PA's Sunshine Solar Program Resumes from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection got $7.25 million to temporarily reopen its popular Sunshine Solar Rebate program which was put into wait-list mode August 2011. The current pot of money, supplied by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, is “enough to provide rebates for all projects currently on the waiting list and an estimated 400 additional installations this year,” said DEP Secretary Michael Krancer in a statement."

PEOPLE!!

Larimer Activist Ora Lee Carroll Dies from the New Pittsburgh Courier 
"It didn’t matter to Ora Lee Carroll if you were a staunch conservative like former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, or a dedicated progressive like state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Lawrenceville. If you could bring resources to her neighborhood to battle drugs and violence, or assist with housing and business development, you got her calls."

Ora Lee Carroll

City Upon a Hill from WESA's program, Essential Pittsburgh
"We’ll learn about development plans underway to revitalize the Hill District and make it a thriving neighborhood. Also, city councilman Bruce Kraus on the whether the South Side Blitz is restoring order to Carson Street."

PERSPECTIVE!!

No Help Wanted: In Filing to Labor Board, UPMC Claims it Has No Employees (Charlie Deitch) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"They're proud to say it's their people who make them who they are — right up until it's time to treat those people fairly ... Remember the UPMC advertisements that used to claim the health-care giant was "not a business" but "a collection of people, and surprises and ideas you weren't expecting"? Apparently, it's not even that much. In a Jan. 3 filing to the National Labor Relations Board, the nonprofit health-care giant — routinely identified as the region's largest employer — claims it actually has no employees at all. "

Pittsburgh's Homeless Sought, Counted, Helped from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The first goal is finding housing for Pittsburgh's homeless; the rest will follow, local human services workers say. "It's a complex problem with an easy solution," said Breanna Jay, coordinator for Operation Save-A-Life, which is part of Community Human Services. Operation Save-A-Life conducted its annual Point-In-Time survey of the North Side's homeless Tuesday night to provide proof of the individuals it serves."

EDITORIAL!!

Sub-Par Options: Charter Schools as a Class Don't Measure Up from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Until the U.S. Department of Education stepped in last year, charter schools in the state were evaluated under a less rigorous method, as if they were school districts and not individual schools. ... The (new) state report released last week showed that only 43, or 30 percent, of the charter schools in buildings made AYP, while none of the cyber charters did. That compares poorly to the performance of traditional public schools, in which 1,460, or 50 percent, attained AYP."

EVENT!!

Announcing the PA Progressive Summit 2013 from Keystone Progress, Democracy for America, and the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and other organizations
[From the announcement:] This year's Summit offers 33 workshops and panel discussions about the important issues facing Pennsylvania and the nation. Each session will give you practical suggestions about what you can do to successfully move your issue forward."

Railroad Files Second Lawsuit Over Planned Strip District Development from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"An Oakmont-based railroad operator is suing to overturn a special zoning district Pittsburgh City Council established in the Strip District to help The Buncher Co. create residential, office and retail development on a barren stretch of land along the Allegheny River."

EDITORIAL!!

Welcome Oversight: DEP Deserves a Review on Marcellus Regulation from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is right to examine how well the Department of Environmental Protection oversees water quality."

Bridgeville-based II-VI Foundation pumps millions into local scholarships, camps, research from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"A little-known foundation, funded by the man who earned his fortune by starting a Sharpsburg optics and material-science company, is boosting students who wish to pursue science and research careers that are becoming significant in the 21st century. The II-VI Foundation in Bridgeville, started in 2007 by Carl Johnson and his wife, Margot, is spending millions of dollars on scholarships, camps and research projects in the region to promote scientific pursuits."

Physics students at the University of Pittsburgh conducting research partially funded by the II-IV Foundation.

Neighboring Towns, Separated by a Vast Divide (Bill Heltzel) from Public Source
"On Dec. 6, residents of affluent Fox Chapel and other nearby communities served hearty homemade soup to 80 residents of Sharpsburg, some of whom had not had a hot meal in weeks. The monthly Neighborhood Table is meant not just to fill empty bellies but also to search for long-lasting ways to redress a growing national problem: Household incomes are falling at the bottom of the income scale, stagnating in the middle and rising at the top."

POLITICAL PROFILE!!

Fighting Fitzgerald: County Exec Steamrolls Through First Year in Office (Lauren Daley) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"Fitzgerald has been county executive for just over a year, and his hard-charging style has become almost as well known as his accomplishments. ... He has since taken an active role in setting policy at nominally independent agencies like the Port Authority and the Board of Health. And he has slugged it out with high-profile politicians, ranging from legendary former coroner Cyril Wecht to Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl."

