BLOGSKI

This has been one of the most active years in memory for Polish Hill. Our residents and friends have accomplished amazing things by working together. We have welcomed new people to our neighborhood and they are putting down good, strong roots. Our native and new residents have been working well together, volunteering in clean-up efforts, tree plantings, gardening initiatives, PHCA Committees, and as one voice are helping move Polish Hill forward in our efforts to increase the quality of life for all of our residents.

We have had some challenges in the last month that cast a shadow over the hard work we all continue to do in our community. We have had new residents be the victim of a robbery on Brereton. This is a rare crime for Polish Hill that we do not want to see repeated. Several nuisance properties, in the hands of absentee landlords, have become problems for the entire neighborhood, not just the adjacent properties. We also know that two burglaries occurred Monday.

This represents an unprecedented rise in our crime rate. It has always been my pleasure to report very minor incidents in our neighborhood, and sometimes several months in a row with no crimes to report. So now I am asking all Polish Hill residents, and those who hold our neighborhood dear, to watch out for each other. Everyone on Polish Hill is a neighbor. We are working very closely with our Zone 2 Police Station to report any suspicious activity. Communication is critical, between neighbors and the Police department. We all want our community to remain the safe place we love. To that end I am asking all residents to continue to call 911 if you see something suspicious. It might seem minor, but the information may fit into the large picture and solve a problem for another neighbor.

The PHCA can also offer to turn in anonymous information if there are issues where you do not want your name involved; a ‘Silent Complaint” can get the information to the proper sources.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the PHCA with any concerns. You can reach the PHCA office by phgone at 412-681-1950 or by email at phcapgh@gmail.com.

Terry Doloughty
President
Polish Hill Civic Association

Read the fine print or risk getting burned with Twitter work-at-home offers

Through Tweets, e-mail and Web sites, job hunters are being told that they can make lots of money from the comfort of home using Twitter. Better Business Bureau warns that the large print for such offers may promise big returns but the fine print can cost them every month.

Currently 14.5 million Americans are out of work and looking for a way to bring home a paycheck according to the most recent jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Work-at-home schemes have often preyed on unsuspecting job hunters and now Twitter is being used as a way to convince cash-strapped individuals that they can make quick and easy money.

“Twitter is the newest bright shiny object online and a perfect hook for yet another work-at-home scheme,” said Warren King, BBB President. “The pitch used to be about making money by sending e-mails or by placing ads on Google but now cash-strapped job hunters need to be wary of shelling out money for a dubious opportunity that revolves around Twitter.”

Unfortunately, such “Make Money with Twitter” schemes may sound risk-free but bear many red flags prompting BBB to advise job hunters to be extremely cautious.

One e-mail picked up by BBB stated: “Twitter Workers Needed ASAP, You’re Hired! Make Extra Cash with Twitter; As seen on USA Today, CNN, and ABC… Apply Now!”

The e-mail links to EasyTweetProfits.com, a company out of Surrey, England. EasyTweetProfits.com claims you can make $250-$873 a day working at home with Twitter. The Web site offers a seven-day free trial of their instructional CD-ROM for $1.95 to cover shipping. Buried in the lengthy terms and conditions are the details that the trial begins on the day the CD is ordered—not when it is received—and if the consumer doesn’t cancel within seven days of signing up, they’ll be charged $47 every month.

Similar to other work-from-home schemes, phony blogs by made-up individuals have been created as testimonials to the success of Twitter-money-making programs. Make-money-on-twitter.com is one such phony blog—supposedly by a Derrick Clark—where the author brags about making up to $5,000 a month posting links to Twitter. The blog also includes an image of the supposed check Derrick received for posting links on Twitter, but the exact same photo of the check has been used countless times on other phony blogs for various suspect work-at-home jobs.

The blog links to TwitterProfitHouse.com which, similar to EasyTweetProfits.com, claims you can make $250-$873 a day working at home and offers a seven-day free trial of their instructional CD-ROM, for $1.99 shipping. Again, however, reading the fine print shows that the trial period starts once the CD has been ordered and the consumer will be billed $99.99 every month if they don’t call the company to cancel.

“These Web sites have not been up for very long so, if experience has taught us anything, we know that it’s only a matter of time before the complaints start coming in,” added King. “Work-at-home schemes are like a game of whack-a-mole and new Web sites crop up practically every day.”

BBB wants job hunters to be aware of the following red flags when searching for a work-at-home job online:

* The “job” is actually a money-making scheme and doesn’t provide actual employment.
* The work-at-home scheme claims that you can make lots of money with little effort and no experience.
* You have to pay money upfront in order to be considered for the job or receive more information.
* The exact same tweet touting the program is posted by many different Twitter’ers. The links in such tweets could lead you to scam sites or install malicious malware onto your computer.
* BBB offers general advice when searching Work-At-Home opportunities.

