Homewood Nation

Last night, Operation Better Block, Inc. hosted the first community meeting in its new monthly meeting schedule. 

I say this, not as an OBB board member, but as someone who has attended a LOT of meetings: it was beautiful.

Okay, that's my editorial comment. Here's what happened. Outside the gym at Faison, there was a table with sign-in sheets and copies of the meeting agenda.

FIRST PUBLISHED: Sept. 28, 2012, 10:20 am

LAST UPDATE: Sept. 28, 2012, 4:26 pm

An appeal has been filed in the Court of Common Pleas asking the court to overturn the Zoning Board of Adjustment's approval of plans to build a new senior residence on North Homewood Avenue.

Resident William D. Anderson's filing, in which he is acting as his own attorney, contends t...

BTC stands for "Behind the Curtain," and signifies a post relating to how "Homewood Nation" works, and thoughts about journalism in general.

I have added a page, "The View From Here," that describes affiliations and points of view I hold that may affect coverage provided by "Homewood Nation." I did this for three reasons: first, because I think readers deserve to know those thi...

A flyer sent out by Operation Better Block, Inc. this week announces a change in the organization's strategy for communicating with residents.

The quarterly meetings that OBB began holding last year to share information with the community are being replaced with "The Homewood-Brushton Monthly Community Meeting." The monthly meeting will be held on these dates, from 6 pm - 7:30 pm at Pittsburgh Faison K-5 school, 7430 Tioga Street:

• Thursday, ...

It is late Tuesday afternoon, and I am just recovering from the weekend.

On Saturday morning, I joined some Race Street neighbors for our weekly cleanup. The idea is that each Saturday at 8 a.m., we collaborate to do a cleanup on one block of our five-block street. I think we've done it most Saturdays since June (but by no means all); we've promised ourselves to take it through the end of September.

I have learned that even things that I consider simple oft...

This is the latest from the Save Race Street Committee...

We held our regular monthly meeting last night at the Diverse Banquet Hall, 7202 Kelly Street. With ten members in attendance, the Committee confirmed that we want to have the stone that lies in front of the raised flower bed at 7427 Race Street inscribed with the Committee's name and the slogan, "United we stand, divided we fall."

John T. Smith, block captain for the 7300 block, voluntee...

BTC stands for "Behind the Curtain," and signifies a post relating to how "Homewood Nation" works, and thoughts about journalism in general.

There are events or meetings that I attend for the purpose of covering them for "Homewood Nation," and there are events or meetings that I attend because I am involved with them, because they are part of what I am doing.

I have noticed that I tend not to report on things in the latter category, out of shyness or...

Last night, Chief Nate Harper of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police answered questions from citizens in a town hall meeting at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA.

The meeting was sponsored by the Alliance for Police Accountability, the Black Political Empowerment Project, the Western PA Political Assembly, and the Black and White Reunion.

I went primarily to shoot video, but ran into issues both with shooting it and with getting it uploaded. Fortunately, Don Carpenter...

The Race Street "Love Your Block" project scheduled for Saturday was postponed after members of the Pittsburgh Obama boys' soccer team learned that they had another event scheduled that conflicted with the community service project.

The downpour that hit Saturday morning made the postponement seem even wiser. 

The Mulford Street project forged ahead through the rain.

"It went great," said event coordinator Rhonda J. Sears. She said...

A city program to encourage neighborhood beautification will reach a new milestone Saturday.

On that day, for the first time, two projects that received grants from Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's "Love Your Block" program will happen in the same neighborhood, on the same day - and it's happening in Homewood.

In Homewood South, volunteers from the Mulford Street Corridor Block Association and the Westinghouse Alumni Association will converge at 7723 Mulford to cl...