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Vol. 109 No. 16

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APRIL 18-24, 2018

A TRUE ‘HOMETOWN HERO’ Hill District native Eric Howze honored as he continues to help homeless veterans

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Should Black women get breast cancer screenings at age 30?

UPMC doctor supports new assessment guidelines

by Christian Morrow

new guidelines for early breast cancer assessment that officially recognize this racial disSince breast parity—calling cancer screenfor Black women ings became to be assessed as widespread in early as age 30. the 1980s, the “We’ve known death rate for about the highwomen has er death rate in dropped 43 perBlack women for cent. But the some time—I’ve rate for Black published on women has only these disparidropped by 23 percent.

Two DR. FELICIA SNEAD ties,” said UPMC Radiation Onweeks ago, the New American College of cologist Dr. Felicia Snead.

Radiology and the Society SEE SCREENINGS A4 of Breast Imaging released Courier Staff Writer

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

As Eric Howze tells it, “The battle doesn’t start until you’re actually on the home front.”

Howze, getting the proper paperwork filled out at age 17 to enter the U.S. Army; at age 21, he was conducting military police operations in Iraq…

But though he was fortunate enough to leave war combat and return to Pittsburgh, “getting readjusted was extremely difficult.

We leave the war, but the war doesn’t always leave us,” Howze said.

That’s when he experienced extended periods of homelessness. “No vehicle, no job, no one to really take me by the hand and help me and show me that there was a better life than being homeless,” Howze said freely during an interview on KDKA-AM (1020) with morning show host Larry Richert, March 22.

Howze, the combat veteran, continued with his story, heard all over radioland. But it was no ERIC HOWZE upon returning from the war in Iraq, found himself homeless for fairy tale. It was the truth.

He found himself sleeping outside, in front of years in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Gail Manker) building after building—until one night, Howze exposed to many different resources for employment and said, an “officer was about to arrest me.” But once Howze housing.” told the officer his story—the many missions he carried It wasn’t long before Howze had a job, and “more self-deout as a valued member of the Army—the officer “escorted termination,” he said. me to the Veterans Recovery Center at the VA Hospital.”

That started a months-long journey of “re-integrating SEE HOWZE A9 into society,” Howze told listeners. “Classes, workshops,

412 Food Rescue provides much-needed service

HACP residents among food recipients

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

In less than three years, 412 Food Rescue has gone from an idea to a full-blown organization, where its model for saving perfectly wholesome food from ending up in landfills and getting it to needy residents now expands beyond Allegheny County, all the way

to the West Coast.

The keys to its rapid growth and success, said CEO and co-founder Leah Lizarondo during the April 5 release of the organization’s first Impact Report at BYN Mellon, have been its sponsors, partners, volunteers, and a chance encounter at Steel City CodeSEE FOOD A4

CONCERNS RAISED, CHANGES MADE No service reductions, no additional fares for Mon Valley PAT bus riders

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

PORT AUTHORITY CEO KATHARINE EAGAN KELLEMAN

The Port Authority of Allegheny County went back to the drawing board, and, after months of thought, recently unveiled a revised plan that many are calling “a vast improvement.”

Riders in Mon Valley communities such as McKeesport, Duquesne, Rankin and Braddock would not see their bus service schedules reduced, nor would those riders have to pay an extra transfer fare to get Downtown, under a new proposal the Port Authority is calling the “Frequency Preservation Plan.”

The new proposal was released at the Rankin

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Christian Center, April 12, before a crowd of more than 100 concerned local residents. It was the first in a series of meetings the Port Authority will be holding to hear feedback and concerns from residents.

The original proposed plan from 2017 called for a Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) which would have enabled only three buses—61D, 71B, and P3—to travel from Downtown to Oakland and vice versa as a “BRT” bus, then branch off from Oakland into its respective normal routes— Greenfield, Highland Park and Wilkinsburg, respectively. The original BRT system would have eliminated the 61A, 61B, 61C, 71A, 71C and 71D

ALIYA WILLIAMS voices her concerns during a public meeting with Port Authority officials, April 12, in Rankin. (Photos by Dayna Delgado) buses from going Downtown, meaning a rider on one of those buses would have paid an additional fare—$1 transfer via Connect Card, or $2.75 cash without a Connect Card—to go from Oakland to Down-

Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick asks

town on another bus, a BRT route (61D, 71B, or P3). It also would have meant a 45 percent reduction of service for the 61A, 61B, 61C and SEE PORT AUTHORITY A4

What motivates us to vote for a particular candidate?

Forum B7

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INTERNATIONAL

APRIL 18-24, 2018

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

This Week In Black History

‘VENEZUELA CRISIS’—In this image released by World Press Photo April 12, which won the World Press Photo of the Year and the first prize Spot News singles category, titled “Venezuela Crisis” by Ronaldo Schemidt for Agence France-Presse shows José Víctor Salazar Balza catching fire amid violent clashes with riot police during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, May 3, 2017. (Ronaldo Schemidt, AFP, World Press Photo via AP)

Photo of Venezuela unrest wins World Press Photo contest AMSTERDAM (AP)—A spine-tingling photo of a young man on fire during clashes in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas during the protest against President Nicolas Maduro has won the World Press Photo of the Year.

The photo by Agence France-Presse journalist Ronaldo Schemidt won both the overall honors and the category for Spot News Single on Thursday in Amsterdam.

Jury chair Magdalena Herrera called it “a

classical photo” that gave her “an instantaneous emotion.”

The photo shows a man who was in flames after a gas tank on his motorcycle exploded. He escaped with second-degree burns. Schemidt is a photographer for AFP based in Mexico.

In all, 4,548 photographers from 125 countries entered photos in eight categories. The top photo won a prize worth 10,000 euros ($12,300).

‘BANNED BEAUTY’—This image released by World Press Photo April 12, titled “Banned Beauty,”

by Heba Khamis, which was awarded first prize in the category Contemporary Issues stories, shows Kamini Tontines, from Bafang, western Cameroon, hiding her breasts after her mother has ironed them, Nov. 6, 2016. Breast ironing is a traditional practice in Cameroon that involves massaging or pressing the breasts of pubescent girls in order to suppress or reverse breast development.

The practice is carried out in the belief that it will delay maturity and help prevent rapes or sexual advances. (Heba Khamis, World Press Photo via AP)

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‘WARRIORS’—This image released April 12, titled “Warriors Who Once Feared Elephants Now Protect Them” by Ami Vitale for National Geographic, was awarded first prize in the Nature stories category shows a rescued baby elephant being tended at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, in northern Kenya, Sept. 29, 2016.

(Ami Vitale for National Geographic, World Press Photo via AP)

Week of April 18-24 April 18 1818—Military leader Andrew Jackson (later president) leads the defeat of a force of Indians and Blacks at the Battle of Suwanee, bringing an end to the First Seminole War. The Seminoles had been the target of a government military campaign because they possessed lands, which Whites in Florida greatly desired, and because they had provided safe haven for escaped slaves. Indeed, Blacks such as John Horse would become major Seminole leaders. It would take at least two more major military campaigns before the Seminoles and their Black allies lost possession of those lands.

1977—Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” is awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

SEMINOLES April 19 1910—The National Urban League is formed in New York City.

It was born out of a merger of the National League for the Protection of Colored Women, National League on Urban Conditions among Negroes and remnants of the Niagara Movement which had earlier help found the NAACP. Among the leading organizers were Ruth Standish Baldwin and George Edmund Haynes. The organization was founded in part to be more focused on economic issues affecting Blacks than the NAACP. Today, it is generally considered the nation’s second most powerful civil rights organization after the NAACP. 1971—Walter Fauntroy becomes the first elected Congressional ALEX HALEY representative from the predominantly Black District of Columbia since Reconstruction. However, Fauntroy did not have voting rights. Indeed, down to this day, the Congressional Representative from Washington, D.C., is still not allowed to vote on major legislation. This bar was once common among capitol cities. But today, America stands virtually alone among major nations in barring the residents of its capitol city from having a voting representative in its national legislature. Critics argue that the bar continues because the city is majority African-American.

1978—Max Robinson becomes the first African-American anchor of a major network television news program when he begins co-anchoring ABC nightly news from Chicago. The Richmond, Va., native died of AIDS in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 20, 1988.

April 20 1871—The Third Enforcement Act is enacted. The Act was WALTER FAUNTROY designed to give the president greater powers to suppress the actions of terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, as they attempted to stop Blacks from voting. In some instances, the racist groups used armed force to drive out integrated governments in several Southern cities. Under the Act, the president could declare such activities “rebellion against the government” and employ federal troops to restore order.

1899—Jazz great Edward “Duke” Ellington is born in Washington, D.C. Ellington was perhaps the greatest of the Jazz pioneers, popularizing Jazz with his performances, composing and his role as a bandleader. Ellington died in 1974.

1909—Jazz great Lionel Hampton is born in Louisville, Ky. Hampton was another of the great band leaders of the Jazz era. He was also known for his skills on the vibraphone.

He died in 2002.

1971—The United States Supreme Court rules unanimously that the busing of students from schools of predominantly one race to schools populated most by students of another race was a constitutionally accepted method for integrating the nation’s public schools.

DUKE ELLINGTON April 21 1898—An official state of war is said to exist between Spain and the U.S. over Cuba.

This Spanish American War was fought with major representation of Black soldiers from Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois and Kansas. For imperialistic reasons of its own, the U.S. aided Cuban independence from Spain. Cuba became independent in 1902. However, when the Black troops returned to America, their greetings ranged from parades and speeches in some cities to assaults and lynching in other cities.

2003—African-American song stylist Nina Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, dies in Paris. She was was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist.

Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958, when she made her debut with “Little Girl Blue,” and 1974. She was 70 years old.

April 22 NINA SIMONE 1692—The notorious “Salem Witch Trials” of Salem, Mass., claim their first Black victim. Mary Black, a slave, is accused of sorcery and jailed. The hysteria created by the trials would lead to the arrests of 141 people (mostly women) and result in 19 of them being put to death. Ironically, there is reason to believe that the witch trials were indirectly set in motion by the voodoo stories of a Black slave. It seems that a minister brought to Salem a slave from Barbados named Tituba. He fascinated the minister’s daughters with stories about witchcraft in Africa and the Caribbean. The two daughters shared the stories with other young girls in the area and soon imagination took the place of reality. The girls started acting strangely and claimed they were victims of witchcraft. Superstitious adults began pressuring them to name names and soon dozens of women were being jailed for practicing witchcraft. The trials, which were not limited to Massachusetts, but spread throughout New England, are perhaps SALEM WITCH TRIALS one of the greatest testimonies to how minds can be twisted to believe in the ridiculous and hurt others of as result of false belief.

1922—Jazz great Charles Mingus is born. The virtuoso bass player was born on a military base in Nogales, Ariz.

April 23 1856—One of the greatest inventors in American history, Granville T. Woods, is born in Columbus, Ohio. During his life he received 65 patents for electrical, mechanical and communications devices. Among his inventions was an advanced telephone transmitter. The transmitter was so advanced that the Alexander Graham Bell Company purchased the rights to it from Woods, both because it was superior to what Bell had invented and for fear that Woods might become a major rival to the Bell Company.

At his height, the Cincinnati, Ohio Catholic Tribune (Jan. 14, 1886) wrote of Woods: “…the greatest colored inventor in the history of the race and equal, if not superior, to any inventor in the country…”

1872—Charlotte E. Ray becomes the first Black female lawyer in American history. Born in New York City to a journalist father and a politically active mother, Ray was a brilliant student who was teaching at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by the time she was 19. By age 22 she had her law degree and was admitted to the D.C. bar. However, sexual and racial discrimination forced her to abandon her law practice CHARLOTTE E. RAY and return to New York to teach. She died Jan. 4, 1911.

1971—Liberian President William Tubman dies. Tubman and his strong-man rule had kept the West African nation founded by freed American slaves relatively stable but not necessarily democratic. His death laid the foundation for the anarchy and civil wars which would grip the nation for the next 30 years. Tubman also headed a class of so-called Americo-Liberians who often discriminated against the native African population.

April 24 1867—The first national meeting of the Ku Klux Klan is held at the Maxwell House in Nashville, Tenn. The White supremacist organization and its various offshoots would go on to launch a wave of terror, which would result in death and injury to thousands of African-Americans over the years. The Klan would remain the nation’s most KU KLUX KLAN powerful anti-Black terrorist organization for the next 70 years. The first chapter, however, was actually formed a year earlier in Pulaski, Tenn. Most of the early Klan members were former soldiers of the defeated Confederate Army from the Civil War. The group’s initial aim was to spread fear among Blacks and prevent them from voting. But as the organization grew, it expanded into anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic and anti-foreigner activities. The first grand wizard was Nathan Bedford Forest.

1944—The United Negro College Fund is incorporated. Over the years, the fundraising activities of the UNCF would result in thousands of college educations for African-Americans.

1944—Whites only political primaries are declared unconstitutional. In a case known as Smith v. Allwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a “Whites only” primary law, which excluded Blacks from voting, was a violation of the 15th Amendment and was thus unconstitutional. Such laws had been common throughout the South.

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

APRIL 18-24, 2018

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APRIL 18-24, 2018

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CONCERNS RAISED, CHANGES MADE Mon Valley residents hear new proposal from Port Authority; many residents in favor of it PORT AUTHORITY FROM A1

71D routes. Those “61” buses serve Braddock, Rankin, Homestead, McKeesport, and Swissvale and the residents in those communities raised concerns.

“What we heard clearly is people felt this wasn’t fair, and it didn’t meet their needs,” said Katharine Eagan Kelleman, CEO of the Port Authority. “And anything that sounds like that, why would you build that?”

Under the new plan, there would be five BRT routes, including the 61A North Braddock, 61B Braddock-Swissvale, and 61C McKeesport-Homestead buses. Those routes would not have any service affected, and riders would not have to transfer to another bus to travel Downtown, because once the 61A, 61B and 61C buses arrive into Oakland, it becomes a BRT bus and continues to Downtown.

“Much better,” Pittsburghers for Public Transit member Crystal Jennings told the Courier of the plan.

“I’m not going to say it’s perfect, but it’s definitely much better than summer of 2017.”

It was Jennings’ team that helped Mon Valley residents fill out upwards of 250 letters, which were then presented by Jennings to Kelleman at her first Port Authority board meeting a few months ago, just

two weeks after taking over as CEO. “Looking at the lines on the map didn’t tell me the story,” Kelleman told the Courier in an exclusive interview, April 12. “What told me a story were the comments, and we had 20 people coming to a board meeting on a Friday in bad weather and they had moved their day around to come and say, ‘Please don’t do this to my bus route.’ That’s a genuine response…a really strong response.”

In addition to the 61A, 61B and 61C routes as BRT buses, the 71B Highland Park and P3 East Busway-Oakland would remain BRT buses. The 71A Negley, 71C Point Breeze, 71D Hamilton and 61D Murray buses would no longer go Downtown under the new proposal.

Kelleman told the Courier that during her hiring process, the Port Authority Board wanted to assure that the next CEO would make the BRT “fair for everybody, that it doesn’t benefit one person over another. They were very focused on that,” she said.

The Bus Rapid Transit system is an attempt to make travel from Downtown to Oakland more efficient. There would be a dedicated bus lane along Forbes Avenue (outbound) and Fifth Avenue (inbound)

412 Food Rescue provides muchneeded service FOOD FROM A1

CRYSTAL JENNINGS, right, with Pittsburghers for Public Transit, calls Port Authority’s “Frequency Preservation Plan” a “much better” plan than the original Bus Rapid Transit plan from 2017, which had called on eliminating over 40 percent of service to 61A,B and C bus routes in the Mon Valley. (Photo

by Dayna Delgado) with “smart signals” designed to provide a faster, smoother movement of the five BRT buses traveling from Downtown to Oakland and vice versa. A timeline presented to community members and the media during the April 12 meeting outlined that if Port Authority is awarded federal funding for the project, construction on the BRT plan could begin in 2020, with BRT service up and running by late 2021.

The proposed “Frequency Preservation Plan” is just that at the moment—a proposal. The public will have chances to voice their concerns, suggestions and recommendations to the proposal at the Carnegie Library of Homestead (510 E. 10th Ave.), April 18, from 6-7:30 p.m., Hosanna

House, second floor (807 Wallace Avenue, Wilkinsburg), May 1, from 6-7:30 p.m., Eastminister Presbyterian Church (250 N. Highland Ave., East Liberty), May 2, from 6:30-8 p.m., Squirrel Hill Jewish Community Center (5738 Forbes Ave.), May 3, from 6:30-8 p.m., McKeesport Palisades (100 5th Ave.), May 10, from 6-7:30 p.m., and Paramount Film Exchange (544 Miltenberger St., Uptown), May 17, from 6-7:30 p.m. More meetings could be scheduled as warranted.

“We’re in listening mode right now,” Port Authority spokesman Adam Brandolph told the Courier. “All we want to do right now is listen to what communities want, synthesize what everyone’s telling us, and then come back in three or four months with, ‘Did we hear you correctly?’ If we need to make any changes, we’re happy to make those

changes in order to make communities know that the service that we’re putting on is the service they want.”

Rankin resident Pearl Hughey, who had an extended conversation with Kelleman at the first meeting, April 12, told the Courier the new proposal is a step in the right direction.

“Lessening the frequency of the buses (under the original plan) could have impacted mothers who had to get back home to pick up their children. Just because you have a 5, 10-minute BRT ride to Oakland, changing the frequency of the buses coming out here means you’ll be in Oakland longer, and if you have to get to a daycare by, say, 6 o’clock, (it would be a problem).” Hughey said the new plan, keeping the bus frequency as it is now to communities like Rankin, “is absolutely a much better plan.”

