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VOL. 107, NO. 21

City to pay Jordan Miles $125,000 Published Weekly

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MAY 25-31, 2016

MOVING ON—Jordan Miles, seen here with his mother Terez during a break from his 2014 civil case against three Pittsburgh police officers, has settled with the city of Pittsburgh for $125,000.

(Photo by J.L. Martello)

Rather than continue the slog through the federal appeals court system, Jordan Miles and his attorneys have accepted a $125,000 settlement offer from the City of Pittsburgh.

“We have accepted the city’s offer to settle,” said attorney Joel Sansone. “It is time for Jordan to move on to the next phase of his life.”

Miles, now 24, was a senior at CAPA, when he was severely injured during an arrest by three White officers, Michael Saldutte, David Sisak and Richard Ewing on Tioga Street in Homewood in January 2010.

Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor

Bill Peduto said the settlement was reached during federal mediation.

The city offered $125,000 and the attorneys accepted it,” he said.

In 2011, Miles turned down a $180,000 offer.

The new settlement includes the $119,000 in damages awarded in a federal jury in 2014 plus attorneys’ fees. That jury made its award after finding the arresting officers had no probable cause to stop Miles in the first place, but—despite evidence including the widely publicized photos of Miles swollen face—it did not rule they used excessive force in subduing

Hamlet is new school superintendent

by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer

After completing an eightmonth search that cut a pool of 24 candidates from 14 states down to 12, then six, then three, the Pittsburgh Board of Education has named 46-year-old Anthony Hamlet as its new superintendent of schools.

The board, joined by retiring Superintendent Linda Lane, introduced Hamlet to the city at a May 18 press conference, and formally voted him in at a special meeting that evening, extending him a five-year contract with a $210,000 salary.

He will officially start July 1.

Hamlet, a one-time NFL and CFL defensive lineman, most recently served as director of accountability transformation for the Palm Beach County (Florida) School District, which with 183,000 students and almost 13,000 teachers, is the 11th largest district in the country.

In that capacity, Hamlet oversaw 20 low-performing PASSING THE TORCH—Retiring Pittsburgh Superintendent of Schools Linda Lane welcomes her successor Anthony schools with more than Hamlet during his introduction to the city, May 18. (Photo by J.L. Martello) 18,000 students and managed budgets totaling more Board President Regina Holley agreed, “I’m looking for somebody who will do than $128 million.

“In Palm Beach County, I’ve been given good for the kids, who can turn around saying Hamlet met the criteria the district all the most difficult schools to deal with,” some schools, and someone who knows ed- and search consultant Brian Perkins eshe said. “And I’ve transformed those ucation and how to do it from Kinder- tablished beforehand—and responded to garten all the way to 12th grade,” said board, community and student questions— schools from terrible to great.”

Board member and former board chair Sumpter. “The fact that he’s an African better than the other candidates.

“We wanted someone who’d been a Thomas Sumpter said that is exactly what American male had nothing to do with it. he was looking for throughout the selection We didn’t even see the candidates until the teacher, and who had run a building. The process, the fact that he is the first Black final interviews. Everything was based on community wanted someone with a doctormale superintendent since John Thompson the information they provided and reSEE HAMLET A5 sponses to our questions.” was incidental.

him.

An earlier trial ended in a hung jury.

Even though he won an award, Miles appealed the verdict, saying US District Judge David Cercone should have allowed additional witnesses— who surfaced after the trial had started—to testify. Almost immediately afterward, Allegheny County District Attorney said he would not pursue criminal charges against the officers.

Prior to that, U.S. Attorney David Hickton said the Department of JusSEE MILES A4

Wolf reveals plan to attack lack of affordable housing

by Chris Morrow Courier Staff Writer

Just weeks after the Pittsburgh Affordable Housing Task Force released its initial recommendations on increasing the number and availability of affordable housing units in the city, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has released what he is calling a five-year plan to “connect Pennsylvanians to affordable, integrated and supportive housing.”

“Too many Pennsylvanians live in institutions when they could live at home with the right supports. Too many are rentburdened and too many Pennsylvanians experience or are at risk of homelessness,” he said during a May 23 press announcement. “Today is about working together to find ways to make better use of our resources so that we can make affordable housing a reality for more Pennsylvanians.”

The strategy brings together the resources of the Department of Human services, the Department of Community and Economic Development and the PennsylSEE WOLF A4

Activists, parents rally against school suspensions

by Christian Morrow

Norrell, Hayes honored at PBMF awards dinner

by Renee P. Aldrich For New Pittsburgh Courier

The stars came out Thursday, May 19 at the University of Pittsburgh O’Hara Student Center, along with a sold-out crowd of more than 150, to celebrate the esteemed awardees at the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation’s (PBMF) 28th Annual Robert L. Vann Media Awards Dinner.

The highlight of the evening was award presentations to Lifetime Achievement Awardee Harold Hayes, Legacy Awardee Debbie Norrell and 29 winners of the PBMF awards.

“We were so excited to recognize such stellar journalists with the Awards of Excellence. And in regard to our three special award winners, they possess the attributes that PBMF is honored to spotlight.

Harold Hayes, our Lifetime Achievement SEE NORRELL A5

HONOREES—From left: The 2016 PBMF Legacy Award honoree is Debbie Norrell, the PBMF Lifetime Achievement honoree Harold Hayes, and 2016 PBMF Literacy Champion honoree Lorena Amos Brock. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

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Courier Staff Writer

Less than a week after the Pittsburgh School Board choice for new superintendent outlined his priorities for the coming year, parents, students and activists from One Pittsburgh’s Education Rights Network rallied to remind him and the board of their priority—ending the current suspension system that they say is detrimental to learning and biased against African American children.

“Black kids, especially those with disabilities, are suspended more than any other demographic. They need to stop suspending our babies,” said Action United Director of Organizing Angel Gober. “Seventyseven percent of suspensions are around dress code violations, lateness, conduct.

These kids are missing a lot of time for petty infractions. Suspension don’t teach them anything—except how to get a day off.”

According to statistic compiled by Action United, even with the district employing a Restorative Justice discipline model in half SEE ACTIVISTS A4

George Curry asks

Has the U.S. given up on school desegregation?

Forum A7

US military trains eclectic This Week In Black History group of anti-IS fighters A2

MAY 25-31, 2016

INTERNATIONAL

by Robert Burns Associated Press Writer

NORTHERN SYRIA (AP) —Barcham Zana knows her enemy. It is the Islamic State, which she calls “darkness.”

Islamic State militants killed two cousins, she said.

For her, the group is not an abstract threat.

The 20-year-old spoke through a Syrian interpreter at a rudimentary training camp surrounded by golden waves of wheat in northern Syria. Zana and other young fighters had just finished target practice with AK-47s on a firing range encircled by earthen berms. The nearest front line fighting was about 50 miles away.

Zana is a member of the YPJ, a predominantly Kurdish women’s militia. She and her commander, Nujin Dirik, say they are dedicated to the cause. But they also reflect the depth of ethnic and other complexities facing the U.S. military as it seeks to develop a coherent and competent network of local Syria forces to defeat IS. A small group of American military advisers works here with Zana and other Syrian volunteers—mostly Arab men—who have taken up arms against what they see as a scourge on their country and a threat to their families. One called IS an “illness.” Several said they were fed up with the group and eager to destroy it.

The Americans said the number of Arab volunteers has surged this spring, following a series of battlefield gains against IS, including the retaking of al-Shaddadeh in Hassakeh

FIGHTING IS—In this photo taken May 21, Barcham Zana, left, and Helene Osman, at a training camp in northern Syria where US military advisers are working with local Arab volunteers who want to fight the Islamic State. At age 20, Zana knows her enemy. It is the Islamic State, which she calls “darkness.” Two cousins were killed by IS, she said, so for her this is not an abstract threat. (AP Photo/Robert Burns) province. That success triggered a recruiting boom, with more local Arabs seeking to join than could be accommodated, the Americans said.

One U.S. adviser called the recruits “raw ... literally civilians coming off the streets.” The adviser could not be quoted by name under ground rules set for reporters who visited the camp Saturday with Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of U.S. Central Command.

The camp’s location also could not be disclosed.

A female YPJ trainee who gave her name as Athima said she feels a moral imperative.

“It’s my duty to stop this fighting,” she said, referring to the Islamic State.

Dirik says she is fighting for something bigger: a Syrian Kurdistan, known locally as Rojava, which already is a semi-autonomous region of northeastern Syria comprised of three self-governing cantons.

Judy Ossi, who runs a humanitarian coordination of-

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fice for her canton, Jazira, said the focus on war is obscuring the suffering of thousands of displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, whose numbers she said already are overwhelming and are likely to grow.

The women of the YPJ revealed no fear of combat.

Zana said she initially was afraid of the Islamic State, knowing of their brutal tactics, including beheadings.

But once she joined the YPJ and began training, her fears disappeared, she said.

That strength-in-numbers theme applies as well to the broader U.S. strategy in Syria. The Americans hope they can pull together enough local fighters to capture the main prize in northern Syria: Raqqa, the Islamic State’s self-declared capital.

Raqqa already is largely isolated, with signs that IS fears an imminent offensive.

The U.S. has organized the fighters into an umbrella group it calls the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. It is comprised mostly of Syrian Kurds, numbering at least 25,000 fighters, with a smaller element of Syrian Arabs numbering perhaps 5,000 to 6,000.

One U.S. adviser here estimated the SDF will need perhaps 6,000 to 10,000 fighters for a Raqqa offensive. The U.S. strategy relies on training, organizing and advising local fighters for such combat, rather than committing American forces.

That has proven to be a slow approach, subject to much criticism in Congress.

It is based on a belief that the locals are best able to sustain a lasting defeat of the militant group.

Votel, who inherited the strategy when he took over Central Command in April from the plan’s main military architect, Gen. Lloyd Austin, said in an interview that he believes it is working.

“It may not be the exact way we would do something in the American army or a Western military force, but the approach they take works for them.

That’s what’s important,” he said.

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Week of May 25-31 May 25 1878—World renowned dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson is born in Richmond, Va. Robinson was one of the best and best-known dancers in America up until the 1940s. He was known for his sensational footwork and speed. He once set a world record running the 75yard-dash backwards in 8.2 seconds. But his “Bojangles” style—designed to please White audiences—angered some Blacks. However, he became a wealthy man appearing in 15 motion pictures after the 1930s.

1919—Wealthy cosmetics empire owner, Madame C.J. Walker, dies on this day at her estate on Irvington-onthe-Hudson in New York. Walker is generally believed to have been the first Black millionaire in American history.

1926—Famed Jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis was born on this day in 1926.

BILL ‘BOJANGLES’ ROBINSON 1943—One of the largest White riots of the 1940s takes place in Mobile, Ala. The Whites were outraged because the owners of a local shipyard company had upgraded the status and pay of 12 Black workers.

May 26 1799—The famous Black Russian writer Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin is born in Moscow, Russia.

Pushkin was of Russian and Ethiopian parentage. He was well educated and went on to become a prolific writer. Indeed, he is generally credited with being the “Father of Russian Literature.”

1949—Pamela Suzette Grier is born in WinstonSalem, N.C. Pam Grier becomes one of the premier Black actresses and one of the top sex symbols of the 1970s, playing in a host of so-called “Black exploitation movies.”

May 27 1958—Ernest Green graduates from Little Rock, Ark.’s Central High School, becoming the first Black ALEXANDER PUSHKIN to do so. Green was a member of the “Little Rock Nine”—the group of Black students who first integrated the high school with the aid of federal troops.

2010—The Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University releases a stunning study showing that the typical White household had accumulated 20 times as much wealth as the typical Black household. According to the study, median White family wealth stood at roughly $100,000 while median Black family wealth was estimated at $5,000.

May 28 1936—Betty Shabazz, the widow of Black nationalist leader Malcolm X, was born on this day in Detroit, Mich. Shabazz was born Betty Jean Sanders and raised by foster parents. She attended Tuskegee Institute (now university) and became a registered nurse. In 1994, she created a national controversy when she linked Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan to the assassination of Malcolm X. However, she and Farrakhan reconciled in 1995 and she spoke at the historic Million Man March. She died June 23, 1997 as a result of injuries received in a house fire set by her grandson.

2010—A book is released revealing that during the mid-1970s when much of the world was lining up to help overthrow racist White minority rule in South Africa, Israel was attempting to aid the racist regime up to the point BETTY SHABAZZ of providing it with chemical and nuclear weapons for possible use against the country’s majority Black population. The documents were discovered by American scholar Sasha Polakow-Suransky while researching the book “The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa.” Though seldom mentioned by American media, it was an open secret during the 1970s that Israel was one of the Apartheid regime’s closest allies. Apartheid is what the minority White government called its system of racial oppression.

May 29 1854—Escaped slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth delivers her famous “Ain’t I a Woman” speech at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron. Truth, born Isabella Baumfree, had been physically and sexually abused by various slave owners and their wives in New York. She sought refuge in religion. She finally escaped after her last slave owner reneged on a promise to free her. She became the leading female abolitionist of the period giving powerful speeches. She traveled widely in her anti-slavery mission telling friends “The spirit calls me and I must go.”

1865—President Andrew Johnson announces his Reconstruction program after the Civil War. However, Johnson was one of the greatest betrayers of Blacks in SOJOURNER TRUTH American history. He went back on many of the promises made to the former slaves by the recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

Indeed, Johnson’s Reconstruction program was more favorable to the former slave owners and Confederate soldiers than it was to the ex-slaves. Johnson even opposed granting Blacks voting rights.

May 30 1822—What could have been the largest and most elaborate slave rebellion in American history is betrayed by a house slave seeking favors from his White master.

The rebellion was organized by Denmark Vesey and involved thousands of Blacks in the Charleston, S.C., area. Vesey was actually a free man who had purchased his freedom. He was doing a thriving business as owner of a carpentry shop. But he had secretly vowed “not to rest until all slaves are free.” The betrayal of the Vesey plot by a house slave resulted in dozens of people, including four Whites, being arrested and many of them were eventually hanged. Vesey was put to death on June 23, 1822.

1903—One of the most outstanding poets in the history of Black America, Countee Cullen, is born in Louisville, Ky., or Baltimore, Md. The exact city of his birth is still debated. However, he was raised in New York City and rose to fame in the early 1920s and became a leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Cullen married, but there were persistent rumors that he was a closet homosexual resulting from his troubled childhood including being abandoned by his mother. He died in 1946 of high blood pressure and what was then called uremic poisoning or acute kidney failure.

May 31 1870—Congress passes the first Enforcement Act providing stiff punishment for both private citizens and public officials who conspired to deprive the recently freed slaves of either their civil rights or their right to vote. The Act was in response to the old plantation aristocracy and the defeated rebel soldiers who COUNTEE CULLEN were taking control of Southern governments and enacting “Black Codes” aimed at the suppression of Black freedoms and voting rights. The Act was also in response to the growing power of White terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.

1921—The infamous and bloody Tulsa (Oklahoma) Riots begin. Whites go on a violent rampage lasting several days. When the rioting was over, an estimated 21 Whites and 60 Blacks were dead. In addition, as many as 15,000 Blacks were left homeless as hundreds of homes and businesses were burned to the ground. The area bearing the brunt of the destruction was known as the “Black Wall Street” because of its large number of African-American owned businesses.

As recently as 2007, Detroit Congressman John Conyers was working on legislation designed to give the few remaining Black survivors of the rioting additional time to sue in order to recover some of their loses. The rioting was reportedly sparked by a false claim from a White female elevator operator of being assaulted by a Black man. But White jealousy of Black success in the Tulsa area may have also played JOHN CONYERS a major role.

Stat shows being a police officer hasn’t grown more dangerous

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

NATIONAL

by Jeffrey Benzing PublicSource

Fewer police were killed by alleged criminals last year than in 2014, even as some groups claim criticism of law enforcement has made the job more difficult and more dangerous.

In 2015, 41 officers were killed on duty as a result of criminal acts, according to new national statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That’s down 20 percent from 51 deaths in 2014.

Criticism of police for the shootings of unarmed civilians and allegations of racial profiling—a so-called “war on cops”—has been blamed by some for an increase in violent crime and growing hostility toward law enforcement.

But the stats debunk the assumption that danger has spiked, as University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris told The Huffington Post.

“The FBI statistics on police officer felonious deaths show that belief that the job is growing more dangerous, because of protests against police or because of the demand for reform to police practices, is simply wrong,” said Harris, a law enforcement expert.

Since 1980, an average of 64 officers have been killed by alleged criminals each year, according to the story. Last year had one of the lowest death tolls in that period. 2013 was a historic low, with 27 officers killed by alleged criminals.

But William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, told The Huffington Post that

Photo Matt Popovich | Unsplash 2016 tells a different story.

“Attacks, including murder by gunfire, are up sharply in 2016,” he said, explaining that officers feel more likely to “be attacked without warning” than before.

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 2016 has had 17 officer fatalities from non-accidental shootings so far, compared to 38 fatal line-of-duty shootings for all of 2015. It’s an increase compared to

this time last year, the story said. But, if the trend stays steady, it’s also below average for recent decades.

And it’s far below other periods in history.

From the story: Widening the historical scope, though, it becomes clearer that policing is most likely not as dangerous now as it used to be.

Compare current numbers to the 1970s, when gun-related police deaths were about

MAY 25-31, 2016

A3

six times higher than they are today. Or consider the Prohibition era, which saw police deaths involving firearms at rates 14 to 17 times higher than the present day.

Most 2015 killings occurred in the southern states, according to the FBI. The Officer Down Memorial Page lists two officers fatally shot in Pennsylvania last year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, which tracks fatalities separately from the FBI. The deaths include St. Clair Township Officer Lloyd Reed Jr., who was fatally shot while responding to a domestic disturbance in Westmoreland County in November, and Philadelphia Officer Robert Wilson III, who was killed in March during a robbery at a video game store.

Wilson was honored by President Barack Obama this week with a Public Safety Medal of Valor.

The memorial website also lists two Pennsylvania officers who died in accidents in 2015 and one who died from a heart attack.

Two Pennsylvania officers were fatally shot in 2014, including a state trooper trainee accidentally shot by an instructor, according to the site.

The site lists no fatalities for the state in 2016.

The FBI lists 45 accidental deaths for 2015, making accidents more deadly than criminals for the year.

(Reach Jeffrey Benzing at jbenzing@publicsource.org. Follow him on Twitter @jabenzing)

Supreme Court throws out death sentence from all-White jury WASHINGTON (AP)—The Supreme Court ruled decisively in favor of a deathrow inmate in Georgia on Monday, chastising state prosecutors for improperly keeping African-Americans off the jury that convicted him of killing a white woman.

The justices ruled 7-1 in favor of death row inmate Timothy Tyrone Foster in underscoring the importance of rules they laid out in 1986 to prevent racial discrimination in the selection of juries.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court that Georgia “prosecutors were motivated in substantial part by race’’ when they struck African Americans from the jury pool.

But the court did nothing to limit peremptory strikes, lawyers’ ability to reject potential jurors without offering any reason. The late Thurgood Marshall once

said that racial discrimination would persist in jury selection unless peremptory strikes were curtailed.

The outcome probably will enable Foster to win a new trial, 29 years after he was sentenced to death.

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying he would have respected the decisions of state judges who sided with prosecutors and rejected Foster’s claims.

When the case was argued in November, the justices did little to hide their distaste for the tactics employed by prosecutors in north Georgia. Justice Elena Kagan said the case seemed as clear a violation “as a court is ever going to see.’’

Still, Georgia courts had consistently rejected Foster’s claims of discrimination, even after his lawyers obtained the prose-

cution’s notes that revealed prosecutors’ focus on the Black people in the jury pool.

In one example, a handwritten note headed “Definite No’s’’ listed six people, of whom five were the remaining Black prospective jurors.

The sixth person on the list was a White woman who made clear she would never impose the death penalty, according to Foster’s lawyer, Stephen Bright. And yet even that woman ranked behind the Black jurors, Bright said.

The court was not persuaded by the state’s argument that the notes focused on Black people in the jury pool because prosecutors were preparing to defend against discrimination claims. The Supreme Court’s ruling about race discrimination in jury selection was about a year old when Foster’s case went to trial, the state said.

The 1986 decision in Batson v. Kentucky set up a system by which trial judges could evaluate claims of discrimination and the explanations by prosecutors that their actions were not based on race.

“This argument falls flat,’’ Roberts wrote.

He noted that the record shows “a concerted effort to keep black prospective jurors off the jury.’’

Foster’s trial lawyers did not so much contest his guilt as try to explain it as a product of a troubled childhood, drug abuse and mental illness. They also raised their objections about the exclusion of AfricanAmericans from the jury. On that point, the judge accepted prosecutor Stephen Lanier’s explanations that factors other than race drove his decisions. The jury convicted Foster and sentenced him to death.

A4

MAY 25-31, 2016

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

METRO

Activists, parents rally against school suspensions CONTINUED FROM A1

its schools, more than 2,000 days of school were missed due to suspensions K-3 students alone.

Reverend Buena Dudley of Bethel AME Church said she sees it constantly.

“I see Black boys and girls, day after day, sent to inschool suspension,” she said. “It’s impossible to get an education if they are excluded. They have to be there to be trained.”

Glenn Grayson Jr. said when he sees kids in the Hill he always asks how school is. Increasingly, he hears that they are not in school because of suspensions.

“I know a girl who’s a 4.0 student at U-Prep who was suspended four days for being late to class,” he said.

“And as a parent, I’m concerned when I see that 22 percent of the district elementary students have been suspended, and that number is 44 percent at UPrep.”

“Where do they go? I was young. I know what I’d have done with three days

ANGEL GOBER speaking at the protest.

PROTESTORS—Glenn Grayson Jr. speaks at the protest. (Photos by J. L. Martello) off and both parents at work all day long,” he added. “We need an alternative. I know teachers have a hard job, but this has to change.”

Action United member Paulette Foster said the

cycle of suspensions pushes kids out of school and into the “prison pipeline.” A Community Schools model would address that.

