Groups Urge Pennsylvania to Keep Aid for Disabled Adults from the Associated Press via the Patriot-News [of Harrisburg]
"Faith-based and community aid organizations are urging the Republican-controlled Legislature not to end a program that provides about $200 a month for tens of thousands of disabled adults who can't work."

Proposed Legislation Would End Property Tax Funding for Schools in Pa. from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Senior citizens and other homeowners on fixed incomes are enthusiastic about a proposal that would reduce the burden of property taxes."

Pitt Recognized for its Sustainability Efforts from the Pitt News
"In its “Guide to Green Colleges,” The Princeton Review, a publication that provides overviews of colleges across the nation, awarded Pitt’s Oakland campus a 92 out of a possible 100 points. The publication recognized Pitt’s “notable commitment to sustainability in ... academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation.”"

EDITORIAL!!

Fare Treatment: The Port Authority Should Collect What Riders Owe from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"How can a transit system make some pay while others ride free?"

Shale Drilling Contaminated Water, Families Say in Lawsuit from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Three families sue Range, testing labs, over water contamination from shale drilling."

Powdermill Compiles List of Pa. Shale Wells from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The project started with what seemed to be a simple question from a summer intern: How many Marcellus Shale wells does the state have?"

EDITORIAL!!

Too Little, Too Late at Cal. U. from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Not in dispute are the achievements during Mr. Armenti's 20-year tenure as head of the state-owned university in Washington County. Under his aggressive approach, enrollment grew from 5,600 in 1996 to 9,500 today, applications increased 90 percent, average SAT scores went up and so did four-year graduation rates. New academic programs were introduced and attractive student housing was constructed. But it would be Machiavellian to conclude that those ends justified all of Mr. Armenti's means."

Survey of PA School Districts Signals More Cuts to Classrooms on the Way from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
"More cuts to instructional programs and school personnel are on the way unless state and local funding improves, according to a survey from the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO)."

PowerUp Pittsburgh Wants to Lure High-tech Firms to City from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The city of Pittsburgh has hired an "innovation and entrepreneurship strategist" for PowerUp Pittsburgh, an initiative designed to grow the city's high-tech economy."

Debate Over Teacher Layoff Criteria Continues from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh Public Schools and its teachers are at odds over whether only seniority and certification area -- as is required in the union contract -- should be used to determine who is furloughed or whether the district should be able to consider teacher effectiveness."

PERSPECTIVE!!

Getting the Shaft: Despite PNC's Promise to Cut Support for Mountaintop Mining, Activists say it's Business as Usual (Lauren Daley) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"Are they putting any less money into it? Not that we've seen."

Oxford Plans 33-Story Building in Pittsburgh from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Oxford Development Co. unveiled a plan to build a 33-story office tower at 441 Smithfield St. in downtown Pittsburgh."
The Tribune-Review has more on the story HERE.

Reassessments Under Scrutiny from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Common Pleas Court Judge R. Stanton Wettick on Thursday scheduled a courtroom meeting for June 4 to discuss an 85-page legal motion and analysis that alleges the court-ordered reassessment is unfair to property owners in economically depressed communities such as Braddock, Rankin, Duquesne, Clairton and Wilkinsburg."

Pa. Senate Panel Offers Recovery Plan for Troubled School Districts from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The legislation borrows from laws addressing distressed municipalities to lay out a process intended to help districts right their finances."

11 Arrested During Protest of Corbett's Proposed Education Funding Cuts from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Eleven people were arrested this morning during protests outside Gov. Tom Corbett's Downtown Pittsburgh offices during protests over his proposed cuts to public education funding."

Survey: More than Half of Pa. School Districts Plan to Make Deeper Cuts this Fall from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Nearly half of the districts who responded expect to be in financial distress within three years if state and local funding doesn't improve."

Pa. Panel Endorses Bill on School Takeovers from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"A proposal to allow state takeovers of struggling school systems such as Duquesne City School District is advancing in the Legislature."

Pennsylvania House Panel Considers Eliminating School Property Tax from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Bill would increase and expand sales tax, income tax to fund public education."

