Mar 31 2009
In many other states, it would hardly be news at all that a supermarket under construction wanted to sell six-packs of beer to go. But it is news - more precisely, good news - that a Giant Eagle Market District store destined for the Settlers Ridge project in Robinson is seeking the transfer of a restaurant liquor license.
It would become the first supermarket in the area to be able to dispense up to two six-packs of beer to customers. If it happens, it will be because of a happy quirk in the state liquor law. Restaurant licenses permit the sale and consumption of beer, wine and liquor on the premises - and a small amount of beer to carry out.
Of course, supermarkets never used to have restaurants but times change. Recently, Commonwealth Court upheld the sale of alcohol by the Wegman supermarket chain in its stores that have restaurants.
Giant Eagle already sells alcohol in supermarkets in neighboring Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland, where, a company spokesman said, customers appreciate the convenience.
No surprise there. What is a surprise is that some factions in Pennsylvania still believe that a system that benefits the few is more important than the convenience that favors the many. Giant Eagle's reasonable request (and another by Whole Foods in the eastern part of the state) is opposed by the Pennsylvania Malt Beverage Distributors, which has a self-interest so naked that it could make a Budweiser horse blush.
The beer distributors obviously fear that their own monopoly would be threatened by competition, which in other parts of America is counted as a good thing.
They have it all wrong. What is good news for consumers ought to be good news for those who serve them. The distributors, of course, are victims of the same archaic system and sell beer just by the case. Instead of opposing Giant Eagle and other supermarkets, they should be demanding the right to sell six-packs themselves.
Mar 31 2009
U.S. Rep. John Murtha is unapologetic for his liberal use of congressional earmarks for projects in his district even though his efforts have branded him "one of the most corrupt members of Congress."
The Johnstown Democrat, who has been in the House of Representatives for 35 years, says his job is to make sure federal funds find their way to his district and that, "if I'm corrupt, it's because I take care of my district."
In his characteristically blunt manner, Mr. Murtha dismisses the derisive label attached to him by the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, as well as other critics of earmarking and political influence. He says if Congress wasn't funneling federal dollars to projects chosen by members, bureaucrats in Washington would be doing it instead.
Sure, plenty of people in Johnstown are grateful, but Mr. Murtha's insistence that this is how the process must work misses the reality that his constituents deserve to have their tax dollars spent on projects that have proven their value through competitive bidding and impartial evaluation. A view that the ends justify the means leaves too many questions: Are the projects necessary? Is the method of selection fair? Are political contributors the real winners?
Political watchdogs are not the only ones asking questions about the beneficiaries of Mr. Murtha's influence. In January, federal agents raided Kuchera Industries, a Cambria County start-up that had been struggling until it became the recipient of defense contracts. Three months ago, the FBI raided the office of Paul Magliocchetti, the founder of a lobbying firm that has been one of Mr. Murtha's biggest sources of campaign contributions. And a year ago, agents subpoenaed records from a subsidiary of Concurrent Technologies Corp., the non-profit that manages a research and technology center in Johnstown founded with Murtha earmarks in 1991 and kept running on millions in federal contracts since.
In the case of the National Defense Center for Environmental Excellence, effectiveness has been questionable. A Washington Post report last year said its work had not been widely utilized by the Defense Department, as intended, and Pentagon audits showed that systems it developed have not had widespread application.
Mr. Murtha's constituents wouldn't want to read about under-performing federal dollars earmarked for other House districts. We disagree with him that Western Pennsylvanians are filled with pride when questionable government spending comes their way.
Mar 31 2009
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has taken a big step in restoring confidence in the juvenile justice system.
Last week Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille appointed Berks County Senior Judge Arthur E. Grim to review the cases of 2,500 juveniles sentenced by then-Luzerne County Juvenile Court Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. between 2003 and 2008. Judge Grim's mandate is to right "whatever wrong was perpetrated on Luzerne's juveniles and their families."
Judge Castille's order applies to first-time offenders who appeared before Judge Ciavarella without counsel and convicted of minor crimes. This could mean about half of the 2,500 cases. According to a report to the court by Judge Grim on Judge Ciavarella's corrupt tenure, juveniles in his court could expect "routine deprivation of children's constitutional rights to appear before an impartial tribunal and have an opportunity to be heard."
Mr. Ciavarella and then-Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan pled guilty to taking $2.6 million in bribes from two juvenile detention centers that directly benefited from contracts worth millions. Both will spend 87 months in prison for corruption. The harm that they did will take time to correct, but Judge Grim has the power to overturn and expunge convictions on an individual basis.
The case of 16-year-old Charlie Balasavage is particularly egregious. The young man has spent 600 days in detention for buying a stolen scooter despite not having a criminal record. Mr. Balasavage insists he bought the scooter from a relative and didn't know it was stolen. He was escorted from Judge Ciavarella's court straight to detention and has remained there ever since.
