't think the market can justify another Waterfront there," Davin said.

The rest of the planning "is up in the air" but the county development director has a vision of light industrial and office buildings on that acreage. Retail does not appear to be in the mix. Most of the infrastructure work is done inside the acreage, including sewer updates. Both the county and SIHC are working on environmental assessments.

"We're meeting and working on environmentals with the state Department of Environmental Protection," SIHC president August R. Carlino said.

SIHC manages the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, which last July acquired rights to Carrie blast furnaces No. 6 and 7 and some surrounding acreage.

Once SIHC gets environmental clearance, Carlino said, "and we get final signoff and absent any major issues ... we'll be prepared to move forward with stabilization of the Blowing Engine House roof." Carlino expects work to begin on a new roof in the spring or early summer.

The county also is focused on two other pieces of infrastructure: Another flyover ramp, from the Rankin end of the Rankin Bridge, and a hot metal bridge across the Monongahela.

"That hot metal bridge goes into Munhall," said that borough's Mayor Raymond Bodnar. "It would lead right to Waterfront Drive, so it would parallel the Rankin Bridge."

Waterfront Drive links up with Route 837 over a flyover ramp whose expansion has been championed by the mayor for a decade.

"Every time I see Mayor Bodnar he tells me about that in no uncertain terms," Davin said. "He really sees a need and we see a need."

The county director expects a link to the Munhall flyover ramp will be part of the overall construction and rehabilitation of the hot metal bridge, something that could happen after a traffic study expected within 18 months.

First, however, the county will move with its proposal for a Rankin flyover ramp.

"It is critical for us to have another access point into the site, by means of a flyover," Davin said. "We have that designed already. This is a construction-ready project."

Davin said "a number of developers" have said they want to see a flyover from the Rankin Bridge.

"That is the one project we have to have," Davin said. "Then we think we can get a lot of good strong responses to a request for proposals." The county is talking to its congressional delegation in Washington, but was unable to get a share of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants handed out as part of President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding.

A month before Gov. Tom Corbett makes his first budget address to the General Assembly, Davin is hopeful support will come from Harrisburg. "This administration is all about jobs," Davin said. "This is the kind of investment that creates jobs."

Former Gov. Ed Rendell provided Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grants that included $6 million in August 2004 for brownfield redevelopment and $5 million in December for the hot metal bridge. Tax Increment Financing that helped build the Waterfront may be employed in Carrie Furnace, but it would be a different sort of TIF. "A TIF for entertainment, retail, those generate a lot more tax revenue than for residential and light industry," Davin said. He said "a couple of speculative TIFs" have been done in the Pittsburgh International Airport corridor "and we are probably going to do a few more."

An organization watching out for RFPs is West-to-West Coalition, best known for brownfield reclamation from West Homestead to West Elizabeth. "We're looking to assist in the Carrie Furnace site," West-to-West chairman George Matta II said.

"West-to-West Coalition has contributed $135,000 to the current site assessment," coalition executive director Steve Pholar said. "We continue to believe that the Carrie Furnace site could be a showcase site in terms of new housing development and a planned urban site." "There is a potential there to build townhouses and patio-style homes," Matta said.

Pholar said West-to-West "stands ready to coordinate with a development partnership presenting a sequential plan of renewal." There also is the effort to promote the site's history by the SIHC, based in the Bost Building in Homestead.

Carlino spent last week in Washington, D.C., talking to staffs in the offices of U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, and Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Scranton, as well as House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over national heritage areas.

Doyle introduced a bill last summer to designate a Steel Industry National Historic Site in Allegheny County that includes Carrie Furnace. It died along with a companion Senate bill.

"It has to start all over again," Carlino said. "Doyle's office is looking at reintroducing the bill."

Casey co-sponsored the companion bill introduced by then-U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Philadelphia.

"Since (Specter) is no longer a senator, we've asked Sen. Casey's office to consider introducing the bill," Carlino said.

While Carrie Furnace extends into Munhall and Whitaker, there isn't much to develop on that side of the river. Davin hopes "to maximize as much activity as possible" between the railroad tracks and the river. Housing there is unlikely.

Still, Davin said, the county was able with that purchase to bridge a gap in the Great Allegheny Passage between Duquesne and the Waterfront, including construction of a new pedestrian bridge. "A part of what we are doing now is taking down two other pedestrian bridges across the tracks," he said.

By Patrick Cloonan, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, February 8, 2011

2011 Chess Tournament at the Carnegie Library of Homestead!

2011-02-08T18:01:00.002-05:00

February 19th at 10am

For children up to grade 8.

You must register for the tournament! Call 412-462-3444 option 3 or email Miss Emily at salsberrye@homesteadlibrary.org to sign up!

West Homestead Engineering & Machine Company - West Homestead, PA

2011-02-03T23:26:00.001-05:00

Miranda Cosgrove has a blast with her young fans

2011-02-03T12:23:00.002-05:00

Remember Summer Hathaway?

She was the adorable little fifth-grader who sang so atrociously, they made her the band manager in "School of Rock."

It was the screen debut for Miranda Cosgrove, which makes it ironic that she packed the Carnegie Music Hall Library of Homestead Wednesday night on her maiden "Dancing Crazy Tour."

Like Miley Cyrus or the Monkees, she has a TV theme song to play live, so sure enough, she came bounding out with "Leave it all to Me," from her hit Nick show "iCarly."

The crowded stayed seated, oddly enough, which was a good thing given that it was made up of big moms and dads and little grade-schools who would have had little chance of seeing her in her white jacket and dazzling mirrored silver skirt.

Miranda sings better than Summer, thankfully, but she won't be confused with Christina Aguilera or Beyonce any time soon. She has a small, cute, peppy voice that got a lift from a second singer on stage, especially on the bright choruses.

There's no question she was a lively performer, bounding around the stage, with wavy black hair flying, and flirting with her two male dancers. Backed by a six-piece band unafraid to rock out a little, she mixed bubblegum pop from her debut album, like "Kissin' U," "BAM" and "Disgusting" (all unrelated), with a few covers: No Doubt's "Just a Girl," "About You Now" (a Sugababes song she did on the "iCarly" soundtrack) and a breezy medley from her iPod of "Dynamite"/"Bulletproof"/"I Gotta Feeling."

It was a short-and-sweet hour set that saved the best for last ??? a new single, "Sayonara," that had the electropop feel of a Britney hit and the catchy "Dancing Crazy," which had the kiddies rushing the stage.

For the 17-year-old Cosgrove, it's all a low-stakes gamble. She has a hit TV show that was just renewed and charisma to spare on screen. She doesn't need to be the next big teen-pop star, and the odds are, she won't.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cultural Heritage Workshops offered by Rivers of Steel

2011-02-02T18:11:00.001-05:00

(Homestead, Pa) – Explore the heritage of Southwestern Pennsylvania during the Rivers of Steel Cultural Heritage Workshops. Each two-hour workshop will provide a view into the cultural history of the region, as well as potentially your own personal heritage. Workshops will be held Saturdays, beginning Feb. 19 and will go through May 16. Each two-hour workshop includes light refreshments. Bring a friend or family member and make a morning of it! Limited seating so reserve your space now. All workshops, except the Digital Camera Safari workshop, will be held at The Bost Building, 623. E. 8th Ave., Homestead. The Digital Camera Safari workshop will be held at The Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront Drive, Munhall. For more information, call 412.464.4060, ext. 46 or smoreira@riversofsteel.com

Telling Your Story: Oral Histories Step-by-Step 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 19 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40.

Oral histories are stories told by living people about the past. Grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, all have valuable information to share about their family's history. Learn more about how to spark a memory, ask the right questions, and organize the information. Workshop led by Rivers of Steel Archival Staff. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/telling-your-story/

Genealogy: How do I Start? 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 26 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40.

A beginner's guide to genealogy with the basic information you need to get started discovering your ancestry. Students will be guided through the first steps of creating a family tree, learn about the latest genealogy software and sort through resources. Instructor: Nancy Dean. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/genealogy-how-do-i-start/

Beautiful Writing: History and Hands-on Calligraphy 10 a.m. to noon March 5 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40.

Learn about the history of calligraphy and the difference between Eastern Asian and Western Calligraphy, then learn the basics of doing it yourself. Some supplies included. Instructor: Adam Smith. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/beautiful-writing-history-and-hands-on-calligraphy/

Photo Detective: Deciphering Pictures to Uncover History 10 a.m. to noon March 12 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40.

Visual literacy is the key to uncovering many hidden details of historic photographs. Learn the techniques historians use when examining images to unravel mysteries and find clues to the past. We will look at images from the Library of Congress from the early 1900s and examine the story they tell of our past as well as use collaborative efforts to decipher your own family photographs. Instructor: Sylvia Ehler. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/photo-detective/

Heritage Scrapbooking: Preserving Family Photographs 10 a.m. to noon March 19 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40.

This workshop will help to inspire beautiful, fun, and creative ideas for scrapbooking your family history and preserving your old family photos. Our expert will give you the 411 on preservation techniques, how to make your photo history fresh, and help with putting it all together. Some supplies included. Bring your own scrapbooking materials as well. Instructor: Anne Neikirk. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/heritage-scrapbooking/

Pittsburgh Food Treasures or How we got the Pierogi 10 a.m. to noon March 26 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40.

Traditional Pittsburgh foods reflect the city's multicultural heritage, especially that of the European immigrants of the early 20th century. While these immigrant populations introduced dishes such as pierogi and haluski to the city, they are now enjoyed by Pittsburgh in general. Join us to learn more about the history of these delicious cultural delicacies. Samples included. Instructor: Sylvia McCoy. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/pittsburghs-food-treasures/

Repurposing your Handheld Heirlooms 10 a.m. to noon April 2 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40

In this class, you will learn how to creatively repurpose your small heirlooms, keeping them fresh and relevant for future generations. Bring your handheld heirlooms or old jewelry and learn how to revision them into a new masterpiece. Instructor: Laura Stuart-Smith. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/upcycling-your-handheld-heirlooms/

Here Comes the Bride: Pittsburgh Wedding Rituals 10 a.m. to noon April 9 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40

What is a Dollar Dance? Who started the cookie table? What is the difference between a Vybava and a Veno? Learn the answers to these and many more questions about the treasured traditions that came to this country from Europe in the late 19th century. We will examine artifacts and listen to stories that will bring these rituals to life. Instructor: Sylvia Ehler. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/here-comes-the-bride/

Beginning Digital Photography 10 a.m. to noon May 7 at The Bost Building, Homestead; Cost $40

Are those little icons on your digital camera driving you crazy? Are you having trouble making sense of your camera's manual? What is White Balance anyway? Join us for this beginning class designed to help you get to know your camera better. This class will cover white balance, shutter speed, manual settings, and more. Instructor: Sally Bozzuto. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/beginning-digital-photography/

Digital Photo Safari 10 a.m. to noon May 14 at The Pump House, Munhall; Cost $50

The site where the Pinkertons landed during the famous Homestead Steel Strike will be the destination for this unique opportunity to see inside and photograph the historic Pump House on the Mon River. Spend a morning with fellow photographers capturing this amazing piece of Pittsburgh history, the riverside, and the frequent train traffic on the bridge. Instructor: Sylvia Ehler. http://www.riversofsteel.com/shop/product/digital-photo-safari/

###

Sherris Moreira

Director of Marketing and Tourism Development for Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area

The Bost Building

623 E. 8th Ave., Homestead, Pa

412.464.4020, ext. 46

Cell: 412.423.TOUR (8687)

Fax: 412.464.4417

www.riversofsteel.com

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The 54 th annual Homestead District Reunion

2011-02-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

The 54 th annual Homestead District Reunion will be held on March 5, 2011 at the Elks Club, Englewood, Florida.

Current and former residents of Homestead, Munhall, West Homestead, Whitaker, West Mifflin, and Lincoln Place will be attending.

For registration information contact : Darrell Hess at 412-580-1157 or by Email at darrellhess@Gmail.com.

Half off your second entrée from TGI Friday's

2011-01-28T10:58:00.002-05:00

There’s always a warm welcome for you at T.G.I. Friday’s and we are cranking up the heat.

Half off your second entrée goes well with a generous helping of Friday’s fun!

Use this coupon often and send it to your friends, too.

It’s like starting your very own heat wave.

Go here to print this coupon from T.G.I. Friday’s, valid through February 8: http://fridays.qrs1.net/greatdealsapp/16d7qs1m_print.html?CMP=30415

Historic Munhall library adds elevator, amenities

2011-01-27T16:29:00.000-05:00

The Carnegie Library of Homestead at last has an elevator in the historic, French Renaissance-style building.

Patrons now can navigate the 112-year-old Munhall building from the library area or Music Hall to the Athletic Club or to a future coffee shop without using steps.

Dan Lloyd said the library board has wanted to install an elevator since it acquired the building from U.S. Steel in 1988.

“It has always been that we don’t have the money for an elevator,” Lloyd, the library board president, said.

Installation of the elevator, completed earlier this month, was funded by a $150,000 federal Community Development Block Grant funneled through Allegheny County.

