Black-Eye Gets Infected, Gangrenous

The mayor said he was a guest of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center at the event. (Rich Lord, P-G)

The phrase, "The Perfect Storm" gets thrown around a lot these days.

For example, the Comet is still wondering who else was in that threesome.

UPDATE: On the day of the hearing, according to UPMC, the mayor golfed with George Huber, formerly the health system's senior vice president of corporate relations, and Robert Kennedy, the vice president of government relations who was city operations director before leaving for the healthcare giant in 2005.

(h/t's to Burr Reporr commenters for all of this, by the way.)

There is some debate as to whether or not accepting this gift of access to a charity golf tournament constitutes a violation of the city code.

Since the Mayor's office just went out of its way to intercede on behalf of UPMC, in order to reverse the original ruling of the City Planning Commission and thereby allow its advertisement to adorn top of the the US Steel Building, there would also seem to be a possible (and whopping) ethics violation in play.

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Luke spoke on-air with KDKA's Marty Griffin. His message focused heavily on the fact that mayors do not go to public hearings, and it was irresponsible to report that he "missed" a public hearing.

He described a media environment in which everything involving him gets blown out of proportion, because he is who he is.

When asked by Marty why some media were first told by his staff that he was in meetings, or in Harrisburg -- and if this reinforces a pattern of lying when considered together with Heinz Field, Ron Air, and Oakmont -- Ravenstahl said, "You know, I disagree, and you know, these stories are what they are."

Ravenstahl painted both the original reporter of this story, Jeremy Boren of the Trib, and his most persistent critic among the women's groups, Jeanne Clark of Sq. Hill NOW, as politically motivated allies of Bill Peduto.

Our favorite: When read a long quote by Mark DeSantis on how the decision to go to the tournament reveals a lack of judgement and immaturity, Ravenstahl responded that it's a convenient way for his opponent to score some "cheap political points" ... and then he reminded us, "He has an association with President Bush."

Finally, when asked who footed the bill for the golf outing, the Mayor at length replied that it was UPMC. If Marty Griffin broke that news, shame on Rich Lord for not hat-tipping!