Should Black women get breast cancer screenings at age 30?

SCREENINGS FROM A1

“Folks used to think it was because they didn’t go to the doctor, and so presented at a later stage—but even controlling for that, there seems to be some genetic or biological factors.”

One of those, which the ASR/SBI noted in its announcement of the new screening guidelines, is that African American women have a higher risk of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations than those of Western European ancestry. These carriers are at much higher risk for breast cancer.

Black women also have a two-fold higher risk of developing aggressive “triple negative” tumors. The key to the new guidelines, said Dr. Snead, is risk assessment. And given the heightened risk, African American women should be assessed earlier.

“Not all women are at the same risk. These recommendations are specific to high-risk patients—women who have a known genetic mutation, or have been exposed to carcinogens, or have a family history,” she said. “There are calculations to assess patients risk—for African American women, that assessment should be made earlier, beginning at 30.”

Dr. Snead’s research, conducted with colleagues at Georgetown University, yielded results indicating there were longer lag times for African American patients, compared to non-Hispanic White women between diagnosis and treatment for chemotherapy, radiation and sur-

gery. “Because surgery is often the initial treatment modality offered to newly diagnosed women, it is imperative that care is delivered in a timely fashion, as delay may affect the potential benefits of adjuvant therapy, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, which could adversely affect outcomes,” Dr. Snead’s report read. “The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) set a predefined standard of having a diagnosis within 60 days of an abnormal screening test result and initiation of treatment within 60 days of diagnosis.”

But Dr. Snead said though her recommendations and those of the ASR/SBI are directed toward caregivers and clinicians getting assessment conversations started with patients earlier, patients need to bring it up, as well.

“It really helps when patients know their family history,” she said. “For generations, we didn’t talk about the ‘C’ word. Auntie just got sick. Well, what happened to her? People need to understand it’s not automatically gloom and doom. It can be treated if diagnosed early.”

On another front, Pitt researcher Dr. Margaret Rosenzweig is in the middle of a longitudinal study of 179 Black women and 179 White women at six sites undergoing chemotherapy to determine if “ineffective communication contributes to a racial disparity in dose reduction and early therapy termination.”

Fest that yielded the Food Rescue Hero app. The app allows the organization’s network of 4,000 volunteer rescuers to get unsaleable food from groceries, restaurants, caterers and even farms, to food banks and pantries, and to the people suffering from food insecurity.

Thanks to what Lizarondo called the “cheapest app ever made,” 412 Food Rescue was able to turn a logistical nightmare of collecting all this food and directly transferring it to where it was needed. “How do we do this? The way Uber does,” she said. “We have the largest volunteer network in any American city. The average time between a call for rescue and pick up is six minutes—and they are never more than five miles from delivery.

So, we have eliminated the (time and temperature) food safety boogie man.”

They launched it in 2016, and it worked like a charm…until it didn’t. One day they got a call for 50 cases of potatoes and said they’d take them.

“So, we took them to all the food pantries, and then they started saying no, then others said no, and I looked at my partners and said, ‘Have we cured hunger?’

No, of course, we hadn’t,” she said. “What we had done was reached the limit of our network—we had to expand.”

That led to a meeting with Michelle Sandidge of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh—they became a partner. And it’s been a win-win, she said.

“We gave them one of our ‘difficult’ senior highrises as their first test—and the residents loved it,” said Sandidge.

“Most of our residents are of the ‘microwave, fast-food’ generation, but we have our seniors—and we have a large African immigrant population in Northview Heights. We got a shipment of loose avocados and mangos—they showed our other residents how to tie them up and carry them on their bodies and heads—and how to prepare them. So, we have this new bonding between the older and younger residents and the African and Pittsburgh residents— all over healthy food.”

Giant Eagle CEO David Shapira rode with two rescuers who removed $300 and $500 worth of food at two stores that was destined for the trash and became so impressed with Lizarondo’s mission that she now rescues food from 55 of his stores—he said he hopes to expand it to all corporate stores.

All of the food rescued is bread, fruits and vegetables—perfectly wholesome, but sometimes “ugly”— scarred pears, for instance, that just don’t sell in the grocery. Lizarondo said the organization also goes directly to farms to take their excess, and also harvests fruit from city-owned trees.

“It took us 21 months to rescue 1 million pounds of food. It took another nine months to reach 2 million.

Five months after that, we reached 3 million pounds,” she said. “We throw away half of all the food we produce in this country. Food is the major component in landfills. If we could rescue a third of that, we could feed the entire 12.7 percent of the population suffering from food insecurity.”

In May, a new version of the app will be launched that will allow rescuers in other cities to use it—one of them will be San Francisco. Another will be Philadelphia—where, in one of the more fateful ironies, it will be partially underwritten by Uber.

“We are supporting the expansion in Philadelphia in cooperation with partners there,” said Uber Senior Manager Public Affairs for PA and Delaware Shari Shapiro. “Obviously, we believe in this model.”

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Young, Gifted and Black

THE 2018 YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK AWARDS ceremony was held, April 7, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Monroeville, and this year’s honorees exude leadership, success, and passion for their work. Arzella Stewart-McCauley, right, the founder of the awards ceremony, is pictured with, among others, Ronay Austin, Rev. Nathaniel Cox, Breana Blackwell, LaShawn Espy, Steven Fiadewornu, Sean Scott, Ashley Taylor, and Jordan Lee. (Photo by Courier photographer Tationna Smalley)

URA delays action on Hill District affordable housing project

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

After spending much of its April 12 meeting approving the creation of a Tax Increment Financing district to fund $24 million in redevelopment along Smallman Street in the Strip District, which was given tentative approval last month, the Urban Redevelopment Authority board moved on a number of affordable housing initiatives, and held another one until later.

The board postponed action on Ralph A. Falbo Inc.’s purchase of three former hospital buildings in the Hill District to renovate them into affordable senior housing units.

Falbo Chairman and CEO Mike Polite told the New

URA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ROBERT RUBINSTEIN Pittsburgh Courier the deal was held until next month because the authority had just instituted new community outreach procedures.

“It’s nothing major. We’ll have everything done for the May meeting. We’re creating a new company to purchase the three smaller buildings on the site and renovate them. We’re also going to completely renovate the ground floor of Milliones Manner—it was a former clinic—and convert it into an adult day center,” he said. “It will be licensed and provide onsite support services.”

According to URA Executive Director Robert Rubinstein’s report, the project would yield a total of 24 affordable units developed in the three existing buildings, 10 of those meeting federal accessibility requirements.

The projected cost is just over $6.6 million, which includes approximately $135,000 per unit in renovation costs plus upgrades to sidewalks and common areas.

The Western Restoration Center was built as a tuberculosis in 1912. Its three main hospital buildings

were converted into senior housing years ago, with two renamed for late Hill District politicians Jake Milliones and Christopher Smith. Combined, they provide 109 units of senior housing.

Polite said he has already secured a preliminary commitment from the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh for project-based Sect. 8 vouchers that will maintain the long-term affordability of the units.

In other affordable housing-related business, the board also approved nearly $24 million in debt financing to support phase II of the Northside Properties restoration being carried out by owner and developer Bob Mistick.

As the New Pittsburgh Courier reported in October 2017, the authority approved $15 million in bond funding to finance the first phase renovation of 75 houses. In all, the project calls for renovating 324 units in 239 buildings, some of which date back to between 1870 and 1910.

“The Phase II project presented today includes the historic rehabilitation of 124 units and new construction of two replacement units,” said URA Housing Director Tom Cummings.

“Renovations will include new roofs, windows, flooring, appliances and updated kitchens and bathrooms.

Most the units will be gutted and re-framed and will receive all new mechanical systems. The approximate construction cost per unit is $175,000.”

The authority also approved purchasing 38 properties in Larimer to be packaged for another Choice Neighborhoods grant application that would concentrate on redevelopment near the Larimer School.

In a related action, the board approved hiring New York-based Larisa Ortiz Associates to complete an analysis of the Larimer Avenue corridor to what kind business and first-floor retail could be supported by coming development. Her report is expected to be completed by September.

The board also approved the creation of a Micro-Enterprise Loan program for start-up businesses, designed to grant loans up to $20,000 for machinery and equipment, working capital, and leasehold improvement, including façade renovations.

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STREETS AND SUITS—In the left photo, Ayodeji Young candidly speaks to Black youth on what it really means to be a man, as Darnell “Pepsi” Farrow, in the right photo, also speaks positivity to area youth.

The annual “Streets and Suits” event was held at Urban Academy in Larimer, March 24. (Photos by Samuel Russell)

Showing Pittsburgh’s Black male youth what they can become

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

On what could have been just another ordinary Saturday in March in Pittsburgh, young African American teens decided to flip the script.

Roughly 100 teens descended on Urban Academy in Larimer for the annual “Streets and Suits” event, where the teens learned everything from how to get jobs to the proper way of becoming a man.

But for Darnell “Pepsi” Farrow with the African American Leadership As-

sociation, this event isn’t about some lecture given to students by someone they can’t identify with.

The speakers at this event, such as African Americans Ayodeji Young know what it’s like to grow up in Pittsburgh’s Black communities. They, along with other speakers like Vernard Alexander, spoke freely and without fear on what they felt the young people needed to hear.

“We have men that want to help, we have kids that need the help. We’re bridging that gap,” Farrow told the New Pittsburgh Cou-

rier during the March 24 event. “Help with jobs, mentorship, life in general.

Job opportunities and masculinity go hand-in-hand because these young boys need to understand what it is to be a man, from a man.”

Young, or “Coach Blue” as he’s known, pulled no punches during his speeches. He talked about “Toxic Masculinity,” or ways that it’s perceived one should be a man, but in reality, it’s not. Certain ways of treating women that seem to be “acceptable,” Young told the teens that it’s not accept-

Quite a story to tell

LAWRENCE J. WHITE, a Pittsburgh native who just released his new book, “The Hero In My Soul.”

Available on Amazon, the book discusses how he overcame being placed in nearly 20 foster or group homes before the age of 21. (Photos by Rob Taylor Jr.)

by Rob Taylor Jr. Courier Staff Writer

If anybody has a story to tell, it’s Lawrence J. White.

Now 21 years old, the Pittsburgh native has lived practically everywhere— Wilkinsburg, McKeesport, Hill District, Penn Hills, Lawrenceville, even Zelienople. And not necessarily by choice.

White lived in foster homes, group homes or shelters from the age of 10 to 20.

Now a student at Daytona State College in Florida, he has added “author” to his resume. He penned “The Hero In My Soul,” which is available on Amazon. A release party was held, April 13, at the Carnegie Library’s East Liberty Branch. There, a number of foster parents

family members and friends came by to celebrate the occasion, complete with refreshments, laughter, and praise for White, who told the Courier that “this is my coming of age. This is more so, ‘I overcame, I made it.’”

One of White’s foster parents, Bernadine Brewer, is credited with inspiring White to write a book initially. In the book, Brewer talks about her time with White. “Taking Larry to church, getting him up for school, washing his clothes, cooking his meals, being a counselor, being a mom, being a teacher, being a preacher, being a coach, being a cheerleader…being everything that I needed to be in order to help him get to where he needed to be.”

As a foster child, White

LAWRENCE J. WHITE, with foster parent Bernadine Brewer. White credits Brewer with giving him the inspiration to write a book.

told the Courier he was often misunderstood. But he said people didn’t realize he didn’t understand himself.

“I didn’t understand myself because I didn’t know who I was,” White said. “By being put in so many different environments at different times so quickly, it forced me to adapt, but also it allowed me to experience each parent, each family for who they truly are, and it allowed them to experience me for who I am at heart.”

able. Certain ways of handling disputes that seem to be “acceptable,” Young said there are other ways.

“Some of them don’t have that positive figure,” Farrow told the Courier. “We’re trying to change that. Some of us are from the streets, but we made a choice, a decision, and we’re trying to share that with them.”

Farrow is also the defensive coordinator at Perry Traditional Academy.

“There’s been a disconnect between us and them; sometimes we tell them what they’re supposed to do instead of listening (to Black teens). When we start listening, then we start hearing what their issues are. That’s what we’re YOUTH ATTENDEES of the “Streets and Suits” event, March 24. into.”

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A NEW TELEVISION SERIES SET IN PITTSBURGH

‘Bad Men and Wicked Women’

by Terri Schlichenmeyer For New Pittsburgh Courier

Blood is thicker than water.

That’s what they say: your relationship with family— blood—is stronger than any connection you’ll have with someone unrelated. Blood is thicker than water—except, perhaps, as in the new novel “Bad Men and Wicked Women” by Eric Jerome Dickey, when the blood shed is your own.

Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.

But that’s how much Ken Swift’s estranged daughter, Margaux, suddenly demanded of him. She claimed that it was payback for all the years he was absent. She said it was a small price to pay for abandoning her. And then, just in case he had no plans to give THE CAST AND CREW—Leticia Perez, Christina Cooper, Nina Brooks, Isaiah Jarel, Cindy Fernandez, Umar Faras, Freddy Ramsey and Brenda Hayes, part of “The Lovers Lyfe,” filmed in Pittsburgh in late February. (Photos by J.L. Martello)

‘The Lovers Lyfe’ Don’t be surprised if “The Lovers Lyfe,” a new television series set in Pittsburgh, flashes onto your TV screen in the future.

Pittsburgh native Nina Brooks, co-CEO of CEP Productions (an independent film production company), filmed the pilot episode of “The Lovers Lyfe” in Pittsburgh from Feb. 26-28. On March 2, a wrap party with the cast and crew was held at Savoy.

“The Lovers Lyfe” centers on the story of Nina, a young, single mother in Pittsburgh during the 1990s. At just the tender age of 19, Nina must act with bravery and determination when she is faced with multiple challenges at once; losing her mother to cancer, parenting on her own, and supporting herself and her young daughter. While working in a Pittsburgh night-

club, Nina meets Chris, a spirited young entrepreneur who shares Nina’s resolve for a better life.

While time and circumstance drive the two apart, a chance Facebook message—sent nearly two decades after their first encounter—ultimately brings them back together.

Inspired by the events of Brooks’ own life, her goal in creating the series is to encourage others to overcome their greatest challenges, and remind them to never give up on love.

“Like the city of Pittsburgh itself, ‘The Lovers Lyfe’ is a story of triumph,” says Brooks.

“While Nina and Chris have their challenges, they ultimately come together and grow stronger. That sense of triumph is a big part of what’s so exciting about filming in Pittsburgh, and what we look

her the cash, she uttered a name that he never wanted to hear again.

It was a name that went far into his history, one that tied him to his boss, San Bernardino, who told Swift what to do and where to be.

San Bernardino was why Swift put Margaux off: he had business to take care of on the swanky side of town. Richard Garrett owed somebody some money that he wasn’t paying, and Swift and his best friend, Joe ElPITTSBURGH NATIVE NINA BROOKS, with co-creator Christopher Perry. lis, were told to take care of the problem. forward to as we continue film director Emmai screenwriter Cambreisha But a quick visit to Garonto the next phase of Alaquiva, nationally-reMontgomery are among rett’s mansion opened a production.” nowned actress Christina the cast and crew. With an Emmy Award-winning Cooper, and celebrated emphasis on bringing Afri- world of issues that Swift can American talent to the didn’t need. Joe Ellis, an “instigator” and womscreen, “The Lovers Lyfe” an-magnet, flirted with spotlights the extraordiGarrett’s wife, which spun nary abilities of artists from both Los Angeles and Garrett into a rage. Though Garrett promised to have Pittsburgh. In addition the money to San Bernardito sharing her story and no by that night, Ken Swift expanding opportunities sensed that that wasn’t the for African American last they’d see of him. artists, Brooks also hopes It wasn’t as if Swift to strengthen Pittsburgh’s couldn’t use more money burgeoning footprint in the himself. Without that fiffilm and television industy grand, Margaux was try. threatening to take the “As a native of Pittsburgh, it is both a privilege secret name to the police.

Margaux’s mother was and honor to film ‘The back in the States from Lovers Lyfe’ amid what is Africa, and Swift realized one of the most cinematic that he was still in love skylines anywhere in the with Jimi Lee. All this world,” says Brooks. “I’m made him forget his girlexcited and blessed to film friend’s birthday, and Rahere in Pittsburgh, not chel Redman was threatonly because of the talent ening to return to her and visual splendor of our Russian lover. Swift was up city, but to help advance to his neck in women with film in Pittsburgh for all problems—a neck that was artists, African American stuck far enough out to be performers and indepenvulnerable to attack…

CHRIS MOORE AND JOYCE MEGGERSON MOORE, enjoying themselves at the Savoy event. dent film producers.”

One strong indicator of a good book is how eager you are to return it. “Bad Men and Wicked Women” surely fills that bill.

Don’t expect that feeling immediately, though. Author Eric Jerome Dickey takes his time getting to the point here; there’s plenty of fluff-dialogue in this tale that doesn’t do much but fill pages, and some that screams “TMI.” What we do need is action, and it arrives in a page-turning fury that handily douses the superfluousness that precedes it.

Its presence is like getting your back scratched.

Yes, there’s trash, flash, and violence in this book but you shouldn’t be surprised. You wouldn’t want it any other way, in fact, because “Bad Men and WickCHRISTINA COOPER, left, plays a lead role in “The Lovers Lyfe,” as ed Women” is thick with does Isaiah Jarel.

KATE WALKER, VICTORIA SNYDER, EMMAI ALAQUIVA thrills.