Under the Radar: Fracking Wastewater Radioactive from the Beaver Times 
"Moyer said he began transporting brine, the wastewater from gas wells that have been hydraulically fractured, for a small hauling company in August 2011. He trucked brine from wells to treatment plants and back to wells, and sometimes cleaned out the storage tanks used to hold wastewater on drilling sites. By November 2011, the 49-year-old trucker was too ill to work."

PA DEP to Study Radiation Related to Marcellus Shale from State Impact PA
"The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection plans to study levels of naturally occurring radioactivity in materials associated with oil and gas drilling. The announcement comes  almost two years after a series of reports in the New York Times revealed radioactive waste water from gas drilling was discharged into Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams. The industry has since stopped the practice, but the DEP says it plans to analyze radioactivity in frack flowback water, drill cuttings, drill mud, and the levels in equipment such as pipes, well casings storage tanks, treatment systems and trucks."

Shale Drillers Eager to Move Wastewater on Barges (Emily DeMarco) from Public Source
"The shale gas drilling industry wants to move its wastewater by barge on rivers and lakes across the country. But the U.S. Coast Guard, which regulates the nation’s waterways, must first decide whether it’s safe."

Livestock Falling Ill in Fracking Regions, Raising Concerns About Food (Elizabeth Royte) from Public Source
"In the midst of the domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil-and-gas drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying. While scientists have yet to isolate cause and effect, many suspect chemicals used in drilling and hydrofracking (or “fracking”) operations are poisoning animals through the air, water, or soil." http://publicsource.org/investigations/livestock-falling-ill-fracking-regions-raising-concerns-about-food

Renovated Grange Ready for Occupancy from the Beaver Times
"A local couple is breathing new life into the former North Sewickley Grange building on Mercer Road across from the volunteer fire department. “It has been fascinating to see the building come to life,” said Karen Trozzo, who with her husband, John, bought the building in 2003. “It has been a lot of work, but there is also a lot of satisfaction.”"

The Foundry Mall Recast: Developer Looking Toward Future from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene counties]
"The Foundry appears to, indeed, have a retail future. ... A lot of work has to be done. A lot of work has to be done. First, there are the six damaged, unoccupied buildings where the earth shifted. Mosites Development Co. of Robinson Township, Allegheny County, is the contractor and is supervising the demolition of five of them. The sixth is owned by JCPenney, which returned to Washington Mall after the subsidence forced it from The Foundry."
WHAT a nightmare!

Plan Commission Puts Mexican War Streets Expansion on Hold from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The city Planning Commission tabled a vote today on a proposed expansion of the Mexican War Streets historic district after members heard testimony from about 20 people, some of whom said they did not know about the community participation process."

A view of the Mexican War Streets.

Pittsburgh Tech Salaries Fastest Growing in the Nation from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"We’ve already touched on how the talent wars in Pittsburgh are heating up, especially for technology talent, and now it looks like Pittsburgh’s tech professionals saw salaries increase at the fastest rate in the nation year-over-year."
The 'talent wars' article referenced here can be found HERE.

Duquesne Recovery Plan May Call for Closing Elementary School from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The district's chief recovery officer wrote that it is financially unfeasible for the district's current K-6 school to continue to operate."

Pittsburgh Group Advocates for Sustainable Funding for Transit from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Pittsburgh transit advocates launched a campaign Tuesday to press state leaders for increased funding to expand Port Authority of Allegheny County service and reduce fares. “The funding announced last year (to avert 35 percent service cuts) was a just a temporary fix. We need a permanent solution,” said Helen Gerhardt, spokeswoman for Pittsburghers for Public Transit, after a Downtown news conference."

Point Park Now Giving Pittsburgh Playhouse Relocation Star Billing from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A plan to move the Pittsburgh Playhouse from Oakland to Downtown could be on a fast track. Point Park University has now made the relocation of the playhouse to the site of the former Honus Wagner Co. sporting goods store on Forbes Avenue the priority for the next phase of its $244 million academic village initiative."

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY!!

Study Warns of Increased Amount of Waste from Pennsylvania Drilling from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The volume of drilling wastes from Pennsylvania's Marcellus shale is growing and threatening to overwhelm existing waste-handling infrastructure in Ohio and other states, according to a study released Tuesday."

EDITORIAL!!

