In case tropical storm Sandy tore you away from the race for state Attorney General, here are some tidbits from the campaign trail as of late:
According to a poll by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Democratic nominee Kathleen Kane is up 20 points over her Republican opponent David Freed. Statewide, the poll notes, 49% of those questioned said they would vote for Kane, compared to 29% for Freed. As PoliticsPA pointed out yesterday , that's an improvement for Kane from the Inquirer's earlier polling.
But the Inquirer notes that nearly half of the survey respondents said that neither Kane or Freed "had made much of an impression yet."
That shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, though, in a race that hasn't had much name recognition or back-and-forth on policy issues other than the handling of the Jerry Sandusky case. When reporting our story on the AG race, pollster G. Terry Madonna of the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Politics told me, "I don't even put this race in my polls. People don't know who the candidates are."
The new polling data comes on the heels of the latest fundraising totals for the candidates. As the Associated Press reported this past weekend (the latest campaign finance reports were not yet available online from the PA Department of State) , Kane has raised nearly $3 million, giving her an edge over Freed, who's raised about $2 million since the Primary. As the AP reported, Kane has a little more than $1 million on hand; Freed has more than $1.5 million on hand.
Tags: Attorney General , Kathleen Kane , David Freed , G. Terry Madonna
It's not often that a City Paper article gets used in an attack ad against a Democrat, but that's what the state Republican Party did on behalf of District 47 state Senator Elder Vogel in two attack ads last week.
And Vogel's mailers, by taking Kim Villella's remarks out of context, exaggerate her opposition to a proposed Shell Cracker Plant in Beaver County.
One ad features the headline: “Kim Villella opposed efforts to bring jobs to Beaver County” a line attributed to CP's profile on Villella. Another line, “Kim Villella was clear in her opposition to efforts to bring the Shell 'Cracker' Plant to our area” was also attributed to CP. Another ad says Villella told City Paper: “opposed the state helping to bring the Shell 'Cracker' Plant to Beaver County.”
Villella never said she opposed the Shell plant. She did, however, voice opposition to the way Gov. Tom Corbett and the Republican-led legislature structured $1.7 billion in tax breaks meant to entice Shell to locate the plant to Beaver County. But she says the state gave up too much to get Shell and that tax incentives should have been tied to job growth and not gas production. (While the tax credits are meant to spur job growth in the region, Shell is not required to repay them if the projected jobs don't arrive.)
Even as it celebrates freedom of expression, the ACLU of Western Pennsylvania’s annual Banned Book Weeks reading actually remains on the family-friendly side. Tonight, the group gets a little naughtier with a free 21-and-over show called Banned After Dark (B.A.D.).
Books, plays and songs that have been “banned or challenged for being too bawdy or risqué” — you know, Catcher in the Rye, The Handmaid’s Tale, Where’s Waldo — will be performed at Brillobox by local artists.
The performers include drag queen Kitty Klottsalot; the Rage of the Stage theater group; “radical librarian” Bekezela Mguni; and DJ Operation Sappho.
Says event chair Meredith Knight in a press release: “We want to celebrate the fact that the First Amendment means that no one has the right to wash our mouths out with soap.”
Costumes are encouraged: come dressed as your favorite character from a banned or challenged book,” says the ACLU. The group even offers costume ideas.
There’s also music by DJ Operation Sappho, an open mic for audience members to share their own favorite naughty bits (from literature), and limerick-writing.
B.A.D. runs from 8-11 p.m. Brillobox is at 4104 Penn Ave. in Bloomfield.
For more information call 412-681-7736 or email [email protected].
Tags: Banned Books , ACLU , readings
Some stuff's been cancelled in Pittsburgh tonight in light of worsening weather conditions, but there's still some live music to be had if you're a brave one. Here's the current rundown:
— Donavon Frankenreiter at Mr. Small's: cancelled
— Acousticafe Open Mic at Club Cafe: cancelled
— Wolf Gang and The Royal Concept at Stage AE: still on!
— One-time "world's sexiest vegetarian" Xavier Rudd at Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead: still on!
— Rehab at Hard Rock Cafe: still on!
If anything changes, we'll let you know via Twitter.
***UPDATE***
— The Little Feat concert at Jergel's has now also been cancelled.
While Pittsburgh city operations are continuing as normal — including, for now, scheduled trash pickups — emergency personnel are preparing to respond to days of high winds, flash flooding and power outages, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said today at an afternoon conference with the city's press.
The conference was held as Hurricane Sandy continues to make its way toward shore and as cities all along the eastern United States coast and in the path of its effects brace for its worst.
A high wind warning is in effect for Pittsburgh, according to the National Weather Service. It is predicting winds from the northwest at 25 to 35 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph. Winds are expected to slow starting Tuesday morning.
For now, in Pittsburgh, Ravenstahl said, three mobile swift water rescue teams were on the job as of this morning, and an emergency operations center will be activated with minimum staffing starting at 3 p.m. today. Department heads and those operating other city services, such as the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, are preparing 24-hour shift schedules and notifying employees that they may need to be on call.
"We plan to be nimble and ready to adjust our response," he said.