PEOPLE

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A True ‘Hometown Hero’

ERIC HOWZE, middle, with Leslie Howze, Allen Mendoza, Angela Howze, Christina Flewellen-Howze, and Maisha Howze. Eric received the “Hometown Hero” award from KDKA Radio, March 29.

Hill District native Eric Howze honored as he continues to help homeless veterans HOWZE FROM A1

Nowadays, he’s the engine behind Operation Homefront 22, whose mission is to provide a bridge for homeless and at-risk veterans to the resources they need which can lead to recovery and self-sufficiency. Howze told the New Pittsburgh Courier the organization’s mission is “to end military veteran homelessness and reduce veteran suicide. Our three values are to build residential stability, income/skill level, and self-determination. We do this through homeless outreach, meal preparation for homeless, distributing handwritten Thank You cards, etc.

When we engage homeless veterans, we want to offer them not only basic needs items, but connect them to organizations that specialize in their needs.”

For these efforts, Howze was recognized as one of Larry Richert’s “Hometown Heroes” at a reception at Rivers Casino, March 29. Other honorees included: Rosana Elena Guernica, a Carnegie Mellon University student who organized multiple aid missions to Puerto Rico after recent hurricanes; Stephanie Scoletti, a cancer survivor who created the Youth Adult Cancer Support group; Sharon Boone, Co-founder of Outreached Arms, a group that supports homeless and less fortunate individuals; and Samantha Finigan, Director of Outreach for the Three Rivers Rowing Association, and provides opportunities for rowing to disadvantaged and disabled individuals along with veterans. It was the sixth year for Larry’s Hometown Heroes.

“We wanted to look for people in our hometown…I’d say they’re ordinary people but they’re really extraordinary, doing extraordinary things for others without asking for anything for themselves,” Richert told the audience at the event.

Moments later, Howze stepped to the podium, greeted with the sculptured award by Richert, along with applause. Howze, who was initially nominated for the award by his sister, Maisha, reiterated his thanks for that officer, who decided, instead of possibly taking Howze to jail, to take Howze to the VA Hospital for treatment, several years ago.

“It is my call of duty to reach out to others as the officer had reached out to me,” Howze said.

With his family in the audience, he thanked them for their continued support through all of his trials and tribulations.

“Today, I am using my

misfortune in life to minister and empower others to a better world of service,” Howze said. “My fellow Americans, if you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, let us go together.”

Near the end of his speech, Howze relayed the following message: “In the Bible, Matthew 25:36 says, ‘I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to see about me.’ With that in mind,” Howze told the audience, “I encourage everyone to support Operation Homefront 22 because you have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”

ERIC HOWZE, KDKA-AM HOST LARRY RICHERT (Photos by Gail Manker)

THE HONOREES—Larry Richert’s “Hometown Heroes” honorees. Also pictured are former Steeler Merrill Hoge, right, who served as keynote speaker, and Bill Hillgrove, third from right, longtime Pitt and Steelers announcer.

LIFESTYLES New Pittsburgh Courier

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www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Debbie Norrell

Lifestyles Report Out of business It’s sad to see a store post a “going out of business” sign. That sign could mean a lot of things; bad location, poor customer service, lackluster merchandise or not enough sales to keep the doors open.

I just paid a visit to two stores during their final days. My goal was to buy clothing racks. The racks are going to be used in my new dressing room. I didn’t want racks that come in a box from a big box store; I wanted professional racks that were designed for lots of clothing. There used to be a store near Duquesne University that sold used store fixtures. As a matter of fact the listing is still on the Internet, but when you call the number it belongs to a company that bought the number but they don’t sell fixtures.

My mission was to search for stores going out of business and wait until the final days when the fixtures are put up for sale. It doesn’t hurt to spread the word to friends so they can scout out stores that you may not be aware of. That is how I found two of my racks. Sears in Ross Park Mall was going out of business and I had no idea. A good friend who lives in the north was shopping in Ross Park Mall with his family and called me to tell me to jump in my car and head to Sears for a great deal on store fixtures.

I was just finishing a fashion show, I ran home, jumped into a pair of jeans and shoes suitable for fast-walking and numerous trips from store to car. I got two sturdy racks for $30. That was a steal.

The sad part of the story is I never shopped in that Sears and really was not aware that there was one in Ross Park Mall. I guess that is why they are no longer in business at that location.

Now my eyes were on the Macy’s in the Waterfront. Not long ago they announced the store was going to close. I passed through during the early days of their closing and the markdowns were not high enough for me to part with my money.

Last week I rode by the store and saw a sign that said “last four days.” I knew I had to get there quickly; this is the time when everything is sold to the bare walls. I went back the next day and found a great rack that is suitable for my long gowns. There were also red Styrofoam Macy’s stars on sale for $1.

Keep in mind, people, those stars can be spray painted to a color of your choice.

My favorite find was a device that is used to measure your feet to see what size you wear.

I think it will look great as an art piece on the wall. This is something you rarely see anymore. I’m sorry the Macy’s and Sears are closed, but my dressing room is looking great and almost finished.

(Email Debbie at debbienorrell@aol.com.)

BLACK ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH HILLS FOR WOMEN (Photos by Dayna Delgado)

BASH celebrates Forty and Fabulous

by Debbie Norrell Lifestyles Editor

It was 1978 and 11 women got together in the South Hills of Pittsburgh and formed a group that started out as a sort of a “welcome wagon” for Black women and their families that were moving into predominately White neighborhoods south of Pittsburgh.

They wanted to make newcomers of color feel more at home when they moved south of town. The group is the Black Association of South Hills for Women and is known as BASH. The group has grown into a solid organization that has been recognized by other groups for the work that they have done in the community. BASH has presented hundreds of scholarships to worthy South Hills students, participated

DEBBIE NORRELL, CENTER, MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES, WITH BASH MEMBERS

FORMER BASH SCHOLARSHIP RECEIPIENT— Bethany Miller-Jones

TWO FOUNDING MEMBERS—Nora Greathouse and Loretta Williamson in Black History Month presentations, contributed to charitable originations and hosted one of largest annual fashion shows in the area.

On March 24, at the Doubletree by Hilton Pittsburgh Meadowlands, BASH celebrated Forty

VENDOR SHOWCASE

how honored they were to be asked to speak about their experience with BASH. Nora Greathouse and Loretta Williamson, two founding members, were honored by their BASH sisters. The highlight of the afternoon was the vendor showcase fashion show and great music

by Anita Levels and the Levels Group.

The 2018 Forty and Fabulous Committee included: Lynnelle Goins, Debra Hakeem, Joy Baker, Minister Bernice Carson, Mabel Lee, Renee Mack, Waverly Nesmith, Gloria Richardson and Michelle Torregano.

BASH husbands Bernard Mack and Gary Walton were the men behind the turntables. And that BASH 50/50 raffle that you have heard about presented nearly $900 to this year’s winner.

FORMER BASH SCHOLARSHIP RECEIPIENT— Sonja Greathouse-Simpson

and Fabulous. With yours truly as mistress of ceremonies more than 400 enjoyed a great afternoon.

Two BASH scholarship recipients, Bethany Miller-Jones and Sonja Greathouse-Simpson spoke of what the BASH scholarships meant to them and

BASH PRESIDENT—Sheila McCollum

BASH OFFICERS

VENDOR SHOWCASE

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

RELIGION

APRIL 18-24, 2018

Joseph Wilbon, the man of the ‘century’

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Praise & Worship ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR CATHOLIC CHURCH Crawford & Centre Ave. Pgh., PA 15219 412-281-3141 Mass Sunday 9:00 A.M. & 12:00 P.M. www.stbtmchurch.org

Metro-Urban Institute Conference 2018

Reimagining

Faith and Community Collaboration In the Twenty-First Century

May 11-12

www.pts.edu/MUI2018

East Liberty Presbyterian Church

5-YEAR-OLD JORDAN LEE WILBON, with Joseph Wilbon, who turned 100 years old.

Joseph Wilbon turns 100

Rev. Dr. Randy Bush, Senior Pastor 412-441-3800 116 S. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206

www.cathedralofhope.com

Journey Worship........8:45 a.m.

Sanctuary Worship...11:00 a.m.

Curious about Quakerism?

You Are Welcome at our Meetings for Worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m.

Pittsburgh Friends Meeting 4836 Ellsworth Avenue 412-683-2669

JOSEPH WILBON, front left, celebrated his 100th birthday at Christian Tabernacle Church in the Hill District, April 8. Also pictured are daughter, Charnedda Wilbon, and sons, Joseph Wilbon Jr., left, and Kevin Wilbon. (Photos by J.L. Martello)

New Destiny CME Church 114 North Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15233 412-231-7882 Rev. Kornelus Neal, pastor The Rt. Rev. Marvin Thomas Sr., presiding bishop Sunday School....................................9 A.M. Morning Worship Service............11:00 A.M.

JOSEPH WILBON

Join our growing Praise and Worship Church Community!

For rate information, call 412481-8302, ext.

128.

SHIRLEY ARMSTRONG presents to the church photos of family member Joseph Wilbon. She then shows the collage to Mr. Wilbon. It was a momentous occasion at Christian Tabernacle Church, April 8.

Church Circuit COMMISSION WOMEN’S CONFERENCE

APRIL 21-22—Commission Baptist Church will hold its Women’s Conference, April 21-22 at Allen Place, 227 Bonvue St. With the theme of “Refocus,” messages will be given by Rev. Dr. Judith Moore, Rev. Eleanor Williams, Prophetess Sharyn Condice, Rev. Sharon McIntosh and Rev. Delphine Adams at 6 p.m., April 21. On April 22, a continental breakfast will be served at 8 a.m., followed by classes at 9 a.m. and a panel discussion at 3 p.m. Cost is $25, $15 for seniors over 65. For more information or to register, 412-475-6785.

TRIEDSTONE RESURRECTION PRAISE

APRIL 22—Triedstone Baptist Church, 18 Harriet St., Rankin, presents “Resurrection Praise,” at 3:30 p.m. at the church. For more information, call 412-271-3000.

BLESSING OF THE BIKES

FROM GEORGIA TO OHIO, everyone came to celebrate Joseph Wilbon’s 100th birthday.

APRIL 28—St. Andrew’s United Presbyterian Church and Emsworth United Presbyterian Church will host their first annual lessin of the ikes, at a.m. at Emsworth, 73 Hiland Ave. The free event will consist of a brief prayer service led by Rev. Charissa Clark Howe, followed by refreshments and fellowship. The prayers will focus on joy and safety for motorcycle riders and enthusiasts for this year. For more details, call 412-766-4238, or visit www. emsworthupchurch.org.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEXT CHURCH EVENT! We want to place your event in our Church Circuit weekly calendar!

Send info to: New Pittsburgh Courier 315 E. Carson St. Pittsburgh PA 15219 Or Email us! religion@ newpittsburgh courier.com

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Earl Buford named NBA pioneer Chuck Cooper’s CEO of Partner4Work legacy continues Earl Buford, President and Chief Executive Officer of Employ Milwaukee, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Partner4Work. He will assume the role on June 4.

“With an impressive and substantial track record of innovation and success in his home state of Wisconsin, we are pleased to bring Earl Buford to Pittsburgh to continue Partner4Work’s strong momentum to drive workforce development activities, a key component of the region’s overall economic vitality,” said Mark Latterner, Partner4Work Chair and Market President Western PA at Citizens Bank in a statement. “With Earl at the helm, we will continue to build successful partnerships, innovate new ideas, pilot strategic solutions, and ensure the community and the workforce continues to thrive.”

The Partner4Work CEO Search Committee named Mr. Buford to the role following a national search that began in October 2017 when former CEO Stefani Pashman stepped down to become the chief executive officer of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliates. Longtime P4W Board member Debra L. Caplan has led the organization as Interim CEO since Ms. Pashman’s departure.

“Earl is a well-respected leader within workforce development circles and brings a wealth of knowledge, ideas, and commitment to the Pittsburgh region,” Ms. Pashman said. “I look forward to collaborating and bringing together the strengths of our respective organizations to address our region’s workforce challenges in a way that connects all to opportunity and improves economic competitiveness.”

Similar to Partner4Work in Allegheny County and Pittsburgh, Employ Milwaukee leads the public workforce system for a portion of Milwaukee County. Employ Milwaukee achieves its mission with a portfolio of programs and services for job seekers; solutions and resources for businesses; and sector strategies.

In addition, under Buford’s leadership, Employ Milwaukee led efforts to develop an unprecedented and nationally celeEARL BUFORD brated consortium of 12 workforce development boards, united to build an innovative supply-demand model to cultivate talent development and employer engagement. Called the Midwest Urban Strategies, cities including Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Detroit, Minneapolis, and St. Louis, as well as the U.S. Department of Labor, agreed to a shared mission, and will individually benefit from sharing best practices in building responsive relationships and meeting labor market demand, while acting locally in the best interest of job seekers and businesses alike.

“I applaud Earl Buford’s appointment to lead Partner4Work,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “With his considerable experience and expertise, his collaborative and entrepreneurial spirit, I am confident that Partner4work will continue to deliver strategic solutions to continue our growth and connect our workforce with the jobs of today and in the future.”

“Building on our recent successes and by tapping into the wealth of resources in the community, we’re building a bold vision for Pittsburgh that includes a city of engaged, empowered, and coordinated neighbors,” said Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto. “A strong workforce is a critical piece in bringing that vision to life, and we are pleased to bring a smart, strategic leader to the equation and move the needle on workforce issues.”

Prior to taking the lead at Employ Milwaukee in 2014, Mr. Buford was the longtime leader of WRTP/Big-Step, a SEE BUFORD B2

by Diane I. Daniels For New Pittsburgh Courier

Legacy, leadership and commitment were three words consistently used during the Chuck Cooper Foundation Awards Luncheon, held at the Lexus Club at PPG Paints Arena, April 9. The event pays tribute to former Duquesne University star, NBA pioneer and community leader Charles “Chuck” Cooper.

Honored during the 8th annual luncheon was Dr. Kathy Humphrey, Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement and Secretary of the Board of Trustees at the University of Pittsburgh, and Evan Frazier, Senior Vice President of Community Affairs at Highmark Health. Dr. Humphrey received the Chuck Cooper Foundation Leadership Award, and Frazier received the Chuck Cooper Foundation Trailblazer Award. The foundation also presented more than $40,000 in scholarships to nine graduate-level students from Pittsburgh-area colleges with each receiving at least $4,000.

“This is my favorite day of the year,” said Chuck Cooper III, founder and president of the Chuck Cooper Foundation and son of the first African American drafted into the National Basketball Association. “I get a chance to share this day with some tremendous people. We are so blessed and honored to have the community we have in Pittsburgh. What we are able to do with our foundation would not be possible without the tremendous support and commitment we receive from our corporate and community partners. I am so grateful to be able to honor my father’s legacy and to share his deep commitment and passion for education, and immensely so this year.”

Founded in 2011, the mission of the Chuck Cooper Foundation is to continue the legacy of Cooper by awarding graduate-level scholarships and providing comprehensive leadership development, professional skills and opportunities to underserved students. The goal of the non-profit organization is to propel students to success in higher education to achieve their highest potential in their careers

HEAVY WORK—Chuck Cooper Foundation Honorees, Evan Frazier and Dr. Kathy Humphrey. Frazier is Senior Vice President of Community Affairs at Highmark Health, and Dr. Humphrey is Senior Vice Chancellor for Engagement and Secretary of the Board of Trustees at the University of Pittsburgh.

(Photos by Diane I. Daniels) and, ultimately, in life.

The foundation also provides leadership development and mentoring opportunities to scholars as part of the Cooper Leadership Program with the goal to support underserved

mentoring, networking and community outreach. The phases existing at the graduate, undergraduate and high school/middle school levels create the opportunity for college students to practice leadership skills and gain a sense of accomplishment while serving as role models for students in the lower levels, inspiring them to achieve at the college level.

The nine graduate scholarship recipients were: Felicia Campbell, University of Pittsburgh; Armani Davis, Robert Morris University; Kayla Dyson, University of Pittsburgh; Darnell Grate, Point Park University; Kenya Johns, Duquesne University; Kerven Moon, University of Pittsburgh; Lorretta Sackey, Carnegie Mellon University; Johnathan Jevon White, University of Pittsburgh; and Nubia Williams, Duquesne University.

While deeply honored to accept the 2018 Chuck Cooper Foundation Leadership Award, Dr. Humphrey advised the scholarship awardees and young people in the audience that her expectations of them is success and that her greatest hope CONTINUING A LEGACY—Chuck Cooper III, founder and president is that they play a signifiof the Chuck Cooper Foundation, and his daughter, Charlise, share cant role within their own a moment during the 8th Annual Chuck Cooper Foundation Awards SEE COOPER B2 Luncheon. students as they strive to achieve their educational and professional goals on the way to reaching their highest potential.

Operated in three phases, the program includes a series of workshops, speakers,

The days of booming Black business, political cout and braggadocio—Part III Yes, the 1980’s had it going on as far as Black business growth and development.

Much of that was due to advocacy coming from our Congress in Washington DC. Led by the great Parren J. Mitchell, a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Black entrepreneurs received noticeable representation and empathy for their challenges and struggles. Allow me to pay tribute to the founding members of the CBC: Shirley Chisholm, Bill Clay, George Collins, John Conyers, Ron Dellums, Charles Diggs, Walter Fauntroy, Gus Hawkins, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren Mitchell, Robert Nix, Charles Rangel, and Louis Stokes. They were soldiers! When it came to Black business they would take Parren’s lead and “kick butt and take names”.

It was during their tenures that most rules and regulations promoting diversity in government procurement would evolve and stimulate a vast amount of Black wealth, business growth and an infrastructure in each of our urban communities. Maybe all that success caused an over estimation of Black business progress. We had a good start but there was certainly nothing to rest our “laurels” on.

