P-G: Mt. Lebanon school renovation gets conditional OK

Mt. Lebanon's five-member municipal planning board unanimously passed a motion Tuesday to give the Mt. Lebanon School District conditional preliminary land development approval for its $113.2 million high school renovation project.

Among the conditions of the approval is that the school district obtain a favorable resolution from Allegheny Common Pleas Court, which is reviewing the district's appeal of a zoning hearing board decision.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10273/1091350-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon native raises funds to expand orphanage in Kenya

Just about a year ago, former Mt. Lebanon resident Kate Fletcher set a goal to raise $500,000 to build a permanent home for the orphaned girls she has cared for and educated in Kenya for the past five years.

As with each goal Mrs. Fletcher has set since she founded Hekima Place outside of Nairobi, she hit the mark. As a result, a dedication was held Sept. 11 at the new complex, which is now under construction.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10273/1091352-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon Authority offers proposal on parking

The discussion in Mt. Lebanon about the most efficient way to handle parking continued this week, with Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority chairman Alfonso Frioni outlining the points he made in his reorganization proposal to municipal manager Stephen Feller.

Over the past year, the municipality has discussed the possibility of consolidating the authority, but Mr. Frioni said at the commission meeting Monday that consolidating would be more costly to the municipality and urged the commission to maintain the basic relationship between the municipality and the Parking Authority.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10273/1091353-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

KDKA: Suspect Sought In ATM Robbery In Mt. Lebanon

Authorities are investigating after a knifepoint robbery this morning near an ATM machine in Mount Lebanon.

Police say it happened just before 10 a.m. outside of the PNC Bank in the Virginia Manors Shops on Cochran Road.

Read the full article:

• www.kdka.com/local/knifepoing.robbery.Mount.2.1939815.html (KDKA)

WTAE: Woman, 3 Cats Rescued From Mount Lebanon Fire

A woman and her three pet cats were rescued after a fire broke out in a Mount Lebanon home.

The fire began in a kitchen and caused damage throughout the first floor of the home in the 100 block of Lemoyne Street. The second floor of the home was also damaged by smoke.

Read the full article:

• www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/25220787/detail.html (The Pittsburgh Channel)


• Video: www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/mt-lebanon-house-fire/1d0p87mlj (The Pittsburgh Channel)

Planning Board Conditionally Approves High School Plans (Updated)

Updated 2010-09-28 23:54 with more details, thanks to the audio recording of the meeting provided by LeboCitizens.com.

Tonight, the Mt. Lebanon Planning Board voted unanimously to approve (preliminarily) the school district’s plans for the high school project. The approval, however, was subject to the following conditions:

1. The school district must obtain a favorable resolution about parking spaces in its zoning appeal (the plans have only 505 of the required 528 spaces).
2. The school district must comply with the municipal engineer’s review comments.
3. The school district must comply with the traffic engineer’s review comments.
4. The school district must obtain from the Mt. Lebanon Commission approval of a conditional-use application for the high school being on a property zoned R-1.
5. The school district must obtain a modification or waiver from the Mt. Lebanon Commission to allow the use of plants not on the land-development code’s required plant list.
6. The school district must properly treat and test its permeable pavement and report annually to Mt. Lebanon about the same.

Most of the conditions seem easy enough for the school district to satisfy. That first condition, though, is something the school district has less control over. Who knows how the court case will be decided?

But one thing is certain: if the school district’s zoning appeal fails in the Court of Common Pleas, the plans for the high school are going to need some rethinking.

P-G: Driver faces trial in death of Mt. Lebanon jogger

A Mt. Lebanon driver charged with striking and killing a woman as she pushed a jogging stroller along Washington Road was ordered today to stand trial on all 12 charges filed against him, including homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter.

Benjamin T. Cope, 20, walked wordlessly past reporters after his preliminary hearing before Dirstrict Judge Mary Murray, but his attorney, Laura

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10267/1090039-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Other articles:

• Witness: Motorist backed over Mt. Lebanon mom's fallen body (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

WTAE: Week 4 Football Highlights: Hopewell vs Mt. Lebanon

WTAE has posted a video recap of Mt. Lebanon's win against Hopewell on Friday night at Baldwin High School.