“Pushing students out of school runs contrary to the stated goals of the dis-

trict. The district is urging students to ‘be there’ but they are actively pushing out students, especially African American students and those with disabilities,” said Education Rights Network member

Wolf reveals plan to attack lack of affordable housing CONTINUED FROM A1

vania Housing Finance Agency, whose directors made the formal announcement at the Shepherd’s Crossing housing community in Mechanicsburg.

“We are thrilled to partner with DHS and DCED to bring light to this critical issue hindering Pennsylvanians throughout the state,” said Brian Hudson, PHFA executive director and CEO. “We are committed to establishing supportive housing opportunities to the states vulnerable citizens, and maximizing each individual’s chance to succeed.”

According to DHS Secretary Ted Dallas, during 2015, there were 15,421 individuals and families experiencing homelessness

or are at-risk of homelessness, and more than 46 percent of Pennsylvanians have extremely low incomes and are rent-burdened. Another 53,574 Pennsylvanians living in institutions but could live in the community with housing services and supports.

“All of us here today are committed to promoting independence and giving all people, regardless of their age or disability, a voice in choosing where they live,” said Dallas. “If we are successful, the services we provide will match what our clients want and, because community-based care costs about half of institutional care, we can also save millions of taxpayer dollars.”

Dennis Davin, DCED

Secretary, said the plan’s main goal is to coordinate across agencies and levels of government to make housing resources and services more accessible and available to a wide range of individuals.

“It’s a part of our role at DCED to address the needs of Pennsylvania’s communities and through implementation of this plan we can begin to address the need for housing opportunities,” he said.

The plan’s initial steps include: •Using a portion of the “Money Follows the Person” federal grant funds to expand the number of regional housing coordinators across the state from 11 to at least 14.

These coordinators work with local housing au-

thorities and stakeholders to help transition individuals to the community; •Enhancing and expanding use of the housing network database operated by PHFA that can be used to match those who need housing with affordable housing throughout Pennsylvania; •Continuing the “Rapid Rehousing” pilot program that is ongoing in Philadelphia to help those who have had recently become homeless and those with have experienced housing instability find permanent housing; and, •Expanding the use of Medicaid dollars to help move people to stable housing and maintain housing through housingrelated supports.

Valarie Allman. “Schools with high suspension rates don’t boost the achievement of other students and those who are suspended often risk losing access to the Pittsburgh Promise.”

Following the rally, members took their complaints and suggestions inside and presented them to the board at its scheduled public hearing.

“First we need some transparency in the data they report to the state, not just raw numbers but gender, race, age and nature of the suspensions,” said Gober. “And we need an immediate moratorium on PreK-5 suspensions—they are babies. They can’t stand still in line. All these kids need to be nurtured not suspended. Pull them in, don’t push them out.”

(J.L. Martello contributed to this story.)

City to pay Jordan Miles

REV. RODNEY LYDE testifies on community schools.

CONTINUED FROM A1

tice would not bring civil rights charges against the officers because it did not think the case was winnable.

Miles claimed the officers never identified themselves as police and savagely beat him as he was walking from work to his grandmother’s house. The officers said Miles’ injuries resulted from his violent attempts to escape. The settlement ends the appeal.

Even though the parties have agreed to settle, city council still had to approve the distribution. It was scheduled to vote on the settlement May 24.

Community Calendar Market Square Farmers Market

Juneteenth Celebration of Life: Black Tie Event

CONTINUING—The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership presents the 12th Annual Market Square Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Thursday through Oct. 27. The opening day event includes flower bulb and tree giveaways sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. This season will also see the addition of 10 new full and part-time vendors including Two Acres Farms, A519 Chocolate and Pittsburgh Fudge Co. Again this year, Just Harvest’s Fresh Access program will allow credit/debit and food stamp EBT cards to be used to purchase fresh produce, meat, dairy and baked goods.

JUNE 17—Stop the Violence Pittsburgh will honor Men of Distinction and Women of Distinction during its Pittsburgh Legacy Martin R. Delaney Bicentennial Juneteeth Celebration at the SHereton Station Square, 300 West Station Square Drive.

Honorees include: African American Chamber of Commerce Pres. and CEO Doris Carson Williams, former Pittsburgh police Asst. Chief Maurita Bryant, Civil Rights Icon Katie E. Johnson, , CEO & CFO of Rice Enterprises Mitchell Rice, also former Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church pastor Rev. Johnny Monroe, Historian John L. Ford, U.S. Army Col. Paul G. Patton Ret., State Rep. Ed Gainey and Bethel AME Church pastor Rev. Dr. Steven Jackson. Actress Vivica A. Fox will emcee the event from 6 to 10 p.m. Call 724-205-9376 for tickets.

Black Nationalist/ Pan Africanist Speaker JUNE 4—The Seshemet Community Council will host a presentation by the Irritated Genie of Soufeese, 5 p.m. at the YMCA, 7140 Bennett St. in Homewood. The often controversial speaker will address the taboo subject of pedophilia in the Black community in an effort to prevent child molestation and heal those already victimized.

Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Visit www.seshamet.com for more details.

Arthritis Fundraising Walk JUNE 4—The Arthritis Foundation will conduct its Walk to Cure Arthritis, Pittsburgh, on at SouthSide Works on S. Water Street. On-site registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and the Walk begins at 10:00 a.m. This year’s event is free and includes a one, two or three mile walk, a twohour Health and Wellness Fair, refreshments and music provided by DJ Joe Reinhart of Smokin’ Entertainment. WTAETV reporter, Sally Wiggin, will provide welcome remarks. For more information or to register in advance visit www.WalkToCureArthritis.org/Pit tsburgh or call 412-250-3340.

Workforce Experience Program THROUGH JUNE 30—The Urban League of Pittsburgh’s Work Experience program has 38 out-of-quschool youth, ages 16 to 24, available for five hours per week on either a Thursday or Friday for four / six weeks through June 30. The Urban League pays and provides supervision to the participants.

Parties interested in taking on any of these young people may contact Director of Housing Richard Morris at 412-227-4163 to schedule interviews.

Juneteenth Interfaith Memorial Service and Reenactment Parade JUNE 18—A memorial service will be held at 9 a.m. at St. Benedict the Moor followed by Historic re-enactors from across the country join residents at 9 a.m. for a reenactment of the 1870 Freeman’s Jubilee Parade from Freedom Corner, down Center avenue, to Grant street, on to the Blvd of the Allies, to Stanwix street and Third avenue. At 1 p.m. a commemorative and wreath laying service for U.S. Civil War hero Alexander Kelly at the Martin R. Delany historic marker will precede festivities at market Square including Kids-Fun-Zone, Live Bands, Drill Teams, Speakers, DJ’s, Food and Specialty vendors, Singers, Resource Tables, Culture Dance troupes and more.

Corporate Inclusion Conference JUNE 20—The Corporate Equity & Inclusion Roundtable will hold its 4TH Annual Conference at the Duquesne University Power Center Ballroom, 1015 Forbes Avenue, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. Industry Leaders from firms including Highmark, Massaro Construction, UPMC, Duquesne University, Randall Industries, Rivers Casino, the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board and others will share ideas on providing opportunities for employment and advancement, including the Revised Rooney Rule; suppliers with business opportunities, including the Hybrid Rooney Rule, and aiding hose re-entering the workforce, including Ban the Box initiatives. For more information call B-PEP at 412-758-7898.

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

MAY 25-31, 2016

METRO

A5

Norrell, Hayes honored at PBMF awards

FAMILY—Sisters Beverly Norrell-Aitch and Legacy honoree Debbie Norrell.

CONTINUED FROM A1

Award winner, had an iconic, longtime career in journalism at KDKA-TV and he was committed to fairness and truth in his work. Debbie Norrell, the Legacy Award winner, exemplifies the ways in which tenacity can shape lives and propel people forward through challenges. Lorena Amos Brock, winner of the Literacy Champion Award, has empowered generations of young people through her literacy advocacy and founding of book clubs,” said Tory Parish, president of the PBMF. The Co-hosts for the night were Bofta Yimam, the weekend morning anchor of Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 WTAE-TV, and weekday reporter in the field on Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 “This Morning”; and Damany Lewis, WPXI Channel 11’s newest anchor/reporter.

Additionally there was a special performance by ‘INK’ a young teen duo who are currently participants of the YMCA Lighthouse Project; a digital arts & media program which serves high school teens in Homewood and the East end of Pittsburgh.

Award presentations commenced with the Legacy Award presented by Lamont Jones Jr. to honoree, Debbie Norrell, New Pittsburgh Courier Lifestyle Editor for the past 16 years and who has also been a fashion and media icon in Pittsburgh for more that 25 years. Her video montage gave an overview of her ability to reinvent herself thereby creating a stellar career which includes modeling, interviewing national celebrities, acting in commercials and more, all while working full time at USA Bank/Elan Financial as a Client Trainer. Editor and Publisher of the New Pittsburgh Courier Rod Doss said, “I’ve always said that Debbie is the hardest working woman in Pittsburgh.”

The Literacy Champion Awardee, Lorena Amos Brock, was presented by cohosts Yimam and Lewis.

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES—Vaishali Tourani, Duquesne University and Christiana Dillard of University of Pittsburgh.

Brock has worked tirelessly over the years to instill the value of reading to all individuals.

As such she founded “Little African Women” Book Club for teenage girls, as well as Kitabu Kilabu Book Club for women. Thirteen years ago she founded the United Black Book Clubs of Pittsburgh to promote literary activities at the Carnegie Library—Homewood Branch.

PBMF Vice President, Brian A. Cook, Sr., then presented The Lifetime Achievement Award to Harold Hayes in commemoration of his recent retirement from KDKA Channel Two after 40 years. His career created numerous journalistic opportunities all over the country, including a brief stint at WSIV AM/FM radio in Pekin, Illinois where his career began. The bulk of his time in front of the camera, however was spent in Pittsburgh covering everything from breaking news stories to landmark court cases.

Other important highlights of the night included the PBMF scholarship presentations; presented by Urban Journalism Workshop Co-Directors, Olga George and Chris Moore and awarded to Vaishali Tourant, Duquesne University, and Christiana Dillard, University of Pittsburgh. Both young women expressed that their experience in the “Frank Bolden Urban Journalism Workshop” was a once in a lifetime opportunity that they have continued to benefit from as college students.

The “main event” of the night was the presentations to 29 winners of the Awards of Excellence. Submissions were sent from every media outlet in the city, including newspaper and magazine print, columns, editorials, features, feature photos, sports features and more.

Of significant note is that The Literacy Champion Award was an addition this year. Robert L. Vann Media Awards Subcommittee chair, Ervin Dyer, PhD, said, “We wanted to recog-

Hamlet new school superintendent CONTINUED FROM A1

ate, who’d been in education,” she said. “But what did it for me is this candidate had proven that he could move schools in a positive direction, schools with some of the students that were the most challenging.

So I’m excited about his experience and his work ethic.”

In addition to his most recent position, Hamlet served as high school principal, middle school principal; and a principal at an alternative education school. He was a high school teacher for years, and also worked as a behavioral specialist.

Following a brief professional football career as a defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts, in 1992 and 1993, and one year with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League, the University of Miami graduate returned to Florida and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in educational leadership from Nova Southeastern

University in Fort Lauderdale.

In a press statement that also thanked the board for their diligence and Lane for her years of service, Mayor Bill Peduto welcomed Hamlet to the city.

“I’m excited that Dr. Hamlet will be bringing his years of expertise, leadership and commitment to the lives of children to Pittsburgh’s schools, and the greater community as well,” he said. “I look forward to working with him and the PPS Board to further build upon the partnerships we have forged to support children and families throughout the city.”

Hamlet said his priorities in Pittsburgh will be closing the achievement gap for Black students, increasing the graduation rate, investing more in early education, and lure students back to the district from private and charter schools.

“I’ve done the work,” he said. “I know how to do the work.”

(J.L. Martello contributed to this story)

nize individuals and organizations who are active in this community by influencing reading and giving people the skills and ability to care about stories and storytelling.

“We had a sold out event.

We think this speaks to the fact that people care about diverse stories and want to celebrate good storytelling regardless of the community in which it is found.

Also, we have a vibrant PBMF that consists of strong leadership, vital community programming and a membership pushing for excellence and engagement with local media.”

The PBMF was founded in 1973 and all these years has been advocating for diversity in newsrooms, hosting programs that recognize excellent media coverage of minority communities and trains young people to enter the media industry. Officers are President,Tory N. Parrish, Vice President Brian a. Cook, Sr., parliamentarian, Letrell Crittenden and Treasurer, Briana l. White.

A sumptuous meal of Island chicken, red beans and rice, vegetable medley, salad, rolls, ice tea and lemonade was enjoyed by attendees. Rhythm and Blues duo Rhythmic Renaissance provided ongoing sounds through the evening; as well as a spoken word presentation, which opened up and help set the tone for the night.

FAMILY SUPPORT—PBMF Literacy Champion honoree Lorena Amos Brock with the flowers and her family from left: Joyce Bennett, 2016 PBMF Literacy Champion Award is Lorena Amos Brock, Teresa Maynor, Jelani Brock, Gladys Nesbit, and Shirley Biggs. (Photos by J.L. Martello)

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MAY 25-31, 2016

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

OPINION

‘Teenie’ was also a great person

Guest Editorial

The bad fails to overshadow good men It’s easy for the bad to overshadow the good.

That’s what happened, or almost happened, on Friday when dozens of African-American men— including several from Philadelphia—all whom worked in some capacity as Black Male Engagement Community Leaders. They accepted an invitation to the White House to receive the President’s Volunteer Service Award.

But a gunman, who was wounded by a Secret Service agent just as the men were excitedly making their way through security, led to a change in plans for the honorees. An alert prompted the White House to go into lock down. The ceremony was canceled. The community leaders went back to their hotel, where a ceremony was later held.

However, instead of griping about the misfortune of being denied their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, these men expressed thankfulness: for being spared death, for being spared injury, for being able to return home safely to continue the work they loved.

Although our recognition lacks the same fanfare as the White House, the Tribune proudly congratulates the BMe Community Leaders who were recognized on Friday for their service, particularly members of the Philadelphia contingent, which included Wayne Rucker, Malcolm Kenyatta, Isaiah Thomas, Sulaiman Rahman, Mont Brown, Brian Sprowal, Otis Bullock, Thomas Butler, Reuben Jones, Samuel Reed, Rashaun Williams and Jeff Jones.

White House dignitaries—Michael Smith, special assistant to President Barack Obama, and Asim Mishra, Chief of Staff Corporation for National Community Service—attended the ceremony at the Renaissance Hotel where the men were staying.

The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes and celebrates Americans who have a positive influence as engaged and committed volunteers, according to the organization.

As a Miami-based nonprofit that provides a network of people committed to building prosperous communities for Black men, BMe says its volunteers are from some of the country’s “most resilient cities.” Aside from Philadelphia, the other cities include Baltimore, Detroit, Miami, Pittsburgh and Akron, Ohio.

The organization says its membership includes family members, coaches, students and businessmen who have provided their communities with 500 or more hours of service in contributing to the goal of building better Black communities.

Congratulations men, on a job well done. We will not let a gunman overshadow your good works.

(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune.)

Pittsburgh Courier NEW

Founded 1910

Rod Doss

Editor & Publisher Stephan A. Broadus Assistant to the Publisher

Allison Palm

Eric Gaines

Office Manager

Advertising Manager

Ulish Carter

Jeff Marion

Managing Editor

Circulation Consultant

John H. Sengstacke Editor & Publisher Emeritus (1912-1997)

Charles “Teenie” Harris would be proud of what Pittsburgh as a whole and the Carnegie Museum of Art in particular are doing to preserve his work.

“Teenie” loved Pittsburgh, and had a very special love for its people. He loved taking pictures, thus he captured Pittsburghers, especially Black Pittsburghers, in all walks of life, during good times and bad. If one wants to look at the history of Blacks in Pittsburgh all they have to do is look through the many photos of “Teenie” Harris.

Even though he was known as “one-shot Teenie”, there were many tines he took multiple shots of an event, to completely capture it.

It was a pleasure on my part to have worked with “Teenie” in sports, news and social events during my first few years with the Courier as a young reporter. Not being able to afford a car at the time, I would ride out to many of my assignments with “Teenie.” Boy was he a talker. I received several history lessons to and from events. It didn’t matter the topic, politics, news, money, gambling or the numbers, entertainment, sports or women. Rich people, poor people or in between.

He owned his own photo business, as well as being the fulltime photographer for the Courier.

He never was much on money, but anytime you saw him he was dressed like he was loaded, his dress was spotless, all he wanted to do was take pictures and talk to the people.

He loved people, he loved being around them, and he was a happygo-lucky person. He would always make a grand entrance when he came to the Courier office.

Good luck Dominique Luster, the Teenie Harris Archivist for the Carnegie Museum of Art. *** MAD DADS are expanding from Wilkinsburg into Homewood, and later they hope to expand all over the Pittsburgh area.

Who is MAD DADS? Men Against Destruction Defending Against

starving.

J.C. Watts, who used to be a prominent Black Republican, is heading the national effort to Feed the Children. It’s good to see that he’s doing something extremely positive with his life instead of following the GOP efforts to block anything President Obama proposes. *** In a recent story Jerry Lopes, Drugs and Social Disorder. Basically AURN president of Program Operawhat these men, young and old, try to tions and Affiliations stated that do is talk to the many brothers on AURN, NNPA, Access 1 and Essence the streets selling drugs, using drugs, magazine will co-host a presidential and killing each other. Many of the debate between Hillary Clinton and MAD DADS members have been Donald Trump. If this occurs it will there, done that, so they know the be a great feat. down side, that there is no future for It’s about time that high profile the young men involved in it because Black Media work together in bringthey generally end up dead, in jail, ing information to the Black commustrung out on drugs or in the hospital nity. or at home not able to function beLopes said that they are going to cause of health problems caused by hold it here in Pittsburgh in the Auexcessive drug use or gun shot gust Wilson Center. Why do I say it wounds. will be great? Because in the past the We are in the year 2016 and condiBlack media have not worked totions for young Black males are getgether at the national level. When ting worse when it comes to jobs, Barack Obama was first elected preshealth and income. They have virtuident there was a lot of talk about ally no power in their homes, commu- unity but not much. nity, city or this country because so But AURN has led the way in that many see no future so they are choos- they are among the very few Black ing drugs over education which leads media with a reporter among the to no jobs, or low paying jobs.

White House press crew in April Hopefully other Black males will Ryan. join forces with these men to help My question to the Black-owned keep our youth off the streets, out of media money people at the top is jails and out of caskets. why can’t Johnson Publications, *** NNPA, AURN, Access 1, TV One and Apparently Feed The Children was others get together and continue the a big success in Pittsburgh’s Hill Dis- work Lopes is saying he has started. trict recently. Hundreds of people got Hopefully this move by AURN is for food, around 400 families. real, and that it will lead to forcing The tragedy of this is that in 2016 the rest of the Black-owned media there are still hungry children in to work together as well. He said America. Especially when you think that this is just the first step, and about all the money being poured there will be other joint ventures to into politics today. Think of how get information out to the commumany children and adults we could nity. feed with just a fraction of this Working together as a unit we are money. much stronger, because we all know I don’t understand how politicians that no one Black unit has the money who claim to be Christians, or Musto go it alone, but together we can. lims could with a clear conscious ac(Ulish Carter is the managing editor of the cept all this money when children are New Pittsburgh Courier.)

Ulish Carter

Just Sayin’

America must renew its infrastructure or face decline (GEORGE CURRY MEDIA)— America is literally falling apart. In Flint, Mich., children were poisoned by the lead contamination of the water. In Washington, D.C., the subway system is plagued by fires and delays. Arlington Memorial Bridge— which connects the North to the South, the Capitol to Arlington National Cemetery—may have to be closed soon. Kennedy’s eternal flame may burn forever, but the bridge is on its last legs.

The American Society of Civil Engineers released a report last week once more warning the country of a massive investment deficit—an estimated $1.4 trillion shortfall over the next 10 years—coming on top of years of underfunding and neglect.

This isn’t a matter of money. The Obama administration has announced it plans to spend more than $1 trillion to build a new generation of nuclear weapons and the planes, missiles and submarines that deliver them. These are weapons that can never be used. We have spent more than $2 trillion on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to date, with the final costs estimated at $4 to $6 trillion. The war in Afghanistan—an impoverished country where we have no strategic interest—is already the longest in our history and continuing.

We have the money. U.S. corporations stash trillions abroad to avoid paying taxes. If they paid what they owe—now estimated to be $700 billion—it would provide a down pay-

Jesse Jackson Sr.

Commentary ment on rebuilding America. The federal tax on gasoline—dedicated to paying for infrastructure—has not been raised since 1993, even though gas prices have plummeted.

Interest rates on U.S. bonds are now so low that the Treasury could issue Rebuild America bonds, put people to work to rebuild the country—and the growth and increased productivity that results would generate revenues to repay the bonds.

Even establishment economists such as Lawrence Summers argue that the program would literally pay for itself. And it would respond to the pleas of the bastion of economic conservatism—the International Monetary Fund—that is pleading with the U.S. and other advanced countries to expand public investment to forestall a return to recession. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that the U.S. will suffer a stunning $4 trillion in lost GDP by 2025 from the costs of decaying tunnels, railways, waterways and other basic infrastructure. It will cost us more to decay than it would to rebuild.

But Washington is frozen. The Republican Congress rejects President Obama’s modest plans for infrastructure investment, though they are supported by a massive coalition that includes the conservative Chamber of Commerce as well as the AFL-CIO. All three presidential candidates call for expanding investment in infrastructure (although only Bernie Sanders comes close to meeting the shortfall that the civil engineers warn about). But it will require a wave election—a sweeping rebuke to the obstructionist Republican Congress— for anything to happen.

This is how great nations decline. Investments that are essential to any modern civilized nation—from schools and bridges to electric grids and clean water systems—are neglected. Money is squandered on foreign adventures or lost to the tax evasions of corporations and the rich. Private speculators profit from privatizing public services.

We build the most modern and powerful military in the world but are ever more crippled by decaying services that we depend on every day.