“That didn’t pay for the whole elevator,” Lloyd said. “We had some other grant money to fund soft costs and costs that weren’t funded by CDBG.”

He said the insight of the library’s consulting director of building operations Matthew Szanca helped to save the library a lot of money on utilities that could be put toward the elevator. Szanca noted that library athletic director Edward Child has had a large hand in cutting the water bill.

Lloyd said there are patrons who want to use the library’s athletic club, but can’t climb steps.

“There are people who want to use our Silver Sneakers room (but) can’t do steps because they have bad knees, but they can spin or they can work out on their upper body,” he said. “They could have emphysema or a lung disorder, like my father, who had to take Silver Sneakers at another location because, by the time he got up the steps, he was ready to go home.”

Szanca said the elevator is in Phase A, now going only from the first to the second floor. He said Phase B, which is awaiting funding, will allow the elevator to access the basement, swimming pool and other community rooms.

Lloyd said the idea for a coffee shop has been discussed since he became a library board member in 2004. He said he would visit Barnes & Noble at the Waterfront and note the nice atmosphere a coffee shop added to the business.

Lloyd said a committee was formed to bring a coffee shop to the library. After members toured other libraries, the committee recommended finding a corporate partner, and estimated the cost for the project would be $100,000.

Lloyd said he knew it wouldn’t be that expensive, and told the library board it would only cost approximately $20,000.

Even with an all-volunteer workforce, he said, the library didn’t have enough money to build the coffee shop. Lloyd’s aunt Betty Jane Lloyd donated $10,000 to complete the coffee shop.

“She wanted to see it finished,” Lloyd said.

The retro-designed room will be named Aunt B’s Coffee Shop.

Lloyd said the space where the coffee shop will be located was an old storage area with a wooden partition, which was removed.

“This building was designed by Alden & Harlow,” he said. “Alden & Harlow designed the Duquesne Club and I think designed the courthouse downtown. They are famous architects. Their vision was to have these windows illuminate this whole area when you came up the steps. The partition wall took away that whole idea that the architects had.”

Lloyd and Szanca said many people volunteered their services to create the room for free, including George Edwards painting the coffee shop, Bob DeLu aiding in construction, Robert Howell donating
light fixtures, and LeRoy Pettis contributed his art.

Work was started in December 2009, but wasn’t continuous because it was volunteer work done mostly by Lloyd and Szanca.

Library board member Susan Wonsock designed the room.

It eventually will contain vending machines and tables. Gourmet coffee might be sold during Music Hall concerts or other events.

“You can bring a magazine up here, sit down and read,” Lloyd said. “People who come in for Silver Sneakers can gather here after. We want to make it a meeting place.”

“This would be perfect for a small group of seniors to meet,” Szanca said.

A grand opening for the coffee shop is planned for March. It will coincide with the grand opening of a new welcome center and teen space at the library.

“The best thing that happened to the valley is Andrew Carnegie,” Szanca said. “The best thing that happened to the Carnegie Library of Homestead is Dan Lloyd.”

More information about Carnegie Library of Homestead is available by calling 412-462-3444, or online at the www.homesteadlibrary.org website.

By Stacy Lee, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Thursday, January 27, 2011

Read more: Historic Munhall library adds elevator, amenities - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailynewsmckeesport/s_720092.html#ixzz1CFQ8i9g7

The Pump House for your next venue

2011-01-25T11:06:00.002-05:00

Looking for a unique venue for a wedding, art show, workshop or birthday party?

Check out our Historic Pump House in The Waterfront right by the Monongahela River.

Very earthy and artsy and historical.

Read more about the Pump House history.

Rivers of Steel

For more information, contact sdrane@riversofsteel.com

Tamara Tunie on The Today Show

2011-01-25T09:17:00.000-05:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Pittsburgh Bleeds Black and Gold

2011-01-20T20:41:00.002-05:00

The Steelers Remain a Blue-Collar Team in a Blue-Collar Town; 'It Really is a Religion Out Here'

PITTSBURGH, Pa.—Jim Kelly forged his entire Hall of Fame career in Buffalo. He went to four Super Bowls with the Bills. He set NFL records in Buffalo and had his number retired there.

But he grew up in Pittsburgh. His dad owns a Terrible Towel. And when his father moved to Buffalo this past year to be closer to his 13 grandchildren, "he did bring it with him," Mr. Kelly said, not one trace of pique apparent in his voice.

After all, that's Pittsburgh.

Nurses at the Oakbrook Commons cancer center tie the bright yellow, game-day waving Terrible Towels to the IV rods dispensing chemotheraphy treatments.

High school football players get more pumped for the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League championship, played on the Steelers' Heinz Field than they do for the state title game, out in Hershey Park.

Visitors at Pittsburgh International Airport have to pass side-by-side statues before leaving the airport. One is of George Washington, our country's first president and the official founder of Pittsburgh. The other is of Franco Harris, who caught a pass in a divisional playoff game.

"That's Pittsburgh," says Steelers backup quarterback Charlie Batch, chuckling.

The pass Mr. Harris caught, of course, was the legendary Immaculate Reception in the Steelers' 1972 franchise-igniting win over the Raiders.

Deflected off safety Jack Tatum, scooped by Mr. Harris, it was judged football's greatest play off all-time by NFL Films. The monument's place next to Mr. Washington, Steelers receiver Hines Ward said, "tells you all you need to know about football and this part of the country."

Although he's in his 13th year here, Mr. Ward is not a native. Mr. Batch, born and bred seven miles outside Pittsburgh proper in Homestead, is. He knows Pittsburgh, where the blood runs black and gold, where the legion of football Hall of Famers will likely never stop sprouting and where something is clearly in the water.

"No one knows what's in the water. That's the point. Have you seen that river?" Mr. Batch exclaims, pointing out the Steelers' practice facility toward to the brackish Monangahela. "It's all muddy and dark."

That is the point, of course. If ever a region was built in the image of this game, it would be here.

The city was borne of steel mills and manufacturing, and a blue-collar ethos that Mr. Kelly— whose father worked in a steel mill—said he often talked about sharing with fellow natives and Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Dan Marino.

"Nothing is given to you in Pittsburgh," Mr. Batch said, "and nothing is given to you in football either."

In the days of the steel mills and smokestacks, the Steelers and their lunch-pail nature were something everyone, rich and poor alike, could take pride in.

Today, as the industrial sites have been shuttered, the banks have moved in and events like the G20 Summit have landed in town, "Pittsburgh is still that steel mill town," native and former Jets tailback Curtis Martin said. "And the Steelers are still that blue-collar team."

George Novak coaches at Woodland Hills, whose six NFL players are the most from any one high school in the league. Jets linebacker Jason Taylor was a 6-foot-1, 165-pound home-schooled 11th grader outside Pittsburgh when Mr. Novak told him to come out for the team.

He was a safety. The next year he put on 15 pounds, and when he comes home with the Jets Sunday for this AFC title clash, he'll do it as a six-time Pro Bowler in his 14th NFL year.

"Jason was determined and very competitive," Mr. Novak said. "He learned that growing up in Western PA."

It's all tied together, from midget football to high school on through to the Steelers. Since the 1970s, when they won four Super Bowls, the Steelers have been a benchmark in the league. This Sunday they'll be looking for their eighth Super Bowl trip, and seventh Super Bowl trophy.

There's stability and there's success, and it makes Mr. Kelly rue what's happened in Buffalo, where he loves the Bills and hates that 14- and 15-year-olds have no personal recollection of the Bills as successful. No playoffs, few winning seasons and definitely no Super Bowls.

"When you keep winning as a franchise year in and year out, those kids, they continue to see the winning tradition," he said. "The passion automatically goes from parents to kids."

It's a passion that gives rise to the inane, like the Monroeville man who's painted the bricks on his house gold and black. Or the endearing, like the 80-year-old women who 24-year-old Steelers receiver Mike Wallace says regularly recognizes him at the grocery store. Or the occasionally tough, like the day after the Steelers' 2009 Super Bowl win, when Mr. Ward went to fill up gas.

"This woman says to me, 'Hey, we gonna win one next year?'" Mr. Ward said with a smile and a head shake. "I wanted to say, 'Let's enjoy this one for a minute.' It really is a religion out here."

Which is why religion is invoked in the names of the plays: Immaculate Reception. Immaculate Deflection (1996 AFC title game). Immaculate Interception (Super Bowl XLIII).

The lore is only part of the reason why nurse Susan Braun tied those towels to the IV rods at the cancer center this year.

"Terrible Towels are part of our culture here," Mrs. Braun said. "They're a sign of home and they stand for our strong city. I think it gives our patients some hope."

The weaving of that bond, Mr. Batch says, has as much to do with the Rooney family as it does the steel mills. Patriarch Art Rooney was the founding owner of the Steelers, an accomplished mediator who was unafraid to stand alone in opposition when the NFL considered moving another franchise to a then racially-tense Dallas in the early 1950s.

His son Dan took over day-to-day operations in 1974. Progenitor of the league's Rooney Rule, designed to increase interview opportunities for minority head coaching candidates, and a member of the Hall of Fame, Mr. Rooney is now ambassador to Ireland.

He's a man who still pays for his lunch in the cafeteria he owns, rides the team charter to away games and sits in coach.

"My first flight here, I was shocked. Not only was he not in first class, he was sitting in the last row by the bathroom, where you can't recline," Mr. Batch said, still incredulous all these years later. "He just said, 'I'm not playing a game tomorrow. I don't have to stretch my legs.' That's a Hall of Famer?"

That's how important football is here.

Maybe that's why Mr. Martin remembers having to rustle up 50 to 75 tickets every time the Jets came to town—"and how not only would those people not wear green, they'd be ready to fight with Jets fans," he said. "My mother was my only relative who didn't wish me ill will when I played the Steelers."

Maybe that's why picking an all-time all-Western Pennsylvania quarterback is impossible.

"Montana can start, Marino can come in after the half, and since I'm so good at the two-minute offense, I'll come in at the end," Mr. Kelly says.

But then what about Johnny Unitas?

"Johnny U can come coach us," Kelly says.

Right, except that Bill Cowher, Marty Schottenheimer, Packers coach Mike McCarthy and Bengals coach Marvin Lewis are all from Western Pennsylvania too.

"There really is no place like it," Mr. Roethlisberger said Thursday. "No one else matches their city like we do. We're blue collar, we're hard-working, we're good old guys and that's what this city is."

By ADITI KINKHABWALA

Wall Street Journal
January 21, 2011

So You Wanna DJ? Best Buy Brings Free DJ Workshops to Waterfront

2011-01-19T10:03:00.001-05:00

Come see Pittsburgh area locals in action as they learn how to mix and scratch from DJ Sneek of the Scratch DJ Academy, one of the world’s leading brands in DJ and music production education.

It’s also an opportunity to check out Best Buy’s wide selection of music equipment, which will be utilized for the six-session series. Additional highlights include:

Performance by internationally renowned DJ Sneek
Chances to win select products, including Beats by Dr. Dre studio headphone.

When:		680 Waterfront Dr E
	Workshop 1: Kick it Off Right – History, Equipment, & Cueing a Sound
	(Featuring DJ Sneak)
		Thursday, January 20, 2011
		6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
	Workshop 2: Building Block – Droppin’ on the “1”
		Thursday, January 27, 2011
		7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
	Workshop 3: First Step to a Mix – Droppin’ on the “1” and BPM
		Thursday, February 3, 2011
		7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
	Workshop 4: The Real Deal – Beat-Matching & Creating a Set
		Thursday, February 10, 2011
		7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
	Workshop 5: Take It Up a Notch – Scratching & Advanced Beat-Matching
		Thursday, February 17, 2011
		7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
	Workshop 6: Showing Off Your Skills – Review, Performances, & Next Steps
		Thursday, February 24, 2011
		7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Where:		Best Buy 680 Waterfront Dr E 412-476-8061 Visit www.bestbuy.com/DJworkshop for more information
Why:		Pittsburgh is one of two cities where Best Buy customers can engage in this interactive experience with one of the top DJ production educators in the world. Using products found in Best Buy stores nationwide, participants can live out their fantasies by learning how to DJ from actual, established professionals. The sessions build on one another, beginning from the ground up and building a complete skill set as an amateur DJ. In addition, Best Buy is offering several exciting sweepstakes, including an opportunity to win popular Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.

Visuals/ Interviews:		Full set-up of DJ equipment provided by and available at Best Buy stores TV crews and photographers welcome Top DJs from Scratch Academy, including DJ Hapa and DJ Sneek are available for interviews to demonstrate the wide array of music products that are available at Best Buy

T.G.I. Friday’s makes food bank donation

2011-01-19T09:39:00.000-05:00

T.G.I. Friday’s and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank gained some generous friends through a Facebook campaign to raise money for the food bank.

The Waterfront T.G.I. Friday’s general manager Phil Sero presented GPCFB CEO Joyce Rothermel with a $268 check Tuesday.

The funds were raised in the “Can for a Fan” campaign.

