They're just getting worse and worse

From mtl Magazine via Facebook. Doc Murray has their number right!

mtl -- Mt. Lebanon Magazine

You know, we get in a habit and we just can't let it go...please call 911 to report unshoveled sidewalks, not the former non-emergency number that is now disconnected (and we're not even going to repeat it here because someone will call it.) We forgot and put that old number in the Jan/Feb magazine. Sorry about that.

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  Doc Murray Ok. I am a life long Mt Lebanon resident. I maintained my residency during my time in the Marine Corps, Active time with the Army, and deployments. I have never once been cited for this.
  
  Why not encourage the residents of this community to look out for their neighbors and help them if there is sidewalk is not shield. Instead you are encouraging them to go tell on their neighbor. 
  
  What is the matter with people here now? We are neighbors in a community. Why would you encourage this on your neighbor? How many times has it been ths last thing on one's mind when there is a pile of laundry and sick kids on a snowy morning? How would the Mt Lebanon PD knocking on your door help you?

  46 minutes ago via mobile · Like · 3
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  mtl -- Mt. Lebanon Magazine The ordinance does not exist to place a burden on anyone and we are not encouraging people to tell on their neighbors. The ordinance, which requires sidewalks to be cleared within 24 hours from the end of a snowstorm for residences, or for businesses within four hours between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., is there to protect all people who must use the sidewalk, from letter carriers to people going to a medical appointment to kids walking to school. Certainly we encourage residents to help each other out, or if that's not possible, to hire someone to take care of it or to contact the school district to see if a volunteer can do it. That being said, keeping the sidewalks clear is a priority in a walking community such as ours. Here is the full article (for which the phone number was an error in the printed magazine).http://lebomag.com/15847/some-wintertime-reminders/  29 minutes ago · Edited · Like
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  Doc Murray I'm aware of the ordinance. Why not just encourage people to look out for each other first? That is what I am saying. It takes 30 second in the snow we have had lately, depending on the size of the property.

  23 minutes ago via mobile · Like
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  mtl -- Mt. Lebanon Magazine This post was just to correct the incorrect number. We do hope people will help each other when possible.

  18 minutes ago · Like
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  Doc Murray Hmmm, weak. Look, i get the article is already written. I get the intent. But you put in there how to report someone, and didn't ask people to help. That is all I'm saying.

  14 minutes ago via mobile · Edited · Like
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  mtl -- Mt. Lebanon Magazine Got it. Thanks for your thoughts. We'll make sure to make that point next time.

  7 minutes ago · Like

Pedestrian Safety - An Oxymoron? UPDATED 2X

As details emerge about the pedestrian hit on Christmas Day, I wanted to share another incident reported in the Howe Elementary School Newsletter dated December 15.

Attention drivers: IMPORTANT!  

We are all in a rush this time of year but please make sure safety around the school comes first.  There have been many reported incidences of unsafe driving near the school.  LAST WEEK A STUDENT WAS HURT RESULTING IN STITCHES BECAUSE OF AN ILLEGAL U-TURN DURING DROP-OFF. 

Please make sure you drive with extra care around the school, within safe walk routes and pay close attention to the Crossing Guards. Do not make illegal turns, u turns or allow children to walk between parked cars.  

Despite the "5 minute limit" sign YOU MAY NOT PARK IN THE GO ZONE TO WALK YOUR CHILD INTO THE SCHOOL DURING PICK-UP and DROP-OFF TIMES. Please inform all drivers of your children! Please help us avoid dangerous situations for all children that are driven or walk to school. 

Unfortunately, those that have ignored the municipality created GO ZONE for all schools in Mt. Lebanon and simple safe driving has resulted in police presence and license plate number collection. Please realize our goal is to keep all children safe. Feel free to contact me with any concerns.

We all know about the dangers of crossing Washington Road at Washington School, but there are still drivers who will not yield to pedestrians. I was meeting friends at Uptown Coffee on Sunday afternoon, and parked in the South Lot. Several families were standing at the crosswalk waiting to cross along with me. At least five cars passed us by before cars finally stopped.

People like to blame deer for the deer/vehicle collisions.  I have my doubts that deer are entirely responsible for the accidents.  Or are we talking dear/vehicle collisions? Who is to blame when pedestrians are hit?

When there are parents making illegal U-turns in front of schools, dropping off kids in the middle of the crosswalk at Washington Elementary, or not giving pedestrians the right of way at crosswalks, how can we call ourselves a walking community? Remember how the residents on North Meadowcroft fought to get sidewalks for kids walking to Lincoln? Yet, now there are more important issues on our commissioners' minds.