Politics as usual won’t change this. It will change only if people rise up and hold their politicians accountable.

How many bridges must collapse or children must be poisoned or businesses must be shuttered before that happens?

(Jesse L. Jackson Sr. is founder and president of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition. You can keep up with his work at www.rainbowpush.org)

I saw these ‘stunning’ news anchors and my jaw didn’t drop (NNPA)—If you are like me, you sometimes find yourself surfing the Web when you are supposed to be doing something more important. You may notice “click bait” that poses questions like, “What has happened to these childhood stars?” or offers, “Secrets of the Mayans revealed.” Well, the other day I noticed one that concerned a list with dozens of allegedly, gorgeous news anchors called “News Anchors Who Will Make Your Jaw Drop.” Out of curiosity, I decided to take a look. Let me tell you what I found.

The list was all women. I mention that because my wife’s first comment was that there are many male news anchors and that some of them are good looking. For some reason I did not assume that there would be any men, but that may be my own blindness.

The second thing was that they were reasonably attractive, they tended to be on the younger side, and there was not one identifiable Black

Bill Fletcher Jr.

Commentary woman among them. The story does not stop there.

The list included Europeans, EuroAmericans (Whites), Latinas and Asians. Yet the characteristics of all of the women were European. The Latinas were all light-skinned, not one looking Afro-Latina or, for that matter, indigenous. The Asians were all quite light, with Western looks, and with not one of them looking like the browner Asians one might find in Guam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Malaysia or Indonesia, not to mention, South Asia.

I kept assuming that I would come

across at least one identifiable Black news anchor. There were a couple that looked like they might have a little African in them somewhere, but I felt that I was reaching.

Despite periodic initiatives towards Black pride and defeating efforts to erase Blackness from the mainstream, the White supremacist bias always finds a way to raise its ugly head. Beauty remains a category defined largely in European terms with a dismissal of the very notion that beauty can take myriad forms.

This situation is not remedied by the selection of one identifiably Black person to fill a quota. It really goes to the very basic question of how one defines beauty and breaking with the assumption that the closer we are to the purer European—whatever that means—the more beautiful we become.

I will leave it at that.

(Bill Fletcher Jr. is a talk show host, writer and activist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and at www.billfletcherjr.com.)

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Has the U.S. given up on school desegregation?

(GEORGE CURRY MEDIA)—May 17 marked the 62nd anniversary of the landmark Brown v.

Board of Education decision outlawing so-called separate but equal public schools. As usual, the annual anniversary of the Supreme Court decision prompts reflection and an examination of the status of school desegregation in the United States.

The decision effectively superseded the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision upholding racial segregation. In an earlier case, Chief Justice Roger G. Taney wrote in the Dred Scott decision in 1857 that he believed that Blacks “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the Negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever profit could be made by it.”

Brown was lauded as a long overdue break with that kind of defective thinking and was expected to pave the way for the equal treatment of all of the nation’s citizens. Not only were the public schools not immediately desegregated in the wake of Brown, more than six decades later, we seem less committed to school desegregation.

A research paper produced by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA documents a troubling trend.

“Since 1970, the public school enrollment has increased in size and transformed in racial composition. Intensely segregated nonwhite schools with zero to 10 percent White enrollment have more than tripled in this most recent 25-year period for which we have data, a period deeply influenced by major Supreme Court decisions (spanning from 1991 to 2007) that limited desegregation policy,” the paper stated. “At the same time, the extreme isolation of White students in schools with 0 to 10 percent nonwhite students has declined by half as the share of White students has dropped sharply.”

George E. Curry

Commentary Over the years, the Civil Rights Project has identified the most severely segregated states as New York and Illinois, followed closely by Michigan and New Jersey. Maryland and California have now joined that group. Michigan, partly because of a shrinking public school base, has dropped in the rankings.

“Because of the dramatic changes in southern segregation produced by the enforcement of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, none of the 17 states that completely segregated schools by law (e.g., the type of mandatory segregation that was the focus of the Brown decision) have headed this list since 1970—in spite of the fact that twelve of them have higher shares of black students than the most segregated states today.

The ironic historic reality is that the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court supported very demanding desegregation standards for the South while the interpretation of Supreme Court decisions and federal legislation limited the impact of Brown in the North and West.”

It wasn’t until almost two decades after Brown that the Supreme Court issued a school desegregation order involving a district outside those 17 states. That decision, Milliken v. Bradley, covered the city of Detroit, but not most surrounding suburban districts.

The report also noted, “The statistics we report ... show that all racial groups are experiencing a stunning increase in the average share of poor students attending their schools... Over a 20-year period, the proportion of poor students (as defined by federal standards for subsidized or free lunch eligibility) in the school of the typical White student has shot up from 17 percent to 40 percent, which is actually higher than the school poverty level was, on average, for Black students at the beginning of the same period. Black students at that time were in schools where low-income students made up 37 percent of their peers. In 2013, that same figure for Black students is 68 percent, identical to the number reported for Latino students.”

Authors of the report state that the family income and race of students matters.

“Black and Latino students were in the most impoverished schools two decades earlier but those schools had a clear majority of non-poor classmates. Now the pattern is reversed, so that Black and Latino students attend schools with substantial majorities—two-thirds—of poor classmates.

This double segregation means serious isolation from racial and class diversity and exposure to the many problems that systematically afflict poor families and communities.”

It added, “The Civil Rights Project has issued many reports on these enrollment changes and their impacts on segregation of schools across the country in the last 20 years,” it noted. “We have done that because of massive and growing research evidence that (1) segregation creates unequal opportunities and helps perpetuate stratification in the society and (2) diverse schools have significant advantages, not only for learning and attainment but for the creation of better preparation for all groups to live and work successfully in a complex society which will have no racial majority.”

The report recommended, “The need for governmental action is urgent, and while the Obama Administration’s recent efforts are an encouraging first step, the magnitude and complexity of these issues requires more substantial efforts.

“Given the expanding and deeply rooted nature of segregation highlighted here, the sustained focus of all three branches and levels of government is desperately needed. It will also take efforts beyond schools, such as serious economic strategies to raise the income of families so that they have enough money to pay for their children’s school lunches and meet other basic needs.”

(George E. Curry is President and CEO of George Curry Media, LLC. He is the former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA. He can be reached through his Web site, georgecurry.com.)

MAY 25-31, 2016 A7

FORUM

We must become more concerned about us There is an old Mr. Charlie, this saying that has Louis ‘Hop’ Kendrick time he lost by become increasfive to one. Much ingly disturbing had changed, but and troubling, do much remained you recall “The the same. About more things seven of us who change the more were Republicans they remain the decided that this same.” situation was not In the 1950s the acceptable so we Mayor of Pittsburgh initiated a neigh- met with the colored candidate to draft borhood development program titled a strategy that we could win with. We Renaissance 1, which was the beginning decided that he should campaign all of the total demolition of the 3rd ward, summer instead of election time and we lower Hill District. The ward histori- bought 1000 small pocket mirrors with cally had been overwhelmingly White a printed message that simply said, and this was the beginning of White “When you vote, vote for a person that flight. Our White neighbors moved to looks like the one in the mirror,“ and he Stanton Heights, Squirrel Hill, and the was a winner. It was not an easy camSouth Hills sections of Pittsburgh. How- paign to win. It took an awful lot of ever these same persons did not move work. An elderly colored woman their political registrations they re- smacked him for daring to oppose Mr. mained voters in the lower Hill District, Charlie; others cussed him and mocked which contained empty buildings, va- him. I remember colored voters would cant lots, and 10 to 12 alleged voters in say to us your candidate has no educaone family homes. Once the White per- tion and our response was he has twice sons had moved 90 percent of the re- as much as your candidate. They would maining citizens were colored [we were say your candidate is not articulate, but not Black yet]. The political makeup in our response was yours can hardly the ward still only had one colored per- speak English. Some would holler the son as a committee person the other 31 colored guy should have stayed in Alwere still White. Much had changed, but abama but once again we reminded much remained the same. them their candidate came from EuI lived in the 3rd Ward, 9th District rope. and the committeeman was rated as the I have repeated this political victory best vote getter in the Allegheny County episode many times because it proves Democratic Party, because he often how effective racial pride can be but would have more voters in the 9th dis- we overwhelmingly have gotten away trict than were registered. Ironically his from yesterday when we were “I am name was Mr. Charlie. There came a pe- Black and I am proud,” “Black is beauriod of time that a colored man in the tiful.” district had the courage and the convicWe no longer focus on the building of tion to oppose Mr. Charlie for the com- the Black communities by building mitteeman position. The district then strong Black committed leadership. We was 90 percent colored and 10 percent allow persons to not serve us, but rather White, and seven to one reelected Mr. enslave us trading us to those who conCharlie. Once again much had changed, trol the Democratic Party.

(Louis “Hop” Kendrick is a contributor to the but much remained the same. The next election the same colored man opposed New Pittsburgh Courier.)

To Tell The Truth

Airport lines and developing virtues In 2011 the stated not enough United Nations J. Pharoah Doss people signed up World Food Profor the new program began emergram. gency food airlifts But TSA didn’t to the droughtstop there; they stricken Horn of suggested the Africa. biggest problem Sounds like a rouwas passenger pretine operation, but paredness.

TSA after the first airlift mentioned more UN reports said, “Additional flights are people are traveling with carry on bags, expected to go next week …But were de- and bringing more things that are not layed by logistical problems in Kenya.” airline industry standard. For example, In unofficial terms the famished, had a TSA spokesman claimed 10 screento wait. ings can take place in a matter of minMost Americans saw the situation as utes when passengers don’t have “water problems of the “developing world” that bottles and pocket knives.” are never encountered in the United The Department of Homeland SecuStates. rity felt pressured to remind America’s But which problem was these Ameri- frequent flyers that their job is to keep cans proud of not encountering, starva- them safe and Homeland Security won’t tion or waiting? neglect their duty to stop terrorist. AcRecently, newspapers reported: Long cording to the Heritage Foundation’s Security Lines at Airports 2013 special report on terrorism, there And Americans all across the country have been 60 terrorist plots since 9/11, had to wait.

56 were foiled and four were successful, In the “over developed world” technol- and of the 154 people arrested or killed ogy has sped up production and granted for plotting terror attacks 77 had US citinstant access, so for Americans accus- izenship. tomed to “first class” accommodations But for many travelers terrorism is a waiting is a “third world” experience poor excuse, no first class citizen of the and they rather starve. “over developed world” should have to At some airports, lines during peak wait. hours have topped 90 minutes, and travBut the problem isn’t waiting. elers that refused to wait snaked up and The problem is America is a culture of down escalators and through food complaint in a climate of terror. courts to reach terminal lobbies to board Americans can’t change the climate, but their flights.

Americans can change the culture.

(Those that waited for UN airlifts durIn the meantime, the Department of ing the drought probably found this Homeland Security asked travelers to “first world” activity of sneaking through be patient. food courts a peculiar act of prosperity.)

But that’s a more problematic request Frustrated travelers believe the because in the “over developed world” stalled security checks are due to un- patience is a “developing” virtue, and derstaffing. the impatient aren’t going to get accusIn the past three years congress elimi- tomed to any more “third world” experinated over 4,600 front-line screeners be- ences after waiting.

(J. Pharoah Doss is a contributor to the New cause a program called Pre-Check was suppose to speed up the process, but the Pittsburgh Courier. He blogs at jpharoahTransportation Security Administration doss@blogspot.com)

Commentary

Letters to the editor for publication 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.

Susan Smith

Commentary

The myth of equality (GEORGE CURRY MEDIA)—As a child growing up, I found solace in words found in the Declaration of Independence and in the Holy Bible. The Declaration of Independence says “all men are created equal...” and the Holy Bible says that God loves everyone, and that Jesus showed the agape love that was of and from God. If a person had God, I reasoned, and if a person followed the words of this nation’s Declaration of Independence, then, surely, some of the injustice, particularly racial injustice that I saw around me would surely become a thing of the past.

The myth of equality with and acceptance by “the majority population,” however, was just that -a myth. The beloved Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves, we were taught, was no champion for the human rights of Black people. He wasn’t interested in the well-being of Black people. In a letter he wrote to General Henry Halleck, one of the Union commanders, he wrote: “I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. My paramount struggle is to save the Union and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could to it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because it helps to save the Union...”

In the Lincoln-Douglas debate on Aug. 27, 1858, Lincoln was equally direct: “I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races, that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”

The hero, it seems, was not so much a hero but was rather a calculating politician. Not even the Great Emancipator was a friend to Black people.

Likewise, the Christian Bible purports to express the will of God in how people should be treated; it was summed up in the so-called “Golden Rule,” found in the Book of Matthew: “So whatever you wish that others do to you, do also to them.” It seemed cut and dry. Humans were to treat each other with respect.

But it was yet another myth. The rule applied to human beings. Black people were not humans, as declared in the Constitution. Therefore, White Christian people were not obligated to treat them with respect and honor. In Mississippi, Rev. John Reed Miller, a Presbyterian, declared, in the height of the Civil Rights Movement, “The heart of the gospel is not the treatment of others but ...”Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Neither Miller nor many to most White people in the South saw any contradiction in that perception of God and interpretation of Scripture.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and it seems that the same lack of protection for Black people is still in place.

The Black Lives Matter Movement seems to have been at least partly predicated on the belief that this system — secular and sacred — is not equipped or is at least not interested in protecting the lives of Black people.

While Whites and some Blacks might balk at the phrase “Black lives matter,” it seems that in spite of the law and the cross, there has been and is no stop-gap to the discrimination doled out and administered to people of color. The political system has been unwilling to save and protect Black people, and God has chosen not to step in and soften the hearts of people who hate based on the color of one’s skin or religion.

As one who has struggled for affirmation from both the state and the Church, I recognize The epoch of inequality continues, and, it seems, will not ease up. The seedlings of inequality, both political and economic, coupled with a court and justice system that has mocked the rights of and for Black people, took root long ago and are not going to be pulled up, not now. And God will remain silent, as “the least of these” continue to grapple with God’s silence and inaction in the midst of such abject discrimination of God’s own children.

(Rev. Susan K Smith is an ordained minister who lives in Columbus, Ohio. Reach her by emailing revsuekim@sbcglobal.net)

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MAY 25-31, 2016

National Black Political Convention returns to Gary, Ind. June 9-12

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

NATIONAL

WASHINGTON (George Curry Media)—Two of the last three remaining presidential candidates—former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders—have agreed to participate in a forum in Gary, Ind. and submit to questions of particular importance to African Americans. An invitation to Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has been extended and he is expected to attend.

The presidential forum is part of the National Black Political Convention, which will return to Gary, Ind. June 9-12, more than 40 years after the historic 1972 gathering.

This year’s convention is being co-convened by former Gary Mayor Richard G. Hatcher, one of the original conveners of the 1972 convention; Tuskegee, Ala. Mayor Johnny Ford, who was founding chair of the World Conference of Mayors and founding co-chair of the National Policy Alliance; Gary, Ind. Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka; Roy Charles Brooks, Commission Tarrant County, Texas; Webster Guillory, Founding cochair of the National Policy Alliance; and Thelma Moore, former chair of the National Association of Black County Officials (NABCO).

The presidential forum, scheduled for Saturday, June 11, will be moderated

by George E. Curry, editorin-chief of EmergeNewsOnline.com. He will be joined in the questioning of candidates by Chinta Strausberg, a reporter for the Chicago and Gary Crusader Newspapers, and Webster Guillory, retired tax assessor of Orange County, Calif.

“The 1972 National Black Political Convention in Gary was the kickoff to what became the powerful

POLITICAL REVOLUTION—This March 12, 1972 file photo shows the late poet and social activist Amiri Baraka speaking during the Black Political Convention in Gary, Ind. (AP Photo/Julian C. Wilson, File) Black political revolution, which led to the election of more Black political leaders than had been elected in the United States since Reconstruction,” the organizers said in a statement.

“Now is the time for Black America to return to Gary, convene a second National Black Political Convention; recharge our batteries; develop a Black agenda, and announce it to the world, and leave Gary prepared to implement that agenda.”

That agenda will be developed at next month’s convention, which will be held at the Genesis Convention Center. Positions are expected be taken on such issues as education, justice, energy, voting rights, gun control, health, environment, economic opportunity and the treatment of Black veterans.

In addition to Saturday’s presidential candidates forum, on Friday there will be an intergenerational Town Hall discussion.

The first convention had as its theme, “Black Politics at the Crossroads.” The agenda included:

Home rule for Washington, D.C. Establish a national network of community health centers Establish a system of national health insurance Elimination of capital punishment Create a new urbanbased homestead act Government guarantee of $5,200 income for a family of four Minimum wage guarantee of $2.50 Establish a Black United Fund Effective enforcement of anti-trust legislation To register for convention and obtain more information on this year’s convention, go to theNBPC.com.

Conveners of this year’s convention said, “We must set our agenda as Black Americans, and be able to say to both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention, ‘We in Black America have set our agenda and if you want our vote and support, then you must consider the Black agenda...’”

Bill Cosby ordered to stand trial in decade-old sex case

by Maryclare Dale and Michael R. Sistak Associated Press Writers

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) —Bill Cosby was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on sexual assault charges after a hearing that hinged on a decade-old police report in which a woman said the comedian gave her three blue pills that put her in a stupor, unable to stop his advances.

District Judge Elizabeth McHugh ruled that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to bring Cosby to trial in the lone criminal case brought against him out of the barrage of allegations that he drugged and molested dozens of women.

A trial date was not immediately set.

Cosby, 78, could get 10 years in prison if convicted.

“Mr. Cosby, good luck to you, sir,” the judge said.

“Thank you,” said the former TV star, who stood up briskly after the ruling and seemed chipper and unsurprised. He hugged one of his lawyers.

The judge set an arraignment for July 20, at which time he could enter a plea.

But Cosby waived his right to appear at that proceeding. That sets the case on a trajectory for trial.

The preliminary hearing was not the face-to-face confrontation between accuser and accused that some had anticipated: Andrea Constand, the former Temple University athletic department employee who said Cosby violated her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004, was not in the courtroom, and the judge ruled that she did not have to testify at this stage.

Instead, prosecutors had portions of her 2005 statement to police read into the record.

While authorities in recent months have para-

Bill Cosby (Dominick Reuter/Pool Photo via AP) phrased her account and quoted fragments, this was apparently the first time that large sections of her statement—or Cosby’s, for that matter—were made public.

Constand told police in 2005 that the comedian penetrated her with his fingers after giving her pills that made her legs “rubbery” and “like jelly.” ‘’Everything was blurry and dizzy. I felt nauseous,” she said.

“I told him, ‘I can’t even talk, Mr. Cosby.’ I started to panic,” she told police.

She said she awoke with her bra askew and did not remember undoing it.

In her statement, she said Cosby told her the pills were herbal medication.

She said he also urged her to sip wine even though she said had not eaten and didn’t want to drink.

Earlier Tuesday, the comedian walked into the courthouse on the arm of an aide, waving to people waiting outside. He looked healthier than he did when he was charged in December, and was not carrying a cane this time.

Prosecutors reopened the case last year after dozens of women leveled similar al-

legations and after Cosby’s sealed deposition in Constand’s lawsuit was made public.

He settled her lawsuit for an undisclosed sum in 2006 after testifying about his extramarital affairs, his use of quaaludes to seduce women and his efforts to hide payments to former lovers from his wife.

The testimony and the barrage of allegations have all but destroyed Cosby’s nice-guy image from TV’s “Cosby Show.”

Cosby’s lawyers are trying to get the case thrown out, arguing that a previous prosecutor a decade ago made a binding promise that the comic would never be charged. On Monday, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court rejected a request to delay the preliminary hearing while Cosby pursues a dismissal.

Cosby has not entered a plea since his Dec. 30 arrest.

He is free on $1 million bail.

He is also fighting defamation lawsuits across the country for allegedly branding his accusers liars and is trying to get his homeowner insurance to pay his legal bills.

Constand is now a massage therapist in Toronto.

New Pittsburgh Courier

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SCHOOL CHOICE

Superintendent Linda Lane ‘Thank you, Pittsburgh!’

MAY 25-31, 2016

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

LINDA LANE It has been my pleasure and privilege to serve for the past nine and half years in the Pittsburgh Public Schools! Life can take some unexpected turns; had anyone told me that I would close my 45-year career, as a public school educator at the helm of PPS, I would have scoffed at the idea!

This was not something you foresee when you turn up in 1971, for your first full time substitute assignment, taking the place of a first grade teacher who broke her leg.

God has had a plan for me, and as I have gotten older, many things which made no sense to me at the time, now are part of a pattern, the tapestry reveals itself.

My passion was and still is for doing what I can to provide children and youth the best possible educational experience so they can reach their goals, not our goals for them. As family members, community and educators this means beginning with the one thing we cannot teach or learn—you have to love them first. Loving them and making sure they know it, is the foundation of the relationship with children. That relationship is what opens children as well as adults to the risk of learning something new- when success may not come easy! The question in their eyes is, “Do you think I can learn or not?” And they size us up quickly as to the answer. Love is sometimes tough- a friend of mine called it, “On their case and on their side.” Love them enough to do what is best, even when it is not popular with them. Even when they lobby for that additional snow day!

One of the most gratifying things about this city is the Civic Engagement and support, nothing like I had ever seen. Civic engagement is not the same as civic agreement, however, the multiple perspectives at the table make for a richer, if not an easier process. This is one of the many things which can contribute to a positive future, for Pittsburgh.

We all have full recognition of the issue of

“two Pittsburghs” as Mayor Peduto described it, with vastly different life outcomes, that correlate with race. These include income, safety and health for African Americans. Changing this will continue to demand an inclusive approach with focused effort- Collective Impact. University of Pittsburgh 2007-2011 research provides the data about income—African Americans in Pittsburgh earn about half what whites earn, and our gap is larger than the national average.