During the 1980’s the annual Congressional Black Caucus Week would evolve.

Every September the CBC Foundation hosts a week- long event of meetings, social gatherings and, most of all, parties.

Eventually it would amount to an “Elec-

tric Slide Festival’.

Blacks from all over Harry C. Alford the nation come to DC for fun and cheer. In the beginning there would be very relevant workshops concerning the big issues of the day. Today, the important topics are “Where’s the party at?” Go to the DC Convention Center during the day and you will see a sparse group of people participating in the workshops. Come at night and you will find a bustling celebration that would match “Mardi Gras”.

Today, the CBC is a cheering section for the Democratic Party. The issues coming from their annual convention and throughout the whole year are not about Black business empowerment. Any aggressive legislation does not have the “footprint” of the CBC like it used to. More importantly, rules and regulations that are to the detriment of Black business gets introduced without a whimper let alone an objection from the CBC. The great Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program for the Department of Transportation was off to a fantastic start. It met disaster when Congress allowed White women into the program.

They have poached it from double digit

Beyond the Rhetoric

growth to a percentage level less than 2 percent for Black participation.

The fantastic 8a program has created more Black millionaires than all the other minority programs put together. Then in the mid-1990’s the “Alaska Native Corporation -ANC” program came into the 8a arena with more advantages favoring these ANC’s versus real minority businesses.

Today, we have blond hair, blue eyed Caucasians perpetrating themselves as Alaskan natives. Many of them are multi-billion - dollar businesses getting set-aside contracts while the volume of Black owned 8a firms are being decimated. The ANC’s have no size standards (restrictions for small business), no graduation date (like our 8a’s), and enjoy the liberty of subcontracting their work to major firms who don’t qualify to be in the program.

Then comes the big “knock out blow”.

There is no doubt that construction unions are discriminatory by nature. Their Davis-Bacon rules have racist pedigree.

Their intent is to secure most construction projects and block any diversity in the contracting and workforce arenas. Union only projects are known as Project Labor

Agreements. They are blatant “Jim Crow” in their practice. Oddly, the overwhelming number of CBC members support these Project Labor Agreements. I cannot reason this other than political contributions that construction unions donate to CBC members and old-guard civil rights organizations.

For the above reasons, we convinced President George W. Bush to ban PLA’s from sizeable federal contracts. To our shock, the first executive order from the desk of President Barack Obama was to reinstate the PLA’s. This former CBC member received over $600 million in donations from labor unions. It was a blatant sell out. As a result, Black construction participation at the federal level is disappearing and the Congressional Black Caucus turns its head.

Times have changed. Black business must keep being increasingly organized and push its agenda. A dependence on the Congressional Black Caucus may be a little naïve now. I see no Parren Mitchells, Gus Savages, Louis Stokess, etc. within the ranks of the CBC. That is not to say there won’t be anymore of that ilk. There is just a big shortage now. We need to find some good “warriors” and send them to DC. (HarryAlford is the co-founder, president/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce ®.

Website: www.nationalbcc.org Email: halford@ nationalbcc.org)

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BUSINESS

APRIL 18-24, 2018

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Earl Buford Chuck Cooper’s legacy continues named CEO BUFORD FROM B1

Milwaukee-based non-profit intermediary aimed at recruiting and building a diverse workforce in construction, manufacturing and emerging sectors, and previously planned and executed workforce development programs aimed at youth.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Mr. Buford is or has been a board member of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, the National Network of Sector Partners, the National Skills Coalition Advisory Board, and former member of Vice President Joe Biden’s task force on effective workforce strategies, and the Wisconsin Governor’s Task Force on Minority Unemployment. His published works include “Connecting People to Work: Workforce Intermediaries and Sector Strategies,” and “The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership: The Evolution of an Intermediary, the Shifting Target of Twenty-First Century Manufacturing, and the Continuing Relevance of Unions in Labor Markets.”

“I am incredibly proud to be coming to Pittsburgh, to join the region’s passionate and committed leaders and be part of Pittsburgh’s continued renaissance,” Buford said. “I look forward to answering the call to develop innovative and inclusive workforce solutions and building a stronger community for generations to come.”

BUSINESS CALENDAR PowerBreakfast

APRIL 20—The African American Chamber of Commerce presents its April PowerBreakfast meeting, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., Rivers Club, One Oxford Center, Pittsburgh, Pq. 15222.

Guest speaker Vivien Li, president and CEO of Riverlife, will discuss the organizations latest engagement and business initiatives. Cost: $20, $30 for non-members. Call 412-392-0612 for more information.

Training Workshop

2018 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS—More than $40,000 in scholarships were presented to graduate-level students from Pittsburgh-area colleges. Chuck Cooper III, right, stands with recipients. (Photo by Diane I. Daniels) COOPER FROM B1

families, community, and for some to make a difference maybe within the state, nationally and in the world.

Dr. Humphrey oversees Pitt’s internal and external relations focusing on facilitating business engagement, strategic initiatives and partnerships and government interaction.

Also honored to receive the Chuck Cooper Foundation Trailblazer Award, Frazier acknowledged Chuck Cooper III’s spirit and what he’s doing through the foundation.

“I really admire him, not only for honoring his fa-

ther’s inspiring legacy, but for investing in our community in meaningful and tangible ways. The Chuck Cooper Foundation is making important investments in our future talent and significant contributions to the overall development of our community.”

WTAE-TV news personality Andrew Stockey served as emcee of the event and other participants included; Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Chuck Cooper Foundation volunteer Robert Hinton, former Chuck Cooper Foundation Scholarship Recipient Aster Te-

clay, and two-time Chuck Cooper Foundation scholarship recipient Armani Davis.

Chuck Cooper, a Pittsburgh native, played in the NBA for six seasons with the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Hawks and Fort Wayne Pistons. He helped lead his teams to the playoffs five times, including 1956 when the Pistons advanced to the NBA Finals. During his days at Duquesne, Cooper led the Dukes to a 78-19 record and two appearances in the National Invitational Tournament in three seasons. His uniform number (15) was retired

by Duquesne in 2001 and hangs at the team’s home court, the A.J. Palumbo Center. Also, a building located on Fifth Avenue on the campus was named in his honor in 2011.

After his basketball career, Cooper went on to become Pittsburgh’s first African American department head when Mayor Pete Flaherty selected him to lead the Parks and Recreation Department in 1970. He later enjoyed a successful career as a community development officer for Pittsburgh National Bank.

Cooper passed away in 1984 at age 57.

APRIL 21—The Chatham University Women’s Business Center presents Breaking Down the Business Plan, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Chatham Eastside Entrepreneurship Hub, 6585 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15206.This one-day workshop takes a deep dive into each section of the business plan with a concentration on financial ro ections, what are they and how to create them.

Cost: $45, $30 for center members.

For more information, call Anne Flynn Schlicht at 412-365-1448.

Free Alternative Funding Seminar

APRIL 26—Urban Innovation21 and Kiva Pittsburgh will host Beyond the Bank, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., CoLab18 (Nova Place), 100 S. Commons, Pittsburgh 15212.

Hear about popular local funding options. A panel of representatives from the top alternative funding organizations in Pittsburgh will introduce their programs and take questions from 6-7:30 p.m..

Opportunities range from grants to crowdfunding to loans from community develo ment financial institutions. Networking and time for 1-on-1 questions will occur before and after the panel presentation. Light refreshments will be served. Speakers include representatives from: Allegheny County Economic Development, Bridgeway Capital, Diversity Business Resource Center, The Hebrew Free Loan Association, Honeycomb Capital, Kiva Pittsburgh, The Progress Fund, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh. The event is free.

Training Event

MAY 2—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center presents Get Behind The Numbers: Understanding Financial Statements, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15282. This hands-on workshop takes a step-by step approach to e lainin two im ortant financial statements rofit and loss statement and balance sheet. A representative from Wilke & Associates will offer clear examples for using these statements to make informed decisions, identify potential problems within your business and set realistic financial oals.

Cost: $49. For more information, call 412-396-6322.

Business Diversity & Contracting Conference

MAY 3—The University of Pittsburgh Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence will host C3: Creating Opportunities, Connecting Resources and Contracting Diversity, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Alumni Hall (former Masonic Temple), 4227 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.15260.

This daylong event will provide opportunities to network with federal, state, and local government agencies, prime contractors, universities, etc. For the full agenda or to register, visit http://entrepreneur.pitt.edu/events/c3.

Start-up Workshop

MAY 9—The Duquesne University Small Business Development Center presents First Step: Business Start-up Essentials, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 108 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15282. Topics include: Business Structure and Formation; Fictitious Name Registration; Insurance; Taxation, Government Procurement, and more. Cost $25. Call 412-3966322 for more information.

Risk Management Workshop

MAY 10—The Chatham University Women’s Business Center presents Minimizing The Risks of Liability In Your Business, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Chatham Eastside Entrepreneurship Hub, 6535 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA. 15206.

Many businesses struggle with how to sustain the business and avoid risk and legal liability. In this seminar, attorney Beth Slagle of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott will address a number of those challenging areas, including: Contracts, nsurance, ndemnification, Employee/Independent Contractor lassification, and what to do if a claim is made against your business. The event is free, but registration is required and limited to the first artici ants. To register, or for more information, call 412-365-1448.

OPINION

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

APRIL 18-24, 2018

B3

50 Years after Fair Housing Act, America still has long way to go to end segregation

Guest Commentary

The Real ‘Fake News’

by Askia Muhammad I’ll tell you about your real “Fake News” if you’ll bother to listen.

The real Fake News is all this celebrity gossip of which we can’t seem to get enough.

It all started with so-called grocery store tabloid newspapers (gossip sheets really). Then something happened on television. It was the O.J. Simpson trial, and every lawyer, the judge, news analyst, and wayward companion of Simpson became a well known celebrity/personality. One family—the Kardashians—is still trading off of O.J. fame.

Then, an outfit called TMZ started reporting celebrity gossip in the tube, only with actual footage of the stars to back up the reports. The show “went viral,” and is often the source of footage shown on the major broadcast network “news” shows.

So now, Hollywood and Broadway celebrities and champion athletes are the source of attention by most news media outlets just like elected officials. In fact, I wonder who would draw a larger crowd in Los Angeles, Rep. Maxine Waters or Taraji P. Henson.

Popular entertainers, celebrities, and athletes are not opinion leaders. They are not at all democratically chosen, and most are accountable only to their owners, the bigwigs who monopolize and manipulate all forms of the entertainment industries.

Too many of our young would rather be a no. 1 draft pick (in any sport) or an “American Idol” contestant than be a member of a town or city council, or serve on a school board.

We as a public are so celebrity-obsessed, and celebrities are so money-hungry that some trademark their own children’s names so they can market clothing and toy products in the child’s name. And all of this is dutifully reported to us via major, corporate-owned, online news outlets.

A life well-lived must be about more than simply luxury and comfort—admiration for those who have them in abundance, scorn for those who don’t.

So, here comes a president of the United States—arguably the most powerful man on earth, the leader of the free world —whose only claim to fame is his celebrity, his conspicuous display of luxury and comfort. But morally, he’s more like a slut, a person of very, very low character, but his core supporters still love and support him.

Too many members of the general public, in my opinion, view the ongoing wretched behavior of this president, the members of his Cabinet, and of course the icons of the hedonistic entertainment culture as being fit role models. That’s sad.

Now we see folks seriously talking about the possibility of Oprah Winfrey as a serious presidential candidate in 2020.

While Oprah says “no way, Jose,” folks want to encourage her to run. Meanwhile, Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), and Corey Booker (N.J.) are deluding themselves into thinking they might soon be viable presidential candidates, while GOP Sen. Tim Scott has no such fantasies in his party.

The idea seems to be, “put me in charge because I’m wealthy, good-looking, and very successful, so don’t you want to be like me?”

Meanwhile, the schools responsible for producing the next generation leaders are deteriorating from within—pretty remodeled buildings with no desire to learn inside. Administrators and teachers wind up excusing poor performance by schoolchildren, just so they can be promoted on to the next grade—a better outcome some folks reason, than pushing the delinquent students out of the schools, and into the streets as truancy cases. What to do? What to do? Charters, vouchers, money to line the pockets of the allies of the political victors.

All of the solutions proposed by politicians simply benefit a small cadre of political hacks and loyalists who swarm around the candidates, and who get the lucrative jobs, government credit cards and police-escorted motorcades.

But stories about such “whistleblowers,” as some are called, are often not believed, and suppressed. Those who come forward retaliated against with hardly any recourse.

The United States is crashing all around us. Fake news.

(Reprinted from the Washington Informer)

Founded 1910

Rod Doss Editor & Publisher Stephan A. Broadus Assistant to the Publisher Rob Taylor Jr.

Jeff Marion

Office Manager

Managing Editor

Circulation Consultant

John. H. Sengstacke

Marc H. Morial

To Be Equal was encouraged by a 2015 Supreme Court ruling that found that only impact, and not intent, was necessary to prove discrimination. But, he said, he had little faith that he current administration would aggressively enforce the law.

Indeed, just last month, the National Urban League and other civil rights groups reacted with horror to a decision by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to strike the words “inclusive” and “free from discrimination” from HUD’s mission statement.

Around the same time, news broke that the head of the department’s Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Division had ordered a hold on the fair housing investigations given the highest priority by Secretary Carson’s predecessor.

In late 2016, HUD opened an investigation into a report that Facebook allowed advertisers to exclude Black, Hispanic and Asian-American users from seeing their ads. One of Secretary Carson’s first actions upon taking office was to kill the investigation. Secretary Carson also tried to cancel a program created under President Obama that would make it easier for housing voucher recipients to move to more stable neigh-

borhoods. A federal court blocked the move.

Fair housing has been a top priority of the Urban League Movement since our founding more than a century ago. Among the seven objectives outlined in the founding documents of the Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negros—later renamed the National Urban League—was a focus on housing conditions, employment opportunities and business development.

Urban League programs have helped millions of Americans to prepare for and buy a home, prevent mortgage default and foreclosure, achieve financial literacy and manage credit, and learn how to enforce their rights as tenants and borrowers.

It’s impossible to extricate economic justice and fair housing. According to a Harvard study, moving from a high-poverty neighborhood to a low-poverty neighborhood raised incomes, improved college attendance, and reduced teen-age pregnancy. Zip code can predict life expectancy better than genetic code.

That’s why the nation must prioritize fair housing. Fifty years after the passage of Fair Housing Act, it’s clear that we are not. As we said in our letter to Secretary Carson: “You have spoken of the squalid conditions of your childhood neighborhood in Boston; you have experienced first-hand the demoralizing wounds of segregation and racism, and for a time, according to your spokesman, benefitted from the safety net of housing subsidy. You must bring these experiences to bear in your responsibility to uphold the duties of your office.”

Corruption, collusion, obstruction, etc.

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—Roget’s Thesaurus defines corruption and corrupt as “spoiled, tainted, rotten, decaying, depraved, dissolute, pervert, debase, demoralize, defile, infect, putrefaction, pollution, dishonesty, bribery”—all of which are horrible words. #45 seems to be the key person who fits those descriptions.

According to Wikipedia, “Corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries—but not ours.”

We’ve heard the word collusion a lot when referring to #45. That tells us it’s “a secret agreement or cooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose.” It’s further explained that it’s usually meant to defraud and/or gain an unfair advantage over a third party or competitor.

The possibility of any of those actions sound bad enough when we’re seeing other horrible behavior on the part of the leader of the free world, America is in trouble. When we add the fact that #45 received nearly 3million votes less than his competitor, yet won and very likely did so after gaining his so called advantage while working with the help of Russia—an enemy of the United States—our system is in trouble!

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

Commentary

to the policies adopted by #45 and the Republican-controlled Congress— causing us to have to borrow about 2.7 trillion more dollars over the next decade just to cover the cost of legislation enacted since June—the most expensive of which was #45’s tax cut with his reckless fiscal policy. There’re even more costs that are too numerous to mention here.

Republicans have spent all of my life being against debt and deficits.

One wonders where they are now when possible corruption, collusion, obstruction, tax evasion and every description of bad acting are led by #45.

When will this nightmare end? We, the people, must wake up and stay woke or we’re on the road to destruction just like so many historical civilizations that never recovered.

My ancestors worked too hard to perfect this union for all. Our Native brothers and sister suffered too much and lost too much to just sit around silently and make no objection to how others are further destroying the nation that was stolen from them. Many of our Hispanic brothers and sisters still provide too much back breaking labor to build this nation to just be viciously toyed with about their status in America. Let’s join hands with our vote, our dollars and at every other opportunity to end illegal and immoral behavior against us.

Add the fact that so many of the people who worked with #45 in his campaign and after he moved into the White House have resigned, retired, been fired, been charged, indicted, convicted or coming close to it, we’ve got a big mess on our hands. #45 is our leader and a majority of the American people are embarrassed by him, are denouncing him and frankly wish he would just go away. I have seen a lot of signs saying, “We miss Obama!” That is said with good reason. The days of the Obama Administration are the good old days for many of us—and many of us would love to have the Obama team back.

Our nation is the laughing stock of the world. Nobody can trust the word of #45. He’s insulted many nations and so many Americans wish he would just ride off into the sunset and disappear. Despite his shameful bragging, the Congressional Budget Office tells us the national debt is (Dr. E. Faye Williams is national president now on track to reach unprecedented heights over the next decade-- thanks of the National Congress of Black Women.)

Israel is failing at racial politics (NNPA)—Two developments in Israel present a teachable moment in terms of the racial politics of the Israeli state. The first development was the slaughter of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border on March 30.