Port Authority Cuts Looming, SGB Without Plan to Advocate Against Cuts from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"In light of cuts in the Pennsylvania budget toward higher education, Pitt’s Student Government Board has remained largely silent on the possible ending of many Port Authority routes this fall."

EDITORIAL!!

No-Litter Zone: The City Gets Tough on Trashing Pittsburgh from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh is not quite the livable place it is said to be. If litter is the calling card of those who don't care about their city, Pittsburgh is not quite the livable place it is said to be. As letter writers to the Post-Gazette point out, litter is everywhere in the Golden Triangle and beyond, an eyesore that never seems to go away."

EDITORIAL!!

Protect Our Most Effective Teachers from USA Today (Yolie Flores) from USA Today
"Pittsburgh's Faison Elementary School, which is located in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, is a perfect example of a school being crippled by LIFO [last in, first fired]."

On Pittsburgh Promise from Essential Pittsburgh program on Essential Public Radio [of Pittsburgh]
"This spring, hundreds of Pennsylvania college students will graduate from four-year colleges with the help of the Pittsburgh Promise. It’s a model scholarship fund that combines support from the city, the public school system, foundations and potential employers. The idea is to keep Pennsylvania students in state for college, reform urban schools and attract residents to Pittsburgh. Saleem Ghubril, executive director of the Pittsburgh Promise, talks about the program so far and what they hope to accomplish."

Waivers Could OK Drilling Near Water from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"As he left the hearing, Mr. Perry said in response to questions that the DEP can and does grant waivers of the setback requirement and drilling could take place along the Ohio River if such a waiver is granted."

PMC: Masters of their Fate (Jeffery Fraser) from the Pittsburgh Quarterly 
"How PNC became the fifth largest U.S. bank during the economy's darkest days."

Canonsburg Plans Pop Music Hall of Fame from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"Canonsburg, the hometown of famed singers Perry Como and Bobby Vinton, will be the future home of the American Pop Music Hall of Fame. Canon-MacMillan Patch reported on the announcement, which was made Saturday night with the conclusion of the two-day Hot Diggity Dog Days that honored the 100th anniversary of Como’s birth. About $50,000 has already been raised to build the hall of fame, although more is being sought."

EDITORIAL!!

Eclipse of Reason: Crescent and the Corps Must Reach a Locks Deal from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Crescent Township is home to the Dashields Lock, which like many old locks and dams in this area, needs repairs to keep functioning. The Corps had scraped up $3.1 million, no easy task in today's fiscal climate, to stabilize a lock wall so it won't collapse into the river. The project has already been delayed a year and the Corps says that if it is not done it will be left on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars to compensate the contractor."

April Brought Better Pa. Employment News from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"The state's employment picture seems to be brightening: The unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent in April, just a small decrease from 7.5 percent in March but even better because 21,000 people who were not in the labor force in March went back to work."

Leadership Effort Launched in Washington County from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene Counties]
"A new program is being introduced in Washington with the hope of enticing people to play an active leadership role in the area's future. Through its signature AmeriCorps program, Public Allies identifies talented people from diverse and under-represented backgrounds who have a passion to make a difference, and helps them turn that passion into a career path."

Postal Service Moves Forward with Consolidation in Region from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The U.S. Postal Service is moving forward with a plan to consolidate its network of mail-processing facilities."

Anticipation Mounts for “One Young World” Summit in Pittsburgh from Imagine Pittsburgh Online
"The summit is an annual event for young future leaders, bringing together delegates in their 20s to tackle the same issues and topics our world leaders address every day. "

Vt. Becomes 1st State to Ban Hydraulic Fracturing from the Associated Press via the Centre Daily [of State College, PA]
 "Gov. Peter Shumlin on Wednesday signed into law the nation's first ban
on a hotly debated natural gas drilling technique that involves blasting chemical-laced water deep into the ground."

Existing Homes Drive Increase in Regional Sales from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh-area home sales have been taking a turn for the better in recent months, and sale prices for existing homes continued to rise."

Repairs to Ohio River Lock Delayed from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"Critical repairs to an unstable Ohio River lock have been postponed indefinitely because Crescent Township and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cannot agree on a plan to fix a damaged road that is preventing construction trucks from reaching the lock."

