Tube City Almanac

Art Group Marks 50th With Free Exhibit

2008-05-15T17:00:00-04:00

The city that gave the world Duane Michals (but not, despite rumors, Andy Warhol) is still nurturing artists.

And some of the most active artists from the Mon-Yough area get a chance to display their talents to the public this weekend when the McKeesport Art Group holds its annual exhibition at Jacob Woll Pavilion in Renziehausen Park.

The judged competition, which opens to the public tomorrow night, comes as the art group celebrates its 50th anniversary.

. . .

Current president Jan Catalogna, who recently retired from PNC Bank, says the group was founded in 1958 with help from one of McKeesport's favorite artists, the late Jeff Madden.

Madden, former art director of the G.C. Murphy Co., became famous for his paintings depicting McKeesport life in the 1950s through the '70s. Many of his prints still decorate the walls of homes and offices in the Mon Valley.

"Jeff was so popular in the city that a group of people who were interested in art got together and said, we should form a club," Catalogna said.

Like many of the art group's 40 members, Catalogna is a painter --- she works in acrylics and oils on canvas and on the blades of old saws, and many of her paintings depict wildlife.

But other members enter their photography, pen-and-ink or charcoal drawings, or sculpture.

At least one member, Dan Piesik, is a blacksmith, and another Ray Spisak, carves in wood using a chainsaw. Weather permitting, Spisak will be demonstrating the art of chainsaw carving on Saturday or Sunday.

. . .

A few members, like Ray Madden of North Braddock, worked in commercial art during their professional lives. Madden ("no relation to Jeff," he says, "but everybody asks that") designed and painted outdoor advertising displays and vehicles for clients such as Cott Beverage and General Nutrition Center.

You can also see his work on the outside of the Dorothy's Candies building in White Oak.

Madden, who works in oils, watercolors and pencils, doesn't have a favorite subject.

"All kinds of things catch my eye," he says. "I've painted in Arizona, including scenery and (portraits of) Indians, and I've painted landscapes around Pittsburgh."

The ages of participants in this weekend's show range from students at McKeesport Area High School --- who are exhibiting a series of theater-type posters --- to retirees like Catalogna's mother, Ruth Burton, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday.

"Mom liked to draw from the time she was in school, and she still has notebooks from her high school days," Catalogna says. Burton has two landscape paintings entered in the show.

Crafts --- including quilts --- are also on display.

Entries are judged in different classifications according to the skill level of the artist --- amateur, experienced or professional --- and paintings and other "flat" works are judged separately from three-dimensional art, like carving and sculpture.

This year's judge was Peg Panasiti of the Latrobe Art Center, who evaluated more than 130 works entered in this year's competition.

. . .

The exhibition opens to the public at 5 p.m. Friday. Awards will be distributed at 7 p.m., after brief remarks by city Mayor Jim Brewster.

Art group members will then host a free reception and buffet.

Admission is free, but selected artworks and crafts (including the theater posters made by MAHS students) will be for sale, and the art group will also sponsor a "Chinese auction."

Hours are from 12 to 8 p.m. Saturday and 12 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Jacob Woll Pavilion is located inside Renzie Park, just off University Drive near the entrance to Penn State Greater Allegheny campus.

For more information, call Catalogna at (412) 469-2710 or Madden at (412) 824-6646.

. . .

P.S.: By the way, I don't know much about art, but I know what I like. And the Tube City Tiger really likes this painting (at right) by Ray Spisak.

In fact, I think I heard him say it was "g-r-r-r-eat!"

Or maybe that was some other tiger.

The Shrill Voice of the People

2008-05-14T09:32:00-04:00

Sometimes commenting on local news is like shooting fish in a barrel:

. . .

All Fall Down: The building that collapsed on Sixth Avenue last week was owned by something called "Comfort Air Products Inc.," which according to the Daily News has not returned repeated calls seeking comment.

"Comfort Air Products" is actually the Edward L. Kemp Co. on West Fifth Avenue, which as the Almanac has reported before, owns many derelict or dilapidated buildings in the city, including, according to Allegheny County records, the Penn-McKee Hotel.

