The Northside Chronicle, Pittsburgh - August 2018

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August 2018 Est. 1985 Your Community Newspaper

The Northside Chronicle

Volume 34 Issue 8 - FREE -

Photo by Clifton Loosier

Coach James Hoy (third from left) and Assistant Coach Stu Lyon (second from left) train Northside boxers Eric Quarles (left) and Justin Bermudez (right) as part of the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League (WPAL), a program that partners youth with local mentors.

Youth find confidence through boxing NS Residents By Ashlee Green It’s 6:30 p.m. on a Monday night and the city is winding down as workers head home for the day. But for Eric Quarles, 20, of Manchester, and Justin Bermudez, 16, of Perry Hilltop, the action is just getting started. “Let’s go, let’s go,” “Giddy up, giddy up,” “You’re a rock star!,” shouts their coach, James Hoy, also a Northside resident and real estate developer well known for his uniquely themed housing properties. Hoy is standing in the center of a boxing ring,

INSIDE

leading Quarles, Bermudez and a few other young men in a warm-up. “Be an athlete, be an athlete,” he cheers, as they drop to the floor for push-ups. The boxers come to Third Avenue Boxing most days of the week to train for the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League (WPAL), an organization started as a mentorship program between volunteer trainers and local youth, to give kids an athletic alternative to violence and drugs. WPAL was founded by Jimmy Cvetic, a former Allegheny

- Aviation Photo Exhibit, Page 4 STORIES, COLUMNS, - Tribute to “Mr. Richey,” Page 11 FEATURES & MORE - Back-to-School Guide, Page 15

County police officer and local poet. Cvetic runs ten boxing gyms throughout Western Pennsylvania and views the sport as a stepping stone for kids to become champions of their own lives. “I believe everybody has good in them,” says Cvetic. “Sometimes you just have to hunt harder and look deeper for it.” Hoy, who goes by “Coach,” has been training the team for the last five years. He boxed when he was in college and coached high school basketball for 30 years. He says he was “bored,” and that’s what landed him here. See Boxing, Page 12

ONLINE

demand a say in rail project

By Ashlee Green In April 2017, Norfolk Southern Railway received a $20 million grant from PennDOT to upgrade 14 bridges in Allegheny County. Three of those bridges— at Columbus, Pennsylvania and West North Avenues—are located along the Pittsburgh Line, a rail line running through the Northside. Some Northside residents See Railroad, Page 7

- Latest Northside news - Weekly real estate transfers WWW.THENORTHSIDE CHRONICLE.COM - Event coverage and photos


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The Northside Chronicle, Pittsburgh - August 2018 by The Northside Chronicle - Issuu