Washington and Butler Counties Among Fastest Growing Employers in the Country from the Energy Inc. blog at the Pittsburgh Business Times
"As Scott Detrow reported yesterday, Washington County is the third fastest-growing employer in the country, according to labor data comparing this year's March numbers with last year's. Range Resources, a company that located in Southpointe several years ago, was quick to point out that Washington is a gravity center for Marcellus drilling. In 2005, when Range (NYSE: RRC) was drilling its first Marcellus wells there, the county had an employment count of 74,100. This spring it was 80,200. (Michael Mackin, a spokesman for Range, said his company alone added 100 employees since last spring.) But there's another energy-related locale on the top 10 list. Also at 80,200 employees is Butler County, which was ranked sixth in the country for growing its employment base by 4.2 percent. Just one year ago, Butler had 76,800 employees."

Vets Face Challenges in Job Search from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"On Sept. 28, Heller was at the Salute to America's Wounded Warriors, a job networking event, to help wounded vets find jobs. ... The event, sponsored jointly by Aon Corp.    , BNY Mellon and Prudential    , aimed to make the process of re-entering the job market a little less challenging by helping to open doors and make connections to the right people who may be able to supply a wounded veteran with meaningful employment."

94% of State School Districts Make Grade: In Allegheny County, Four Districts Fail to Measure Up from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Although Pennsylvania raised the bar this year, 94 percent of school districts and 75 percent of public schools in the state met performance standards known as adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. ... In Allegheny County, 39 of the 43 districts attained AYP. The four that didn't are Duquesne, McKeesport Area, Sto-Rox and Woodland Hills."

In Washington Co., 55 of 69 Area Schools Meet AYP Conditions from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington and Greene counties]
"Washington School District did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress requirements on the state's standardized achievement tests because of a dip in its graduation rates, but 55 of 69 schools in Washington and Greene counties did meet state targets."

Woodland Hills Academy Getting National Recognition from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Woodland Hills Academy, a K-8 school with an extended school year, has been featured in a national report examining the success of students at schools with longer school days and years."

Insurance Tussle Causing Angst for Employers: Workers Fear UPMC, Highmark Outcome from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Because of the ongoing UPMC-Highmark contract dispute, and specifically the still-unresolved question of whether UPMC physicians will still be in Highmark's insurance network after June, Ms. Kusko has to prepare for the possibility that physician services for many school district employees may be subject to out-of-network fees after June.  Because all but about 270 of the 5,000 district employees are now with Highmark, many may decide they need to switch rather than face higher costs to see UPMC doctors."

A Third of Full-Time Students Get Degrees in Four Years from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The real news here relates to part-time students.
""Contrary to conventional thinking, more time and more choices often add up to less success," said Stan Jones, Complete College America president. The report is entitled "Time is the Enemy." If Pennsylvania students work toward a bachelor's degree for eight years, 55.3 percent of full-time and 15.9 percent of part-time students complete their degrees."
The full report is HERE.

PAT's Legacy Would Make Regional Transit System a Tough Sell from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"Rich Fitzgerald envisions mass transit in Allegheny County. He just doesn't picture Port Authority of Allegheny County delivering it. The county-executive candidate has proposed dissolving the transit agency altogether and creating a new, regional system. But transit in Allegheny County hasn't had the best reputation, and some worry that merging with the Port Authority would be more trouble than it's worth."

Shale Royalties Could Help Fund Road Repairs from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A grim national economic outlook has given the Corbett administration pause as it crafts a proposal for raising billions of dollars for road and bridge repairs, but the Marcellus Shale industry could provide one source of unexpected assistance."

EPA Asked to Improve Air Standards at Marcellus Shale Wells from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Some living near Marcellus Shale gas wells and environmental organizations called for fast adoption of strong, health-protective, air pollution emissions standards for oil and gas well drilling operations at a daylong U.S. Environmental Protection Agency public hearing in Pittsburgh Tuesday."
The Tribune-Review has its own coverage of this event HERE.