The Allegheny County Parks Department today announced its concerts and events schedule for July 3-7. All events are free unless otherwise noted. All concert acts and times are subject to change. For additional information, call 412-350-2478 or visit www.alleghenycounty.us/parks.

Fri., July 3
Sports Clinics
10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
Meyers Ridge – McKees Rocks
and 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Fri., July 3
Cheat Sheets
8:00 p.m.
Tickets $11-$15
South Park Theater
Sat., July 4
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
8:00 p.m.
Hartwood Amphitheater
Sat., July 4
Cheat Sheets
8:00 p.m.
Tickets $11-$15
South Park Theater
Sun., July 5
Oliver Miller Homestead
1:00-4:30 p.m.
Tours (last admission at 4:00 p.m.)
$1 donation
Sun., July 5
2:00 p.m.
Cheat Sheets
Tickets $11-$15
South Park Theater
Sun., July 5
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
8:15 p.m.
South Park Amphitheater
Mon., July 6
10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
Sports Clinics
and 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Boys & Girls Club – Chartiers Branch
Mon., July 6
Rats! The Story of the Pied Piper
6:30 p.m.
Tickets $2
South Park Children’s Theater
Tues., July 7
Sports Clinics
10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon
and 12:30-2:30 p.m.
Boys & Girls Club – Chartiers Branch
Tues., July 7
10:00 a.m.
Rats! The Story of the Pied Piper
Tickets $2
South Park Children’s Theater
Tues., July 7
Learn to Swim Lessons
10:30-11:15 a.m.
Ages 5+, last names A-K
Boyce, North, Settler’s Cabin and South Park Pools
Tues., July 7
Rats! The Story of the Pied Piper
6:30 p.m.
Tickets $2
South Park Children’s Theater
Tues., July 7
257th Army Band Concert
7:30 p.m.
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum

The Allegheny County Parks Department today announced that free swimming lessons will be conducted at the pools in Boyce, North, Settler’s Cabin and South parks from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays in July.

Classes for individuals with last names beginning with “A” through “K” will begin on Tues., July 7. Individuals with last names beginning with “L” through “Z” are encouraged to begin classes on Thurs., July 9.

Individuals must be five years of age or older in order to participate. No pre-registration is required.

For additional information, visit this link

Staffski wanted to give a shout out to Polish Hiller Sarah Miller and the crew at Blue Dust in Homestaed. Munch gave the restaurant a great review, talking about the interior, which Sarah created, as well as the great selection of microbrews and, of course, the great food!

The bar is made from a colorful tile mosaic, and sculptures of some African fellows stand watch behind it. A pair of cool prints of old steelworks adorn a back wall along with a huge magnetic poetry board, which, judging by some of the suggestive and weird combinations left by previous patrons (Drunk Woman Worship; Have You An Enormous Apparatus; Mother Lather Me To Death), provides hours of potential fun after the beers start flowing. Read the entire review in the Post Gazette

Congratulations, Sarah! It sounds wonderful.

Staffski went to Braddock on Saturday with the Bread Oven Committee and Our Friend. It was lovely evening, clear skies and warm weather. It was even warmer near the bread oven. Pictured above is Josh Tonies, an amazing artist and master baker. Josh made pizza for us in the Braddock Community bread oven. It was a much appreciated opportunity to see the bread oven in action and talk to some of the people involved in the operation of the operation. And of course, everyone wanted their picture taken with Our Friend.

From top, that’s Sean, Andrew, Terry, Mary Lou, Leah Myra and Brian. The pizza was absolutely wonderful in all of its variations.

There was quite a crowd at the bread oven. Mayor Fetterman was great about answering questions and was very enthusiastic. That’s John Fetterman in the black t-shirt.

We had a bonus while we were in Braddock. The bread oven is on the UnSmoke Systems compound. UnSmoke Systems is a repurposed school and convent that has become the home of a gallery and workspace for artists. The closing reception for Wear and Tear was planned for the same evening. After we finished our delicious pizza, we stuck around while Gavin Kenyon and Heather Powell set up a demonstration of hot metal pouring.

You can see Gavin Kenyon (above)  starting work while we sipped on out beverages and filled in the stomach corners. It was a really wonderfule evening. Thank you, Mayor Fetterman and UnSmoke Systems, for being such wonderful hosts. We hope you join us when Polish Hill has built its bread oven.

