If anyone needs any more proof that chaos too often is the order of the day and night on some Pittsburgh’s streets, look no further than the “brawl” that that left a uniformed Pittsburgh police sergeant seriously injured this past weekend.
As the Tribune-Review reports it (in an incident first reported by KDKA Radio):
“Surveillance video shows a surging group of people scuffling along a sidewalk with Sgt. Andrew Robinson, who was in uniform and working his 10-hour overnight shift. He was pushed into an alcove in the 1500 block of East Carson Street around 1 a.m.
“Robinson, 36, ended up on the ground. Somehow his right foot became twisted 90 degrees to a grotesquely unnatural position, breaking bones in his leg and foot.”
One arrest was made. But the suspect was released on a ridiculously low bond. It could take up to a year for Robinson to fully recover.
Public safety is the ultimate public policy. And while authorities have taken concrete steps in recent months to crack down on what remains a growing chaos, much more obviously needs to happen.
Nuisance and other bars that serve drunks must be closed. Hard examples must be made of drunken hardcores who have the temerity to join a mob and attack uniformed officers of the law in public.
The Wild, Wild South Side of Pittsburgh must, once and for all, be corralled. Sound public policy demands it.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are reported to have a valuation of $6.08 billion this year.
Its annual revenues? $596 million.
And its debt? $105 million, or 3 percent of its valuation.
That ranks 17th on the list of 32 National Football League teams.
So, why, again, is anyone entertaining the thought of paying for any major upgrades to Acrisure Stadium in a few short years when the team’s lease is up?
And, who in their right mind would even broach the topic of taxpayers helping the Steelers possibly build a brand-new stadium?
Anyone who thinks otherwise obviously has not observed, entered and successfully exited the league’s concussion protocol.
A local editorial has thrown its support behind Gov. Josh Shapiro’s totally undetailed “behind the scenes” efforts “to find a resolution to differences over the proposed sale of U.S. Steel to a Japanese company.”
But it fails to mention that Shapiro was a member of the chorus in good standing in vociferously opposing the merger of Nippon Steel with U.S. Steel when he was actively under consideration as Kamala Harris’ Democrat running mate.
Nippon has agreed to pay $14.1 billion for the flagging American steelmaker that, without this deal, has confirmed it will mothball its Mon Valley holdings and move its corporate headquarters from Pittsburgh.
Nippon, on the other hand, not only is ready to pay a steep premium for U.S. Steel but has promised to invest $1 billion plus in Pittsburgh area operations, keep U.S. Steel’s HQ in Pittsburgh and even move its own North American headquarters to Pittsburgh.
“National security concerns,” the line the Biden administration has been regurgitating ad nauseam for its expected rejection, is the reddest of red herrings.
Continued the local editorial:
“Thankfully, Gov. Shapiro is trying to bring together the workers, private sector and Biden administration to prevent a worst-case scenario: the loss of thousands of jobs.
“We support the governor’s efforts, especially because there is no Plan B.”
Oh, please. Too bad our politically expedient governor, with eventual eyes on the White House, first chose to pander to the lowest common denominator in this debate – the United Steelworkers of America.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