That amount can be added to equal more than $6,000 the restaurant’s owner Bistro Group has donated to GPCFB in 2010.

“Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank serves 11 counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” Rothermel said. “We rely a lot on community support. Nothing means more to us than support from our neighbors. I don’t think it’s a secret that the Mon Valley is struggling.”

She said it’s going to take more businesses like T.G.I. Friday’s to get involved and help deal with the issues in the Mon Valley.

The campaign, which ran in November and December, donated a can of food for each new Facebook fan T.G.I. Friday’s received. Bistro Group gave the food bank cash for those cans because money would help more customers.

“It’s wonderful when technology gets used to reach out to people with a message,” Rothermel said. “Not only did T.G.I. Friday’s get more fans, but it linked fans to the food bank.”

The Waterfront T.G.I. Friday’s participated in Bartender Championships during 2010 with other surrounding Pittsburgh T.G.I. Friday’s owned by Bistro Group to raise more than $5,000 for the food bank.

“We do flair competitions every year,” Sero said. “It’s where the bartenders flip bottles similar to the movie ‘Cocktail’ and entertain the crowd. It promotes fun with the staff and guests.”

Bistro Group owns eight T.G.I. Friday’s locations in the Pittsburgh area and a total of 31 restaurants — with the majority being T.G.I. Friday’s — in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Other locations donated funds from their own campaign to their local food bank.

The Pittsburgh locations raised $11,170 for charity in 2010.

By Stacy Lee, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Steel Valley Arts Council

2011-01-13T21:52:00.000-05:00

Steel Valley Arts Council will showcase the work of three emerging artists in an exhibit titled Manufacturing Identity through Jan. 29 at artspace105 at 105 E. Eighth Ave.

On-street parking available.

Gallery hours are from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

More information: steelvalleyarts@gmail.com

16th Annual Munhall Volunteer Fire Co #1 Oldies Dance

2011-01-05T09:47:00.001-05:00

The 16th Annual Munhall Volunteer Fire Co #1 Oldies Dance is just around the corner. All event information is listed below. If you need further information, please call 412-464-7321 or email at info@mystation200.com Web Site: www.mystation200.com

Jim Tomsula tied for all-time lead in winning percentage

2011-01-03T23:50:00.002-05:00

Sunday’s 38-7 win by the 49ers over the Cardinals didn’t get much coverage on a day filled with games that actually mattered, but it was undoubtedly one of the biggest days in Jim Tomsula’s life.

Tomsula earned the win in his NFL head coaching debut and, with a new coach coming in, guaranteed himself a spot at the top of the league’s winning percentage list. He’s alongside such luminaries as Fred Bruney and Ray Prochaska on that list, one of the few coaching lists that rewards brief tenures. He even got a Gatorade bath at the end of the game. Not a bad day for a guy who was a defensive line coach a week ago.

If he ever does get into the mix for another head coaching job, Tomsula will be helped by the fact that his 49ers team came to play on Sunday. They showed a lot more fight than they showed for Singletary over most of the first 15 games and got rewarded with a blowout victory that leaves some good taste in their mouths as they await the arrival of a new regime. Alex Smith threw two touchdowns, Brian Westbrook ran for two scores and the defense predictably handled the two-headed Arizona quarterbacking monster of John Skelton and Richard Bartel with little problem.

Since we’re spotlighting proud days under dire circumstances, let’s take a moment to recognize Larry Fitzgerald. The Cardinals wide receiver certainly deserves better than Derek Anderson, Max Hall, Skelton and Bartel as his quarterbacks, but he still managed to pick up 90 catches and 1,137 receiving yards this season. That makes four straight years with 90 or more catches and more than 1,000 yards, which is only slightly less impressive than the fact that Fitzgerald went the whole season without attacking anyone on the sideline. Given the volatile nature of NFL wideouts, that’s pretty remarkable.

Hopefully, the Cardinals will do something to make sure he doesn’t finally reach his breaking point in 2011.

Posted by Josh Alper on January 3, 2011

NBC Sports

Trail gets $750K in state funds to help completion

2011-01-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

Three quarters of a million dollars in state funds have been allocated to complete the missing segment of the Great Allegheny Passage.

State Sen. Jay Costa Jr., D-Forest Hills, announced Thursday that $750,000 in state redevelopment assistance grant monies have been awarded to provide the final push for completion of a continuous bike/hiking trail from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.

The missing segment of the 150-mile long trail is about a one-mile gap of the Steel Valley Trail portion of the passage in West Homestead and Pittsburgh area.

Allegheny County officials estimate that segment to be finished in November 2011. Officials signed easement agreements with Sandcastle Waterpark and CSX Corp. in October.

“We’ve worked hard to revitalize the area that was hit so hard by the departure of the Homestead Works,” Costa said Thursday in a press release.

“These efforts are paying off, and completion of this trail is a huge win for the folks who work and play here. Not only is this a valuable resource for those who will be able to spend quality time outdoors, but the economic impact this trail has on the area can’t be understated. It attracts over 700,000 visitors every year, who spend millions of dollars and help to fuel the area’s turnaround.”

It is estimated that there is more than $40 million in indirect spending in trail towns annually, and 88 businesses have been created because of GAP.

“The completion of the Great Allegheny Passage is a transformational moment for our region, both economically and recreationally,” Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said. “This trail has been improving the economy and quality of life in towns throughout the Laurel Highlands and Southwestern Pennsylvania, and now its benefits will spread north through the Mon Valley and into the city of Pittsburgh.”

The segment to be completed in the West Homestead area will go under a railroad bridge and the Glenwood Bridge to link with a portion of the trail that currently is being formed, then connect to the South Side trail.

The trail system has been 35 years in the making, and funding has come from individual trail users, local governments, private foundations and corporations, and state and federal grants.

This has been a banner year for the Steel Valley Trail, a nine-mile segment of the GAP. Two major projects were completed in July. Bridges were installed over Norfolk Southern railroads, one in Duquesne and one in Whitaker.

The one in Duquesne is in an area trail organizers call Port Perry. It is across the Monongahela River from Port Perry in North Versailles Township. The one in Whitaker stretches across the tracks between Kennywood Park and the Rankin Bridge.

Other trail events this year included a ribbon-cutting for the opening of a portion of the trail in late April near the intersection of Water Street and Ninth Avenue in McKeesport.

“I want to thank the commonwealth, especially Gov. Ed. Rendell and Sen. Jay Costa, for their continued support of this project,” Onorato said. “With the help of our generous foundation community and enthusiastic trail users, we have come a long way toward the completion of this incredible trail. But we wouldn’t be on the home stretch without the state’s support.”

Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, also lauded the governor, senator and county executive for their support and for facilitating the funding.

“There will be a significant jump in traffic once the last link to Pittsburgh is complete,” Boxx said. “The trail is truly having an economic impact in the communities through which it passes, and we look forward to revitalization in the Mon Valley communities. Pittsburgh will truly become a biking Mecca.”

By Michael DiVittorio, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Friday, December 31, 2010

Steel Valley's Williams is Offensive Player of the Year

2011-01-01T11:27:00.000-05:00

Before his senior season, the jury was still out on the direction of Steel Valley running back Delrece Williams’ future as a collegiate football player.

While Williams was completely dedicated to carrying the football at the next level, many recruiters saw his potential as most highly accentuated from the slot receiver position or in the defensive backfield.

“They knew he was athletic,” former Ironmen coach Ray Braszo, who led the team during Williams’ first three seasons, said. “A lot of times it seems that people want those real good athletes to also be able to play defense. They’re always looking for that kind of help. They probably believed that if he’s not the running back, he could go two ways.”

After the season Williams unfurled this fall, however, that debate should now most certainly be over.

Williams shattered Steel Valley’s single-season rushing record by gaining 2,388 yards and a WPIAL-best 34 touchdowns in leading the Ironmen to a 7-3 overall record, a 5-2 mark in the Century Conference and a trip to the Class AA playoffs.

For also setting the all-time WPIAL regular season rushing record at 2,149 yards, Williams is the 2010 Daily News Offensive Player of the Year.

Woodland Hills running back Lafayette Pitts, Clairton quarterback Desimon Green and McKeesport Area running back Sam Gooden were also considered for this year’s honors.

“It was really important for me to go out like this,” the 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior said. “I felt like I went out with a bang. This was my goal to go out of my senior season with a bang and hopefully get a scholarship.”

Although Braszo didn’t get to catch many of his former player’s games because he was coaching in his first season back at West Mifflin Area, Williams’ heavy offensive output came as no surprise.

“He was talented from ninth grade on when we had him,” Braszo, who previously coached the Titans for 17 seasons before his four-year stint at Steel Valley, said. “He was obviously going to be a good running back. It was just a matter of staying healthy and staying with it and working hard.”

“He’s kind of a natural talent, to go with the great personality he has, we thought he could be successful.”

And Williams’ success in his final high school campaign was nearly unparalleled around the WPIAL.

In ten games, he broke the 200-yard rushing barrier eight times.

Following a 215-yard, three-touchdown performance to lead the Ironmen to a critical 21-0 victory at Keystone Oaks in Week 7, Williams exploded for a career-best 342-yard, eight-touchdown showing at Quaker Valley the following week.

“That was a big game,” Williams said of facing Keystone Oaks. “They were a tough opponent. A lot of people were sleeping on them, but it was a make-or-break type game for us two. We stepped up to the plate.”

Williams would round out his regular season by racking up 317 yards and four touchdowns against South Allegheny before rushing for 236 yards and three scores in a crushing 19-18 loss to Beaver Falls in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA postseason.

“There wasn’t a game that we played this year that we didn’t have an opportunity to win,” first-year Steel Valley coach Rod Steele said.

With such consistently staggering rushing totals, the closest running back to approach Williams’ yardage totals was Hopewell junior Rushel Shell.

During his historic regular season, Williams carried the ball 222 times at a clip of 9.7 yards per carry, while Shell finished 47 yards behind him with 2,102 yards on 262 attempts — good for eight yards per carry.

Shell finished with 2,510 yards for the season after playing one more playoff game than Williams.

“(Delrece) has the work ethic and the inner drive,” Steele said. “He’s determined to be a good football player.”

Steele hasn’t been the only one to notice.

Since the beginning of the season, Williams has received considerable recruiting interest from West Virginia, UConn, Bowling Green, Illinois, Michigan State and Pitt.

When he receives his SAT scores in the next few weeks, Steele expects many — if not every one of those schools — to offer Williams a scholarship.

“He did a lot between the tackles,” Steele, who previously coached running backs at Pittsburgh Central Catholic, said. “He’s not that 4.4 kid that’s going to line up and just run right past you, but he has the intangibles as far as having great vision, great cutting ability, recognizing what goes on around him. That’s what makes him such a great athlete — a great running back.”

Williams will round out his high school football career when he takes part in the 2011 Offense-Defense All-American Bowl at Doug Shaw Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The game, which has featured Heisman Trophy winning Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, former Notre Dame and Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate, along with Dallas Cowboys rookie receiver Dez Bryant, will be televised live on Versus at 4 p.m. on Friday.

Such exposure could only do wonders for Williams’ status on the national recruiting scene.

“He’s everything any coach would want in a running back,” Steele said. “I said it once, I’ll say it again, Delrece Williams could’ve lined up and played in the backfield for any team in the WPIAL. He has those intangibles and he’s determined to be great.”

“If there is any coach out there who is looking for a competitor,” he added. “Delrece Williams is the guy they want.”

To get to this point, though, Williams certainly has his teammates and coaches to thank.

That camaraderie will be the most lasting impact felt from his career with the Ironmen.

“I couldn’t do it all by myself,” Williams said.

“My line had a big part to do with it. It was a team effort. My team helped me become the player that I am.”

By John Santa, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, December 29, 2010

New Years Eve at Sing Sing

2010-12-29T19:45:00.003-05:00

For Info Call:
412-461-7426.

Spend an evening in the islands with Tom Watt, the #1 Jimmy Buffett impersonator

2010-12-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

January 15, 2011

7:00-11:00

Skyview Firehall - off Rt. 885 by Pat Bus Garage

$25/person or $45/couple

Ticket includes show, buffet and draft beer.

Benefits West Mifflin Titan High School Football and Cheerleaders

Tickets and info: Lori-412-759-4728

Niners' new interim coach made mark at Steel Valley

2010-12-28T22:32:00.000-05:00

Not everyone knows that Jim Tomsula, the interim coach of the San Francisco 49ers, played for a championship team at Steel Valley High School in 1984.

Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak and Woodland Hills' George Novak are two who do.

Tomsula, 43, and Cherpak were shoulder-to-shoulder offensive and defensive linemen for Novak, then the Steel Valley coach, when they won the WPIAL Big Ten Conference with a 10-0 regular-season record.

"He was Pittsburgh all the way through," Cherpak said of Tomsula, a native of Homestead. "He was tough. He was the worker. He didn't get as much attention because he was shorter (6-foot, 255 pounds), but he was just as good a player as anybody else."

