Wilkinsburg Tour To Highlight Blight In Hopes Of Spurring Redevelopment

It’s a home tour visitors don’t typically take: overgrown gardens leading to homes with boarded-up windows, peeling paint and broken stairs.

The Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation and a group of Carnegie Mellon University students hope to highlight hidden beauty in the borough and reframe how people see vacant properties. The students conceived the idea for a Vacant Home Tour on May 9 as a way to address blight.

They’ll walk people through the history of five vacant properties in Wilkinsburg that could be prime candidates for restoration.

At each house, volunteer docents from the neighborhood, who researched the homes’ histories and owners, will present old photos or documents to show the houses in their heydays, said Marlee Gallagher, communications and outreach coordinator for the CDC.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/8083071-74/wilkinsburg-tour-properties#ixzz3XCZ490tS
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Research On Vaping Starts To Clear Smoke On Possible Health Effects

Chelsey Bowles said she doesn’t stink anymore.

“Not smelling like an ashtray is nice, definitely,” the Hanover resident said.

Bowles said she no longer coughs in the mornings, her taste buds are back, she can smell again, and walking up stairs is no big deal.

That’s the difference, she said, between smoking cigarettes and vaping.

Read more:

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/breaking/ci_27902921/research-vaping-starts-clear-smoke-possible-health-effects

Young Gang Busted: Thieves Sentenced For Targeting Homes With Sleeping Occupants

More than a dozen young males and females have been sentenced for their roles in a spree of Lancaster home burglaries and thefts in 2013.

The group, 14 people in all, targeted city homes with residents asleep inside during the three-month spree.

They stole cash, credit cards, and cars.

Their ages, roles and sentences varied, with the youngest being a 15-year-old girl and the oldest a 20-year-old man.

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/young-gang-busted-thieves-sentenced-for-targeting-homes-with-sleeping/article_7f7c0aae-df9e-11e4-9ef5-b3bd03210add.html

Chief’s Letter To Larksville Home Raises Issues

LARKSVILLE, PA — A police chief’s “welcome” letter targeting a suspected drug den and prostitution house on Murray Street has apparently accomplished its goal.

The tenant, a younger woman, hasn’t been seen since, neighbors say. The constant vehicle traffic from a stream of visitors immediately ceased, they say. And the landlord quickly issued an eviction notice.

Larksville police Chief John Edwards last week delivered the strongly-worded letter to the 10 homes on Murray Street, but most on the small block knew who it was meant for: the tenant of 39 Murray St. and all her visitors.

Edwards vowed to zero in on the people suspected of illegal activity until they “are arrested and imprisoned, or leave Larksville Borough.”

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/chief-s-letter-to-larksville-home-raises-issues-1.1862664

Nostalgia Nights Return To Downtown Pottstown Starting In May