Utica Shale Energizes Deal Frenzy in Ohio from the Wall Street Journal [partial subscription wall]
"One of the latest hot spots for deal making is far from New York City or Silicon Valley—it's in eastern Ohio, where energy companies are staking claims in what is being touted as North America's next big energy field, the Utica Shale. While the 170,000-square-mile Utica Shale sprawls beneath parts of eight states and Canada, energy companies and analysts believe the richest reserves of oil and valuable natural-gas liquids, such as propane and butane, lie in eastern Ohio."

OPINION!

EPA's Role in Oil and Gas: Protect Health or Jobs? (Anya Litvak) from Pittsburgh Brand Madness blog at the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Having spent the morning at EPA’s public hearing on its proposed air emission regulations for the oil and gas industry, I’m again marveling at the difficult role that the federal agency has in negotiating industry oversight. Is it the Environmental Protection Agency? Or should it be the Employment Protection Agency, or the Environmentally what’s Practical Agency. Those last two were courtesy of Jan Kiefer, a resident who testified before the three-member panel wearing a "No Fracking" t-shirt."

Gasoline Prices Down 10 Cents a Gallon from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Western Pennsylvania gasoline prices dropped more than a dime per gallon last week as oil prices continued to decline."

EDITORIAL!

Better Mayor: Pittsburgh Deserves a Ravenstahl Alternative from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A VERY hard-hitting piece.
"Luke Ravenstahl's early start on his re-election bid is a call to action for a strong, single challenger with the experience, know-how and heft to take him on. The mayor, who lucked into the job, fumbled early in his tenure and displayed all-too-infrequent moments of promise, has seemed to operate on autopilot for much of the last year. With the announcement that he's holding a $500-a-plate fundraiser next month, though, he put to rest any speculation that he's lost interest in another four-year term. The question is why he thinks he deserves one."

UPMC Provides Proposal for New Oakland Expansion from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center wants to start laying the groundwork for some future expansion in the Oakland area. UPMC officials have announced a proposal to plan the construction of a 12-story clinical services and patient care building in place of the old Children’s Hospital building on Fifth Avenue at DeSoto Street."

Harvard Professor Values Social Capital in Society from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"Harvard professor Robert Putnam believes that social connections are more valuable than college… Harvard professor Robert Putnam believes that social connections are more valuable than college degrees. ... The author of a number of famous books on political science — most notably “Bowling Alone” and “Making Democracy Work” — came to present to his guests the idea of social capital. Putnam defined social capital as social connections with others, and he explained how valuable these connections can be to the economy and society’s well-being."

Two Pa. Bills Would Remove Barriers to Home Caregiving from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Two decades ago, Pennsylvania was a pioneer in providing support for family caregivers through a lottery-funded initiative to reimburse some of the costs of keeping a loved one at home. Today, advocates for the elderly say the state program has fallen out of date and become too restrictive to do the good that it should."

VA Healthcare System Breaks Ground for Research Center from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"The VA Healthcare System is scheduled to begin construction on a $27.3 million research office building in Oakland on Monday."

LOCAL COLUMNIST!

Save or Demolish St. Nicholas? Think Again! (Ruth Ann Dailey) from the  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"On Sept. 7, the Historic Review Commission voted to deny the Millvale parish's request to demolish the vacant church that stands on Route 28, siding -- for now -- with the preservation and re-use crowd. But on Sept. 9, a federal judge dismissed the preservationists' last-ditch effort to save the iconic arena -- though three days after that, he ordered a 10-day demolition delay to give the preservationists time to appeal."

North Siders Angry with Proposed School Closings from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"One month after the Pittsburgh Public School District announced a proposal for a new realignment plan, they have begun hosting a series of public forums throughout the city. At the second meeting in the North Side Sept. 15, area residents echoed their neighbors in the West End when they spoke in opposition to the district’s plan that would see the closure of seven schools and seven school buildings."

Pa. Firms Making Midlevel Associates Happier from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The bulk of Pennsylvania firms did a better job keeping their midlevel associates happy this year than they did last year, according to a survey by Legal Intelligencer affiliate The American Lawyer. That comes amid a national picture that presented the lowest associate satisfaction score since 2004, according to the magazine's 2011 Associates Survey."

