Mar 30 2009
There was a shooting in Homewood early Sunday morning. It wasn't on my block or on my street; I learned of it from a police report forwarded by colleague Rich Lord (thx, Rich!).
According to the report, officers responding to a call at 3:16 a.m. Sunday found the victim, a 19-year-old man, slumped in the back seat of a car in the 7100 block of Race Street that had "multiple bullet holes in the trunk." The unidentified man was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
The police said that the owner of the car said that she was driving in the 7300 block of Hamilton Avenue when someone began shooting at her car. Officers found spent shell casings from multiple weapons at the intersection of Sterrett Street and Hamilton Avenue.
There were no suspects reported.
The north side of Hamilton Avenue in the 7300 block is part of the Sterrett-Collier complex, subject of lawsuits by the City for building code violations.
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Mar 27 2009
I came across this in my reading a couple of days ago:
__________ said __________ is getting a bad
rap and most of the crime is not within the community, but from people
coming in from __________. He feels that the good side of
__________ is not publicized enough.
Who is speaking here?
What community is being spoken of?
Where did this appear?
{howto}
Mar 26 2009
No, not one of the homes that speculators are buying and selling, possibly with credit cards, at submarket prices....A brand new house, 3BR, 2.5 baths, w/w carpeting throughout, detached garage, in a brand new development (complete with new water and sewer lines), right next to the City's newest elementary school.
There are five such homes now, two of which have been sold, in a development that is planned to grow to 30.
So, what if you could get one, for as little as $1000 down and $400 a month?
How is that possible, you ask? Through a multipart financing package involving federal, state and city initiatives. The information below will not apply to everyone - I am going to use the abbreviation QB to say that the programs and benefits involved are for "qualified buyers."
The list price on these homes is $128,000. A deferred mortgage from the URA will chop $50,000 off that price, so that a QB will make payments on only $78,000.
In addition, a QB will receive a tax credit of up to $6,000 from the federal stimulus package. They won't receive that money until tax time next year, but the Pennsylvania Finance Housing Agency is putting together a program to provide an advance at the time of purchase, to apply to the sale price. That will bring the amount that a QB needs to make payments on down to $72,000.
Finallly, a down payment assistance grant of $3,000, available from the Urban Redvelopment Authority brings the amount to be paid on down to $69,000. And at today's interest rates, anything below $70,000 is within range of $400 a month in principal and interest.
Taxes and insurance would be extra, of course. But then, the QB would also be eligible for the City's tax abatement program, allowing them to pay no City or school district taxes through 2018.
"The last person that closed put $1,000 down," said the Rev. Samuel Ware, executive director of Building United of Southwestern Pennsylvania, the non-profit developer of the project.
You've already guessed that the development is in Homewood, right? On Susquehanna Street, right next to the Helen S. Faison Arts Academy, and a short walk from the Homewood Avenue stop of the East Busway. The project is called Bradehanna, and if you'd like to attend an open house, or to find out if you might be a QB, call Kellie Seabron of BUSP at either 412 513 8173 or 412 378 1142, or Northwood Realty agent Carol Foster-Allen at 412 367 3200
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Mar 24 2009
I've just joined Twitter. I think it could come in handy as sort of an extension of this blog, especially if I learn to text more than two words per minute on my phone. You can tweet me at www.twitter.com/egreenpg
I signed up for Facebook, too. If you use Facebook, you will probably find me more quickly than I will figure how to tell you how to find me.
Whether Twitter or Facebook, feel free to drop a line, or a tweet, or write on my wall (do I have a wall yet?) with anything Homewood-related. Let's see what we can do with this stuff.
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Mar 23 2009
I got the news from my friend Gene Tibbs that his grandmother, Lottie Tibbs ("Nana") passed away this morning. She was 90, and had not been well for a long time. So, there is sadness, but not shock.
I mention Lottie Tibbs because she has family in Homewood, and because she was a longtime member of one of Homewood's churches, Bethany Baptist.
Also because two Saturdays ago, on the 14th, another long-time Bethany member, the eldest of my wife's cousins, Frances S. West, passed away at the age of 86.
And on Sunday the 1st, Mary R.P. Graham, who had been family to my family since her daughter Yolanda married my brother Alphaeus some 35 years ago, passed away. She was also 86. She had no direct connection to Homewood, but bear with me.
Death stinks.
But when the person who dies has lived long and loved much, the stink is counterbalanced by the fragrance of gratitude for the gift of their life.
And when, as was the case with all three of these women, the departed lived by faith in Jesus Christ, the stink of death is overcome by the aroma of resurrection. As it is written, "Blessed are those who die in the Lord."
I'm not asking anybody to believe anything they don't already believe. I'm just saying, if you do believe, it makes a difference. Not one of these deaths of old women was tragic.
How totally opposite from the story too frequently told in Homewood, not of old women dying with hope, but of young men dying without it.
I won't ask how that can even happen among people whose forebears kept hope under conditions much more harsh than ours. Instead, I'll ask, how can we give our young people the hope, the sense of confidence about the future, that they need and deserve?
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Mar 20 2009
Tomorrow, March 21, is a full day in Homewood. At 11 a.m., Operation Better Block will host a "Block Watch Plus" meeting at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA, with the title, "What's our political IQ?" Khari Mosley of the League of Young Voters will give a presentation on the political landscape of Allegheny County and the coming Green initiatives, and Chuck Frazier will talk about the roles of the ward chair and committee people in Homewood-Brushton. The meeting runs til 1 p.m. The H-B YM is at 7140 Bennett Street. To RSVP, call 412 731 1908.
