Trib: Mt. Lebanon grad lands with Baby Pens

When their top seven scorers were called up, the Baby Pens naturally went on a search for players to plug holes in their lineup. They found one who couldn't have been happier to pull a Penguins jersey over his head.

The Baby Pens made an AHL trade Feb. 18 to acquire Tyler Murovich from the Worcester Sharks for future considerations. Murovich was the leading scorer on the undefeated Mt. Lebanon team that won a state title in 2006, and his family owns the Ice Castle.

Read more:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_724745.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon officials won't agree to closed meetings

Mt. Lebanon commissioners rescinded their agreement to participate in closed-door meetings with members of the school board last week, citing legal advice that the meetings should instead be held with public participation.

Commissioners Joe DeIuliis and Dave Brumfield initially agreed to serve on the "joint steering committee" with school board President Josephine Posti and Vice President Dale Ostergaard, who would meet in closed-door executive sessions to facilitate more freewheeling conversation and protect discussions of legal matters, Posti said. But commission President Dan Miller said last week the commissioners wouldn't join the meetings unless they were open.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_723014.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon teens discover sport's worth a shot

Nate Yesko was unaware that Mt. Lebanon High School had a rifle team until, as a freshman, he spotted a table at the school's activities fair advertising the sport.

Because of his father's military background, Yesko knew plenty about firearms and proper safety techniques, so he signed up, spent two years on the junior varsity squad and made the varsity team as a junior.

Now, Yesko is a senior leader and one of the team's top shooters -- another student reeled in by the WPIAL's most-unknown sport.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/highschool/s_723024.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Post Office branch at 714 Washington Road to close

The U.S. Postal Service is closing the branch at 714 Washington Road. The last day of service will be Friday, 11 March, 2011. According to Acting Postmaster Marie T. Posway in a letter published by mtl magazine, the postal service is “in a fiscal crisis and must take action to reduce the size of its retail and delivery network.”

Local mail delivery will not be affected by the closure, Posway said. Retail services will still be provided by neighboring offices.

The letter, as published in mtl, is reprinted below:

This is to advise you of the U.S. Postal Service’s decision to close the branch at 714 Washington Road. Services will end at the close of business on Friday, March 11, 2011.

Because of the drastic decline in mail volume, the postal service is in a fiscal crisis and must take action to reduce the size of its retail and delivery network. By consolidating, streamlining, and adjusting our operations, the postal service becomes a more efficient and effective organization.

I want to ensure you that the community’s input was received and carefully considered before making this decision.

Local mail delivery will not be affected by this move. Full retail services will still be available in neighboring offices, and our customers will continue to receive the same excellent service they always have. They will have the choice of street delivery or to rent a post office box in any of the eight other offices located within a 5-mile radius.

The postal service has developed a number of convenient ways that can save customers a trip to the post office – buy stamps through our website at www.usps.com, by phone at 1-800-STAMPS24, by mail, or at more than 55,000 retail outlets nationwide.

Marie T. Posway
Acting Postmaster
Pittsburgh

Trib: Law firm hired to study Mt. Lebanon renovation papers

The Mt. Lebanon School District this week unanimously approved hiring a law firm to do a final review of bid documents for the proposed high school renovation.

Downtown-based Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir was awarded a contract of up to $3,500 to do a legal review of the specifications for the project, currently capped at $113.27 million, and ensure the documents contain no loopholes or problems. By next week, the firm will share its recommendations with the district, the project's architect and the construction manager so any last-minute revisions can be made.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_724324.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon High School project could go to bid

Final approval from the Commission earlier this month meant the planned $113.2 million renovation of Mt. Lebanon High School could go out to bid, but members of the Mt. Lebanon school board decided they wanted one more outside review of the $113.2 million high school renovation plan.

The board voted unanimously Monday night to award a contract to the law firm of Babst, Calland, Clements and Zomnir to review volume 1 of the bid specifications at a cost not to exceed $3,500, the spokeswoman for the district said.

The review will be conducted this week and a vote on the bid documents will be taken at a special school board meeting Monday.

Read the full article:

• http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11055/1127668-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Target shooting -- a relaxing hobby?

Yoga. Reading. Walking. Target pistol shooting. One of these things is not relaxing. Or is it?