Tomsula had been the 49ers' defensive line coach since 2007, keeping his job when Mike Singletary replaced former head coach Mike Nolan in 2008. Ultimately, Tomsula replaced Singletary, who was fired Sunday with one game left in the season.

True to Cherpak's description, Tomsula was working when he got word of the coaching change Sunday night. Immediately after arriving from St. Louis, where the 49ers had lost to the Rams to fall to 5-10, Tomsula started watching film, preparing for the next game.

Jed York, 49ers president and CEO, said Tomsula apologized to him Monday for not wearing a suit and tie to his introductory news conference. Tomsula was so focused on his job that he never made it home to change clothes.

Tomsula has a long coaching resume that began after he played at Middle Tennessee State and Catawba (N.C.) College. Initially, he worked in the food service industry before beginning a coaching career at Charleston Southern (S.C.) University in 1997 -- against his father's wishes.

Cherpak, who remains close friends with Tomsula and his family, remembers Tomsula's father saying, "This coaching will never take you anywhere."

Undaunted, Tomsula coached at Catawba in the fall and NFL Europe in the spring and summer, working for the England Monarchs, Scottish Claymores, Berlin Thunder and Rhein Fire from 1998-2006. He was Rhein's head coach in '06.

"He was a fighter," Cherpak said. "He was one of those guys who busted his butt in everything he did. In the summer, he would work in construction and go straight to work out."

This summer, Tomsula, Cherpak and Novak organized a football camp at Thomas Jefferson for boys with Down Syndrome. A total of 40 attended, many of whom were playing football for the first time. Tomsula conducted a similar camp in California.

Tomsula's wife Julie has invited Cherpak to the 49ers' home game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. It's a big day for the family, because Tomsula is not expected to keep the job.

"I'm on a one-week calendar," he said.

No matter what happens in the future, Novak and Cherpak do not expect Tomsula to change.

"He's a regular guy," Novak said.

Said Cherpak: "He is hometown. You would never know he is a head coach. You tackle. You block. There is only one ball on the field. He doesn't make it any harder than it is, any more important than it is."

By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Munch goes to Calypso Caribbean Grill

2010-12-28T22:29:00.001-05:00

The scene: a smoke-filled Hollywood back-lot office. A young Munch pitches a screenplay to a tanned Tinseltown tycoon in tinted sunglasses, dragging off a Dunhill in a slender cigarette holder. Exasperated, Munch makes the case:

"It's a love story, see? A bootstraps fable! It's got everything!

A gal meets her fella in the islands! They fall in love! He moves Statesside! They open a restaurant! The American Dream! A fairy tale! Tropical locations! It's got it all, I tell ya!"

"I like it kid. Where do we shoot this epic?"

"At a strip mall in West Mifflin."

Long pause.

"Back up kid. Gimme that story again."

For the record: Sixteen years ago, a lass named Sharon goes on a Caribbean vacation in Barbados with some girlfriends and meets an island native, Terry.

Because men the world over are genetically incapable of resisting the charms of Pittsburgh girls, a long-distance courtship ensues and a little more than a year later, Terry and Sharon Ward were married.

Terry Ward has cooking in his DNA -- his family owned a restaurant on the equatorial haven. But, after marriage and a move to the United States, he continued his trade as a carpenter.

Sharon had her successful career as a chemist.

They had talked of opening a place together, serving authentic Caribbean cuisine, but the timing wasn't right, until ...

Fast forward to 2008.

The Great Recession strikes.

Sharon takes a voluntary severance from her company, which was making cutbacks.

Although the business climate is brutal, Sharon and Terry see their chance to take a big leap, and in October of last year, they open Calypso Caribbean Grill in the Kennywood Shops in West Mifflin.

When you think tropical paradise, naturally, you think Mon Valley, right mon? Not exactly.

But the cozy Calypso warms up an otherwise antiseptic shopping center, with its pastel painted walls, seashell decorations, and photographs of the pristine waters, glimmering white sand beaches and almost impossibly azure skies of Terry's homeland.

"That's great, kid, but how's the food?"

Quite good. Authentic.

A tapestry of sweet and spicy smells greet you upon entering the place.

The recipes of traditional Caribbean dishes are from Terry's family, many of them penned in the handwriting of his mother.

Munch tried an oxtail stew over a bed of wild rice with a side of fried plantains ($11.95). The cuts of oxtail were fatty (as they're supposed to be) and flavorful with a sauce that was both sweet but with just enough warming heat for a chilly December afternoon. The plantains were a sweet and savory treat with a starchy consistency.

Munch took out a jerk chicken sandwich with a side of lamb stew ($5.95) for dinner later.

The lamb stew seasonings were similarly delicious as the oxtail stew, but, in Munch's opinion, better, owing to a tastier selection of meat.

The jerk chicken was well-prepared and with a nice bite.

Trusty sidekick, the Blonde Barkeep Bud of Munch had the curry chicken over rice, with a side of macaroni and cheese. She reports that the chicken was tender, with a bit of spice, but not overpowering -- a well-balanced dish -- although the mac and cheese left a bit to be desired.

A host of other island staples such as curry goat, Roti and Bajan vegetables are also on the menu ($4.99-$9.95).

"So whaddya think sir? A Hollywood story. With a little 'Burgh and Bajan twist. Call it 'Eat, Pray, Love, n'at.' I smell Oscar!"

"Sorry kid. Sounds like a great place. But we're only doing 3-D vampire pictures these days. Tell 'em to hire on Nosferatu as a line cook and you got something."

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Blast From the Past: Old Steel Mill Forges New Life as a Park

2010-12-15T13:50:00.002-05:00

(Dec. 2) -- Preservationists outside Pittsburgh are fighting to put an abandoned steel mill back to work -- not so it can produce metal, but so it can protect history.

Since the blast furnaces fired up for the last time at the Carrie Furnace in 1978, the decaying steel mill on the bank of the Monongahela River has served as a solemn reminder of the industry that turned Pittsburgh into a thriving city -- then left it polluted and jobless.

Now, more than three decades after the Carrie Furnace went from being a bustling workplace for 4,000 employees to a 168-acre ghost town, a team of preservationists is trying to convert the remains of the hulking factory in Rankin, Pa., into a museum dedicated to the region's steel history.

"Pittsburgh is known for steel," said Sherris Moreira, a spokeswoman for Rivers of Steel Heritage Corp., the group spearheading the preservation project. "There is this pride that people here have for their steel heritage -- and this is a tangible way for people to connect with that history."

Rivers of Steel hopes to preserve the remaining structures, transforming the industrial ruin into an interactive historical center inside a park.

At the heart of the proposed preservation project are the two remaining blast furnaces, which were built in 1907 and left largely unchanged until U.S. Steel halted operations at the Carrie Furnace.

The massive ovens are rare examples of pre-World War II steel-making technology -- and they could make the perfect centerpiece for the proposed museum, according to Rivers of Steel curator of collections Tiffani Emig.

"They were never invested in for improvements and they were never upgraded. Everything was done by hand up until the day it closed," Emig said. "That's what makes them special."

Those industrial relics -- along with five other furnaces that were demolished -- manufactured as much as 1,200 tons of iron per day, creating metals used in the construction of the Empire State Building and St. Louis' Gateway Arch.

When the blast furnaces were operational, they turned ore, coke and limestone flux into a molten metal that was transported by rail across the aptly named "Hot Metal Bridge" to U.S. Steel's Homestead Works, where it was converted into steel.

The Homestead Works were razed in 1988 and the site was converted into a shopping mall in 1999. Today, all that remains of the historic steel mill are the smokestacks, which tower over a movie theater parking lot across the river from the Carrie Furnace.

The Carrie Furnace has already been deemed a National Historic Landmark, meaning it likely won't meet the same fate as the Homestead Works. But that doesn't mean the site isn't in danger.

When industry moved out, nature moved in. Tree roots have undermined the stability of some Carrie Furnace buildings, and grapevines scale the superstructure of the sprawling mill. Foxes, hawks and deer have recently been spotted on the site -- and they're not the only new visitors.

The abandoned steel mill has become a destination for graffiti artists, paintball players, vagrants and vandals who strip the site and sell the stolen scrap metal.

"The wiring and anything else that can be scrapped has been taken out," said Emig, who told AOL News she's often chased away uninvited visitors. "With the graffiti, the paint wears off. It's the people who are physically stripping the site who are the problem."

Rivers of Steel plans to restore some parts of the Carrie Furnace to look the way they did when the plant was operational. But other parts -- like a massive sculpture of a deer head built from metal and wire in the 1990s by the Industrial Arts Co-Op -- will remain as they are today.

"We will preserve some of the graffiti, definitely the deer," Emig said. "This site didn't die in 1978. This place continued to be used, and we want to show that."

Even if Rivers of Steel gets its wish and is able to preserve the remaining steel mill structures, the rest of the 168-acre property could look very different in the coming years. Allegheny County owns the entire site and began renting the Carrie Furnace buildings to Rivers of Steel in May.

County officials are looking for builders interested in bringing light manufacturing and residential development to the rest of the grassy plot.

New businesses or homes near the old steel mill will certainly change the site's context, but they won't compromise the Carrie Furnace as a historic site, according to Emig.

"It's already compromised," she said. "There's only two furnaces left; there used to be seven. You work with what you have."

The most important thing the Carrie Furnace has is its historic site, according to Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.

"We have saved artifacts from the mills -- blowing engines, a Bessemer converter and so forth -- but we had to relocate them," Ziegler said. "But this will be the first time it's all preserved on site."

Obviously, making the dilapidated steel mill a safe destination for sightseers isn't going to be easy -- or cheap.
The group's "bare-bones cost estimate" for the project is $78 million. Current funding only allows for repairs of a severely damaged roof at one of the powerhouses.

To fund other projects, like securing shaky catwalks, clearing out tons of debris from the mill's stock house, or perhaps building a monorail like the one depicted in flashy conceptual images of the historic center, the group will seek public funding and private donations.

There's talk of approaching the National Parks Service for help, but it's unclear whether the cash-strapped agency would be interested in or able to offer assistance.

Though finances are a concern, Moreira says she's been encouraged by the interest in the project.

"Heritage matters," said Moreira, whose group has given tours of the Carrie Furnace to more than 700 eager visitors in the past two months. "It's not only important to know where we come from, but it's important looking into the future.

Batch, Steelers take part in annual 'Batch of Toys' drive

2010-12-15T08:08:00.000-05:00

Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch scored a touchdown for local children as he hosted his fifth annual Collect a Batch of Toys drive.

People lined up outside and around Dave & Buster’s restaurant in Homestead Tuesday afternoon to donate a toy and get an autograph or picture taken with Batch and his Steelers teammates.

“It’s sad to know that so many kids don’t have the opportunities that other kids have,” Batch said. “I’ve delivered thousands of toys for the holidays, and every year when the last toy is delivered, I always wish I had more of them to give.”

The Homestead native said he is happy to serve and bring attention to his hometown and the Pittsburgh area.

“This is where I’m from and I see the impact the Steelers have,” he said.

Other Steelers in attendance included James Farrior, Ryan Mundy, Dennis Dixon, Max Starks, Flozell Adams, Maurkice Pouncey, Crezdon Butler, Ramon Foster, Matt Spaeth and Frank Summers.

Batch said he appreciates the assistance he gets from his teammates, who also brought numerous toys to donate.

“They’ve been supportive of everything I’ve done,” he said.

Dixon said it’s great to see Batch helping out his hometown.

“He’s my role model for the way he represents himself on and off the field,” he said.

Batch said he’s appreciative so many people came out to donate toys.

“This is the fifth year and it keeps growing every year,” he said.

In the past four years, the drive has distributed more than 25,000 toys to children in need.

The quarterback personally delivers the toys to children and their families at The Salvation Army, the Women’s Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, Children’s Hospital of UPMC of Pittsburgh, financially challenged families in Allegheny County and Toys for Tots.

“It’s a wonderful thing he does,” Batch’s mom Lynn Settles said. “I enjoy watching him give back to the community.”

Pittsburgh resident Jim Cottler and his son Jim Cottler Jr. have been coming to Batch’s toy drive every year.

“It gives toys to kids who can’t afford to have a Christmas,” he said. “Charlie does a lot of good for the community.”

Dave & Buster’s also was giving out a $10 Power Card for each donation.

“The players have a very busy lifestyle,” said Robert Marin, Dave & Buster’s general manager.

“I’m ecstatic they would take time out of their day to come to Dave and Buster’s for the toy drive.”

He said the restaurant is always looking for ways to help the community and jumped at being involved with the toy drive this year, when Nancy Bruce Harris of Clear Channel Radio mentioned it to him.

Toy donations of new, unwrapped toys still can be made at Best of the Batch Foundation offices, 2000 West St. in Munhall, through Dec. 20. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information or to arrange pickup of large donations, call the foundation office at 412-326-0119.