Educational attainment the most potent way to change the trajectory of a student and also changes it for their family. Our District has made some progress: encouraging us to soldier on. This includes the increase in the graduation rate, from 63.5 percent to 71 percent with African American boys. Thanks to our teachers and leaders and the work of our African American men who mentor some of our boys, and the generous support of the Heinz Endowments there has been an increase in Promise eligibility for our African American male students from 19 percent to 39 percent. The rate of passing scores for our African American students on the advanced placement tests, which carry college credit when passed, have gone from 20 percent to 45 percent. Suspensions are reduced by 40 percent.

This of course is still a journey with many miles to go! I truly wish the best for the District as it moves ahead and look forward to reading about further progress.

You do not need my encouragement to continue the long and storied history of Pittsburghers who made the support for issues of equity and racial justice their calling, but you have it.

My husband and I look forward to abiding in Pittsburgh, now home for us, and helping out as we can! Again, thank you all for your support over the past nine and a half years!

Linda Lane

Connect Four S.T.E.M. Academy Inc.

Facility Overview: Conveniently located in the heart of Verona, Pa. The foundation of Connect Four STEM Academy Inc. is the first of its kind, and has captivated a market that serves a wide variety of demographics. With access to sixteen acres of land, full cafeteria, indoor and outdoor gymnasium, baseball/soccer field, STEM laboratory, and individual classrooms. Connect Four STEM Academy Inc. is raising the standard when it comes to the early childhood learning industry.

Connect Four STEM Academy Inc. embodies a holistic approach to learn-

ing as we seek to integrate multiple layers of meaning and experience to the world of education. The concept is the holistic approach because we believe that embracing a child’s entire circumstance will help foster future success. The approach is accomplished by integrating education, home environment, community environment, and holistic well being, while empowering our early learners and their families.

Mission “To prepare early learners for kindergarten through holistic approaches that exposes every student to connecting the components of Science, Technology, Engi-

neering, and Math while building a solid foundation for a better global future.”

The Connect Four brand stands for academic excellence of all early learners regardless of any circumstance or challenges that arise.

Vision To represent and guarantee excellence, success, and preparation for the early learner classes of 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, etc. We stand with firm belief and confidence that all children graduating from Connect Four STEM Academy Inc. will succeed in any school system and or district that they enter.

CCAC South Campus Theatre to host production of August Wilson’s ‘Fences’ PITTSBURGH—The Community College of Allegheny County South Campus Theatre, in collaboration with Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, will present the award-winning Fences by August Wilson at 7:30 p.m. on June 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25.

A powerful drama set in 1950s Pittsburgh, the play is the sixth in Wilson’s 10-part “American Century Cycle.” Like each of the plays, Fences explores the changing African-American experience and race relations, among many other themes. The play, which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play, was chosen for CCAC’s 50th Anniversary performance because of Wilson’s and the play’s strong association with Pittsburgh, according to George Jaber, CCAC Theatre professor and department head.

A seven-member cast from the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company will perform the play on a set designed and constructed by CCAC students and staff. The running of the show will be a collaboration of the company and the college. CCAC’s and PPTC’s production of Fences is timely, with a new movie version starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis currently being filmed in Pittsburgh’s Hill District where Wilson spent his early years.

Mark Clayton Southers, founder and artistic director of the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, said, “The play deals with a lot of aspects of the human condition, such as truth, honor and betrayal. The South Campus Theatre is a beautiful space, and I think it’s going to play well there.”

The public is invited to attend a preshow reception with a 1950s barbecue theme, which will be held on opening night at 6:00 p.m. Attendees can also view a new mosaic tile installation cre-

ated by CCAC art students under the direction of renowned installation artist Laura Jean McLaughlin. The unveiling of the installation will take place near the main entrance of the campus at 6:45 p.m.

A suggested donation of $5 will benefit the 50th Anniversary South Campus Scholarship Fund. Non-perishable food items for the Campus Cupboard South Food Pantry will also be accepted.

For more information, call 412-4696219. The CCAC South Campus Theatre is located at 1750 Clairton Road, West Mifflin, Pa., 15122.

This event is just one of many exciting activities CCAC is holding throughout the year to which the public is invited to celebrate the college’s 50th anniversary.

Each event showcases the uniqueness of CCAC and the vibrancy and diversity of its student body. For more information about CCAC’s 50th Anniversary, go to: http://50.ccac.edu/ About the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) CCAC annually educates nearly 30,000 credit students through more than 150 degree, certificate, diploma and transfer programs and offers thousands of students access to noncredit and workforce development courses. The learning-centered institution’s mission is to provide affordable access to quality education and offer a dynamic, diverse and supportive learning environment that prepares the region’s residents for academic, professional and personal success in our changing global society. CCAC’s quality programs enable students to transfer credits to approximately 500 colleges and universities and support regional workforce needs with accessible instruction available day, evening, weekend and online in Allegheny County and beyond.

(Visit www.ccac.edu to learn more.)

Holy Family Academy Work Study operation corporate Holy Family Academy is an affordable, innovative Catholic high school founded on the belief that every student, regardless of race, religion, or economic status should have access to a rigorous private education that includes career preparedness.

Holy Family Academy students are encouraged to explore multiple career pathways, whether that includes college or job training.

Applicants must pass an entrance exam to verify that they meet certain academic standards.

A rigorous and innovative curriculum is made possible by an experienced faculty, small classes and academic partners such as The Citizen Science Lab at the Energy Innovation Center, Carnegie Science Center, and Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild.

In the school’s curriculum, science, technology, engineering and math combine with art, religion and design to advance critical thinking and problem solving.

Classrooms are equipped with modern technology, each student is given a laptop, and use of computers is an integral part of all aspects of the students’ educa-

tion.

The Holy Family Academy work study program is new to Pittsburgh, but is inspired by established programs in many other US cities, such as Boston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Memphis, Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles.

Students work one day each week at some of Pittsburgh’s premier employers completing tasks and projects typical of entry level positions.

The professional setting provides the students with experiences that reinforce the future-ready skills introduced in the classroom, including communication, delivering quality work, collaboration, and decision making.

Students earn four credits towards graduation while exploring career options and building self-esteem, self-confidence, and optimism.

Sponsoring companies, in turn, are developing Pittsburgh’s skilled workforce while creating a diverse pool of future applicants for themselves.

Families also benefit from the tuition underwriting provided by the work study program because Holy Family Academy assesses tuition based on a family’s ability to pay.

Role of Work Study supervisor Each student is matched to an organization and a designated supervisor. The primary responsibil- ity of the supervisor is to provide students with a challenging and educa- tional work experience that incorporates tasks that are of value to the organization.

Supervisors will: •Establish a plan for stu- dent tasks each week •Explain and monitor adherence to safety guidelines and expected office rules (e.g., phone and internet use) •Act as the main point of contact should weather, illness, etc. change a student’s schedule •Coordinate the student’s schedule of work in other departments, when applicable •Provide weekly online feedback regarding the student’s performance and professionalism Holy Family Academy values the investment that work supervisors place in student success, and we provide support

toward this success. This begins with a supervisor orientation session just prior to the start of school where the Academy staff share expectations and guidelines, and experienced work supervisors provide insight from prior years.

Each student is also assigned a Career Coach

who acts as a mentor outside of the work environment while serving as the primary contact for the student’s work supervisor.

Staff also visits each work environment and student supervisor quarterly to review the overall work experience in person.

Work Study Program Logistics Each student works one day each week from September through May. Students remain with the same organization for the full academic year and may return to the organi- zation in future years.

Work hours are generally 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Some work schedules are slightly shorter or longer depending on location. Students wear school uniforms

to work, are provided with a boxed lunch, and Holy Family Academy coordinates transportation.

Many organizations sponsor multiple students. In the 2016-17 school year students will be assigned to work on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Organizations may choose to have all students work on the same day or split them among multiple days.

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MAY 25-31, 2016

SCHOOL CHOICE

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Pittsburgh Faison hosts I MATTER event Pittsburgh Faison hosted its 2nd Annual I MATTER event to celebrate and empower the school’s fourth and fifth grade male students.

I MATTER gave students the opportunity to learn more about self-esteem, selfcare and self-respect. Accompanied by a positive adult male, the students explored stations including self-esteem activities, dental care, barbershop talk, Villa’s Keeping your Kicks Clean, and a photo booth.

Also, the day consisted of a special presentation by the Pittsburgh Faison male students, a panel discussion entitled “From Boys to Men,” spoken word, and an award presentation honoring students for their continued commitment to excellence. Emceed by Micah Wilkerson, the panel included African American professionals as well as current student lead-

ers who attend Pittsburgh Milliones and Pittsburgh Westinghouse.

Participants were: Russell Patterson PhD, principal, Pittsburgh Faison, Dr. Kevin Baidoo, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh; Will Allen, safety, Pittsburgh Steelers: Kevin McNair, co-founder, One Nation Mentoring; Micah Wilkerson, prevention specialist, Familylinks.

I MATTER gives boys at Pittsburgh Faison, their father, or positive role model in their lives the opportunity to learn about healthy communication during the teenage years. The overall goal is to partner with community agencies, businesses and prominent male role models to provide the young men with the tools and information needed to make a seamless transition to middle school.

PPS, Special Olympics host track championship Pittsburgh Public Schools is partnering with Special Olympics Pennsylvania to host the Interscholastic Unified Track and Field Championships.

Unified Track and Field teams from seven District high schools have students with and without

intellectual disabilities practicing and competing together as equal teammates. There are 90 students participating in the 10-week spring season, which started in early March.

Students will competed in eight events: 100, 400,

Learning Days Remake PITTSBURGH—Innovative Practices happening throughout the Pittsburgh Public Schools were on display among the 300 events taking place across the region as part of Remake Learning Days, May 9-15. Through its work with Remake Learning, the District seeks to elevate the reputation and awareness of the great learning opportunities available in all Pittsburgh Public Schools.

District events in-

cluded a student panel discussion on equity, a showcase of innovative thinking and learning, and a showcase of media and music learning. The week ended in the Pittsburgh Public Schools at EdCamp Pgh, hosted by the Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy 612, where educators from across the region converge to develop their own professional learning and share their wealth of knowledge with colleagues.

and 800 meters; shot put, long jump, and mini javelin; 4 x 100 meter and 4 x 400 meter relays.

At the Pittsburgh Oliver Track, 2323 Brighton Road.

The reason is that through sports, health, education and community programming, Special Olympics Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh Public Schools are tackling inactivity, intolerance, isolation and injustice that people throughout the world face, especially people with intellectual disabilities. This sporting event provided students with intellectual disabilities continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship with their peers, families and the community. Special Olympics Unified Sports® promotes inclusion and facilitates friendships through meaningful shared experiences.

YOUNG RAPPERS—Third grade rappers perform their song they wrote and produced. From left: Kayla “KK” Butler, Edward “Lil E” Powell, Alaisha “Lady” Newland & Nahir “Lil Philly” (Photos by J.L. Martello)

Lincoln students host March for Peace In celebration of Black History Pittsburgh Lincoln students rallied and voted to take a stance on problems that are impacting their own community today.

As part of Pittsburgh Lincoln’s S.T.E.A.M. Project Based Learning, students are learning through instruction and research that their ancestors made a difference in society by protesting and standing up for what’s right during the Civil Rights Movement in peaceful and non-violent ways.

They decided to focus on violence, particularly Black on Black crime and police brutality. This peaceful protest was in hopes to bring awareness to these problems and make a difference for their community Pittsburgh Lincoln students took a stand

to make a difference in their community with their first March for Peace.

Planned and organized by third, fourth and fifth graders, the march was to stop crime and promote peace, love and unity.

In celebration of Black History Month, students led the march by demonstrating some of the peaceful tactics leaders took during the Civil Rights Movement.

Through song, art, dance, and marching, hundreds gathered to march through to the Lincoln-Larimer neighborhood.

Participants were Pittsburgh Lincoln Students and staff, Virginia Hill, principal; Mayor Bill Peduto; Superintendent Linda Lane, Pittsburgh School District Board Members, and Pittsburgh Police BureauZone 5 officers.

LEADING THE WAY—The kids lead the way as they march and chant going through the streets of Homewood and East Liberty

LEARNING FIRST HAND—Officer R.J. Gallman walks with some of the kids as they ask questions about police and the things police do.

Take Your Father To School Day NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

SCHOOL CHOICE

FAMILY—Vonmeir Ellis, father Victory Ellis and Victira Ellis hang out together at Westinghouse High School.

MAY 25-31, 2016

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FOUNDING FATHER—Mark Brentley, former school board member and founder of Take Your Father To School Day poses at city council chambers in front of the Take Your Father To School Day sign.

(Photos by J.L. Martello)

FATHERS UNITED—In an effort to get more fathers involved in their children’s schools, former school board member Mark Brentley founded the Take Your Father To School Day. Above a group of fathers in front of city council chambers.

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MAY 25-31, 2016

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

New Pittsburgh Courier

dining B3

Outdoor

LIFESTYLES MAY 25-31, 2016

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Metro-Urban Institute

celebrates 25 years B2

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Debbie Norrell

Lifestyles Report

Father’s Day just around the corner A lot of people just celebrated Mother’s Day. This was the second Mother’s Day without our mom Essie Norrell and it was the second time I enjoyed the day with friends who also have lost their mothers and have no children. No one sends us a Mother’s Day card and we don’t have a biological mother to celebrate with. Once again it was great day with a small group of ladies and I will continue to do something each year with this special group.

My father passed in 1982 and I miss him so much. When I meet people who don’t know their father, I can’t imagine what that might be like.

I had so much fun with my dad. He taught me how to put together lawn furniture, how to read directions and how to paint a room. My dad had a great sense of humor and made me laugh and took me to the Police Circus, the Ice Capades and the baseball game. When I look back on this I guess these were daddy/daughter dates. It sure was fun to go out with my daddy. He could bake and cook and he would make a meal look just like it looked in the magazine. He could take leftovers and make magic out of them. You would not recognize the dish once he put his touch on it. We would often ask daddy what is this? And he would say, “girl remember that ham we had at Easter well this is it.”

I think my daddy James Norrell would have been a great contestant on “Chopped.” He could have taken the ingredients in one of those baskets and turned it into a fantastic meal. I think he would like these cooking shows that are so popular right now and I know he would like the Home and Garden channel, HGTV. If your father is still living and if you know your father acknowledge your father on Father’s Day and every day. Take your dad to a movie or dinner or do whatever he likes to do. If you have been estranged from your father because of something someone else told you about your father perhaps you should do a little investigation and find out the real story. I think it is so unfair when the child is used as a pawn also when the mother tells the child negative things about the father and the father does the same about the mother. The child wants to love both parents and does not want to get involved in your mess.

I always think it is so odd that Mother’s day is so important and that Father’s Day is sometimes minimized. It takes both to produce the child. If you are fortunate enough to have either parent or both celebrate them and if your parents are in their golden years and there are things you want to know about them or your family ask those questions now. It may soon be too late.

(Email the columnist at debbienorrell@aol.com)

Pittsburgh Council of Men Spring Dance ALWAYS A LINE DANCE

by Debbie Norrell Courier Staff Writer

TRAC CEO SPEAKS—Jacqueline Wilson

LOOK WHO WE SPOTTED—Reggie Jackson and Hubie Bryant (photos by Debbie Norrell)

GREAT FRIDAY NIGHT FUN—Gwen Victum and Marsha Trent

After a brief hiatus the Pittsburgh Council of Men have resumed their schedule of yearly dances that give the seasoned crowd fun events to attend. On April 29, at the Comfort Inn in Penn Hills PCM hosted more than one hundred friends for an evening of dining, dancing and fun. They introduced their newest member Justin Baston and reintroduced long time members: Dan Brown (treasurer), Reggie Jackson, Michael James, Milton Oliver, Chrisp Perry (secretary), Clayton Robinson, Donald Trent (chaplin) and President Larry Victum.

PCM member Ira Ritter was a little under the weather and did not attend however his family and friends represented him well and donated a huge gift basket that was raffled off. Spotted in the crowd was Pittsburgh native Hubie Bryant, former wide receiver who played three seasons with the NFL, one for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1970 and the New England Patriots in 1971-1972.

On a more serious note PCM introduced Jacqueline Wilson, PhD, CEO of Three Rivers Adoption Council (TRAC) and she explained the mission of TRAC: to create and provide adoption opportunities and a range of services for all children growing up without permanent, caring families.

PCM says future events will allow them to

raise funds to contribute to groups like TRAC. PCM says mark your calendars for their June 25, bowling party at Arcade Lanes.

BAREFOOTING

FAMILY AND FRIENDS—Louise Jenkins, Fred and Michele Crawford, Shelly and Boston Chatman, standing: Pat English and William Carter

PITTSBURGH COUNCIL OF MEN—Clayton Robinson, Larry Victum, Chrisp Perry, Dan Brown and Don Trent

INTRODUCING THE NEWEST MEMBER—Milton Oliver, Justin Baston and Reggie Jackson

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RELIGION

MAY 25-31, 2016

Praise & Worship

Church Circuit Spring Revival

HILLCREST SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

MAY 25–27—Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 90 Port Perry Rd, Nortdh Versailles, is holding its Spring Revival at 7 p.m. nightly .

Rev. Barbara Gunn, pastor.

Music rendered byh Anointed Ministries. Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller, Guest Revivalist, Authhor & Musician pastor Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, Philadelphia will be the guest preacher.

2340 Wylie Ave., Pgh., PA 15219 412-391-4334 412-566-8787

“Be Encouraged”

Elder Christopher C. Thompson Power Hour Sabbath...............8:15 A.M. Sabbath School........................9:00 A.M. Divine Worship......................11:00 A.M. AYS One Hour Before Sunset Prayer Meeting Wednesday......7:30 P.M.

ST. BENEDICT THE MOOR CATHOLIC CHURCH

Pastorial Ordination

Crawford & Centre Ave. Pgh., PA 15219 412-281-3141 Mass Sunday 9:00 A.M. & Noon Sunday (Gospel Choir Mass) Noon www.stbtmchurch.org

METROPOLITAN BAPTIST CHURCH 22 Sampsonia Street, Northside Pittsburgh, PA 15212 412-231-2554 FAX 412-231-6395 Rev. Lacy F. Richardson, Ph.D., Pastor Church School.................................9:30 A.M. Worship Service.................8:00 & 10:45 A.M. Bible Study/ Prayer Wednesday...................6:30/7:30 P.M. www.metropolitanbaptistchurch.com metropolitanbaptist2224@gmail.com

REV. JAMES J. ROBINSON Legacy Honoree

REV. DR. CARNEGIE SAMUEL CALIAN Legacy Honoree

The Metro-Urban Institute celebrates 25 years

SIXTH MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH 6556 Shetland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (412) 441-7839 Church School Worship Service Wednesday Night Bible Study

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

MAY 29 – White Lily Baptist Church, 3621 Chartiers Ave., invites all to its Pastorial Ordination and Installatiion celebratiion of its new pastor, Rev. Antawn D. Coleman at 3 p.m. Presiding Pastor will be Bernard Tench, Second Baptist Church, Beaver Falls.

Rev. John Cook Jr, Victory Baptist Churh will preach the Word.

Family and Friends Day

MAY 29 – New Hope Baptist Church, 445 6th Street, Braddock, gospel concert featuring Rev. Richard Freeman, Resurection Baptist Church at the 11 a.m. service and Mt. Ararat Baptist Church Men’s Chorus at 4 p.m. For more information call 412271-8998.

WAR against hunger

JUNE 4—Macedonia Baptist Church in Duquesne will join Rainbow Kitchen Community Services in its 12th Annual March and Ride Against Hunger. The WAR against hunger is a walk and bycle ride event that also features a Health and Wellness Expo offering free health screening, information and more. It is the groups annual foundraiser and a major source of funding. Call 412-466-1892.

9:00 a.m.

10:15 a.m.

6:00 p.m.

East Liberty Presbyterian Church 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 a.m.

REV. DR. ROBERT M. FRANKLIN JR. Professor at Emory University of Atlanta Gives keynote address

ALLAN IRIZARRY-GRAVES MUI Graduate Assistant MDIV Student Does the MUI history presentation

BRENDA HENRY MDIV student reads the proclamation

VALERIE McDONALD ROBERTS Honoree Urban Community Partner

Join our growing Praise and Worship Church Community For rate information, call 412-4818302, ext. 128. We are looking to feature

New Pittsburgh Courier 315 E. Carson St. Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Fax: 412-481-1360 email: egaines@newpittsburghcourier.com

JUNE 4 - Stella Hopewell, line dance instructor, 1-5 p.m. at St. James AME Church, Women’s Usher Board #2, 444 Lincoln Avenue. A fun filled afternoon, everyone is welcome Men, Women & Children.

Donation $10.

Pastorial Anniversary

JUNE 17—Shiloh Community Missionary Baptist Church, proudly presents its 25th Pastorial Anniversary of Hubert D. Hutcherson, at the Double Tree at the Hilton 101 Mall Blvd, Monroeville at 6 p.m. Program starts at 7 p.m. 412441-8710.

Kennywood Park

REV. DR. JOAN PRENTICE PTS Board trustee Opening Remarks

REV. JOHN COOK Pastor of Victory Baptist Church Introduces the guest speaker

REV. DR. DAVID R. DREW SMITH MUI Council Chair and Professor of Urban Ministries

KIMBEERLY GONXHE Gave the welcome

Renewed Minds, Transformational Ministries, and New Urban Challenges were among the themes for the Metro-Urban Institute celebrating 25 years of serving God and the city!

The community was invited to help reflect on 25 years of education, partnerships, and ministry; and look forward to what God has planned for us in the com-

ing years. Beginning April 25, the ministry welcomed renowned urban ministry leaders to the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary campus for a series of chapel services and lectures, all of which were free and open to the public. The week culminated with a formal banquet celebration at the Hicks Memorial Chapel.

Service of Song featuring

Stephanie Boddie, MUI Senior Consultant and Carnegie Mellon University CAUSE Post-Doctoral Fellow, Chapel Service featuring Rev. Michael Mata, Adjunct Faculty and Director, Los Angeles Track, Azusa Pacific University School of Theology Service of the Word featuring the Rev. Dr.