View the video:

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rgyWS_FXq4 (The Pittsburgh Channel)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon honors eight alumni

Eight Mt. Lebanon High School alumni -- including a doctor, a lawyer, an author and a sportscaster -- have been selected for this year's Great Alumni awards.

They will be recognized Friday at a luncheon in the high school and later during the football game at Mt. Lebanon Stadium.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10266/1089594-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

In the Dark (Update 2)

Where I live in northern Mt. Lebanon, the power has been out since Wednesday afternoon's storm. I noticed while driving through Uptown that the power had been restored there. What other areas of Mt. Lebanon are with (or without) power now? Does anybody have an ETA on full restoration of electrical service?

(Posted via cell phone in the dark.)

Update 2010-09-23 14:54: According to the Post-Gazette, some areas may be without power for days:

Duquesne Light said some customers in the hardest hit areas of Baldwin Borough, Banksville, Beechview, Brookline, Castle Shannon, Dormont, Mt. Lebanon and Scott may not see power restored until late Sunday morning.

Thanks to Dave Franklin for the tip about the P-G article.

Update 2010-09-23 15:04: Chris Stengel at blog.mtlsd.org/FarFromBloggin has some telling photos of the storm’s aftermath.

Travel + Leisure: Coolest Suburbs Worth A Visit

There's a great write up about Mt. Lebanon in this latest article on the Travel + Leisure web site. They have highlighted 25+ "cool" suburbs around the country and we're one of them! Some of our local are businesses are mentioned in the article as well.

Read the whole article:

• www.travelandleisure.com/articles/coolest-suburbs-worth-a-visit/17 (Travel + Leisure)

Thanks to Walter Keast for telling us about this article!

WTAE: Mt. Lebanon WWII Vet Gets Lost Ring Back

Earl Dhanse came ashore at Normandy, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Purple Heart -- but a ring he got as a reminder of his service disappeared.

"I want to remember what I did during the war. I cherish this ring," Dhanse told Channel 4 Action News' Shannon Perrine.

Six months ago, the former Canonsburg man realized that his ring had disappeared.

Read the full article:

• www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/25089987/detail.html (The Pittsburgh Channel)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon beats Penn HIlls, 28-6

Luke Hagy played a big role in the Mt. Lebanon basketball team becoming one of the best in the WPIAL the past two seasons.

Now he's helping the Blue Devils do the same in football.

Hagy rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns to lead Mt. Lebanon to a 28-6 victory Friday at Penn Hills in a non-conference game.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10261/1088590-365.stm?cmpid=sports.xml (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

PG South: Young runners show promise for Mt. Lebanon

A fifth-place finish at a big cross country invitational usually isn't deserving of anything more than a "good job" from a coach. But Mt. Lebanon High School's boys' coach Mike Agostinella heaped praise on his team for doing just that Saturday.

The Mt. Lebanon boys finished fifth overall in the team competition at the Red, White & Blue Invitational at Schenley Park. No big deal, right?

A closer look at the results reveals why Agostinella was pleased.

Read the full article:

• www.postgazette.com/pg/10259/1087681-364.stm
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Lebo History: 50th Anniversary Plate

My friends and family know that I love to go to garage sales, flea markets, etc. Two weeks ago, I went to an estate sale on Edward Avenue and picked up this 48 year old plate. As you can see, it was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Mount Lebanon Township (now the Municipality of Mt. Lebanon) with artwork of each church in town around the plate.

What I really found interesting was the writing on the back of the plate which talks about the history of our town. It is as follows:

"Mt. Lebanon Township came into existence February 1912 when the Court of Quarter Sessions of Allegheny County decreed the division of the Township of Scott and created the Township of Mt. Lebanon.

The name, Mt. Lebanon, originated from the two cedar trees of Lebanon brought back from the Holy Land in 1950 by Rev. Joseph Clokey. These were planted in the middle of his farm which bordered Bower Hill and Washington Rds.

In 1912 Mt. Lebanon had a real estate valuation of three and a quarter millions; a population of 1,705; one school house; seventy-five street lights; one fire hydrant; no paved streets; no fire department; no police force.

