the week in review
A BRIEF ROUNDUP OF THE LOCAL NEWS OF THE WEEK
Much of the buzz last week was about more vaccine becoming available to more people and some loosening of the COVID-19 restrictions we’ve endured for a full year now.
Staff writer Mick Stinelli reported Friday the Pittsburgh Public Schools will begin vaccinating employees this week, with teachers and staff serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade getting priority. Also moving to the head of the class will be elementaryschool bus drivers and special education and English-language services teachers.
Gov. Tom Wolf last week cleared the way for them to receive the single-dose Johnson &Johnson vaccine.
The district, which has more than 2,000 teachers, expects to return to phased-in, in-person instruction by March22.
Teachers are not required to get the inoculation, but Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said they are still expected to come to in-person instruction.
“This [vaccine] gives another layer of mitigation strategy to support us coming back to our environment in a healthyway,” he said.
Staff writer Andrew Goldstein quoted Noe Ortega, the state’s acting education secretary, saying, “After an unprecedented year of shifts and turns and tensions, this vaccine will help students and teachers across Pennsylvania return where they want and needto be. This voluntary vaccine will help increase opportunities for students to learn in person and have greater access to the services, programs and supports that help them grow.”
And staff writer Hallie Lauer followed up with Mr. Wolf signing legislation allowing the Pennsylvania National to help distribute and administer the vaccine acrossthe state.
But don’t let your guard down.
“We aren’t out of the woods yet,” county Health Director Dr. Debra Bogen said during the board of health’s monthly meeting Wednesday. “It is too soon to take your masks off.”
Fans chant, ‘Let’s go [see the] Pens!’
Staff writer Mike DeFabo was on hand as PPG Paints Arena opened its doors to 2,800 Penguins fans on Tuesday. It was the first game played before Pens fans since March8, 2020.
The Penguins rode the momentum and a pair of Kasperi Kapanen goals to a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. In the process, they technically extended their sellout streak to 610 games.
“Even though there were 2,800 tonight, it felt like there were 20,000,” Mr/ Kapanen said.“It was a great boost from them. It sure felt like things were kind of getting back to normal.”
Mike spoke with two fans in their early 20s, Samantha Zarchak and Brandon Isles work at UPMC Presbyterian, where they’ve seen firsthand the toll COVID-19 has taken on the community. Now that both are vaccinated, they said they feel better about the level of risk they’re incurring by going to a game.
“It kind of relieves that little bit of anxiety,“said Mr. Isles, a patient care technician. ”We’re still in a pandemic. We’ve still got to look out for each other.”
What’s in a name? Naming rights
The Pirates also worked their way from the sports section to the news pages, as staff writer Jason Mackey reported the team and PNC Bank announced a 10-year extension to the naming rights for the best ballpark in the world.
The previous 20-year agreement was set to expire at some point before the 2021 season, according to a release issued by the Pirates. PNC’s past sponsorship agreement saw the bank pay $30 million over two decades for the right to affix its name to the ballpark.
Financial terms for the extension were not disclosed.
“The Pittsburgh Pirates are our hometown baseball team, and as Pittsburgh’s hometown bank, we believe the opportunity to renew our agreement makes a great deal of sense,” said Lou Cestello, head of regional markets and regional president for PNC in Pittsburgh. “Our relationship with the Pirates is a natural fit, as our two organizations share a focus on providing opportunities for those in our community to succeed, especially young children and families.”
“It is an honor for us to begin the next chapter with PNC,” said Pirates President Travis Williams. “We have long been proud of the relationship between our two brands and are pleased that PNC shares our optimism in the new course we have set as an organization.”
The Pirates likewise will be welcoming back fans to PNC Park beginning with the home opener April 8. Speaking to the media in Bradenton, Fla., on Wednesday, Mr. Williams said that means 7,500 to 8,000 people will be able to enterthe ballpark.
Planting seeds for a fall show
But there’s no denying we’re not there yet, as staff writer Kevin Kirkland reminded us Monday with the news the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show — an event which has always been dear to the Post-Gazette — has been postponed until October.
The exact date has not been set for the 2021 show, which had been scheduled for April 9-18 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown.
“While we had hoped to open in some capacity this April, it is clear that more time is required to address the COVID-19 pandemic,” Executive Director John DeSantis said. “Like many, we expect that this summer will mark the gradual return to relative normal, but our first concern must always be the health and safety of our guests.”
In its 40th year, the 10-day show fills both levels of the convention center every spring with 1,900 exhibits and draws over 50,000 visitors to seethe latest products and services for inside and outside the home. Last March, the show closed two days early as COVID-19 hit the region.
Looking for a sprout of good news? Well, starting in 2022, there will be spring and fall home shows, Mr. DeSantis said.
“It may seem odd, but for decades, the most frequent ‘complaint’ about the Home & Garden Show has been that we only do it once a year. Homeowners tell us that they have projects and questions that often just can’t wait,” he said.
The Home & Garden Show also has launched a 2021 Show Buyers Guide on its website, PghHome.com. The online resource lists every exhibit by product category and includes links to exhibitors’ websites.
Disturbing data from the highways
Staff writer Ed Blazina reported Thursday the National Safety Council said traffic deaths nationwide increased about 8% last year, even though the estimated miles driven dropped 13%.