Update December 28, 2013 9:00 AM The Howe Principal's email concerning this issue:

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 11:54:29 -0800
From: noreply@mtlsd.net
Subject: SAFETY ISSUE

Dear Howe Families:

I am extremely concerned about the current safety issue at arrival and dismissal times. Today I received the following alarming email :

"I have a safety concern that I would like to bring to your attention. This morning my husband was dropping our sons off at school and (X) was almost hit by a car in the crosswalk at Annawanda because a car decided to do a three point turn in the middle of the crosswalk after the crossing guard had already let them cross.

Thank goodness the crossing guard (not Bill, as he is out sick, it was a substitute) grabbed (X) to pull him out of the way so he was not hit. In the process, his stop sign ended up hitting my son in the head and he is now on his way to get stitches. I will most definitely take this injury over being hit by a car, but he was sad to miss school today.

The thing that has me the most concerned is that the car that did this then pulled up in front of the school to drop a student off. (And did not stop or seem to even notice what had happened) As a parent, I know that I am very careful driving around the school during drop off and pick up times, and I would hope that other parents would have the courtesy to do the same, especially in the crosswalks."

Just last week I received this email:

"I've just returned from dropping (X) off for school and I'm a little shaken up. I nearly hit a child who blindly darted out in front of my car after she was dropped off in the middle of Broadmoor from a vehicle heading toward Anawanda. Two other children got out of the same car and each ran around the car a different way before also running across Broadmoor.

Yesterday another car stopped in the traffic lane next to the drop off lane and dropped off instead of pulling into the drop off lane, which was clear. It really concerns me that parents and caregivers are willing to sacrifice a child's safety for their own convenience. In addition I'm upset that their poor choice almost put me in the position of harming a child."

I know that no one wants to endanger a child; however, careless disregard for safety rules at arrival and dismissal resulted in one child going to the hospital and another having a near-miss. I have contacted the Mt. Lebanon Police Department to be at school during arrival and dismissal to ticket any car not following safety rules. Please make a conscious choice to follow all safety precautions. Help us protect your children.

Sincerely,
Michelle Murray
Principal

Update December 30, 2013 7:42 PM I had no idea how bad it is in the AM around the schools. This photo was taken by a parent walking his child to school. This is on Pinoak approaching the turn on Moffett to drop off students at Jefferson Middle School. The line of cars goes past Sweet Gum Road, where additional cars are waiting to enter the queue. These waiting cars still have a long wait ahead of them to the Go Zone.

Parents waiting for other parents to move on so they can have
their 30 seconds in the Go Zone. Walking here is faster.

A Lebo Citizens reader explained that the back up gets worse on bad weather days but there is always, always, always back up and quite honestly, doesn't think these parents are leaving their cars or dilly-dallying in the Go Zone. Although recently, some parents got so frustrated with the dismissal procedures that they started using a church parking lot along the road to pick-up their children. The principals were alerted somehow and sent out a warning email of the hazards associated with that behavior. Here is that email:

December 10, 2013
Dear Jefferson parents:

It has come to our attention from the staff at Bower Hill Community Church that car traffic in their parking lots during our dismissal time has been causing problems. You should know that this church is the home to a developmental pre-school program sponsored by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. This program buses students from all over the south hills to their facility in the church. Recently, cars picking up Jefferson students have prevented their buses from getting into and out of their parking lots, particularly the lot closest to the Hospice building. The BHCC staff has kindly asked our school community to refrain from using this lot. Please contact your principal if you have any questions about this request.
Thank you.

Marc Thornton, Principal, Jefferson Elementary
James Walsh, Principal, Jefferson Middle

Yes, let's get the record straight. UPDATED

It has been nine days since this comment appeared on Lebo Citizens. There is no admission that you had things wrong, 6:12 PM.

"Seems to me the YSA and now the SAB have consistently supported improved quality *and* quality of fields. 

Contrary to Kelly's blog post, the Robb Hollow field would *not* have been a full-sized field. So the ROI of developing it would have been pretty low, with respect to gains for organized sports. 

So Kelly's plan was not "exactly what they [SAB] asked for." It would have left essentially unchanged the burden on existing fields for games, which would do little to improve the state of overuse which you rightly mention as a concern of YSA/SAB. 

Just wanted to set that straight. 

