State briefs
Protest become pricey PITTSBURGH (AP) – Protesting in Pittsburgh will be a little pricey for a group planning an event against former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit on Tuesday.
The city has given the Committee for Peace in the Middle East – a loose group of local student, Muslim and peace organizations – a $650 bill for two off-duty police officers to direct traffic around their planned protest.
“We’re going to pay, but under protest,” said Peter Shell, a spokesman for the group. “We’re going to pass a big hat around, ask individuals and organizations to contribute, since we’ve already spent all of our money on publicity.”
“We don’t think we should have to pay because we have the constitutional right to speak even if we can’t afford it,” Shell said.
City officials said they aren’t discriminating against the group since they bill other organizations for traffic control. Solicitor Jacqueline Morrow said the price is the same the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates pay for traffic control.
Protests have followed Netanyahu at other speeches across the country and in Canada. Earlier this year, Montreal’s Concordia University canceled his talk there after protesters rioted, smashed windows and occupied a university building.
Plans delayed
CAIRNBROOK, Pa. (AP) – An energy company has indefinitely delayed plans to build Somerset County’s first cogeneration plant, which would burn waste coal along with newly mined coal.
Duke Energy Corp., based in Charlotte, N.C., said it is still considering the plant near Shade Township, about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, but will have to wait for the energy market to rebound.
On Sept. 20, Duke Energy lowered its earnings forecast to $1.95 to $2.05 per share, below Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $2.46 a share this year, citing weakness in wholesale power markets. Duke also announced it was temporarily halting construction of three power plants.
A previous attempt to bring a cogeneration power plant to Somerset County stalled last year when EnviroPower, of Lexington, Ky., did not get enough money to continue plans for an $846 million, 525-megawatt project.
As in neighboring Cambria County, Somerset officials said they have millions of tons of waste coal that could be burnt at a cogeneration plant.
Meetings scheduled
ERIE, Pa. (AP) – Beginning Monday, officials in Erie will hold a series of public meetings to outline their plan to revive the county’s economy.
The plan by the civic coordinating committee – dubbed “C-cubed” – will guide the county’s effort to create 15,000 new jobs and attract 50 companies to the county in the next eight years.
The committee’s mission, which was developed by a Boston-based consultant, is to think of ways to reverse Erie’s slide.
Erie Mayor Rick Filippi and County Executive Rick Schenker will outline the plan at a series of four forums throughout the county.
“It’s more than just an opportunity for them (residents) to listen,” said Jake Rouch, executive director of the Erie Conference on Community Development and an adviser to the committee. “It’s an opportunity for them to throw their hats into the ring and get involved.”
Price increases
CARNEGIE, Pa. (AP) – In the year since a group announced plans to raise money to renovate a century-old library, one of four original libraries built by Andrew Carnegie and the only one to bear his name, the only thing raised has been the price.
The Chartiers Valley Partnership, a group of nonprofits and government agencies, has increased from $5 million to $8 million the estimated cost to renovate the 101-year-old Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie.
But Bill Manby, the president of the group, said fund-raising should begin early next year.
The brick building houses not only a library but also a large music hall, a Civil War room, a gymnasium and a lecture hall. Members are hoping the project will symbolize the city’s efforts to revitalize its libraries.
“The blessing about this building is that no one has done anything to modernize or change the original structure. That’s to our advantage. We want to restore the building to its original grandeur,” Manby said.
Renovating the building would include waterproofing the basement; replacing floor tiles, wall plaster and electrical wiring; installing improved heating, cooling and ventilation systems; and making the building handicapped accessible.