By Stacy Lee, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

PITTSBURGH STEELERS QB CHARLIE BATCH TO COLLECT A “BATCH OF TOYS”

2010-12-13T23:39:00.000-05:00

CHARLIE BATCH TO HOST 5TH ANNUAL TOY DRIVE TO BENEFIT ‘TOYS FOR TOTS’ & THE BEST OF THE BATCH FOUNDATION ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 9, 2010

Homestead, PA – Pittsburgh Steelers QB Charlie Batch will lead the effort to collect a “Batch of Toys” in his 5th Annual Toy Drive to benefit “Toys For Tots” and the Best of The Batch Foundation next Tuesday, December 14, 2010 from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. at Dave & Buster’s at 180 E. Waterfront Drive in Homestead, PA.

Charlie Batch and his teammates will sign autographs for fans in exchange for donations of new, unwrapped toys that will be distributed to less fortunate kids. Toys for children of all ages will be accepted, and those who make donations will receive a complimentary $10 Dave & Buster’s PowerCard.

In its first four years, the “Batch of Toys” program has distributed more than 25,000 toys to needy children, and Charlie’s goal this year is to exceed 10,000 toys.

“It’s sad to know that so many kids don’t have the opportunities that other kids have,” said Batch. “I’ve delivered thousands of toys for the holidays, and every year when the last toy is delivered, I always wish I had more of them to give.”

Charlie personally delivers toys, along with smiles and joy to children and families at The Salvation Army, the Women’s Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, Allegheny County Jail, Children’s Hospital, to financially challenged families in Allegheny County and to Toys for Tots.

In addition to the Dave & Buster’s location, toy donations can also be made at The Best of the Batch Foundation offices now through December 20th at 2000 West Street in Munhall, PA. Office hours are 9:00am-5:00pm Monday-Friday. The pickup of large donations can be scheduled by calling the foundation office at 412.326.0119. Additional information about the “Batch of Toys” program and additional donation information is available at www.batchfoundation.org.

For updated information on Charlie Batch & his Best of the Batch Foundation, fans can follow on Facebook!

www.facebook.com/BestoftheBatchFoundation

www.facebook.com/CharlieBatch

Charlie Batch in the News:Watch Charlie Batch on ESPN First Take with Jay Crawford (http://bit.ly/cKUW3B), talking about Ben Roethlisberger's return, the Steelers start to the year at 3-1, his Best of the Batch Foundation, Project CHUCK Youth Basketball League, mentoring Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor, Eastern Michigan football and the Best of the Batch Foundation. Read about Batch’s mentorship of Pryor in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review at http://bit.ly/dCS9Qs and his motivation for establishing the Best of the Batch Foundation in this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article: http://bit.ly/aydX6f.

The Best of the Batch Foundation is a registered non-profit foundation founded in 1999 by NFL quarterback Charlie Batch. The Best of the Batch Foundation’s mission is to provide opportunities and guidance to disadvantaged youth in the city of Pittsburgh, PA and surrounding areas through programs designed to encourage academic excellence through sports, positive motivation and community pride. For more information on the foundation, its programs, or how to contribute, please contact Latasha Wilson, Executive Director, at 412-326-0119, lwilson@batchfoundation.org, or visit the website at www.batchfoundation.org.

Governor Rendell: New State Investments Will Create Thousands of New Jobs in Allegheny County

2010-12-13T22:09:00.000-05:00

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell today said Pennsylvania has awarded $84 million for 19 projects throughout Allegheny County that will provide the foundation for the creation of more than 10,000 new jobs.

"We've been investing in Pennsylvania communities and businesses since the start of my administration with great success," the Governor said. "The 19 new investments we are announcing today will go a long way toward ensuring the health and viability of these communities for many years to come."

Funding for the 19 projects comes from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, which operates on a reimbursement basis as construction expenses are billed and paid on projects that have been approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor.

In addition to the state's $84 million investment, the projects will leverage $165 million in private support.

Point Park University will receive a $2.5 million RACP grant from Governor Rendell for the construction of a park at Wood Street and Boulevard of the Allies. The new facility will improve the quality of life for visitors and residents of the neighborhood by replacing a surface parking lot with greenery and water features. It will also be a key component of the university's academic village initiative.

Governor Rendell said Pennsylvania has strategically used its ability to borrow money for vital community projects like these. Wall Street debt-rating agencies, like Moody's Investors Services, consistently categorize the commonwealth's debt burden as low.

"Programs like RACP and investments like these have helped to keep Pennsylvania's construction industry going despite the economic downturn. These investments, and others like it that we have made across the state for the past 8 years, have helped to keep Pennsylvania's unemployment rate below the national average for 91 of the 94 past months," Governor Rendell said.

For more information about economic development initiatives in Pennsylvania, visit www.newpa.com or call 1-866-466-3972.

Media contact: Gary Tuma, 717-783-1116

Editor's Note: A list of the projects Governor Rendell announced today, and the amount of funding each project received from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, is below.

Clinton Industrial Park, $8 million for Phase Two, the development of industrial and commercial sites at or surrounding the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport. The $20 million project is anticipated to create more than 2,000 permanent direct and indirect jobs, as well as 180 temporary construction jobs.

Westport Development/Findlay Industrial Park, $3 million for the project's second phase, which will extend Solar Drive in the Findlay Industrial Park, adding approximately 2,700 linear feet of roadway along with all utilities. The project will create 244 acres of development-ready land, which can be subdivided and sold to warehouse and distribution users ranging from 40,000 square feet to 1 million square feet. The $6.5 million project is expected to create 2,151 permanent jobs and 140 temporary construction jobs.

McKeesport Industrial Center, $5 million for Phase Two, the continued remediation and development of a 133-acre brownfield site along the Monongahela River in McKeesport. The project includes demolition, construction, renovation and infrastructure enhancements that will open 65 acres of the site. Future remediated space will focus on the continued growth of the flex park for business and industrial development. The $10 million project is expected to create 265 new jobs and 120 construction jobs, and it will retain 841 existing jobs.

Tech One Business Park, Monroeville, $3 million to continue constructing Stroschein Road to serve as an additional entrance into Bechtel Corporation. The project will alleviate traffic and safety issues for an adjacent residential community that currently has hundreds of cars from the business using a residential street to enter and exit the business park. This will open about 100 acres of the adjoining vacant and underutilized business park for development. The $12 million project is expected to create 200 permanent and 60 construction jobs, and will retain 549 existing positions.

Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge, $5 million, for the remediation and rehabilitation of an existing hot metal bridge located in the Munhall and Rankin boroughs. The project will vehicular and pedestrian traffic and link the Carrie Furnace brownfield to State Route 837 and allow greater access to the area. The $35 million project is expected to create more than 1,000 new jobs at the redevelopment site, as well as 150 temporary construction jobs.

McClaren Business Park, Findlay Township, $5 million, for the construction of a new road that will connect to McClaren Road near the interchange with I-376. Several shovel-ready sites will be opened and prepared for development. The $11 million project is expected to create 400 permanent jobs and 250 construction jobs.

Tech 21, Marshall Township, $3 million, for the preparation of pad-ready sites in the Tech 21 development as well as general improvements to its entrance of the development and existing wetlands. The $6 million project is expected to create 4,267 permanent jobs and 200 construction jobs.

City Center - Duquesne Redevelopment, $5 million, for the continued remediation and development of a 240-acre brownfield along the Monongahela River. This phase of the $10 million project will open 75 new acres of development, create 410 permanent jobs and 165 construction jobs, and will retain 686 existing positions.

Point Park University Academic Village, $2.5 million, for the construction of an urban park at Wood Street and Boulevard of the Allies in what is now a surface parking lot. The park will add green space, a water feature, and a premier restaurant opportunity to the neighborhood, and is a key component of key component of the university's Academic Village initiative. The $7.5 million project is expected to create 310 construction jobs.

Robert Morris University School of Business Complex, Moon Township, $5 million, for an 18,000-square-foot facility that will include classroom space, the PNC Trading Center, the U.S. Steel Videoconferencing and Technology Resource Center, and the Allegheny Technologies Global Business Library. The $10.4 million project is expected to create 20 permanent jobs and 250 temporary construction jobs.

Robert Morris University Nursing Simulation Center, $5 million, for a 19,000-square-foot nursing simulation education, research and training facility. The center will contribute significantly to the research and training of health care professionals in southwestern Pennsylvania. The $11 million project is expected to create 13 permanent jobs and 250 temporary construction jobs.

2600 E. Carson Street, Pittsburgh, $5 million, for the acquisition, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of a prominent historic seven-story structure in the South Side Flats neighborhood. The structure will be transformed into a mixed-use building that will contain approximately 87 one- and two-bedroom rental apartments plus 10,000 square feet of street-level retail space. The $27.8 million project is expected to create 55 permanent jobs and 125 construction jobs.

Residences at the Strip (Armstrong Cork II), $1.5 million, for the construction of a four-story building that will offer 90 market-rate residential rental units on Railroad Street (between 24th and 25th Streets) in Pittsburgh. The $18.34 million project is expected to create 15 permanent jobs and 125 construction jobs.

Downtown Preservation, $4 million, for the restoration and preservation projects on smaller-scale properties in the Fifth Forbes Corridor in downtown Pittsburgh. The goal of this investment will be to leverage private investment in the many buildings that may have a first-floor tenant, but the upper floors are vacant or under-occupied and feature unimproved facades. The $8 million project is expected to create 250 permanent jobs and 100 temporary construction jobs, and will retain 10 existing positions.

Baum Square Parking Garage, East Liberty, $4.5 million, for the construction of a structured parking facility that will include 140-plus spaces and will support various mixed-use redevelopment efforts in East Liberty. The $10.5 million project is expected to create 25 permanent jobs and 100 construction jobs.

Doughboy Square - 34th and Butler, Lower Lawrenceville, $1 million, to anchor a critical gateway location and - through construction, infrastructure, site prep, and streetscape improvements along both sides of this corner lot development - help eliminate a disjointed segment of the district. The $6.1 million project is expected to create 200 permanent jobs and 70 construction jobs.

Strip District & Produce Terminal Redevelopment, $15 million, for the complete renovation of the outdated Produce Terminal and residential-compatible development on the land between the terminal and the Allegheny Riverfront, as well as parking, sidewalks, lighting, new utilities and other investments to support the development. The $30.9 million is expected to create 788 permanent jobs and 636 construction jobs.

Chatham University Eden Hall Campus EcoCenter, $3 million, to rehabilitate and renovate two existing barns on the campus and become anchors to a new academic and outreach/conference complex. The EcoCenter will include a multi-purpose assembly space for conferences, various student activities, and community outreach programs; a kitchen facility; and a series of flex spaces that will be used as classrooms, faculty offices, a bookstore and for student recreation. The $8.8 million project is expected to create 285 permanent jobs and 40 construction jobs, and will retain three existing positions.

Western PA Life Science Economic Growth Initiative, $500,000, for a life sciences campus on the south side of Pittsburgh at the River Park Commons Business Center. The facility will attract burgeoning life sciences companies. This phase of the project will include the conversion of the building for its initial occupants and the construction of new laboratory space. The $1 million project is expected to create 25 permanent jobs and 15 construction jobs, and will retain 24 existing positions.

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

"Vivaldi Gloria" Concert at St. Maximilian Kolbe

2010-12-09T23:54:00.000-05:00

This Sunday December 12, 2010 at 3:00pm, The "Vivaldi Gloria" Concert will be performed at St Maximilian Kolbe Parish, 363 W. 11th Ave Extension, Homestead, PA 15120.

Admission is free!

This is a monumental event for the Steel Valley. We've have had wonderful concerts at our Carnegie Library Concert Hall, but never a concert of this caliber in any church in the valley.
The Combines choirs of the Pittsburgh Compline Choir and St. Andrew Episcopal Church Schola Cantorum (Highland Park) under the direction of Dr. Alastair Stout and Peter Luley, will perform in it's entirety the "Vivaldi Gloria". In addition, inspired carols and hymns of the season will be celebrated.

The Pittsburgh Baroque Ensemble's reputation speaks for itself. The group is under the musical direction of Rick Murrell, one of the finest Baroque trumpet players in the nation. Also other instrumentalists are coming from other parts of the country to perform at both at Saint Max on Dec. 12 and at Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside on Friday Dec. 10 to perform in it's entirety the Messiah. The choir is a mix of some of the cities finest singers and our soloist are second to none. This is truly an event you want to experience.

Waterfront Costco launches kosher bakery, one of only 12 nationwide

2010-12-04T20:39:00.002-05:00

Fans of Costco’s extensive line of kosher foods now have yet another reason to visit its Waterfront store: a certified in-house kosher bakery.

The bakery, which is certified circle K dairy, was kashered two weeks ago in order to more fully serve the Jewish community in the area, according to Jeff Hepler, manager of the bakery.

“We’re in the middle of a predominantly Jewish community,” Hepler said. “We have lots of Jewish members who are always looking at the baked goods. This was a very good and smart business decision.”

Costco is offering an extensive variety of baked goods for sale, and the products are well priced.

Items available this week include freshly baked pumpkin and apple pies; an assortment of muffins and cookies; danish and croissants; cheesecakes; cinnamon rolls and rugelach. A beautifully decorated red velvet cake is also offered, along with an elegant, rich-looking chocolate cake.