Marcellus Gas Producers Face 'Chaos' from Land Law Ruling from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"A Pennsylvania appeals court ruling has raised questions about who can claim ownership of natural gas embedded in the Marcellus Shale formation, potentially putting in doubt the legitimacy of thousands of drilling leases."

Third Circuit Approves Allegheny Forest Drilling from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"The U.S. Forest Service overstepped its authority when it imposed a ban on oil and gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest, according to a federal appeals court ruling issued last week. The ruling is a setback for environmental groups that had sought to delay or prevent drilling in the 512,000-acre forest, where the surface area is owned by the federal government, but 93 percent of the below-ground mineral rights are privately owned."

How State Lawmakers Pump Up Pensions in Ways You Can't from USA Today
"More than 4,100 legislators in 33 states are positioned to benefit from special retirement laws that they and their predecessors have enacted to boost their pensions by up to $100,000 a year, a USA TODAY investigation found. Even as legislators cut basic state services and slash benefits for police, teachers and other workers, they have preserved pension laws that grant themselves perks unavailable to voters they serve or workers they direct."

Say, What?: Exec Candidates Struggle to Address Community Concerns in BPEP Debate from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"...during a televised Sept. 15 debate at Pittsburgh's CAPA High School, the two men seemed to be out of their element when asked about issues facing the African-American community. Their answers provided little more than those same personal attacks and political rhetoric that they've been throwing around since the May primary."

Pitt to Receive $125 Million Gift from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Former steel executive, alumnus gives second record-setting amount."

Pittsburgh Wins Share of $37M Federal Jobs Funding from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Three Pittsburgh-area organizations will receive a nearly $2 million share of the $37 million Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge to boost growth in energy and health care jobs."

Moving Mountains: Activists Taking the Battle to Mountaintop-Removal Companies from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"We face these repercussions, but the coal industry doesn't."

Residents Hammer Planners Over Gas Activity from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington and Greene counties]
"Greene County Planning Commission took action Thursday on plans for the construction of buildings at four natural gas compressor stations. As in the past when such projects come before the commission, residents living near the sites attended to complain about noise created by the compressors."

Liberal Arts Majors Can Still Find Jobs from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"Life post-graduation is pretty bleak for liberal arts majors, who consistently fare worse than their engineering and business counterparts in terms of salary and employment. ... SEPA reported that the average CBA graduate earns $42,000 a year. A student graduating from the School of Arts & Sciences can expect to make $33,900, and graduating engineers top the list with a median annual salary of $57,500."

Pitt New OCC Program Aims to Help Students in Job Market from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"The green signified completion of Pitt’s Outside the Classroom Curriculum, a University initiative that began in 2008 with a 44-student inaugural class. The program’s goal is to encourage student involvement on campus. ...  Pitt’s OCC program — open to all students and majors — is a way to support the development of a well-rounded student. “It’s all about you and gaining a competitive edge,” OCC coordinator Scott Hoffman said about the program."

Plan to Idle Monaca Smelter Risks 400 Jobs from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"About 400 jobs could be lost at Horsehead Holding's Monaca smelter after the metals recycler commissions a North Carolina plant in late 2013. Horsehead announced Monday it will build a new smelter at a cost of more than $350 million in Rutherford County, about 80 miles west of Charlotte. The plant will employ about 250 and be able to produce 150,000 tons of zinc a year."

Pitt Researcher Earns $500,000 'Genius Grant' from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"University of Pittsburgh Medical School faculty member and researcher Elodie Ghedin has been named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow. ... Ghedin studies the genomes of human pathogens that trigger rare lethal diseases in the developing world. She is an assistant professor in the Pitt School of Medicine's Department of Computational and Systems Biology. She also is a member of the university's Center for Vaccine Research."

