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Pittsburgh Courier www.newpittsburghcourier.com
NEW
Vol. 108 No. 6
Two Sections
Published Weekly
FEBRUARY 8-14, 2017
Pay gap at record between college grads and others by Christopher S. Rugaber Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)— Americans with no more than a high school diploma have fallen so far behind college graduates in their economic lives that the earnings gap between
college grads and everyone else has reached its widest point on record. College graduates, on average, earned 56 percent more than high school grads in 2015, according to data compiled by the Economic Policy Institute. That was up from 51 percent in
1999 and is the largest such gap in EPI’s figures dating to 1973. Since the Great Recession ended in 2009, college-educated workers have captured most of the new jobs and enjoyed pay gains. Non-college grads, by contrast, have faced dwindling job opportunities and an overall 3 percent decline in income, EPI’s data shows. SEE PAY A5
COLLEGE GRAD—Asia Howard poses for a photo at St. Johns River Park at sunrise, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough)
Beating probe continues
Penn Plaza owners sue over Planning Commission rejection
Officers out on leave, Harvey out on bail
by Christian Morrow
$1.00
7 of 9 homicides Black lives Fight continues to save Black lives by Christian Morrow and Ulish Carter Courier Staff Writers
The 2017 year started off about average in homicides with more taking place in the suburbs of Allegheny County than in the city; five deaths compared to four. However, the percentage of Black deaths remains high with seven of
Courier Staff Writer
by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer
Following the City Planning Commission’s January decision not to approve the owners’ redevelopment plans for the Penn Plaza Apartments site in East Liberty, attorney Jonathan Kamin, who represents the owners, LG Realty Associates affiliate Pennley Park South Inc., said he might have no choice but to file suit. On Feb. 3, he did, in a Common Pleas Court filing that charges the commission had failed to respond to its amended plan within the time frame dictated by law and that as a result, the project should be “deemed approved.” This accompanies Pennley Park South’s earlier appeal of the planning commission’s ruling to Common Pleas Court, calling the rejection “unabashedly political.”
Attorney Todd Hollis said the initial $75,000 bond for his client Justin Harvey, 40, seen in two videos being beaten by police officers in Westmoreland County, was “ridiculous,” and that he preparing a civil rights law suit. “Both videos show Justin Harvey in handcuffs while he is being assaulted by police. That is a violation of his constitutional rights,” said Hollis. “At one point you can hear him saying ‘I’m not resisting. He says ‘I can’t breathe.’ And one cop can be heard saying ‘good.’” According to the affidavit of arrest, Arnold police officers Wesley Biricocchi and Joshua Stanga pulled Harvey’s car over after he swerved across the wrong side of 16th Street. The report said Harvey admitted to smoking marijuana, but when they asked him to step out of the car, he drove off instead, leading them on a short chase. Harvey then jumped from the car and tried to flee on foot before they, and officers from New
SEEKING TREATMENT—Justin Harvey on his way to the hospital for treatment of Taser burns and head wounds he received during his arrest following a chase through Arnold and New Kensington on Jan. 20. (Photos via Facebook)
EXCESSIVE FORCE?—Already handcuffed, Justin Harvey is seen in a Facebook video being dragged in a choke hold by a police officer.
Kensington, caught him in the 1200 block of Kenneth Avenue in New Kensington, about three-quarters of a mile from where the chase started. In the report, Biricocchi said as Harvey ran, he pulled a handgun. When Biricocchi then drew his gun, Harvey tossed his weapon over a fence. He said Harvey stopped, but did not lie down as ordered at gunpoint, or when Tasered, so the officer took him to the ground. He said he and Officer Stanga tried to arrest Harvey, but that
the nine homicides that took place in January being Black. Hopefully, the number will remain under 10 for the coming months and there will continue to be marches and community meetings, as well as other educational programs, to keep our young people off the streets with guns and drugs. The New Pittsburgh Courier publishes a homicide list every month in an effort to create awareness in the community, both locally and nationally, that Black lives do matter and that it’s all our fight to stop the massive killings of our young people, mostly Black males, SEE HOMICIDES A5
First Stop Black political coalition releases policy report gears up to be self-sustaining SEE PENN A4
SEE BEATING A4
by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer
Last year, State Reps. Jake Wheatley and Ed Gainey, Pittsburgh City Councilman Daniel Lavelle and Rev. Ricky Burgess, and Allegheny County Councilman DeWitt Walton met with the New Pittsburgh Courier to say they had put aside any differences and formed a coalition that would create a unified Black agenda for the city. Last week, the first fruit of this union—and multiple community meetings—was presented Feb. 2 when the Pittsburgh Black Elected Officials Coalition released its 61-page Pittsburgh Peace and Justice Initiative Report, detailing its community-driven policy agenda for improving African American outcomes in public safety, affordable housing, family outcomes, businesses and organizations, education and employment. But, Wheatley said, it is just the first step. “Several months ago we came together and talked about a journey we wanted to take to transform many of the under performing, under resourced, high
by Diane I. Daniels For New Pittsburgh Courier
COMMON CAUSE—Pittsburgh Black Elected Officials Coalition announcing the release of their blueprint for a collective, neighborhood-driven effort to transform underserved minority communities in the city. (Photo by J.L. Martello) minority neighborhoods in the city. We made a commitment to talk direct to our community and try to gain from them what collective agenda should look like and what we could do together to address these longstanding issues,” he said. “We have finished that part of our journey—we have a report.
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But this is one phase of the journey. This is a two-step dance. We started out by saying this is historic in nature. We’re doing something very different than what’s happened before where you may have gotten a document and that was the end of the journey, then you got some paper behind it and maybe we got a little change, but
not the drastic change we were looking for. We’re looking for a total redo of how we do business as it relates to those communities that have been traditionally left out of the process.” Lavelle said this first phase collected feedback from more than
After operating First Step Recovery Homes, Inc. as a nonprofit organization for nearly 24 years, Keith Giles, founder and chief executive officer, realizes that for continued success it is necessary for the organization to become self-sustaining. “We are building businesses for our residents,” he said during his remarks at the Putting a Face on Addiction Symposium, recently held on the Duquesne University Campus. First Step, based in McKeesport, a former booming steel industry town, is a long-term residential recovery program for men. Its mission is to provide supervised, temporary, safe drug- and alcohol-free structured housing and supportive services for persons recovering from the disease of addiction and trying
SEE COALITION A5
Ulish Carter says
Sylvia Wilson’s appointment is big Opinion B5
SEE FIRST A4