South Pittsburgh Reporter - Serving South Pittsburgh Since 1939

South Pittsburghers, along with the rest of the city, have an opportunity they haven’t had since 2005: to choose a new mayor without having a sitting mayor in the race. Along with having to decide which of the four Democratic and one Republican...

Natalia Rudiak has earned the privilege of having the opportunity to be on the ballot in the November General Election on the Democratic ticket. Over the last four years she has demonstrated an ability to bring an intelligent thought process to City...

Recent developments in the council of Mount Michener should give the subjects pause to reflect on what has happened in their little fiefdom on the hill. In recent months, Council President Billie Michener and her band of followers dismissed two long-...

What a crying shame, for months there’s no street cleaning on my street. There were all kinds of excuses: “Construction” or “two trucks broke down.” I heard that one more than once. Get the trucks fixed or rent on. We have to pay someone...

I was one of 70 or so people in attendance on Wednesday April 17, for a mayoral candidates’ question-and-answer forum held at the Brashear Association at 2005 Sarah Street. Candidates Bill Peduto and Jack Wagner fielded prepared questions from...

I would like to comment on how the firing of Mount Oliver Sgt. Keith Williams was conducted. Here are some questions this Mount Oliver Council will have to answer eventually: How was Sgt. Williams insubordinate? If so, was he counseled or...

I have lived and worked in the South Side for 25 years. I am proud to be here I love my neighborhood. My problem is that I live in the “Purple Zone,” the area of South Side below 10th St. We do not get Christmas lights, we do not get street...

I had another package stolen from my ront door. My daughter and her family sent me a package for my birthday, Priority Mail from the U.S. Post Office in Oklahoma. It was delivered February 19 from the Mount Oliver Post Office. The driver left it on...

As one who worked in the heart of South Side for seven years and loved the area, its convenience, stores and restaurants, it saddens me to note its destruction at the hands of hordes of drunken revelers (some would say drunken bums), who have made...

I am responding to a letter written by a South Side resident Joseph Forbes (Let the kids alone, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013). Clearly, he does not understand what these “railroad kids” are really about. They are not just resting their feet as they...

I agree with the Letter to the editor several weeks ago (My First Amendment rights, Oct. 9, 2012). Freedom of expression is sweeping in its meaning and application, including the right to “panhandle” under reasonable circumstances and to sit...

Thanks for your article about snow removal within 24 hours. Yes, South Side is filled with the young or with money that don’t know what a broom or shovel is for. But they have landlord who should see to it they do. Put it in their lease or come...

In December, the Responsible Hospitality Institute (RHI) will be reporting back to Mayor Ravenstahl recommendations for a “Pittsburgh Sociable City Plan.” The RHI engagement has been administered by the Mayor’s Planning Department and paid for...

I want to commend the efforts of my friend and colleague Councilman Bruce Kraus and the many residents and stakeholders who make up the South Side Planning Forum. Their focused, concerted efforts to put in place a long-term comprehensive plan to...

In my naiveté, I assumed the First Amendment to our Constitution was in force on the South Side and put an Obama-Biden lawn sign on my Sarah Street home. The campaign poster was displayed beneath old glory and a Marine Corps pennant reflecting my...

As a longtime resident of South Side, I would be the first to tell you that trying to park on South Side is absolutely atrocious. It's one of the reasons I dislike booking gigs down on the Flats on the weekends. I know my patrons are going to have a...

The recent bike path on Carson Street below Seventh Street will soon have a new neighbor, a gas station and large convenience store. The city government traffic report projected that 3,200 vehicles will travel in and out of Seventh Street. The same...

Nearly 35 years ago I went to my first Mount Oliver Borough Council meeting. I can still remember sitting in the gallery of the Council Chambers, what is now the borough administrative office. Then, the borough secretary was Freda Froelich, council...

Today, I submitted my resignation from the South Side Improvement District Steering Committee, on which I have served for over a year, because I cannot agree with the committee's recent letter to Councilman Kraus. I was not present when other members...

For those who are unaware, Governor Tom Corbett is proposing to eliminate the Accountability Block Grants (ABG) funding. ABG is used to fund the Early Childhood Program in Pittsburgh. If the grant is eliminated, this will result in the loss of very...

A small group of bullies are spreading misinformation about the South Side improvement district effort, yelling at community volunteers at meetings and intimidating their neighbors. Is that how we want our neighborhood to be? My elderly mother shows...

Three years ago my husband and my three wild boys made a huge change in our lives. We sold our home in Dallas, quit our jobs, and moved to the South Side…a homecoming for me as I was born in Pittsburgh. We opened up a coffee shop and moved our...

Anyone who lives on the South Side and thinks that a Neighborhood Improvement District (NID) is here to help them is delusional. NID is simply a way for an already bankrupt city government to foist some of its responsibilities, like the police, onto...

Reading all about the "Spectacular" plans for the library (Library officials want something spectacular here, February 28, 2012) makes me wonder. The Knoxville Branch has the highest computer use of all the libraries, that is so spectacular! I...

This is in response to Virginia Carik's letter (S.S. still needs direction, March 6). Ms. Carik writes, "In the early ‘80s, due to the loss of the steel industry, many areas in the Mon Valley were declared depressed." That's only partially...