December 16, 2013 at 6:12 PM"

Trib reporter Matt Santoni asked Commission Kelly Fraasch about the Commission's decision to turf Middle and Wildcat, instead of spending the money on improving Robb Hollow Park and the municipal golf course. Mt. Lebanon leader questions turf fund

An unidentified sports person here expressed that he or she was unaware of Kelly's plan and was under the assumption that it was for a dog park only. I have been saying all along that the McNeilly/ Robb Hollow swap was sabotaged because Dave Franklin had his sights set on developing McNeilly next. Well here it is, in the last paragraph of the Trib article.

“From a field-sports, development perspective, it doesn't bother me that those restrictions are there on McNeilly,” Franklin said. “There's nothing to suggest we can't develop it five, 10, 15 years from now.”

I don't know what else to do, to get the community to see how we are being taken for a bunch of chumps. Linfante, Bendel, and Brumfield should be ashamed of themselves.

Merry Christmas

Rock your ugly Christmas sweater!

Interesting stuff caught on camera

A Lebo Citizens reader sent me actual footage of his Elf on the Shelf in action. This was his message:

So I promised my kids that I would set up the motion sensor cameras to see if the Elf really moved. I let it run all day and when we got home, we found that something triggered the sensor on the kitchen cam. The kids are totally freaked out now.
The Elf is kinda hard to see, sitting to the right of the sink, between the pantry and the blender.

He's not even a Bottom Dollar shopper

I had made arrangements with Capacity Developers to meet me at my church this morning, so that they could pick up all the donations made for my Dress 4 Work service project. My faith in humanity was restored by the overwhelming response. I want to thank all the people who made Dress 4 Work 2013 even better than last year.

While I was waiting for the truck to arrive, my daughter had emailed this link to me. One Time A Guy Gave A Homeless Man A Computer, And The Recipient Did Exactly What The Giver Expected 

If I'd have heard about what this guy was planning to do before it all played out, I might have thought he was unrealistic or maybe even condescending. But after watching the video, I realized that there's a much bigger thing at play here: We need to remember that every human being is unique and full of potential. We don't know other people's stories.

Thank you to all the generous people in my church, family, friends, and neighbors, who like the computer programmer, are willing to give the less fortunate a chance to succeed.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Remely

Almost a year ago, I blogged about how Dan Remely regretted that "the blogs" only listed numbers for change orders. Updated List of High School Change Orders 

Change Order

Dan Remely mentioned at last night's meeting (which was televised this evening) that "the blogs" have lists of numbers for change orders. Just numbers, with no explanations given. In the small space that is available, that is all I can do. I post the agendas which provide the explanations. Dan spoke of a detailed list that will be on the School District website. When he questioned the availability of that list, President Cappucci replied that the list has not been developed. So I guess we are just stuck with a list of numbers.

Poor Dan. That list was never developed, at least for the public to see...until now.

Richard Gideon, Lebo Citizens reader and commenter, has been keeping track of all the change orders. Monthly, Richard has been kind enough to verify my numbers that I list on the sidebar of this blog.

RG included this explanation in his email to me, along with the table that he created. High School Construction Reconcile Sheet

The pale yellow cells represent the change orders for the HS "Renovation" project from June 2012 through December 2013. The pale green cells are change orders sorted from lowest (maximum refund) to highest (greatest single expense). Please note that the number in the pale green cells do not represent the cost or refund of the change order as described in that particular row; ergo, the color coding. 

At the end, you'll find both average and median prices. Those in the pale yellow areas are across the board; those in the pale green areas are sequestered into refunds only vs. costs only.
 

(No TERC math was used, nor any standard American algorithm harmed, in the preparation of this table)

MTLSD implements changes to math curriculum

From Lebomathfacts.org:

LeboMathFacts.org Important Update

It's hard to believe that it's been one year since we launched lebomathfacts.org. Today we have good news to report. At the present time, the Mt Lebanon School District is beginning to implement changes to the math curriculum that should address many of the concerns that parents had with the math program. These changes include not only curriculum content, but increased teacher support, teacher training and updated classroom materials aligned with the Common Core. Although changes to the math curriculum have begun this school year, the updated curriculum will not be fully implemented until the 2014-2015 school year. The updated math curriculum will meet and, in some areas, exceed Common Core standards. We should begin to see the following changes in our schools. Math Facts The mastery targets for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division basic facts have been updated, made more robust, and accelerated. Math fact instruction will occur both in the classroom and as homework. Testing of math facts will include a pre-test and both timed and untimed assessments. Standard Algorithms Standard US algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and long division will be taught as part of the math curriculum and presented to students following a conceptual foundation of math functions. The Common Core curriculum calls for fluency in addition and subtraction using the standard algorithms by 4th grade, fluency in multiplication by 5th grade, and fluency in division by 6th grade. The district expects to introduce standard algorithms in earlier grade levels than the Common Core standards. Fractions and Decimals Instruction in fractions and decimals will be significantly expanded and more rigorous in the updated curriculum. By the end of grade 5 students will be expected to add, subtract, multiply and divide with both fractions and decimals in plain computation and in problems solving settings. We look forward to these changes, and thank you for your interest and support.