“Unprecedented — that’s all I can come up with,” said Ken Collins, the council’s manager of statistics. “Usually, when you have a recession, the miles driven are a few miles down and deaths are down quite a bit. That’s not what happened here. As far as I know, it’s never happened before.”
The grim road-death estimates for 2020 validate concerns traffic safety officials had raised since last spring, when near-empty highways as a result of COVID-19 seemed to encourage motorists to ignore speed limits and engage in other dangerous activities such as drinking, using drugs and talking on their cellphones while driving.
“We’re seeing a lot more high-speed driving.” Mr. Collins said. “We shouldn’t have to depend on traffic congestion to hold down speeding.”
Overall, the council reported 42,060 people died on the nation’s highways in 2020.That’s up 8% from 39,107 in 2019 and the highest number since 2007.
In Pennsylvania, estimated deaths rose to 1,166 from1,107, a 5% increase.
One reason for more speeding is the lack or perceived lack of enforcement by police, said Moon police Capt. Doug Ogden, who had special training to spot impaired drivers before becoming a supervisor.
Many law enforcement agencies, including Moon police, encouraged officers to reduce contact with drivers to control the spread of COVID19 at the beginning of the pandemic last March, resulting in fewer traffic stops.
Pennsylvania State Police statistics show the number of traffic citations and warnings issued by troopers dropped every month from March through the end of the year. The biggest drop was in May, when citations fell from 72,135 in 2019 to 15,228 and warnings from 27,692 to 10,401.
Capt. Ogden said he’s convinced stricter enforcement is the only way to reduce risky driving.
“I think the answer is tried and true: There’s nothing that works better than enforcement,” he said. “The answer is law enforcement and the expectation that you are going to be caught.
“If you get pulled over, you tell two other people and then maybe they are more careful, too.”
Must be something in the water
A new study of water from Pittsburgh’s three rivers, as well as other waterways across the state, has found a contaminant in every one of them.
Staff writer Don Hopey summed it up in one word. Justone word. Microplastics. According to a report released Wednesday by the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, tiny plastic bits were found in all of the more than 50 lakes, rivers and streams sampled. And they pose a potential environmentaland public health threat.
“The results of this study should set off alarms for all Pennsylvanians who love our state’s rivers and streams,” said Faran Savitz, conservation associate at PennEnvironment. “The staggering amount of microplastics we found likely means that no river, lake or stream is safe from this increasingly common contaminant.”
The ubiquitous yet almost invisible plastic particles — less than 5 millimeters across or about the size of a sesame seed — were found in the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers, Nine Mile Run in Pittsburgh’s East End and Chartiers Creek, Turtle Creek and Sewickley Creek, all in Allegheny County.
Microplastics were also found in many of the state’s most popular recreational rivers and streams, including Connoquenessing Creek in Beaver County, Spring Creek in Centre County, the Youghiogheny River in Fayette County and Lake Erie, Elk Creek and Edinboro Lake, all in Erie County, as well as the Lower Delaware and Schuylkill rivers in Philadelphia County.
Americans generate more than 35 million tons of plastic waste a year, less than 10% of which is recycled, the report states. Plastics do not biodegrade in the environment but break down into small pieces in the form of fibers, film, fragments or microbeads.
The 20-page report found microplastic fibers, shed from fabrics such as fleeces through normal wear and washing, were identified in all of the more than 300 water samples tested. Film particles from plastic bags and food wrapping were in a little more than 94% of the samples, and microplastic fragments from hard plastic containers and polystyrene were found in about87% of the samples.
State Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery County, who helped take water samples on Valley Creek, said he was “shocked” to find microplastics in the stream that flows through Valley Forge National Park.
“Even in the most pristine of settings like that park, plastic shows up,” he said. “Microplastics are affecting every corner of the state.”
Maintenance work must be maintained
Workers refurbishing One Chatham Center in Uptown walked off the job after Core Realty, a Philadelphia-based developer, fell behind in payments.
Staff writer Mark Belko reported MOC Inc., the company handling operations and maintenance, is owed about $242,000 for work dating back nearly four months.
“It just got to the point where they owed us so much money — we just had to stop the bleeding,” said Connie Stobert, MOC president and CEO.
Core President Michael Samschick did not dispute owing the company money. But he said he had never been more than 60 to 90 days late in paying MOC, and he maintained Core had been making payments consistently up until Feb. 16.
Mr. Samschick vowed to pay MOC the money it’s owed.
“We are not avoiding them. We’re not looking to not pay them,” he said.
A slight change in Strip District plans
News out of the Strip District was a bit more encouraging as the Chicago developer bringing new life to our historic produce terminal is eyeing a site at Smallman and 21st streets for townhouses, condos or offices.
Mark Belko reported McCaffery Interests probably will scrap plans for a seven-story office project at the site, said CEO Dan McCaffery.
“We think we can come up with a nicer plan, with a plan that will be more long-term rewarding, let’s call it that — not monetary rewarding, but for the community,” he said Wednesday.
Mr. McCaffery made his comments after a produce terminal ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of two new tenants — On Par Now, a locally owned golf instruction and practice facility, and City Grows, a Lawrenceville-based organic garden and gift shop.
They join a Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection store operated by the state Liquor Control Board as the first businesses to open in the Strip landmark, a former hub for produce wholesalers.
During Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting, Mr. McCaffery said his company is in Pittsburgh to stay.
“We’ve really made a fullforce commitment to this city,” he said.