Mom hits the books to


help NBA prospect son


Sports C3


Pgh Musical Theater, CAPA collaborate on ʻAIDAʼ


Entertainer B4 VOL. 103, NO. 12 Three Sections


Voter ID law


Pittsburgh Courier First Pgh Promise grads honored WARD RETIRES


www.newpittsburghcourier.com NEW Published Weekly MARCH 21-27, 2012 $1.00 reactions


by Rebecca Nuttall Courier Staff Writer


In the 2008 presidential


election, African-American voter turnout saw an in- crease of 15 percent over voter turnout in 2004.How- ever, this trend might not continue to rise in 2012 as more than 25 percent of African-Americans in Penn- sylvania, who do not have photo identification, could be turned away from the polls, thanks to a new law passedMarch14. “As founder of an organi-


zation whose goal is to en- sure that African-Ameri- cans vote in each and every election, I find the passage of this bill as an affront to our mission,” said Tim Stevens, chairman of the Black Political Empower- ment Project. “The impor- tant question we must be asking is why did this hap- pen all of sudden when we have an African-American president. B-PEP is a non- partisan organization, but we’re also not stupid. Why is it that when we have an


SEE VOTER A3


FIRST CLASS—Joined by Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril, a dozen students who were among the first four-year college graduates to receive Promise scholarships are honored by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl during a March 15 event at his office. (Photo by J.L. Martello.)


by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer


The first city graduates who


were able to take advantage of the Pittsburgh Promise scholar- ship program are now beginning to graduate from four-year col- leges, and Mayor Luke Raven- stahl wanted them to know how proud of them he is. So during aMarch 15 ceremony in his conference room, he pre-


sented 12 of them with procla- mations congratulating them for their determination and success. “You are a testament to the re-


gion’s dedication,” he said. “We hope these graduates choose to stay, to live and work here and contribute to this growing econ- omy.” Ravenstahl noted that the


Promise is achieving the results hoped for when the program was proposed in 2006. City school


children who might never have gone to college are succeeding and the city is seeing its tax base grow as families move in to take advantage of the Promise’s up to $40,000 per child scholarship for qualifying high school graduates. “A RAND (Corporation) study


shows 450 new families enrolled in Pittsburgh Public Schools,” he said. “The Promise scholarship is


SEE FIRST A4 Effects on children of jailed parents


by Ashley Johnson Courier Staff Writer


Since the age of 2, Tirrell Harris had no


relationship with his father. He had left him and his mother and had been in and out of jail. At the age of 16, Harris got an unexpected phone call from his father, try- ing to make amends and develop the rela- tionship he never had.Now 18,Harris is in college and doing well. While they now have some type of relationship, Harris’ fa- ther still remains incarcerated, serving time on a 12-year sentence. Tabu Hurt-McClung is a single mother


raising her daughters. Throughout her 15- year-old daughter Sasche’s life, her father has been incarcerated multiple times. Al- though she has a relationship with her fa- ther, Sasche still realizes the struggle her mother goes through and the burden of not having him there. Harris and Sasche are just two of the


large number of children having to deal with having a parent incarcerated.Accord- ing to a report, “The Effects of Parental In-


SEE EFFECTS A4


LOCKED UP—The Allegheny County Jail is just one of the state’s correctional facilities that is be- coming home to more and more parents. (Photo by J.L. Martello)


Hill House names grocery project managers The Hill House Economic Development


Corporation has selected two firms to act as its project management and adminis- trative representatives as construction of the twice-delayed Centre Heldman Plaza project finally gets under way. CM Solutions of New Kensington will


serve as projectmanager for the plaza and its anchor SHOP ‘n SAVE grocery, while the Sphinx Group will serve as the HHEDC project administrator. Joining construction management firm Stark/CMI JointVenture Inc., theywill coordinate and supervise all construction activities. “CM Solutions and their President Louis


Lannuti are very familiar with this project as they were initially engaged as the con- struction manager for the site work,” said


NEW


Hill House Association and HHEDC Presi- dent and CEO Cheryl Hall-Russell. “Rob Farmer, president of Sphinx Group, has ex- tensive experience in the development of supermarket-anchored shopping centers and will provide financial services and ad- ministrative support.” As reported in the New Pittsburgh


Courier last month, these agreements fol- low the departure of HHEDC Executive Director Jules Matthews and the earlier change in prime contractor from Brinker Group LLC to Starks/CMI, which was ar- ranged by her husband Jason Matthews, who will remain as on-site manager. The SHOP ‘n SAVE will be a 29,500


square-foot building that meets LEED en- ergy efficiency requirements and would


Pittsburgh Courier


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feature bakery, deli, dairy, meat and pro- duce departments, as well as frozen foods and health and beauty aids. Jeff Ross, who with his family owns four


other SHOP ‘n SAVE markets, has invested $1 million in the $9 million project and will operate the storewhencompleted.He saidhe plans to hire about 100 Hill residents. The construction phase is also expected to include 5,000hours ofworkperformedby community residents under theUSDepartment ofHous- ing andUrbanDevelopmentAct 3 guidelines. In addition to the grocery, the plaza will


include several thousand square feet of re- tail space fronting along Centre Avenue and Heldman Street. Starks/CMI Joint Venture andVerizonWireless have already signed on as tenants.


George Curry says


Trayvon Martin’s death takes toll on family Forum A7


After 14 seasons as a Pittsburgh Steeler, Hines Ward announced at a press confer- ence March 20 that he was retiring. Ward, who was released last month from the team, decided to end his career as a Steeler instead of signing with another team. He is a former MVP and the team’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and 100-yard receiving games. In his last regular season game against the Cleveland Browns he finished his career with 1,000 catches and 12,000 yards mak- ing him a member of a select few.


NEED funds up $500,000


by Rebecca Nuttall Courier Staff Writer


It could’ve been Super Bowl Sunday at


this year’s annual NEED dinner, as guests waved their napkins like terrible towels at a football game. But the sea of waving green and white in the ballroom of theWyndham Grand HotelMarch 14 wasn’t in support of a football team; it was in support of this year’s NEED scholarship recipients. “Since 1963, NEED has been building on


our legacy. Tonight we will be awarding scholarships to 44 of the region’s best and brightest students,” saidHaroldHayes, the event’s master of ceremonies. “These stu- dents will join the 19,000 other NEED re- cipients.” As the oldest community-based, non-


profit, minority, higher education assis- tance programin Pennsylvania,NEEDhas


SEE NEED A3


Saving money on electric bill


by Christian Morrow Courier Staff Writer


Unlike shopping for Natural Gas, where


choice ismore limited, customers shouldn’t automatically pitch those offers they get in themail fromelectricity suppliers, because there are multiple suppliers for each of Pennsylvania’s electric utility providers and most offer savings that can be signifi- cant. Here in Allegheny County, residents get


their electricity from one of three distribu- tors, Duquesne Light, West Penn Power and Pennsylvania Power. The largest, Duquesne Light, providing


service to about 95 percent of the county’s residential customers, also has the largest number of licensed competitors, 14. All these competitors offer rates below Duquesne’s current price to compare of 9.32 cent per Kilowatt Hour (kWh). Direct Energy, for instance, currently of-


fers a 15 percent discount on Duquesne’s SEE SAVING A3


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Young, Gifted and Black 2012


Lifestyles B1


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