It would be a shame if Charlie Balasavage and others like him spent another day locked up if it is now in the court's power to free them.
Mar 30 2009
The State Office Building sits in a spot so prominent it could be the front door to the Golden Triangle, and the first three rules of real estate are location, location, location.
That's why it seems counterintuitive for the state to sell the 52-year-old, 16-story building for just $4.6 million. Auditor General Jack Wagner thought so, too, which is why he tried to convince the Department of General Services to hold off.
But James P. Creedon, who heads the agency, makes a compelling case that it's in the interest of taxpayers to sell now. He estimates that by moving state offices to rented space, the state will save $14 million over 20 years because it won't have to maintain or rehabilitate the State Office Building.
The building had an assessed value of $14.9 million, but the state didn't get any takers willing to pay that much. Last year, the Buncher Co. bid $4.5 million, but later withdrew the offer. This time around, only one bidder met the minimum asking price, River Vue Associates LP, an affiliate of developer Millcraft Industries, which also owns and is redeveloping the former Lazarus-Macy's and G.C. Murphy buildings Downtown. Which recalls another rule of real estate: A property is worth only what someone will pay for it.
Still, why didn't the state wait to see if the real estate market and economy would improve enough to drive up the price? After all, there is no gun to the state's head making a sale imperative.
The state is happy with the rent it negotiated and Mr. Creedon doesn't think a better deal will come along in the future. The base rent averaging $11.16 per square foot is locked in for two decades. Some state offices will be moving to Millcraft's Piatt Place, where the lease includes six months' free rent and a credit toward furniture and equipment. Millcraft executive Lucas Piatt characterized the deal as "recession lease rates."
The move will get state employees out of a building that has no sprinkler system, whose elevators are aging and where there have been broken pipes and other problems. Mr. Wagner does raise some valid questions about the projected costs of renovation, and he says he will conduct an investigation to ascertain the true costs of the sale and move. But given his stated opposition, he may not be the right party to undertake an unbiased inquiry.
It is clear that, in Millcraft, the state is selling to a developer with proven expertise in renovating and selling housing and retail space in Pittsburgh's Downtown, and that suggests a hopeful future for the building. We're anxious to hear more about plans for the spot. It would be a mistake to leave such a prominent building empty for very long, something akin to turning off the city's porch light.
Mar 30 2009
Last week President Barack Obama released a plan to increase -- again -- the troop level in Afghanistan.
He presented it as part of a comprehensive strategy that includes Pakistan as well. The current U.S. force in Afghanistan is 36,000, with a previously announced 47 percent escalation to 53,000 on the way. On Friday Mr. Obama raised it by another 4,000 -- 8 percent -- to 57,000. While the White House makes a distinction between combat troops and the new 4,000 who will have training functions, the end result is the same in terms of U.S. exposure and force protection.
The president's new policy had some changes, including a focus on al-Qaida and away from the Taliban. This could reflect the reality that the Taliban's recent successes mean that both the United States and the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai have accepted that it cannot be defeated militarily and that negotiations are the only way ahead.
A second, dramatic change is the new emphasis on developments in Pakistan. Mr. Obama quoted intelligence sources warning that al-Qaida and its allies are planning attacks on the United States from a safe haven in Pakistan and that "insurgents" control parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. For that reason, Pakistan will be getting more money, $1.5 billion every year for the next five years.
The third change is the stricture that continued American support will depend on Afghanistan's and Pakistan's performance according to specific guidelines. Americans have heard such declarations before, particularly in South Vietnam and Iraq. Mr. Obama did not say what the United States will do if Pakistan and Afghanistan don't perform as desired.
The crux of the problem in both countries is their internal divisions and their governments' occasional dysfunction. That makes the costly escalation of U.S. involvement questionable in its logic, particularly given America's economic crisis.
Mar 30 2009
It wasn't supposed to end this way. Not in the Elite Eight, with Pitt bedeviled again by Big East rival Villanova, with Levance Fields firing a desperation rocket across court with half a second to go.
The script had it wrapping up in Detroit, with the first trip for the Panthers to the Final Four since 1941. But the cross-state Wildcats, who had stunned Pitt earlier in the season with a 10-point defeat, had other plans -- their own hoop dreams.
Since this heartbreaking finish comes at the close of March, there will be plenty of time to look ahead, to coach Jamie Dixon's rebuilt and retooled Panther squad for 2009-10 and another spirited run that may earn a tournament berth. For now, Pitt fans should look back and savor the season that was.
It was a year of firsts. The team finished 31-5, first in total wins, along with 2003-04, for a Panthers season. The team was ranked first in the country for the first time. It beat a No. 1 team for the first time. It was a top seed for the first time in the NCAA Tournament.