Today -- fifty years later -- the real estate valuation is $230,000,000. The Township boasts a population of 36,000; a fire department with five pieces of modern fire fighting equipment, ten full-time firemen and thirty-two volunteers; 78 miles of paved streets and 40-member Police department.

Fourteen beautiful churches are the centers of the community's religious life. St. Winifred Roman Catholic Church has just begun construction. Recognized nationally for its outstanding work, the Mt. Lebanon public school system with a pupil population of 7,700 has one high school, two junior high schools and six elementary schools.

Mt. Lebanon residents are justly proud of their well-landscaped suburban homes; their active clubs; unique music and lecture societies; swim groups and athletic organizations which have gained state and national recognition.

Made for A. G. Trimble Co, 3006 Jenkins Arcade, Pittsburgh 22 Penna."

NOTE: I have donated the plate to the Historical Society of Mt. Lebanon.

P-G: Mt. Lebanon teacher gets to study abroad

Travel to foreign countries is nothing new to Laureen Hurt.

The Mt. Lebanon High School teacher has already lived in France on two different occasions and has visited Canada and the Caribbean. However, she calls this summer's four-week visit to Senegal, a tropical, South Dakota-sized country in west Africa, "the realization of a longtime dream."

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10259/1087837-55.stm
• (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

P-G: St. Clair Hospital opens three new operating rooms

Three new operating rooms, each filled with the latest technological advances, are expected to begin receiving patients today at St. Clair Hospital in Mt. Lebanon.

The 7,429-square-foot expansion was part of a $5.5 million project to address a growing patient population. The hospital had been handling 11,000 surgical cases per year, with the volume increasing by 3 percent to 4 percent annually.

Read the whole article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10259/1087731-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon schools solicitor: Costly information requests high

Mt. Lebanon school board President Ed Kubit asked this week that the school district research other districts' practices when it comes to posting Right-to-Know requests online.

The school board has discussed posting the name of the requester, the document requested and the cost of honoring the request on its website.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10259/1087849-55.stm Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Letter: Scott Park

The following letter to the editor was submitted by John David Kendrick:

As many of us are aware, our municipality purchased land from Scott Township that was intended to become a new Mt Lebanon park. Unfortunately, for various reasons, our land appears to be unusable for the intended purpose; and potentially worthless.

Therefore, I would like to propose that the municipality consider either one or both of these options for site development:

Option 1. The municipality enter into a long term land lease with a cellular service provider who would install, maintain, and operate a cellular radio tower and base station. In exchange, Mt Lebanon would receive an initial lump sum payment and annual lease revenue.

Most Mt Lebanon residents would not be impacted by this tower, the facility could be operated without personnel on-site, and the community would gain a valuable revenue stream. This idea worked well for Upper St Clair.

Option 2. If Mt Lebanon owns the mineral rights and there is natural gas in the shale, we should lease part of the land for drilling.

The revenue would be spent in the following order:

1. Maintenance and repair of municipal streets and sidewalks as prioritized by DPW.
2. The reduction of long-term municipal debt.
3. Investment into activities and programs that would provide improved operational efficiencies in our municipal government to ensure sustainable high quality services with a minimal impact on our taxpayers.

I would like to hear any constructive criticism or suggestions relating to this idea.

Thank you,
John Kendrick

Trib: Mt. Lebo completes another comeback

Mt. Lebanon is getting used to turning sluggish starts into victorious finishes.

The latest turnabout came against Penn-Trafford, when the Blue Devils overcame an early deficit and scored on their final three possessions of the first half to knock off the Warriors, 43-18, in the first meeting between the schools. It was also the first game played on the new $450,000 Sportexe field at the newly rededicated Warriors Stadium.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_699048.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

PG: Suspect in jogger's death released to attend college

A Mt. Lebanon man charged with killing a young mother as she jogged along Washington Road will be able to resume college classes in Tennessee.

Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey A. Manning agreed today to lift the electronic monitoring requirement and released Benjamin T. Cope on $25,000 straight bail.

Both the prosecution and defense agreed that electronic monitoring would preclude Mr. Cope from attending college classes at Sewanee University, also known as the University of the South, and recommended it not be used.

