Vandals Strike Gravesite Of Former Pennsylvania Governor

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Crawford County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Is there something in the water?  People are just going off the rails lately!

Something puzzling has happened in Meadville, a community 90 miles north of Pittsburgh.

The gravesite of former Gov. Raymond Shafer was desecrated last month, its monument defaced, the grave dug down to the vault and messages written in spray paint on the exterior of a nearby church, cursing the late governor in French.

State police in Meadville have no suspects and no leads.  And the family of the late governor, who led Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971 and who died in 2006, has no idea what prompted the vandalism.

“We do know that it’s probably not somebody who did it on the spur of the moment,” said the late governor’s daughter Diane Shafer Domnick, who lives in Meadville and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh in Titusville.  ”People had to be ready to do the damage that they did.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/vandals-strike-gravesite-of-former-pa-governor-666864/#ixzz2FSwTZStA

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center East End Expansion Leads To Controversy

English: UPMC Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When UPMC paid $10 million in 2006 for the old Ford Motor Co. building on Baum Boulevard in Bloomfield, jaws dropped at what some considered an exorbitant price, even for a local landmark.

The sale “sort of stopped purchasing for a while because a lot of people thought they could get rich, too,” Pittsburgh Councilman Bill Peduto said. “They thought that if they held out, UPMC would knock with a check with a couple of extra zeroes.”

People did indeed get rich following the sale of the 1915 building that once served as a Ford assembly plant and showroom, but not by holding out as a way to take advantage of the $10 billion health care giant.

They simply owned the right property at the right time when UPMC, with its deep pockets, made a strategic decision to establish a larger East End footprint.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/upmc-east-end-expansion-leads-to-controversy-654780/#ixzz27W8tV2et

University Of Pittsburgh Assessing Viability Of Titusville Campus

The University of Pittsburgh said today that effective immediately,the school’s branch campus at Titusville, PA will be placed under the direction of Pitt’s Bradford, PA campus in a realignment of administrative functions on both campuses necessitated by deep state funding cuts.

In a statement, Pitt Provost Patricia Beeson said the realignment “is a first step to reduce costs of operation and assess the viability of the Titusville campus in a time of dramatically reduced state support.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/pitt-assessing-viability-of-titusville-campus-634801/

Watch Peregrine Falcons Nesting In Pittsburgh Skyscrapers

Image via Wikipedia

Peregrine Falcons were an endangered species until 1999 when they made a sufficient enough comeback to be removed from the list.  Pennsylvania still considers the birds endangered and protects them (yeah PA).  The birds almost became extinct due to pesticides like DDT causing their egg shells to become too thin and they would crack during incubation.  These birds of prey can be found in large cities in the United States and prefer to nest on cathedrals, skyscrapers and towers of suspension bridges.

There are live cameras at the Gulf Tower and the Cathedral of Learning nest sites.

The Cathedral of Learning is part of the University of Pittsburgh campus in the Oakland section of the city and is a 42-story classroom tower (535 feet).  The Gulf Tower is located downtown Pittsburgh and has 44 stories (582 feet).

To watch the falcons click here:

http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_cl.php  Cathedral of Learning

http://www.aviary.org/cons/falconcam_gt.php  Gulf Tower