Comet media advisory:Tune in to Money Talk 1360 AM today at 5:00 PM, when your humble Comet narrator will be discussing the Net and politics and whatever with 2PJ's David DeAngelo, Chad Hermann formerly of TWM, and moderator / referee Mark DeSantis.
However, it's unlikely most of you will be listening because you'll be at...
Barack Obama is arriving today.
Link here and everywhere.
D-Steve O'Donnell gets his one shot to close with R-Tim Murphy
Debate tonight at 7:30 PM, Jefferson Elementary, Mt. Lebanon. City Paper analysis; P-G edit board endorsement; comments by Chris Schultz. UPDATE: Mr. O'Donnell is also having a "visibility" outside at the same location from 5:00 to 7:30. UPDATE II: Hey, if somebody can point a YouTube camera in the direction of this debate, that would be great!
Costa suspended another four days, but he apologizes.
"Regarding my actions and comments last Friday, I regret having made the comments I did. It was inappropriate and I apologize. I will gladly serve the additional suspension time, and look forward to getting back to work," the statement said. (Trib, Conte & Kerlik)
See? Everything out of everyone's system.
Port Authority management declares impasse in negotiations, forces contract on union.
"It's the same old game -- pointing fingers and blaming the union," said union President Pat McMahon. "I believe what they just did is illegal." (Trib, Jim Ritchie)
What is Dan Onorato's role in facilitating a good outcome to negotiations? Is it limited to threatening to refuse to allow $183 million in state money to be released into the local economy, in order to precipitate this breaking point?
Judge quashes North Side United's appeal of North Shore land deal.
Judge James wrote in his accompanying opinion that to pursue an appeal, the groups, under law, had to show that they were personally affected by the sale of one North Shore parcel and portions of three others to Continental Real Estate Cos. (P-G, Mark Belko)
We imagine community benefits agreements per se are best sought politically, not legally. However, there were real procedural concerns at this meeting of the Stadium Authority board. How are "the public" and "the taxpayers" supposed to demonstrate standing whenever they are robbed of proscribed representation and adequate notice of public business to be transacted?
We remember board chair Debbie Lestitian, the lone dissenting vote, complained that the sale of land to Continental Real Estate at roughly a tenth of the market price amounted to a considerable public subsidy -- especially when one considers the lower property tax assessments that will come about on those parcels due to the minuscule price for which they were sold.
The words were barely out of her mouth before the Contintinal rep assured us, no, no no! This was not anything like public subsidy! This was a way to get development going and get people working already, constructing what will be a much-beloved outdoor amphitheater (with another amphitheater to arrive near the casino shortly, and similar to the one recently improved at Point State Park. More bread, less circuses please!).
It wasn't until literally several days later that Continental would announce its intention to seek actual, literal monetary subsidies from state government for the project, on top of the quasi-subsidy of free low-cost public land in Pittsburgh -- subsides that were always part of the plan, and that we should have known about.
Continental spokesperson Regina Phalange explains:
Note to self: Ethics committees, or Rules of Ethical behavior do not pertain to the Mayor and/or his staff in dealing with subordinates. Leaks from his own dictatorship, will be allowed and complaining or squawking about it when you find out via the public limelight and someone shoves a microphone in your face to comment, you are to take the moral highground, the ground in which the Mayor and his team do not have to tread.
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