Setri Nyomi, senior pastor; Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Adenta, Greater Accra Region, Ghana, West Africa; John A. Mackay Visiting Professor of World Christianity, Princeton Theological Seminary; and former General Secretary, World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Affectionately known to family as “Jimmy and J.D.,” James Leon Dowdy was born to Paris James Mack and Anna Bernice Dowdy in McDonald, Pennsylvania. He was the sixth of 12 children.

In 1965, James Leon Dowdy and Veronica (Vicky) Martin were married. To this union, two sons were born: James Leon Dowdy II and Jason Lanard Dowdy.

Jim Dowdy’s service within the automotive industry spanned a life-long career. Starting out as a teenager detailing cars in Canonsburg, PA, he went on to acquire his own detail shop in Coraopolis, PA. Later, he became an award-winning car salesman in Sewickley, PA. Ultimately, he successfully progressed to owning and operating a new car dealership (Jim Dowdy Oldsmobile-Cadillac, Inc.) in Ambridge, PA. After the new car dealership was sold, Jim continued in the vehicle retail and wholesale business until October 2015.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a grandson James Leon Dowdy III, his son Jason, and four brothers Robert Leroy Dowdy, Donald Eugene Dowdy, Joseph Warren Dowdy, and Wayne Allen Dowdy.

Left to honor his memory are his son James Leon Dowdy II (Barbara); daughter-in-law Gretchen Dowdy; eight grandchildren: Laura A. Dujmovich, Nichelle L. Wester (Jonathan), Emmanuel Mirih-Howard (Donna), Derrick Jason Scott-Dowdy, Sarah Marie Dowdy, Corey James Dowdy, Nicholai T. Dowdy, Joshua J. Dowdy; two great-grandchildren: Constantine Dat Mirih-Howard and Zoe Joanna McCray; four brothers: William Dowdy (Audrey), Lewis Dowdy, Vernon Mack, and Richard Mack (Debbie); three sisters: Gloria Davis, Virginia Wallace (Michael), and Cassandra Dowdy; an aunt and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, and dear friends.

JUNE 19—The EducationDepartment of Pentecostal Temple Church will be selling tickets at a discounted price of $23.00 for Kennywood Park that can be used for the following dates—June 19, July 6, July 8, July 18,and Aug. 9, which will be PT day at the park. Come out join us in the pavilion with your basket for great fellowship and fun. For information /tickets call the church office at 412-361-7000.

Praise, Worship & Candlelight Service

JUNE 22—Following are the services to be held in celebrating the Zion Baptist Church’s 10th Anniversary.

Theme “We’ve Come This Far By Faith” at 7 p.m.

A Loving Memorial James Leon Dowdy October 16, 1946 – April 14, 2016

our positive youth in the church communities. You can e-mail, fax or mail their bios and photo to:

Summer Line Dance

Worship Service

JUNE 24 – Worship Service featuring Rev. Craig Giles, son of Zion Baptist Church, and Pastor of Triumph Baptist Church, Sewickley, PA; accompanied by his congregation and choir, 7 p.m.

Morning Worship Anniversary

JUNE 26—10:30 a.m.

Rev. Richard W. Truss, pastor, preaching. Anniversary banquet, Georgetown Centre, Pleasant Hills, Pa, Rev. W. C. Callaway, pastor of Mt. Olive First Baptist Church, Clairton, banquet preacher, 3 p.m. Tickets available: $40 donation.

SALUTE—The toast as everyone helps celebrate the 25th anniversary of the MUI. (Photos by J.L. Martello.)

(To have items listed on the Church Circuit, email information at least two weeks in advance to newsroom@newpitts burghcourier.com.)

CUISINE

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

From orchard to table, apples bring flavor for the perfect picnic (Family Features)—There’s nothing like the perfect picnic or barbecue to slow down and reconnect with friends and family. This season, gather together guests and surprise them with a rustic backyard picnic, starring delicious new recipes that bring out the flavor of apples—a versatile and healthy year-round fruit.

For more recipes and inspiration, visit www.treetop.com.

Designing a Backyard Party Is Easy

Set the scene with the right décor and a little bit of creativity—and let nature take care of the rest.

•Find vintage plates and serving pieces at a local flea market.

•Serve beverages in Mason jars, which can also be used as flower vases.

•Cover a rustic table with gingham tablecloth.

•Fill large wicker baskets with apples to use as centerpieces.

•If hosting in the evening, line the table with tea lights and lanterns.

Apple Tortellini Salad Servings: 6 to 8 Dressing: 3 tablespoons Tree Top Frozen Concentrate Apple Juice, thawed 3 tablespoons light corn syrup 2 teaspoons brown sugar 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 2 teaspoons garlic salt Ground pepper to taste Salad: 9 ounces cheese-filled tortellini 2 cups sliced apples (approximately 2 medium apples) 2 cups shredded salad greens 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery 1/2 cup sliced scallions 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional) To prepare dressing, combine apple juice concentrate, corn syrup, brown sugar, vinegar, garlic salt and pepper.

Cover dressing and refrigerate.

To prepare salad, cook tortellini, drain and cool by rinsing pasta under cold water. Shake gently to drain thoroughly. In a large bowl, combine tortellini, apples, salad greens, strawberries, celery and scallions. Toss salad gently with chilled dressing. Serve chilled. If desired, sprinkle with pine nuts.

Spiced Pork and Apple Burger with Maple Dijon Servings: 6 3 tablespoons maple syrup 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard 2 pounds ground pork 1/2 cup Tree Top Natural Apple Sauce 1-1/2 teaspoons salt 1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon dry mustard 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 6 hamburger buns Baby Spinach leaves Stir maple syrup and mustard together in a small bowl.

Set aside. Spray a large non-stick grill pan or griddle with cooking spray and place over medium to medium high heat.

Mix pork, apple sauce, salt, chili powder, dry mustard, pepper and cinnamon together in a large mixing bowl.

Form mixture into 6 patties. Place patties in pan and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, turn and cook additional 4 to 5 minutes or until done.

To serve, spread bun bottoms with maple mustard mixture. Top each with a patty, spinach leaf and bun top. If desired, toast buns and top with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, pickles, tomatoes or other favorite toppings. Serve with crispy sweet potato fries and steamed beans for an easy but special meal.

Baked Apple Pie Layer Bars Servings: 16 2-1/2 cups sifted flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup shortening 1egg Milk 2/3 cup crushed corn flakes 1/2 cup Tree Top or Seneca Apple Sauce 5 cups sliced, peeled apples 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon Glaze: 1 cup confectioners’ sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Cut shortening in with pastry blender or two knives. Put egg yolk into measuring cup and add milk to make 2/3 cup. Add to shortening mixture. Mix just enough until dough shapes into a ball. Roll out half the dough into 15 x 11-inch rectangle. Transfer to baking sheet. Cover with corn flakes. Mix apple sauce together with apple slices, and add mixture on top of corn flakes. Mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over apple mixture. Roll out other half of dough for top crust. Place over apples. Pinch edges together.

Beat egg white until stiff and spread on top crust. Bake in hot 400˚F oven for 40 minutes. Cut into 16 squares.

Combine confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice to make glaze. While hot, drizzle glaze over top.

MAY 25-31, 2016

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ENTERTAINER New Pittsburgh Courier

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MAY 25-31, 2016

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

Cover To Cover

‘On the Origins’

by Terri Schlichenmeyer For New Pittsburgh Courier

The rules are very simple: don’t, don’t, and don’t.

Don’t swing the bat too late. Don’t hug the ball while running down the court. Don’t get tackled.

And whatever you do, don’t let the other guy win.

Rules are rules and in sports, you have to follow them. But why are games CELEBRITY EMCEES—Two of the nights emcees were Harold played like that, with differ- Hayes and Debbie Norrell. ent balls and a field of certain size? “On the Origins of Sports” by Gary Belsky and Neil Fine, explains those head-scratchers.

Get three sports fans together, and you’re all going to argue. Who’s the greatest dunker? Why are softballs bigger than baseballs?

Are football helmets good enough? Wars, as Belsky and Fine point out, have been fought over lesser questions so they took a look at the origins of our most popular games and sports.

TIM STEVENS

BETTY DOUGLAS PERFORMING

B-PEP Jazz annual Fun-Raiser

AWARDEES—From left: Mark Brentley, George Smith, Casey Duchanan-Smith, Alex Mathews, and HONOREES—James and Pamela Johnson founders of the Afro-American Music Institute.

Randall Taylor. (Photos by J.L. Martello)

Mythology says that Abner Doubleday created baseball, for instance, but the authors say that “forms of baseball were played on farms in New England” long before Doubleday’s day.

Original baseball rules said that the first team to score 21 “aces” was the winner and, until 1952, only one or two umps were mandatory for regular season play.

Basketball was “pretty much created in a couple of weeks” by one man who was looking for an indoor game.

James Naismith couldn’t find what he wanted so he made something up, including a rule that said a soccer ball was good enough for play. And did you ever wonder why basketball shorts are long?

There are many games called “football” but the American one, say the authors, is “unquestionably the most violent.” Maybe that’s why papier-mâché helmets were once banned. Also once banned: more than five people walking on the sidelines.

Hockey was created in Canada by British soldiers inspired by a Gaelic game.

Golf and bowling were both outlawed by kings. Soccer resembles a game played by the Chinese in 4 BC. No one’s ever bowled a perfect score in candlepin. Killing your opponent was once an acceptable way to win a wrestling match. And you’ll be surprised at which game is more popular than basketball…

Since even before you could walk, you’ve known that there were rules to live by.

You’ve also come to understand that rules can change.

Confirmation is inside “On the Origins of Sports.”

Imagine baseball without gloves, football with thin leather helmets, and monks playing tennis. Authors Belsky and Fine don’t have to imagine: they’ve pulled together the original rules for 21 specific sports and facts about dozens of others, in order to show how our favorite pastimes have become the games we know. (“On the Origins of Sports” by Gary Belsky & Neil Fine, c.2016, Artisan, $19.95/$29.95 Canada, 256 pages. )

ERIC JOHNSON PLAYING THE GUITAR

TONI CAMPBELL ON SAX

KENNARD ROOSEVELT ON GUITAR

GUITAR LEGENDS—50-years of friendship and playing the guitar are from left: Jazz legends Kennard Roosevelt, Ronald Wingfield, and Eric Johnson.

KENNY BLAKE ON SAX

SPECIAL HONOREES—A special part of the annual B-PEP Jazz Awards and Fundraiser event was the honoring 70-year old musicians plus LISA SYLVESTER WPXI news Pittsburgh Jazz honorees. Sitting from left: Tim Stevens, Al Dowe, George “Duke” Spaulding, Shawnee Lake, Harold Betters, and Nelson anchor, Emceed part of the program.

Harrison. Standing from left: Roger Humpries, Sunny Sunseri, Betty Douglas, Lou Stellute, and Roger Barbour.

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

MAY 25-31, 2016

ARTS & CULTURE

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Electrifying version of ‘Grease’ ends Pgh Musical Theater season

by Genea L. Webb For New Pittsburgh Courier

Jonathan Blake Flemings was ecstatic when he got the call to serve as dance captain for Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s 2016 seasonending rousing, dance-filled rendition of “Grease.”

“I had performed as Teen Angel in ‘Grease’ in sixth grade and it’s one of my favorite musicals,” said Flemings who acted in three previous Pittsburgh Musical Theater shows before donning his dance captain hat for ‘Grease’. “It was such a fun show and I knew I could have fun with it.”

A dance captain works with a show’s choreographer on style, technique and formation of dance numbers and maintaining the look of the production.

The captain is in charge of the show when the choreographer is not present.

Flemings had a great time getting 25 cast members to perfect their dance routines.

“This was one of the best shows that Pittsburgh Musical Theater has done. Everyone was so talented and everyone brought their Agame,” Flemings said. “The music was great.”

In “Grease,” the kids think they rule the small town of Rydell. They head back to school—their last year at Rydell High. Danny is a member of the ultra-cool TBirds — only interested in cars, chicks and hanging out with his mates; Kenickie, Sonny, Roger and Doody. Sandy — the new girl in school — doesn’t fit in with the Pink Ladies — Rizzo, Jan, Marty and Frenchy — although they are interested in her summer romance. Sandy and Danny are unexpectedly reunited — she is thrilled to see him again but Danny isn’t sure how hanging out

with a ‘ good’ girl will affect his image.

All the boys contemplate growing up and what lies ahead. Marty and Frenchy include Sandy in their circle, inviting her around to a sleepover but she is dismissed by Rizzo she just doesn’t fit in with the gang.

The boys, meanwhile, meet up at the garage to see Kenickie’s new car — he has been working all summer to buy it. The others think it is a heap of junk but Danny and Kenickie persuade them it will be a great way to attract the girls. After being rejected by the Pink Ladies, Sandy tries cheerleading but doesn’t seem to fit in there either. She bumps into Danny again but things are awkward between them.

All the kids meet up on the football field, Roger and Jan get talking and, slowly,

June Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh Events

Sensory Friendly Afternoon

JUNE 1-15—EXHIBITS. Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: A Grr-ific Exhibit. Opens June 11.

Grounded in Fred Rogers’ landmark curriculum on social and emotional learning, this exhibit lets kids step into Daniel Tiger’s world and join him to explore some favorite places. Through January 17, 2017 Opening Weekend Activities: June 11-12: •June 11: Exhibit Opens, 10:30 am •June 11: Daniel Tiger Meet & Greet, 12:00pm & 1:00pm •June 12: Daniel Tiger themed-activity provided by WQED Education Department, 11:00am-3:00pm June 12: Daniel Tiger Meet & Greet, 1:00pm

JUNE 14—Individuals with autism spectrum disorders and sensory processing disorders can enjoy a fun, friendly experience in a comfortable and accepting environment. Announcement and exhibit sound volume will be reduced, and sound reducing headphones will be available.

Live Performance: Speak Life Storytellers JUNE 2 & 3—Join Captain Adam Keene and First Officer Langston Kelly in a musical and poetic storytelling journey that will allow us to engage with each other, to ask questions and swap stories. Come share your story!

Show times at 10:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m., 12:30 pm; 1:30 pm in the Theater.

Father’s Day CD Cards JUNE 4, 6-11, 13-18—Create a one-of-a-kind gift for dad, grandpa, uncle or any special man in your life. Saturday Light Brigade staff will conduct an interview about that person and record it on a CD that can be decorated, affixed to a special card and brought home that day.

Kids and adults can record alone or together and can also record a special song or poem that will be cherished for a lifetime.

Recording sessions are on a first come, first served basis.

Father’s Day VoicePrints JUNE 5 and 12—Noon – 4 pm Say and display “I love you” by making a Voiceprint in the Saturday Light Brigade radio studio.

Voice Prints feature a waveform depicting the unique sound of one’s voice that can be decorated, framed and taken home.

Live Performance: Lee Robinson JUNE 10, Noon-1 pm Enjoy live jazz music throughout the museum! Lee Robinson has been an active participant on the local Jazz scene for more than 30 years.

Mathew Tembo and the Afro Routes Band JUNE 18—A Benefit Concert for Surgicorps International Presented in partnership with Surgicorps International, the awardwinning Afro-Pop and Reggae musician Mathew Tembo and the Afro Routes Band bring their unique sound to benefit Surgicorps’ life-changing surgeries in Zambia.

City of Asylum’s Jazz Poetry Festival The National Endowment for the Arts has announced that City of Asylum will be among its grant recipients for the 2016 award cycle. This award of $20,000 will support City of Asylum’s upcoming Jazz Poetry Festival to be held this Fall at City of Asylum’s new home at Alphabet City in Pittsburgh’s North Side.

The Jazz Poetry Festival will feature American jazz musicians as well as poets from around the world performing both together and individually. City of Asylum announced that it will be moving into a permanent new home, City of Asylum @ Alphabet City, formerly the site of the historic Masonic Building, located on the Garden Theater block of Pittsburgh’s North Side. “The expansion of our Jazz Poetry Festival at City of Asylum @ Alphabet City into a month-long event will provide more opportunities for international artists to perform and local audiences to experience some world class acts.” said Silvia Duarte, City of Asylum’s Assistant Director.

Full Bloom Summer Dance Party JUNE 4—Full Bloom is KST’s annual benefit bash and celebration of summer in the city! Every June, East Liberty heats up as crowds from all corners of the city converge at Full Bloom for live performances, food and drinks from the East End’s best bars and restaurants, and a dance floor that’s home to the best movers and shakers in the city.

discover they like each other and have a lot in common A party atmosphere follows, as the kids celebrate their friendships It’s time for the school dance, everyone is paired off and wearing their finest.

Vince Fontaine is hosting the evening — much to Marty’s delight.

Only Sandy is missing out on all the fun; she is stuck at home with a head cold.

Things hot up at the dance — a dance contest is announced and Danny pairs up with Cha-Cha, a top dancer. They go on to win the contest although Miss Lynch disapproves of some of their dance moves. All alone Sandy faces up to the fact that she still loves Danny, however futile it may be.

Things aren’t working out too well for Frenchy either.

Having left high school to

train as a beautician, she is finding that she may not be cut out for the job — but can’t admit it to her friends.

Sandy and Danny finally get together; he borrows Kenickie’s car and takes her to the drive-in. Sandy is there to watch the movie but Danny has other things on his mind. Sandy is upset when he takes things too far and leaves him alone in the car, wondering if he’ll ever get it right.

The gang all hang out at the garage listening to music (Rock ‘n’ Roll Party Queen). Sandy joins them in the hope that Danny will appear. Rizzo makes it clear that she still isn’t welcome amongst them. Kenickie discovers that Rizzo may be pregnant and they have a row. Everyone hastily leaves, except Sandy, whose sympathy is rejected by

Rizzo (There Are Worse Things I Could Do). Sandy realizes if she wants things to be different then she needs to make some changes about herself.

All the kids at the burger bar are in for a big surprise — especially Danny — when a transformed Sandy arrives, looking hot and with an attitude to match (You’re the One That I Want). Once again the mood is up — Rizzo’s pregnancy was a false alarm — and all the kids celebrate being young and in love.

“Our production was about everyone wanting to be accepted and everyone fitting in. Hopefully people walked away feeling great and hopefully we showed our love of what we do to the audience,” said Flemings.

Pittsburgh Musical Theater (PMT) is a non-profit

organization committed to providing quality, affordable musical theater to the Pittsburgh region, educating youth in the arts, and employing and developing local talent.

Pittsburgh Musical Theater produces shows with its professional company at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. PMT, also provides acting, singing, and dancing classes for students at its art’s education center, the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory.

The students at (Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s Arts Education Center) the Richard E. Rauh Conservatory Company (RERC) perform with their very own theater company. The Rauh Conservatory Theater Company showcases student talent in Broadway shows at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, and the New Hazlett Theater on the North Side near the Children’s Museum. These fully produced musicals allow students to claim principle roles, and are supported by the professional company, artists, and musicians of Pittsburgh Musical theater.

Flemings, a Los Angelesborn performer, earned his BFA in musical theater from Point Park University.

After graduating from Point Park, Flemings moved to New York City where he worked in a number of productions before returning to Pittsburgh to serve as “Grease’ dance captain.

I tell people to do what they need to do to follow their passion. Go to dance classes to go acting classes.

Never stop honing your craft,” Flemings said.

(For more information on Pittsburgh Musical Theater visit www.pittsburghmusicals.com)

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MAY 25-31, 2016

ARTS & CULTURE

THE ORCHESTRA PERFORMING (Photos by J.L. Martello)

Colour of Music Festival Virtuosi

I GOT YOUR BACK—Concertmaster Jessica McJunkins and guest soloist Josh Henderson performing back to back.

The Colour of Music (Black Classical Musicians) Festival presented the “Colour of Music Festival Virtuosi” in performance at Carnegie Mellon University, Kresge Recital Hall, with an encore performance at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. This production was presented in association with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

The Colour of Music debut was part of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for the Arts Society Requiem for Rice initiative led by Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black librettist on which The Requiem is based.

Based in Charleston, S.C., the Colour of Music Festival presents a diverse repertoire of Baroque, Classical and 20th century music at the highest musical standards comprising top musicians of African descent from around the globe. The Colour of Music Virtuosi is an elite group of musicians selected as ambassadors of the Colour of Music Festival.

Artists hail from some of the most world’s prestigious

music institutions.

The 20-piece Virtuosi performs innovative repertoire incorporating the works of composers of African descent alongside traditional classical works. Each performance includes the “father” of Black classical music and predecessor to Mozart, Le Colour of Music Festival.

Now in its fourth year

the “Colour of Music Festival” offers a musical kaleidoscope highlighting the impact and historical significance of Black classical composers and performers on American and world culture.

The fourth annual “Colour of Music Festiva” will take place Oct. 19-23 at various venues throughout historic Charleston, S.C. www.colourofmusic.org

CONDUCTOR MARLON DANIEL

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

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Blackonomics

A solid foundation (GEORGE CURRY MEDIA)—For decades several conscious and committed Black men and women have spoken, written books, taught, advised and, more importantly, initiated economic empowering projects and movements to help propel us to a higher level of mutual support and, thus, creating a solid foundation upon which our children can stand and build upon. We have demonstrated, in many ways and by several means, the solutions to the economic problems to which many of our “leading Blacks” just give lip-service.

This column is dedicated to Black folks who are willing to pay their blessings forward by helping others among us. It also cites, by way of relevant example, the magnitude and power that has accrued to one relatively small group of people in this country who work collectively in support of one another.

Sheldon Adelson, the international casino magnate, with a net worth of $25.5 billion, is among the 10 wealthiest persons in the U.S. and ranks high among the wealthiest in the world. Of course, if you have not heard, he gives hundreds of millions to the Republican Party and its candidates. But he also started the Adelson Family Foundation in 2007, the primary purpose of which is to strengthen the State of Israel and the Jewish people; the Adelson Medical Research Foundation focuses on healthcare.

Aside from Adelson’s political ideology, something most of us would concentrate on and spend hours discussing, he is using his wealth to empower his people and to pay for medical research, special housing for the afflicted, and education for children with special needs - laudable by any measure. His is just one example of a member of what could be called a “minority group” that should, among other things, cause us to reflect on our philanthropic actions toward one another, the power to control our collective financial assets to empower ourselves.