Allegheny County Public Works announced single lane closures beginning on Tues., June 30, and continuing for the next two weeks on the Roberto Clemente (6thStreet), Andy Warhol (7th Street) and Rachel Carson (9th Street) bridges. The single lane closures will occur between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and will only affect one bridge at a time.

The lane closures are necessary to allow Michael Facchiano Contracting Inc. to conduct repairs to the downtown side of all three bridges.
For additional information, contact Bridge Engineering Manager Steve Shanley at 412-350-5877.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato today submitted legislation to County Council to renew the new home construction and home improvement property tax abatement programs to encourage job creation and spending in Allegheny County.

“These two incentive programs promote home building and improvement projects that translate into construction jobs and spending – all of which are good for our economy,” said Onorato. “We need to renew these programs to give our local real estate and construction markets a boost, while also easing the tax burden on new homeowners.”

The Act 202 new home construction abatement program waives the Allegheny County portion of the property tax for two years on new residential buildings. Under the Act 42 home improvement abatement program, homeowners do not pay County property tax for three years on up to
$36,009 of new improvements made to existing homes.

“Allegheny County’s ability to weather the housing market storm that has crippled many communities across the nation is largely attributable to the stabilization of our assessment system, holding the line on property taxes for eight years, and the continued renewal of new construction incentive programs like Act 42 and Act 202,” said County Council President Rich Fitzgerald. “The renewal of these programs shows our continued commitment to provide
property tax relief to the residents of our county.”

The abatement programs are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2009. Onorato’s legislation will renew the incentives for 2010 and 2011.

“At this time of shaky consumer confidence, we strongly support Allegheny County’s extension of its new residential construction tax abatement program,” said Jim Eichenlaub, executive director of the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh. “We thank Allegheny County Executive Onorato and the members of County Council for recognizing the importance of the program and the boost in consumer confidence that it will bring in letting buyers of new homes in Allegheny County know that the incentive and welcome mat to build and live in here will remain in the years ahead.”

Anyone currently building a new home in Allegheny County can learn more about the program and download an application at www.alleghenycounty.us/opa/act202.aspx. Those currently making improvements to an existing home in Allegheny County can learn more and download an application at www.alleghenycounty.us/opa/act42.aspx.

For questions regarding either program, call the Office of Property Assessments at 412-350-4600

There are so many changes happening in Polish Hill. Since it is such a small neighborhood, it is easy to see the changes that our village is going through; all Staffski has to do is step outside the office. From one end of Brereton to the other is the evidence of construction and deconstruction as Polish Hill evolves, exhibiting a new vibrancy.

Some old buildings are disappearing, removed because of years of neglect. Others have been purchased by newcomers to our village. Newcomers that see the beauty and potential of this haven in the city, that admire and respect what has been built and want to be a part of it. So many of our new neighbors stop in at the Polish Hill office and we are pleased to welcome them and their energy and interest in what we are becoming.

These changes, of course, are not without some price. The landscape of our village is showing some gaps. The machinery is loud, dumpsters are not the most pleasant features to look at and there is dust to contend with. Staffski is sure that references too where Mostowy’s used to be will figure highly in directions for at least a generation.

With all of that said, these are only temporary inconveniences. Dumpsters are not permanent and the dust will eventually settle. New businesses are already waiting to move in to Polish Hill, restoring the vitality of our village and an homage to what has been maintained by this community. Remodeling has it’s bit of mess to contend with, no matter if it is your bathroom, living room or Main Street. We are glad to have all this activity happening from our long term residents and our new residents. We will all benefit from an improved neighborhood after all the hard work and clean up has been completed.

Well, now, look at that! Polish Hill resident, Sarah Ireland, is a Mibster! Congratulations, Sarah, from Staffski and all of us here at the PHCA –

Bauer was defeated by Whitney Lapic, age 13 of Berks County, Pa., who was crowned the girls national champion. Nathan Narr, age 14 of Lawrenceville, qualified for today’s semi-finals in the boys division, but he did not make it to the finals. Ricky Brode, age 14 of Cumberland, Md., was crowned boys national champion. Brandon Matchett, age 10 of the South Side, finished tied for 8th place, and Benjamin Eddings, age 10 of the South Side, finished in 22nd place in the boys division. Sarah Ireland, age 14 of Polish Hill, finished in 9th place, and Baily Narr, age 9 of Lawrenceville, tied for 12th place in the girls division.

Sarah Ireland talked to reporters at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette about her love of marbles –

“It’s something I look forward to in the year,” Sarah said of the tournament, where she will meet with marble lovers from all over the country, many of them now in their 70s or 90s.

“When you get into marbles, it stays with you for the rest of your life,” she explained.

You can read the Post Gazette article here.