DEP Head Aims to Streamline Efforts: Krancer Emphasizes Better Coordinated Oversight of State's Oil and Gas Industries from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The state's top environmental official says his agency has been operating too much like the Steelers on a sloppy game day and that the readjustments he announced Tuesday are aimed at smoothing out its oversight operations. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer reverted to sports analogies throughout his briefing Tuesday to illustrate his rationale for the department's reorganization. He outlined a handful of structural changes, which he said will allow regulators to be more consistent, coordinated and efficient in managing natural gas drilling and other activities under their purview."

CMU Professor to Lead Institute Analyzing Health Care Spending from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Secret records of more than 5 billion medical claims will be given to a new team led by a Carnegie Mellon University professor, with the hopes that it will revolutionize how the nation spends money on health care. The Health Care Cost Institute, led by CMU professor Martin Gaynor, announced its launch Tuesday."

Health, IT Big Winners at Tech 50 from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Health care and information technology companies dominated the list of winners during the Pittsburgh Technology Council's 15th Annual Tech 50 Awards. The region's most prominent celebration of all things tech paid homage to winners Tuesday at Consol Energy Center, where the party's "A New World" theme highlighted the new venue. Winners were narrowed down from a list of area companies whose nominations were announced in July."

EDITORIAL!

Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration Would Backfire on Pennsylvania (Daniel Griswold) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"If you believe the majority of witnesses at recent House State Government Committee hearings in Harrisburg, you would think illegal immigration is the single biggest problem confronting the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ... Pennsylvania faces many challenges, but the inflow of too many hardworking immigrants is not among them. Pennsylvania is already one of the slowest-growing states in the union."

Nearly 70 Percent of Pa. School Districts Increased Class Sizes, Survey Shows from the Associated Press via the Patriot-News [of Harrisburg]
"A new survey that seeks to gauge the effect of Pennsylvania's budget cuts on public schools shows that fewer teachers are in charge of larger classes and programs ranging from tutoring to summer school have been scaled back."

Job Corps Fights High Unemployment with Free Education from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"Education and employment are two critical issues, especially within the Black community, where African-American students are ranking lower than their counterparts in education and have the highest unemployment rate nationwide. While many are dropping out and others are struggling to go onto college, the Pittsburgh Job Corps program offers low-income youth an alternative to turning to “street life” to survive."

Pittsburgh Seeking New Ways to Keep Up with Number of Vacant Properties from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
""It didn't take long to realize that not only was the system not up to the task of dealing with the problem [of vacant properties], it was actually part of the problem," Mr. Kildee said. The same is true in parts of southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Places ravaged by poverty, steady economic decline and population loss find 20 percent or more of their houses are vacant, according to 2010 U.S. Census data."

Move to Save Urban Youth Action? Maybe from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"Though the reaction of many to the announced closing of Urban Youth Action after 45 years of serving Black youth throughout Allegheny County is one of regret and loss, others say the reactions should be action."

Shale Drilling Fee High on To-Do List for Governor, Legislature from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"While shale legislation is competing with other issues for his attention, the governor's pending proposal shows that updating the state's rules for drillers -- and assessing an impact fee -- has risen high on his agenda."

Lack of Jobs, Welfare System Blamed for Rise in Poverty from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 
"As the figures grow, the face of poverty is changing to include more suburbanites and young, able-bodied people such as Jones who want to work but are having trouble finding jobs as unemployment hovers nationally at 9.1 percent. Views of poverty also are being challenged."

Pitt's Engineering School Receives $3.45M Grant from the Steel City Innovation blog at the Pittsburgh Business Times
"University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering is receiving a $3.54 million grant from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation to fund bioengineering research."

Marcellus Fracking Set to Begin in North Franklin Twp. in Oct. from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington and Green counties]
"Range Resources is preparing to tap into the Marcellus Shale natural gas seam next month in North Franklin Township, where some residents have already begun to complain about noise from the drilling operation."

UPMC Hopes to Build at Former Children's Site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center wants to build a 12-story facility on the Fifth Avenue site where the former Children's Hospital was located in Oakland. ... "This hospital expansion plan is within our 10-year development plan time frame but there are no commitments to build anything,""

English-Only Bills Spark War of Words (Charles Thompson) from the Patriot News [of Harrisburg]
"The lawmakers said making English the state’s official language would also give immigrants incentive to learn English and the chance to obtain better jobs. There is no indication their efforts will fare any better than a similar bill that passed the House in 2006 before stalling in the Senate."