In a few months, the Blackonomics Foundation will be introduced. Timing is everything, you know. Until then, and even afterward, there are Black foundations that are doing great work and are worthy of our praise and our dollars.

In my first two books (1998 and 1999), I lauded basketball great, Dikembe Mutombo and his foundation, whose mission it was to build a hospital in the Congo. I also acknowledged Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning for contributing to that worthy cause. By the way, only three or four NBA players helped Mutombo in his effort to raise $49 million for the hospital. (The lack of support for our foundations, however, does not only exist among those who are super-rich; those of us at the lower rungs of the economic ladder fail to support them as well.)

There are others, but here is a great example: For nearly two decades now, NBA Hall of Famer, Alonzo Mourning, and his wife, Tracy, have headed many charitable

by Drew Johnson

C There may soon be no Black female CEOs among Fortune 500 companies MAY 25-31, 2016

James Clingman

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BUSINESS

Find what you need from jobs to cars to housing C5-C6

Classifieds

by NewsOne Now For New Pittsburgh Courier

Ursula Burns, the first Black woman to run a Fortune 500 company, will step down as CEO of Xerox when the company splits in two later this year.

Once the move is complete, Burns will become the chairman of the printer, copier, and document technology company created from the split. This will subsequently mark a disturbing point in the world of big business: there will be no Black women serving as CEOs at Fortune 500 companies.

According to the nonprofit research organization Catalyst, there are only 23 female CEOs among Fortune 500 companies.

When Burns steps down, there will only be one woman of color among the group.

The latest records show less than three percent of directors of Fortune 500 boards are Black, Hispanic, or Asian women, and there are only four Black Men CEOs within the world of these massive companies.

During Monday’s edition of NewsOne Now, Roland Martin and his panel of guests discussed what looks to be the end of an era as it relates to Black women running companies in corporate America, what can be done to reverse this trend, and who diversity is actually bene-

URSULA BURNS fitting.

NewsOne Now panelist Avis Jones-DeWeever explained, “Diversity has now come in practice to mean White women.”

She continued, “If you specifically look at who are CEOs in America and Fortune 500 companies since between 2008 and 2009, we’ve seen an increase of

White women CEOs of Fortune 500 companies by four-fold.”

“At the same time, we’ve only had that one Black woman ever in the history of Fortune 500 and the number of people of color generally have gone down,” said De-Weever.

The founder of the Exceptional Leadership Institute for Women

went on to explain “the problem” with our nation’s discussion about diversity, saying, “When we talk about diversity, when we talk about who is going to get the benefits,” we find that there is “more diversity among male CEOs in Fortune 500 companies than there is among female CEOs.

Sheila Johnson talks jobs, the economy, importance of workforce diversity

by NewsOne Now

today’s economic environment is “hurting us more” and it makes her nervous.

Johnson has approximately 1,500 employees, conducts a weekly assessment of her business to determine what her company’s

For New Pittsburgh Courier

Entrepreneur and BET co-found Sheila Johnson recently spoke with Roland Martin about jobs, the state of the economy, the need for workforce diversity, forcing corporate America to diversify and adopt practices that promote inclusion on all levels of business.

Johnson explained during her sit down with Martin our “economy is very fragile right now.” As a result of the volatility of the stock market Johnson said, “we’re holding our breath. I’m personally holding my breath. I can see my stocks being affected.”

“It’s affecting our 401k’s, small businesses are starting to look twice at their bottom line, at how many employees they can keep or how many they can hire and you know we’re probably the most vulnerable or all,” said Johnson.

According to Johnson, the impact of the shaky economy has not reached the hotel business as of yet, but in terms of the African American community, the effect of

“The fight to diversity America’s workforce is an ongoing battle, where people don’t want to deal with it because they feel uncomfortable.”

SHEILA JOHNSON

bottom line looks like to determine if they need to reduce staff, hire or expand.

“The only thing you can do is hope and pray and hope that things will start to turnaround,” Johnson said.

In reviewing the past eight years, Johnson SHEILA JOHNSON

Thousands of rich Americans live in taxpayer subsidized public housing

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lived in a Connecticut housing project for 18 years.

“I don’t think it’s fair,” Tens of thousands of said Cruz, who says she high-income Americans lives on less than $8,000 a live in low-income housing, year. “It’s ridiculous that according to a federal those people live in public audit. housing when they can afMore than 25,000 famiford to move out and open lies inhabit federally subup a place for someone who sidized housing, even really needs a place to live.” though their incomes exa rule issued in 2004, it empowered local A San Francisco family earned Milan Ozdinec disagrees. As HUD’s ceed limits for public-housing eligibility, public housing authorities to write guide- $437,000 a year, according to the HUD deputy assistant secretary for public according to a probe by the inspector lines that would force tenants to move if investigation, but refused to give up its housing and voucher programs, he sees general for the U.S. Department of Hous- their incomes surpassed federal eligibilsubsidized housing. value in letting affluent residents retain ing and Urban Developmen. ity thresholds.

One family with $6.1 million in assets their units, even if they shut out needy Critics say these over-income residents Few housing programs, however, enforce lived in subsidized housing in Puerto families. cost taxpayers more than $100 million such regulations. Among the 15 housing Rico intended for a family earning less “The existence of over-income families annually and displace disadvantaged citi- authorities in HUD’s audit, all admitted than $20,000 a year. aid [public-housing authorities] in meetzens who need public housing. they still let over-income families stay in This situation is most pronounced in ing their obligation to deconcentrate In order to be eligible for public houssubsidized housing.

New York City, where 10,250 units manpoverty and also serve to stabilize neighing, a family must satisfy a formula that “The bureaucrats in charge of the public aged by the city’s housing authority are combines family size, gross family income housing programs have no incentive to occupied by residents whose earnings ex- borhoods, because families working towards self-sufficiency serve as good role and the area’s median income. kick people out, once they begin earning ceed eligibility limits. models to other tenants,” Ozdinec wrote Once families move into public housing, too much money to live in housing proInvestigators also found that 1,219 however, authorities often let them stay jects,” said David Williams, the president over-income residents dwell in subsidized in a June 2015 letter reacting to the inspector general’s findings. indefinitely, no matter how high their in- of the Washington, D.C.-based Taxpayers housing in Puerto Rico.

Ozdinec also expressed concern that come grows.

Protection Alliance. “Taxpayers are left Taxpayers spend $104 million a year to As a result, one Manhattan family livpaying millions of dollars to subsidize the subsidize people in federal housing, even forcing high-income families to leave public housing could affect their ability ing in public housing earned $498,000 in housing for people who make hefty, sixthough they make too much money, acto stay employed and disrupt their chil2014–$431,000 more than the $67,000 in- figure incomes.” cording to investigators. dren’s learning, if they were forced to come ceiling allowed. The family paid HUD’s audit supports Williams’ per“It is outrageous that taxpayers are just $1,574 a month for a three-bedroom spective. It found that 1,936 families who footing the bill for millionaires’ housing,” change schools within academic years.

Buchanan sponsored legislation requirapartment in the financial district, where earned more than $100,000 lived in pub- said Rep. Vern Buchanan (Ring HUD to verify the income of publicequivalent monthly rents exceed $5,000. lic housing in 2014.

Florida). “This type of abuse hurts truly housing residents and make them move Like others in HUD’s audit, this family One family in Lake Linden, Michigan, needy families.” was not named. The report lacks identify- collected $401,000 in take-home-pay, About 580,000 low-income families cur- once their earnings surpass the ceiling.

The bill passed the U.S. House of Repreing details. even though no one earning more than rently await vacancies in federal housing, sentatives unanimously in February but HUD has tried to bar high-income resi- $29,600 was supposed to inhabit its pub- HUD estimates. is stalled in the Senate. dents from low-income housing. Through lic apartment.

This frustrates Lilia Cruz, who has Urban News Service

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Report finds segregation in education on the rise

by Jennifer C. Kerr Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP)—Six decades after the Supreme Court outlawed separating students by race, stubborn disparities persist in how the country educates its poor and minority children.

A report Tuesday by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found deepening segregation of black and Hispanic students at high-poverty K-12 public schools. These schools often offered fewer math, science and college prep classes, while having disproportionally higher rates of students who were held back in ninth grade, suspended or expelled.

“Segregation in public K-12 schools isn’t getting better. It’s getting worse, and getting worse quickly,’’ Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia said. The analysis, he said, confirmed that America’s schools are largely segregated by race and class, leaving “more than 20 million students of color now attending racially and socioeconomically isolated public schools.’’

“This report is a national call to action,’’ said Scott, the House education committee’s top Democrat and among the lawmakers who requested the study.

Its release coincided with the 62nd anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared segregated schools unconstitutional.

“While much has changed in public education in the decades following this landmark decision and subsequent legislative action, research has shown that some of the most vexing issues affecting children and their access to educational excellence and opportunity today are inextricably linked to race and poverty,’’ the report said.

GAO studied three school districts in the South, Northeast and West. Each took steps to increase racial and economic diversity in the schools but were hampered by transportation issues and getting support from the parents and the community.

In a separate paper, the Civil Rights Project at UCLA said New York and Illinois have been “at or very near the top

A solid foundation CONTINUED FROM C1

efforts as part of their commitment to “give back” to their community, especially to the young people of Miami. The Mourning Family Foundation has raised tens of millions of dollars toward that end and helped thousands of people; they are truly exemplary of what more Black folks should be doing.

In 2013, Mourning hired the former president of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce, Bill Diggs, who invited me to speak at a chamber function in Miami a few years ago. With Diggs at the helm as president, the Mournings have paved the way and set the tone for their foundation to maintain its high standards of excellence for years to come.

You folks in Miami should direct some of your money to the Mourning Family Foundation and show that you are willing to support this worthwhile charitable organization. Go online, check it out, and make it a monthly recipient of your overall tax-deductible donations. We must do a better job of supporting those who support us and our children.

Each of us can do better, not only rich athletes but also the rest of us. If we would simply reflect on the greatness of our ancestors, their will to live and to provide for us, their progeny, we would do better. If we would consider the benefit of collective economic activity, the potential treasures we could amass for our progeny with our resources, Black people would surely live up to the greatness that is within us all.

Mutombo cited a proverb to drive home his message, “Judge not the poor for their poverty, but judge the community for its indifference.” Well stated, but well-done beats well said every time. So I also say, “Well Done,” Alonzo and Tracy Mourning.

(Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. He can be reached through his website, blackonomics.com.)

of the list’’ of states where African-American and Latino students have been most severely segregated. It found that “residential resegregation’’ in some parts of Maryland spilled over into the schools and that in California, the percentage of Hispanics was increasing as the overall school population declined.

“We need to create schools that build a society where the talent of all is developed and students of all races-ethnicities are prepared to understand and live successfully in a society that moves beyond separation toward mutual respect and integration,’’ the group said.

The GAO report found that in the 2013-2014 school year, 16 percent of the nation’s public schools had high concentrations of poor and black or Hispanic students, up from 9 percent at the start of the millennium.

The student body at these schools were at least 75 percent Black or Hispanic and poor— and in some cases 100 percent.

The findings were based on an analysis of Education Department data.

These schools tended to provide fewer math courses, with calculus and seventh and eighth grade algebra seen as

particularly lacking. In science, they had less biology, chemistry and physics courses than their more affluent counterparts with fewer minority students.

Less than half of the mostly poor, mostly minority schools offered AP math courses.

Looking at all public schools, low-income and minority students were far less likely to enroll in these more rigorous courses.

Hispanic students at these schools tended to be “triple segregated by race, income and language,’’ according to specialists and educators who were interviewed by the GAO. Education Secretary John B. King Jr., said one big reason for the disparities is money.

Inequitable resource distributions “are shaping inequitable opportunities for students,’’ King said after the report was released. He said President Barack Obama has asked for more education dollars, including money for grant programs to support districts with community-developed plans that increase socio-economic diversity in schools.

Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president and director of policy at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

said, “We must focus on fixing resource disparities that have plagued students of color and low-income students for generations.’’

Other findings: •Students at these highpoverty minority schools were 7 percent of all ninth grade students in the country, but were 17 percent of all students held back that grade.

•Students at these schools accounted for 12 percent of all students nationwide, and represented 22 percent of all students with one or more out-ofschool suspensions and 16 percent of all students expelled.

•In the 2013-14 school year, Hispanic students were the largest minority group in schools •25 percent Hispanic students, compared to 16 percent Black students. Both groups have poverty rates two to three times higher than the rates of White students.

The report recommends that the Education Department more routinely analyze its civil rights data to identify disparities that need to be addressed.

At the Justice Department, the GAO auditors suggested more monitoring of open federal desegregation court cases.

Report: Black Americans doing much better than 40 years ago

by Jesse J. Holland Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP)—African Americans are doing about the same as they have in previous years as the nation rises out of the Great Recession, and much better than they did when its first “State of Black America’’ report came out 40 years ago, the National Urban League said Tuesday.

The new report, “Locked Out: Education, Jobs & Justice,’’ looks at how blacks and Hispanics have been doing in the United States over the last few years and how they were doing in 1976, the year the National Urban League began issuing its annual report.

Some things you need to know from the new State of Black America report: BLACK AMERICA IS IMPROVING Things are stabilizing for AfricanAmericans and Hispanics.

The National Urban League derives its numbers from an “equality index’’ that is based on nationally collected data from federal agencies including the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With full equality with whites in economics, health, education, social justice and civic engagement set at 100 percent, the National Urban League said this year’s equality index for blacks stands at 72.2 percent, compared with last year’s 72 percent. For Hispanics, it’s 77.8 percent compared to 2015’s 77.3 percent.

40-YEAR COMPARISON Things have clearly gotten better for African-Americans since 1976, said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League. Fewer blacks live in poverty—29 percent in 1976 compared with 27 percent now. More blacks have graduated high school and college—28 percent in 1976 and 33 percent today for high school, and 6 percent four decades ago versus 22 percent today for college. Life expectancy of AfricanAmericans has increased from 68 in 1976 to 75 today.

The only areas where African-Americans are doing the same or worse is in

home ownership, 43.7 percent in 1976 and 43 percent today, and in voting, which was 48.7 percent in 1976 and 39.7 percent today. Morial said the voting difference was likely because they compared a presidential election year, 1976, to a non-presidential election year, 2014.

African-Americans’ numbers are worse than the white population in all categories. “The frontier of the future is confronting these economic disparities,’’ Morial said.

ECONOMIC AND UNEMPLOYMENT EQUALITY For the second year in a row, California’s Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metroplex is the best for blacks when it comes to income equality to the white population. African-Americans make 76 cents to every dollar whites make in those cities, the highest ratio in the nation. For Latinos, Honolulu is the most promising for income equality: Hispanics make 80 cents for every dollar made by whites.

Washington, D.C., and its suburbs are where blacks, whites and Hispanics have the highest median household income. Whites make $109,460, Hispanics make $66,523, and blacks make $66,151.

The cities with the lowest black unemployment rate are Oklahoma City and San Antonio at 8.3 percent. The city with the lowest Hispanic unemployment rate is Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a 4.6 unemployment rate.

THE URBAN LEAGUE’S SOLUTION Morial is calling for a major commitment from the government to rebuild the nation’s urban communities called the “Main Street Marshall Plan.’’ He wants $1 trillion over the next five years committed to several programs including universal early childhood education, homeownership strategies, high-speed broadband and technology, and a $15 per hour federal living wage indexed to inflation.

“While education is crucial, education alone is not going to solve the economic gaps in the country,’’ he said.

(Jesse J. Holland covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. Contact him at jholland(at)ap.org, on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jessejholland and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jessejholland)

Sheila Johnson talks jobs, the economy, diversity CONTINUED FROM C1

believes today’s economy is “much better” than it was during President Barack Obama‘s first four years in office.

Johnson who considers The Great Recession a “big wakeup call, especially for African Americans” was forced Johnson to shut down construction on a half finished hotel project.

The economic downturn also presented the opportunity to purchase a 900acre property with four golf courses that was two weeks away from going into bankruptcy. With the

cash she had on-hand, the propert was renovated and is now considered a preferred four diamond property.

Executives from NBC asked why she was renovating the property during the recession, Johnson said, “I want to make sure that I come out on the up-side of this recession” and “be at the starting gate when everyone is still trying to recoup.”

When the conversation shifted to work force diversity Johnson said, “In my own business I really push diversity and as an African

American woman I have one of the most diverse staffs.”

“The more diversity you have, the better your company is going to run,” said Johnson. “It is important that people like me, Rev. Jackson, other leadership— people in leadership have got to keep forcing the hand to remind people that diversity is so important in growing companies.”

She later added, “I’m trying to make inroads in the golf industry as an executive of the United States Golf Association, I am really pushing them to try to

diversify their staff, trying to get more people — especially people of color as anchors [and] moderators on Fox.” Johnson said the fight to diversify the workplace is an “ongoing battle, where people don’t want to deal with it because they feel uncomfortable.”

As a result of minorities being blocked from rising above a certain earning level in many instances, wealth building becomes difficult because as Martin said, “we’re not benefitting from the six-figure, sevenfigure opportunities.”

Ms. Johnson responded to Martins assertion saying individuals in corporate America, “don’t care.”

She expounded on her point saying, “White folks out there they do not care, and that’s why Black leadership has to go in there, and we do it with style because what we’re doing is we’re pulling them out of their comfort zone. They have got to start understanding the importance of helping others and being a diversified company.”

“We’ve got to hold them accountable for it.”

BUSINESS CALENDAR

Small Business Grant Contest THROUGH MAY 30—FedEx is now accepting applications for its fourth annual Small Business Grant Contest. This year, the contest will offer grants to ten small businesses, from a total pool of $100,000. One Grand Prize winner will receive $25,000, one $15,000, and eight others will be awarded $7,500.

To apply, visit http://smallbusinessgrant.fedex. com.

Social Media Workshop MAY 26—The African American Chamber of Commerce will host a Social Media Workshop from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in its 9th Floor conference room at the Koppers Building, 436 Seventh Ave., Downtown. The workshop will cover strategies for effectively using platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to expand business presence.

For more information, call 412392-0610 or visit information@aaccwp.com.

Entrepreneur’s Growth & Networking Conference JUNE 2—The Duquesne University Small Business Center presents its 18th Annual Entrepreneur’s Growth & Networking Conference from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 600 Forbes Avenue, Union Building 4th floor. Sessions will cover everything from branding and launch strategies to taxes and green practices.

Cost for the full day is $139; half-day $79, and lunch-only, $50. For more information, call 412-396-6233.

Invention Exposition JUNE 7-9—InventHelp’s INPEX invention and new production exposition opens at the Monroeville Convention Center at 11 a.m. June 7 and features a keynote address by George Foreman at 9 a.m. June 9. INPEX provides opportunities for inventors to present, demonstrate and promote their invention to companies looking for new products and ideas. For a complete schedule and information visit online at www.inpex.com.

Business Leaders Breakfast Series JUNE 10—Chatham University Women Business Leaders present Lynn M. Banaszak, executive director of the Disruptive Health Technology Institute at Carnegie Mellon University at its June breakfast meeting, 7:30 to 9:30 at the James Laughlin Music Center, at the Shadyside Campus, Woodland Road, Pittsburgh 15232. The cost is $25 for non-CWE members. For more information, call 412-3651253.

PowerBreakfast JUNE 17—The African American Chamber of Commerce will host its monthly PowerBreakfast schedule by welcoming new Regional Asset District Executive Director Richard Hudic to the Rivers Club, 301 Grant St., Downtown, 7:30 a.m.

Corporate Inclusion Conference JUNE 20—The Corporate Equity & Inclusion Roundtable will hold its 4TH Annual Conference at the Duquesne University Power Center Ballroom, 1015 Forbes Avenue, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. Industry Leaders from firms including Highmark, Massaro Construction, UPMC, Duquesne University, Randall Industries, Rivers Casino, the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board and others will share ideas on providing opportunities for employment and advancement, including the Revised Rooney Rule; suppliers with business opportunities, including the Hybrid Rooney Rule, and aiding hose re-entering the workforce, including Ban the Box initiatives. For more information call B-PEP at 412-758-7898.

Vision Pittsburgh Luncheon JUNE 22—Vision Pittsburgh’s quarterly Luncheon series continues with a presentation by Vivien Li, president and CEO of RiverLife, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Duquesne Club, 325 Sixth Avenue, Downtown. Li will discuss her organization’s mission to reclaim, restore and promote Pittsburgh’s riverfronts.

Cost for the event is $65.

(To have information on Business Calendar, send information at least two weeks in advance to: 315 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh, PA 15219; Fax: 412-481-1360 or e-mail: newsroom@newpittsburgh courier.com.)

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Penn Hills track team an asset at WPIAL championships

by Smokin’ Jim Frazier For New Pittsburgh Courier

It has been a difficult time for the Penn Hills High School students. Once the details of an audit uncovered school district debt of 167 million, but the findings didn’t distract the focus of Penn Hills boys relay teams.

The Penn Hills Indians are who everyone thought they were and that’s a problem for the relay teams in the WPIAL. The Indians, the preseason favorite to win states in the 400 and 1,600-meter relays, certainly have ran like the best team in the state through April and May, and continue to look like the best team in Pennsylvania at the WPIAL Championships Thursday May 19, at Baldwin High School.

The 400-meter relay of (Cameron Jeffries, Brennon Hill, Cameron Tarrant, Alex Tower) and the 1,600 relay of (Azeryus Britt, Keith Batiste, Isaiah Bailey, Brennon Hill) took home the gold medal.

Brennon Hill, also won the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.80 seconds.

West Mifflin’s senior Micah Watts was the WPIAL Championships “Peter Pan” because he was flying through the air with the greatest of ease.

Watts won the Long jump with a leap of 22-8 and won the 200-meters dash with a time of 21.86. He also finished second in the 100meter dash.

Kiski Area’s Jace “Shaft” Roundtree won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.26 seconds.