Tax their Payrolls: Large Nonprofits Must Support City Services from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Pittsburgh has spent more than a decade trying to figure out a way to tap its largest nonprofit organizations for a reasonable share of the cost of services in the city they call home. The efforts always end in frustration. Now, though, state Sen. Jim Ferlo, a former Pittsburgh city councilman, has come up with a plan that could resolve the issue for good, and it contains a sweetener that might increase its chances for passage in the Legislature."

Fitzgerald Tells Allegheny County Nonprofits to Justify Tax-exempt Statuses from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"In the coming months, thousands of nonprofit organizations will get a letter from Allegheny County asking them to demonstrate why the properties they own should continue to be exempt from taxes, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced on Tuesday."

Making a Bid: Lawrenceville Businesses Weighing Pros and Cons of Tax District" (AmyJo Brown) from the Pittsburgh City Paper
"It's gotten to a point where there is real value in this neighborhood." ... Artists and developers drawn to the area's stock of large, cheap, historic properties have helped to craft a vibrant neighborhood. According to the Lawrenceville Corporation, a community-redevelopment group, more than 230 buildings have been renovated, and since 2010, more than 36 new businesses have opened throughout the community.  "It's really become the most sought-after neighborhood in Pittsburgh right now," says Joe Kelly, the owner of Kelly Custom Furniture and Cabinetry and another early developer, like Desmone, who remembers when the streets were barren."

Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment Approves 57 Apartments at Former Lawrenceville Church from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A proposed residential reuse of the former Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, school and parish house on 44th Street in Lawrenceville has gotten the go-ahead from the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment. The decision allows a 57-unit apartment complex with 88 on-site parking spaces."

OPINION!!

Pittsburgh’s “Brain Gain:” A Model for San Antonio? from Imagine Pittsburgh 
"A recent article published on Texas CEO Magazine’s website talked about the “brain gain” in San Antonio, citing a rise in the number of talented young people with college educations choosing to move to that medium-sized city – particularly to its more urban neighborhoods — to live and build their careers. Sound familiar? It should, as we’re seeing those same trends in the Pittsburgh region, as I’ve noted here before."

EDITORIAL!!

Action on Roads: Finally, the Governor is Ready to Make a Decision from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"As a way to fund road, bridge and transit repairs, Gov. Corbett appears ready to ask the Legislature to lift the cap on the state's oil tax."

Dilapidated Deutschtown Duplex Agitates Advocates, Developers from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"It was likely built before the 1840 incorporation of Allegheny City as housing for people involved in commerce generated by the nearby canal, which was disassembled with the growth of the railroads later in the century. It exists now in the portfolio of October Development, a prolific agent of change in the neighborhood. At December's Historic Review Commission hearing, at which owner Al DePasquale asked for permission to demolish it, Mr. DePasquale said he has "saved 17 of 18 buildings" he bought in Deutschtown since 2006 but concluded: "I'm not good enough to save this building." The commission put off considering approval to demolish, granting preservationists time to assess the value of its restoration."

Pittsburghers Turn Out for National Day of Service from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Hundreds of volunteers turned out at about 20 local events to help for the annual Martin Luther King National Day of Service."

Protesters Call on UPMC to Pay its ‘Fair Share’ from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"More than 100 community members and activists called on UPMC to adopt a “new code of conduct” during a protest Thursday morning in front of the City-County Building, Downtown. Chanting slogans for UPMC to “pay your fair share,” they said the health-care giant should contribute more money to the city …"

More Apartments In, Houses Out at Bakery Square 2.0 Project in East Liberty from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Plans to develop 20 single-family houses have been dropped in favor of a second apartment building at the $100 million Bakery Square 2.0 project in East Liberty that is being developed by Walnut Capital Partners. But residents who attended a community meeting on Wednesday at the Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside questioned the decision and had other concerns about what they see as a lack of parking planned for the project."

ADVOCACY TRAINING PROGRAM!!

Training Session for Transit Advocacy Group from Pittsburghers for Public Transit
Tomorrow's event will "test out our new training curriculum for Pittsburghers for PublicTransit volunteers on Saturday, January 19 from 1-3pm, in the Liberty Conference room on the ground floor of the Human Services Building at One Smithfield Street, downtown. We want this training model to be useful both for beginners and experienced organizers, so we ask for your participation and feedback on this pilot model. The next week, on January 22nd, we will launch our direct organizing and legislative campaigns at a press conference, inviting the general public to participate in the first volunteer training open to the general public, on Sunday, January 27th, also at One Smithfield St in the Liberty Conference room."
For more information about these events or other activities by Pittsburghers for Public Transit, see their website here.