The second development, to be discussed in my next column, was the April 3 reneging by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on an agreement to send African migrants to Western Europe and North America rather than back to their countries of origin.

The brutal crackdown by the Israelis on the Palestinian protestors is noteworthy, not only because of the criminality of the act, but that it also captured the attention of the world.

The Palestinian protesters were embarking on a non-violent campaign to raise attention on the outstanding demand of Palestinians for their recognized right of return to their homeland.

The Israeli establishment has continuously refused to recognize the international law governing the right

Bill Fletcher Jr.

Commentary

a warning holds no legal or moral value since they were simply saying that they—the Israeli political establishment—would not recognize non-violent protests. Hiding behind allegations that the Palestinians attacked the Israeli troops, the Israeli forces responded with superior force that was out of proportion to the nature of the protests.

The Israeli establishment refuses an investigation and believes that the soldiers acted correctly, but one must ask, how is shooting civilians acceptable? The only answer is contained in the notion that the Palestinians are not to be considered humans. Since there is no justification in murdering unarmed civilians, particularly since the Israeli forces have many means at their disposal in order to respond to non-violent disruptions, the message is clear: Palestinians have no rights that the Israeli establishment is bound to respect.

of return of refugees following an armed conflict. Between 1947 and 1948, thousands of Palestinians were driven from their homes by Zionist military units during the formation of Israel. The Palestinians expected that they would be able to return home to reclaim their land after the armed conflict ceased. This has been refused. As a result, forces within the Palestinian movement chose to begin a non-violent protest leading up to May 15, the anniversary date of the founding of Israel.

The Israeli government warned that (Bill Fletcher Jr. is a talk show host, writer they would use armed force, but such and activist.)

Letters to the editor for publication

Allison Palm

Editor & Publisher Emeritus (1912-1997)

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—“The housing problem is particularly acute in the minority ghettos. Nearly twothirds of all non-White families living in the central cities today live in neighborhoods marked with substandard housing and general urban blight. Two major factors are responsible. First: Many ghetto residents simply cannot pay the rent necessary to support decent housing. In Detroit, for example, over 40 percent of the non-White occupied units in 1960 required rent of over 35 percent of the tenants’ income. Second: Discrimination prevents access to many non-slum areas, particularly the suburbs, where good housing exists. In addition, by creating a ‘back pressure’ in the racial ghettos, it makes it possible for landlords to break up apartments for denser occupancy, and keeps prices and rents of deteriorated ghetto housing higher than they would be in a truly free market.”—Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission), 1968 Former Vice President Walter Mondale, who co-sponsored the Fair Housing Act along with Edward Brooke, the first popularly elected African-American U.S. Senator, was interviewed this week on the occasion of the Act’s 50th anniversary.

“There’s been a struggle to get the Fair Housing Act recognized as real law, and enforce it at the state and local level,” he said. “I would say we haven’t done very well at it. I think it has made significant progress possible in America, but we’re not there yet.”

According to Mondale, a significant problem with enforcement of the Fair Housing Act was proving intent. He

The New Pittsburgh Courier welcomes all responsible viewpoints for publication. All letters should be typewritten and contain writer’s address and phone number for verification. All letters will be edited for clarity and length. Address all letters to: Letters to the Editor New Pittsburgh Courier 315 East Carson Street Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219 You may fax your letter to 412-481-1360, or via e-mail to letters@newpittsburghcourier.com

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APRIL 18-24, 2018

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES

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SENECA VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT – CENTRAL OFFICE SECRETARY FOR ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENTS K-12

Permanent 12-month position. Requirements i h school di loma. ust ass the district secretarial test when scheduled stron organization skills, high attention to detail required, effective communicator and stron inter ersonal skills technolo y com etency. alary , year. lease a ly on Talent Ed and submit required information to www.svsd.net/Employment. A lications acce ted until osition is filled. eneca alley is committed to diversity in the work lace. E. .E.

TECHNOLOGY AND NETWORK MANAGER United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania

United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania is seeking an individual to work with their T irector to mana e the infrastructure such as windows u dates, security monitorin , research security alerts, assist with security audits, and kee ace with chan es in o erations, olicies or rocedures as well ensurin all departments and programs are adherin to A technolo y olicies and rocedures. The Technology and Network Support manager will work out of our Pittsburgh ffice and in addition will track inventory and troubleshoot tickets with end users to ensure that the hardware and a lications meet their business needs.

T achelors’ de ree or ertifications, or related field, and four years of related e erience. tron com uter a titude with the ability to learn new programs, databases and rocedures in an ever chan in work environment. ntermediate to Advanced knowled e of databases, networks, windows network and icrosoft office roducts.

Visit our website at https://uwswpa.org/careers/ to view job descri tion and a ly for this osition. ubmissions will only be acce ted electronically.

The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, is an equal opportunity em loyer committed to worklace diversity, servin Alle heny, Butler, Westmoreland, Fayette and outhern Armstron ounties.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE DESIGNERS (MULTIPLE OPENINGS)

uolin o, nc. seeks A lication Software Designers in Pittsburgh, PA to join our team in providing users with the best new way to learn a lan ua e. uties include i brainstormin , collaboratin , and sharin designs with other designers and roduct team members to develo innovative and human-centered mocks, interfaces and a lications ii im lementin roduct desi n and workin with roduct mana ers to develo mocks and usability studies and to determine roduct tradeoffs iii analy in roduct metrics to develo short and lon term strate y iv desi nin functional interfaces for a lications and software to shape user experience v a lyin user research, feedback, user data metrics, and interaction desi n rinci les to imrove e istin desi ns and vi develo in a lication software features by investigating user needs and contributin to team roduct strate ies from a human-centered desi n ers ective. equirements aster’s de ree or forei n equivalent in uman- om uter nteraction or related field. Two years of web desi n or a lication desi n e erience in a software or education com any. E erience must include i workin as a ser E erience desi ner and ii creatin interactive rototy es. ust have knowled e throu h course work or e erience of i codin in T , or ava cri t ii rinci le, Adobe After Effects, or other timebased media or animation tool and iii ketch or Adobe llustrator. f interested, email resume to jobs@ duolingo.com and s ecify ob in the sub ect line.

SONNY BOY

PROGRAM OFFICER

POISE Foundation is seeking a ro ram fficer to administer its various grants programs and provide leadership for the Foundation’s tren thenin lack amilies Program. For more information and how to apply, visit www.poisefoundation.org.

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DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES AND ADMINISTRATION

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United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania eekin a . . irector to mana e all human resource functions and uide or ani ational culture in order to su ort the ractices of a high-performing organization.

Serves as key advisor to managers on employee relations matters includin le al and olicy comliance. ur hi hest riority is a high-performing employee team achievin our oals with inte rity and res ect for all, es ecially co-workers. ey res onsibilities recruitment, onboardin staff professional development and creatin a res ectful, diverse, ener etic work lace culture. ur staff currently consists of individuals at four locations. rofessional uman esource or enior rofessional uman esource certification desirable. A or equivalent e erience of - years in business ractices, human resources, customer service, or related sub ect matter. isit our website at htt s uwsw a. or careers to view ob descri tion and apply for this position. Submissions will only be acce ted electronically.

The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, is an equal opportunity em loyer committed to worklace diversity, servin Alle heny, Butler, Westmoreland, Fayette and outhern Armstron ounties

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taffin ervices, ittsburgh, PA) to be resp for review. ro osal s ecs drawin s to determine sco e of work reqrd contents of estimate re . disci line estimates by calc. com lete takeoff of sco e of work contact subcontractors su liers for ricin sco e of work w their assi ned disci line mntn su n estimatin historical data files estimatin software mntn files of workin docs as back u for estimate fi ures, incl. current info on rices from su liers throu h direct contact, sales brochures, rice lists. achelor’s de ree in onstruction, ivil En ineerin or related field, 5 years of progressively resp empl exp in the position offered or related or aster’s de ree in one of the same disci lines. ust know throu h academic trainin or work e . bud et re conce tual estimates rocurement of materials equi ment, incl. writin urchase chan e orders icrosoft ffice, n- creen Takeoff i q t softw.

E-mail resume cover letter to Resumes@dckww.com

SALES DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE, LATIN AMERICAN SECTOR

uolin o, nc. seeks ales evelo ment e resentative, atin American ector in ittsbur h, A to introduce the uolin o En lish Test ET to academic institutions within atin America. uties include i conductin artnershi develo ment activities, acquirin contacts, and develo in marketing and sales strategy tailored to atin American clients ii coordinating with vendors and sales operation staff as well as working with current and ros ective clients to ne otiate, close, and im lement ET and iii workin with senior management and sales operation staff to align strategies and solutions related to marketing, sales, and software implementation. Requirements aster’s de ree or foreign equivalent in International Business, Business Development, or related field. Two years of e erience in international business and sales. E erience must include i formulatin strate ies to take advantage of opportunities in atin America ii drivin the sales rocess related to education and or technical roducts services iii researchin otential markets, and im lementin sales cam ai ns by contactin new customers iv workin on financial o timi ation of ro osals, makin recommendations to generate revenue, and erformin sustainability analyses v creatin and su ervisin camai ns to rovide incentives for the referral rocess with current customers and vi utili in alesforce or similar sales software. ust have verbal and written mastery of anish and or ortu uese. f interested, email resume to jobs@ duolingo.com and s ecify ob in the sub ect line.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

UPDATE Allegheny County Department of Human Services Public Meetings/Hearings on Human Service Block Grant application

The Alle heny ounty e artment of uman ervices is re arin the uman ervices lock rant lan. There will be two ublic meetin s hearings to talk about the plan and its im lementation. ue to the closure of te. in East ittsbur h, the meetin reviously scheduled for Turtle reek has been chan ed.

The first meetin hearin is A ril , from - .m. at the uman ervices uildin , ne mithfield treet, owntown.

The second meetin hearin is now on A ril , from a.m.noon at the ather yan Arts enter, hartiers Avenue, c ees ocks.

People interested in testifying or commentin on the lan will have the opportunity to speak at the meetings. DHS makes reasonable efforts to accommodate eo le with disabilities or limited English roficiency. lease call weekdays between a.m. and .m., if you need s ecial accommodations.

To read the revious lock rant lans and the ro osed lan when it becomes available , visit www.alleghenycounty.us/ dhs/plansbudgets.aspx.

Marc Cherna Director Allegheny County Department of Human Services

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otice is hereby iven that the followin amendments are bein made to the ommunity evelo ment lock rant ro ram YEA

e aul chool for earin and tand ow etwork ro ect ove oalition

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NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION

n the ourt of ommon leas of Alle heny ounty, r hans’ ourt ivision, Estate of ottie . oods, deceased, ase umber 021802086 of otice is hereby iven that on A ril cnd , a etition was filed by icole Dowdy, to terminate the interests of the heirs and devisees of ottie . oods, deceased, in the real estate located at hurchland treet, ittsbur h, A, , and determine that fee simple title is in icole owdy. f no e ce tions to the etition are filed within days, s. owdy will seek an rder adud in that the deceased’s title is in herself.

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n the ourt of ommon leas of Alle heny ounty, r hans’ ourt ivision, Estate of Ethel oon, deceased, ase umber 021802084 of otice is hereby iven that on A ril cnd , a etition was filed by o er oon, to terminate the interests of the heirs and devisees of Ethel oon, deceased, in the real estate located at ercantile treet, c ees ort, A, , and determine that fee sim le title is in o er oon. f no e ce tions to the etition are filed within days, r. oon will seek an Order adjudging that the deceased’s title is in himself.

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Estate of ZWIGART, MARIAN ESTELLE aka ZWIGART, MARIAN E. eceased of am ton Townshi . o. of . onnie ue wi art, oventry rive, Allison ark, A , E ec. or to ichael . aldamarco, E ., te. , erry Y., ittsbur h, A .

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n the ourt of ommon leas of Alle heny ounty, r hans’ ourt ivision, Estate of eonard Eva ues, deceased, ase umber 021802082 of otice is hereby iven that on A ril cnd ,a etition was filed by amela arkovich, to terminate the interests of the heirs and devisees of eonard Eva ues, deceased, in the real estate located at reidel treet, omestead, A, , and determine that fee simple title is in Pamela arkovich. f no e ce tions to the etition are filed within days, s. arkovich will seek an rder ad ud in that the deceased’s title is in herself.

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ublic ervice

ill istrict

The ity of ittsbur h is requestin comments on its ro osed use of ommunity evelo ment lock and on the ity’s ast erformance. omments may be sent to Michael Petrucci Assistant Director for Community Development fi e o ana ement and ud et 200 Ross Street, Suite 201 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 t is requested that comments be sent in no later than Thursday, ay , .

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rant funds

CARLYNTON SCHOOL DISTRICT NOTICE OF BIDS

The arlynton chool istrict will acce t sealed bids for Athletic u lies for the school year. ecifications or bid lists may be obtained at the Business ffice, in s i hway, arne ie, A e t. . ids will be acce ted until A on ay , at the usiness ffice and will be o ened at A on ay , . ids will be ublicly o ened and read aloud after the s ecified closin time. arlynton chool istrict reserves the ri ht to re ect any and all bids, and to waive any bid irregularities as permitted under Pennsylvania law. The arlynton chool istrict rovides service on an equal opportunity basis.

Chris Juzwick Board Secretary

COURIER CLASSIFIEDS… THE ONLY WAY TO GO!

T E A T TY T E TY TT will receive sealed bids for the ali uiri la a nterior enovations ommunity Room and Hallway Renovations , A - . The estimates of construction cost ran es are General Construction estimate$491,700.00 to $721,000.00 Electrical Construction estimate-$299,400.00 to $336,400.00 The construction work is estimated to be in in Au ust of . id ocuments will be available on or about onday, A ril , and may be obtained from the Housing Authority of the ity of ittsbur h’s webpage, www.hacp.org. Bidders may register on the website and download the bid documents free of char e. Electronic versions of the id ocuments, includin bid forms, ro ect manual, and drawin s can be icked u in erson, onday throu h riday from a.m. to .m. at Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement A Pre-Bid Conference and Site Visit will be held on Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 12:00 p.m.: Caliguiri Plaza 803 E. Warrington Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15210 A site visit will be conducted thereafter. idders shall come re ared to review all as ects of the construction site necessary to re are a bid. ids will be received at HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement/Chief ontra tin fi er Until 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, 2018 at which time and lace all bids will be ublicly o ened and read aloud.

T E A T TY T E TY TT reserves the right to waive any informality in, or re ect any and all bids.

No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of si ty days subsequent to the o enin of bids without the consent of the A T TY T E TY TT .

The ontractor will be required to com ly with all a licable Equal Employment Opportunity requirements for ederally Assisted onstruction ontracts. The ontractor must ensure that employees and a licants for em loyment are not discriminated a ainst because of race, color, reli ion, se ual reference, handica or national ori in.

A has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download documentation.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH STRONGLY ENCOURAGES CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES TO RESPOND TO THE SOLICITATION. Additional information may be obtained by contactin im etrick, irector of rocurement at t .

Caster D. Binion Executive Director HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH

A conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with isabilities Act, The A uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes.

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NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

LEGAL ADVERTISING

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Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

BIDS

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR PAINTING OF OCCUPIED UNITS AND COMMON AREAS AUTHORITY WIDE (LABOR ONLY) IFB# 300-19-18

The ittsbur h arks onservancy, in partnership with the City of ittsbur h, is acce tin bids for the c inley ark hicken ill reen nfrastructure construction ro ect. ealed bids must be received by E T at the ittsbur h arks onservancy, outh rd t, uite , , where they will be ublicly o ened on the same day . or comlete nvitation to id visit www. ittsbur h arks.or mckinley-bid or call e t. . There will be an optional pre-bid conference at the ro ect site at . The bid acka e ro ect anual and rawin s will be available from Accu- o y eprographics at https://planroom. accu-copy.com/public.php.

INVITATION TO BIDDERS THE PITTSBURGH WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY ADVERTISEMENT

SEPARATE and SEALED BIDS for the following solicitation, will be received by the ffice of rocurement, ittsbur h ater and ewer Authority, enn Ave., econd loor, ittsbur h, A , until revailin Time May 3, 2018. ids must be received in the hands of and stamped in by a A rocurement fficer in sufficient time rior to the o enin in order for a bid to be considered.

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR WATER & SEWER INVENTORY SUPPLIES PWSA PROJECT NO. PWSA96 All bids must be submitted in accordance with the solicitation that can be obtained by sending an e-mail to c uratovic h o.com. There will be no charge for the solicitation, as it will be sent via e-mail. All questions relating to the solicitation itself shall be directed to Autumn arna, rocurement ana er, via e-mail to abarna@pgh2o.com, no later than April 23, 2018 at .m. o bonds are required.

The ontractor must assure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated a ainst because of their race, color, reli ion, se ual reference, se , or national ori in.

The Authority reserves the ri ht to withhold the award of the Contract for a eriod of calendar days after the o enin of the bids.

The Authority reserves the ri ht to reject any or all proposals, and to waive any informality or minor irre ularity in any bid or bids. The Authority also retains the ri ht to investi ate the qualifications of bidders prior to any award and to award contracts only to contractors who, in the sole ud ment of the ittsbur h ater and ewer Authority, are qualified and equi ed to ro erly e ecute the s ecified work.

