IN THE LAST WEEK
Lots of things go up in Pittsburgh — Downtown office buildings, East End rental costs, Stanley Cup banners — but on bad days, things fall down or break apart. Last week was one in which a
chunk of granite weighing some 1,440 pounds garnered attention for falling some 250 feet from the top of the historic Frick Building Downtown. The damage occurred in the middle of a weekend night when no one was evidently lingering near the corner of Grant Street and Forbes Avenue, which bustles with pedestrians on weekdays.
That luckily meant no one was injured, but the incident led to traffic snarls from closed-off streets and lingering concern about what else might fall from the 115-year-old structure.
“There is some concern, still, about the building,” said Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich. “All it takes is just one piece falling from 250 feet to injure or kill someone.”
Seemingly shattered, but in a more metaphorical sense, was Cranberry-based Westinghouse Electric
Co.’ s hopes of leading a revival of America’s nuclear power industry. Two utilities in South Carolina abruptly canceled long-underway plans for Westinghouse to build two plants. The decision does not bode well for Westinghouse, which has already been operating in bankruptcy due to delays and cost overruns on the project.
One project unlikely to encounter much opposition is creation of a Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Honor to celebrate those who have been most important to the franchise in its long history. An inaugural class will be announced Aug. 29, an induction ceremony will take place the last weekend in November and a display will be put up in the FedEx Great Hall at Heinz Field. “This is probably long overdue,” Steelers President Art Rooney II said of what will become an annual announcement of new inductees, likely generating more barroom debates every year across Steelers Nation than there were seats in Three Rivers Stadium.
Another welcome announcement for many was the settlement of a lawsuit involving transgender students in the Pine-Richland School District. Juliet Evancho, the sister of famed singer Jackie Evancho, was one of the students who successfully sued the district to drop its policy that prevented transgender students from using the bathroom that matched their gender identity. The school district also agreed to update its nondiscrimination policy and to pay an undisclosed monetary sum to the students.
Two changes affect a broader number of Pennsylvania students: State education officials unveiled a plan to place less emphasis on standardized tests in measuring academic success, and a new policy will require public school students to provide their proof of vaccinations by the first day of school in order to be certain they can attend. Gary Rotstein: grotstein@postgazette.com or 412-263-1255.