North Allegheny’s sopho-

WINNERS: WPIAL Boys Class AAA Championship 100 meters Zane Dudek, Armstrong, 10.88 200 meters Micah Watts, West Mifflin, 21.86 400 meters Brennon Hill, Penn Hills, 49.80 800 meters Mike Kolor, Seneca Valley, 1:54.12 1,600 meters Mike Kolor, Seneca Valley, 4:13.23 3,200 meters Nick Wolk, Peters Township, 9:13.68 110 hurdles Jace “Shaft” Roundtree, Kiski Area, 14.28 300 hurdles Ayden Owens, North Allegheny, 38.34 Javelin Andrew Manz, North Allegheny, 208-7 Shot put Jordan Geist, Knoch, 72-7 Discus Jordan Geist, Knoch, 192-11 High jump Cam Turner, Kiski Area, 6-3 Long jump Micah Watts, West Mifflin, 22-8 Triple jump Bricen Garner, Central Catholic, 47-3 Pole vault Hayden Fox, Hempfield, 15-6 400 relay Penn Hills (Cameron Jeffries, Brennon Hill, Cameron Tarrant, Alex Tower) 42.57 1,600 relay Penn Hills (Azeryus Britt, Keith Batiste, Isaiah Bailey, Brennon Hill) 3:22.56 3200 relay North Allegheny (Christian Parreaguirre, Zach Ehing, Bobby Lutz, Marc Migliozzi) 7:59.73

more Ayden Owens is a jack of all trades who is beginning to master a few of them. Owens, who competes in the decathlon during the summer, won the 300-meter hurdles in 38.34 seconds and came in second in the 200-meter dash.

Owens finished third in the decathlon at the USATF Junior Olympics last summer. He also competes in 100, high jump, long jump, javelin and pole vault for North Allegheny.

Owens’ sisters, twins Makena and Melina, are juniors who led the Tigers’400 relay team to a secondplace finish.

Even at the WPIAL’s highest level, the shot-putter’s, discus and javelin throwers is populated by some of the most anonymous people in track and field, and their road to the gold medal is typically long and arduous.

Typically when you’re at a track and field meet, you

watch the person under the spotlight. You follow them you pay attention to them and most of the time everyone else on that track fades into the background.

Unless the person in the shadow is Knoch’s Jordan Geist, in which case you look at the shadows a little more closely.

Geist is the greatest shot putter in WPIAL history. His toss of 72 feet, 7 inches to break a record set 44 years ago

by Ron Semkiw of Baldwin.

Who would’ve thought that such a shadowy figure would bring so much light?

Lamont Wade and Zane Dudek have very little in common.

One is Black and the other is White and they compete in different events and in different classifications.

One thing they can share after Thursday, however, is the satisfying feeling of being WPIAL track champions.

There were whispers—

WPIAL Girls Class AAA champions 100 meters Emily Horstman, Butler, 12.03 200 meters Emily Horstman, Butler, 25.03 400 meters Rachel Heibling, South Fayette, 56.54 800 meters Claire Dougherty, Mt. Lebanon, 2:13.48 1,600 meters Lauren Finkiotis, Oakland Catholic, 5:01 3,200 meters Clara Savchik, North Allegheny, 10:50.73 100 hurdles Jayla Ellis, Penn Hills, 14.46 300 hurdles Maiah Yankello, Central Valley, 44.40 Javelin Madison Wiltrout, Connellsville, 144-8 Shot put Julia Bernesser, Shalar, 41 1/2 Discus Rachel Hutchinson, Hempfield, 119-5 High jump Jessica Stever, Indiana, 5-6 Long jump Julia Howard, Greensburg Salem, 18-11 Triple jump Julia Howard, Greensburg Salem, 38-10 Pole vault Cassandra Phelan, Laurel Highlands, 12-6 400 relay Pine-Richland (Jodie Berezo, Megan Briski, Gabby Krieger, Karly Krisby), 48.94 1,600 relay Butler (Emily Horstman, Shana Hoy, Liz Simms, Alexis Leech), 3:54.00 3200 relay Mt. Lebanon (Sadie Saxton, Leah Graf, Aoife-Ruby Dunne, Claire Dougherty), 9:23.44

Overtime

by Bill Neal For New Pittsburgh Courier

:10—You know ordinarily I would tell you I’m at my spot bringing you the update, but this time I’m going to tell you where I am and hope it makes you like me even less than you do now.

Oh come now, let’s not get it twisted. Some of you can’t stand me and you know I’m right…yet you continue to read me week after week…huh? Anyway, I’m way down here in Jacksonville, Florida with my brother Larry “Bax” Baxter.

Funnin’ in the sun baby.

Now DROP - THE - MIKE!!! :09—That being said, the Warriors and OKC are knotted up at one game apiece in OKC tonight and they’re feeling it. My guess is OKC gets this one on energy and GSW gets the next one.

More than likely we’re going seven games, but at this point I really can’t tell ya! :08—Toronto finally got some grapes and decided to go all “bad boys” on LeBron and the boys. Hey, you gotta do it. You have to give the Cavs and LBJ something to think about when they come down that lane. Let’s see how the Cavs respond. :07—Hey Black and Gold…no, I’m not talking about your boyfriend in a gold sweater, I’m talking to the Black and Gold Steelers nation…the season kicks off September 12th against the Washington, D.C. foot-

ball team. Let’s get ready for this Super Bowl! :06—The Pens and Tampa Bay are tied two games apiece in the Eastern Conference finals. That’s all I can tell ya. And my guess is you didn’t know much more than that anyway. :05—Hip-hip -hooray…hiphip-hooray…hip-hiphooray!!! And that’s for “Lady D.” The fabulous and famous Debbie Norrell received the Legacy Award from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation to a long thunderous standing ovation from her peers and others.

Well done and well deserved for the Pittsburgh icon that has done it all. Walked the runways, T.V. and big screen, newspaper and radio and has interviewed some of the greatest of all time from James Brown to Denzel Washington. Congratulations Ms. Norrell. It couldn’t happen to a better woman. :04—Speaking of Denzel Washington, and I was if you were paying attention, the trailer is out for the reboot of The Magnificent Seven…the greatest western ever made!

Like I told you before, they better come on strong or go home. The legend of the seven is no joke!!! :03—To my brother at the Pittsburgh International Airport that reads Overtime every week…thank you sir and keep on flyin’! You know who you are. You are now “In the Locker Room.” :02—Hey ya’ll…write this

down. And for you City League grads, have somebody get some pencils and do this for ya, (C’mon man, I’m just kidding. “You people” are so sensitive.): No. 1 —The 2nd Annual Master Jacquet Bazemore Memorial High School Life Skills Seminar will be held Saturday, June 11, 12 noon to 5 p.m. at the Plant-A-Seed Agency on Baum Blvd., across from the library, next to the Presbyterian Church, for boys and girls 10th, 11th and 12th grades who want to get a head start on being successful after high school. T-shirt, lunch, certificate for completing, age appropriate conversation and a lot of love! And guess what—it’s free, but space is limited. You must call in advance to register.

“Life Happens…Be Ready!”

Call 412-628-4856 to reserve your spot. No 2—The 42nd Annual Willie “Pops” Stargell Pittsburgh MVP Awards, Wednesday, June 29 at the fabulous Savoy restaurant, honoring Pittsburgh’s finest and the Celebrating Women awards. This will be special.

Call now to reserve your seat. Only 100 seats available. 412-628-4856. No. 3— Get ready to get ready for the 3rd Annual Pittsburgh City League High School Hall of Fame Inductions, Saturday, Oct. 22. Don’t be last. It’s gonna sell out again!!! :01—Pirates take 3 of 4 from the Braves. That’s it.

Shut up and be happy! ~ GAME OVER ~

ones that were likely unsubstantiated—that Wade could be headed to Alabama to play his college football.

Wade, a junior at Clairton and one of the nation’s top football recruits, won his first track championship with a leap of 22 feet, 5 inches in the long jump, a new personal best.

“I think it was my athletic ability and me working out in other areas,” said Wade.

“Like in the weight room, when I squat, or practicing my 100, that all boosted it up. I think everything added up to my success.”

Zane Dudek, who led the WPIAL in rushing last season, won the first track championship in the history of first-year Armstrong High School when he took Class AAA gold in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.88.

After missing her junior season because of a torn ACL, Central Valley’s Mariah Yankello, a Duquesne recruit, is doing her best to make up for lost time.

Yankello won the 300meter hurdles with a time of 44.40 seconds.

Aliquippa doesn’t have a track for their 400 relay team to practice, but the boys still won and girls finished second.

The team of Antwon Brooks, Draper Gilliam, Avante McKenzie and Kaezon Pugh.

Pugh ran the second leg and made up for the stagger before he handed off.

It allowed the senior to win his third WPIAL gold medal of the year, after win-

ning in football and basketball. The last Quip to do that was Darelle Revis, now an NFL star.

Kurt Adkins will play football this fall at Seton Hill, but the Washington High speedster has been spending his spring excelling in two other sports.

Adkins plays baseball, too.

He is a starting outfielder and leadoff hitter for Washington and led the team in batting with a .500 average.

Adkins won the 200-meter dash in 22.37 seconds.

Avonworth / Northgate sister sprinters Hayden Robinson and Hunter Robinson are used to being on the same side, but on Thursday Hayden and Hunter found themselves as 100-meter dash opponents.

Hayden, a freshman, won the 100-meter dash, anchored the winning 1,600-

meter relay team and placed third in the 200.

Hunter, a sophomore, won the 400, ran the first leg of the 1,600 relay and placed second in the 100 and 200 events.

In the end, Hayden earned a measure of bragging rights over her older sister Hunter.

Summer Thorpe, a senior at Sewickley Academy and Notre Dame recruit, won gold medals in both the 100 and 300 hurdles and set a WPIAL record in the 300 hurdles at 43.86 seconds at Thursday’s WPIAL Class AA track championships at Baldwin.

“The track program at Notre Dame is phenomenal and, just within my short visit, I truly blended with the girls on the team,” said Thorpe. “I want to leave with success track, academics and my social life.”

WPIAL Boys Class AA champs 100 meters Andrey Bolton, Monessen, 11.10 200 meters Kurt Adkins, Washingon, 22.37 400 meters Kenny Baurie, Avonworth / Northgate 49.57 800 meters Dom Perreta, Beaver Falls, 1:53.20 1,600 meters Dom Perretta, Beaver Falls, 4:20.08 3,200 meters Will Loevner, Winchester Thurston, 9:19.97 110 hurdles Raymond Sitton, Monessen, 14.49 300 hurdles Dylan Hochbein, Freeport, 38.93 Javelin Madison Jake Wilson, Laurel, 177-10 Shot put Trevor Adams, Freedom, 51-7 1/2 Discus Bobby Jendrejewski, Freeport, 149-2 High jump James Thomas, Union, 6-5 Long jump Lamont Wade, Clairton, 22-5 Triple jump Anthony Milliner, New Brighton, 46-4 Pole vault Kyle Grimm, Beaver, 13-3 400 relay Aliquippa (Antwan Brooks, Draper Gilliam, Jaeden Gordon, Avante Mckenize), 43.11 1,600 relay Freeport (Brandon Hochbein, Dylan Hochbein, Kevin Lynch, Robert Reichenbaugh), 3:25.14 3200 relay Avonworth / Northgate (Kenny Azzarello, Kenny Baurte, Danny Bonnet, Jonas Jason), 8:03.68

WPIAL Girls Class AA championships 100 meters Hayden Robinson, Avonworth / Northgate, 11.97 200 meters Nikki Scherer, Burrell, 24.54 400 meters Hunter Robinson, Avonworth / Northgate, 56.54 800 meters Hannah Babiak, Quaker Valley, 2:14.34 1,600 meters Hannah Babiak, Quaker Valley, 5:03.99 3,200 meters Lauren Gronbeck, Eden Christian Academy, 10:57.88 100 hurdles Summer Thorpe, Sewickley Academy, 14.58 300 hurdles Summer Thorpe, Sewickley Academy, 43.86 Javelin Katie Demi, McGuffrey, 133 Shot put Elizabeth Weimer, Burrell, 42-1 Discus Elizabeth Weimer, Burrell, 128-7 High jump Maria Seto, Brownsville, 5-3 Long jump Miranda Schry, Shenango, 18-0 Triple jump Koryn Jozwiakowski, Fort Cherry, 37-7 Pole vault Michelle Karabin, Greensburg Central Catholic, 12-0 400 relay Burrell (Anika Ignozzi, Kikki Scherer, Toni Slomka, Nicole Krisof), 50.14 1,600 relay Avonworth / Northgate (Hunter Robinson, Megan Wisniewki, Kayley Wisniewski, Hayden Robinson), 4:01.21 3200 relay Quaker Valley (Hannah Babiak, Audrey Durbin, Lucie Kubinski, Bearett Tarris), 9:27.63

Inside Conditions…

Basketball Jones

by Aubrey Bruce For New Pittsburgh Courier

In the 1970s a myriad of “joneses” or addictions to everything from shopping to eating were suddenly “discovered.” if you did anything more than twice a week, you were instantly in need of “therapeutic” help.

However for those from the inner city who could not afford lobster tail or designer clothing or psychoanalysis, the next addiction available at almost no cost was the sport of basketball: well at least according to the lyrics of the Cheech and Chong classic cult hit “Basketball Jones.” “I got a Basketball Jones, got a Basketball Jones, oh baby, oooo-ooo. Yes, I am the victim of a Basketball Jones.

Ever since I was a little baby, I always be dribbling.’

In fact I was de baddest dribbler in the whole neighborhood. Then one day, my mama bought me a basketball, and I loved that basketball I took that basketball with me everywhere I went.

That basketball was like a basketball to me.” Now in the midst of the NBA Eastern and Western Finals I am trapped on a bus, trapped in traffic on a so called “major artery.” If this is a major artery then a

major heart attack is about to happen on this roadway.

There is a very spirited debate concerning professional basketball and the collegiate version of the sport. One of my captive “gurus’ offers up his analysis of the NBA postseason.

“I really get into the playoffs in the NBA because the teams that make it through are the best teams,” he says.

However, his colleague has a slightly different take.

“The NBA players are spoiled and get far too much money,” he argues. “The college players play for the love of the game. That’s why I love March madness, you can feel the excitement in the air.” He’s got a basketball Jones, got a basketball Jones, he’s got a basketball Jones, ooo, ooo, oo, maybe.

The NBA “advocate” says: “But the college guys don’t get paid. Who is going to play harder, the ones playing for free or the ones getting a paycheck?” Good question.

Cheech and Chong went on to say that: “I even put that basketball underneath my pillow.

Maybe that’s why I can’t sleep at night. I need help, ladies and gentlemens, I need someone to stand beside me. I need, I need someone to set a pick for me. At the free-throw line of

life, someone I can pass to.

Someone to hit the open man on the give-and-go, and not end up in the popcorn machine” Many unpaid college “basketball athletes” end up at the popcorn machines and the McDonalds in life with no one to stand beside them when they are stranded at the free throw lines of life, with nowhere to go, no one to pass off to regarding the many trials and tribulations that they encounter in life.

The “open man” to these colleges are the ones that can be recruited to play for free and help these institutions’ capitalize and make billions of dollars. These athletes epitomize the “give-and-go” strategy of the NCAA and their cohorts. The athletes give and are forced to go, destination, wherever? As my grandmother used to say, “you ain’t gotta go home, but you gotta get the h—l outta here.” I sorta, kinda like the NBA theme song a tad better. “I got a paycheck Jones, I got a paycheck Jones, got a paycheck Jones, ooo-ooo-ooo.”

(Aubrey Bruce is the senior sports columnist for the New Pittsburgh Courier. He can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741. Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe.

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MAY 25-31, 2016

NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Williams honored at 8th Annual CCFA Women of Distinction Luncheon

A WOMAN OF DISTINCTION—The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America Western PA/West Virginia chapter hosted its 8th Annual Women of Distinction Luncheon. This event was held at the Fairmont Pittsburgh. Among the awardees was Doris Carson Williams, an honoree in Business. While serving as president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce for 17 years, Williams has received numerous awards for their work to promote access and business opportunities for African Americans in the region’s business community. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Highmark Inc.. and has received numerous awards including the Susan B. Anthony Women of Vision Award and the Women in Business and Industry Award. Above: Williams gives her acceptance speech. (Photo by J.L. PROUD WINNER—Doris Carson Williams sitting with her husband James Williams at the luncheon after receiving her award.

Martello)

Duquesne commemorates Rwandan Genocide at Walk to Remember

STOPPING THE GENOCIDE—Duquesne University was one of the locations worldwide to host a commemoration of the 1994 Rwandan genocide through participating in the Walk to Remember. Carl Wilkins, the only American to remain in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, spoke and undergraduates from Rwanda responded to his talk. The walks are held around the world every year to mark the anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, remember the victims, supports the survivors and to educate youth to ensure such a tragedy doesn’t happen again. Participants gathered on Academic Walk for a brief prayer and moment of silence. Posters featuring images and information about Rwanda’s history, the genocide and reconciliation was displayed along a designated path for the walk.In addition to marking the genocide’s 22nd anniversary, the event further supports Duquesne’s strategic commitment to a closer relationship with the nations and people of Africa. Above photos from left: Cythia Umutoni, an international student born and raised in Rwanda now studying at Duquesne University, Gerald Boodoo, director of the Center for African Studies; Carl Wilkins, the only American to remain in Rwanda at the time of the genocide; and Mireille Masonza, an international student born and raised in Rwanda now studying at Duquesne University, all spoke after the walk. (Photos by J. L. Martello)

NAACP 62nd Annual Human Rights Dinner

THOMAS A. MOTLEY Judge Homer S. Brown Awardee

IMOGENE HINES Judge Homer S. Brown Awardee

SAM COVELLI Corporate Partner Of The Year Awardee

KEYNOTE SPEAKER HONORED—From left: Twanda Carlisle; for- ENJOYING THE DINNER—President and CEO Greater Pittsburgh mer Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, keynote speaker; and K. Chase Urban League, Ester Bush and CCAC President Quinton Bullock enPatterson. joy the evening.

AERION ABNEY Young Person Of The Year Awardee

ENJOYING THE EVENING—From left: Quincy Kofi Swatson,Mistress of Ceremony Bofta Yimam and Wes Lyons.

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT—The Pittsburgh Unit of the NAACP held its 62nd Annual Human Rights Dinner May 5 in the grand ballroom of the Westin Convention Center Hotel to a packed house. Story in May 18-25 edition of the New Pittsburgh Courier. See more photos from the event on this page.

Above at the Center, NAACP scholarship recipient Jordan Gillard enjoying the evening with friends. SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT—From left: Elder Michele P. Ellison, Scholarship recipient Neriah Alexander, William Fisher, Yvonne Davis and Margaret Burley.

(Photos by Rossano P. Stewart)

CLASSIFIED New Pittsburgh Courier

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MAY 25-31, 2016

www.newpittsburghcourier.com

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Help Wanted

Meetings

TRANSPORTATION PLANNER

CITY OF PITTSBURGH PUBLIC MEETING BIGELOW BLVD BIKE LANE

SPC seeks Transportation Planner - Experience in traffic operations, safety planning and traffic engineering. BS in Planning, Civil Engineering, or other closely related field. 1-5 years of experience. Demonstrated ability to work on multiple projects and work with federal and state officials. Visit www.spcregion.org for more information. For consideration, pleases send letter of interest, resume, and salary history to hr@ spcregion.org EEO/AA/M/F/Vet/ Disability Employer.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES Health Care

SURGICAL ONCOLOGIST

University of Pittsburgh Physicians seeks a Surgical Oncologist in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA. Specialize in surgical oncology performing surgical procedures to diagnose, stage, and treat cancer and/or to relieve symptoms; perform biopsies, resections, reconstructive and palliative surgeries. Must have a Medical degree or foreign equivalent; completion of five years of post-graduate training in Surgery; Must be Board eligible or certified in General Surgery; completion of two-year fellowship training in Surgical Oncology - fellowship training must include training in advanced gastrointestinal surgical oncology techniques with peritoneal cancer; Must have a valid PA medical license or be eligible for licensure. Apply at www.upmc. com by following these steps; click Careers at UPMC, Start My Job Search, and follow the link to continue to search and apply for openings. Select Advanced Search and enter 160000R9 in the job opening ID field. EOE

The City of Pittsburgh, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) District 11-0 and the Federal Highway Administration, is hosting a public meeting to discuss the proposed Bigelow Blvd Bike lane project located in City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County. The purpose of this meeting is to present the proposed project scope and schedule. In addition, The City of Pittsburgh and its consultants will be available to answer questions about the project.

The proposed project involves the installation of bike lane from Fifth Avenue to Forbes Avenue. The proposed project includes a vehicle lane reconfiguration, parking reconfiguration, new striping and bicycle symbols.

When: June 1, 6:00pm -7:00pm Location: Oakland Career Center 924 Semple Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 For more information contact: Kristin Saunders Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator E-mail: Kristin.saunders@pittsburghpa.gov Telephone: 412-429-4928 •The plans viewing location is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition, if you or an individual with whom you are familiar does not speak English as their primary language and who has a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English desires to view these plans or if you require special assistance to view the plans or need additional information please contact Richard Meritzer, the ADA Coordinator at the City of Pittsburgh, at richard.meritzer@pittsburghpa.gov or 412-255-2102

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LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Bids/Proposals

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION of the SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Room 251, 341 South Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213 on June 14, 2016 until 2:00 p.m., local prevailing time for: Various Schools Water Cooler Replacements General and Electrical Primes (Rebid) Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on May 31, 2016 at Modern Reproductions (412488-7700) 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is nonrefundable.

Project details and dates are described in each project manual.

LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR FIRE HOSE INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE REBID IFB#300-20-16 Rebid

ANNOUNCEMENTS Meetings

MEETING

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh will hold its May 2016 Board of Commissioners meeting on THURSDAY MAY 26, 2016.

THE MEETING WILL BE HELD AT 10:30 A.M. 200 Ross Street, 13th Floor Wherrett Room, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

CITY OF PITTSBURGH PUBLIC MEETING NEGLEY AVENUE BIKE LANES

The City of Pittsburgh, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) District 11-0 and the Federal Highway Administration, is hosting a public meeting to discuss the proposed Negley Avenue Bike lane project located in City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County. This project borders the Friendship Historic District.