UPMC, Mt. Lebanon Hospice Care Provider Form Alliance from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 
"Family Hospice and Palliative Care, which serves nine counties in Western Pennsylvania and has offices in Manchester, Forest Hills and Hermitage, will be able to expand UPMC patients' access to its services. UPMC does not have its own hospice agency, said Denise Stahl, executive director of UPMC's Palliative and Supportive Institute, a specialty program that focuses on finding ways to keep patients comfortable when their diseases cannot be cured."

EDITORIAL!!

In Plain English, Legislators Waste the Public's Time from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"In a state without a plan for repairing its roads and bridges and that still hasn't made tough decisions for regulating the growing Marcellus Shale gas drilling industry, lawmakers wasted time on Wednesday advancing two pointless proposals that are nothing but misguided remedies for a nonexistent problem. And legislators wonder why the public holds them in such low esteem."

Group: Industry Could Block Anti-Pollution Efforts Here from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Clean Air Act and new rules to reduce power plant air pollutants, including mercury and other air toxins, are under attack by industry -- and Pittsburgh's air quality is "in the bull's-eye," said Charles Connor, president and chief executive officer of the American Lung Association."

Penn State Extension Launches Renewable Energy Academy in Greensburg from the Energy Inc blog at the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Penn State Cooperative Extension is launching a Renewable Energy Academy in Greensburg. These are morning seminars for residents and small business owners who want to learn how these technologies may fit into their lives or their organization’s energy profile."

Pittsburgh School District Poised to Sell Off Shuttered Buildings (Chris Young) from the Pittsburgh City Paper [from August]
"In the market for an old school building? The Pittsburgh Public Schools may have just the deal you're looking for. Last night, the city school board unanimously adopted a new policy for the sale of 17 former school buildings, including Oakland's beloved Schenley High School."

Pennsylvania Jobless Rate Jumps 0.4 Percent from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Pennsylvania's unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped in August to 8.2 percent from 7.8 percent in July, the state Department of Labor & Industry said Thursday."
The Post-Gazette covers the same news HERE.

The Daily Beast Ranks Pitt no. 20 'Least Rigorous' from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"The Daily Beast, the online home of Newsweek magazine, ranked the University of Pittsburgh as number 20 on the list of “Least Rigorous Colleges.”"
The original list at the Daily Beast is HERE.

A very different view here (although not entirely):
Pitt Improves in U.S. News & World Report Rankings from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"Pitt moved six spots closer to becoming the nation’s best college this year. U.S. News and World report released its annual 2012 Best College rankings at midnight on Monday and put Pitt at the 58th spot, tied with University of Connecticut, University of Florida and Texas A&M-College Station. This is a bump up from Pitt’s ranking as 64th last year."
Other institutions that are rated by the Daily Beast as "least rigorous" are clumped around Pitt at the same area of the US News list including U of Florida (#2) and U of Wisconsin-Madison (#3) on the "least rigorous" list. 

Local Schools Talk of State Budget Impact from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Municipal and school officials painted a bleak picture for state lawmakers on Tuesday of crowded classrooms, buckling roads and struggling hospitals following deep cuts in state funding in this year's budget. School district superintendents testified before the state House Democratic Policy Committee during a hearing at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus that some of their middle and high school classes have as many as 35 students. They can't afford to buy enough computers or to update textbooks. They've consolidated sports teams and trimmed student programs."

The State of Marital Unions in the African-American Community (AUDIO) from NPR's The Takeaway program
"The marriage rate has declined for all Americans over the past forty years, but it’s declined much faster in the black community. Why is this?"
The author interviewed here discusses some key economic development, gender, and class mobility issues relevant to people in the region.