Ask the participants in the Firearms Safety and Target Pistol class offered by the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Department, and they likely will say that target pistol shooting can be relaxing - when done safely.

Case in point is Sandy Kyper, secretary to the Mt. Lebanon recreation director and a new member of the class.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11055/1127387-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon girls keep focus, defeat Pine-Richland

Madison Cable of Mt. Lebanon has played under the bright lights of the Bryce Jordan Center and heard cheers from capacity crowds at A.J. Palumbo Center.

This game had nothing like that.

"It's hard to get up for a game like this," said Cable, who scored 15 points in a 59-33 victory over Pine-Richland on Wednesday in a rather quiet, half-filled Baldwin gym. The first-round victory moves top-seeded Mt. Lebanon forward in the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs — likely headed for bigger crowds.

Read more:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/highschool/s_724390.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon Public Library serious about raising money

Faced with funding cuts in recent years and preparing for further cuts in the future, the Mt. Lebanon Public Library plans to hone its fundraising efforts to fill in the gaps.

The library has contracted with a fundraising consultant, who made several suggestions library director Cynthia Richey said she hoped would propel the library toward its goal of collecting $300,000 to $400,000 in donations over the next three years.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11048/1125897-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: High court rules against Mt. Lebanon girl's vaccine suit

The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled against a Mt. Lebanon family in a case dealing with child vaccines, upholding limits to lawsuits against drugmakers.

In a 6-2 decision, the court ruled that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act prohibited the family of Hannah Bruesewitz from taking their claim against drugmaker Wyeth to state court. When she was an infant, Hannah sustained violent seizures that have rendered her mute and in need of constant care, a condition the family contends was caused by a diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine produced by Wyeth that the company later discontinued.

Read the full article:

• www.postgazette.com/pg/11053/1127146-84.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon High School renovation proposal delayed

The Mt. Lebanon school board wants one more expert to weigh in on its high school renovation project before it goes out to bid, pushing the project back by a week.

The board was scheduled to vote next week on the final bid specifications for the high school project, which would outline each contractor's duties and the school district's expectations, said board President Josephine Posti. The documents already have been reviewed by the board, district staff, its solicitors and the contractors who prepared them, but the board decided it wanted to hire an outside expert to conduct one final check of the bid package before it votes, she said.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_723207.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

The Almanac: Mt. Lebanon school bests Green Bay in collecting cans

St. Bernard School in Mt. Lebanon swept the playing field against St. Bernard School of Green Bay, Wis. when both schools revealed the number of soup cans collected in their Souper Bowl of Giving.

St. Bernard Mt. Lebanon finished the contest with 12,592 cans of soup while Green Bay trailed with 5,693 cans. This win results in Green Bay having to wear black and gold at school.

The two schools revealed their numbers via a Skype session where cheers for both schools could be shared between the two student bodies.\

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/alm/story10/02-16-2011-ML-souper-bowl (The Almanac)

P-G: Mt Lebanon revving up for another title run

This time a season ago, the Mt. Lebanon boys basketball team sported a stellar 21-1 record.

Four wins later, the Blue Devils were WPIAL Class AAAA champions.

Today, Mt. Lebanon boasts a 20-2 mark just days away from its postseason opener.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11048/1125769-361.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon commissioner enters county executive race

Encouraging startup companies is key to bringing more jobs to Allegheny County, the newest candidate for county executive told about 50 cheering supporters this morning.

D. Raja, a Mt. Lebanon commissioner and founder of an information technology company, became the third Republican to announce a run for his party's nomination for the post.

Read the full article:

• http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11048/1126132-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Commercial Appeal: Do-it-yourself school district more difficult than it appears

The Mt. Lebanon School District is discussed in the following article which appeared in last Sunday's Commercial Appeal from Memphis, Tennessee.

Read the full article:

• www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/feb/13/do-it-yourself-school-district-more-difficult-it (Commercial Appeal)

The Almanac: Library cuts staff

Somewhere on the vast shelves of the Mt. Lebanon Public Library is a copy of Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."

A partial quote from the first sentence "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . " pretty much summed up the month of January for the library.