Kemp's advertising plays up its long heritage in McKeesport. It brags that the company has been "heating and cooling the Mon Valley since 1888."

But allowing buildings throughout the Downtown area to deteriorate --- and fall down --- doesn't do the city or the Mon Valley any good.

If you're installing or repairing an air conditioner this summer, and you call Kemp, ask them why they own so many buildings in the Mon Valley ... and also ask why you should spend your money with them instead of someone else.

No, McKeesport isn't a great market for real estate development, but it seems unlikely that (for instance) the Penn-McKee site --- one block from the marina and the Palisades, and next to the Jerome Avenue Bridge --- is completely unmarketable.

. . .

Les Taxis de la Médiocrité: A French company has acquired Allegheny County's principal taxi operator:

Veolia Transportation is the North American arm of Veolia Transport, based in Paris. Founded more than 150 years ago, Veolia operates cabs, buses, rail and maritime transportation services in 25 countries and employs more than 72,000. The North American unit does business in 18 U.S. states, including major markets such as Boston, Denver and Baltimore.

Pittsburgh Transportation, based in Manchester, is the county's largest privately held transportation group. It operates 685 cabs, limos and buses; employs more than 300 people; and engages 450 independent contractor/drivers. It also owns Peoples Cab, Express Shuttle, Embassy Coach/Limousine Service, Star Paratransit, PTG Charter Services and Freedom Coach. (Tribune-Review)

There are several things to note here.

First, taxi service in Allegheny County is terrible. It's almost impossible to "hail" a cab in Pittsburgh, even at one of the hotels.

Instead, you have to call and make a reservation (usually with Yellow Cab, which has almost no competition), but they don't always show up, especially if you're not going someplace they want to go.

And forget about getting a cab from the Mon Valley, unless you're going to the airport. They won't come here. That's why illegal jitney services thrive in McKeesport (the big gathering spot is across from the Foodland at Fifth and Coursin) and other communities.

Because Yellow Cab already bites the wax tadpole, it's hard to imagine that their service is going to get any worse.

That's good news, because Veolia doesn't have a great track record around here. As the Almanac noted back in January, Veolia is the operator of the sewage treatment plant in Elizabeth Township, which has been dumping millions of gallons of untreated human waste into the Youghiogheny River.

In fact, officials from the Municipal Authority of the City of McKeesport are now in negotiations to take over sewage treatment in Elizabeth Township.

Maybe MACM should get ready to take over the taxi franchise, too. "Today the toilets, tomorrow the taxis! Viva McKeesport!"

. . .

Whatever Floats Your Train: Meanwhile, sewage isn't the only thing that goes down the drain. So does tax money. Last week, local high school students were given a tour of Maglev Inc.'s labs at the city's industrial park:

"Floating trains ... sounds like science fiction!" South Fayette High School sophomore Eric Wise declared when he and other gifted students visited Maglev Inc. facilities in McKeesport.

"Well, I saw the work with my own eyes," he said after touring the RIDC Park shop that holds the first 22-foot-long sections of guideway ever built in the United States for a magnetically-levitated, high-speed train line. (Post-Gazette)

Sorry, kid, but it's still fiction. Despite millions of dollars of taxpayer money, Maglev Inc. has not produced as much as a kiddieland train at Kennywood. After more than a decade of "work," they don't have a single public demonstration site.

Worse, private money is exiting the magnetic-levitation business. While the kids were goggling at the Maglev dog-and-pony show, two of Germany's biggest manufacturing companies announced they were abandoning their own maglev efforts.

The partnership between ThyssenKrupp AG and Siemens AG has developed only one operational maglev train line, in Shanghai, China ... and those trains run 80 percent empty, according to the Asia Times.

Reports the newspaper: "Travelers often complain that the maglev train doesn't really drop them off anywhere convenient and they still have to take a taxi to their destinations."

When big companies can't make a technology successful and abandon its development, it's usually a sign that technology is not commercially viable.

Yet the U.S. Congress wants to invest another $90 million for "nationwide research and development of maglev technology."

