Special Preview Screening of a New "Ghost Hunters" episode called "Ghost of Carnegie"

Ready for a true Pittsburgh-style haunting?

The Carnegie Library of Homestead is featuring a special preview screening of a new "Ghost Hunters" episode called "Ghost of Carnegie" on Saturday, October 29.

Previously aired on the Scfy channel on September 20th, this is a unique opportunity to see it where it happened. The episode, which airs again on the SyFy Channel (Channel 680 on Verizon) at 11 a.m. on Halloween day -- Monday, October 31 -- follows the Ghost Hunters crew as they explore the Library and Music Hall in the middle of the night, and encounter disembodied voices shouting frantically, doors mysteriously closing, books moving by themselves on the Library shelves and the voices of ladies giggling in the basement locker room long after everyone has gone home.

Two screenings will be offered Saturday night, a matinee for families at 4 p.m. and an "after dark" 7 p.m. show.

Special tours of the Library basement, locker rooms, Music Hall and other sites of reported hauntings at the Carnegie Library will take place after the screenings.

Cookies and refreshments for kids will be served, and wine and beer will be available for adults.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and will be available at the door.

Wear your costume for more fun!!

Carnegie Library of Homestead (Located in Munhall)
510 E 10th Avenue,
Munhall PA 15120
412-462-3444
www.homesteadlibrary.org

Allegheny Passage trail link under way

Four bicyclists who were about to embark on a five-day Pittsburgh-to-Washington, D.C., ride got a surprise sendoff Thursday from one of the main architects of the Great Allegheny Passage trail.

Jack Paulik, project manager for Regional Trail Corp., was at The Waterfront to monitor the start of work on the newest trail improvement -- a 3,000-foot dedicated bike lane on East Waterfront Drive in Munhall.

The lane will begin near the giant blue Marcegaglia industrial building, hooking directly with the recently opened 3-mile section that goes to Grant Avenue in Duquesne. It will follow East Waterfront Drive past the historic Pump House to near the first apartment building, linking with another trail section that dives behind the apartments and several office buildings and restaurants.

The bike lane will be 9 feet wide to accommodate two-way traffic, Mr. Paulik said. It will be separated from vehicle traffic by a 5-foot-wide buffer strip, marked with delineator poles (sometimes called "candles") every 32 feet. Two 12-foot-wide lanes will be maintained for cars and trucks.

"I don't think anybody's done a bike lane like this in the region," said Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance. "Munhall Borough was phenomenally cooperative."

Restriping the road and installing the delineators and signs should take about two weeks, Mr. Paulik said.

Original plans called for building the trail through the Marcegaglia property, but after prolonged discussions, company executives decided not to allow it, Mr. Paulik said.

Aside from the wasted time, that might have been a blessing -- the cost of the bike lane is about $42,000 (paid for by the Colcom Foundation) while building the trail on the Marcegaglia site would've cost an estimated $400,000. The savings will be invested in other trail improvements.

Completion of the bike lane leaves the one-mile gap across the Sandcastle Waterpark and Keystone Metals sites as the only incomplete piece of the Great Allegheny Passage. Progress has been made on design and financing for that section and construction on the Sandcastle property may begin this fall, Mr. Paulik said.

The last piece will be finished sometime next year, but with federal Transportation Enhancement funding in the mix, the project is subject to a complicated review process that makes it difficult to give a specific completion date, he said.

The bicyclists, all from Frederick, Md., were making their first ride on the passage, which goes from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., where it meets the C&O Towpath to connect to Washington.

They delayed the start of their trip by a few minutes to get a preview from Mr. Paulik of the scenic new trail section connecting The Waterfront to Duquesne, and to have their picture taken with him.

"Your money's done good work," said Gaye Eckenrode, who was joined by friends Megan Miller, Randy Austin and Jeff Austin for the ride.

Friday, October 07, 2011

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazett

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11280/1180307-455-0.stm#ixzz1a9CqSmo3

Quick Getaway for Fall

• What to do: The scenery changes dramatically along a new leg of the Great Allegheny Passage that officially opened in June in Homestead and connects with a well-marked existing bike route to Boston -- a round trip of roughly 24 miles. It brings riders up close and personal to Pittsburgh's industrial heritage -- U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Works, Braddock Locks and Dam on the Monongahela, warehouses and rail yards -- and transforms into bucolic trails at Boston (where you can continue on to Washington, D.C., if you want).