Women's Work: Strong Leadership Pays Off for the United Way from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"On Thursday, more than 820 women will gather for a sold-out breakfast at the Westin Convention Center Hotel to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the ever-expanding Women's Leadership Council of Allegheny County's United Way. ... The group's membership is more diverse than its name suggests and includes not only top executives but also middle managers, young professionals, administrative assistants and women from all parts of the local community. They are united in a desire to improve the region, principally through support for the United Way's Impact Fund."

American Jobs Act Would Ban Discrimination Against Jobless (Arthur Delaney) from the Huffington Post
"Since last year companies and staffing firms have been slipping "must be currently employed" requirements into online job postings, a practice President Obama has said "makes absolutely no sense.""

Beechview Again Has a Supermarket from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"As of today, Beechview residents again have a new full-service supermarket. The new IGA at 1616 Broadway Ave. was flooded with shoppers ahead of the 9 a.m. speeches, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony."

W. Pa. Home Sales Rise in August from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Pittsburgh's housing market may be on the upswing, as sales during August were up 26.3 percent over the same month last year, according to a report released on Tuesday."

Wash. County Airport Strategic Plan Announced from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington and Greene counties]
"The plan, formulated at a confab earlier this year at California University of Pennsylvania, calls for the airport in North and South Franklin townships to be "the leading general aviation airport in the region with world-class facilities.""

Canonsburg to Receive $1M in Grant Funding from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington and Greene counties]
"The borough is receiving $650,000 to upgrade its police facilities, which will be part of a larger project to refurbish Canonsburg's administrative building on East Pike Street, as well as $500,000 that is going to the newly opened Frank Sarris Public Library on North Jefferson Avenue."

Quick Rebound Projected for Region from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"A report drafted for the June Conference of Mayors predicted Pittsburgh would be among the first metropolitan regions to reemerge from the prolonged recession and would recover all 35k jobs lost in the last three years by 2012. The report, assembled by IHS Global Insight, looked at the Gross Metropolitan Product form more than 300 metro areas, as well as employment trends, and made predictions on return to peak employment."

EDITORIAL!!

UPMC's Directors are the Ones to Call on Highmark (Board of Health) from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
A hard-hitting editorial!  I think this is from the Pittsburgh Board of Health.  It's unclear.
"This ultimatum to the people of Western Pennsylvania laid down by UPMC threatens a historic disruption of health care delivery and has patients, businesses and civic leaders rightfully concerned. Elected officials on two fronts are trying to pressure the health industry giants to resume negotiations toward renewing their agreement. That's a good thing, but their efforts are wrongheaded."

City Schools Face Off for Funding from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"In the Greater Pittsburgh region, there are 247 K-12 schools, including 161 public schools and 86 private schools. With the nation’s growing emphasis on “school choice” more and more schools are competing for not only the attention of parents, but also the attention of private and public donations. The recent education budget cuts at the state level left public schools in the region struggling to find ways to adjust to funding losses. With these recent cuts and their impact on the Pittsburgh Public School District, many are left wondering how the region’s public charter schools and private schools are affected."

Hill Development Committee Looks to Leverage Funds from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"A year ago when the Rivers Casino made its first $1 million in payments to the North Side and the Hill District to assist in neighborhood development projects, state Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill, said unlike the Northside Leadership Conference, which had already leveraged an additional $900,000 in development funds, the Hill had no mechanism to allocate the funding. Now it does."

NEW DATABASE!

Search Marcellus Legislation from 100 Bills from the Energy Inc blog at the Pittsburgh Business Times
"The Pennsylvania Legislature is in for a lot of Marcellus talk this year and next, with 100 bills on the table. Below is a searchable database of that legislation."

Mexican War Streets District May be Extended from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"That would extend the historic district to include the properties between Federal and Reddour streets and West North Avenue and Eloise Way. This rectangle is not contiguous with the rest of the historic district, which ends several blocks west. But it would allow the company to take advantage of federal historic tax credits."

Catholic Schools Tackle Plans for Low Enrollment from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"As 22,000 students in schools of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh begin a new year, behind-the-scenes plans are being laid for reorganization."