Though McKeesport gets positive press from being affiliated with magnetic-levitation technology, there might be better places to spend $90 million in public money.

. . .

It Should Have Been Orange: Speaking of passengers not going anywhere, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has developed a new logo in response to a directive from Gov. Ed Rendell that all state agencies incorporate a keystone into their symbols.

The Almanac suggested a logo to PennDOT, but our idea (crossed shovels in a cluster of potholes) was completely ignored.

The Cranky Old Coot

2008-05-13T11:13:00-04:00

A couple of political things are bugging me. Let me set up my soap-box here on the corner of Fifth and Walnut, hitch my pants up to my armpits, and say a few things:

. . .

First, for God's sake, stop forwarding Internet hoaxes. A friend just sent me a photo of Barack Obama supposedly holding a telephone upside down. The accompanying email said: "When you are faking a pose for a camera photo opportunity, at least you can get the phone turned in the right direction! And he wants to be President? Dumba--!"

Uh, yeah. Obama doesn't know how to talk on a telephone. And the person taking the picture also doesn't know how to use a telephone, and didn't notice that he was using it upside down. Right.

Doesn't anyone realize how stupid that sounds?

For crying out loud, it wasn't even a good photo-editing job, and when I searched Google for "obama" and "phone," the very first result was a discussion of the fact that the picture is a fake.

It also wasn't an original idea. Someone used the same joke against George W. Bush several years ago.

You might think that things like this don't make a difference. But they do. How many people think that Obama is a Muslim based on unattributed emails? Plenty of people in West Virginia, according to a story in the Financial Times.

(I'm personally trying to figure out how people are holding onto that stupid idea apparently at the same time that they're complaining about Obama's Christian pastor, who married him and baptized his children as Christians.)

For the love of Mike, if something seems too good to be true, check your facts first. And please, don't send me anything else about how Hillary Clinton is a Communist, or how John McCain had a daughter out of wedlock, or how certain oil companies are funding terrorists.

All of those emails are crap. Learn to use Google. It's your friend.

. . .

Second, several people have recently told me that they're not voting for anyone for president, because all of the candidates are the same, or because there are no good candidates.

Really? There are no good candidates?

One candidate is a decorated Vietnam War hero who spent five years in a prison camp, returned, and has served honorably in the U.S. Senate, where he's fought the White House and powerful lobbyists to ban the use of torture and regulate campaign financing.

Another candidate is a distinguished lawyer who has held her own against a 15-year-long smear campaign and was elected twice to the U.S. Senate, where she has battled long and hard for the causes she believes in, especially where it comes to women's rights.

The third candidate is the son of a single mother who lifted himself up from the streets, became a community organizer, labor activist and state senator, and has been a tireless critic of the war in Iraq and tax breaks for the wealthy, among other issues.

And out of those three candidates, you can't find one worth voting for?

Sorry, but in my opinion, these are three important and interesting Americans. You don't have to agree with every single position they hold to find something admirable about at least one of them.

Frankly, this is the first presidential election in my memory where you have a chance to vote for someone, instead of against the other person.

As for the charges that there are no substantial policy differences between the candidates, Sen. McCain thinks that the United States should have a permanent lasting presence in Iraq. Sen. Obama thinks we should start bringing U.S. troops home as soon as possible. Sen. Clinton would design a plan for bringing home U.S. troops in stages.

If you've got a son, daughter or friend serving in the Middle East right now, I'd say those are pretty big damned policy differences, no matter what side you're on.

McCain believes that the free market works best with minimal regulation, and that lowering taxes on corporations stimulates the economy. Obama and Clinton say that unregulated markets have the potential to hurt consumers, and that taxes on corporations have been lowered too drastically already.

Again, if you don't think those are substantial differences, I don't think you can tell the difference between Shinola and the other stuff.

Look, I'm as cynical as the next guy, especially if the next guy happens to be George Carlin or Dennis Miller.

But saying that "there are no good candidates" or "there are no differences between them" isn't cynical. It's just pure laziness.

