Pittsburgh Marathon Returns

After a 6 year hiatus, the Pittsburgh Marathon returned to the city's streets with nearly 10,500 competitors scheduled to run either the full marathon or a half marathon. Kassahun Kabiso of Ethiopia won the men's race with a time of 2 hours 22 minutes and 51 seconds. Kristin Price, a Penn Trafford High School graduate who now lives in North Carolina, crossed the finish line near the David L. Lawrence Convention Center with a time of 2 hours 36 minutes and 33 seconds to win the women's division. The full 26.2 mile course began at 11th and Smallman Streets in the Strip District and wound its way through 2 dozen neighborhoods. Organizers expected about 100,000 people to line the route to cheer on the runners.

Former Justice Cappy Dies

Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy has died at age 65. Deputy Court Administrator Tom Darr says Cappy died suddenly Friday evening as he was preparing to leave his Green Tree home for a social engagement. The cause of death is unknown but Cappy recently underwent surgery for blocked arteries. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said he's "shocked and saddened" by Cappy's death and credited his leadership with helping to resolve the state's medical malpractice crisis. Chief Justice Ronald Castille said "Ralph Cappy had a deep and abiding love for the Supreme Court and for its mission to deliver justice to the citizens of Pennsylvania." Castille said Cappy was respected nationally and "was a justice of tremendous integrity and a tireless worker." Cappy served 10 years on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, became a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice in 1990 and served as Chief Justice from 2003 until he retired in January 2008. Following his retirement from the bench, Cappy joined the Pittsburgh law firm of Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney.

New Plan Puts Scranton Deaf School Under PGH School

A plan to keep the Scranton School for the Deaf's doors open is being finalized by Governor Ed Rendell and legislative leaders, but a Scranton lawmaker says he's not happy with the details. Representative Kevin Murphy says he will keep pressing his case. The plan would essentially make the Scranton School a satellite campus for the Pittsburgh based Western Pennsylvania School for the deaf. Instead of operating as a residential school providing education for grades K through 12, it would be a K through 8-day school. Murphy says scaling back the Scranton School's operations will shift extra costs to school districts, noting deaf students in public schools would each need an individual sign language interpreter. He says, “If we have a lot of these kids that are put back into mainstream public schools or intermediate units, where we have to not only have a signer for each student-that's a must-we're going to have to have a signer. But many of these children are also going to require speech therapists. They're going to require special technical equipment.” Murphy is also concerned Scranton students transferring to the Western Pennsylvania School would have to learn a whole new language system, pointing out Scranton teaches American Sign Language, while the Pittsburgh facility uses a mix of ASL and English.

Carnegie Museum of Art Names New Director

Lynn Zelevansky is taking the role of Director for the Carnegie Museum of Art, replacing Richard Armstrong, who left the museum to direct the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York. Zelevansky, a specialist in contemporary art, says she would like to bring a global perspective to the direction of the museum, having worked in Brazil, Japan, and many other foreign countries. "Obviously I want to be sensitive to the environment in Pittsburgh... but I also think that the international aspect of the museum is in its DNA. It just makes it easier for me to help the curators if they are interested in pursuing art from the places where I've done so much work," says Zelevansky. The new director says she had never wanted to be a museum director, but this particular institution proved irresistable. "It has everything to do with the nature of the nature of the museum, the size of it, the nature of its ambition, its wonderful collection... I think it has potential to be an important force regionally, nationally, and internationally," says Zelevansky. She adds that she already has some ideas for the next International exhibit. "This is the International of the Facebook generation," she says. "How do we reflect that?" Zelevansky will be leaving her current position as curator of modern and contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to take the position on July 15.

Fund Drive for Salvation Army in Westmoreland County

The Salvation Army in Westmoreland County is one-third of the way toward its goal of raising $150,000.

In the current economy, needs have increased while funding sources—including the United Way and corporate donors--have diminished, according to Westmoreland County Coordinator Mark Mackneer.

The focus in the large county continues to be on core social services like food, clothing and shelter, says Mackneer.

The Red Shield Campaign will end with a dinner at St. Vincent College on May 15th.

