Rising interest in low-interest loans the week in review
A BRIEF ROUNDUP OF THE LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK
This year has proved to be quite a learning experience for all of us. And it looks like the learning for students of Pittsburgh Public Schools will continue to be conducted in their homes.
Staff writer Andrew Goldstein reported that Pittsburgh Public Schools board members Friday voted unanimously to hold the first nine weeks of classes virtually.
The district had penciled in a plan for students to take classes in school buildings twice a week and online the other three days, but concerns about the rising number of COVID-19 cases across southwestern Pennsylvania changed their minds.
Board member Kevin Carter, who introduced the resolution to move classes online, put it to his fellow members rather bluntly.
“Are you willing to take that responsibility? Are you willing to gamble the lives of students and staffs?” he said before the vote. “Because that is what this vote means today.”
Not that the board members aren’t mindful of the quality of education the youngsters will receive in virtual classes. Student access to online instruction and student engagement during remote learning were both problematic in the spring.
Administrators said the district is better prepared to provide remote learning this fall. Each student will receive a device — a laptop or iPad — that can be used for remote learning.
Pittsburgh joins school districts in other major cities that will begin online only, including Los Angeles, Houston, San Diego and Atlanta.
Remotely interested in higher education
The teaching process will carry on at universities across the state, but many of the students will likewise be off-campus. Staff writers Jade Campos and Bill Schackner followed the changing plans as they were announced last week.
California University of Pennsylvania, for example, on Friday became the seventh of the 14 State System of Higher Education schools to move to a remote format for the fall semester. Classrooms were intended to reopen Aug. 17, but university president Geraldine Jones said Cal U will be joining West Chester University, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Millersville, Lock Haven and Clarion in this virtual reality.
“In recent days, it has become apparent that even the best on-campus experience presents too great a risk to our Cal U family,” Ms. Jones said.
Classes will function in real time, with the ability for students to interact with instructors and classmates virtually. Residence halls will be closed for the semester and student activities will be held virtually.
Students at the University of Pittsburgh’s Oakland campus also are likely to begin classes remotely before moving to a hybrid model of in-person and online classes, according to university officials. The university said it will make a decision to offer in-person classes upon moving to a “guarded status.”
Pitt will use 179 beds across its campus to quarantine students if they become infected with the virus. The university has purchased spaces in Oakland hotels for additional housing to avoid crowding in the residential halls on campus.
Penn State University announced Friday a staggered move-in schedule for the fall semester, beginning with first-year students on Aug. 17. The university is set to begin classes Aug. 24 with a hybrid model of in-person and virtual classes.
The government is coming through with money that will end up helping small businesses in the region keep their workers working.
The funding, announced Friday, comes from the CARES Act passed in March and will be made available in the form of low-interest loans.
Staff writer Julian Routh reported that the leading recipient of the funding is the Regional Development Funding Corp. in Allegheny County, which will be able to dole out $7.6 million in loans to businesses. There are strings attached, of course, such as a requirement that one job must be created for every $30,000 borrowed. The minimum loan amount is $25,000 and the max is $250,000.
The Allegheny County Industrial Development Authority is getting $530,000 in loan capital, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission — which serves Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Washington and Westmoreland counties — is set to receive $1.1 million.
City adopts changes in police policies
The Pittsburgh City Code was changed last week to ban police chokeholds and other neck restraints and require officers to intervene if they see a fellow officer employing “unreasonable force.”
Staff writer Ashley Murray reported that the changes were unanimously approved by City Council on Tuesday, along with three other reform bills that passed with some dissent imposing a hiring freeze on police recruits, a prohibition on certain military equipment, and the funding of anti-violence programs.
The changes were approved after lengthy discussion.
A ban on chokeholds and other neck restraints, and a requirement for officers to intervene if they see “unreasonable force” will now be part of Pittsburgh City Code.
City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the two police reform measures sponsored by councilmen Ricky Burgess and Daniel Lavelle, along with three other reform bills that received some dissent after lengthy discussion.
“We have gotten, I believe, a cross section of comments. We have gotten to where I think everybody’s comfortable, and this, I think, is a great step forward in our city, that we’re standing up and making this vote statement that Black lives do matter in the city,” said Mr. Burgess.
Brandi Fisher, head of the Alliance for Police Accountability and a member of the mayor’s police reform task force, said the bill was “emotionally manipulative at a time when the community was asking for policing funds to be decreased.” The bill “is actually not decreasing [the police budget] in any way, shape or form” and was presented under “the guise of giving them something they’re asking for,” she said.
Mayor Bill Peduto will review the bills but intends to sign them.
Seeking tenants we can bank on
Staff writer Mark Belko found a few new wrinkles in the changing face of Market Square — and they aren’t laugh lines.
The Jos. A. Bank men’s clothing store, a longtime fixture at 230 Fifth Ave., is expected to close its doors Saturday, a victim of pandemic-related cost cutting by its parent company, Tailored Brands. Other Jos. A. Bank stores in the region also are targeted for closing, including those in the Mall at Robinson and in Monroeville.