Fanciful sheet cakes, decorated for Thanksgiving, are large enough to serve 48 people. Sheet cakes can also be ordered for special occasions, with 24 hours notice.

While there are 12 other Costco bakeries around the country that are certified kosher, this is the first one in the Pittsburgh area, Hepler said.

The Waterfront Costco is Pittsburgh’s third kosher bakery currently open. Sweet Tammy’s, whose products are all pareve, or dairy-free, opened on Murray Avenue. in December 2008. The Murray Avenue. Giant Eagle converted its bakery to kosher-pareve about six months later.

Although the kosher sweets are plentiful at Costco, don’t expect to find a variety of hechshered breads. While there were kosher dinner rolls available on a recent visit, most other breads were not certified kosher.

Still, Pittsburgh’s kosher community seems to be thrilled to have another bakery option.

“It’s a pleasure,” raved one shopper to another, as she loaded up her cart.

Read more: The Jewish Chronicle - Pittsburgh Costco launches kosher bakery one of only 12 nationwide

The Jewish Chroncile
by Toby Tabachnick
Staff Writer

Visit the Center during the Steel Valley Christmas Parade

2010-12-02T22:45:00.000-05:00

Saturday, December 4 - 12:00 pm

Visit the BMNECC before and during the annual Steel Valley Christmas Parade, which starts at 12:00 pm in front of the West Homestead Police Station (456 West 8th Avenue) and travels along 8th Avenue through Homestead, ending in Munhall. The BMNECC will be serving coffee and selling soup from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, so stop by and warm up! For more information, visit the Steel Valley Matters website.

Buy Bulgarian Gifts at pump house Holiday Heritage Market

2010-12-02T22:44:00.000-05:00

Saturday, December 4 - 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

The BMNECC will take part in the annual Holiday Heritage Market at the Rivers of Steel Pump House. We will be selling traditional Bulgarian gift items, such as our beautiful ceramic kitchenware, plus a variety of our delicious Bulgarian soups. We'll also hand out samples of our homemade strudel.
Learn more.

Line-Up for the 2010 Historic Steel Valley Christmas Parade

2010-12-02T22:38:00.001-05:00

1. FIRE TRUCKS
2. All Steel Valley Police Vehicles
3. All County Police Vehicles
4. United States Steel Banner
5. West Mifflin ROTC- Air Force Jr.
6. STEEL VALLEY MAYORS in Joan Debolds convertible
7. MUNHALL WEST HMSTD PD'S/Council members
8. State Rep Bill Kortz
9. Mon Valley HOGS/Hot Metal Motorcycles
10. GRAND MARSHAL SANTA CLAUS
11. TV personalities - KDKA Reporter Jim Lokay
12. Salvation Army Canteen
13. CATHOLIC WAR VETERANS
14. American Legion- Homestead Grays
15. BEST BUY The Geek Squad
16. STEEL VALLEY BAND
17. STEEL VALLEY QUEEN
18. Steel Valley Cheerleaders/Rhythum Club
19. STEEL VALLEY WOMENS SOCCER
20. SYRIAN CLOWNS: DR. CUDDLES
21. Steel Valley School Board
22. Possibly Darius Williams- Broke all WPIAL running records
23. SYRIA ROAD RIGS
24. Syrian Sidewinders
25. Eldercrest Nursing Facility
26. TROOP 50681/Daisy & Girl Scouts
27. STEEL VALLEY Pop Warners YOUTH ATHL. ASSOC
28. Westinghouse High School Band
29. Master Muffler
30. Mulligans Sports Bar
31. STEEL VALLEY ROTARY
32. STATE FARM Insurance & Bear
33. JOYFUL TWIRLERS,Monroeville
34. Steeley McBeam - Steelers Mascot
35. REP.MARC. GERGELY
36. FITZGERALD, RICH
37. COSTA, JAY
38. W.M. CUB SCOUTS PACK # 31
39. W.M.BROWNIE TRP. 188
40. David Doyle Stilt Walker
41. Carnegie Library of Homestead
42. IMPROV COMEDY CLUB/Brian Linsinbigler
43. Home Instead Senior Care
44. Macy's
45. Italian Village Pizza Mascot
46. BARRET AND PARK SCHOOLS
47. Boy Scout Troop Pack 15
48. Young Preservationist
49. MAPS
50. West Mifflin Boy Scout Troop 1111
51. KNIGHTS BARBER SHOP
52. PROPEL SCHOOLS
53. US Army Humvee
54. Citizens Bank of Homestead
55. Steel Valley Girl Scout Troop 54204
56. Duquesne - West Mifflin Boys & Girls Club
57. Puppets on Parade
58. STEEL VALLEY FAMILY CENTER
59. HARMONY CLUB OF HOMESTEAD
60. CHICK-FIL-A
61. Homestead District Lions Club
62. Razzle Dazzle Musical Group-
63. Syria Highlanders Pipe & Drum ? Spoke to
64. TURTLE CREEK MH/MR
65. MUSA
66. Daisy TROOP 50522 ANN ASHLEY
67. Munhall Cub Scout Pack 4
68. Guardian Storage
69. BENNETT, SANDY
70. MARY ANN & COMPANY DANCE
71 .Michael Jackson Impersonator-
72. Tracy Fashion
73. STRONG WOMEN/STRONG GIRLS
74. BLACK MNT. Spirt sch chinese kung/fu
75. Waterfront Christian Church
76. MCDONALDS
77. PANDA BEAR
78. WALMART
79. Lloyds Brothers Antique Cars
80. MCGRUFF CRIME DOG
81. STEAK AND SHAKE
82. TRANSITIONAL SERVICES
83. Oliver High School Band
84. ELMO/ COOKIE MONSTER- Carrying Banner
85. Fuddruckers
86. Steel Valley COG
87. REB ROBIN RESTAURANT
88. HOMESTEAD PARK United Methodist Church
89. West Mifflin Police Department
90. West Mifflin Mayor- Chris Kelly
91. West Mifflin Homecoming Queen- .
92. WEST MIFFLIN HIGH "THUNDER BAND"
93. HOMESTEAD DEMOCRATS
94. HORSES
95. West Homestead Fire Department

Holiday parade lives on in the Steel Valley

2010-12-01T09:26:00.001-05:00

With Homestead borough’s event planner and program director Denise Kelly retired, some thought there would be no Christmas parade in the Steel Valley this year.

Steel Valley residents should fear not as Homestead Mayor Betty Esper has stepped up as the coordinator of the Historic Steel Valley Christmas Parade, planned for Saturday at noon.

Parade lineup will be at 11:15 a.m. along Forest Avenue in West Homestead. The parade will go from Forest Avenue down Eighth Avenue to end at Shop’n Save in Homestead for cookies and drinks.

“It’s very hard for someone to step in,” Esper said. “I’m using the lineup from last year. It’s like (Kelly) is helping us organize it.”

Kelly organized the parade for more than 15 years. Esper organized the parade before Kelly. Esper said the majority of the groups in the parade last year also signed up this year. U.S. Steel once again is sponsoring the parade and Santa Claus will be the grand marshal.

“It’s his parade,” Esper said. “Why shouldn’t he be grand marshal?”

The parade will begin with equipment from surrounding fire organizations.

It will include local mayors and other elected leaders. Homecoming queens from Steel Valley and West Mifflin Area high schools will precede their school’s bands. Other high school marching bands in attendance will be Westinghouse and Pittsburgh Oliver. KDKA’s traffic and transportation reporter Jim Lokay will be in the parade. Arrangements are still being worked out for a possible appearance by Steel Valley High School’s all-time leading rusher, tailback Delrece Williams.

The parade’s approximately 100 units will include local police departments and EMS companies, Scouts, clowns, stilt walkers, military organizations, dance groups, musical groups, puppeteers, costumed characters and antique cars.

There will be no prizes for window decorating or floats this year.

“The parade is important because it brings our three communities together along with our wonderful neighbors to celebrate the season,” parade committee member Colleen Fedor said.

Before and during the parade, there will be no parking in the 100-300 block of E. Eighth Avenue and the 100 block of W. Eighth Avenue. From approximately noon to1:30 p.m., motorists will not be able to cross the Homestead Grays Bridge or access Eighth Avenue in Homestead in any direction. Port Authority buses will be rerouted during that time.

Anyone who would like to participate in the parade should call 412-461-0667.

By Stacy Lee, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Soup's On!

2010-11-29T22:19:00.001-05:00

The Bulgarian Cultural Center in West Homestead sells 14 homemade meat and vegetarian soups, plus other Bulgarian specialties, each Saturday to help fund its arts, education and preservation activities.

Saturdays, 9:00 am to noon (or by appointment), from September 11 through December 18, 2010.

Phone 412-461-6188.
You can pre-order items online at: www.bmnecc.org/order_soup.aspx

SV art auction features locals

2010-11-29T22:13:00.001-05:00

The public has an opportunity to bid on artwork by famous local artists while benefiting a nonprofit arts organization.

The Steel Valley Arts Council will have its first silent art auction next month at artspace105 in Homestead.

“This collection of art on auction is one of the most impressive groups of work that reflect the region’s architecture, its ethos and characteristics,” SVAC vice president Eric Sloss said. “This will be a wonderful time to buy a great piece of art at an economical price.”

People will be able to bid on the artwork Dec. 4 from noon-2 p.m., Dec. 8 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and Dec. 11 from 7-9 p.m. at artspace105. Dec. 4 also will feature Steel Valley’s Christmas Parade. Bidders can bid in different increments by writing their name and phone number next to the piece they want. After the three days of bidding, winners will be announced Dec. 11. Those winners can pick up their artwork Dec. 11 and pay by Visa, Mastercard, checks or cash.

More than 45 art pieces of various mediums ranging in price from $50 to $1,000 will be up for bid. All the art reflects the region in some way, including paintings by Robert Qualters, signed and unsigned George Nama-copied sketchbook pages, wood cut prints by Walter Gasowski, the artist collective Society for Pennsylvania and Surrounding Area History, in addition to art by Paul Kolesar, Paula Bland, Anna Marie Sninsky and Roslyn Stulga.

“Nama’s sketchbook prints show row houses snuggled against the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania,” Sloss said. “Qualters’ street light banners are of women making pirogues or of the onion domes on top of local churches, and Paula Bland’s cubist-like paintings reflect the effort and labor of the area’s steel mills.”

SVAC, which is a nonprofit arts organization serving the areas of Homestead, Munhall and West Homestead, has been promoting the arts for nearly two decades.

“During that time, artwork has been donated to us,” Sloss said. “We thought it would be good to give back to the community. This also gives us the opportunity to put money towards our operating expenses to sustain our work in the valley.”

He said the SVAC board came up with the silent art auction idea.

Artspace105 is located next to the Homestead Grays Bridge at 105 E. Eighth Ave. On-street parking is available on Seventh and Eighth avenues. More samples of the artwork to be auctioned off can be found at www.steelvalleyarts.org/auction.htm.

By Stacy Lee, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Monday, November 29, 2010

West Mifflin Schedules Light Up Night Festivities

2010-11-25T10:51:00.001-05:00

The borough’s annual Light Up Night, which will be held on Tuesday November 30th at 6:00 P.M. at the municipal building, will have plenty of new attractions.

The night will be filled with music, dance, activities and of course Santa Claus.

On stage, Pack 31 will start the evening with the Pledge to our great flag. Throughout the evening you will be treated to the wonderful sounds of the WMASD Chorus and band, as well as the First Baptist Church of WM Mass Choir, along with youth dancers from A.B.C. and Tiffany Sopp Dance Studios.

On the grounds some of your favorite mascots will be on hand for photographs with the kids, Ronald McDonald, Wendy, Chick-Fila Cow, Smiley Cookie, Cruiser the Hamster, The Kia Sock Monster and Moono Big Red. The Shriner’s Clowns and Eddie Ace the Magician will entertain us as well. D.J. Sean provided by the Holiday Inn Express will fill the air with holiday music throughout the evening, Skyvue Restaurant is serving hot chocolate while you enjoy a “Smiley Cookie”, children will be decorated with holiday tattoos by the Brierly Heights Woman’s Club, And the WMHS Cheerleaders will be doing face-painting while the High School Basketball team will help with escorting.

The West Mifflin Lions Club will be on hand to collect non-perishable food items for those in need.

Holiday gifts for the children have been donated by, the Borough of West Mifflin, Century III Mall, Century Heritage FCU, Senator Costa, State Representative Gergly, Tri-Boro FCU, PA one-Call, Prism, Children’s Hospital and Mayor Chris and Denise Kelly.

The evening will end with each child having the opportunity to take photograph with Santa Claus, courtesy of WM Best Buy.

If you would like to participate there is still time, please call 412-287-3402

Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area Sponsors Holiday Heritage Market at Historic Pump House

2010-11-24T00:02:00.002-05:00

(Homestead, Pa) – Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is sponsoring a Holiday Heritage Market 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Historic Pump House located in The Waterfront, a popular Pittsburgh area shopping district. In its second year, the ethnic artisan market is a way for the national heritage area to spotlight and promote the diverse history of the Pittsburgh region.

