the week in review
A BRIEF ROUNDUP OF THE LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK
While everyone is wondering how many more weeks (or months) of COVID-19 precautions we’re going to have to endure, the good folks in Punxsutawney — about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Jefferson County — will spend Tuesday morning checking with a groundhog to find out how many more weeks of winter lie ahead.
This year, staff writer Marianne Mizera reported, Punxsutawney Phil’s emergence from his burrow on Gobbler’s Knob will — like just about everything else these days — be livestreamed. Organizers decided back in November not to allow any guests to attend the event because of the pandemic.
Tuesday’s livestream will start at 6:30 a.m. and Phil usually emerges at sunrise — around 7:30 a.m. — to make his long-awaited prediction. The annual tradition, which dates to 1887, has its origin in a German legend that says if the marmot casts a shadow on Feb. 2, winter continues for six weeks. If not, spring comes early.
COVID-19 presents a running problem
It’s not like this pandemic is testing our patience or anything, but it’s again forced the cancellations of our St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the Pittsburgh Marathon.
You might remember that the 2020 St. Patrick’s Day Parade was among the first interruptions in our happy traditions when this virus first kicked in.
Staff writer Nick Trombola reported parade organizers posted the notice regarding this year’s festivities Wednesday on Facebook. The parade, which dates to 1869, had been scheduled for March 13.
You’ve heard of Christmas in July? Well, parade Chairman J. Mac McCafferty said organizers are “looking at September” as a potential time to reschedule the event.
Marathon officials confirmed the canceling of their event Thursday.
Officials said in a statement that the city would not grant a permit for an event of the marathon’s size, which annually attracts nearly 40,000 runners and hundreds of thousands more spectators.
The city and P3R, which organizes the race, tried to come up with a safe way to hold the marathon, but it was ultimately determined that May would be too soon to host it.
Registered participants will have the option to race virtually; in doing so, they will earn a finisher’s medal, an event shirt and a running jacket for qualifying events. Participants can also choose to receive a refund of their registration fee instead.
Schools’ approach gets a poor grade
One of the symptoms of the virus is that it can cause a rise in temperature.
Staff writer Andrew Goldstein continues to monitor the rising temperature of parents angry that Pittsburgh Public Schools administrators on Wednesday postponed in-person education for children until April 6.
That means the vast majority of district students will go more than a calendar year without seeing the inside of a classroom. Students had been slated to begin returning on Feb. 8.
Board members who voted to continue with the remote instruction model cited a number of factors for their decision, including lack of clarity about preparedness to return amid the pandemic, transportation woes and a strong pushback from the teachers union that led to fears of staff shortages.
But parents said school officials should have better anticipated those problems, some of which have existed since the beginning of the school year.
“We are frustrated and losing confidence in the district’s ability to lead and support our schools and our students,” said Libby Hilf, a parent of three children in the district. “If we continue to hear the same excuses about the same problems and no progress is being made to address those issues and those problems, it makes it very difficult to have confidence in their ability to serve our students and serve the families.”
Superintendent Anthony Hamlet has insisted that the district is ready to reopen when the board decides to bring back students, saying that the school system has the necessary personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies and protocols in place.
Saving the teams will involve teamwork
Every sports team knows that you have to have a good game plan to succeed.
So it is with the State System of Higher Education, where officials say they have a plan to save the athletic teams at all six state-owned universities facing mergers, including California, Clarion and Edinboro in Western Pennsylvania.
Staff writer Bill Schackner reported the fate of those sports programs has been a sticking point as officials contemplate blending those three institutions into one, as well as combining Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities in the northeast part of the state. The system intends to merge some of the universities because of declining enrollment, sharp workforce changes and other stresses that now include a pandemic.
The sports programs, aside from engendering campus affinity, are a significant recruiting tool for a system hoping to rebound from a 22% enrollment loss since 2010. But each program costs money for operations and facilities.
“The intent with Mansfield, Bloomsburg and Lock Haven in the northeast as well as the western integration is to maintain the full complement of athletic programs at each campus,” said Ryan McNamara, a spokesman for Mansfield. “We are currently pursuing a path with the NCAA that would allow for that.”
There are so many people to thank ...
You’ve heard of B-movies. Well, apparently there’s a list of B-cities where movies are made.
Pittsburgh is on the list of B-cities, and staff writer Joshua Axelrod reported Tuesday that our city is moving up in the national rankings. We were No. 4 last year; now we’re No. 3.
MovieMaker magazine annually rates the best places to live and work for entertainment industry workers. The publication “focused on the art and craft of movies and cinematic TV” in creating two lists: one for big cities like Boston and Washington, D.C., and another for smaller cities and towns.
Pittsburgh — which has seen a boom in movie and television production over the past decade — finished ahead of places like Tulsa, Okla.; Savannah, Ga.; and Providence, R.I.
New Orleans ranked No. 1 and Santa Fe, N.M., landed at No. 2 on the smaller cities list.