My grandfather and great-grandfathers came over here in the bottom of leaky boats --- women were spit on in the 1910s --- African-Americans were shot at in the 1960s --- for the right to vote. To say that it's not worth voting or that there are no good candidates is shameful.

And yes, I have tried decaffeinated coffee. Why do you ask?

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

2008-05-10T01:01:00-04:00

Fifth, Walnut Improvements Coming

2008-05-12T11:06:00-04:00

The long-awaited renovation of Fifth Avenue is set to begin later this summer.

City Administrator Dennis Pittman says the $929,000 project --- which will include new sidewalks, traffic signals, street lights, and the restoration of Downtown's main commercial street to two-way traffic --- was delayed until the remaining concrete archways of the Midtown Plaza Mall were removed.

This week, city council awarded a contract for nearly $60,000 to MB&R Piping Co. to demolish those archways. Funding for the demolition was provided by the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED).

The support beams are the last remaining part of the parking deck that once formed an overpass over Fifth Avenue, turning the already-narrow corridor into a tunnel. Work should be complete by June 30, Pittman says.

Fifth Avenue's reconstruction is being funded by the state's Home Town Streets initiative.

. . .

As for the failed Midtown Mall itself, Pittman says demolition of the interior is largely complete, and several potential tenants are interested in the space.

But leasing the space has been delayed because of the archways, he says.

Although the parking lot was demolished nearly five years ago, the concrete supports left behind were "a major deterrent," Pittman says.

Why? "Pigeons," he says. "They wait up there and get you."

(Pigeons! "PittGirl" is right!)

. . .

The Fifth Avenue work isn't the only improvement coming to a main street in the city.

City Clerk Patricia Williams announced that the DCED has awarded a $250,000 grant to install sidewalks along Walnut Street between the 15th Avenue Bridge and the Christy Park area.

Besides making it more convenient for people in the Third Ward to walk to Christy Park businesses (or vice versa), the sidewalks will add to the usability of the nearby biking-walking trail.

In other trail news: Council also gave its approval to convey more right-of-way for the segment of the trail between the McKees Point Marina and Duquesne.

The right-of-way will connect the former Union Railroad Bridge to the trail via Center Street, on the former National Works property.

. . .

Marshall Drive Extension: Work to extend Marshall Drive to Route 48 should get underway before the end of the year.

Mayor Jim Brewster said this week that the city is still waiting for a review to be completed by the state Department of Transportation. The contract will probably be awarded before the end of the year.

Extending Marshall Drive, which serves the Haler Heights area and Serra Catholic High School, will add a traffic-light controlled intersection.

Currently, the only access to Marshall Drive is via two blind intersections between Route 48 and Old Long Run Road; those intersections have been the scene of many accidents.

If the approval process isn't complete in time to get the work done before asphalt plants close for the winter, Brewster said, the paving may have to wait until Spring 2009.

While the state has awarded the city $800,000 to put toward the Marshall Drive project, the city will have to make up any funding difference between the grant and the final cost.

Besides the obvious safety improvements, completion of the extension will make vacant land near Tom Clark Chevrolet more marketable, Brewster said, noting that increased business tax revenue should offset any cost to the city.

"Sometimes people say, 'If you can't afford to fill my potholes, how can you extend Marshall Drive?'" he said. "These are two completely different pots of money."

. . .

To Do This Weekend: McKeesport Little Theater presents Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite," through May 18. Showtimes are 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Dinner will be served before this Saturday's show, but reservations are required.

The MLT is located at 1614 Coursin St., near the Carnegie Library and Cornell Intermediate School. Call (412) 673-1100 or visit their website.

Mayor: Health Care Bill 'Obscene'

2008-05-08T11:13:00-04:00

Mayor Jim Brewster's new goal is to "fire Blue Cross-Blue Shield" as the city's health insurance carrier.

The pledge comes after Highmark, the Pittsburgh region's Blue Cross licensee and its dominant health care provider, raised the rate on one city plan by $620,000 --- nearly 84 percent.