An unexpected infusion of money from the Mt. Lebanon Commissioners permitted the library to reopen on Sundays beginning Jan. 9, but additional funding cuts from other sources forced the layoff of four employees Jan. 20 and 21. Three were full-time employees, one worked part time.

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/ALM/Story/02-09-2011-ML-library-staff-cuts (The Almanac)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon girls win 10th straight

Madison Cable tried as best she could to downplay the significance.

“It’s the same as any section game,” said Cable, who scored 19 points Thursday night and led No. 2 Mt. Lebanon to a 43-37 victory over No. 3 Bethel Park, giving her Blue Devils the lead in Section 4-AAAA. “We look at it as equal to every other game.”

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/highschool/s_721343.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

The Almanac: Blue Devils weather BP's blows

Top-ranked Mt. Lebanon weathered two strong punches by No. 2 Bethel Park and survived to win its 10th game in a row, 43-37, in Section 4-AAAA girls' basketball action.

With three minutes to play, Candace Martino buried a 3-point field goal to pull BP within two points, 39-37. Martino finished with a game-high 20 points.

With 39.3 seconds to play, however, Emma Pellicano cashed in on two free throws to widened Lebo's lead to four points. Pellicano tossed in 10 tallies in the triumph.

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/alm/sportstory10/02-09-2011-girls-basketball-w-pic (The Almanac)

P-G: School renovation gains approval in Mt. Lebanon

Groundbreaking for the planned $113.2 million Mt. Lebanon High School renovation could happen as early as May, now that the school district has final approval from the Mt. Lebanon commission.

"We are going to build one heck of a high school," superintendent Timothy Steinhauer said after the commission's meeting Tuesday night.

He said he was "very pleased" that the commission had made the necessary approvals for the project to move forward.

"This is the culmination of many, many years of hard work by our staff, our community and our school board," he said.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11041/1124280-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Not as deep as last year, Lebo still has talent pool

With all the talent the Mt. Lebanon boys' swimming team graduated last season, goals and strategy will be a little different when coach Dave Schraven and his team head to the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool for the WPIAL championships next month.

After five WPIAL qualifying swimmers, including two PIAA medalists, graduated, the Blue Devils will likely not be a contender for the team title at the WPIAL championships March 3-4.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11041/1124135-364.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

WTAE: WPIAL Makes Impact In State Basketball Rankings

Atop two of the eight state high school basketball lists are two teams with two totally opposite stories: one is a two-time defending state champion who faced adversity early this season to return to the top, while the other fell short in last year's WPIAL championship game with a chance to finally complete their mission this season.

The Mt. Lebanon girls' basketball team, two-time defending PIAA Class AAAA champions, find themselves ranked No. 1 in the state again after starting the season on a very unfamiliar note. After losing five of their first eight games -- seven of them played in tournaments between Phoenix, Ariz. and Columbus, Oh. -- the Lady Blue Devils have rattled off 11 straight wins to collect a record of 14-5 overall and 9-1 in their section.

Read the full article:

• www.wtae.com/high-school-playbook/26792549/detail.html (WTAE)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon school renovation clears last major hurdle

Mt. Lebanon commissioners last night granted the final zoning approvals for the school district's $113.27 million high school renovation, clearing the last hurdle between the planning phase and the bidding process.

"It's a relief to see after the many years of work the community's put in," schools Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer said. "It's going to be great for our community."

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_722033.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)


• Mt. Lebanon approves controversial high school renovation (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon commissioner to enter race for county exec

D. Raja, a businessman and Mt. Lebanon commissioner, is poised to enter the Republican race for Allegheny County executive.

Mr. Raja, who could not immediately be reached for comment, has called a variety of senior county Republicans to alert them to his interest.

According to an associate, he plans to make a formal announcement some time next week.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11040/1124153-100.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)


• Mt. Lebanon commissioner considers county exec bid (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)


• Exclusive: Raja Leaning Toward GOP Run for Allegheny Exec (PoliticsPA)

Pop City: Mt. Lebanon Village concept arrives in area to help seniors stay in their community

Mt. Lebanon is the first community in western Pennsylvania to bring the Village concept to its seniors, but Ann Bateman hopes it won't be the last.

"The whole idea is to keep people in the home they love and connected to the community, and to help them stay independent -- with some help in place -- for as long as possible," says Bateman, program director for Mt. Lebanon Village.