Pittsburgh's Finances Get a Mixed Review

The city of Pittsburgh ended last year with a $36 million surplus. But Controller Michael Lamb says the city's ongoing problems with debt and an underfunded pension put its finances at risk. Lamb released the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report today. He found that the city brought in higher than expected revenues from taxes; collections of real estate, payroll preparation, income, parking and amusement taxes were all up. Lamb says the higher payroll tax numbers in particular suggest to him that job losses in Pittsburgh have not been that severe.

The bad news, he says, is that pensions for city employees are only 29% funded. That's down from 42% at the end of 2007. Lamb says employees will have to help--he predicts the collective bargaining process will bring about changes like higher contributions or adjustments to the retirement age. Lamb also says the mayor's proposal to lease downtown parking garages may also help... but ultimately, he says the city needs help from Harrisburg.

Children's Ready to Move

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh is gearing up for its big move. Starting at 6:00 Saturday morning the Emergency Department at the Oakland facility will close and all new emergency cases will be taken at the new hospital in Lawrenceville. Starting at 7:00am, every patient in the hospital will be put into ambulances and moved to the new building. Children’s Vice President for medical affairs Steven Docimo says 40 ambulances from around the region will be used with the goal of having all the patients moved in 8-12 hours. He says no streets will be closed but Pittsburgh Police officers will be posted at key intersections to make sure traffic moves smoothly. Docimo says the hospital has been trying to lower its census over the last few weeks. They have stopped scheduling elective surgeries and each department has had a census reduction plan in place. The goal was to have just 150 patients in the hospital at the time of the move. Docimo says as of Friday morning there were 190 in-patients and it looks like the number Saturday morning will be closer to 160. He says the increase is due to a recent up tick in emergency room admissions. Docimo says over the last few months Saturday morning census counts have ranged from 220 to 250.

Shale Tax Earmark Suggested

A policy center is backing Governor Ed Rendell's proposal for a severance tax on Marcellus Shale gas extractions-but the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center wants a share of the profits to go toward local governments and environmental protection. Rendell says 5% tax on wellhead values and a 4.7-cent levy on every thousand cubic feet of extracted gas could bring in $107 million I the next fiscal year. Critics say that will kill the fledgling gas industry before it even gets established in the commonwealth, but Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center executive director Sharon Ward disagrees. “There is really no evidence at all that a severance tax will kill the industry. In fact, there is credible evidence from other states that have looked precisely at this issue that the tax has little impact on production,” says Ward. Currently Rendell wants all the funds to go to the state’s general fund but Ward says a portion should help offset county property taxes. She says some should also be earmarked for Shale-related environmental oversight and upkeep.

Unemployment Claims Down But Still High

The number of Pennsylvanians filing for unemployment benefits is down for the third straight week, but the Department of Labor and Industry is cautioning people about reading too much into that trend. About 3,400 people applied for unemployment benefits last week. That's down from 36-hundred the week before, and 43-hundred two weeks ago. Department of Labor and Industry spokesman David Smith says that's good, but notes the number of filings is still way above where it was last spring. “Right now, through the comparable weeks through 2008, 2009 is running 60 percent above the rate of initial claims in the same period of 2008,” says Smith. He goes on to note that is a higher rate than March, which was 56 percent above 2008 levels. Smith says Pennsylvania has borrowed $500 million fro the federal government since mid-March to cover the benefits.

House Appropriations Chair Says Budget Even Worse

The size of this year’s state budget shortfall continues to grow. Lawmakers are now saying it will likely top three billion dollars. For months the Rendell Administration had been using a figure of $2.3 billion as the expected budget gap and the General Assembly has been working with that number. However a spokesperson for House Appropriations Committee Chair Dwight Evans, says April tax revenues came in below estimates, and the deficit will likely surpass three billion dollars. Johnna Pro says, “That's a big number to have a shortfall for this year, and we'll go into next year with a similar number. So it gives us a budget situation that's far more complicated than it has been for a decade and a half.” A spokesman for Governor Rendell says the administration is waiting for official revenue figures to come in before revising any estimates. Republican lawmakers say the budget gap is proof Governor Ed Rendell's $29 billion spending plan for next year is too costly, and needs to be scaled back appropriately.