“[Pittsburgh] could qualify as a big city, but always emphasizes a friendly, folksy, small-town feel that keeps visiting moviemakers from feeling homesick,” wrote MovieMaker. “The ’Burgh is a magnificent movie town, home to toptier productions from David Fincher’s ‘Mindhunter’ to Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’”
It went on to say the region drew “$100 million in direct spending in 2020” from production companies and credited Pennsylvania’s enticing tax credit of up to 25%, Carnegie Mellon University’s status as a destination for aspiring thespians, and local art house movie theaters like Row House Cinema.
“The homes, meanwhile, are affordable and often stunning, and you’ll be surrounded by museums, culture and sports,” the MovieMaker blurb continued. “Plus, as political commentators reminded us constantly in 2020, Western Pennsylvania is a complex, storied, unpredictable place — which should make it an endless source of inspiration.”
Pandemic is taking a toll on our roads
There is good news down the road. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation received word Wednesday that the state is eligible for $407.2 million for road and bridge projects under the second federal stimulus package, which was approved in December.
Staff writer Ed Blazina reported that as a result, the department has dropped the emergency request it made to the state Legislature late last year to borrow as much as $600 million to continue ongoing projects. The agency also is allowing some projects that have been delayed for lack of funds to go out for bid.
PennDOT has lost several hundred million dollars in revenue from the state gasoline tax as a result of reduced driving during the pandemic, which began in March. After shifting funds for nearly eight months to cover the shortfall, the agency ran out of options in November and told the state Senate it would have to shut down all road and bridge projects across the state because it was out of money unless it could borrow.
The six projects in this area are: Nike Site Road Bridge rehabilitation in Collier, Mayview Road Bridge replacement in South Fayette, ramp work on Route 366 at the Tarentum Bridge and a sewer project on Ravine Street in Sharpsburg, each estimated at $2.5 million to $5 million; repaving Route 19/Washington Road in Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park, at $5 million to $7.5 million; and installing a bike and pedestrian trail on Spring Hill Road in Harrison, at $500,000 to $1 million.
We’ve been waiting with bated breath
It’s been a long time coming, but Allegheny County finally is meeting all federal air quality standards, according to preliminary monitoring measurements reported by the county Health Department on Tuesday.
The announcement marks a historic milestone in the county’s longstanding pollution control efforts: It means the region — for the first time since we started monitoring this stuff in 1999 — is in attainment of limits for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, ozone, and both fine and coarse airborne particles — or soot — at all eight of its monitors.
“This achievement comes after years of hard work by the Health Department, federal and state agencies and local industry to clean up the air in Allegheny County,” said Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen. “But we have more work to do, and the Health Department is committed to ensuring everyone in Allegheny County has clean air to breathe.”
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said he was gratified to see that the county’s enforcement efforts and those of state and federal partner agencies had paid off in better air quality.
“We still have much work to do,” he said. “By continuing to work together, we can ensure that we continue to improve our air and quality of life.”
The view is nice, but the outlook ...
You say you’d like to book a room at the former Hilton Hotel, a Downtown landmark now known as the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh?
Why not get all 700-plus of them?
Staff writer Mark Belko reported Kiran C. Patel, the Tampa cardiologist who purchased the hotel 10 years ago, is considering putting the signature structure at the doorstep of Point State Park up for sale.
With hotel occupancy at 20% or less during the pandemic and losses “piling up,” Dr. Patel said he is entertaining all possibilities.
“In these challenging times, any and all options will be explored,” he said. “If it makes sense and it’s the right partner, we may exit or we may take on a new partner. We don’t know what will happen.”
Dr. Patel, a well-known philanthropist, acknowledged that the hotel received a federal Payroll Protection Program loan, but he did not say how much. In August, he said that his 10 hotel companies got about $19 million in loans.
While the aid helped, “in the grand scheme, it is nothing,” he said last week, adding that the loan covered about 2½ months of payroll expenses.
When “you have 10 months of sub-20% occupancy, it doesn’t matter what they do,” he said. “Government cannot solve all of your problems. That is why we will explore all options.”
Pens GM Rutherford on the breakaway
One of the more surprising stories last week was the sudden resignation of Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford on Wednesday.
Staff writer Mike DeFabo and sports columnist Joe Starkey jumped on this story like goalie Tristan Jarry going after a rebound.
Mr. Rutherford, 71, the architect behind two recent Stanley Cup runs and a 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, cited personal reasons for the unexpected decision and declined to elaborate further. He did say his health is fine and had no influence on the decision.
Assistant GM Patrik Allvin has been promoted to interim general manager. He will be one of the candidates considered as the team begins its search for a new permanent GM.
Mr. Rutherford will remain on contract with the Penguins through June. As a term of that deal, he is prevented from accepting work with another club. So for now, he plans to relax before making any decisions about his future.
You can be sure the PostGazette staff will be providing updates at post-gazette.com.