The Ross, Cranberry and Mt. Lebanon stores are expected to remain open, according to local reps.
“Whenever you lose a retailer, I think it’s a loss for Downtown. Unfortunately, it’s due to the times we live in,” said John Valentine, executive director of the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corp.
But some of the changes were in the works before the pandemic even hit us. In January, Molinaro Ristorante and Bar, which anchored a corner spot in the square, and Wolfies Pub and Pizzuvio, both of which fronted Forbes Avenue just off the square, shut down.
Mark learned there might be a new tenant in the Bruegger’s Bagels store, which has closed for good, next door to NOLA on the Square, the funky New Orleans-style eatery that is also closed.
Nick Nicholas, the owner of the two buildings housing Bruegger’s and NOLA, said he is hoping to sign a letter of intent with Chase Bank to take the bagel store’s space early this week.
David Glickman, director of retail services for the Newmark Knight Frank real estate firm who leases two buildings for his family in Market Square, said banks are attractive to landlords because they pay good rents and are strong tenants.
Two years ago, Bank of America took a spot in a prominent corner of the square that had been occupied by the Diamond Market Bar and Grill. And the thought of another bank in the square upset Mr. Valentine.
“This is ruining Market Square,” he said. “Every time you lose outdoor seating, you’re going to lose vibrancy. Market Square is a gem. It’s sad what’s going to happen.”
Masks cover mouths, but don’t close them
Port Authority has had a ban on employees wearing or displaying political or social justice items since the 1970s.
But they never thought about face masks.
Staff writer Alexis Johnson reported Thursday that, sure enough, some employees have been messaging via mask, and someone complained.
So the agency has updated its dress code standards to include masks: “Buttons, stickers, jewelry and clothing (including masks or other face coverings) of a political or social protest nature are not permitted to be worn.”
A moment of enforcement came when Sascha Craig Sr., a senior instructor who has been working for Port Authority for 30 years, said he and other Black employees were told by supervisors last week they could no longer wear masks that read “Black Lives Matter.” Mr. Craig said he is refusing to comply.
“Black Lives Matter is not a social or a political protest. It’s a movement,” he said. “It’s how I live my life everyday as a Black man in America . ... It wasn’t an issue until someone made it a racial issue.”
Port Authority said failure to comply with the policy could result in disciplinary action.
Steve Palonis, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, which represents Allegheny County’s Port Authority bus operators, confirmed Thursday that the union was consulting with its legal team “to see whether or not it was right for Port Authority to do what they did,” but could not comment further on the matter.
Decks are stacked against builders
If you’re reading your Sunday paper on the backyard deck now, count yourself lucky. It turns out there’s a shortage of lumber and composite decking this summer, meaning a lot of homeowners who had dreams of summer lounging are looking at later in the year.
Dave Dickson, president of Quaker State Construction in Carnegie, told staff writer Kris B. Mamula that contractors specializing in patio and deck construction, which usually peaks this time of year, are in a “fight for lumber every day.”
Prices for treated lumber have escalated by 30% and more.
Dave Meyers, an owner of Paul Lumber and Supply in Bloomfield, said the reason for material shortages is simple: It’s this darn pandemic.
“You want to go out for a nice dinner, but you really can’t go to those places,” Mr. Meyers said. “We can’t go anywhere. What do you do all summer? We’ll build a deck, buy a trampoline.”
“Anything deck-related is up 50%,” said Robb Ciotti, general manager at South Side-based Allegheny Millwork and Lumber Co. “The prices are rising so quickly, some people feel like you’re price gouging.”
Preserving the future of a preservation group
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, the city’s oldest preservation organization, has a new president.
Staff writer Marylynne Pitz reported that Michael Sriprasert, 46, of Lawrenceville, will take the reins Aug. 10.
Mr. Sriprasert, who joined PHLF in 2006 and has been serving as vice president, succeeds Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., who started the organization in 1964 with the late Barbara Drew Hoffstot and James D. Van Trump. Mr. Ziegler will assume a role as president emeritus.
A native of Maryland, Mr. Sriprasert grew up near Washington, and came to Pittsburgh in 2002 to pursue a Coro Fellowship in public affairs. A graduate of Kenyon College, he earned a master’s degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from its Tepper School of Business.
The announcement of his new role praised Mr. Sripasert for leading “our efforts in lending, preservation real estate development, and advocacy in Downtown Pittsburgh, in the historic North Side, Hill District, South Side, and Hilltop neighborhoods in the city.”
Happy birthday to us
And finally, I’m not sure how closely you read the front page, but up at the top it shows that this is Issue No. 1 of Volume 94 of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It’s our 93rd birthday.
On Aug. 2, 1927, the late Paul Block merged the Pittsburgh Post and Gazette Times into the Post-Gazette. In an opening announcement, Mr. Block wrote, “It will be our ambition to have the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a newspaper of which everyone may be proud. Its policies will be independent and the newspaper will be of such high character as to ensure its welcome in every home.”
He failed to mention desk computers, laptops and smart phones.