Greenlighting Neighborhoods: GLUE Coming to Pittsburgh from the Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE)
"Every year, GLUE hosts a convening of young leaders from Great Lakes cities, to energize and motivate change agents through new information, relationships, and ideas. GLUE has spent the last three years building a multi-sector network of civically engaged younger people who are devoted to making their post-industrial city work. The annual GLUE conference is the paramount way by which we pursue our mission to connect engaged change agents from the cities of the Upper Midwest to one another."

Global Summit to Come to Pittsburgh in 2012 from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"Organizers for the 2012 One Young World Summit announced they would hold the third annual event in Pittsburgh next October. The summit brings together about 2,000 young delegates from around the world to discuss issues such as global health, the environment and religion."

In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores from the New York Times
"Evidence is scarce that expensive technology in schools is improving educational outcomes."

Commission Sues Consol Over Fish Kill from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"According to lawsuits filed in Greene County on Wednesday and in Monongalia County, W.Va., last Friday, discharges of polluted water from Consol's Blacksville No. 2 mine caused a bloom of toxic, non-native golden algae that killed more than 42,000 fish, 15,000 freshwater mussels and 6,000 mudpuppies, a large salamander."

Time to Revive Home Ec (Helen Zoe Veit) from the New York Times
"... home economics is more than a 1950s teacher in cat’s-eye glasses showing her female students how to make a white sauce. Reviving the program, and its original premises — that producing good, nutritious food is profoundly important, that it takes study and practice, and that it can and should be taught through the public school system — could help us in the fight against obesity and chronic disease today."

Manchester Housing Wealth Revealed from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"MCC’s three-pronged housing initiative includes the Renaissance Housing Program, Columbus Square housing development and infill construction program. These are all part of a neighborhood revitalization strategy that aims to eliminate blight and abandonment and increase property values."

Employers Weigh Health Care Options from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"A little over two years before the federal government requires individuals and many employers to carry health insurance, uncertainty reigns over costs, how state insurance exchanges will be implemented and even whether the law will survive political and court challenges, experts said on Thursday."

EDITORIAL!

Historic Gift: The Dietrich Donation Will Be Felt Beyond CMU from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Once Carnegie Mellon President Jared Cohon got past the appropriate exclamations of "wow" and "yippee," he explained that a gift of this magnitude -- equivalent to about one-fourth of the university's entire endowment -- will be felt at all levels, in scholarship and research, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary study."

BIG LOCAL NEWS STORY!

CMU gets $265 Million Gift from William S. Dietrich II from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A philanthropist and former steel executive is giving Carnegie Mellon University $265 million, its biggest gift ever and one of the 10 largest by an individual to private higher education in the United States, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has learned. Pitt also may receive very sizable amount from former steel executive. ... The CMU gift -- equal to about a fourth of the university's entire endowment -- is intended to be a catalyst for its global initiatives and for something long a source of CMU pride: What campus officials call the "fusion of left-brain and right-brain thinking" that includes linking arts and technology study."
As noted, this is a big deal!

EDITORIAL

Lily White: A More Populous Region May Hinge on Diversity from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"After crunching 2010 census data, the Brookings Institution has issued a report about the state of racial diversity in America. Surprisingly, the numbers for the 100 largest metropolitan areas show Pittsburgh to be the second-whitest region in the nation. ... As Post-Gazette staff writer Gary Rotstein reported Monday, Pittsburgh is "whiter even than the Amish country around Lancaster, the Mormon population center of Salt Lake City, Midwest agrarian capitals such as Des Moines, Iowa, and far more isolated places like Boise, Idaho." How does a region built on immigration, albeit from previous centuries, come to have in 2011 such a small share of people of color?"

EDITORIAL

Shell and Donora: Tale of Two Stories from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene counties]
"Sunday's front page featured an ironic juxtaposition of articles. One story, an Associated Press article under the headline, "States vie for huge new Shell gas plant," described the competition among the states under which the rich Marcellus Shale gas reserves lie for "cracker plants" - large petrochemical refineries that would employ thousands. Right next to it was the local story of Donora, the Monongahela River town all but abandoned since the departure of the steel mills. The proximity of the two articles must have prompted many readers, as well as us, to ask this question: Isn't Donora the most obvious location for such an enormous industrial operation?"