Corbett to Roll Out Billion-Dollar Roads Plan from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Gov. Tom Corbett is preparing to unveil a transportation plan funded primarily by nearly $2 billion a year in new taxes on gas stations, two people who learned details of the plan told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The Republican governor, who pledged not to raise taxes when he ran for office, will announce the fine points of the long-awaited initiative next week, the two people told the AP on the condition they not be identified because the governor hadn‘t publicly disclosed the plan."

Children‘s Hospital of Pittsburgh can Proceed with its Plan to Build a Four-story Pediatric Center in South Fayette from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"On Wednesday night, the five members of the Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the hospital‘s site plan for its proposed $20.5 million center."

Independence Township Breathes New Life into Park Project from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene counties]
"Independence Township supervisors revisited the creation of a town park that has been on the back burner for almost four decades. The board heard representatives from Pashek Associates pitch their services during a meeting Wednesday night."

Pittsburgh International Airport Offers Incentives for Nonstop
Destinations from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Mr. Fitzgerald said the region's economy, including business near the airport, is growing. And if the authority awards a contract for Marcellus Shale drilling on airport land, it could generate revenue to provide more incentives to airlines and make it cheaper to operate from Pittsburgh International, he said."

GRANTS!!

Career Centers Share in Equipment Grant from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"The AW Beattie Career Center will share in a series of grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to help career and technical centers add new industry-standard equipment into their training programs. AW Beattie Career Center will get $43,953 and the Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center will get $34,112 from the program, which the Department of Education said will assist the schools in training students for what it called "high-priority" jobs."
This is a very important element to keeping technical ed current and really useful to potential employers.  The newest technologies MUST be in the classroom.

Decaying Infrastructure Costing Families $3,100 a Year, Engineers Warn from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A leading organization of engineering professionals issued another warning Tuesday about the condition of the nation's infrastructure, saying that current investment trends threaten millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in economic activity."

DOCUMENTARY!!

French TV Network Produces “Pittsburgh Then and Now” Reports Based on Famous W. E. Smith Photographs (Phil Cynar) from Imagine Pittsburgh 
"The footage was used to create a short TV documentary that aired in France and Germany, as well as a five-episode web report on the Pittsburgh then and now – probing how this transformation was realized and the work that remains to be done."

Pittsburgh's Job Creation Among U.S. Leaders from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Pittsburgh's among only two cities in the East -- and No. 4 in the U.S. -- that have regained all of its private-sector employment following the recession in the latest On Numbers/Business Journals analysis of employment between November 2007 and November 2012."

Base Supporters Argue Air Force Has Wrong Workforce Numbers for 911th Base from the Beaver Times
"Supporters of the 911th Airlift Wing again are arguing the Air Force is inaccurately reporting the number of civilian workers at the Moon Township base."

CMU to Build New 100,000-Square-Foot Energy Facility from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Carnegie Mellon University announced that a new 100,000 square foot building will be the home for its recently-launched Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation. The building, called Sherman and Joyce Bowie Scott Hall, received a $2 million grant from the Eden Hall Foundation and should be completed by 2015. It will be located behind Hamerschlag Hall, above the railroad tracks. ... The Scott Institute’s goal is to further research in engineering, economics, architecture and public policy as they relate to energy efficiency, carbon emissions, smart grid technology and energy storage."

Design for Scott Hall at CMU.  From Carnegie Mellon University.

EDITORIAL!!

Greater Promise: The City's Tuition Program Also Brings Youths Home from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"While the Promise's primary task is making sure the city's young people can afford college and are prepared for it, the organization's larger mission is reversing population decline in Pittsburgh and its public schools and developing a well-prepared work force. With a career workshop held for scholarship recipients last week, the Promise advanced that broader goal.

State Delays Decisions on Redevelopment Grants from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"A glut of grant requests and the governor‘s vow to base awards on merit rather than politics are delaying $125 million in redevelopment aid to municipalities statewide. State Budget Office officials are scrutinizing $765 million worth of requests in 175 applications from groups in 39 counties. They include $115 million in requests originating in Allegheny County that could play a part in building a 33-story Downtown office tower, preparing the Lower Hill District for development on the former Civic Arena site and helping to restore a historic Mt. Lebanon movie theater."