According to city Controller Ray Malinchak, the increase amounts to approximately $16,000 for each of the 80 city hall, public works and other administrative employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 205.

At last night's city council meeting, Brewster called the increase "obscene" and said that Highmark officials have declined to discuss their decision, except to say that the rates were increased because of an spike in the number of claims filed by people covered under the policy.

However, Highmark will not release the number or type of claims, the mayor said. "We already asked for it," he said. "We can't have it."

"It's a very emotional issue, because if you have children or you're elderly or you have health problems, you start to worry that you're going to lose" your coverage, Brewster said, "or you're going to have to pay a lot more out of your paycheck."

If passed directly along to city employees, the increased premium would cost each of them about $325 per week, he said.

. . .

The city learned of the increase when it was invoiced on Friday.

"I think it's a complete corporate embarrassment that (Highmark) did not even contact this city or this mayor and give us any advance warning," Brewster said. "Nothing."

Although the contract with the Teamsters has specified Blue Cross-Blue Shield coverage since at least 1994, Brewster said it allows the city to substitute an "equivalent or better" health insurance plan.

The mayor said he met this week with Local 205 President Bill Lickert and other union officials, and the Teamsters understand the city's need to shop for a less-expensive alternative.

Brewster has already scheduled a meeting with another health insurance carrier.

Highmark's "attitude is there aren't many other vendors out there," he said. "Maybe they don't think we're smart enough (to find one). They say, 'Well, Mr. Mayor, just raise taxes.'

"Well, we're not going to raise taxes," Brewster said. "We'll give them a little taste of McKeesport competitiveness."

. . .

Councilor Paul Shelly asked Brewster if the city could purchase health insurance jointly with other governmental entities --- for instance, neighboring communities --- and increase the risk pool to save money.

Brewster said the city is investigating the legal implications, but that he's already approached the McKeesport Housing Authority and the McKeesport Area School District.

The city is also considering a complaint to the state Insurance Commissioner.

. . .

The health insurance increase wasn't the only unexpected bill handed to city councilors last night.

By a 6-0 vote, they also awarded an emergency $42,000 contract to Patterson Home Improvements to repair the roof at the former municipal building on Lysle Boulevard.

Although city offices have moved to the old McKeesport National Bank building at Fifth and Sinclair streets, the 1959 structure at Lysle and Market still houses the police and fire stations.

Police and fire personnel are expected to move in a few years to a new regional courthouse and public safety building on Walnut Street in the Third Ward.

Malinchak and Councilor Darryl Segina questioned where the city was going to find the money for the roof repairs.

Brewster said at least three tenants --- state Sen. Sean Logan, the Regional Chamber Alliance, and the Twin Rivers Council of Governments --- have asked about leasing offices in the Lysle Boulevard structure.

The rental income would more than offset the cost of the repairs, the mayor said.

"The alternative to not doing this is continued damage," Brewster said, which would make it impossible to sell or lease the building.

Radical Cleric in Our Midst

2008-05-09T11:41:00-04:00

I don't want to discuss the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his relationship to Barack Obama, which has been beaten to death by talk radio and cable TV news.

But according to stories coming out of Indiana, about half of the people who voted against Obama in the Democratic primary say that Wright's controversial remarks --- especially the sermon where he said "God damn America" --- were an important factor in their decision.

Exit polls in Pennsylvania, where white Catholics went overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton, indicate that many voters here were also offended by Wright's remarks.

Well, hang onto your hats. You'll only read this at Tube City Almanac.

By accident, I have unearthed similar radical sermons by a local Catholic priest who has been endorsed and praised over the years by many politicians and community leaders, including several mayors of Pittsburgh, state Rep. Dave Levdansky of Elizabeth, Andrew "Lefty" Palm of the United Steel Workers of America, and Duquesne University Chancellor John Murray.

And I demand to know why these people haven't denounced this left-wing anti-American zealot the way that Barack Obama was forced to denounce Wright.

Here's what this local priest said about the Iraq war:

What have we to be proud of? Licking a nation of 19 million people and a tired army that had not mastered modern military science? Its real soldiers were outnumbered three or four to one.