Read the full article:

• www.postgazette.com/pg/10252/1086298-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

PG: Woman tells her piece of Mt. Lebanon history

Think of your life as a movie, Larry Evans told Geraldine Branik last week.

Ms. Branik, 80, was sitting in the living room of her Mt. Lebanon home as Mr. Evans set up a video camera. He was there to record the story of her life for a personal history project being conducted by Mt. Lebanon Village, a support network for residents 50 years and older.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/10252/1086012-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Letter: Our Community Faces Formidable Challenges

The following letter to the editors was submitted by John David Kendrick and John Ewing:

Our community faces formidable challenges. The question is not if we need to act, but what course of action we must take. Therefore, we must continuously challenge ourselves to think of innovative ways to equitably fund both our school district and municipal government.

Many of our residents realize the tremendous role that philanthropy presents. If our community makes an investment, like the building of a new school, and uses a tax increase to finance the purchase, the tax increase has a detrimental impact on household cash flows and lowers the values of all property that is impacted by the tax increase. Alternatively, if the community makes the same purchase by seeking contributions from residents, school alumni, corporations, and foundations then the same investment is possible without raising taxes.

Mt. Lebanon has demonstrated that charitable contributions are an excellent funding alternative to tax increases. The Mt Lebanon Public Library and the Municipal Public Safety Building are both excellent examples of how private contributions helped our community to gain valuable assets with only positive impacts on our property values. We have often wondered, "Would the community have resisted the construction of the new high school project if the funding for the project came entirely from private contributions?"

The basic tools are already available to the school board to encourage voluntary contributions from alumni and other folks. We have a Directory of Alumni with contact information, we know where residents and parents live and who in the community is interested in philanthropy.

Yearbooks are available to show alumni interests during their student years. If turf is a need we can solicit those who played sports on the turf on a regular basis; if we need a swimming pool we could solicit past swimmers for donations and so forth for other sports, fine arts and club activities.

In addition we could upgrade our website to show schematic and design drawings of projects that need to be financed. The website could be expanded to include email communication among those who are supporting the school. Many colleges already have this feature so the implementation could be easily duplicated in Mt Lebanon.

After email addresses are available the Internet could be used to communicate with friends of the school. Our Athletic Director could write a weekly email to alumni and friends about the success of our athletic teams and the Superintendent could write a Message to Friends two or three times a year about the plans and successes of our District.

Professional fundraisers could be employed to solicit larger gifts and our Solicitor’s law firm could provide some basic legal advice to donors about planned giving, gifts of stocks, and bequests from estates.

The Board needs to authorize startup funds; fortunately we have the funds balance to accomplish these tasks.

So my thought is, "How can we institutionalize philanthropy to fund our municipal government and our school district?" Again, these are not a new concepts, but ones that have worked very well for US colleges and universities. Unfortunately, we have not thought about institutionalizing this process in our municipal government and our school district.

Sincerely,

John David Kendrick and John Ewing

Trib: Mt. Lebanon completes comeback against Pine-Richland

Mt. Lebanon trailed at halftime in its opener Friday night, but you'd never know it by the final score.

Junior running back Luke Hagy scored on three big plays to lead Mt. Lebanon to a 34-22 victory against visiting Pine-Richland in a no conference AAAA game.

"He just doesn't take big hits," said Mt. Lebanon coach Chris Haering. "He finds a way to sneak through there, and he sees the field very well."

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/highschool/football/s_697984.html
(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

KDKA: New Charges Filed In Fatal Mt. Lebanon Accident

Authorities have filed new charges against a driver in connection to a pedestrian accident that killed a mother in Mt. Lebanon.

Lisa Styles, 36, of Mt. Lebanon, was jogging with her 3-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter in a double stroller when she was struck and killed by an SUV at the intersection Washington and Beadling Roads back in June.

Read the full article:

• www.kdka.com/local/Mount.lebanon.stroller.2.1893698.html (KDKA)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon residents invited to talk taxes with panel

With an illuminating article by Kaitlynn Riely, the Post-Gazette has expanded its coverage of the recent town-hall meeting and protest to include a detailed examination of what happened inside the meeting. The article begins:

At an invitation-only meeting in the Mt. Lebanon municipal building Saturday morning, residents posed questions about the current and future state of taxation in the town to a panel consisting of Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Matthew Kluck, school Director James Fraasch, Coldwell Banker real estate agent Eleanor Carpenter and Allegheny Institute for Public Policy researcher Frank Gamrat.