A historic theater in Mt. Lebanon that has applied to receive redevelopment grant money.  From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Vacant Lots on the North Side in Pittsburgh Turning into Gardens from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Rows of blueberry plants fill a city-owned Perry South lot that was once the weedy end zone of many a police chase on Pittsburgh's Charles Street. It is now part of a city lease agreement with the Pittsburgh Project, and the bushes will bear fruit for the neighborhood."

GRANTS!!

From Pittsburgh to Paris: Partnership's Grants Hopes to Revitalize Downtown from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership would like to see more Downtown properties and businesses undergo makeovers similar to the one at Cardamone's, and on Monday, the organization announced it had received a grant to help. A $350,000 grant from the Colcom Foundation will fund a program that provides a 50 percent matching grant of up to $30,000 for exterior facade renovations, the Partnership announced."

The Sonoma Grille, one of the properties benefitted by a Partnership Grant.

OPINION!!

Pell Grants Are Gateway to Jobs and the New Economy (Linda Wallace) from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"Pell grants were put in place to ensure the gateway to higher education was open to low-income Americans. Times and attitudes have changed. In 1980, the maximum Pell grant covered 77 percent of the cost at a public university; today, officials estimate it covers 36 percent of a student's obligations. ... As a result of the changes, new students lacking a GED or high school diploma no longer are eligible for federal student aid. In addition, the maximum number of full-time semesters college students can receive Pell grant awards has dropped from 18 to 12. ... Approximately 46 percent of all African-American undergraduate students receive federal Pell grant awards. The future is at stake for these students, their communities and the workforces they support."

Hiring Disabled Levels Playing Field for Workforce Diversity from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Pittsburgh has an assortment of leadership and human capital available to employers as they begin to explore and think outside the box. Individuals with disabilities have more of an opportunity to educate, prepare and showcase their talents now more than ever while providing insightful and realistic solutions, and information on universal issues."

Covering Rent is a Little Easier in Pittsburgh from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The average cost of an apartment in the city runs about $838 a month -- and those rental dollars go further here, according to experts."

Pittsburgh Public Market Moving to a New Strip District Location from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Pittsburgh Public Market will be moving from the historic produce terminal to a new location in the Strip District. City Urban Redevelopment Authority board members approved a grant not to exceed $40,000 today to help facilitate the move to an undisclosed site in the Strip."

Pittsburgh Commission Seeks to Expand Downtown Historic Districts from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"A new historic district and expansions of four existing ones, all Downtown, have been proposed to the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.  Buildings within new boundaries of historic districts would be eligible for tax credits."

ECONOMIC REPORT!!

Financial Times’ fDi Magazine: Pittsburgh Has “Turned Its Fortunes Full Circle” from Imagine Pittsburgh
"Marking the difference made by three decades of vision and collaboration – which resulted in a re-imagined and re-made region – is the retrospective, “Pittsburgh’s Progress:  Rust Belt City Reinvents Itself.” It’s a six-page report in the current (Dec. 2012/Jan. 2013) edition of the Financial Times’ magazine of globalization, fDi (Foreign Direct Investment)."
Here's the report referenced in the article.

NEW DEVELOPMENT!!

URA to Vote on TIF for Hazelwood Site from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is ready to consider a Tax Increment Financing plan expected to play a key role in redeveloping the 178-acre former LTV Steel site that spans the Monongahela riverfront in Hazelwood."

New URA development planned for the former LTV site.

UPMC Teams with CMU for Big Data Training from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"This month a handful of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center employees are headed back to school as part of the healthcare organization’s big investment in its data analytics and data warehousing. The move is part of a $100 million project UPMC announced last fall and includes partnerships with companies such as IBM and Oracle. It also includes working with Carnegie Mellon University..."

Gas, Guns, and Pipelines from Allegheny Front
"...he broke a judge’s order not to communicate with the workers, and paid for it with a weekend at the Fayette County jail. Bezjak, of Nichols Township, Fayette County, was given the order after numerous run-ins with workers and contractors for Williams, a pipeline company, including one in which he allegedly told the workers he’d shoot them if they didn’t leave his farm."

Trying to Get a Foot in the Shale Industry from WESA's program, Allegheny Front
"While the gas boom has brought jobs to Pennsylvania, it has also created a paradox. Despite unemployment rates above 8 percent, many drilling jobs in the state go unfilled. One study found in Western Pennsylvania alone 2000 energy jobs would be hard to fill in the next few years."

Women: On Your Mark, Get Set... from the WESA program, Essential Pittsburgh
"Running for office requires more than just a few speeches and some doorknocking. State Rep. Erin Molchany and Dana Brown from the Ready to Run program talk about what it takes to break into politics."