Read the full article:

• www.popcitymedia.com/forgood/mtlebanonvillage020911.aspx (Pop City)

The Almanac: Ford and Errington lead Mt. Lebanon ladies

Youth and experience are combining to help the Mt. Lebanon girls' swim team produce positive marks this winter.

For example, Katie Ford, though a freshman, can swim in every event while Courtney Errington, a junior, is a returning PIAA qualifier in the 200-yard freestyle.

"Katie is have a great season and Courtney is looking forward to swimming her best at the WPIAL and state championship meets," explained Lebo head coach Dave Schraven.

Read the full article:

• www.thealmanac.net/ALM/Story/01-26-2011-Lebo-swim-sidebar (The Almanac)

P-G: Suspicious envelope found at Mt. Lebanon High

The FBI is investigating a suspicious envelope containing an unidentified substance received at Mt. Lebanon High School Friday afternoon, principal Ronald P. Davis said.

Dr. Davis told parents and students in an e-mail that there was no threat to the school or its students and that initial testing of the substance was negative. He said the letter inside, opened in the principal's office, was not directed at the high school or its students.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11036/1123220-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

KDKA: Elderly Mt. Lebanon Man Reported Missing

Police are searching for a missing elderly man. They’re looking for 82-year-old Robert Kinzler of Mt. Lebanon.

He reportedly suffers from slight dementia. He was last seen at his home on Bower Hill road. Police believe he may have left his home in a blue Chevrolet Prizm with Pennsylvania plate EVW 6737.

Read the full article:

• pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/02/03/61641/ (KDKA)

P-G: Port Authority pinch is coming to South Hills

The full list of eliminated or reduced service routes can be found on the Port Authority's website, www.portauthority.org. They include reduced service on the T blue lines to Library and South Hills Village, the P7 McKeesport Flyer and the 53 Homestead Park.

Some of the routes that will be eliminated, such as the 42 Mt. Lebanon-Oakland, have buses that are always packed. "People are going to scratch their head and say it doesn't make much sense to cut it, because a lot of people use it and we agree," Mr. Ritchie said.

One of those people is Peggy McNeil, an administrator at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. She has taken the Mt. Lebanon to Oakland bus for 10 years.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11034/1122496-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Slow start behind them, Blue Devils are rolling again

Don't be fooled by the graduation of nine players from last season or the "rebuilding" term coach Dori Oldaker threw around before the season or the 0-1 start in section play or the five losses already this season.

This is still the same Mt. Lebanon girls' basketball program the state of Pennsylvania has become accustomed to seeing play the past three seasons

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11034/1122382-361.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Trib: Mt. Lebanon commissioners' chief won't run for re-election

The president of the Mt. Lebanon Board of Commissioners won't seek a second term on the board, which he says will let him focus exclusively on a broad slate of financial and organizational reforms by the year's end.

Ward 5 Commissioner Dan Miller posted the notice on his website this week and closed out his re-election account, saying he'd prefer to focus on accomplishing as much as he can during his last year in office, then spending more time with his 4-year-old son and the Mt. Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_720980.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon trio seeking new trial in killing

Three Mt. Lebanon High School classmates sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping two men, killing one of them and dumping his body in the Ohio River attempted Monday to appeal their conviction on the basis of ineffective counsel.

New lawyers for Craig Elias, Jared Lischner and Jared Henkel claimed that while Mr. Elias intended to testify at their 2003 trial -- providing details that could have exonerated them -- his lawyer advised him not to, wrecking all of their cases.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11032/1122103-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

P-G: Mt. Lebanon-based director Peter Argentine developing visitor center films for 10 national parks

Peter Argentine passes by the Do Not Enter signs in museums and national parks. With his cameras and crew, the filmmaker captures Michelle Obama in the Blue Room, Laura Bush in the cozy White House Library and braves unseasonably cold winds as re-enactors re-create the battle of New Orleans.

The 12- to 14-hour days can be grueling. Each film demands careful research, planning and logistics, pounds of patience, technical know-how and love of story. But the 55-year-old Mt. Lebanon man relishes his place behind the lens of a high-definition camera.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11030/1121221-37.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)