The Northside Chronicle Blog

On Monday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. at its Oakland administration building, the Pittsburgh Public School Board will host a public forum to debate moving students in Morrow K-5 into the Rooney 6-8 building–both of which are located in Brighton Heights–and reassigning current Rooney students to other middle schools.

Based on a report by consulting group DeJong Inc. released last month, the school board is planning to move current Rooney 6-8 students to either Allegheny 6-8, Schiller 6-8 or Pittsburgh Classical Academy. Current Morrow students would then move into the Rooney building, which would become a K-8 school.

Anyone who wishes to address the board at the public hearing must first register with the Office of the Superintendent of Schools by calling 412-622-3600 by noon, Monday, Dec. 21.

Those not in attendance may also submit written testimony to the board by sending it to publichearing@pghboe.net or by fax at 412-622-3624. All testimonies must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 21.

The public meeting will be held at the administration building, located at 341 S. Bellefield Ave., Oakland in conference room A.

Past stories on this issue:

Students, Parents react to possible school closings (Nov. 17)

Several Northside schools high on consultant’s list of recommended closures (Nov. 12)

By Kelly Thomas

The federal government, despite being sidetracked by the health care debate, continues to leak Recovery Act money into the lagging economy.

Out of $787 billion meant to revitalize the job market and provide relief for the un- and under-employed, just over $110 billion has made its way into projects, non-profits, cities and states, according to Recovery.gov. That puts us at a 14 percent completion rate.

Recovery.gov, the fed’s stimulus dollar tracking website, also says that $256 billion is available so far, and that $309 billion in projects have been announced and awarded, but not all paid out.

So what does that mean for the Northside?

It means that so far, out of that $787 billion, the Northside will receive about $26 million. Not bad considering that $26 million is 23 percent of the $112 million the City of Pittsburgh as a whole received.

Don’t forget that most statewide and citywide projects — like the soon-to-be-announced Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program run by the city and the county — will help Northsiders as well.

About half of the Northside’s $26 million comes from city organizations (like the Housing Authority City of Pittsburgh) for specific projects (like the renovation of 52 public housing apartment units in Northview Heights). The other half is mostly grants to non-profits (like the North Side Christian Health Center).

To put further perspective on the situation, the government has announced that — so far — Pennsylvania will receive about $9 billion, or 1 percent of the $787 billion.

Larger states with larger populations will get more. For example, California will get about 3 percent ($26 billion) and Texas will get around 2 percent ($17 billion). Other states with smaller populations will get much less. North Dakota, for example, will get about one-tenth of 1 percent ($853 million).

Out of Pa.’s $9 billion, Allegheny County received about $221 million, or about 2 percent. Philadelphia County gets about $443 million, or about 5 percent.

Since Philadelphia County and the City of Philadelphia are one and the same, Pittsburgh gets about one-forth of the money Philadelphia does, but Pittsburgh also has one-fifth the population of Philadelphia. Pittsburgh actually gets more money per person than its eastern counterpart.

And since the Northside contains 14 percent of the City’s total population (according to the 2000 census report) and received 23 percent of the City’s total stimulus money, the Northside is also getting more money per person than the rest of the city.

(For the earlier blog posting, click here.)

Three hundred thirteen disadvantaged youths have summer employment this year with the application of $1.493 million in stimulus funding to the Pittsburgh Partnership’s Summer Youth Employment Program.

Judy Hill Finegan, manager of Pittsburgh Partnership, said that the purpose of the program was to expose city youth to career environments and opportunities.

“Jobs that kids used to get in the summer,” Hill Finegan said, “adults are applying for them. Summer jobs are not as available as they have been previously.” Read the rest of this entry »

This is part of a continuing series of blog post on how the Stimulus Package (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act) affect Pittsburgh’s Northside.

(For the first post on the stimulus blog, click here.)

Disadvantaged and dislocated workers in the Pittsburgh area — including the Northside, of course — now have more access to free services through Pittsburgh CareerLink thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Pittsburgh’s division of the state’s CareerLink program received extra money from the government this year to help disadvantaged and dislocated workers because of its service record helping adults find well-paying jobs in the area, said program manager Judy Hill Finegan.

CareerLink offers two types of training to help qualifying adults find jobs. The first type, called intensive training, offers a “structured job search.” This includes teaching the individual any skills she might need to get a job, such as working toward a GED, learning how to write resumes and cover letters and interview skills. Read the rest of this entry »

(This new blog, by Kelly Thomas, will track stimulus spending on and around the Northside. The process is complicated, involving dozens of agencies at various levels of government. But The Northside Chronicle will sort through the mess for you. This is the first of many installments.)

The federal government wants its $787 billion economic stimulus fund used wisely. It also wants itself, along with every state, county and local government held accountable for how the money is spent. This blog will look at how stimulus money is spent on the Northside and in other parts of Pittsburgh.

According to Chuck Half, manager of Pittsburgh Management, Performance and System, it is difficult to know exactly how much of Pittsburgh’s stimulus money will come from the $16 billion the state received from Washington, and how much will come directly from the federal government.

A major problem in determining exactly how money will be spent in specific neighborhoods like the Northside comes from the federal government’s direct distribution of money to non-profit organizations, Half said.

While the city has an idea of how much money it will receive from Pennsylvania and Washington, it has not yet received all of the funds. Out of the money it has received, not all of it has been distributed to individual projects yet.

Read the rest of this entry »

When:  Thursday, June 11, 2009

10:30 am

Where:   Steelers Headquarters

3400 Water St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15203

A Delegation of Clergy and Northside residents will visit the Steelers headquarters tomorrow morning to invite the Rooney’s to attend a bus tour of the Northside on Wednesday, June 17 at 10:00 a.m.

The Bus Tour will look at how past development has affected the Northside communities.  Northside United has been trying to get the Steelers’ developer, Continental Real Estate, to meet with the community to discuss how Northshore development will impact residents. Read the rest of this entry »

Petland says area residents need to protect pets from summertime dangers

(Pittsburgh, PA, June 10, 2009) – With warm days and summer walks come a number of summertime dangers for our pets, namely fleas, ticks and mosquitoes.

“Prevention is the key. Most people don’t know they have fleas and ticks in their house until it becomes a problem” said Eric Caplan, Operator of Petland of Pittsburgh. Read the rest of this entry »