Happy Halloween

Halloween Trick or Treat times for our area has been set to be 5:30 -7:30. If your not sure of the times in any surrounding neighborhoods, please click on THIS LINK.




Personally, I think 5:30 is entirely too early to begin Trick or Treating. Let's face it, most parents work until 5:00. There is no way to get home, get your kids dressed into costume and out the door by 5:30, especially if you want to feed your kid dinner first, which for some reason parents like to do. Even if the people that have kids, take 1/2 day vacations, or leave work early like I am doing, there still may not be any people home to hand out candy at 5:30. Why did it change from 6:00? This 1/2 hour makes a big difference for people getting home. I hope the reason isn't that it is safer for the kids at this hour, becasue it is completely opposite. People are in such a rush to get home, there is more speeding on streets such as Steuben and Chartiers. If I was in charge, Trick or Treat would be 6:30-8:30. that would give everyone a chance to get home safe and get ready for the evening. I don't think 8:30 is too late although some people might. I also agree with this girl from Oil City and I think it should be dark out when kids are trick or treating. I sure many people will disagree with me on this issue, but the decorations just don't work in the daytime.

Also tonight is the first Langley Football playoff game in 20 years. I would be attending if it weren't for the Trick or Treat festivities. Langley will take on 1st place Brashear who beat Langley 48-14 in their regular season meeting. The winner of this game will take on Perry in the City league title game. Here is a nice article talking about Langley reaching the playoffs.
CLICK HERE

Soccer is over for the 6 and under teams.

Last night we had the final soccer games of the season for the young group, and what a time it was. Each team played their own parents in 15 minute mini games and everyone seemed to have a blast. There was quite a large crowd on hand even though the weather was miserable. The fact that these little kids braved the freezing cold, high winds, and even a little hail, shows me how much they really love their sports.

I played goalie for the kids team and just looking out seeing the smiles on their faces as they were running around made me feel great.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Bessie Miller and everyone else involved with E.W.E.A.A. They did an outstanding job running the league using a small amount of volunteers. I know it was a lot of hard work, and everyone from the parents, coaches, to the kids are very appreciative.

I'm hoping we have even more kids play next year.

Back in the Saddle

I just returned from a long business trip in Denver, Colorado. My PDA refused to work with blogger, so I wasn't able to make any updates, and I didn't really have the time anyways. Let's see if I can recap what I missed the past week and a half.

1. West End school bus stop may be moved over concerns about sex offender.

According to this Post-Gazette Article, a local parent found out through the Megan's Law Website, that a convicted sex offender was living a few feet away from a school bus stop. Kudos to that parent for being proactive in this case.

2. Residents worried about strip club plans near Station Square

According to these articles on KDKA and the Post-Gazette, local residents are opposing a strip club that will be on West Carson street. Look, I understand the arguments of these residents, but this location is in a non-residential area. There aren't going to be any children just walking by. As far as I'm concerned, this area is starting to look blighted, and anything going in there will be better than it is now.

I do find it interesting that they are placing the club next to a center for recovering alcoholics. I'm sure that is the type of temptation these people are looking to avoid.

3. Local spots serve as setting for Kevin Smith film

As long as we are on the subject of strip clubs, we may as well mention that Zack and Miri Make a Porno is opening up this weekend. Yinz guys probably remember Main Street closing down for a while when the film was shooting. Part of it was shot on Main Street and inside the West End Cafe. I think I will be going to check it out. Here is the Post Gazette Article.

JOE THE PLUMBER and Other Tidbits

Joe Bruni from JJ Bruni Plumbing in West End

* Well now that "Joe the Plumber" is the the new name dujour, everyone who's name is Joe and is a plumber will be playing off of that. Check out this Post Gazette article.

* Actually my plumber's name is Joe and I'll take this space to recommend him to all of you.

Joe Hoffman

258 Danley St
Pittsburgh, PA 15220-4819

(412) 921-8662

* Langley will be playing Carrick with a City League football playoff berth on the line. That's right, I said Playoffs. It's been a long time. Check out this Post gazette Article. Really good Information.

What: Carrick vs. Langley.
• When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.
• Where: Cupples Stadium, South Side.
• The skinny: Langley is 3-4 overall, 3-3 in the City League and in fifth place, while Carrick (4-3, 4-2) is tied with Schenley for third place, a spot above Langley. The top four teams advance to the City League playoffs.

Bits and Pieces

* Check the WEECC September Newsletter. There's some good information on it. Here's the PDF Version.

* Such a SAD STORY. My heart really goes out to the family of the 2 little boys who died in the fire on Litchfield. Let's hope the community helps out with whatever they can.

*Langley 14, Westinghouse 6
Shawn Smith's 1-yard touchdown run with four second left gave Langley (2-4, 2-3) a win against Westinghouse (1-4, 1-4). Go Mustang's. Next up is Allderdice. Friday 10/10 at 7:30.

*I completely missed this article when it first came out. I am really slacking. Apparently mosquitoes in the area tested positive for West Nile virus.

* Here's a good article in the Pittsburgh Courier regarding the West Pittsburgh Weed & Seed program.

* Did you ever hear of the Pittsburgh Sign Project? Here's a few West End Signs.

* Do you know what REIKI is? Well we have our very own Reiki workshop right here in the West End. It is called "The Place for Reiki" It is located at 139 Steuben St. Suite 100.

* Does anyone know how many people crowded the West End Overlook to view the Pittsburgh 250 Fireworks Show? I heard anywhere from 1000 to 5000 people depending who you ask. Here are a few pictures from the Overlook.

Please Fix Up Your Houses!

I haven't been able to post, as I just haven't had the time. I am in the financial industry and this past week of stock market crashes, bailouts, mismanaged funds, collapsing instituions, etc, has had me a little busy as you could imagine.

I was driving through Elliott the other day and it really struck how many people just let their house become rundown. It is really frustrating for us homeowners that are constantly putting money back into our house to raise the property value. On any given street, you'll see 2 houses that are nice and kept up, then a house with boarded up windows. The only reason anyone at all stays in the neighborhood is because they can't sell their house. Of course they'd be able to sell if the houses around it were nice. Then again if the houses around it were nice, you may not want to leave. I remember when the We-Hav program came out, I thought it was the best thing to happen to our neighborhoods in many years. We all know what happened to that. To this day, everyone I've talked to that opposed it has not given a valid reason other than they thought it was some type of tax. These are probably the same people that wouldn't put money back into their houses anyways. I still thank Alan Hertzberg for a good idea.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has a good plan going with his "Housing Blight Crackdown", but as you can see in THIS ARTICLE it's not working right now. It's also geared towards Landlords. What about homeowners who just don't care?

Sorry for the rant, just wanted to get that off my chest.