While they were approving $$$ for turf...

The Trib was busy at work writing about our volunteer fire department in Health-insurance mandate poses potential hitch for volunteer fire companies.

Historically, the IRS has considered volunteer firefighters employees for tax purposes, regardless of whether they receive compensation, said Douglas Smith, managing shareholder of Downtown law firm Jackson Lewis PC. 

Unless the agency updates its ruling or the regulations that are being written specifically exclude volunteer firefighters, “they're going to have to provide insurance to a group of volunteers,” he said. 

Mt. Lebanon's staff of 17 paid firefighters is supplemented by about 50 volunteer firefighters, Chief Nick Sohyda said. 

While Sohyda said he's “not panicking” over the situation yet, he said he will have to track the hours of all volunteers to make sure they are serving fewer than 30 hours a week — the threshold above which workers are considered full-time under the law and eligible for health insurance. That task alone would be difficult and costly, he said. 

“What most fire companies would do is limit the number of hours to keep them under the threshold,” he said.

Three commissioners had no problem allocating $637,400 from the unassigned funds on Tuesday evening for artificial turf at Middle and Wildcat Fields. In fact, the Commission is considering borrowing $900,000 for storm sewer repairs on Longuevue, Marlin, and Mapleton. But our new Finance Director Andrew McCreery suggested adding that to the new $4 million bond issue that the Commission will be voting on this year for a new roof for the municipal building and maintenance for both parking garages. The money from the storm water fee can go toward the storm sewer repairs portion of the bond issue. It is unclear to me why the revenue from parking isn't going toward the parking garages.

The good news is that no money is being spent on deer culling this year. Kristen Linfante was not happy about that decision. Mt. Lebanon OKs $32.82M Budget

I was unable to attend the commission meeting on Tuesday evening, but the video is online here.

Congratulations, Timmy

Did everyone fall off their chairs? The results are in. PA updates PSSA and Keystone scores for schools statewide

The results available today show that Mt. Lebanon High School is the top performing school in Allegheny County with an academic score of 99.5. Six other schools, including elementary schools, in the state performed higher, with the Downingtown STEM Academy in Chester County at the top with 101.4.

See Mr. Ewing? I can give credit where it is due. I guess this is when you make your pitch for PK. Good luck with that. Now if we could just hang on to our principals or is it principles?

Looks like high school students are off tomorrow due to a water main break.

"It's not great news."

Here are the highlights from last night's construction update.

1. Q: Will the project be completed on time?
    A: Yes, but it will probably require "premium" hours to do it.

2. Q: Premium time will be additional change orders?
    A: Yes.

3. Q: Have you evaluated the dirt that you are going to find underneath the pool?
    A: We have, and it's not great news. There is unanticipated rock....

4: Q: Does it look like there are any winterization issues coming up?
    A: Yes.

5: Q: That'll be change orders?
    A: We're talking to Nello about that, but there's a good possibility.

Kelly blogs about turf, deer, and the budget

Commissioner Kelly Fraasch has updated her blog in time for tomorrow's commission meeting.

2014 Budget has links to the 2014 Recommended Budget and the Amendments to the 2014 Recommended Budget.

Why I voted No on Bendel's Proposal for Turf? Kelly discusses her concerns with the Turf Proposal for Middle and Wildcat Fields.

Kelly has been working on a non-lethal deer management option, sterilization. Deer in Mt. Lebanon Part 3 Biologists are learning that this method is extremely successful.

Thanks Kelly, for keeping us informed.

Construction Update Tonight

There WILL be a construction update tonight at Jefferson Middle School. The meeting starts at 7 PM. It was never publicized.

Since Susan is busy,

I thought that the amended 2014 Manager's Recommended Budget should be published SOMEWHERE before Tuesday's Commission meeting. It is not on the Municipal website, other than on Tuesday's Agenda.

Amendments to the 2014 Manager's Recommended Budget

The final public hearing on the 2014 Budget will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2013. According to the Commission Agenda, the commissioners will be approving the new budget on the same night.

This is our last opportunity to voice our opinions (not that it matters) about artificial turf and any other Commission revisions to the Manager's Recommended Budget.