Trillions at Stake in Health Law Case (Bill Toland) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Highmark, UPMC Health Plan and the rest of the nation's insurers have a lot of money riding on the Supreme Court's review of the 2010 federal health care overhaul. How much? About $1.03 trillion over eight years, according to a new study by Bloomberg Government. That $1 trillion figure means "a little bit over a half a percent of [U.S. gross domestic product] is basically at stake with this court ruling," said Matt Barry, a Bloomberg Government health analyst and lead author on the study. "That's a big deal."

The Greening of Larimer: Community's Future Depends on Reusing Remnants of its Past (Bill O'Driscoll) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"Larimer is half-empty.The low-income, mostly African-American community adjacent to East Liberty is easily overlooked. ... But in 2007, when Larimer began crafting a revitalization plan, many residents saw the lots as an asset, the defining feature of a neighborhood that wasn't half-empty but half-full. And so they proposed making Larimer a "state-of-the-art green community.""

District Battles to Save ‘Effective Teachers’ from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"This summer, the Pittsburgh Public School District will be eliminating nearly one in six teaching positions, an unprecedented number in the district’s history. In order to keep the district from losing some of its most effective teachers, the school board approved a resolution for the district to begin negotiating a furlough system that takes into account both seniority and teacher effectiveness."

No Room for Improvement: Too Many Hurdles Doom South Side Service District (Lauren Daley) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"To change communities is a complex beast. ... a twentysomething resident who favored the plan took the microphone. "I've been a resident of the South Side for three years," he said — and was met with groans and sarcastic "awws." "People choose not to live here," he added. "I want them to choose to live here.""

OPINION!!

Keeping ACCESS: A Bill Can Save Transit for the County's Disabled from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Port Authority Transit is not close to solving the funding crisis that will trigger a fare hike in July and deep service cuts in September, but the Legislature can help by passing a bill that would keep the system's most vulnerable patrons riding."

Healthcare Jobs Fuel Revival in Pittsburgh from the Los Angeles Times 
"About 1 in 5 private-sector employees works in health services, which has replaced manufacturing as the region's powerhouse. It's a transformation happening across the U.S., but many worry about long-term side effects."

Rainbow Continues to Shine for Hungry from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 
"An online contest has enabled a Homestead nonprofit to continue feeding children in struggling families despite cuts to public funding."

Aspinwall Riverfront Park Designers Want Public Input from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"With fundraising for the Aspinwall Riverfront Park project in progress, organizers now want to hear from residents about how the park should look. A survey is available online and at local municipal buildings that asks residents what features they would like to see at the park."

OPINION!!

Transit Debacle: Poor Scheduling Won't Win Sympathy from the State from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Port Authority didn't schedule any extra buses or trains, despite plenty of warning that they'd be needed."

Struggling Sto-Rox School District Faces Bleak Choices from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"When Michael Panza became superintendent of the Sto-Rox School District this year, he quickly discovered the district was in the midst of an all-out financial trauma and his job would be to help the board perform triage to keep it alive. One wound was the loss of about $1.2 million in state funding this year, caused largely by the end of federal stimulus funds, and another was the district's special education costs beyond the state reimbursement."

ShaleNET Grad Finds New Career at 50 from Imagine Pittsburgh Online 
"Fifty-year-old Jim Kistler gave up what he called a dead-end job in exchange for three weeks of training through ShaleNET, a program that helps to prepare and train people for in-demand jobs across the natural gas industry and its supply chain in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia."

Pennsylvania Universities are Leading the Way...in High Tuition rates (Charlie Deitch) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"When states have to balance budgets, the first thing they cut is higher education."

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis on Bridging the Skills Gap in Pittsburgh from Imagine Pittsburgh Online
"...why — when this region’s unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) was 7.1  percent in March (compared to 8.4 percent nationally) — can’t we find people to fill these jobs? Well, the answer is that many of the people looking for work simply don’t have the skills required to fill the positions that are opening up in our more knowledge-driven economy. And there’s every reason to believe that the situation is only going to become more challenging."

Bill Could Save 911th Airlift Wing from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"The House Armed Services Committee late Wednesday passed a measure to try to stop the Air Force Reserve from closing the 911th Airlift Wing and cutting the 171st Air Refueling Wing in Moon Township."

