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Tuesday, November 19, 2002

DOWNTOWN: Public parking to open

The Sports & Exhibition Authority will add to the supply of parking Downtown in January when it opens some of the spaces at the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Ultimately, the center's underground garage will contain more than 700 spaces, but only about 400 of them will be available starting in January, authority director Stephen Leeper said.

He hopes that the rest of the spaces will be ready by March or April, when the entire $354 million facility opens to the public.

The authority board yesterday set the prices for the convention center parking garage, effective Jan. 1. Prices include: $4 for up to two hours; $5 for two to four hours; $6 for four to six hours; $8 for six to eight hours; and $10 for eight to 24 hours.

The lease rate will be $200 per month. Leeper said that only about half the spaces will be made available for lease.

LINCOLN-LEMINGTON: Homicide trial delayed

A trial that was to begin yesterday with jury selection was delayed after the defendant made an unusual claim: He said investigators had misidentified the dead man.

Kenneth Jackson, 37, told police when he was arrested last winter that he had killed his uncle, Samuel Higginbotham, 75.

Skeletal remains were found Dec. 18 rolled in a rug in the garage of Higginbotham's Deary Street home in Lincoln-Lemington. He had been beaten to death. The coroner's office said it appeared he had been bludgeoned in the head with a hammer or similar object.

Jackson had been living with Higginbotham at the time.

At a pretrial hearing yesterday, however, Jackson's defense attorney, assistant public defender Robert Foreman, asked for a delay at the request of his client. He said Jackson claimed the description of the remains that were found did not match his uncle's. In particular, Jackson said, the skeletal remains were inches taller than Higginbotham.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning granted the defense motion requesting that DNA samples be taken from Higginbotham's son to be compared with the remains recovered from Higginbotham's garage.

GREENFIELD: Biker sets record

Dan Oshop of Greenfield pedaled yesterday past the world record for nonstop cycling on a stationary bike.

After cycling beyond the world mark of 60 hours at 6:45 p.m. last night, Oshop, 50, kept up the pace to increase the amount of money he was trying to raise for Katie's Fund, which supports pediatric cancer research at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and to put his record further out of reach.

By the time he broke the record, he had pedaled 1,300 miles inside his Bruster's Old Fashioned Ice Cream & Yogurt shop in Greenfield. He estimated that he had raised at least $5,000 for the hospital.

Oshop and friends toasted his feat with Guinness beer, in recognition of what they hope will be his inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records. He will submit paperwork of witnesses' verifications of his breaking the record and a videotape of him cycling to Guinness officials to obtain formal inclusion in the record books.

Even as he acknowledged his soreness, Oshop was looking forward to being recognized for his first world record.

"You feel a sense of accomplishment -- but lots of pain along with it," he said.

EAST HILLS: Man guilty, mentally ill

A North Braddock man was found guilty yesterday of third-degree murder, but a judge ruled that he also was mentally ill.

Still, Darrell Lawrence, 21, faces 20 to 40 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 10.

Lawrence's nonjury trial began Friday before Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman and ended yesterday afternoon.

Cashman found Lawrence guilty of the shooting death April 5, 2001, of Ian Smith, 22, of East Hills.

Smith was the fiance of Lawrence's sister, Dana Lawrence, who testified at the trial that her brother had been behaving strangely on the day of the shooting.

Dana Lawrence said that she and her children had been on an outing with Smith and, after they all returned to her East Hills apartment, she telephoned Darrell Lawrence's father to request that he be involuntarily admitted to UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. Dana and Darrell Lawrence have different fathers.

While she was on the phone, Dana Lawrence said that she heard two shots from another room in the apartment and one of her children crying that her brother had shot Smith, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Deputy District Attorney Daniel Fitzsimmons, who prosecuted the case, said that he believed the verdict reached by Cashman was appropriate.

OAKLAND: AIDS teach-in tomorrow

The University of Pittsburgh's African Students Organization is sponsoring a Global AIDS Teach-in tomorrow from noon to 4 p.m. in the assembly room at the William Pitt Union, Oakland.

Professors, community activists and students will talk about the AIDS pandemic, which kills at least five people every minute of every hour around the world.

The event is also sponsored by the Student Global AIDS Campaign, Caribbean and Latin American Students Association, Black Action Society, Habitat for Humanity and Bread for the World.

SOUTH SIDE: Brownfield plan a winner

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority has won a national award for its work in redeveloping a former steel mill on the South Side.

Last week, at a conference in Charlotte, N.C., called "Brownfields 2002," the URA received the Phoenix Award for excellence in redeveloping a brownfield, or former industrial site, said URA Director Mulugetta Birru. The award was for Environmental Protection Agency Region 3, the mid-Atlantic region.

The 123-acre site off East Carson Street is now called South Side Works. It was the scene of steel production from 1850 until 1988, when an LTV mill closed. The URA bought the land in 1994. It now is home to new offices for UPMC Health System, the Steelers and the FBI, and new retail/entertainment/housing uses are under construction.

Some $159 million in private money has been invested in the development to date, and that is expected to eventually rise to $450 million, Birru said.

NORTH SIDE: Memorial service tomorrow

Homeless individuals who have died will be remembered at a memorial service tomorrow at the Salvation Army's Worship and Service Center, 100 W. North Ave. It will begin at 10 a.m., and lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m.

The Salvation Army provides a host of services to the area's homeless, including a daytime drop-in center, facilities for personal hygiene and clothing, computer training, employment assistance and a medical clinic.

On Friday nights, Salvation Army officers, accompanied by volunteers, have been visiting the homeless and providing some basic necessities and referral services.

EAST LIBERTY: Church turning 170

Emory United Methodist Church in East Liberty, one of the oldest Methodist churches in the region, will celebrate its 170th anniversary Sunday with an appearance by the president of the United Methodist Church Union.

The Rev. Robert Alexander will be guest speaker at the 11 a.m. service, at which the church's current 50-year members will be recognized.

The church's beginnings date from 1832, when a pastor was assigned by the Methodist Episcopal Church to minister to an area including Lawrenceville, East Liberty, Wilkinsburg, Braddock's Field, Turtle Creek, Port Perry, McKeesport, Murrysville "and also Stoners and Verners across the Allegheny" River.

Emory United Methodist Church is at 325 N. Highland Ave. Call 412-363-2221 for more information.