Allegheny County Gets Homeless Shelter Grant from the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
"Allegheny County's Department of Human Services has received a $3.8 million federal grant to support five new efforts to battle homelessness. The money from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development will fund temporary and permanent shelter for four categories of people."

Shell Picks Beaver County for 'Cracker' Plant from the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette
"An 80-year-old zinc plant near Monaca became the latest addition to Shell Oil Co.'s billion-dollar Marcellus Shale portfolio Thursday, with the Houston-based energy giant selecting the 300 acres as the likely location for its coveted petrochemical "cracker" facility.""

Project Would Enhance, Improve Access to Mon Wharf from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
"Riverlife and Point Park University on Friday revealed concepts for an unusual portal, consisting of cables, spines and an LED beacon, that would begin at the Wood Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard access to the wharf."

Post-Gazette Shale Website Wins Top Prize from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 
"Pipeline, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's interactive website on news and issues surrounding development of the Marcellus Shale, has won the top award for environmental reporting in the Scripps Howard Foundation's National Journalism Awards contest.""

China Plans Tax-Free Imports for Shale from the Bloomberg News
"China has yet to produce shale gas commercially as its explorers struggle to overcome the lack of domestic drilling expertise and geology that is tougher than in the U.S., where output has surged 15-fold in the past decade."

PERSPECTIVE!!

The Fracking Trade-Offs (David Sirota) from Salon
"The oil industry is muscling through pro-drilling legislation by tying it to appealing tax cuts and education bills."

Pitt Officials Say University Could Drop State-related Status from the Pitt News [of the University of Pittsburgh]
"Pitt’s 46-year run as a state-related institution might soon come to an end.
Since 1966, Pitt’s status as a state-related university has meant that in return for appropriations from the state, the University provides more reasonable tuition levels than Pennsylvania’s private universities. It also allows the University to run programs, such as public health outreach efforts, that benefit the Commonwealth."

“Wins” Day: Pittsburgh Region Landed 286 Deals in 2011; $1.5 Billion Investment; 11k+ Job from Imagine Pittsburgh On-line
"Thanks to continued strength across a diverse economy, the Pittsburgh region landed 286 economic development deals in 2011, pushing ahead of its performance in the previous year and maintaining its momentum toward pre-recession levels of business activity."

INTERVIEW!!

Gov. Dick Thornburgh, Who Led During Three Mile Island, Talks About the Nuclear Future from the Energy Inc. blog at the Pittsburgh Business Times
"Now, as utilities in the South are breaking ground on the first projects to add new nuclear capacity to the U.S. — using Westinghouse    technology, it should be noted — and as the Fukushima Daiichi disaster marks its first anniversary and Three Mile Island its 33rd this month, Thornburgh thought it was time to inventory the concerns still outstanding about this power source and revive a debate that once gripped the nation but is now, at least, according to Thornburgh, not really taking up much space in people’s minds:"

OPINION!!

New Science Center Program Not All It's Fracked Up to Be (Bill O'Driscoll) from the Slag Heap blog at the Pittsburgh City Paper
"Sponsors and creators insist that the Carnegie Science Center's new touring program on natural gas is all about the science. But students, educators and parents should carefully examine the messages in "Colossal Fossil Fuels," which explains natural-gas drilling and exploration with help from EQT Corporation -- a $1.3 billion company which makes its money selling natural gas."

Marcellus Natural Gas Pipeline Planned in Washington County from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Two Washington County townships are targeted for a six-mile pipeline to gather natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale."

Drilling Impact Fee Up for Consideration in Fayette from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 
"Fayette County commissioners next week will consider adopting an ordinance imposing impact fees on Marcellus shale wells. Commisssioners Angela Zimmerlink and Vincent Zapotosky on Tuesday voted to place the proposed ordinance on the agenda for the board's possible approval at its regular meeting on March 20. Commissioner Al Ambrosini did not attend yesterday's meeting."

Workshop Provides Residents with Tools to Fight Blight from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"Until a year ago, the so-called toolbox for fighting blight had a few implements for prying but nothing very sharp. Then Act 90 came along. The Neighborhood Blight Reclamation and Revitalization Act is a hammer and power saw combination for Pennsylvania cities and towns to extradite out-of-state property owners, attach their private assets to pay unpaid fines and deny them permits based on past abuses."

OPINION!!

Profiles in Poverty: It Takes Mutual Obligation to Maintain the Safety Net from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
"Who deserves to be poor? Asked that way, the question invites a personal value judgment that does not lend itself to objective analysis. But posed another way -- who should get taxpayers' help to escape poverty? -- the question affects social policy, and political demagoguery, at all levels of government. ... These discussions are relevant for the Pittsburgh region, where 12.2 percent of residents live below the poverty line ..."

More EDMC Layoffs Reported from the Slag Heap blog at the Pittsburgh City Paper
"City Paper has received word of more layoffs taking place at Pittsburgh-based for-profit educator Education Management Corporation. Company officials have kept mum, however, and it is unclear at this time if any of the lost jobs occurred in Pittsburgh."

Health Care, Energy Focus of Pitt Startup Competition from the Steel Innovations blog at the Pittsburgh Business Times 
"This year’s crop of finalists for the University of Pittsburgh’s entrepreneurship contest the Randall Family Big Idea Competition have an overwhelming health care bent with students pitching companies taking aim at diabetes, heart failure and drug delivery."

OPINION!!

Disenfranchisement of Blacks from Higher Education (Jack Daniel) from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"For several dec­ades, African-American alumni of the University of Pittsburgh partnered with the University to enhance the institution’s diversity mission. Just recently, 40 years of progress were celebrated. Now, in Pittsburgh and across America, not only diversity initiatives but higher education itself is under fiscal duress as evidenced by the Pennsylvania Governor’s proposal to radically reduce the University’s state appropriation."

First step Taken to Develop Civic Arena Site: Demolition Should be Finished in May from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"As the demolition of the Civic Arena draws to its conclusion, the massive effort to redevelop the 28-acre site once it's gone is officially kicking into gear. City-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority board members took the first step toward transforming the property Thursday by awarding a $1.9 million contract to Michael Baker Jr. Inc. to do preliminary and final design work related to a new street grid and other infrastructure improvements."

Local Initiative Continues to Help the Needy from the New Pittsburgh Courier
"For more than 30 years Hank Commodore has dedicated his life to giving back to his community by helping those in need through his “Help the Needy, Not the Greedy” initiative, a non-profit that provides assistance by donating clothing, furniture and appliances to those in need in the Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, since 2007."

EDITORIAL!!

Cuts, Cont'd.: City School Leaders Struggle to Balance the Numbers from the Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"With her latest budget reductions, city schools superintendent Linda Lane continues to walk a fine line of cutting costs while hurting programs for children as little as possible. In the last year, she eliminated 217 central office jobs for $11 million in savings, and the school board agreed to close school buildings, including two high schools, and change assignment patterns, to save $29 million. But the district still has a $21 million deficit for 2012 and could run out of money by mid-2015."