Free and open to the public, the event will include authentic, ethnic heritage art, such as Bulgarian-Macedonian pottery, Hungarian wood carvings, Native American beadwork and pre-colonial maps. Crafts representing the Pittsburgh region’s more recent green heritage include mosaic glassware, bottle cap jewelry and purses made from recycled materials, among others.

The event will also include a taste exploration of our region’s ethnic heritage with foods representing Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria-Macedonia and Carpo-Russyn. Soup samples will be available and other foods can be purchased. Planned art demonstrations include German sawdust carpets and German stained glass. In the afternoon, music will be provided by Joe Grkman, Jr., - of the award-winning Slovenian Polka band Grkmania, who play regularly at Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh’s Southside. Visitors can also take part in a Pick-a-Prize Auction, with chances to win items such as Bulgarian pottery and tickets to next year’s Irish Festival.

The event will be held at The Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront Drive, Munhall. The building is the historic site of the 1892 Battle of Homestead. Built in 1891, the structure was barely a year old when it took its place in history as the site of the infamous Battle of Homestead. On July 6, 1892 the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Pinkerton Guards hired by the Carnegie Steel Company clashed on the banks of the Monongahela River beneath the Pump House – now considered one of the most dramatic conflicts in American Labor history. Today the Pump House is the only brick structure that remains of United States Steel’s Homestead Works. Now under the auspices of Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, the Pump House can be rented for private events.

For more information, please contact Sherris Moreira at 412.464.4060, ext. 46 or smoreira@riversofsteel.com.

Hollywood Heartthrob to Make Salvation Army Benefit Appearance - Mt. Lebanon's Own Joe Manganiello Comes Home to Give Back

2010-11-19T21:12:00.000-05:00

You have seen him on Spiderman, One Tree Hill, True Blood and much more. Now see him up close and personal. Mt. Lebanon's own Hollywood heartthrob Joe Manganiello is coming home for the WPXI TV Channel 11 My Macy's Parade and a Meet and Greet to benefit The Salvation Army.

Get to know Joe after the parade at the WPXI TV and 96.1 KISS Salvation Army Red Kettle drive on Saturday, November 27th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at the Homestead Waterfront Towne Square. Admission is free, plus enjoy free Dave and Busters gift cards and other prizes while supplies last. For a suggested donation of $5.00, get an autograph and snap a photo with the popular TV and movie star. Please help WPXI, KISS FM, Joe and The Salvation Army wage war on poverty.

Start your own Red Kettle campaign online and win VIP passes to the My Macy's holiday parade Nov 27th and lunch with the celebrity guests. The highest fundraiser gets the goods. Log on to www.wpxi.com/pittsburghparade for details.

WPXI TV Channel 11 My Macy's Parade and Waste Management are also sponsoring a Salvation Army toy drive at the downtown Pittsburgh parade. Look for the toy donation area in the parade broadcast zone. Toys will supplement The Salvation Army's Treasures for Children toy program.

"WPXI and Clear Channel have a long history of supporting The Salvation Army at Christmas," said The Salvation Army's Western Pennsylvania Divisional Commander Major Robert Reel. "We are thrilled to have Joe on board, giving his time to help our families in need. It says a lot about his character that he remembers to give back to his hometown."

Both a church and a social service organization, The Salvation Army began in London, England in 1865. Today, it provides critical services in 120 countries worldwide. The 28-county Western Pennsylvania Division serves thousands of needy families through a wide variety of support services. To learn more about The Salvation Army in Western Pennsylvania, log onto www.salvationarmy-wpa.org. The Salvation Army ... Doing the most good . . . for the most people . . . in the most need.

SOURCE The Salvation Army

CARNEGIE, Pa., Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/

St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish Craft Show

2010-11-19T00:12:00.001-05:00

St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish Craft Show plus Cash for Gold.

This Saturday, November 20th 9:00am - 3:00pm.

Bring your old jewelry, coins, etc and get some cash!!!! 20+ crafters will be there.

363 W. 11th Avenue Extension
Homestead, PA, 15120-1438

Holiday Heritage Market

2010-11-17T19:46:00.000-05:00

Save the date for the Holiday Heritage Market held 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront Drive in Homestead.

There will be all kinds of ethnic crafts and foods for purchase as well as art demonstrations to be enjoyed.

Get handmade heritage gifts for your loved ones for the holidays!

FREE Thanksgiving Dinner

2010-11-10T10:39:00.004-05:00

FREE Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Tuesday November 23, 2010
6:00 pm
Salvation Army
Steel Valley Corps
104 E. 9th Ave.
Homestead, PA

Photographer uses poets to bring character to 'Milltown' images

2010-11-07T01:37:00.000-04:00

The black-and-white photographs stand alone on their own merits.

Sometimes stark, sometimes playful, sometimes poignant, Charlee Brodsky's images of Homestead and the Waterfront, the shopping center that replaced a steel mill along the banks of the Monongahela River, need no explanation.

But Brodsky, a professor of photography at Carnegie Mellon University, knew there were hidden stories pictures alone could not tell. She enlisted writers Jane McCafferty and Jim Daniels, colleagues at CMU, to add words to the photos.

"What they're doing is bringing character to the images," Brodsky says of the book, "From Milltown to Malltown," which combines her photographs with poems by McCafferty and Daniels. "They're making them have individual voices; they're making them a little bit less generic. I think that by working with the image and by working with the voice they bring to those images, we have more of a sense of place, a true place. It's like fiction. In the very beginning, we say these poems are not based on any one person or any thing, but it becomes more real. We're imagining in our head who these people are who walk these streets, who lived here, who go shopping at the Waterfront. It makes it a more tangible place for me."

Brodsky's photos were shot in Homestead (the Milltown portion of the book) and at the Waterfront (Malltown). There are images of abandoned buildings and residents, the apartment complexes at the Waterfront and people who work in stores and restaurants.

The writers, used to following what McCafferty calls "the wild, roaming beast" that is the imagination, relished the opportunity to confine their writing to set reference points.

"What really impressed me is that it's not arbitrary what you come up with," McCafferty says. "The photograph is really, in some sense, determining what comes out, even though there's a variety of things that might happen. It feels like there's an inevitability. I guess it's sort of like imposing a form on a poem.'

The images inspired a range of perspectives. A long view of the Loews Theater prompted Daniels to compare the building's facade to "the uncombed hair of an adulterous lover/after a night of disgust and disappointment." In a photograph of a woman blowing a bubble, McCafferty recognizes children in the background who are "Eager, curious as they look off/camera for what might/be coming to the rescue."

"I think it speaks to the subtlety of the photographs," McCafferty says. "They're not in-your-face, literal photographs. They're playful, and they're subtle, and there are ways to enter them; there are all kinds of points of view in the photographs."

McCafferty and Daniels found humor in some of the photos. An oversized advertisement for a restaurant became Daniels' "Coming Soon: Monster Hamburger Takes Over Universe?" McCafferty turned the photograph "Future Resident Parking Only" into a Seinfeldian plea not to get a parking ticket.

"There are absurdities in there that you can't help but try to figure out," Daniels says.

One theme that emerges in "From Milltown to Malltown" is the inexorable march of progress. Homestead has been irrevocably changed by the loss of the steel industry. To have that replaced with a parcel of land devoted strictly to commerce is not necessarily a tragedy.

"We didn't want it to be a simplification, that the Waterfront is bad," Daniels says. "There are human beings in these places, and this is their environment. We were looking at it at that level in terms of how people interact with that environment."

"I think we all have a story we want to tell," Brodsky says, "so we were always going back to 'What is the story?' And I think the story is based on a real place. We wanted to be relatively truthful to what we felt the story was, and that was the history of this place and how it's evolving, what we're losing and perhaps even what we're gaining."

Brodsky remembers taking photos of Waterfront and talking to young people who had no idea of the land's history. They didn't realize the dozen smokestacks near the entrance of the center were once part of an industrial site that provided jobs and sustenance for thousands of families in the Mon Valley.

"So much of the project is about respecting ghosts," McCafferty says, "and asserting history where it's being erased. It can't really be erased if you're thinking of the spirit of the place.'

By Rege Behe, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 7, 2010

Williams breaks WPIAL's one-season rushing yardage mark

2010-11-01T22:40:00.002-04:00

Steel Valley coach Rod Steele went into the game Friday against South Allegheny hoping to get Delrece Williams to 2,000 yards rushing this season.

Williams took the idea a lot further and ran right into the WPIAL record book.

Williams, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior, rushed for 317 yards in a 42-13 win and broke the WPIAL record for most yards rushing in the regular season. Williams finished with 2,149 yards, breaking the mark of 2,112, set by Mars' Bill Bair only three years ago.

Williams came into the game with 1,832 yards. Only three other runners in WPIAL history had rushed for 2,000 yards in the regular season. Besides Bair, Hopewell's Rushel Shell surpassed 2,000 yards for the second season -- only one night earlier. Laurel Highlands' Jim Smith rushed for 2,026 in 1989.

"We knew he had an opportunity to get 2,000 yards," Steele said. "At halftime, we knew he had cracked 2,000. Then, one of my assistant coaches says he needed only 60 or 70 more yards to be the all-time leader [for the regular season].

"We weren't going to take him out of the game yet anyway because we wanted to get him some more playing time in order to get ready for the playoffs. Then, he ended up breaking a long run. The next thing you know, they're announcing he's the all-time rushing leader. It was kind of crazy."

Williams won the WPIAL regular-season rushing title while Shell finished second with 2,102 yards. Williams also won the scoring title with 31 touchdowns.

"He's a special kid," Steele said. "He's the kind of kid who, the more you feed him the ball, the better he gets."

Steele said Division I colleges are starting to show interest in Williams. Steele said a coach from Connecticut plans to visit Steel Valley today. Michigan State was at Steel Valley recently and West Virginia has requested tape of Williams.

"I believe in the next couple weeks, he might get a scholarship offer," Steele said. "He can run in between the tackles, in the open field and can even catch the ball. What's most impressive about him, though, is he's even a better person. He reminds you of Hines Ward. He's always smiling."

Monday, November 01, 2010

By Mike White, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Steel Valley primed for 28th Veterans Day celebration

2010-11-01T22:35:00.000-04:00

One of the longest-running Veterans Day programs in the area is set to unite the Steel Valley community in honoring servicemen and women of the past, present and future.

Steel Valley School District will host its 28th annual Veterans Day program on Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. in the high school auditorium.

"We have kids participating in it from kindergarten through 12th grade," Veterans Day Program committee member John Tichon said. "The kindergarten students come and sing. They've attended every event up to this point. The elementary kids participate in a poster contest. From grades 6-12, we have essay contests.

"This is our 28th straight year and we're proud of it. It permits the adults in the community to interact with the children."

"This committee started 28 years ago," committee member Jill Fleming-Salopek said. "Right now, Veterans Day assemblies have become popular in schools. When we started doing this, it wasn't normal in schools."

She said the assembly bridges the generation gap.

"We do different things to bridge the gap of understanding of the sacrifice of the veterans," Fleming-Salopek said. "We try to get the students to articulate it through music, artwork and writing."

The theme will be "Service and Sacrifice."

Also planned is a tribute to Marine Corps veteran Vincent Rodgers Sr., who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

"Since he came out of the service, he visited the veteran's hospital (in Aspinwall) at least once a week," committee member and Homestead Mayor Betty Esper said. "He put in 4,000 volunteer hours. That's one of the reasons we're honoring him."

"He's in his early 90s and he still does that," Tichon said. "He's quite a guy."

Steel Valley High School student Aaron Bott will be sworn in to the Marine Corps at the ceremony, as well.

There will be a memorial tribute to Pfc. Albert Colletto Jr., Lance Cpl. Kenneth A. Stanciu, Superior Court Judge John G. Brosky, Staff Sgt. Paul L. Vernon, John Palo, John Posipanka, Michael Curtin Sr., Medal of Honor recipient Technical Sgt. John "Jack" D. Kelly, Ed Lutheran, Edward Esper, James Campbell, Robert Hemminger, Ron Hess, William Connelly, John Deffenbaugh and John Mrazik.

Brosky, who passed away Oct. 10, was on the Veterans Day Program Committee. He served in the Army during World War II and later joined the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Brosky was an Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas judge for nearly 20 years and a state Superior Court judge for 22 years.

Edward Rock Sr., a charter member of the Veterans Day program committee, will receive the 2010 Mind, Heart and Spirit Lifetime Achievement Award from Duquesne University, his alma mater, at an upcoming ceremony. He served in the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II.

Rock co-founded Duquesne's Beta Pi Sigma fraternity. He retired from Westinghouse and volunteered at his church and with various veterans and civic organizations.

Veterans Day programs also will take place at Barrett Elementary on Nov. 5 at 9:15 a.m. and Park Elementary on Nov. 12 at 9 a.m.

Fleming-Salopek said one of the goals of the committee is to continue to include new community members and younger veterans and their families in the Veterans Day program.