Tuesday will be President Matt Kluck's last meeting as a commissioner. He is such a gentleman. I hate to see him go. Good luck, Matt.  Thank you for all your hard work and efforts to keep the Commission grounded.

Review 'em quickly!

The agenda for Monday's School Board Meeting has been posted. The change orders for December total $108,984.

Normally, change orders are available for the public to review at the first meeting of the month. Board approval for change orders are during the second meeting of the month. The school board will be having a combined meeting on Monday, so the change orders will be discussed and voted on the same night.

Here they are. They will be approved on Monday. There isn't much time to review them, so do it quickly.

Change Orders for High School Renovation Project – The following change orders are presented for Board consideration. All the change orders listed below (totaling $108,984) have been reviewed by the architect, PJ Dick and the District administration.

a. ME-17-194 to McKamish for $26,675 to install ductwork in the Little Theatre, 

b. ME-18-195 to McKamish for $21,919 for changes in mechanical work and an added heat exchanger for the pool, 

c. EL-53-196 to Farfield for $20,981 for emergency lighting upgrades based on ML Fire Inspection and generator testing, 

d. GC-90-197 to Nello for $22,117 for 5th floor B corridor work, 

e. GC-91-198 to Nello for $11,272 for ceiling and wall revisions in new buildings, and

f. PL-26-199 to Vrabel for $6,020 for athletic building plumbing changes.

Change orders are now at $2.5 million.

Were you offended?

In my opinion, Susan Morgans' to market, to market, to buy a..., running in this month's mtl Magazine and online (saved in Google Docs) goes down as one of the most offensive articles that has come out of the Public Information Office. Somewhere, it is described as lighthearted. Lighthearted, my foot!

In one story, Ms. Morgans managed to offend a large number of people, either by their appearance, their religion, their ethnicity, where they live, their upbringing - gee, did I miss anyone?

It started out as a story about shopping in grocery stores from yesteryear. I am not as old as Susan, but she did forget about the Castle Shannon Post Office building. I am not talking about the pornography warehouse that was in that building, before that. Remember the Golden Dawn? Before that was Thorofare.  And Susan, I think you are old enough to remember Loblaws.

Susan's article took a nose dive. My mom used to buy her meats from Joe Zak or the Greek butcher in Canonsburg. I wouldn't say that my family had big bucks. OK, not too offensive, but she continues.

At Costco, you will shop with people who speak a language other than English. I guess you wouldn't have enjoyed shopping with my family, Susan. But wait, there's more. "Wear comfy clothes—don’t worry, you will never be the fattest person there." I will never be the fattest person at Costco.

Bottom Dollar is where people will think you are poor or cheap or both. You will also think the same of the others. Susan, how else can we afford Mt. Lebanon taxes?

Market District - "Spruce up when you shop here, because you will see your high school boyfriend, your ex-wife or the guy you hope will sponsor you at St. Clair Country Club. Look especially chic on Sundays around noon, cause that’s where the folks who moved to St. Clair from Lebo come after church—and they will want to talk at you. There may be a few St. Louise parishioners at the deli, but it’s mostly the Westminster Presby crowd. Need I say more?" Whew! My church is safe.

Shop 'N Save - where the Mt. Lebanon wannabes shop.

Fresh Market is entertaining.

Finally, Susan's advice is,  "If you don’t want to run into your ex-neighbor who now lives “right by the club,” go at 10 p.m. when the USC folks are relaxing in their home theaters."

Was anyone safe? Or was Susan the only one left unscathed?

Ribbon cutting ceremony set for new gym UPDATED

New Competition Gym to Ready to Open

On Friday, Dec. 6, the new high school competition gym will open with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3:30 p.m. before the first game in the new facility. The Boys’ Basketball team is hosting the Tip Off Tournament and will start the tournament off against Johnstown. Game time is 4:00 p.m. Stop by to catch the game and stay to see the first swim meet of the season in the new pool at 6:00 p.m.

I was able to get a photo of the infamous railing in the new pool. It is approximately 3 ft. high on the lower part and about 4 ft. high in the taller section. 

Update December 6, 2013 12:35 PM Photo of Bethel Park High School gym

Photo Courtesy of Weber Murphy Fox

No need for a new photo

Meet the new president and vice president of the Mt. Lebanon School Board. No need for a new photograph.

Elaine Cappucci is president again with Larry Lebowitz serving again as vice-president. Dan Remely, Mary Birks, Mike Riemer, and Bill Moorhead were sworn in tonight. Dan never raised his right hand. Mike Riemer was the only one who used a Bible. Just some fun things to watch out for when watching the Reorganization meeting on TV.