That was not a war but a punitive expedition against an outmatched foe. But it pleased George Bush, who likes the idea of being a "war" president a la FDR and Wilson, and our war-like people for the most part enjoy the excitement and pumped up tension of war, especially one against a tin-horn "strong" man.

Remember, we have never tasted firsthand here at home the horror of a modern war.

It sounds to me like this radical pastor is bashing our troops in a time of war --- and saying that America should be attacked as punishment! He's also an elitist who considers average, working-class Americans "war-like."

And I want to point out again that some of our most prominent local officials have praised this man. Appalling!

Worse yet, when Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, he received the enthusiastic endorsement of this priest. Why didn't Clinton reject his endorsement? I think we have a right to know.

Here's some more of this priest's dangerous thinking:

Seers in the White House are relieved that, according to public opinion polls, the American people are not bothered by the overkilling of Iraqis.

If the polls are correct, we Americans are not a good people, but are heartless and selfish. Now the God who, the self-same polls assure us, we believe in ... will surely punish us and our children severely. It will go much worse for us that we believe in Him and actually do much in His name which we invoke ad nauseam.

But I hope against hope that the polls are wrong because I love my country. I fear for her soul ... Are we really that evil?

He considers Americans "heartless" and "selfish" and "evil," and predicts that God is going to punish us. By the standards of commentators for talk radio, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and major American newspapers, this so-called "holy man" is a dangerous un-American leftist.

Unfortunately, no one in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh is able to punish him!

You see, he died two years ago.

Those passages were written by the late Msgr. Charles Owen Rice. Both were published in that well-known radical newspaper, the Pittsburgh Catholic.

The first is from March 8, 1991, and the second is from April 12, 1991.

No, I don't really think Pittsburgh's legendary "labor priest" was a dangerous radical. In fact, I think he was a great and brave spiritual leader.

I also find it funny that when Msgr. Rice wrote those things in the bishop's official newspaper, read by more than 100,000 local Catholics, few people batted an eye.

Now, many Catholics (and I am one) are claiming that they voted against Obama because of things his pastor said --- which frankly aren't all that different from Rice's comments.

It makes me wonder if a lot of people who voted against Obama are using Jeremiah Wright as an excuse.

I can't possibly speak for Rice, but I strongly suspect that if the monsignor were alive today, he'd be telling those people to find some other excuse.

Or more likely, counseling all of us to examine our consciences carefully.

UPDATE: P.S. Darrin Bell, artist of the comic strip "Candorville," gets it:

Despite Challenges, City YMCA Endures

2008-05-06T16:43:00-04:00

The next few months could determine the future of McKeesport's 120-year-old YMCA.

But one thing is for certain --- like the mission commander in the movie "Apollo 13," YMCA Executive Director Dexter Hairston says "failure is not an option."

In fact, he does more than say it. Hairston's got it posted in one of the upstairs classrooms used by the McKeesport Y's Teen LEAD empowerment program.

Hairston and others are awaiting the results of a report commissioned by the national board of the YMCA examining the challenges facing the local institution, including long-term debt, an aging building, and a depressed market.

. . .

One problem the McKeesport Y doesn't suffer is a lack of local interest. In fact, the YMCA, located in a landmark building Downtown on Sinclair Street, remains a vital community asset.

It currently serves more than 5,000 people annually in various education and wellness programs, including 1,100 regular members who primarily use the fitness center, swimming pool, indoor running track, handball court and gymnasium.

The McKeesport Y also operates Camp T. Frank Soles, a 263-acre facility near Seven Springs, as well as two educational outreach centers at the city's public housing communities, Crawford Village and Harrison Village.

Hairston came to the YMCA in 2001 to oversee the Teen LEAD program.

He was named executive director last year after what current and former McKeesport YMCA board members privately tell Tube City Almanac was a period of lackluster oversight and leadership. They claim that partnerships with other local institutions were ignored, maintenance was deferred and fundraising was conducted informally or not at all, leading the McKeesport YMCA to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

New finance director Fred Vey Jr., who came to the McKeesport Y in March after working in development for LaRoche College and other institutions, is in charge of straightening out the books.