It's a program of promise from a larger standpoint, too. Under Coach Dixon since 2003, the Panthers have compiled a record of 163-45, won the Big East Conference season title, taken the Big East Tournament Championship, made it to the Sweet Sixteen twice and this season, of course, reached the round of eight.
With the marquee talents of Levance Fields, Sam Young, DeJuan Blair and key support players, this was the year it was all going to come together in the Final Four. The fact that it didn't says more about luck than the quality of play. The fact that it hurts so bad is testament that this season was so good.
Mar 29 2009
A candidate can argue all he wants that political donations are a form of free speech. He can dismiss as coincidence those campaign contributions that arrive around the time that he approves the donor for a handsome public contract.
But a look at the record in Pittsburgh suggests something a little more intentional, a cozy pay-to-play system where it isn't hard to connect the dots. That's the feeling Post-Gazette readers had Sunday after digesting reporter Rich Lord's account of a long list of contributions given to city, county and state officials last year who awarded contracts to the givers.
The report examined more than 2,000 donations and more than 1,500 contracts. Here are two examples of the interplay between public contracts and political contributions.
Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority board voted on Feb. 13 to buy 43 parking spaces from developer Millcraft for $1.72 million so they could be leased back for use at Piatt Place. On March 6, a Millcraft executive made a $500 campaign contribution to Sen. Jim Ferlo, a URA board member. Then on May 8 the URA board voted to seek $5.6 million from the state for Millcraft's Market Square Place project. On the same day, Millcraft execs gave Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who appoints the URA board, an $8,000 contribution. In June the URA board voted to sell property to Millcraft for $2.3 million and throw in a $380,000 grant. In December Mr. Ravenstahl's campaign received a $10,000 contribution from a Millcraft executive.
In another case, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority board approved in February $1.16 million in contracts for Independent Enterprises. The next month the firm's executives gave contributions of $500 to state Rep. Don Walko, chairman of the PWSA board, and $400 to state Rep. Dan Deasy, then a city councilman and PWSA board member. In May, an Independent exec gave a $500 campaign contribution to Mayor Ravenstahl, who appoints the PWSA board.
In case after case, the Post-Gazette story detailed the intertwined records of public contract approvals by political officials and campaign contributions to them from individuals at the firms that got the work. To no one's surprise, the elected officials said the donations have nothing to do with the contracts.
Mayor Ravenstahl said there are "no quid pro quos" for contractors doing business with the city. "I would argue that the time frames of when these contributions are being made, if they would happen to be around the same time [as contracts], are coincidence rather than something that is planned," he said. "Oftentimes [contributions] are made around fund-raisers."
That's not how it looks to the public, especially in Pennsylvania, where the sky is the limit on political contributions.
Mr. Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato have proposed a joint city-county limit on campaign contributions of $4,600 from individuals and $10,000 from political action committees per four-year election cycle. That would be better than nothing, but it doesn't go far enough. The limits are too high for local races and they do nothing to discourage the appearance of pay-to-play.
Real reform would also rule out no-bid contracts for political contributors and maybe even bar bid contracts of a certain size for political donors, as is done in other cities and states. The mayor doesn't like that because he says it infringes on a contributor's First Amendment right to support a candidate. His constitutional concern rings hollow, however, when Pittsburgh taxpayers see work going repeatedly to outfits that plow contributions into the campaigns of those who control the purse.
It's not enough for public officials to say they don't act with favoritism. They must declare that they will not even appear to act with favoritism.
In a state like Pennsylvania, where the laws are loose and cronyism is tight; where a 30-year Senate veteran was just convicted on 137 counts of corruption; where the chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was fired last week by the governor on allegations that he took $150,000 from the state for a ghost job; and where a grand jury last summer indicted 12 state officials and employees in a bonus pay scandal -- it's easy to see how appearances cause the public to lose faith in government.
If elected officials truly want to restore integrity in the process and confidence in their own virtue, they need to do reform right, not reform lite.
Mar 29 2009
PITTSBURGH'S TRUE colors as a sports town were on display last week at the NCAA and NIT tournaments, but some of the best action came away from the fields of play. The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to the top of the National Football League with wins in two of the last four Super Bowls, and now a Hall of Famer from the 1970s championship roster is rejoining the team, so to speak. John Stallworth, 56, who played at wide receiver with the team for 14 years, will be a part owner. The NFL last week approved his stake, along with Bruce V. Rauner, chairman of GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, and the Varischetti family of Brockway, Jefferson County. Six partners have been OK'd in a realignment of Steelers ownership under Dan and Art Rooney II, good moves that should keep the team on a solid foundation well into the future.