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR FIRE ALARM SENSITIVITY TESTING IFB# 300-18-18

The ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h A hereby request ro osals from qualified irms or ndividuals ca able of rovidin the followin service s FIRE ALARM SENSITIVITY TESTING IFB# 300-18-18 The documents will be available no later than April 16, 2018 and signed, sealed bids will be accepted until 9:00 a.m. on May 4, 2018 at which time they will be Time and ate tam ed at oss treet nd loor, uite , ittsbur h, A , at which time they will be o ened and read aloud. arties or individuals interested in responding may download a copy of the olicitation from the usiness ortunities a e of www. A . or . uestions or inquiries should be directed to Mr. Kim Detrick Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116 Opt 1 A re bid meetin will be held Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Dept.

100 Ross Street 2nd. Fl. Ste. 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Wednesday, April 25, 2018 9:00 A.M. The ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h stron ly encoura es certified minority business enter rises and women business enter rises to res ond to this solicitation.

HACP’s has revised their website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFPs documentation.

Caster D. Binion Executive Director Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh A conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes.

The ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h A hereby request ro osals from qualified irms or ndividuals ca able of rovidin the followin service s PAINTING OF OCCUPIED UNITS AND COMMON AREAS AUTHORITY WIDE (LABOR ONLY) IFB# 300-19-18 The documents will be available no later than A ril , and signed, sealed bids will be accepted until 10:00 a.m. on May 4, 2018 at which time they will be Time and ate tam ed at oss treet nd loor, uite , ittsbur h, A , at which time they will be o ened and read aloud. arties or individuals interested in responding may download a copy of the olicitation from the usiness ortunities a e of www. A . or . uestions or inquiries should be directed to Mr. Kim Detrick Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116 Opt 1 A re bid meetin will be held Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Dept.

100 Ross Street 2nd. Fl. Ste. 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Wednesday, April 25, 2018 10:00 A.M. The ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h stron ly encoura es certified minority business enter rises and women business enter rises to res ond to this solicitation.

HACP’s has revised their website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFPs documentation.

Caster D. Binion Executive Director Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh A conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes.

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR INVESTMENT ADVISOR SERVICES RFP #150-14-18

The ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h A hereby request ro osals from qualified irms or ndividuals ca able of rovidin the followin service s Investment Advisor Services RFP #150-14-18 The documents will be available no later than April 16, 2018 and signed, sealed proposals will be acce ted until 11:00 A.M., May 4, 2018 at which time they will be Time and ate tam ed at oss treet, nd loor, uite , ittsbur h, A . arties or individuals interested may obtain information from Mr. Kim Detrick – Procurement Director/Chief ontra tin fi er Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 2nd Floor, Suite 200 100 Ross Street Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116, Option 1 or by visitin the usiness ortunities section of www.hacp.org A re bid meetin will be held Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 200 Ross Street, 9th Floor, Board Room Pittsburgh, PA 15219 April 25, 2018 11:00 A.M. The ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h stron ly encoura es certified minority business enter rises and women business enter rises to res ond to this solicitation.

HACP’s has revised their website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFPs documentation.

Caster D. Binion Executive Director Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh

A conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes.

COURIER CLASSIFIEDS…THE ONLY WAY TO GO!

B5

SONNY BOY

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

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Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR FINELLO PAVILION EMERGENCY GENERATOR REPLACEMENT, AMP-44 IFB #600-11-18

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR CARRICK REGENCY INTERIOR RENOVATIONS (COMMUNITY ROOM & HALLWAY RENOVATIONS), AMP-46 IFB #600-12-18

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFBs) FOR BEDFORD HOPE CENTER IMPROVEMENTS, AMP-02 IFB #600-16-18

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH will receive sealed bids for the Finello Pavilion Emergency Generator Relacement, A - . The estimates of construction cost ran es are listed below Electrical Construction estimate - $132,000.00 to $193,500.00 The construction work is estimated to be in in Au ust of . id ocuments will be available on or about onday, Aril , and may be obtained from the ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h’s web a e, www.hac .or . idders may register on the website and download the bid documents free of char e. Electronic versions of the id ocuments, includin bid forms, ro ect manual, and drawin s can be icked u in erson, onday throu h riday from a.m. to .m. at Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement A Pre-Bid Conference and Site Visit will be held on onday, A ril , at a.m.

Finello Pavilion 3206 Niagara Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213 A site visit will be conducted thereafter. idders shall come re ared to review all as ects of the construction site necessary to re are a bid.

Bids will be received at: HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement/Chief ontra tin fi er until 2:00 p.m. May 17, 2018 at which time and place all bids will be ublicly o ened and read aloud.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH reserves the right to waive any informality in, or re ect any and all bids.

No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of si ty days subsequent to the o enin of bids without the consent of the HOUSING AUTHORITY T E TY TT .

The ontractor will be required to com ly with all a licable Equal Em loyment ortunity requirements for Federally Assisted Construction ontracts. The ontractor must ensure that em loyees and applicants for employment are not discriminated a ainst because of race, color, reli ion, se ual reference, handica or national ori in.

A has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now re ister and lo -in, in order to view and download IFB/RFP documentation.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH STRONGLY ENCOURAGES CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES TO RESPOND TO THE SOLICITATION. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Kim Detrick, irector of rocurement at t .

Caster D. Binion Executive Director HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH

A conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH will receive sealed bids for the Carrick Regency Interior Renovations ommunity oom allway enovations , A - . The estimates of construction cost ran es are General Construction estimate$235,000.00 to $345,000.00 Electrical Construction estimate-$53,000.00 to $75,500.00 The construction work is estimated to be in in Au ust of . id ocuments will be available on or about onday, Aril , and may be obtained from the ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h’s webpage, www.hacp.org. idders may register on the website and download the bid documents free of char e. Electronic versions of the id ocuments, includin bid forms, ro ect manual, and drawin s can be icked u in erson, onday throu h riday from a.m. to .m. at Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement A Pre-Bid Conference and Site Visit will be held on Thursday, April 26, 2018 at a.m.

Carrick Regency High Rise 2129 Brownsville Road Pittsburgh, PA 15210 A site visit will be conducted thereafter. idders shall come re ared to review all as ects of the construction site necessary to re are a bid.

Bids will be received at: HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement/Chief ontra tin fi er Until 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 17, 2018 at which time and place all bids will be ublicly o ened and read aloud.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH reserves the right to waive any informality in, or re ect any and all bids.

No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of si ty days subsequent to the o enin of bids without the consent of the HOUSING AUTHORITY T E TY TT .

The ontractor will be required to com ly with all a licable Equal Em loyment ortunity requirements for Federally Assisted Construction ontracts. The ontractor must ensure that em loyees and applicants for employment are not discriminated a ainst because of race, color, reli ion, se ual reference, handica or national ori in.

A has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now re ister and lo -in, in order to view and download IFB/RFP documentation.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH STRONGLY ENCOURAGES CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES TO RESPOND TO THE SOLICITATION. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Kim Detrick, irector of rocurement at t .

Caster D. Binion Executive Director HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH

A conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH will receive sealed bids for the Bedford o e enter m rovements, A . The estimates of construction cost ran es are listed below General Construction estimate $285,500 to $418,000 Electrical Construction estimate - $176,500 to $258,000 Mechanical Construction estimate -$170,000 to $248,500 The construction work is estimated to be in in Au ust of . id ocuments will be available on or about onday, Aril , and may be obtained from the ousin Authority of the ity of ittsbur h’s webpage, www.hacp.org. idders may register on the website and download the bid documents free of char e. Electronic versions of the id ocuments, includin bid forms, ro ect manual, and drawin s can be icked u in erson, onday throu h riday from a.m. to .m. at Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement A Pre-Bid Conference and Site Visit will be held on onday, A ril , at .m.

Bedford Hope Center 2305 Bedford Avenue A site visit will be conducted thereafter. idders shall come prepared to review all aspects of the construction site necessary to re are a bid.

Bids will be received at: HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement/Chief ontra tin fi er until 3:00 p.m. May 17, 2018 at which time and place all bids will be ublicly o ened and read aloud.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH reserves the right to waive any informality in, or re ect any and all bids.

No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of si ty days subsequent to the o enin of bids without the consent of the HOUSING AUTHORITY T E TY TT .

The ontractor will be required to com ly with all a licable Equal Em loyment ortunity requirements for Federally Assisted Construction ontracts. The ontractor must ensure that em loyees and applicants for employment are not discriminated a ainst because of race, color, reli ion, se ual reference, handica or national ori in.

A has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now re ister and lo -in, in order to view and download IFB/RFP documentation.

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH STRONGLY ENCOURAGES CERTIFIED MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES TO RESPOND TO THE SOLICITATION. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Kim Detrick, irector of rocurement at t .

Caster D. Binion Executive Director HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH

A conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes.

To place a display ad in the New Pittsburgh Courier

COURIER CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 18-24, 2018

call 412-481-8302 ext. 128 or 129

America’s Best Weekly 315 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Classifieds 412-481-8302 Ext. 140 E-mail: ads@newpittsburghcourier.com Deadline/Closing/ Cancellation Schedule for copy, corrections, and cancellations: Friday noon preceding Wednesday publication

B6

CLASSIFIEDS

APRIL 18-24, 2018

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

INVITATION FOR BIDS

FORM OF ADVERTISEMENT PUBLICATION DATE: April 16, 2018

ALLIES & ROSS MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR Green Physical Needs Assessment & Integrated Energy Audit (GPNA) for Manchester Rebid ARMDC RFP #2018-25REBID

INVITATION FOR BIDS

Sealed bids will be received for the Evans City EDCO Park Pool Renovation Project, will be received in the office of en amin Holland, BUTLER COUNTY CONTROLLER, FLOOR 5, COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER, 124 WEST DIAMOND STREET, whose mailin address is . . , T E , A , on or before m, ay , . All ids must be lainly marked id Evans City EDCO Park Pool Renovation Project.

All bids will be ublicly o ened and read at the ublic A enda ettin eetin of the utler ounty oard of ommissioners on ay , at am, in the ublic eetin oom located on first oor of the ounty overnment enter, utler, A. A MANDATORY Pre-Bid meeting will be held on site at 11:00AM on Friday, May 4, 2018 located at EDCO Park 154 W. Main St. Evans City PA 16033. All prospective bidders shall have a representative present at this Conference.

Bids will be received for the following projects: EDCO Park Pool Renovations Project per specs in bid package will include bids.

A certified check or bank draft, ayable to the ounty of utler, ne otiable . . overnment ond at ar value or a satisfactory bid bond e ecuted by the bidder and an acce table surety, in an amount equal to at least ten ercent of the total bid of this ro ect ase bid and all alternates , shall be submitted with each bid.

The successful bidder will be required to submit a erformance bond, a labor and materials ayment bond and a maintenance bond. hould a bidder desire to submit a bid for more than one acka e, they can do so rovided they are submitted indeendent of one another in se arate envelo es. ortions of this ro ect are funded by fundin . Therefore, all work is sub ect to the avis- acon a e ates and federally required E E, ection , and nondiscrimination ractices and related matters. ids must be submitted on the forms furnished herein. ontact Aquatic acility esi n nc., to obtain bid acka e. er sets can be mailed, if requested, at the bidder’s e ense. Aquatic acility esi n nc., oore t, illersbur , A , contact rent oyer.

A co y of the id ocuments will be available for review at the office of the utler ounty ark and ecreation e artment, Alameda ark oad, utler, A , durin re ular business hours. utler ounty reserves the ri ht to acce t or re ect any or all ids, or any art of a id, and to waive informalities, and to award the id in the best interest of utler ounty. o id may be withdrawn for thirty days followin the scheduled closin time for the recei t of ids.

BOARD OF BUTLER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Leslie A. Osche, Chairman Kimberly D. Geyer Kevin E. Boozel Attest: Scott Andrejchak Director of Administration/ Chief Clerk

Sealed bids will be received for the Evans City EDCO Park Bathhouse Renovation Project, will be received in the office of en amin Holland, BUTLER COUNTY CONTROLLER, FLOOR 5, COUNTY GOVERNMENT CENTER, 124 WEST DIAMOND STREET, whose mailin address is . . , T E , A , on or before m, ay , . All ids must be lainly marked id Evans City EDCO Park Bathhouse Renovation Project.

All bids will be ublicly o ened and read at the ublic A enda ettin eetin of the utler ounty oard of ommissioners on ay , at am, in the ublic eetin oom located on first oor of the ounty overnment enter, utler, A. A MANDATORY Pre-Bid meeting will be held on site at 1:00PM on Friday, May 4, 2018 located at EDCO Park 154 W. Main St. Evans City PA 16033. All prospective bidders shall have a representative present at this Conference.

Bids will be received for the following projects: EDCO Park Bathhouse Renovations Project per specs in bid package.

A certified check or bank draft, ayable to the ounty of utler, ne otiable . . overnment ond at ar value or a satisfactory bid bond e ecuted by the bidder and an acce table surety, in an amount equal to at least ten ercent of the total bid of this ro ect ase bid and all alternates , shall be submitted with each bid.

The successful bidder will be required to submit a erformance bond, a labor and materials ayment bond and a maintenance bond. hould a bidder desire to submit a bid for more than one acka e, they can do so rovided they are submitted indeendent of one another in se arate envelo es. ortions of this ro ect are funded by fundin . Therefore, all work is sub ect to the avis- acon a e ates and federally required E E, ection , and nondiscrimination ractices and related matters. ids must be submitted on the forms furnished herein. ontact Aquatic acility esi n nc., to obtain bid acka e. er sets can be mailed, if requested, at the bidder’s e ense. Aquatic acility esi n nc., oore t, illersbur , A , contact rent oyer.

A co y of the id ocuments will be available for review at the office of the utler ounty ark and ecreation e artment, Alameda ark oad, utler, A , durin re ular business hours. utler ounty reserves the ri ht to acce t or re ect any or all ids, or any art of a id, and to waive informalities, and to award the id in the best interest of utler ounty. o id may be withdrawn for thirty days followin the scheduled closin time for the recei t of ids.

BOARD OF BUTLER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Leslie A. Osche, Chairman Kimberly D. Geyer Kevin E. Boozel Attest: Scott Andrejchak Director of Administration/ Chief Clerk

. The ublic arkin Authority of ittsbur h Authority shall acce t sealed bids for the erformance of the work described below the ork at its office at oulevard of the Allies, ittsbur h, ennsylvania, , until 11:00 a.m. local time on Friday, May 11, 2018. . E T The ro ect entails re air and reventative maintenance of the hiloh arkin la a. e airs include full and artial de th oor slab re airs, artial de th beam re airs, beam re lacement, artial de th column re airs, edestrian brid e re lacement, clear enetratin sealer a lication, and water roofin membrane a lication. . The nstructions to idders, includin the orm of id, orm of A reement, eneral onditions, lans and ecifications, may be obtained after 3:00 p.m. local time on Monday, April 16, 2017 at the Authority’s office at oulevard of the Allies, ittsbur h, ennsylvania, . o ies of the lans and ecifications will be available for a non-refundable amount of . . heck or oney order made ayable to A . . A Mandatory re-bid conference will be held at the Authority’s office at oulevard of the Allies, ittsbur h, ennsylvania at 10:00 a.m. local time on Monday, April 23, 2018. The ur ose of the re-bid conference is to rovide additional detail re ardin the ork.

The information rovided at the re-bid conference will be essential in re arin a bid to erform the ork. ersons or entities that intend to submit bids to erform the ork are required to send to the re-bid conference at least one re resentative who will understand the information resented at the re-bid conference in a manner that allows such information to be incororated in the re aration of the bid to erform the ork. t is e ected that the re resentative who attends the re-bid conference will be e erienced in construction matters and em loyed by the bidder in a su ervisory ca acity. Pre-bid attendance is mandatory. . ealed bids received rior to the deadline will be ublicly o ened and read at 11:00 a.m. local time on Friday, May 11, 2018. . Each bid submitted must be accom anied by a bid uaranty of ten ercent of the ro osed bid in the form of a bid bond, certified cashier’s or treasurer’s check ayable to the Authority. . The Authority reserves the ri ht to in its sole discretion, i chan e, at any time rior to the bid deadline at 11:00 a.m. local time on riday, May 11, 2018 the ontract ocuments ii waive any defect, irre ularities, or informality in any or all submitted bids and iii re ect any or all submitted bids.

David G. Onorato Executive Director

The Allies oss ana ement and evelo ment or oration A hereby request ro osals from qualified irms or ndividuals ca able of rovidin the followin service(s): Green Physical Needs Assessment & Integrated Energy Audit (GPNA) for Manchester Rebid ARMDC RFP #2018-25REBID The documents will be available no later than April 9, 2018 and si ned, sealed ro osals will be acce ted until 11:00 a.m., May 7, 2018 at which time they will be Time and ate tam ed at oss treet, nd loor, uite , ittsbur h, A . arties or individuals interested may obtain information from Mr. Kim Detrick – Procurement Director/ hie ontra tin fi er Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 2nd Floor, Suite 200 100 Ross Street Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116, Option 1 or by visitin the usiness ortunities section of www.hacp.org A re bid meetin will be held Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, 2nd Floor, Conference Room Pittsburgh, PA 15219 April 27, 2018 11:00 A.M. The Allies oss ana ement and evelo ment or oration stron ly encoura e certified minority business enter rises and women business enter rises to res ond to this solicitation.

ARMDC has revised their website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-in, in order to view and download IFB/RFPs documentation.

Caster D. Binion President & CEO Allies & Ross Management and Development Corporation A A conduct business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil ri hts laws, includin but not limited to Title , the air ousin Act, ection of the ehabilitation Act of , the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA uman elations Act, etc. and does not discriminate a ainst any individuals rotected by these statutes.

