Lance : To the Port Authority. The first of what is sure to be many major cost overruns for the North Shore Connector light-rail expansion under the Allegheny River has been announced. Port Authority number-fudgers initially guessed building a new Gateway Center T Station would cost $30 million to $35 million. The low bid opened this week was $48.9 million, however, meaning PAT was off by only about 40 percent. With several years of spiking construction costs ahead, we're guessing the transit monopoly is on track to eventually blow at least $600 million on its twin-tunnel to nowhere.
Laurel : To Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest. The nonprofit was founded in 2006 to do what the city's government has long been unable to do alone -- take care of its 31,000 trees. The group is using the $1 million it has raised to maintain old trees, plant new ones, and train a mini-army of volunteer "tree tenders" to help fellow tree-loving groups such as TreeVitalize Pittsburgh plant and nurture young trees. We say let a thousand maples -- and lindens -- bloom. A city can't have enough healthy big trees.
Lance: To city police. "Failure to communicate" is always a handy -- but lame -- excuse when your organization is caught doing dumb or bad things. That's why it's so hard to swallow the official explanation for why two Pittsburgh police officers used an illegal speed-detection system -- for six months -- to ticket 650 motorists. The equipment -- LIDAR, for Light Detection and Ranging -- is legal only for state police to use. Victims will get their money back and driving records adjusted. Makes you wonder what other "miscommunications" are going on.
Laurel: To the Hospitality Political Action Committee of Western Pennsylvania. The freshly formed committee of tavern-related interests aims to spend the $15,000 it's raised so far to publicly shame politicians like Brenda Frazier, the former county councilwoman and state House hopeful, who have backed Allegheny County's 10 percent tax on poured alcoholic drinks. It's further proof not all PACs are bad.
Lances all around: To U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and her equally hardheaded bosses at the Justice Department. A letter from 33 prominent Western Pennsylvanians to Buchanan and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey this week has urged the feds to face reality and drop their public corruption case against Dr. Cyril Wecht. But Buchanan plans to go ahead with a second trial -- which will only waste more millions and, as the letter says, "not be in the interest of justice."
Laurel : To the Penguins. Michel Therrien's well-regulated gang of young superstars and wily vets made playoff hockey look easy in their sweet and vengeful sweep of the sickly Ottawa Senators. Virtually nothing about Round 2 is settled yet, including whom the Pens will be playing in Games 1 and 2 next week at Mellon Arena. Based on the way the boys have been shooting, skating and banging, we bet it won't matter.