By Stacy Lee, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Monday, November 1, 2010

Salvation Army to launch annual Red Kettle drive

2010-11-01T22:30:00.002-04:00

Ring the bells — Red Kettle time is here.

The Salvation Army Western Pennsylvania Division has announced activities for the holiday season, during which its Allegheny County corps hopes to net $810,000.

Army divisional spokeswoman Virginia Knor said more than 100 of those familiar kettles will be set out until Dec. 24.

Knor said Vector Security and WWSW-94.5 will be official sponsors of the kettles, but additional volunteers and kettle sites are needed.

Activities scheduled for the upcoming holiday period that impact Mon-Yough communities include signups for families in need for Christmas food and toy assistance.

In McKeesport, that will happen Tuesdays in November from 9 a.m. till noon and 1-3 p.m. at the Army's Worship and Service Center, 812 Walnut St.

Applicants must bring photo identification and proof of income and expenses. Call Capts. Sean and Andrea Barton, 412-673-6627 for details.

Other holiday activities will include:

• "Adopt-A-Family" through Dec. 11. Sponsors are in the process of selecting and purchasing holiday gifts for needy families in Allegheny County. Gifts will be collected at the Army's 1323 Forbes Ave. location in Pittsburgh's Uptown section from Dec. 1-11, then distributed through Dec. 17. Call 412-394-3580, ext. 102.

• Wendy's annual Frosty Key Tag promotion through Dec. 31 at the company's area restaurants. A $1 tag means a full year of free Junior Frosties.

• The ninth annual Garbage Bag Gala Friday from 7-10 p.m. at the Fox Chapel Racquet Club. Some of the most stylish women in Western Pennsylvania will raise dollars creating and wearing dresses made from garbage bags. Call 412-999-1250 .

• Family Fun Nights Nov. 10 and Dec. 8 from 5-8 p.m. at Fuddruckers in the Waterfront. Twenty-five percent of every purchase will be donated to the Army's Steel Valley Worship and Service Center along Ninth Avenue. Call Maj. Karen Garrett or Capt. Kathy Dorchak at 412-461-2460 for details.

• Allegheny County annual Doing the Most Good Dinner, Nov. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Station Square. It's a special evening featuring Jerome Bettis and honoring the Memon Family, Dr. Stephen Fisher, Marilyn DeHuff and John Newman. Call 412-446-1642.

• Run the Lights at Hartwood Acres Rite Aid Celebration of Lights Nov. 17. The event raises funds for new winter outerwear for needy kids and seniors throughout Western Pennsylvania. Call 412-446-1639.

• Wal-Mart Red Kettle Kickoff Challenge, Nov. 18 at 11:45 a.m. This annual partnership will be marked this year at the Wal-Mart in Robinson Township. Wal-Mart stores in Allegheny County, including those in North Versailles Township and West Mifflin, challenge each other to raise the most dollars.

• Steelers Red Kettle Day, Nov. 21 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Heinz Field.

• Thanksgiving Food Distribution for registered families, Nov. 22 from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. at the Braddock Worship and Service Center, 300 Holland Ave. Call Lt. Yvonne Guillaume at 412-271-2407.

• Honeysuckle White Thanksgiving Dinner, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Steel Valley Worship and Service Center, 104 E. Ninth Ave. Call 412-461-2460.

• Honeysuckle White Thanksgiving Dinner, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. Volunteers are needed at the Braddock Worship and Service Center. Call 412-271-2407

• Honeysuckle White Holiday Dinner, Nov. 26 from noon till 1 p.m. Volunteers are needed to help prepare and serve meals and to clean up at the McKeesport Worship and Service Center. Call 412-673-6627.

• After School Program/Christmas Family Night Dec. 9 at 4:30 for and by the children and their families in the after-school program at the Steel Valley Worship and Service Center.

• Project Bundle-Up's 24th annual telethon Dec. 10, 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., on WTAE-4.

• Steel Valley Worship and Service Center Toy Sorting for Needy Children, Dec. 13-16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Volunteers can call 412-461-2460.

• Christmas program with special guest Majs. Timothy and Mary Gair Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. at the Steel Valley Worship and Service Center.

• Steel Valley Worship and Service Center Holiday Toy Distribution Dec. 20-22 from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m.

• Braddock Worship and Service Center toy distribution for needy children Dec. 20-21 from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m.

• McKeesport Worship and Service Center toy distribution for needy children Dec. 21 from 9 a.m. till noon.

• Braddock Worship and Service Center Christmas Eve community dinner Dec. 24 from 6-9 p.m. Join the Braddock Corps for dinner or call to volunteer, 412-271-2407.

• McKeesport Worship and Service Center Christmas dinner Dec. 25 at noon. Call 412-673-6627.

• Braddock Worship and Service Center community fellowship dinner and watchnight service Dec. 31 from 6-9 p.m.

By Patrick Cloonan, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS
Monday, November 1, 2010

Cancer Caring Center Doughraiser at Uno's

2010-10-29T22:52:00.002-04:00

Come on down to the Waterfront in Homestead on Thursday, November 18 For an all day/night Doughraiser at Uno's!!

Every bite helps - come in for lunch, dinner, snacks, or drinks; eat in, take out, or order online and up to 20% of your bill will be donated to the Cancer Caring Center. You can even order party platters! Go to unos.com. Really, raising money was never more delicious!

Gather up your friends, family and co-workers and join us. All you need is an appetite and one of the attached Doughraiser coupons!

Feel free to make copies to pass out. Help us to spread the word on Facebook and Twitter! We will also be raffling off some pretty great prizes like Waterfront Gift certificates, Steelers merchandise, and much more!

For Info and Coupon: www.cancercaring.org

Carnegie Library of Homestead Halloween Party

2010-10-27T19:35:00.002-04:00

This Friday night, October 29th from 5-7 pm. It is for kids 5th grade and under. Also, on November 1st from 5-6 we will be having a Day of the Dead craft.

For more info: Emily Salsberry, Library Services Coordinator/Youth Services Librarian Carnegie Library of Homestead 412-462-3444 ex 224.

Check out our events calendar at www.homesteadlibrary.org

Homestead Author Publishes New Book

2010-10-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

Homestead, PA - Uplifting the Failing Society, a new book by Cheryl C. Chapman, has been released by RoseDog Books.

In the opening chapter, Chapman describes several painful incidents that occurred to her during her adolescent years. Her intent is to beckon the reader to recognize, relate, and relive the first time he experienced emotional pain.

Chapter two helps the reader identify the source of his pain, why it occurred, and how it manifests itself in one’s life. It explains the beginning of all emotional conflicts and the resultant fight/flight patterns that we eventually experience.

Will you or won’t you? That is the question! Chapter three is where the reader bares all and decides whether he wants to conquer his demons. This is where he decides if the truth has any relevance in his life.

The battle begins when you decide to challenge the beast within. Pain and fear have been challenged and will no longer torment you. Chapter four explains the importance of self-affirmation when overcoming emotional conflicts.

Chapter five provides the results of the reader’s hard-fought struggle.

The power of words is revealed and the pain is released. Free at last!

Cheryl C. Chapman is a reading specialist and has taught reading in the public schools for over twenty years and at the community college level as well. She has served her community as an elected official and a member of its planning commission. She presently works as a community activist and an educator. She enjoys traveling and writing poetry. She holds an M.Ed. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Uplifting the Failing Society is a 32-page paperback with a retail price of $8.00. The ISBN is 978-1-4349-9940-5. It was published by RoseDog Books of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For more information or to request a review copy, please visit our virtual pressroom at http://www.rosedog.com/pressroom or our online bookstore at http://www.rosedogbookstore.com.

New Aspen Dental Practice Offers Another Option for Patients Looking for a Dentist in Homestead, PA

2010-10-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

Patients looking for a dentist in Homestead, PA will have a new option for their dental care needs when an Aspen Dental office opens in the Waterfront at 240 Waterfront Drive East on Thursday, October 28. The new practice will provide dental services that range from dentures and preventive care to general dentistry and restoration.

In addition to offering patients the choice of eight styles of Aspen Dental's exclusive ComfiDents^® brand full and partial dentures, the new practice will provide comprehensive dental exams, hygiene services, treatment of periodontal (gum) disease, extractions, fillings, oral surgery, whitening, and crown and bridge work. The office features state-of-the-art digital radiography to better diagnose and treat patients, as well as advanced screening for oral cancer.

At this new Aspen Dental location, patients will enjoy:

Personalized treatment. Quick-fix solutions don't solve larger or chronic oral health problems. That's why Aspen Dental takes a comprehensive approach to dental care. Following the initial exam and X-rays, each patient receives a customized treatment plan designed with long-term oral and overall health in mind.

Wide range of flexible payment options. Cost shouldn't prevent patients from getting the dental care they deserve. That's why Aspen Dental offers fees that are below market average, special promotions and senior discounts, and free new-patient exams for patients without dental insurance. Personalized, flexible payment plan options are available for patients who'd like to finance their care. The practice works with all insurance providers and handles the paperwork, saving patients time and hassle.

Convenient hours and location. The office will be open extended hours, including evenings and select Saturdays, so that patients can receive their care at a time that works for their schedule. Walk-in and emergency patients are welcome.

Variety of options for denture patients. ComfiDents^® full and partial dentures come in eight styles, giving patients more options than are available at traditional dental practices. Regardless of the denture selected, each is custom-crafted, and the dentist works with every patient to ensure proper fit and comfort. As an added convenience, Aspen Dental has its own on-site denture laboratory, which typically ensures same-day turnaround for denture repairs, relines or adjustments. Free denture consultations are available for all denture patients.

To make an appointment, patients can call 412-462-4400 or 800-ASPEN DENTAL (800-277-3633), or visit www.aspendental.com.

WANTED, HISTORIC STEEL VALLEY CHRISTMAS PARADE COMMITTEE MEMBERS!

2010-10-22T21:24:00.001-04:00

Individuals interested in helping to plan, organize, coordinate, and direct the best Christmas parade in the area, contact: Mayor Betty Esper (412) 461-1340

Folk arts subject of lunchtime series

2010-10-20T19:25:00.000-04:00

A series of lunchtime talks will be given in conjunction with the exhibition "Making It Better: Folk Arts in Pennsylvania Today" at the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area Bost Building museum.

The exhibition comprises traditional arts from throughout the state, including Pysanky eggs, stonewall construction, African dance, blacksmithing and Vietnamese funerary portraits.

The talks will be given from noon to 1 p.m. at the Bost Building (BB), 623 E. 8th Ave., or at the Tin Front Cafe (TFC), 216 E. 8th Ave., Homestead. They are free, and attendees may bring brown bag lunches; also, a full menu will be available for events at the Tin Front. All artists are from the Pittsburgh area and represented in the exhibition.

Thursday (BB) -- Sawdust carpets by Charles Culleiton, who is actively involved in preserving the history of Tarentum and the Alle-Kiski Valley in Western Pennsylvania. In 2003, he received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship in the Folk and traditional Arts for his carpets.

Oct. 28 (BB) -- Polka music by Joe Grkman Sr., who followed his immigrant father into the coal mines, although his real love was music. He formed the Grkman Band in 1967 and has played everything from family parties to a concert at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The band was inducted in the Polka Hall of Fame Trustees Honor Roll sponsored by the American-Slovenian Polka Foundation.

Nov. 4 (BB) -- Blacksmithing by Jymm Homan, who has a shop in Ambridge, and travels the Northeast and Midwest demonstrating his art. He has also been an instructor at Touchstone Center for the Crafts near Farmington.

Nov. 9 (BB) -- African storytelling, bead and ritual artifact making by Temujin Ekunfeo, who is a babalosa (priest) in the Lukumi/Yoruba tradition as it has been practiced in the Cuban and U.S. Diaspora. He first learned beads and artifacts from Chris Oliana and grew further in the tradition with his mentor Gilberto Martinez. He is a well-known storyteller at area festivals and other venues.

Nov. 16 (TFC) -- Chant by Jerry Jumba, who was born into a heavily Rusyn Pittsburgh community. Through congregational participation and apprenticeship, he learned Eastern Christian Chant of Carpatho-Rus. Jumba also collects Carpatho-Rus and Eastern Slovak secular songs. Fluent in those languages and dialects, he has transcribed, performed, and translated their texts since 1969. At the request of the Warhola family, Mr. Jumba served as the cantor for Andy Warhol's funeral.

Nov. 18 (TFC) -- Iconography by Michael Kapeluck, who started his art training at the age of 9 by attending art classes at Carnegie Museum of Art. Since 1987, he has written icons for Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches across the country.

Monday, October 18, 2010

By Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Hootie & The Blowfish LIVE - Miller Lite Riverplex Sandcastle 1995

2010-10-18T21:41:00.002-04:00

From Milltown to Malltown

2010-10-18T21:15:00.001-04:00

A new book of poetry and photography by Carnegie Mellon University professors Jim Daniels, Jane McCafferty and Charlee Brodsky explores the transformation of Homestead, Pa., and its neighboring Steel Valley communities, from the once thriving steel-producing capital of the world to an area divided.