News

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.   The Monongahela may have been thought of as a clean river once, maybe back when General Braddock was stalking the French, but certainly not during  our lifetimes.  Unfortunately, it looks like things are getting worse.   According to the Tribune-Review, it’s been at least 10 years since the contaminant level in the river has been as high as this summer.   The good news is that we’re not talking about sewage here, just what scientists call “total dissolved solids.”  TDS can be any number of minerals that give the water a saline tinge.  Lots of people are pointing fingers at the natural gas drilling that started in Western PA a couple of years ago.  

Longtime Pirates general manager dies.  Just days after the passing of former Pirate announcer and pitcher Nellie King, Joe L. Brown, one of the architects of the Pirates last three World Series teams, died at the age of 91.  Brown was the Bucs’ GM from 1955-1976.  Five years after taking over the reins of a team that had a losing record for 9 straight seasons (we should be so lucky), Brown watched the Bucs beat the Yankees in the 1960 World Series.  

Nellie King .  Nellie King, former Pirates broacaster, Duquesne Dukes broadcaster, and briefly a Pirates pitcher, died August 11.  King had been suffering from colon cancer and pneumonia.  He broadcast for the Pirates from 1967-1975.  King was 82. 

Top news story for people who think they’re a dog.  It wasn’t a good week for Green Tree resident Gary Guy Mathews.  Allegheny County Common Please Judge Ronald Folino ruled that Mathews can’t legally change his name to “Boomer the Dog.”  Mathews, 44, adopted the canine persona as a teenager.  As an adult, he’s been dressing as Boomer for various functions.  Judge Folino feared the new name could cause “confusion in the marketplace.”  No word on whether Folino also whapped Mathews on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper.

Good news for claustrophobics; bad news for driving to Pittsburgh.  The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation hopes to play mind games with drivers entering the Squirrel Hill Tunnels   Seems traffic officials believe some of the massive back-ups entering the tunnels are due to motorists hitting the brakes at the tunnel entrance–not because it’s too narrow, but because it looks too low.  Said PA DOT spokesman Jim Struzzi, “The belief is if we can [raise the ceiling of the tunnel a foot or so and brighten the tunnel’s lighting] people won’t think they have to slow] down.”  After, of course, the project brings traffic to a grinding halt for 3 years starting in 2012.

DC to Pittsburgh trail nearing completion. Looks like somewhere around November 11, 2011, you’ll be able to hike or bike from Washington DC to Pittsburgh without getting run over by a semi.  That’s the target date for the completion of a 335-mile biking and hiking trail connecting the two cities.  The final piece to the 35-year project was getting the Sandcastle Waterpark in Homestead to allow the trail to traverse it’s property along the Monongahela River.  An agreement was reached between the park’s owners and Allegheny County in July.

Looking to buy a Pittsburgh landmark?   If you want a piece of recognizable Pittsburgh real estate, this is the time to buy.  Up for sale at the same time are landmarks such as Macy’s (which to all real Pittsburghers will forever be the Kaufmann’s building), the Oliver Building, and the Alcoa building.  Or perhaps you’re interested in Dominion Tower or the Red Cross building.  Real estate experts don’t necessarily see the listings as a bad sign.  According to Aaron Stauber of Rugby Realty in New York, the fact that the owners of all of the buildings have decided to sell now may be a sign that the local real estate market is starting to open up.

Duquesne beer back on the market.   In July, the “Prince of Pilseners” once more became available to beer lovers.  Pittsburgh entrepreneur Mark Dudash, who now owns the Duquesne beer patent, revived the brew that once was king of the South Side, and the first cases rolled out of the City Brewing plant in Latrobe, PA.  Dudash has signed with wholesalers to distribute the beer in Western Pennsylvania and hopes to expand into Virginia, the Carolinas, and Ohio.

Was that Taylor Lautner and Katherine Heigl enjoying an Iron and a pierogie?  Three major movies–“Abduction,” “One for the Money,” and “I am Number Four”—are currently being shot on location in Western Pennsyvlania, including Mt. Lebanon, Braddock, Ambridge. and Vandergrift. 

If you’re reading this, that’s no surprise.   Out of 75 major U.S. cities, Pittsburgh has just been ranked the 4th most literate.  Only Seattle, Washington, DC, and Minneapolis were ranked higher.  The study–conducted by Central Connecticut State University–evaluated metropolitan areas with at least 250,000 residents. 

The number crunchers at CCSU took into account levels of education, newspaper circulation, libraries, booksellers, internet use, and local publications.   The stats took into account the relative sizes of the cities.  While individual cities varied as to where they ranked in the different categories (for instance, Newark, NJ, was 2nd highest nationally in newspaper circulation but 74th in booksellers), the final ranking was based on a composite of the factors studied.  To see how Pittsburgh compared in the different categories and overall to the other AFC North cities, go to the Tale of Four Cities page on this blog.  To access the report’s overall rankings, go to http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=5392

Dude, it Burns and Makes Noise!! You may have missed it on the national news, but the Pyrotechnics Guild International has chosen Slippery Rock in Butler County as the location for its 5-day convention in 2013.   Mark your calendar NOW for Aug. 12-16, 2013!  According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the convention will be held at the 500-acre Cooper’s Lake Campground.  Says Butler County spokesman Jack Cohen, who attended last year’s convention in Wyoming:  “As far as your eyes can see, your field of vision, from ground to as high as you can see and right and left…It’s going to be a blast, literally”

And the Cost of Living is So Low.  Jobs may not be flocking to Pittsburgh, but some people are doing all right.  According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, heres the total annual compensation that came to some executives of publicly held companies in the Tri-State region:

• Thomas Renyi, Bank of New York Mellon, executive chairman:  $28,543,839
• William Johnson, H.J. Heinz, chairman, president, CEO:  $22,451,241
• Jeffrey Lipton, Nova Chemicals, CEO:  $18,530,000
• John Surma, U.S. Steel, chairman, CEO:  $14, 072, 503

Struggling along in 50th place is PPG senior VP and CFO William Hernandez, who had to make do with $2,704,490.