• Where to start: Anywhere in the Waterfront complex in Homestead, but many park at the Pump House lot, across from Lowe's Home Improvement store. You'll have a short ride on the sidewalk before reaching the paved bike trail.

• What to see: You'll cross a new 170-foot-long bridge in Whitaker over six sets of active train tracks, then follow the trail behind Kennywood's rollercoaster and Pit Fall. In Duquesne, you'll cross a 110-foot-long span in the RIDC industrial park and then another bridge over the Mon into McKeesport. The route follows the shoreline then turns off the bike trail, over active railroad tracks and into town. Follow the white bike symbols on the sidewalk on Lysle Boulevard. A Great Allegheny Passage sign at the McKeesport Municipal Building on Lysle invites cyclists to use the restrooms there. The route follows along Gergely Riverfront Park and you'll pick up the bike trail again to cross the Albert V. "Bud" Belan Bridge (15th Street Bridge) that connects McKeesport with Port Vue and Liberty over the Youghiogheny River.

On the other side, cross Liberty Way (be careful with the traffic -- this is the busiest spot you'll cross) and follow the route on lightly traveled River Ridge Road (we never saw a car on it) and connect once again to the bike trail. You'll soon pass through Dead Man's Hollow, where the trail along the Yough becomes flat, shaded and beautiful. There are public restrooms on the left at Boston Ballfield Park and farther down the trail bike and kayaking rentals, shops and eateries in Boston

.• Fun factor: Definitely 8, for the back-door peek of Kennywood.

Friday, September 30, 2011

By Virginia Linn, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11273/1178598-344.stm#ixzz1Zl66ckMC

Cultural center in West Homestead starts new season of fundraising sale

Since moving from Iowa to Pittsburgh a year and a half ago, Jim and Susan Graham have been sampling the region's ethnic offerings.

On Saturday, the Greenfield couple stopped by the Bulgarian-Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center in West Homestead for the opening day of the center's most popular fundraiser -- Soup Sega!, which means Soup Now!

They bought creamy mushroom noodle soup, spicy tomato with dill dumplings soup, and cheeze banitza, bite-size cheese strudels filled with feta and cottage cheese.

Saturday was the start of the nonprofit organization's 13th sale of takeout homemade soup and other foods. The sale is held four days a week and runs until the first week of May.

David Harabik of Munhall plans to stop in weekly for the foods he said he cannot get anywhere else: meatball noodle soup and spinach banitza.

Other soups made from traditional Bulgarian recipes include gluten-free Balkan bean; vegan white bean; spinach and rice; lentil; and potato leek.

A popular vegan soup is spicy African yam, which contains yams, peanut butter, onions, carrots, tomatoes and garbanzo beans.

Other foods for sale include gyuvech, or beef stew with cabbage, green beans, carrots, potatoes, okra and other vegetables; pulneni chushki, or stuffed peppers; yagni, spanak I oris, or lamb with spinach and rice in a savory sauce; and cherry/apple strudels, or layered phyllo filled with a cherry/apple/walnut mixture with cinnamon.

The sale funds about 75 percent of the center's operating costs of roughly $1,500 per month.

Organizers hope that next year customers will be able to dine outdoors in a garden. They plan to create one on 20,000 square feet of adjacent property the organization recently acquired through a $150,000 Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund grant from Allegheny County.

The center also was awarded $250,000 in state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding, which requires $250,000 in matching funds. Once secured, that funding will be used to construct the garden and a cafe and gift shop at the center building and install a parking lot on the newly acquired land.

Center president Patricia French of Mt. Lebanon, whose parents were co-founders of the center in 1930, said she envisions a daily food sale once the garden opens, with dinner served on weekends.

It was her idea, while brainstorming for a new fundraiser in 1998, to hold Soup Sega!

"I had no idea it would take off like this," she said.

The sale is held 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Bulgarian-Macedonian center at 449 West 8th Ave. The cost of soup is $7 per quart, or $3.50 per half quart. Food items range from $5 to $7 and can be ordered via telephone or online. Weekday orders should be telephoned in advance. Payment is by cash or check only.

More information on the fundraiser and the center: 412-461-6188, 412-831-5101 or www.bmnecc.org.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

By Margaret Smykla

Margaret Smykla, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11272/1178314-55.stm?cmpid=neighborhoods.xml#ixzz1Zl5I9Jqj