Shelter locations, if they are needed, will be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on where power outages occur, if they occur, he said.
The city's Halloween Trick-or-Treat night has been rescheduled from Wednesday evening to 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.
Otherwise, "we're planning to conduct business as usual," he said. "We're not changing our daily routine."
The city's 311 call center, which is open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. will continue to take and act on calls, he said.
"As the storm gets closer, if we need to extend the hours of 311, we will do that," he said.
Public Safety Director Michael Huss said he is confident in the city's preparedness if and when the storm hits hard.
"I'm very comfortable with our position right now," he said, pointing in particular to the swift water response teams, which were added after the 2011 deaths of four people in a flash flood on Washington Boulevard.
He said 1,600 public safety employees have received basic water rescue training and 1,000 water safety devices have been spread out throughout the city. Precautions are being taken on Washington Boulevard, although he noted that so far this year, flooding has been more of an issue in the South Hills.
"It's been a major undertaking. We're not finished, we've not completed our training," he said. "But we are a lot better off than a year ago."
The Post-Gazette has all the numbers you may need if you find yourself out of power or in trouble on the road. Find them here: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/weather/guide-to-emergency-resources-in-pennsylvania-659716/
Tags: Pittsburgh , Hurricane Sandy , Halloween , water rescue , Image
A couple months back, we reported on some possible static between long-standing local venue Shadow Lounge and neighbors in East Liberty. Today, owner Justin Strong announced that after 12 years operating at 5972 Baum Blvd., he'll be closing down Shadow next year and working to buy an building elsewhere.
Strong says the associated venue in the same building — AVA Lounge with the adjoining Blue Room — will continue to operate. Read more here on Shadow Lounge's blog.
Tags: Shadow Lounge , East Liberty
This week's MP3 Monday comes to you from The Toys Du Jour. Check out their song "You Are Beautiful" for a little local, experimental folk to start your day off right.
[Download link expired, sorry!]
And while you're at it, take a peek at The Toys Du Jour's zombie-themed music video for their song "Tonight is the Night" (just in time for Halloween).
Tags: The Toys Du Jour , FFW>> , Video , Audio
Taxidermied creature in window of Penn Avenue shop, Bloomfield
The Armstrong Group is based in small-town Pennsylvania. But it may offer a template for how big-league politics will be played in the near future.
As I wrote here last week, the Butler-based firm's cable operation -- which serves Pittsburgh's hinterlands and markets in several other states -- recently began offering the controversial "documentary" 2016: Obama's America to its viewers for free. But while the company maintained that the giveaway wasn't part of a political agenda, it may be just the beginning of Armstrong's donations to the conservative cause.
Earlier this week, the Sunlight Foundation identified Armstrong as one of the most generous recent donors to GOP-related "Super PACS" -- PACs that are not directly tied to a political candidate, but that can spend unlimited funds on politically themed advertising. In September alone, the Sunlight Foundation reported, Armstong donated $1.3 million to American Crossroads, the super PAC cofounded by conservative powerbroker Karl Rove. Records indicate that the donation took the form of "in-kind cable access" -- suggesting that in a single month, American Crossroads received $1.3 million in free time to run ads like those viewable here.
Armstrong spokesman Dave Wittmann, who spoke with me last week, did not return calls for comment. (I'll add any response from the company to this blog post.) But given that cable-only ads tend to be cheaper than those running on a major network, "That is a lot of ads," says Kathy Kiely, who co-reported the Sunlight Foundation story. And unlike the free screening of 2016, which subscribers had to choose to view on Armstrong's "on demand" channel, these would be spots viewers didn't intend to see. What's more, their reach extends well beyond Pittsburgh's backwoods. As Think Progress has noted, Armstrong's reach extends into the key battleground state of Ohio, among other places.
Surprise! Stream This Ish is back. In case you forgot, Friday on FF>> is when we round up the bands in this week's issue for you to stream. Isn't that nice of us?
— Check out the quirky three-piece Uke and Tuba (which features - yup, you guessed it - a ukelele and tuba) in our music feature and head over to Youtube to stream some of their music videos.
— Una De Luna is also featured in the City Paper this week. Stream three of the band's free tracks on their website.
— Our Local Beat column is about electronic musician 8cylinder. Preview some clips from his most recent release, Panic, here.
— Next up are this week's CD Reviews :
Check out the title track from The Meets' five-track EP here!
Stream Wires and Cables' new EP Toundo on their Facebook, here.
Singer/songwriter Jack McLaughlin doesn't offer any stream-able music, but you can preview (and order) his new album, The Season, here.
— Finally, here are our Critics’ Picks for this week:
Grouplove @ Altar Bar, tonight (10/26)
Walk Off the Earth @ Mr. Small’s this Tuesday (10/30)
RL Grime @ Carnegie Mellon University, tonight (10/26)
Outasight @ Stage AE, Saturday (10/27)
Enjoy!
Tags: Uke and Tuba , Una de Luna , 8cylinder , The Meets , Jack McLaughlin , Wires and Cables , Grouplove , Walk Off the Earth , RL Grime , Outasight , FFW>>