SNOW DAY

The HUDDLER like many out there in the Burghosphere is enjoying a snow day at home! The HUDDLER will be saying a special mid-week rosary for all of the workers that have to work in this mess or travel on days like today. Not that it is the end of the world. But hopefully everyone will slow down and take it easy. The Huddler just realized that it's been a week since last posting. The Huddler never realized how much effort it takes to scribble down a few ramblings, along with a sarcastic remark or two. The Huddler sends out the deserved props to all of those bloggers that manage to post on a regular basis.

With the snow brings a Pittsburgh tradition of saving your street side parking space with a chair. The HUDDLER thought for sure this was only a Pittsburgh tradition. A quick google search showed that it is also a tradition in Detroit! (The HUDDLER needs to get out of the Burgh more often apparently). Along with the chairs come the army of "shovelers" willing and able knocking on doors, willing to shovel your walk or driveway for a nominal fee. The Huddler actually saw one with a car brush in hand too, willing to clean off your car as part of the deal. This kid is thinking out of the box. The Huddler told his he should apply at the Mayor's office? Because we needed more youth with his ambition in government! What was disturbing is the number of shovelers out there after recent storms and the age of the shovelers. These are adults going door to door looking for work. It is rather depressing - as it is an indicator of the economy and lack of QUALITY jobs out there. THANK GOD for President OBAMA - hopefully he comes through and does the right thing regarding an economic stimulus that will CREATE JOBS!!! It is INSPIRING to see that Americans are willing to roll up thier sleeves and go out and look for work to make money. Even if it is only a few bucks shoveling snow. In these hard times every penny helps. With the bad weather - WE should ALL be looking to help those in need and the less fortunate. Check on your elderly or disabled neighbors. Shovel the walk for them... Make sure they have heat... Take over a hot meal....(alot of the elderly depend on meals on wheels, the huddler noticed alot were closed today) The Huddler's mom always said whatever you give comes back ten fold. And mom wasn't talking about money.

Speaking of parking issues, apparently there will be some major street closures surrounding the Steelers Pep Rally downtown tomorrow during the lunch hour. The Huddler couldn’t find anything in the MSM regarding this. But learned from sources within the Pittsburgh Police Bureau there are going to some road closures surrounding the pep rally due to expectations of large crowds. So if you aren’t a Steelers fan and don’t need to be in town tomorrow- STAY HOME !

Pittsburgh City Council races are on fire right now. There is apparently a formidable challenger running against Councilwomen Tonya Payne. Ms. Payne is being challenged by Daniel Lavelle. The Huddler must say that there is still a lot to learn about Mr. Lavelle. However historically these two separate clans get along as well as the Hatfields and McCoys – I mean Wagners and Onoratos. Progress Pittsburgh has a good article regarding this. They seemed to break the story in the burgosphere. The Huddler is disappointed in the Lavelle picture posted over at the comet that is done in the style of the poplular President Obama art out there. The Huddler may not know everything to know about Lavelle. But the Huddler can say that Lavelle is NO OBAMA !!!!

The race to replace Motznick on City Council just got another contender. Anthony Coghill has tossed his hat into the race. This leaves us with at least (4) candidates for the May primary. The Huddler may have to eat his hat on this one. The Huddler named Patrick Reilly as an early favorite. However perhaps there is something MORE sinister going on in this race. Word on the street is that the Ward Chair - Pete Wagner was supporting Reilly. (This has not been confirmed to the Huddlers knowledge) However with three of the four candidates being from the Beechview side of the district- theses candidates are essentially splitting the committee votes among the three of them. Which could lead to a surprising endorsement of Rudiak if she carries the Carrick side of the district and syphons some other votes as well) In addition word is that Chelsa Wagner supports Rudiak. It just so happens that Patrick Reilly works for Chelsa Wagner. The Huddler is wondering to himself if Patrick Reilly is in this race to win it OR just take committe votes from Coghill ?

Still no word on challengers for either Shields or Peduto? The Huddler understands that Squirrel Hill is overflowing with progressive dems who are qualified, organized, and ready to make change. The Huddler is surprised no challengers have come forward as of yet.

Someone out in the Burghosphere asked who is running for school board this year? To date, very little activity in these regards. The Huddler actually thinks we should do away with the school board and expand city council and thier responsibilites to cover this vital agency. The Huddler is not saying we should DOUBLE the size of council or anything like that. But we could certainly save some money IF we reduced the duplicative departments between the "city" and the "board".

The HUDDLER constantly hears that our senior citizens can not afford to pay thier school taxes.