OPINION!!

Frack Findings: Obama's Plan for Drilling Public Lands is Weak from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The new provision says the contents of the fracking fluid don't have to be divulged until after drilling is over."

New Group Connecting North Side from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"While Oliver will be merged with Perry High School in the fall, this experience served as the impetus for Williams to found the North Side Initiative to Preserve Community Excellence. Established only a few months ago, the organization’s mission is to establish and promote connectivity, mobility and independence for local citizens, organizations and businesses."

OPINION!!

People's Interest: Open the Court Record on the Marcellus Shale Case from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Post-Gazette and others believe it may contain pertinent information regarding public health and safety."

EPA Sharply Limits Mountaintop Mining (Mike Lillis) from Washington Monthly
"The White House on Thursday took a giant leap toward eliminating new mountaintop coal mining projects in the Appalachian states, issuing strict new guidelines designed to protect headwater streams by curbing the practice of dumping waste in neighboring valleys. Announcing the changes, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said the guidelines are intended to make the standards governing new mountaintop projects “clear and consistent,” following a series of EPA decisions over the past year that stakeholders on all sides of the debate found contradictory."

OPINION!!

Promise Kept: Pittsburgh's College Tuition Program Shows its Class from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Pittsburgh Promise has kept its promise. This year marks the first college graduating class of the scholarship fund for city public school students. As the rules now stand, if city students have at least a 2.5 grade point average and 90 percent attendance in high school, they are promised at least $10,000 a year for post-secondary education for four years if they then keep a 2.0 GPA. (The Class of 2008 had to have a high school GPA of 2.0 for $5,000 a year.)"

Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair Among Top 10 High Schools in State from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"U.S. News & World Report has named two Allegheny County schools among the top 10 public high schools in the state with Mt. Lebanon at No. 8 and Upper St. Clair at No. 9."

Study: No Convention Center for Washington County from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene counties] 
"A consulting firm hired to study the feasibility of bringing a convention center to Washington County has recommended plans for such a venue be put on hold for now. In March, the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency commissioned Philadelphia-based PKF Consulting to determine corporate demand for a convention center."

South Shore Riverfront Park Opens from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"The long-awaited South Shore Riverfront Park opened Wednesday, adding another piece to the SouthSide Works    development and enhancing an important link in Pittsburgh’s riverfront trail system."

Council OKs Allotting Parking Money to Hill from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh City Council voted 6-3 on Tuesday to earmark at least $2 million in new parking revenue to the Hill District."

City Pay Disparities from the Essential Pittsburgh program on Essential Public Radio [of Pittsburgh]
"A study conducted in 2009 identified pay disparities and low morale among half of Pittsburgh city workers. The city found pay disparities related to gender and race, advancement barriers for women, politically based decision-making, and perceptions of unfair treatment, among other problems. Now city council members are conducting an audit to see whether conditions have changed in 3 years."

Pittsburgh Schools Seek to Base Layoffs on Teachers' Effectiveness from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"No one disputes that this fall will be a year of unsought change as Pittsburgh Public Schools battles a projected deficit. About 1 in 4 classroom teachers won't be back in the same school as staffs are reduced and class sizes are increased. Nearly 1 in 6 classroom teaching positions will be eliminated, leading to what is likely to be an unprecedented number of layoffs, depending on how many teachers retire or resign."

Wheeling Woman's Fight with Debt Collectors Goes on Air from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
"Diana Mey has played David to some of the biggest Goliaths of her time, winning judgments worth millions of dollars from telemarketers, debt collection agencies and credit card companies. In August, a West Virginia circuit court judge awarded her $10.8 million in a lawsuit in which she alleged harassment and violations of state law after debt collectors threatened her with sexual assault over a debt she did not owe."

Study: Frack Water in Marcellus Could Find Drinking Water Within Decades  (Reid Frazier) from the Allegheny Front program on Essential Public Radio [of Pittsburgh]
"No aspect of hydraulic fracturing is more controversial than its impact on groundwater. The industry says that if done properly, fracking is safe for groundwater. But a new study, commissioned by an environmental group, casts doubts on this assumption."

