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Wednesday, March 05, 2003

MANCHESTER: No charges against officers

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. has decided not to prosecute officers who shot and killed a North Side man on a ballfield in Manchester.

On Sept. 7, Michael Hunter, whom police had suspected of selling drugs minutes before the shooting, had waived a loaded semiautomatic pistol at the officers as they closed in on him on a ballfield between North Franklin and Juniata streets. He pointed the weapon in the direction of three of the officers. Zappala said he refused to lower the weapon or discard it, though the officers ordered him to do so.

Officers fired a hail of bullets. Hunter, 24, was shot twice -- in the side and in the leg.

County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht ruled the incident a justifiable shooting. He recommended that no charges be filed against the officers.

A third bullet, believed to have been fired by one of the officers, traveled about 100 yards across the field and struck a North Side woman sitting on her front porch.

"My review has left no doubt that the officers involved in this matter were justified in their use of deadly force and that a failure to use such force would have resulted in serious injury or death to the officers or others who were in close proximity," Zappala said yesterday.

CITY SCHOOLS: Principal charged

An elementary school principal was arrested on the South Side early Saturday morning and charged with drunken driving.

At around 12:40 a.m., police arrested Carol Heyward, principal of Friendship Academy, and charged her with driving under the influence of alcohol, having an expired vehicle registration and careless driving.

Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Tammy Ewin said officers from the South Side station first noticed Heyward driving carelessly in the 2100 block of East Carson Street. Ewin said Heyward was eventually stopped at the Birmingham Bridge and Forbes Avenue.

HOMEWOOD: Two hurt when car hits school bus

	(Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette)

Two people were injured yesterday when a car collided with a bus carrying middle-school children in Homewood. The accident happened about 8:30 a.m. at Bennett Street and Brushton Avenue. Twenty-two pupils, heading to Reizenstein Middle School in Shadyside, were aboard the bus, operated by Action Transit Enterprises in Etna. One of the students, a girl, was treated at the scene by medics for back and leg pain and taken to Children’s Hospital. The driver of the car, Michelle Mullen of Sharon, Mercer County, was taken to UPMC Presbyterian, where she underwent surgery. The bus, driven by Wade Plair of Wilkinsburg, had a green light and was headed south on Brushton Avenue when it was struck by Mullen’s car, which was traveling east on Bennett Street, police said.

SOUTH SIDE: Meeting set on rink

One of the South Side's most underutilized assets is the Neville Ice Rink, an indoor rink that that has been padlocked for more than two years.

The South Side Market House Children's Athletic Association, a group of athletic boosters for children's sports, is holding a public forum tomorrow to discuss the future of the ice rink, which was closed in 2001 because of numerous problems of the former leaseholder, the late Paul Shuttleworth.

Mark Rauterkus, secretary of the athletic association, said the forum is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Market House, 15 Bedford Square, off 12th Street between Carson and Muriel streets. He said the public is invited to attend.

The rink, on South 21st Street at the base of the South Side Slopes, adjoins the South Side Park and is owned by the city of Pittsburgh. Shuttleworth was the private leaseholder and operator of the rink from 1990 until 2001. He died in 2002.

The South Side Slopes Association, a neighborhood group, also is pushing the effort to find some use for the facility and will have members at the meeting. At the association's last meeting, residents talked about numerous possible uses for the facility -- from an ice rink to a flea market.

"As far as the neighborhood association, we would like to maximize a city asset and a neighborhood asset as well," said Dennis Berry, a board member of the South Side Slopes Association.

The rink has a large parking lot, a real asset in the South Side where parking is a chronic problem. Berry said the park around the facility has trails and ball fields. After the ice rink closed, Berry said the city stabilized, winterized and secured the facility.

Craig Kwiecinski, Mayor Murphy's spokesman, said "the city is working to determine whether or not it is feasible to open the rink."