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GIANT EAGLE (16 Pittsburgh Locations) 6320 Shakespeare St., East Liberty (EAST, near BUSWAY) 4004 Monroeville Blvd., Monroeville (MONROEVILLE MALL) 230 Rodi Rd., Penn Hills (EAST inside Penn Hills Shopping Center) 9001 Frankstown Road. (EAST, corner of Frankstown and Verona Rd.) 550 Centre Ave., Shadyside (EAST, Market District) 3812 O’Neill Blvd., McKeesport (SOUTHEAST) 1356 Hoffman Blvd., West Mifflin (NEAR KENNYWOOD) 1901 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill (EAST) 1005 Freeport Road, Waterworks Mall (NEAR FOX CHAPEL) 4250 Murray Ave., Greenfield (EAST) 254 Yost Blvd., Forest Hills/Braddock Hills (SOUTH EAST) 1705 S. Braddock Ave., Edgewood Towne Center (EAST) 420 East Waterfront Dr., Homestead (SOUTHEAST) 2021 Wharton Ave. (SOUTH SIDE FLATS) 318 Cedar Ave., North Side (NORTH near E. OHIO ST.) Crafton/Ingram Shopping Center, 51 Walsh Road (WEST END) NORTH SIDE LOCATIONS NORTH SIDE BEER AND BEVERAGE 1304 Federal St. 7-11 1001 Western Ave. RICHEY’S BARBER SHOP 1207 N. Franklin St. NORTH SIDE VALERO 820 Pennsylvania Ave. RITE AID 802 Pennsylvania Ave. MARSHALL SHELL

1500 Spring Garden Ave. SWINKO’S MARKET 2535 Perrysville Ave. MERCY STREET EXPRESS 6 Mercy St. HARV’S EXXON 2501 Brighton Rd. QUICK SCHWARTZ 3235 Brighton Rd. HANINI MARKET 3245 Brighton Rd. SOUTH SIDE LOCATIONS KEN’S MARKET 216 Beltzhoover Ave. Daily Mart 1125 Arlington Ave. SHOP N’ SAVE Brownsville Rd., Carrick WEST END LOCATIONS CRAFTON BEVERAGE 15 Foster Ave., Crafton/Ingram Shopping Center SHEETZ 5400 Campbells Run Rd. SHOP N SAVE 2103 Noblestown Rd. HILL DISTRICT LOCATIONS SHOP N’ SAVE 1850 Centre Ave. WONG’S MARKET 2170 Centre Ave. ANN’S MARKET 2316 Webster Ave. A-PLUS MINI MARKET 2350 Centre Ave. UJAMMA BOUTIQUE 1901 Centre Ave. K LEROY IRVIS TOWERS 715 Mercer St. ABE’S MARKET 1860 Centre Ave.

WYLIE TOBACCO 2152 Wylie Ave. POPULAR EAST END LOCATIONS GETGO 4924 Baum Blvd.

BP GAS STATION 11835 Frankstown Rd., Penn Hills PUFF’S DISCOUNT TOBACCO 10991 Frankstown Rd., Penn Hills SHOP N’ SAVE 3335 William Penn Hwy, near Monroeville Mall GETGO 10525 Frankstown Rd., Penn Hills CVS PHARMACY 10600 Frankstown Rd., Penn Hills SHELL GAS STATION 7619 Baum Blvd., Shadyside STANTON NEGLEY DRUG 804 N. Negley Ave., Highland Park UNIMART 5724 Ellsworth Ave., Shadyside SHELL GAS STATION 6701 Frankstown Rd., East Hills SQUIRREL HILL NEWS 5804 Forbes Ave., Squirrel Hill MURRAY AVE. NEWS 2024 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill PUFF’S DISCOUNT TOBACCO 234 Yost Blvd., Braddock Hills DORSEY’S RECORDS 7614 Frankstown Ave., Homewood HOMEWOOD MARKET 7201 Frankstown Ave., Homewood SHEETZ 3457 William Penn Hwy., Monroeville WILLIAM PENN SMOKE SHOP 132 North Highland Ave., East Liberty DOWNTOWN LOCATIONS PENN AVENUE 7-11 (Sixth and Penn) Koppers Building (Ninth and Penn) NEWS-NUMBERS

136 Penn Avenue SMITHFIELD NEWS 115 Smithfield St. 7-11 SMITHFIELD 420 Smithfield St. FABER COE & GREGG 500 Grant St. FABER COE & GREGG 600 Grant St. NIELSEN’S STORES One Oxford Centre, Grant St. WOOD STREET 7-11 429 Wood St. NEWSTAND Sixth and Wood ONE STOP 300 Sixth & Wood OTHER DOWNTOWN LOCATIONS INCLUDE...

KWIK-E-MART 212 Tenth St. 7-11 643 Liberty Ave. ESTER’S SNAX Federal Building, Second Floor FABER COE & GREGG Fifth Ave. Place, First Floor EXTRA EXTRA NEWS 413 Seventh Ave. UTSAV NEWS 400 Cherry Way C&C NEWS 2 PPG Place EDDIE’S SNACKS 262 Fifth Ave. BIG DADDY 465 Forbes Ave.

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Will the Lame What motivates us to vote Duck quack? for a particular candidate?

(TriceEdneyWire.com)—The rats are leaping off the sinking ship!

Paul Ryan says he wants to spend more time with his teenagers, but he likely also doesn’t want to be part of the losses Republicans are likely to experience in November (unless the Dems mess up, which is not impossible). By April 13, there were 41 Republicans who said they would not run for re-election, for varying reasons or no reason at all.

Ryan’s citing of personal reasons seems disingenuous. Most teens aren’t clamoring for more daddy time. Many of them hardly speak to their parents.

Ryan says he will serve out his term, and serve out his speakership, but his announcement has caused chaos in his party. And, while he has not used his announcement to criticize his President, many think that he has had about enough of making excuses for the man who wants to grab women by the genitals, threaten North Korea and Syria, build walls, indulge in racist rants, and more. Since Ryan is so interested in spending time with his children, how does he explain 45 to his teens, especially to his 16-year-old daughter?

At about the same time Ryan announced that he would not run again, Florida Republican Congressman Dennis Ross made the same announcement to his staff. In a CNN interview shortly afterward, he cited “party polarization and the

Julianne Malveaux

Commentary “lack of civility and respect” as part of his reason for not running. He also exhibits his own intellectually limited pettiness by throwing too much shade on some of the young people who have emerged as activists in Florida. Young people, he says, know how to protest, but they don’t know “the process”. It seems to me that the Parkland students and others they have joined with have exhibited enough knowledge of “the process” to get Florida legislators to change a few laws. And these young people promise to be an electoral force in 2018. Maybe that’s why Republicans are leaping off the Titanic as it is poised to hit an iceberg.

The party that captured the Presidency typically loses some Senatorial and Congressional seats in a mid-term election. Sixty-three Democrats surely did in 2010, partly because of resistance to the Affordable Care Act, and partly because of resistance to President Obama himself. But fewer than 20 Democrats chose not to run for reelection. So far, a record 41 Republican rats are jumping off 45’s sinking ship. Some of them are talking openly of impeachment, given continuing developments in the Mueller probe. Others are repulsed by the drip drip revelations of 45’s immoral behavior. Still, others are concerned about the ways the Oval Office has become a piggy bank for the President and his family. The Republican family is a fractured one and they are cruising for a bruising!

Speaker Paul Ryan says he did what he came to do in Washington—he shepherded through a tax reform bill that “simplified” our taxes. But the man who was known as a deficit hawk also passed out corporate goodies as if they were girl scout cookies, and had a role in increasing the deficit to more than a trillion dollars.

If that’s what he came to do, he might as well hang his conservative mantle up. These next few months will be interesting as the lame duck speaker attempts to manage legislation and, perhaps, attack social programs like Medicare and Social Security.

But will the Lame Duck speaker quack? He has little to lose now that he says he will not run for his congressional seat again. He also says he will not run for office, but who believes that? Further, his best qualification to run for office might be the ways, in these next few months, he challenges the president that he is clearly repulsed by. Will he be a champion for true conservatism, not the cronyism that 45 embodies? Will he raise questions about the crooked practices of Cabinet members who have never met a charter plane they could not pass up? The Lame Duck could provide a service to his party and to our nation if he would simply quack. But he may have been too compromised to open his mouth.

(Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist.)

In 1949 at the qualificaage of 17 I began Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick tion had alto develop an inways been terest in politics. an issue Over the next when any 5 years I asked Black runs questions and for office. spent a large H o w e v amount of time er, in this in the library particular researching the campaign history of the two major parties, it was clearly established that the Democrats and Republicans.

Black attorney was clearly the most The answers I received from most qualified candidate to ever run for voters were never satisfactory, but I office in the history of the City of was more satisfied when I happened Pittsburgh. Attorney Brown was to read what the parties’ standard defeated by prominent colored perpolitical platform were. The Dem- sons whose loyalty to the Democratocratic Party stressed that they, ic Party meant more than a Black the Democrats, would support the man being elected to the position well-being of Black people, namely of mayor. It was the same mindset that the welfare system was created that the old woman exhibited when

by President Franklin D. Roosevelt she smacked Paul and said, “Who for Black folks and that the govern- do you think you are to challenge ment would be available for us from Mr. Charlie?” the cradle to the grave.

There will be several candidate The Republican Party highlighted affairs being held on the upcoming that President Abe Lincoln freed elections described as informationthe slaves and they believed in af- al only, when, in fact, most of the fording Blacks the opportunity to sponsors do have a favorite. A pershare in the American dream and son who has an organization who would be available to help you when is hoping to get a grant is reluctant the need existed. to support the person they truly I made the choice of registering believe is the best candidate, inRepublican, because I resented the cumbents generally get re-elected. I local Democrats always reminding have sat in several meetings where Black voters about how President persons who are in attendance freRoosevelt had created the welfare quently say, “The incumbent and I system exclusively for Black people. go back a number of years,” and my In the early years of my active response generally is, “What does involvement in a local, but histor- that mean?” ic campaign, an event took place It generally means they are not that I have never forgotten. It had open-minded and they have made to do with the mindset of too many of their minds that they don’t beBlack persons today and yester- lieve in change. It has always been day. A White committeeman called my belief that no one deserves to MR. CHARLIE was being opposed run unchallenged, because you by a Black man named Paul. The send a false message that whatever morning of the election, as Paul a person in office has done or failed walked up to the polls to vote, he to do, it is acceptable. Oftentimes was challenged by an elderly wom- persons are vilified for running for an who blocked his path and asked office, when the truth is that you him, “Who do you think you are to and I have the right to run. I have challenge Mr. Charlie?” and she never been involved in a political smacked him as hard as she could. campaign that there was any quesThere was the Pittsburgh mayor’s tion as to whom I was supporting race when attorney Byrd R. Brown and why. and Councilwoman Sophie Masloff I close this week’s column saying opposed each other. The mention of to you, “Run for public office.”

To Tell The Truth

The ‘fake’ Black Lives Matter Facebook page Recently, a headLives Matter’ line said: The big- J. Pharaoh Doss in their titles gest Black Lives or business Matter page on designations, Facebook is fake, ‘Black Lives but in this era of Matter’ itself “fake news” it’s is not an entinecessary to ask ty of any sort. what does “fake” Therefore, mean. Here, the all claims opposite of aua g a i n s t thentic is implied, but that leads us ‘Black Lives Matter’ must be disto a series of questions. missed because social movements What makes something using the lack the capacity to be sued.”

BLM slogan authentic? But, before Now, the Facebook page in queswe can answer that, we have to au- tion was anonomous, borrowed the thenticate BLM as an entity and BLM slogan, and stated that their not just an all-encompassing ban- mission was to raise awareness ner incorporating anyone that bor- about racism, bigotry, police brurows the slogan. tality and hate crimes by exposing, When BLM made national head- through social media, stories the lines a few years ago a BLM web- mainstream media did not make site appeared. It announced: Black public.

Lives Matter, Not a Moment, a So far, what’s fake about the Movement. This meant nothing. It Facebook page? The existence of was a slogan beside a slogan, but the page accomplishes the goal of they also advertised: Start a local raising awareness, but some of the chapter. money was transferred into AustraBut what did that suggest? Was lian bank accounts (White people).

BLM a national organization with Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder local chapters and a top-down struc- of BLM, stated she suspected the ture or was it a national “movement” biggest BLM Facebook page was a with independent operations? scam, and they contacted Facebook Then we started to see the BLM slo- months ago, and there were comgan with a specific location attached. plaints from donors that thought We saw BLM-Dartmouth disrupt- they were donating to the grassing the college library, swearing at roots organization. Cullors also White patrons and giving them ob- stated, fake fundraisers diminish scene gestures, and BLM-Minneso- the real work the movement does. ta directing immature chants at law BLM “relies on donors who believe enforcement (Pigs in a blanket fry in our work and our cause and that ‘em like bacon) after the Philando money will be used in a way that is Castile police shooting. respectful.” (Does “real work” imply But were these antics representa- raising awareness is fake work? tive of BLM as a whole?

And how do you use money in a way There was no official BLM spokes- that’s respectful? The money either person that endorsed or condemned finances what it was raised for or it these activities, but political pundits doesn’t.) and TV personalities that supportAnd DeRay Mckesson said, “It’s ed the BLM slogan promoted the important to remember the moveautonomy of each locale to deflect ment was organic and no organizacriticism from the broader BLM tion started the protest that spread “movement,” and not one autono- across the country. The consequencmous BLM locale, no matter what es of that is that it hasn’t been easy they said or did, was called fake. to think about authenticity in the Then after the police shooting digital space.” death of Alton Sterling a Baton So, the headline stating the BLM Rouge police officer was injured Facebook page was fake was inacduring a protest and filed a lawsuit. curate. It should have said: The bigThe officer claimed BLM and DeRay gest Black Lives Matter Facebook Mckesson, a popular personality as- page was a scam. Donors thought sociated with the BLM movement, their money was going to the “real were responsible for the injuries he work” of the grassroots organizasuffered at the hands of demonstra- tion (a non-entity without authentors (injuries included loss of teeth ticity), but the Facebook page was and an injured jaw). fake to the BLM co-founder because Now, the ruling of U.S. District the money went to the wrong confiJudge Brian Jackson defined BLM. dence scheme.

(J. Pharoah Doss is a contributor to the The judge said, “Although many entities have utilized the phrase ‘Black New Pittsburgh Courier.)

Check It Out

APRIL 18-24, 2018

B7

Jeffrey L. Boney

Commentary

Black people must vote or reap the consequences (NNPA)—All you have to do is crack open a history book, or sit with one of our experienced elders, and you will learn about the many sacrifices made by people of all races in order to ensure Black people obtained the uninhibited right to vote.

No other group of people in America have benefited more from the sacrifices made by so many people who fought, bled and died fighting for our freedom and the right to vote, as Black people have.

The freedom Black Americans experience today came with a significant price tag attached to it, and that freedom has definitely not been free. So much blood has been shed, and so many lives have been lost—all for our freedom and for the precious right to vote.

In fact, if you add up the number of Americans who died in World War I, World War II, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, all of the wars with the Indians, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War and the Korean War, that number would not be as large as the total number of people who died alone in the Civil War fighting to end slavery.

After the Civil War, many Whites migrated from the North to the South in order to help Black people thrive in the new Reconstruction governments. Many of those White abolitionists ran for political office and won. Several Black men were also elected to the U.S. Congress and the South even elected some Black senators. These political gains and the progress made by Black people, as a result of the Reconstruction governments in the South, angered many Southern Whites.

Confederate Army supporters like Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest, and others, made up in their minds that if they wanted to re-establish control and dominance over Black people in this country, then they would have to stop Black men from voting by any means necessary.

Nathan Bedford Forrest and several of his colleagues helped form the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), where he served as the first Grand Wizard. The Klan wore white robes and pretended to be the ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers in order to strike fear into the hearts of anyone, they encountered.

Members of the Klan did not want to be recognized, so they wore hoods to cover their faces, primarily, because many of the members of the Klan were prominent citizens and local authority figures.

At night, the Klan would hang signs warning Black people not to vote and threatened to kill any Black man who voted.

To further frighten Black voters, the Klan would gather together in their costumes and place a large wooden cross in front of a Black man’s home and set it on fire. This served as a warning to any Black man who decided to vote in the next election. If a Black man defied the Klan and refused to adhere to their warning, he was lynched from a tree so everyone in the city would see him and have second thoughts about attempting to vote in future elections.

The Klan quickly grew across all Southern states and Black people were vulnerable to this heinous activity and their vicious attacks. Due to the constant harassment and brutal killings by the Klan, Blacks began to slowly dismiss voting. As a result, Black people began losing political representation, as well as the political advancements they gained during Reconstruction. As time progressed, future generations of White Americans began to slowly forget the struggles of Black people and were not as vocal or as dedicated to the plight of Black people in the South as they had been in the past.

If you fast-forward in the history books, you can see that Black voter intimidation and Black voter disenfranchisement continued well beyond the blatant actions of the Klan.

State governments in the South joined the party and began passing sweeping new sets of laws called “Jim Crow” and those laws were designed to separate White people from Black people.

Blacks could not eat in the same restaurants as Whites; there were separate schools for Black and White children; Blacks could not drink water from the same fountains as Whites; Blacks had to sit in the back of the buses, whereas Whites could sit up front; and Blacks could not ride in the same carriages as Whites on the trains.

All in all, this blatant form of voting disenfranchisement has significantly impacted the well-being and livelihood of Black people for centuries.

So, why has it been so important for other people to make it difficult for Black people to vote?

The reason, to me, is quite simple. Those who seek to disenfranchise Black people from the voting process know exactly how important voting is. Those who seek to disenfranchise Black people relative to the voting process know the profound impact that it has at every level of government—local, state, and national.