Meanwhile, Homewood-Brushton Communitiy Ministries will have a community prayer service from noon to 1 p.m. tomorrow at Carrone Baptist Church, 7119 Frankstown Avenue. The service is part of an ongoing push by HBCM to have its member congregations pray for the neighborhood on a regular basis.
Someone who cares about both politics and prayer might have to leave the OBB meeting early to make the HBCM service. Last week, I had it happen with me twice, that attending one meeting in Homewood made me miss part of another meeting in Homewood.
Am I the only one who considers this a problem?
Anyway, moving ahead: tomorrow evening, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Kevin Amos, aka the "Funkoverlord," will host a Jazz Fan Appreciation Party at April's on the Avenue, the new venue at 7101 Frankstown Avenue. Live music by Jazz Surgery, with Tony Campbell.
(Full disclosure: the party is sponsored by Soul-Patrol.com, The Black Music Education Project and the New Pittsburgh Courier. There's competition, and there's coopetition. When the PG sponsors an event in Homewood, I expect to the New Pittsburgh Courier to announce it. Right, Denise? :) )
So...anyone who cares about politics, prayer AND jazz (and I know there are at least a few of you out there) could have a very full day within the space of a few blocks. In Homewood. Imagine that.
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Mar 18 2009
Operation Better Block community organizer Khalif Ali described Tuesday's hearing as "baffling, infuriating and sad."
"The city solicitor came ill-prepared to really move this case forward," he said.
The solicitor was Celia "CJ" Liss. I spent a good chunk of Tuesday afternoon and yesterday trying to connect with her or someone from the City who could respond. Maybe today.
Meanwhile, to continue: Mr. Ali said that the suit filed by the City against RFS Investment LLC covered only two of the "probably 105" properties owned by the company, 7501-7503 Hamilton.
When asked if there would be additional filings, Ms. Liss was "indecisive," Mr. Ali said. The end result was that Judge Cooper imposed a penalty similar to the one that had been on placed on Chaim Templar two weeks ago - $3,000 to start and $1,000 a day - but for only two properties.
"It was like nothing really happened," Mr. Ali said. "That type of representation is no representation at all."
Rev. Samuel Ware, board president of the Homewood-Brushton Community Coalition Organization, was one of five people who spoke at the hearing. In an email, he offered a more positive take on outcome:
Magistrate Cooper imposed the maximum fine allowable by law on the owners of the delinquent properties sending a signal that absentee slum landlords will not go unpunished. The Mayor has put the power of his office and the City of Pittsburgh behind the efforts of the Homewod community to rid Homewod of conditions that are unsafe and impede the efforts to revitalize Homewood. These actions will enhance the current development projects and planning that is under way to further improve the quality of life for people who live and work in Homewood.
So, why in the world would the City have filed suit for only two RFS-owned properties? While awaiting the City's answer, I will guess that it has to do with the fact that the ownership records for the remainder of the 7500 block of Hamilton are jacked up.
See for yourself: go to the Allegheny County website real estate search page and do a search for 7505 Hamilton, and you will get the message, "no records found." Do the same thing for 7507 Hamilton, and you'll get the same message. Try 7509...no luck. So far I've gotten up to 7521.
How is that even possible? I have a scary suspicion that getting a good answer to that question would be a full-time job.
Would anyone else who attended like to chime in?
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Mar 18 2009
The second hearing regarding the Sterrett-Collier complex was held yesterday afternoon. I was on deadline for another story, and missed it, but I've spoken with one person who attended and have emails out to a couple of others, so I hope to do an update this afternoon.
Meanwhile, on a much belated note, the Community Empowerment Association was featured in a March 8 piece by Jerome L. Sherman. If you haven't seen it yet, take a look.
I think Jerome did a good job. If you think so, too, let him know: jsherman@post-gazette.com - a lot of us complain about negative media coverage; it might do more good to show appreciation for positive coverage.
************
Miriam A. White, long-time proprietor of Hair Designs by Miriam and a co-owner of the National Negro Opera House, died Monday at the age of 78. The classified obituary is here; if any of you have memories to share, feel free.
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Mar 04 2009
When Rich Lord and I pulled up at about 1:50, there were only a few people in the vacant lot at the east end of the Sterrett-Collier complex. But by 2, there was a crowd of about 25 people, at least half of whom, it seemed, were media.
The Mayor spoke, followed by Councilman Ricky Burgess, and Rev. Sam Ware, board president of the Homewood Brushton Community Coalition Organization, and Aire Kyser, a senior lady who lives just doors down from some of the vacant units, and who expressed a desire that many others may share, "to see...our grandchildren and great-grandchildren coming back to Homewood."
But Councilman Burgess and others said the investment needed to make that happen would come only after Sterrett-Collier is torn down. As Rich notes in the lead to his story, demolition - not repairs, renovations, or cleanup - was the theme of the day.
How long that might take - especially given the likelihood of an appeal regarding the citations issued yesterday to Chaim Templer - or what would happen to the two blocks of vacant land created by such a demolition, remain open questions.
Richard Snipe, of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, told me that he spent much of his childhood in Homewood; that his grandmother had lived just one block over from the complex.
He also spoke about the efforts of both current and former owners to turn the properties around, and said that it takes more than work on structures to change a place like Sterrett-Collier.
"You've got to rehabilitate the people."
Good point. But the City may be better equipped to demolish structures than to rehabilitate people.
In any case, the battle has been joined. The City scored a legal win yesterday and a media win today (you may be watching the Mayor on the news as I write this). This story will not end quickly. Stay tuned.
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Mar 04 2009
The Mayor's visit to view the Sterret-Collier complex has been rescheduled to 2 p.m today, rather than 11 a.m.
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