The article also provides what I think is the first honest explanation for the protest that took place outside:

Outside the municipal building, about 50 people picketed. Many of the protesters held signs supportive of the high school project and against the town hall meeting and Mr. Kluck.

“I would say people looked at the guest list, the organizers, and the history of their involvement and probably reached a conclusion, good or bad, that part of the agenda was a discussion of that project from the opposition side,” said David Reese, one of the protesters.

That’s an explanation I can believe. And my hat’s off to Mr. Reese for just saying it.

And what about the high-school project? Yes, it was discussed briefly, but not in the way the protesters probably had expected. The Post-Gazette explains:

The high school renovation was not the main focus of the meeting, but the topic did come up. A question was posed about whether student safety would be affected if renovations were not made to the high school. Mr. Fraasch said there are some issues with safety and that something needed to be done.

Someone asked whether the project was a “done deal,” and Mr. Fraasch said some planning issues remained but he believes they will be worked out.

The P-G article reveals much more than the tidbits I’ve quoted above. If you weren’t at the meeting and want to know what really happened in one easy read, read this article.

Read more:

• Mt. Lebanon residents invited to talk taxes with panel (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Groups Says It Has Funds To Buy Closed Mt. Lebanon Theater

The Denis Theatre Foundation has raised the funds to purchase the Denis Theatre on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon, according to a news release today.

The foundation launched its capital campaign to buy the Denis in October 2009, and since then the campaign has raised more than $663,000 in cash and pledges.

Read the full article:

• www.postgazette.com/pg/10244/1084205-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Almanac Letter: Mt. Lebanon blog is entertaining

Here at Blog-Lebo, we have always striven to offer our readers the very best in entertainment value. Now, in a letter to The Almanac, we learn that our efforts have finally been recognized:

In recent weeks, Blog Lebo has reached new heights for entertainment value. The blog, originally started as a thoughtful and well written series of comments on Mt. Lebanon, eventually became so nutty that the originator walked away.

Many people, who read it now for the first time, assume it is a parody due to the hilarious comments from the handful of people who have an opinion on everything and anything.

They seem to fall into two categories, the tin hat society or the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore" group. In recent blogs, one of them suggests that "the entire school board must be communists if they don't sell all of the school buildings, fire half of the teachers and put everyone into one building in order to save money".

The other group, led by a former school director who was forced to resign, advocates that anything other than English and science classes should not be the responsibility of the school district and should be paid for separately with money raised by volunteers.

If anyone dares to disagree with their comments, the rebuttals are similar to taunts from fourth-graders on the play ground, ("Apparently you can't read English!"). The fact that five people make up 90 percent of the comments should make this thing so tedious and silly that most people put it in the same context as the nut cases who walk around with signs proclaiming the end of the world.

Since less than .01% of the people who read this paper actually read the blog, I am afraid this is the case. However, I would encourage people to read the blog as an alternative to the astrology section or the comics. It is certainly more entertaining than either.

James Cannon

I would like to correct one error in Mr. Cannon’s letter. It says that Blog-Lebo’s founder walked away from our beloved blog after it became too “nutty.” I have been in touch with our founder, Mr. Mike Madision, and he assures me that Mr. Cannon is mistaken. The reason he left, he told me, is because Blog-Lebo was not nutty enough.

Read more:

• Mt. Lebanon blog is entertaining (The Almanac)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon man charged with molesting girls for many years

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting about charges brought against a Mt. Lebanon man:

A Mt. Lebanon man faces a preliminary hearing Thursday on charges that he molested three girls over several years at his residence and theirs.

Read the full article:

• Mt. Lebanon man charged with molesting girls for many years (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

A Protest-supporter Questions Blog-Lebo

In the B-L discussion about the recent protest, an anonymous commenter offered the following comment. Because of our comments policy, I can't approve it as part of that discussion. But because it probably represents what a lot protesters and their supporters are thinking, I'm going to put it on the front page to give their concerns more attention.

