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Alleged backroom billboard deal raises new ethics questions
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Boy, what a scenario! Expensive gifts! Accusations of backroom deals! Complaints of collusion! Resignations! Ethics investigations! This isn't the storyline for a movie being shot in Pittsburgh. It's all about a big, bright LED billboard in the Golden Triangle!
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Pa. legislators are robbing us, legally
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You really have to hand it to Pennsylvania's lawmakers. Members of the House and Senate have seemingly unlimited ways to rob us taxpayers -- without breaking a law. Consider the case of Frank LaGrotta.
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State spending cuts: just wishful thinking?
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Sometimes you hear something that is just too darn good to be true -- but you'd love to see it happen anyway. A bipartisan group of lawmakers from southwestern Pennsylvania has made a bold proposal: cut the General Assembly's spending by 20 percent, starting July 1.
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Cut Spending to Ease Pennsylvanians' Tax Burden
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Pennsylvania's legislators are trying to do it again. First, the state's homeowners are promised a little property tax relief because of gambling revenues. Now, some lawmakers think they should use all that gambling money to eliminate property taxesfor the elderly -- just the elderly. Nothing against older folks, but how about a little help for the rest of us?
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Kids win in new Pittsburgh teachers' pact
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Pittsburgh Public Schools and its teachers have a tentative contract agreement. It's probably not perfect, and it certainly won't give either side everything it wanted.
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Vandals are criminals, not artists
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It's time to change how we think about graffiti -- how we talk about it and how we deal with it. Graffiti isn't a form of free speech. It's an ugly, expensive crime.
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Our 2008 Wish List for Public Officials
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The time for New Year's resolutions was two weeks ago. But since our elected officials haven't exactly hit the ground running in 2008, we can still give them our "wish list."
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Questions surround UPMC 'Pittsburgh Promise' deal
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There's a lot of talk lately about The Pittsburgh Promise -- and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's offer to contribute $10 million a year for scholarships. It sounds like an amazing act of charity.
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Twanda Carlisle is new definition of chutzpah
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The word "chutzpah" means "utter nerve; effrontery," according to the American Heritage Dictionary. According to yourdictionary.com, it means shameless audacity; impudence; brass. In Pittsburgh, the definition -- the epitome -- of "chutzpah" is Twanda Carlisle.
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A chance to make history
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On Tuesday, registered voters will have the opportunity to go to the polls. Every election is important -- but for Pittsburgh residents, this one borders on historic. For the first time in decades, there is a real contest in the mayor's race.
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What's slowing down Pittsburgh slots?
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Pennsylvania's first stand-alone slots casino has just opened in the Poconos. But Pittsburgh's Majestic Star casino is still just a name and a set of blueprints. Why?
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Strike will teach kids an important lesson
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The teachers in the Seneca Valley School District are on strike. Families are scrambling to care for their school-age children. Students lose valuable class time and extracurricular activities. Teachers and the school board are pitted against each other. Taxpayers are mad at the teachers, the school board or both.
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PHEAA needs fiscal reform
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Well, we don't have Dick Willey to kick around anymore. He's left as the head of Pennsylvania's student loan agency -- taking his measly pension, which could max out at $370,000 a year -- with him. To put it in perspective: $370,000 would pay the annual tuition for 35 undergraduates at Penn State.
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Mayor Ravenstahl is playing with matches
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It's another episode in the ongoing soap opera: "Luke Ravenstahl -- Boy Mayor." The latest incident involves the mayor using a Pittsburgh Police Intelligence Squad SUV -- although Homeland Security money paid for it. The mayor used it for a lobbying trip to Harrisburg and to schlepp his wife and friends to a concert in another county.
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Another Harrisburg shell game
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A state lawmaker has cooked up a scheme to eliminate or reduce school property taxes. Sen. James Rhoades (R-Schuylkill County) would raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 9.19 percent. Allegheny and Philadelphia counties would continue to charge an extra 1 percent.
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Sidney Crosby: Class act
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Sidney Crosby's five-year contract extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins will mean a major pay hike. It could have been more.
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Let's wait on property assessments
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For decades, some counties in Pennsylvania have used a base-year system for property assessments. Allegheny County wasn't one of them -- but after years of fighting over assessments and appeals, the county tried to adopt the "base year" system. The whole issue wound up in court, where Judge Stanton R. Wettick ruled that the state law is unconstitutional.
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What's the best way to use our precious police resources?
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Pittsburgh -- like other places around the country -- is trying to deal with a rise in violent crime. The latest effort is a pledge to create 30 "beat" officers -- who will spend their shifts walking around assigned neighborhoods. It's a nice idea. But is this a feel-good program that will strain already over-taxed resources?
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