BUILDING FOR the future of the Pittsburgh Penguins is well beyond the foundation at this point, with girders in place as the Consol Energy Center takes shape in the lower Hill District. Players Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy, Max Talbot and Jordan Staal stepped off the ice to thank construction crews with a free pizza lunch, autographs of their hard hats and a group photo. The Penguins, who may have the best PR operation in Pittsburgh sports, keep showing they're serious about being part of the Pittsburgh community.
BRADENTON, the Florida home of the pre-season Pirates, was the scene of a sad incident Tuesday involving the wife of one of the team's prospects, Jose Tabata, 20. Amalia Tabata Pereira, 43, was charged with false imprisonment and interfering with child custody. Mr. Tabata, who later said his wife had been pretending to be pregnant, was not implicated and cooperated fully. Police said Ms. Pereira had approached a farm worker at a health clinic, told her she was an immigration official and said the woman and her husband would be deported unless they handed over their 2-month-old baby. After police had issued an Amber Alert, Ms. Pereira, who has used numerous aliases and has a criminal record, surrendered the child, who was not harmed. The incident was a momentary distraction from the Pirates' hopeful spring, including a 14-10 record through Friday afternoon. Opening day, in St. Louis, is only eight days away. Color us happy about that.
Mar 28 2009
There's no more denying it: Pennsylvania is polluted by corruption.
The latest case involves the new charges against former House Democratic Whip Mike Veon, who was already facing allegations from the bonus pay scandal being investigated by a state grand jury. The counts leveled Wednesday by state Attorney General Tom Corbett involve theft, conspiracy and other offenses stemming from Mr. Veon's alleged abuse of millions of dollars in state economic grants to the Beaver Initiative for Growth, which the former legislator created.
A grand jury said Mr. Veon and a district aide used BIG as a cash reserve to pay bills for political work. Of $4.7 million in state grants spent by the community development agency in 2004-06, the grand jury said 77 percent went to salaries, administrative costs or consultant contracts. One recipient was former state Rep. Terry Van Horne, who got $5,000 for political work billed to the Veon campaign and testified in the case under a grant of immunity. Mr. Veon and the former aide have maintained their innocence.
The BIG allegations broke two days after Gov. Ed Rendell fired Mitchell Rubin, the chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Mr. Rubin is the target of an FBI investigation that grew out of the Vince Fumo case, in which the 30-year Senate veteran was convicted a week earlier on 137 counts of corruption.
Mr. Rubin is the husband of Ruth Arnao, the Fumo co-defendant who was found guilty, and the focus of FBI attention for possibly receiving $30,000 a year in state funds for five years as a "ghost" employee. One of the counts on which Mr. Fumo was found guilty involved giving the money to Mr. Rubin, who has not been charged.
While the governor acted swiftly to remove the turnpike chairman, he should have pressured him into a leave of absence long ago. Mr. Rubin's link to the case surfaced last August when federal prosecutors filed additional fraud charges against Mr. Fumo, including the $150,000 ghost job allegation.
At the time, the Post-Gazette suggested a leave for Mr. Rubin, who made $28,500 a year as chairman of the public agency that oversees the 537-mile highway system and its $593 million in annual tolls. The turnpike commission refused to act.
Mitchell Rubin and Mike Veon are the latest in a rogues' gallery of tarnished state officials. Then there is Vince Fumo, the "Prince of Philadelphia," staring at up to 10 years in prison. And there are the 12 House officials and employees (including Mr. Veon) indicted last July in the bonus pay scandal, with possibly more to come.
There will be more to come if the state's back-scratching, nest-feathering political culture continues and lawmakers see reform only as a fleeting exercise in damage control. In that case, the turnpike should give its signs a little truth in advertising. Welcome to Pennsylvania: Corruption Ahead.
Mar 28 2009
The public may never know why F. Michael Langley was abruptly replaced this week as leader of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. Like most other business organizations, it prefers to keep things close to the vest.
On March 18, Mr. Langley gave a major presentation to key constituents of the conference about the Pittsburgh region's economic status compared to that of its peers. On March 23, he was replaced as chief executive officer without much of a statement by conference leadership.
The closest thing to an explanation came from John Surma, CEO of U.S. Steel and Allegheny Conference chairman, when he said that Dennis Yablonsky, the former state secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, would replace Mr. Langley, who will remain as a consultant until his contract, worth $398,610 in 2007, expires at year's end. Mr. Surma said Mr. Yablonsky had been under consideration by the conference since he left his state post in October and that "We didn't want Dennis to wait too long." Uh-huh.
One sure thing is Mr. Yablonsky's credentials. He comes highly qualified to lead the Allegheny Conference, given his experience as CEO of the Carnegie Group, a software solutions company; the founding CEO of the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse; leadership of the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and almost six years running DCED.
It's just the mix to keep Pittsburgh, through the Allegheny Conference, focused on business growth, economic vitality and quality of life.
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