More importantly, those who seek to disenfranchise Black people from the voting process know that voting is so powerful that those in political positions of power are able to direct necessary and critical resources to select areas. They are also able to ensure that select people are appointed to key positions.

Nearly everything that impacts our daily lives, in some way, is influenced by an elected official or someone who is appointed by them. These elected officials draft policy, introduce legislation, and vote on bills, that eventually become laws.

Whether voting for the judge, who has the power to sentence your loved one to a lengthy prison sentence or voting for the judge who has the power to determine child support payments and visitation rights through the family court— one or more of these elected officials will impact your life in some shape, form or fashion throughout your lifetime. Every elected official yields power and some level of influence that we as Black people should never ignore or take for granted.

It doesn’t matter whether you believe your vote matters or not—and it most certainly does—you will have to adhere to any law voted on by those who’ve been elected to represent you. There is absolutely no level of complaining or reactionary response that will change that.

There are no acceptable excuses when it comes to voting.

Either you do it or you reap the consequences. Engaged citizens must seek to understand politics if they wish to better understand the impact of the laws and decisions that politics produce.

I can only wonder, however, if many of our political martyrs, who sacrificed their very lives for the right to vote that we should all appreciate today, are flipping over in their graves as they look upon much of our squandered voting potential and overwhelming collective political apathy.

Maybe this election cycle will prove to be different, however. At least I hope it will.

(Jeffrey L. Boney serves as Associate Editor and is an award-winning journalist for the Houston Forward Times newspaper.)

B8

SPORTS

APRIL 18-24, 2018

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Jerry’s Pizza on the Hill, and honoring the 1968 Pipers!

IRA HARGE, right, with Connie Hawkins and Gabe Rubin, owner of the Pittsburgh Pipers.

by Bill Neal For New Pittsburgh Courier

:10—I’ll begin with this week’s most important topic. I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Mrs. Doris Miller for her enormous commitment and dedication to the success of this column. My thanks, and it goes without saying, I could not have done it without you! I’m just sayin’!!! :09—You all can keep listening to Kevin Cameron…

(the professional’s professional) or you can take this to the bank. Your Pittsburgh Pirates are for real… for now! :08—The NFL draft is coming your way Thursday, April 26. Something tells me that Coach Tomlin is going to take Lamar Jackson out of Louisville. And why not? Big Ben will give you two more years and Jackson will be ready. Done and done. :07—Oh by the way, the next time you’re at 2443

Wylie Avenue…the home of Jerry’s Pizza…get one man! That’s right son. A brother is throwing pizza on the Hill and it’s good. It’s called progress. (Whatever you do, don’t tell Mr. Doss, Stephan, Rob or Ashley I gave Jerry the shoutout.

You know they don’t play that at the New Pittsburgh Courier.) (Hey Jerry, if that don’t say free pizza, I don’t know what does…fancy Italian word goes here!) :06—Look, the 76ers may not win the NBA title; for that matter, they may not win the East, but the return from injury for Joel Embiid will make it very interesting. And by now you know Ben Simmons is the truth.

They’re in a “heated” battle in the first round of the playoffs right now with… the Miami “Heat.” :05—That being said, I stand pat with my earlier prediction…with a slight twist. I had Boston winning the East, but without Kyrie Irving, that ain’t gonna happen. So now it’s back to the Cavs and they will fall to Golden State yet again. :04—Talk is all over the Internet. Who’s the greatest athlete of all time? Here are my top five. What say you? #1 – Jim Thorpe. #2 – Jim Brown. #3 – Muhammad Ali. #4 – Bo Jackson. #5 – Wilt Chamberlain. :03—The Masters has come and gone, but please stop crying for Tiger Woods.

JIM JARVIS, left, who played with the Pittsburgh Pipers.

The man is worth $740 million and trust me, he ain’t crying for you. :02—A reminder for you sure nuff basketball fans.

The 2018 induction of the Connie Hawkins Summer Basketball League Hall of Fame will include: Jeff Baldwin-“Rankin Gangster,” Gary Nelson-“The Dons,” Jimmy Nichols-“Heatwave,” James Ellie-“Cosmic Echoes,” Levi Taylor-“Homewood Horses,” Rico Appendanza-“Rico’s Boys,” Marcus Tomlin-“The

Dons,” Keith Starr-“The Force,” Nate Duck- “Homewood Horses,” Kevin Murphy-“Clairton’s Finest,” Marvin Bailey-“The Nets,” Steve Vandivier, Gerald Warwick, Maurice Brown-“Champions,” Stu Lyons-“The Dons.” Saturday, May 5, 6 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel, Downtown Pittsburgh. For information, call 412-628-4856. :01—Pictured are members of the 1968 World Champion Pittsburgh Pipers coming to Pittsburgh

Friday, May 4, and Saturday, May 5 for the 50-year anniversary salute and memorial to the late, great Connie Hawkins, featuring special guest speaker, Pitt Hall of Fame legend, NBA All-Star and scoring champion, Billy Knight.

For ticket information, call Achieving Greatness Inc. at 412-628-4856. This is a Mark Cuban, New Pittsburgh Courier, Highmark, Pittsburgh Penguins and UPMC co-sponsored event. :00—GAME OVER.

Pirates’ hot start marred by injury to Harrison MLB needs to get rid of the hit-by-pitch

by Aubrey Bruce

For New Pittsburgh Courier

Man, the weather during the beginning month of the Pirates’ 2018 season has been lousy. Oh but wait, lousy weather, great baseball is being played by the Pirates.

Pirates fans had better hope that they will be seeing salt trucks and snow plows in June the way this team is playing. The weather was so miserable for their season-opening series against the Detroit Tigers, but they won all three games. The beginning of the 2018 season has been a far cry from how they concluded the season last year. As of April 16, the Pirates were 11-5 and still sitting atop the NL Central Division.

The Pirates ended the 2017 season with a .244 batting average and were 13th in the NL in pitching with a 4.22 ERA. By the way, their final won-loss record was 75-87, 12 games under .500 and 17 games out of first place in the NL Central.

The Pirates’ torrid start to the 2018 campaign may have come to a screeching halt as a result of AllStar second baseman Josh

JOSH HARRISON will be out for six weeks with a broken finger, suffered in a game against the Miami Marlins, April 15. (AP Photo) Harrison being out for six weeks after being hit by a pitch in the April 15 contest in Miami. “I just think guys need to know if they’re going to throw in, they need to be able to locate,” Harrison said in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article last September. “I look around the league, I see guys that crowd the plate more than me, why am I the one to get hit? I get it you’ve got to throw in, but I think there could be something to it.”

There is something to it.

Baseball is trying to uphold this fake “gladiator culture” by continuing to allow players’ lives and ca-

Inside Conditions

AUBREY BRUCE reers to be jeopardized and ended by archaic practices that may have been OK 125 years ago when baseball games were just recreation for workers that had one day off (Sunday), because the Bible allowed that day of rest. In the game of ice hockey, if a player is called for high-sticking, there is a

penalty accessed. If a player is called for slashing, look for a penalty whether it was intentional or not.

In the NFL players will be ejected if they commit two unsportsmanlike fouls of certain varieties. Regardless of intent, baseball players don’t have protection for the exposed areas of their bodies to prevent serious injuries as result of being hit by pitches. When a pitcher hits one batter, that batter should be awarded third base. If a pitcher hits a second batter the opposing team should be awarded one run and the batter awarded second base. If a third batter is hit that pitcher should be ejected.

Watch the hit-by-pitch stats tank into the cellar. The Josh Harrison injury may cost the Pirates six weeks without him, while Marlins starter Jose Urena, the man who hit Harrison and hit the most players in the National League last year, won’t even miss his next start.

Harrison has a gripe. He gets hit by pitches way too much.

Baseball games are rained out, but when temperatures are below 30 degrees games should be “snowed out.” The Pirates must be apples because apple trees can survive in far colder temperatures than orange trees.

There is nothing like a nice tall glass of hard apple cider on a crisp fall afternoon, waiting for the 2018 World Series to begin….Hmm, isn’t it nice sometimes to consider a few maybes or what ifs?

COURIER STEELERS CENTRAL New Pittsburgh Courier

B9

APRIL 18-24, 2018

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

MIKE PELAIA’S 2018 NFL DRAFT PREVIEW 2018 NFL DRAFT APRIL 26-28, AT&T STADIUM, ARLINGTON, TEXAS

STEELERS DRAFT PICKS First Round (Number 28 overall) Second Round (Number 60 overall) Third Round (Number 92 overall) Fifth Round (Number 148 overall) Fifth Round (Number 165 overall) Seventh Round (Number 220 overall) Seventh Round (Number 246 overall)

THE COURIER’S MIKE PELAIA SAYS: Steelers will choose ILB Rashaan Evans (Alabama) in the first round, and S Terrell Edmunds (Virginia Tech) in the second round.

STEELERS LINEBACKER RYAN SHAZIER has progressed in his recovery, but has been ruled out of playing football in the 2018-19 season for the Steelers. (AP Photo)

Replacing Shazier is the Steelers’ top priority

by Mike Pelaia For New Pittsburgh Courier

It’s that time of year, when the Super Bowl contenders bolster their roster and the non-contenders build for the future. Draft season is upon us and as usual, the Steelers will be looking to add critical pieces to a lineup that is poised to make a run at the Super Bowl.

This offseason, the Steelers have signed a couple of players to fill key positions.

Inside Linebacker Jon Bostic was signed away from Indianapolis and safety Morgan Burnett was swayed away from Green Bay. Burnett will have a far bigger impact than Bostic, as Burnett can play both safety positions and corner.

Bostic is a nice addition to an inside linebacker corps that suffered greatly after the devastating injury to Ryan Shazier but he does not possess the skills to be the full-time answer.

The Steelers will look to fill the huge void Shazier’s injury left via the draft in the first round and then they’ll look to add another

talented safety to the mix in round two.

There are solid inside linebackers available in this year’s class but the top ones will be gone before the Steelers pick at number 28. Some say the team will trade up to grab one of the top two guys; I don’t think they have the assets to do it and will stand pat. Either way, I think they’ll be happy with whomever they end up with.

Here are the candidates and my rankings for each: Roquan Smith—Georgia: Smith is the clear number one ILB prospect. He’s fast and has the ability to go sideline to sideline. He’s a very solid run-stopper and can be a strong contributor in pass coverage as well.

He’d be the ideal replacement for Shazier but he will be long gone before the Steelers ever sniff him.

Leighton Vander Esch— Boise State: Vander Esch has climbed up the draft boards with a solid offseason. I rank him higher than others but he possesses all of the fundamentals you want at inside line-

backer and can play vs. the run and the pass.

Rashaan Evans—Alabama: Evans possesses both size and speed and is a very solid player who has done a lot for coach Nick Saban at Alabama. I believe he is a mid-to-late first round guy and the Steelers may have an opportunity to snag him at number 28.

Malik Jefferson—Texas: The drop off begins with Jefferson. He’s my fourthbest prospect but there is a big difference between him and the first three guys.

He’s solid against the run but he’s not a good pass coverage guy and is a second day selection.

Josey Jewell—Iowa: Jewell amassed over 100 tackles last season and penetrates the backfield with power. He can be an impact player but he’s not an every-down player.

I think the Steelers will end up faring well and be able to grab Evans from Alabama in the first round with their 28th pick. It’s a pick that will begin the replacement of Shazier and Evans may find himself on

the field in 2018 early and often.

The Steelers will also need to take a look at the class of safeties coming out this year and they may even consider one of them at pick 28 instead of the linebackers if the first three guys are gone, though I suspect they’ll grab one of the following guys in round two.

Here are the top safeties based on my rankings: Minkah Fitzpatrick—Alabama: Fitzpatrick is the cream of the crop in this year’s safety class. He can cover receivers, tight ends, play corner, play at the line or drop back in deep center field. He’s a game-changing safety that, if he’s still available at pick 28, the Steelers will take. Unfortunately, I don’t see him being there.

Derwin James—Florida State: James is another game-changing safety with skills. He can play man against the tight ends and may not cover center field like Fitzpatrick but is still an impact guy that would be an upgrade on most teams. He’s another guy

COURIER SPORTS COLUMNIST MIKE PELAIA the Steelers would take in round one but he won’t be available.

Ronnie Harrison—Alabama: Harrison is a physical safety who can play on the line and stuff the run but has some issues when he needs to play man-to man. He won’t be a firstround pick but he’ll be gone by the time the Steelers draft in the second round.

Terell Edmunds—Virginia Tech: This is a guy who I think the Steelers could

land in the second round.

He’s physical and can play vs. the run and the pass.

Jessie Bates—Wake Forest: Bates is another candidate for the Steelers on day two. He’s very smart and makes good decisions on the field.

The Steelers will most certainly fill these two holes in the first two rounds and I believe it will be Evans of Alabama in round one and Edmunds of Virginia Tech in round two.

RESCIND THE FRANCHISE TAG

Bell not worth the hassle for the Steelers

by Mike Pelaia

in receiving. That tends to happen for running backs after four or five years in Le’Veon Bell is the best the league. Bell is only 25, running back in the NFL, which many of us wish we hands down, in my opinion. could still be, but in the He runs well, he catches NFL, as a running back, esthe ball out of the backfield pecially one who plays evand he’s a very good block- ery down, he’s aging quicker. Bell is an every-down ly. Statistics say he’s got back. He’s a rare entity in three good years left in him and maybe two average today’s NFL. He knows this and so do years after that before he’s the Steelers. The problem done. Will he be worth $14 is, they have a very differ- million or more on annual ent opinion on what that basis in a couple of years?

Is he even worth that now? rarity is worth.

Bell will tell you he is I have been a proponent of paying Bell $15 million worth $17 million annuala year for the next four ly and word is, that’s what years. I felt like he should he wants in order to sign be locked to the team for a long-term contract. He at least that long. He’s just wants Antonio Brown monbeen that valuable. Or so I ey. But for Bell, that won’t happen, nor should it. thought.

That is a complete reverBut, I’m changing my mind. At the price Bell is sal of what I thought at the costing the Steelers, $14.5 end of the season. But then million dollars this year if I looked at DeVonta Freehe signs the franchise tag, man of the Atlanta Falcons, it isn’t worth it. He’s begin- the second-highest paid running back behind Bell, ning to decline.

His yards-per-carry who makes eight million dropped by a full yard in dollars annually. Freeman, rushing and a half-yard while I’ll admit is not as For New Pittsburgh Courier

good as Bell and doesn’t produce quite as much as Bell, does average a halfyard more per carry and over a yard more per reception. And by the way, he’s also 25 years old.

How can Bell justify a payment of six to nine million more on an annual basis than the next best guy, who is very comparable to Bell?

But it doesn’t stop at production. Bell is becoming a distraction. It began with his holdout last offseason.

Then, stupidly, he threatened to retire this offseason if he doesn’t get the right deal, in the middle of the playoffs! The talking didn’t stop there, though. Talking about facing the Patriots before even playing the Jaguars in the playoffs was ignorant. Essentially missing the team walkthrough before the Jaguars game and showing up late for the game was unacceptable and selfish. And now, the coup de’tat—saying he’s being made out as a villain by the fans of Pittsburgh.

He’s digging his own

IS LE’VEON BELL REPLACEABLE? Courier sports columnist Mike Pelaia believes so. (AP Photo) grave.

The fans want Bell to stay, they adore him for what he brings to the field on Sundays but they do expect a little bit of humility. You’re not going to get a whole lot of sympathy in this town when you’re debating over making $17 million dollars instead of $12-$15 million. You’ve made your bed Le’Veon, now you must lay in it.

If Bell and the Steelers do come to a long-term agreement, he will certainly be welcomed by all with open

arms. But if the Steelers give in to his demands, or even continue to pay him what the franchise tag dictates, Bell is hindering this team from winning. The amount of money he’s taking up is preventing the team from filling areas of need.

Look at New England and Philadelphia. They both made it to the big game by using a running back by committee. Not having a feature back worked.

The Steelers have enough playmakers to do the same.

They don’t need Bell to win. They can plug in a back they draft in the third round, pay him a rookie salary, and get close to the same output on the ground.

They can make up the reception yards elsewhere, it’s not difficult.

As I write this, I feel even more so that the Steelers should rescind the tag now, draft the back of the next four years and move on.

Their success does not rely as heavily on Bell as he might think.

B10

PEOPLE

APRIL 18-24, 2018

Cupcake Wars!

NYIARRA BATES

TA’MIA JOHNSON

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

AUSHAI HENRY

Cupcakes Most Wanted, in partnership with Higher Living Inc., hosted a Youth Bake-off and fundraiser event at the Grayson Center in the Hill District, April 7.

Contestants ages 10-14 showed off their baking and entrepreneurial skills in front of a star-studded panel of judges, such as KiKi Brown of WAMO 100, Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, school board member Sala Udin, Jasmine Cho of Yummyholic, Kate Dewey of Cohen & Grigsby law firm, and last year’s youth bake-off winner, 13-year-old Kinverlyn Fleming.

The event was hosted by Emmy Award-winning film director Emmai Alaquiva. The Youth Ally Award was presented to Keysha Gomez, executive director of H.O.P.E. for Tomorrow.

Courier photographer J.L. Martello captured the event in pictures.

NYIARRA BATES, TA’MIA JOHNSON, AUSHAI HENRY win certificates at the second annual Youth Cupcake Bake-off and Fundraiser, April 7 at the Grayson Center.

JUDGES LOVIN’ THE CUPCAKES—Kate Dewey, Jasmine Cho, R. Daniel Lavelle, KiKi Brown, and Kinverlyn Fleming.