OAKLAND: Doctors oppose war

Civilian fatalities, war-related illnesses and domestic economic consequences of a war with Iraq would create a public health catastrophe, local members of Physicians for Social Responsibility said during a news conference yesterday in Oakland.

"Everybody from their own perspectives, in this case it is a medical perspective, needs to speak out to prevent this kind of disaster," said Dr. Daniel Fine, director of the 200-member Pittsburgh chapter. Intensified weapons inspections and surveillance are an alternative to warfare, according to the group.

At home, he added, the expense of war could lead to reduced funding for health, education and nutrition programs.

BEECHVIEW: School purchase ok'd

City Council approved buying the former St. Catherine of Siena school on Broadway Avenue in Beechview from the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh yesterday.

The cost is not to exceed $340,000, with funding to come from the city's capital budget.

Councilman Jim Motznik, who represents Beechview, said the building would be renovated for use as a senior citizens center, recreational center and possibly as the new site for the Carnegie Library branch.

DOWNTOWN: Unnamed witnesses cited

A lawyer for a former Pittsburgh police officer charged with perjury says he has witnesses to back up his client's claim that he responded to a domestic violence call in 1996 at the home of Chief Robert McNeilly Jr.

Anthony Mariani, who represents ex-officer Edmond N. Gaudelli Jr., said in a motion filed in U.S. District Court that two witnesses told the FBI about the call.

One witness was vague about the date, but Mariani said another told the FBI that a call for a domestic came in to the city's 911 center on or about Sept. 28, 1996, and was later changed to a burglary call. The witnesses are not identified.

The motion, part of a larger filing in Gaudelli's case, asked that the city turn over any records of calls at McNeilly's house between 1993 and 1999.

Gaudelli, of Banksville, was indicted by a federal grand jury in January on a charge of lying under oath while being deposed in connection with a federal lawsuit he filed against the city in 1999.

According to the indictment, he gave false testimony that he responded to a domestic call at McNeilly's house on Sept. 28, 1996. Gaudelli claimed that a supervisor arrived on the scene and, after talking to McNeilly, ordered him not to put the call on his log. McNeilly has denied the claim and turned over receipts indicating he and his wife were on vacation in Florida at the time.

Gaudelli, who was fired in 2000, had sued McNeilly, Mayor Tom Murphy and several other city officials, claiming that he was a victim of retaliation for filing grievances and opposing McNeilly's appointment as chief.

UPTOWN: Arena not historic site

It's final -- Mellon Arena won't get historic landmark status.

City Council took a final 7-0 vote on the issue yesterday, rejecting nomination of the arena made last year by two local historic preservation groups. They were hoping to make the arena harder to demolish, but the city's historic review and planning commissions had recommended against the historic designation.

Councilman Sala Udin would like to see the 42-year-old silver domed arena demolished or else moved to a different location, so the site can be redeveloped with housing. The Penguins' arena lease runs through mid-2007.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Board revises calendar

School board members voted during a special meeting last night to eliminate two open house/parent conference sessions and a vacation day to make up for days lost because of bad weather.

Canceled under the revised school calendar are a March 14 middle and high school open house/parent conference and a March 17 elementary school open house/parent conference. All students will have to report to school on those days and on May 16, which had been a vacation day.

The officials had to revise the calendar to ensure that the students received 180 days of instruction, which is required by the state.

Also yesterday, the board agreed to hire American International Insurance as the district's accidental death and dismemberment carrier because the company will provide coverage for terrorist acts.

And some city high school students may miss part of class today to join a student walkout and rally for peace.

The Pittsburgh Association of Peacemakers and Proactive Youth has been asking city high school students to walk out of school at 2 p.m. and meet at 4 p.m. in front of the district's Administration Building in Oakland for a rally protesting a war with Iraq. The rally is part of an international series of student anti-war activities scheduled for today.

District spokeswoman Pat Crawford said school officials respect the right of students to demonstrate but believe they would be better served by staying in class and protesting after school ended.