. . .

This month, the McKeesport Y is trying to raise $30,000 in contributions for long-needed capital improvements. Board members and staff are meeting in person with potential donors to plead their case. They're hoping for individual donations of $1,000 and up.

Hairston admits that $30,000 is a modest goal, but says it was necessary to keep initial expectations low; the campaign is the first concerted fundraising effort by the McKeesport Y in several years.

"We're trying to have as many face-to-face meetings as possible," he says. Next week, staff, volunteers and board members will meet to discuss their progress and start planning for next year.

. . .

The Y's mission has traditionally included athletics --- besides its fitness center, it sponsors basketball, swimming and dek hockey teams --- but one of the most crucial programs it currently offers might be its variety free homework help, tutoring, teen counseling and leadership seminars.

The programs are designed to encourage McKeesport kids to aspire to a life off the streets and following a career and life path of their choice.

"We make a big deal out of bringing in outsiders to talk about healthy decision making," Hairston says. "We want to make sure that kids see as many different faces doing positive things as they can."

McKeesport is a "sports-crazy town," he says. "Everyone wants to be the next NFL player. But playing football or basketball should be a path to getting a college education. You've got to have a plan B or even a plan C."

Students who have participated in the Y's leadership programs have gone on to nearly all of the region's colleges, Hairston says.

. . .

One traditional function that endures in McKeesport despite being dropped by most other YMCAs is low-cost housing. Although almost all YMCAs once offered sleeping rooms and small apartments, the city's Y is one of only three in Allegheny County, and a handful in Pennsylvania, that still allow overnight stays.

Most of the McKeesport Y's 87 upstairs rooms are now occupied by people with physical disabilities, mental illness, or severely limited incomes. The residential program is self-supporting and funded in part through local and federal subsidies.

"It was the original concept of the YMCA, and we still get people who want to stay overnight" while they travel, Hairston says.

But the residents aren't a good fit with the people (many of them children) who use the Y's other programs.

"It's not a good operational mix," Hairston says. "We are looking at ways to separate the residential program."

. . .

One way to keep fitness buffs and residents from bumping into each other might be for the YMCA to move the fitness and educational programs out of its historic 86-year-old building to another site in the city.

Though many members love the atmosphere, maintenance costs are steep and the entire building is in need of expensive repairs and improvements, Vey says.

"How much longer can we continue to occupy this building if we want to continue to grow?" Hairston says.

Another way for the McKeesport Y to grow, unfortunately, might be for it to surrender its independence.

. . .

McKeesport's board members are currently considering a plan to merge the Y into the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, which absorbed the East Suburban YMCA in Wilmerding several years ago.

In fact, the McKeesport and Sewickley Ys are the only independent YMCAs left in Allegheny County --- and the Sewickley area's economic status is drastically different from the Mon-Yough area's, to put it mildly.

A merger would give the McKeesport YMCA access to marketing and personnel resources that it can't match on its own, Hairston says.

"They're a big metropolitan YMCA, and they have a strongly recognized organization throughout the area," he says.

The Greater Pittsburgh YMCA is already lending management expertise to the McKeesport YMCA, and with the help of the national YMCA, a group of management students recently fanned out through the Mon-Yough area to interview residents and help the McKeesport board set a direction for the institution.

"What are we going to look like in two or five years? Do we want to go in more of a wellness direction and do less with our programs, or vice versa?" Hairston says. "We're making decisions based on the facts, and listening to the community."

. . .

Donations to the YMCA of McKeesport may be made via the United Way of Allegheny County (you must specify donor code 112) or sent to 523 Sinclair St., McKeesport, PA 15132.

The Y's offerings include health, fitness and swimming classes, and programs aerobics, aquatics, camping, family and youth development. Its facilities include a pool, gym, fitness center, weight room, aerobics/dance studio, handball/racquetball court, indoor running track, sauna/steam room, whirlpool/jacuzzi, and meeting facilities. Call (412) 664-9168.