OPINION!!

Pittsburgh Variety: The Mayor and Council Seek a Diverse Work Force from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"In a city not renowned for diversity, it takes effort to build a work force that's not all-male and not all-white."

Highmark-UPMC Deal Extended from the Essential Pittsburgh program on Essential Public Radio [of Pittsburgh]
"State Representative Dan Frankel and Senator Jay Costa Jr. talk about the extension of Highmark’s deal with UPMC, providing in-network access for Highmark Commercial and Medicare Advantage members to all UPMC hospitals and physicians through the end of 2014."

OPINION!!

Countdown to Doom: The Port Authority Takes Grim Steps to Cut Transit from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The final share of blame for drastic cuts will be at the top, where the buck stops -- with Gov. Tom Corbett."

Time, Fear, Pressure Drove Highmark, UPMC Deal from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Highmark Inc. desperately needed time to complete its takeover of West Penn Allegheny Health System. UPMC eagerly wanted to avoid additional government oversight. Those were key points in behind-the-scenes negotiations that brought the health care giants to agreement to extend their contract until the end of 2014, those familiar with the discussions told the Tribune-Review on Thursday."

Economists Predict Record Employment as Soon as Year-End from the Pittsburgh Business-Times
"While much of the country has been mired in the throes of job loss, Pittsburgh is on the verge of attaining record employment levels even as the full effects of the boom fueled by Marcellus Shale remain several years off."

Helping Hand Given to Single Moms from the New Pittsburgh Courier
According to the 2001 Census, the homeownership rate for single mothers was 49 percent. For minority women overall, that rate was only 35.5 percent. The Bartko Foundation, a private non-profit organization, is working to change these statistics one woman at a time. With their mission of helping minority mothers obtain self-sufficiency, Bartko awards grants totaling nearly $150,000 every year. “Our desire was not to duplicate what was already being done,” said Melanie Gefert-Azur, president of Bartko’s board of directors. “Our foundation’s goal is to provide support for these women who fall through the cracks.”

Summit Here on Homelessness Will Examine Impact on Children from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Always, when I tell them that there are more than 2,400 children -- including those under age 5, not in school -- living in shelters or doubling up with friends or relatives. They say, 'We didn't even think there was one.' " The face of homelessness in this region isn't just that of a ravaged-looking panhandler on a city street corner, but of a child -- on average about 8 1/2 years old -- mostly hidden from public view..."

Pgh Project Struggles, Layoffs on Tap from the New Pittsburgh Courier 
"Over its 26 years, the Pittsburgh Project grew from a Church summer youth service program to a nonprofit institution that provided summer camp, volunteer service, after school and home repair services for neighborhood seniors. By 2008, the North Side agency’s budget had swelled to $3.2 million. But by last year that had dipped to $2.9 million. This year, however, it took a huge hit, $1.9 million. And with that drop came staff cuts."

More Tax Income May Soften Pa. Budget Cuts from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A higher-than-expected haul of state taxes in April and a new set of revenue projections offered hope to legislators seeking to soften cuts."

Diverse Groups Converge on Harrisburg to Protest Gov. Tom Corbett's Proposed Budget Cuts from the Patriot-News [of Harrisburg]
"A mix of groups — the Sierra Club, NAACP and the Pennsylvania Council of Churches, among others — gathered for a rally at the state Capitol Tuesday. They are some of the scores of groups vying for more state aid in the lean 2012-13 budget. ... In light of the state’s deteriorating roads and bridges, Smith said, “I tell you I pray a lot more. I pray to get from one end of the bridge to the other without falling in.”"

Spotlight Stays on Pittsburgh with International Science Fair, Growth Despite Recession (Bill Flanagan) from Imagine Pittsburgh Online
"Our region is returning to the global spotlight later this month, when Pittsburgh hosts the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)."

Wood Street Block Advanced as 'Fashion Row' from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The city hopes to turn the Downtown section into a boutique shopping destination for women."

Fawn Nears Deal on Drilling from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Supervisors are ready to approve an agreement that will give the township a small piece of the Marcellus pie. In the process, other property owners, even those who do not own mineral rights, will get a taste as well."