The purpose of this meeting is to present the proposed project scope and schedule. In addition, The City of Pittsburgh and its consultants will be available to answer questions about the project.

The proposed project involves the installation of shared lane markings (sharrows) from Howe Street to the East Busway and the installation of bike lanes from the East Busway to Stanton Avenue. The proposed project includes a lane reduction, parking elimination, new striping and bicycle symbols.

When: May 26, 2015, 6:00 pm7:00 pm Location: The Union Project 801 N Negley Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206 For more information contact: Kristin Saunders Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator E-mail: Kristin.saunders@pittsburghpa.gov Telephone: 412-429-4928 •The meeting location is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition, if you or an individual with whom you are familiar does not speak English as their primary language and who has a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English desires to view these plans or if you require special assistance to view the plans or need additional information please contact Richard Meritzer, the ADA Coordinator at the City of Pittsburgh, at richard.meritzer@pittsburghpa. gov or 412-255-2102 LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

Estate of DAVID HEAD a/k/a DAVID HEAD, SR., Deceased, of Pittsburgh, PA. No. 06091 of 2015. Stacy L. Head, Executor, c/o A. Jean Cason-Wynter, Esq., 905 Western Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15233.

Estate of WEBER, JOANNE H., of Jefferson Hills, PA No.: 02 16 02699, Charles H. Weber, Executor, 5030 Dana Drive, Jefferson Hills, PA 15025, R.M. Entwisle, III, Atty, 125 1st Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Estate of MAMIE V. HARRIS, A/K/A MAMIE VIRGINIA HARRIS, of Clarke County, Athens, Georgia. No.:021602641, Sheila E. Edmunds, Executrix, 515 Wabana Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15214 R.M., Entwisle, III, Atty., 125 1st Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Estate of BETTY M. MORRIS, deceased of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania No. 02-15-04096.

Dianea L. Salzman, Executrix c/o Tener, Van Kirk, Wolf & Moore, PC One Oxford Centre, Suite 2100, 301 Grant Street, Pittsburgh PA 15219 or to Nancy L. Rackoff, Esquire Tener, Van Kirk, Wolf & Moore, P.C., One Oxford Centre, Suite 2100, 301 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Estate of BROCK, TRAVIS ONQUE’, deceased of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania No. 02-16-02197. Sheri Onque’ Eastman, Administratrix, 2607 Woodland Ridge, Kingwood, TX 77345 or to J. Dustin Barr, Esquire Tener, Van Kirk, Wolf & Moore, P.C., One Oxford Centre, Suite 2100, 301 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

LEGAL ADVERTISING Legal Notices

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA. PITTSBURGH, PA. May 17, 2016

The Office of the Director of the DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY will receive Letters of Interest with current Federal Standard Form 330 (SF) Architect-Engineer Qualifications and PennDOT Form D-427 Status of Contracts on Hand until 4:00 p.m. on June 16, 2016 for the following assignment: ALLEGHENY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Open End Right-Of-Way Acquisition County Project No. ACRW-OPEN The selected firm will help aid the County in acquisition of right-of-way for highway related projects that are County, State and/or Federally Funded.

Submit 5 (five) copies of your Letter of Interest and with current SF 330 and D-427 to: Stephen G. Shanley, P.E., Director Allegheny County Department of Public Works Room 501, County Office Building 542 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2904 Instructions for submission of Letters of Interest are available on the Allegheny County Internet Website (www.alleghenycounty.us; click on “Department of Public Works;” then click on “Bids & Proposals).”

Stephen G. Shanley, P.E., Director Allegheny County Department of Public Works County of Allegheny

To place a display ad in the New Pittsburgh Courier call 412-481-8302 ext. 128 or 129

LEGAL NOTICE

Allegheny County Department of Human Services Public Meetings/ Hearings on Human Service Block Grant application The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) will hold two public meetings/hearings to talk about the plan and its implementation: •The first meeting/hearing is in Turtle Creek: June 1, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Human Services Center, 413 Penn Ave Ext., Turtle Creek, PA 15145.

•The second meeting/hearing is in downtown Pittsburgh: June 1, 2016 from 2 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the 412 Youth Zone, 304 Wood Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

People interested in testifying or commenting on the plan will have the opportunity to speak at the meetings. DHS makes reasonable efforts to accommodate people with disabilities. Please call the Director’s Action Line at 1-800-862-6783, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., up to a week prior to the meeting you will attend, if you are in need of special accommodations.

To read the previous Block Grant Plans (and the proposed 2016-2017 plan when it becomes available), visit www.alleghenycounty.us/ dhs/plansbudgets.aspx.

Marc Cherna Director Allegheny County Department of Human Services LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

SALE OF SURPLUS EQUIPMENT COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY The following surplus equipment will be offered for sale to the highest bidder(s): REQUEST FOR QUOTATION 160603 - SALE OF SURPLUS ITEMS Pottery Wheels, Table Saw, Band Saw, Heavy Duty Work Tables Bids are due in to the CCAC Purchasing Department no later than 2:00 PM on Friday, June 3, 2016.

For more information, call Mike Cvetic at 412-237-3146 or email mcvetic@ ccac.edu to request bid forms.

Community College of Allegheny County Purchasing Department 800 Allegheny Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15233

LEGAL ADVERTISING Bids/Proposals

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA May 10, 2016

The Office of the County Controller of Allegheny County, Room 104, Court House, Pittsburgh, PA, will receive separate and sealed Bids until 11:00 A.M. prevailing local time, WEDNESDAY, June 1, 2016, and a representative of the Department of Public Works will open and read the Bids in the Gold Room, Room 410, Court House, Pittsburgh, PA, onehalf hour later, 11:30 o’clock A.M., for the following: DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Blackburn Road Retaining Wall Replacement Project, Borough of Sewickley Heights COUNTY PROJECT NO. 1031-1401 PREBID INFORMATION: Purchase and/or view the Proposal, Specifications and Drawings at the Office of the Contract Manager, Room 504, County Office Building, Pittsburgh, PA. The nonrefundable charge for the Proposal and disc containing the Specifications and Drawings is $ 107.00 including sales tax. Bid documents may be mailed for an additional fee of $16.05 including sales tax. The Contract Manager will accept only check or money order to the “COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY.” The Department of Public Works will hold a PreBid Meeting on May 19, 2016 at 1:30 P.M. in Room 505 County Office Building, 542 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15219.

Details of this project, Bidding Requirements and Contract Conditions are available on the Allegheny County internet website (www. alleghenycounty.us; click on “Departments,” click on “Public Works” then click on “Bids & Proposals)” and are also available on the Pennsylvania Purchasing Group/PAPG website (www.PAbidsystem.com; click on “bid opportunities;” then click on “Allegheny County-Dept. of Public Works-open documents” – then register if necessary).

Chelsa Wagner Controller County of Allegheny

COURIER CLASSIFIEDS

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby request proposals from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): FIRE HOSE INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE REBID IFB#300-20-16 Rebid The documents will be available no later than May 23, 2016 and signed, sealed bids will be accepted until 11:00 A.M., June 10, 2016 at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at 100 Ross Street 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, at which time they will be opened and read aloud.

Parties or individuals interested in responding may download a copy of the Invitation for Bid from the Business Opportunities page of www.

HACP.org.

Questions or inquires should be directed to: Kim Detrick Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Department 2nd Floor, Suite 200 100 Ross Street Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-456-5116 Opt 1 A pre bid meeting will be held: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Procurement Dept.

100 Ross Street 2nd. Fl. Ste. 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Thursday June 2, 2016 11:00 A.M. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh strongly encourages certified minority business enterprises and women business enterprises to respond 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

HACP conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil rights laws, including but not limited to Title VII, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA Human Relations Act, etc. and does not discriminate against any individuals protected by these statutes.

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

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CLASSIFIEDS

MAY 25-31, 2016 NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

LEGAL ADVERTISING

LEGAL ADVERTISING

Bids/Proposals

Bids/Proposals

ADVERTISEMENT

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Sealed bid proposals are hereby solicited for the Community College of Allegheny County, 800 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15233 (412.237.3020) on the following items: Bid Proposal No. 971 Courier Service – All Locations Bid Proposal No. 972 Armored Car Service Proposals will be received at the Purchasing Department until 2:00 P.M. Prevailing Time on Thursday, June 2, 2016 at which time they will be publicly opened.

Any proposals received after this deadline will be considered as a “late bid” and will be returned unopened to the offerer.

The CCAC Purchasing Department is now publishing all bids via the CCAC website at https://www.ccac. edu/Bid-RFP_Opportunities.aspx It will be each vendor’s responsibility to monitor the bid activity within the given website (“Bid and RFP Opportunities”) and ensure compliance with all applicable bid documents inclusive of any issued addenda. Failure to incorporate any applicable addenda in the final submittal may result in the rejection of your bid.

Proposals may require Bid Bonds, Performance Bonds, Payment Bonds, and Surety as dictated by the specifications.

No bidder may withdraw his bid for a period of ninety (90) days after the scheduled closing time for receipt of bids.

The Board of Trustees reserves the right to reject any and all bids.

The Community College of Allegheny County is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and encourages bids from Minority/ Disadvantaged owned businesses.

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) FOR SMOKE DETECTOR AND FIRE EXTINGUISHER UPGRADES AT GLEN HAZEL FAMILY COMMUNITY PA-1-32 HACP CONTRACT NO. 600-28-16 THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH will receive sealed bids for Smoke Detector and Fire Extinguisher Upgrades at Glen Hazel Family Community (PA-1-32). The construction work is estimated to begin in June 2016.

The estimated values of the project per are in the following ranges of $28,000.00 - $40,000.00 Bid Documents will be available on or about Monday, May 9, 2016 for a non-refundable fee of $25.00 in the form of a CERTIFIED CHECK OR MONEY ORDER ONLY. Bid Documents, including bid forms, project manual, and drawings can be picked up in person, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.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, May 19, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.: 895 Johnston Avenue Pittsburgh, PA, 15207 A site visit will be conducted thereafter. Bidders shall come prepared to review all aspects of the construction site necessary to prepare a bid.

Bids will be received at: HACP Procurement Department 100 Ross Street, Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Attn: Kim Detrick, Director of Procurement until 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 27, 2016 at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

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

No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days subsequent to the opening of bids without the consent of the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH. The Contractor will be required to comply with all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity requirements for Federally Assisted Construction Contracts. The Contractor must ensure that employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of race, color, religion, sexual preference, handicap or national origin.

HACP has revised its website. As part of those revisions, vendors must now register and log-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, Director of Procurement at (412) 456-5116 Opt 1.

Caster D. Binion, Executive Director HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH HACP conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil rights laws, including but not limited to Title VII, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA Human Relations Act, etc. and does not discriminate against any individuals protected by these statutes.

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The Allegheny County Department of Human Services (DHS) recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Long Term Structured Residential Program for Individuals with Serious Mental Illness Including Individuals Being Diverted or Released from Inpatient and Criminal Justice Facilities. Proposals are due by: June 24, 2016.

For more details and submission information, visit: www.alleghenycounty.us/ Human-Services/Resources/ Doing-Business/Solicitations(RFP/RFQ/RFI).aspx.

Marc Cherna Director Allegheny County Department of Human Services

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY LEGAL NOTICE CONTRACT NO. 1649

Sealed Bids for CONTRACT NO.1649-EMPLOYEE PARKING LOT PAVEMENT IMPROVEMENTS shall be received at the office of the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, 3300 Preble Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15233, until 11:00 A.M., Prevailing Time, Tuesday, June 14, 2016, and then shall be publicly opened and read.

ALCOSAN encourages businesses owned and operated by minorities and women to submit bids on Authority Contracts or to participate as subcontractors or suppliers to successful Bidders. Successful Bidders are to use minority and women’s businesses to the fullest extent possible.

A Pre-Bid Meeting will be held at the Authority’s Plant on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at 1:30 P.M., Prevailing Time.

Prospective bidders are encouraged to attend the Pre-Bid Conference; however attendance at this meeting is not mandatory.

Contract Documents may be examined and obtained at the office of the Authority. A non-refundable fee of $100.00 (no cash will be accepted), will be charged for each set of Contract Documents received. All written inquiries or checks must be mailed to the Engineering Department of ALCOSAN. Bid Security shall be furnished by providing with the Bid a Certified Check or Bid Bond in the amount of 10% of the Total Bid Price.

Any questions regarding the Contract Documents should be directed to Mr. Timothy Turkowski, ALCOSAN, via email to timothy.turkowski@alcosan. org or via fax to (412)734- 8716.

The Authority reserves the right to reject any or all bids, to waive any informality in any bid and to accept any bid should it be deemed in the interest of the Authority to do so.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY SANITARY AUTHORITY David W. Borneman, P.E. Director of Engineering and Construction

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) FOR Professional Environmental Services RFP #600-26-16

The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) hereby request proposals from qualified Firms or Individuals capable of providing the following service(s): Professional Environmental Services RFP #600-26-16 The documents will be available no later than May 2, 2016 and signed, sealed proposals will be accepted until 11:00 A.M., June 2, 2016 at which time they will be Time and Date Stamped at 100 Ross Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

Parties or individuals interested may obtain information from: Mr. Kim Detrick – Procurement Director/Contracting Officer 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 visiting the Business Opportunities section of www.hacp.org A pre bid meeting will be held: Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Development & Modernization 100 Ross Street, 2nd Floor Suite 200 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 May 18, 2016 11:00 A.M. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh strongly encourages certified minority business enterprises and women business enterprises to respond 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 HACP conducts business in accordance with all federal, state, and local civil rights laws, including but not limited to Title VII, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, The PA Human Relations Act, etc. and does not discriminate against any individuals protected by these statutes.

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Pick up your Courier at these locations WESTERN AREA: CRAFTON BEVERAGE CRAFTON/INGRAM SHOPPING CENTER GIANT EAGLE CRAFTON/INGRAM SHOPPING CENTER SHEETZ #353 5400 CAMPBELL’S RUN RD SHOP N’ SAVE #1686 2103 NOBLESTOWN RD SAFRANS SUPER MKT 429 WALNUT ST GIANT EAGLE #74 PARKWAY CENTER MALL SOUTHERN AREA: KEN’S 216 BELTZHOOVER AVE NELSON’S 92 SYLVANIA AVE GIANT EAGLE #61 2021 WHARTON AVE COGO’S 2400 EAST CARSON ST COGO’S 925 EAST CARSON ST DAILY MART 1125 ARLINGTON AVE SHOP N’ SAVE CARRICK SOUTH EASTERN AREA: SUPER STOP 403 KENMAWR AVE CARL’S CAFE 337 FIFTH AVE COMET NEWS 540 BRADDOCK AVE PUFFS DISCOUNT TOBACCO 1722 GREENSBUR AVE A-PLUS SUNOCO 7403 WASHINGTON ST COGO’S 1050 BRINTON RD COGO’S 2003 S BRADDOCK AVE EDGEWOOD EXPRESS 253 EDGEWOOD AVE BRAD EXPRESS 1101 S BRADDOCK AVE GIANT EAGLE #619 1705 S. BRADDOCK AVE CVS 7406 CHURCH ST HANINI MARKET 1105 SWISSVALE AVE DUKE’S SUNOCO 825 DUQUESNE BLVD 7-11 818 N. DUQUESNE BLVD GIANT EAGLE #6379 420 EAST WATERFRONT DR GIANT EAGLE— MCKEESPORT 3812 O’NEILL BLVD J & S FOOD MART 625 W GRANT AVE RITE AID PHARMACY 100 WILLIAM MARKS DR GIANT EAGLE 1356 HOFFMAN BLVD BP GAS STATION LYSLE & WALNUT DS FOODMART 929 UNION ST RITE AID PHARMACY 725 LYSLE BLVD CHARLIE’S CORNER STORE 500 LOCUST ST NEIGHBORHOOD DOLLAR 333 5TH AVE GIANT EAGLE #38 1901 MURRAY AVE JACK’S E 8TH AVE EASTERN AREA: WATERWORKS GIANT EAGLE #72 1005 FREEPORT RD— DIVINE HAIR STUDIO 10 DUFF RD GIANT EAGLE 9001 FRANKSTOWN RD GIANT EAGLE #78 230 RODI RD BP GAS STATION 11835 FRANKSTOWN RD THE SPOT 11675 FRANKSTOWN RD MASH MINI MART 4341 OLD WM. PENN HWY

GIANT EAGLE #60 4004 MONROEVILLE BLVD GIANT EAGLE #76 AMES PLAZA, ROUTE 22 GET IT QUICK 500 GARDEN CITY DESTINY’S HAIR SALON 408 RODI RD PUFF’S DISCOUNT TOBACCO 10991 FRANKSTOWN RD SHOP N SAVE 3335 WILLIAM PENN HWY SHEETZ 3457 WILLIAM PENN HWY GETGO 10525 FRANKSTOWN RD CVS PHARMACY 10600 FRANKSTOWN RD SHELL OIL 7619 BAUM BLVD KIWI SUNOCO FRANKSTOWN AVE WILLIAM PENN SMOKE SHOP II 132 NORTH HIGHLAND AVE MARATHON GAS 6680 FRANKSTOWN AVE PENN AIKEN DAIRY 5401 PENN AVE GIANT EAGLE #17 6320 SHAKESPEARE ST HOMEWOOD MARKET 7201 FRANKSTOWN AVE SALIK HARDWARE 607 NORTH HOMEWOOD AVE NEGLEY A PLUS 123 NORTH NEGLEY AVE BAKER’S 7203 HAMILTON & STERRETT AVES DORSEY’S RECORDS 7614 FRANKSTOWN AVE HOSPITAL CORNER 4201 PENN AVE PEOPLES GROCERY 5136 PENN AVE A&M MARKET 5224 PENN AVE A-PLUS MINI MART 7701 PENN AVE WOOD & PENN 902 WOOD ST AL’S FISH & CHICKEN 1000 PENN AVE SAVE A LOT 725 ROSS AVE CVS PHARMACY 520 PENN AVE GETGO 408 PENN AVE QUICK STOP LIBERTY 3349 LIBERTY AVE K-2 CONVENIENT STORE 4900 PENN AVE SHUR SAVE 4120 MAIN ST SHELL GAS 6701 FRANKSTOWN RD UNIMART 5724 ELLSWORTH AVE GIANT EAGLE #77 254 YOST BLVD PUFF’S DISCOUNT TOBACCO 234 YOST BLVD SPEEDY MART 2131 ARDMORE BLVD SQUIRREL HILL NEWS 5804 FORBES AVE MURRAY AVE. NEWS 2024 MURRAY AVE GIANT EAGLE MURRAY AVE & LORETTA ST DISCOUNT TOBACCO & NEWS 1929 MURRAY AVE UNIVERSITY OF PGH BOOKSTORE 4000 5TH AVE DANA’S BAKERY 720 N. HOMEWOOD AVE DA STORE 606 & 1/2 N. HOMEWOOD AVE BONUS TIRE SERVICE 4349 VERONA RD KANDY CAFE 4291 VERONA RD GIANT EAGLE SHADYSIDE 550 CENTRE AVE MARATHON GAS 4010 PENN AVE STANTON NEGLEY DRUG 804 N. NEGLEY AVE RON’S CORNER DRUG MT. CARMEL RD CENTRAL AREA:

GET GO #64 4924 BAUM BLVD SCHWARTZ MARKET 1901 5TH AVE SMOKER FRIENDLY 906 5TH AVE HILL DISTRICT: WONG’S MARKET 2170 CENTRE AVE ANN’S MARKET 2316 WEBSTER AVE A-PLUS MINI MART 2350 CENTRE AVE UJAMMA BOUTIQUE 1901 CENTRE AVE K LEROY IRVIS TOWERS 715 MERCER ST SHOP & SAVE SUPERMARKET 1850 CENTRE AVE ABE’S MARKET 1860 CENTRE AVE WYLIE TOBACCO 2152 WYLIE AVE DOWNTOWN: KWIK-E-MART 212-10TH ST 7-11 #167 643 LIBERTY AVE 7-11 #165 SIXTH & PENN AVE 7-11 #170 429 WOOD ST ESTER’S SNAX FEDERAL BUILDING, 2ND FL SMITHFIELD NEWS 115 SMITHFIELD ST FABER COE & GREGG 500 GRANT ST FABER COE & GREGG FIFTH AVE. PLACE FABER COE & GREGG 600 GRANT ST NIELSEN’S STORES #09 301 GRANT ST— ONE OXFORD CENTER NIELSEN’S STORES #13 437 SEVENTH AVE— KOPPERS BUILDING 9TH & PENN NEWS-NUMBERS 136 PENN AVE EXTRA EXTRA NEWS 413 SEVENTH AVE NEAL NEWS 400 CHERRY WAY CVS PHARMACY #4120 610-612 WOOD ST C&C NEWS 2 PPG PLACE NEWSTAND SIXTH & WOOD ONE STOP 300 SIXTH & WOOD EDDIE’S SNACKS 262 5TH AVE BIG DADDY 465 FORBES AVE 711 SMITHFIELD 420 SMITHFIELD ST NORTHERN AREA: W. N. GROCERY 1018 NORTH AVE. NORTH SIDE BEER & BEVERAGE 1304 FEDERAL ST ALLEGHENY GIFT SHOP—AGH HOSPITAL 320 EAST NORTH AVE GIANT EAGLE #652 318 CEDAR AVE 7-11 #158 1001 WESTERN AVE RICHEY’S BARBER SHOP 1207 N. FRANKLIN ST QUIK-IT 820 PENNSYLVANIA AVE RITE AID #3459 802 PENNSYLVANIA AVE MARSHALL SHELL 1500 SPRING GARDEN AVE SWINKO’S MARKET 2535 PERYSVILLE AVE MERCY STREET EXPRESS 6 MERCY ST HARV’S EXXON 2501 BRIGHTON RD QUICK SCHWARTZ 3235 BRIGHTON RD HANINI MARKET 3245 BRIGHTON RD