4,000 Volunteers Sought to Mentor/teach Local Youth from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
""We are recruiting readers, tutors, and mentorsanyone with passion and commitment can help improve the educational success of our region," said David Hickton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and chair of the Youth Futures Commission. "There is a role for every adult citizen in Allegheny County."

Pitt Loses Marcellus Shale Research Funds from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"Heinz Endowments will no longer fund Marcellus Shale gas drilling research at Pitt because the school focused too much on research and not enough on advocacy. ... The same issue of research versus advocacy caused former director of the center, Dr. Conrad “Dan” Volz Jr., to resign in April. His successor and former dean of GSPH, Dr. Bernard Goldstein, also recently resigned from the position. The Pitt News reported in April that Volz said he left because his beliefs concerning environmental advocacy and public health did not match those of the University, especially when it came to Marcellus Shale drilling. The former Pitt professor is an open critic of Marcellus Shale drilling and said that the University was not allowing him to openly voice his dissent, so he left of his own accord."
Essential Public Radio's Allegheny Front program has more on the story HERE.

Senator Seeks New Tax from Nonprofits from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A local lawmaker intends to introduce legislation that would require the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and insurance provider Highmark, as well as major universities and other large nonprofit entities, to pay real estate taxes on all of their property holdings."

Drilling Foes, Proponents Heading for Shale Conference from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The shale drillers are headed to Philly, along with some of the state's top politicos, for a two-day industry road show that gets under way today. But the business and government types aren't the only ones trekking to the Marcellus Shale Coalition's inaugural conference; dozens of anti-drilling groups also are mobilizing to greet the more than 1,600 registered attendees."

Natural Gas Key to U.S. Security, Ridge Tells Conference from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pointing to natural gas as a key component of a national energy strategy that protects national security and blasting the "hysteria" he sees as accompanying environmental concerns, former Gov. Tom Ridge opened the Marcellus Shale Coalition's conference here on a fiery note."

EDITORIAL

Behind the Numbers: The Pennsylvania Jobs Scene Needs Real Attention from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Not only are 7.4 percent of Pennsylvanians unemployed, another 6 percent are underemployed -- working part-time when they'd like to have a full-time job, for instance -- and an estimated 11 percent to 14 percent have jobs now but were out of work or underemployed earlier in the year.  That makes the competition for jobs even stiffer."

Decelerating Learning Academies from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"Once the Foundation of Education Reform, Accelerated Schools May be Closed by City.  If ALAs are the greatest thing since sliced bread, why get rid of them?"

Unemployment is Pennsylvania's Biggest Problem, Poll Shows from the Patriot-News [of Harrisburg]
"Unlike October 2009, when a plurality of Pennsylvanians ranked the economy as the state’s biggest problem, now a plurality of 38 percent rate unemployment and personal finance as the state’s most important problem, according to a new poll released Wednesday by Franklin & Marshall College."

Database: Southwestern PA School District Budget Cuts from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"According to a Pittsburgh Business Times analysis of 101 school districts in the seven-county Pittsburgh region, those school districts' budgets are down 3.2 percent from 2010-11's combined budgets of $4.523 billion. That takes about $123 million out of the region's economy."

Underemployment Dogs Pa. Workers from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Reports on the economy tend to show information in terms of a snapshot rather a time lapse. In a report issued Thursday by the Keystone Research Center, "The State of Working Pennsylvania," the time lapse effect of the economy is most clear in the statistic that shows how many people have been unemployed or underemployed in the state during the last 12 months."

City Gets State Grants to Spruce Up Facades, Build Garage from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The city will receive $8.5 million in state grants to transform rundown buildings Downtown and to build a parking garage for a historic building in East Liberty that is being converted into apartments."

CCAC Board OKs Big Tuition Increase from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Citing state and local budget cuts, Community College of Allegheny County trustees Thursday approved a 9.5 percent tuition increase, believed to be the largest single jump in the school's 45-year history."