RESEARCH!!

Industry Influence in Universities’ Shale Gas Research Eyed (Debra Erdley) from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Energy industry groups criticize research that environmental foundations pay for, saying they‘re dedicated to halting industry expansion. But Cary Nelson, past president of the American Association of University Professors, said a lack of disclosure in industry-sponsored shale gas research is more troubling, and the organization will include ways to avoid conflict in its revised guidelines this fall."

Website Mines Marcellus Data from the Citizens' Voice [of Wilkes Barre, PA] via the Pittsburgh Tribune Review
"Marcellus shale exploration produces gas, money, controversy and happy statisticians. The thicket of data tracking Pennsylvania‘s drilling surge is compiled and stored by different federal and state agencies in various places online and on paper. A Susquehanna County-based website aims to merge it and present it in a meaningful way."

EDITORIAL!!

Privileged Property: The County Must Examine Tax-Exempt Holdings from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"It's a no-brainer. With 550,000 properties in Allegheny County freshly reassessed and many of their owners due higher tax bills in 2013, the county should routinely examine the validity of tax exemptions given to the properties of nonprofits. It doesn't."

EDITORIAL!!

Winning Big: Pennsylvania Cashes in on Casino Gambling from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"If anyone still wonders if legalizing casinos was good for Pennsylvania, the 2012 gambling revenue figures provide the answer -- an emphatic "yes.""

Future of Old Pittsburgh Film Building in Question from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The redevelopment of a historic Uptown structure awaits a decision on whether the owners must provide 12 parking spaces."

Workshop Aims to Attract Pittsburgh Promise Talent Back into Region from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The Pittsburgh Promise hopes to change the trend of only 200 students returning to the Pittsburgh area after helping 3,700 since 2008."

Students and trainer involved with the Pittsburgh promise program.  From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Garfield Project a Landmark in City Hiring Practices from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Garfield Commons is the latest transformation of outmoded public housing into privately managed, mixed-income units, but it is not just another upgrade. It represents possibly the most ambitious adherence to minority and low-income hiring standards in the city's history."

REPORT!!

N.Y. Report: Gas Drilling Safe Under Proposed Rules from the Associated Press via the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene counties]
"An unreleased state report leaked to media outlets says the Department of Environmental Conservation’s regulatory plan for gas drillers describes potential health impacts from fracking along with specific safety measures and it makes a separate health impact study unnecessary."

RADIO PROGRAM!!

Advances in Medicine and Robotics from WESA's program, Essential Pittsburgh
"We’ll learn about a new development in robotics with the potential to offer autonomy to quadriplegics and more!"

A Second Group Files Suit Against Emerald Mine for Wastewater Discharges from the Observer-Reporter [of Washington & Greene counties]
"A second environmental group has filed a citizens lawsuit against Alpha Natural Resources and its subsidiary, Emerald Coal Resources, for alleged Clean Water Act violations at the company’s Emerald Mine in Waynesburg."

Promote Ethical Eating: A Majority of Food-Service Workers Lack Reasonable Wages and Benefits from the Pittsburgh City Paper
""The industry has grown so fast in the last decade. ... It's neck-and-neck with retail as the nation's largest private-sector employer," says Saru Jayaraman, co-founder and co-director of ROC and director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. "And unfortunately, being the largest employer, it also generates the lowest-paying jobs.""

PROJECTIONS!!

What to Watch for in the New Year from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"...businesspeople in western Pennsylvania have their eyes on a few other developing stories for 2013: ..."

Natural Gas Could Boost Steel Industry from the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"Bloomberg reported that the steel industry could be the next to benefit from the Marcellus and other shale plays in the U.S., which would be a needed boost for steelmakers who have seen declining profits and production since the recession began."
Here's the Bloomberg story.

Fouled Waters: Woodlands Trying to Solve its Own Problems from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"With each passing week, more and more residents in the Woodlands start to live in a waterless world. The backwoods neighborhood of 200 homes and trailers about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh has exhausted nearly every option for official help since private well water began running orange or drying up altogether in early 2011."

4,800 Jobs Open in the Pittsburgh Region from the Pittsburgh Business Times
"The Pittsburgh region's employment picture looks pretty strong in 2013 -- as evidenced by more than 4,800 local job openings in a survey of southwestern…"

EDITORIAL!!

Care Comes First: Health Systems Shouldn't Let Patients be Dumped from the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"UPMC and Highmark should not let their business war allow patients to fall through the cracks when doctors change affiliation."