If any protesters want to add their comments, please do. As long as you follow our comments policy (include your full name), we'll publish your comments.

Here's the comment:

I know you won't publish this, but 1) I'm not willing to put my name on here to be ridiculed by those who frequently comment on this blog and 2) I at least want to pose some questions to the moderators of the blog. You continue to ask for explanations from the protestors, what about the organizers of the meeting? If the purpose and intent was so innocent then why wouldn't Mr. Kluck or Mrs. Stephenson share the agenda, the invitees, or the proposed call to action with the school board? Why wouldn't Mr. Fraasch share his presentation or any information on what he would present with his fellow members of the school board. He admonished Mrs. Capucci for doing this earlier this year. It is well known in the Mt. Lebanon political community that the Concerned Citizens are trying to get together a block of candidates to run for school board in the election next year. Why wouldn't some be suspicious of a meeting with a "call to action" knowing this? I think things stink on both sides of this issue. Will you pose the questions to the Concerned Citizens now?

Now, here are my responses.

Why has Blog-Lebo not pressed the meeting organizers for answers like it has the protesters?

The short answer is because the meeting organizers have less to answer for. They said that their meeting was about taxes and the economy (not the high-school project), and that's how it turned out. They said people representing all sides of Mt. Lebanon would be there (including those who supported the planned high-school project), and that's how it turned out.

If the purpose and intent [of the meeting] was so innocent then why wouldn't Mr. Kluck or Mrs. Stephenson share the agenda, the invitees, or the proposed call to action with the school board?

I can't speak for the organizers (I'm not them), but my understanding is that there was no planned agenda because it was mostly a Q&A event. The list of invitees probably wasn't known at the time (I think people were given invitations to hand out to their friends and neighbors), nor would a reasonable organizer want to voilate the audience's expectation of privacy by handing out a list of their names. The proposed call to action boiled down to a lukewarm "people, be more involved," which isn't the kind of thing that makes one think to issue an up-front warning.

I also understand the school board was invited to the meeting and, further, that the school-board president was asked to sit on the expert panel. (Blog-Lebo has obtained an email dated 13 August, 2010, to document this claim.)

Why wouldn't Mr. Fraasch share his presentation or any information on what he would present with his fellow members of the school board?

My guess (I am not Mr. Fraasch) is because Mr. Fraash didn't have a presentation. None of the panel members did. It was mostly Q&A. Listen to the audio recording or read the Almanac's summary: there were no presentations. After each panel member made a short introduction, the moderator opened the meeting to Q&A.

It is well known in the Mt. Lebanon political community that the Concerned Citizens are trying to get together a block of candidates to run for school board in the election next year. Why wouldn't some be suspicious of a meeting with a "call to action" knowing this?

Why? Because the town-hall meeting wasn't a Concerned Citizens event (or a LeboCitizens.com event, if you're wondering), nor was it advertised as such. I agree, however, that if you learn that some of an event's organizers are also involved with groups you disagree with, you can be more suspicious of that event. (But to jump to the conclusion that it's a sham event designed to attack your favored cause?)

And there you have my responses.

If any protesters want to ask additional questions, comment away, but please be mindful of our comments policy: you must own your words by including your full name in your comments.

Almanac: Invitation only Town Hall event draws protests

The Almanac just posted its coverage of Saturday's town-hall meeting and the corresponding protest:

A crowd of more than 70 people, with about 50 more protesting outside, met in the Mt. Lebanon commissioners' chambers on Aug. 28 to participate in a meeting about "Perspectives on Living in and Governing a Highly Taxed Community."

Organized by Mt. Lebanon Commissioner Matt Kluck as a way to learn more about what issues were important to community residents, the invitation-only event had protesters concerned that the real agenda of the meeting was to delay or reduce the scope of the planned $113 million renovations of Mt. Lebanon High School.

If you weren't at the meeting and haven't yet listened to an audio recording of it (or don't have 90 minutes to listen to it), read this article because it goes on to summarize what happened at the meeting.

Read the full article:

• Invitation only Town Hall event draws protests (The Almanac)