Welcome back

-I hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th of July holiday. I know I did. I loved coming back to all of the asphalt & concrete! Not!

-Now that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is resigning who will the Democrats have to kick around?!? Oh wait...Governor Mark Sanford, Senator John Ensign, Senator Larry Craig, Rush Limbaugh

-What's all the sadness and tears over Michael Jackson? He was a pedophile who slept with young children. He had serious problems and far too many people are making his death such a big deal when in reality it shouldn't be. The 24 hour coverage of his death was nauseating on every level. What did he really bring to us?

-Verizon is here Verizon is here! Finally the City of Pittsburgh & Verizon have come to terms on an agreement that allows Verizon to offer cable tv service to us folks who have been getting raked over by Comcast for a few years now. I just felt by pocket book getting less lighter.

-Congratulations to Pittsburgh City Council on working the tough hours to get the ACT 47 plan agreed on. The plan was a good one and it needed to be implemented even if it is against the wishes of local union leaders.

"This city is done. This is an injustice," railed Darrin Kelly, a firefighter and a vice president of the Allegheny County Labor Council, after the vote. "That [plan] is another way to say, 'union busting,' right there."

I don't think so. Pittsburgh is far from what Kelly describes as "done". Just because the politicians didn't give away the house doesn't mean the city is done. The Council agreed to give a $2,000 bonus coming to all city workers in the first year of their next contracts to $2,000, but not to award across-the-board 2.5 percent-a-year raises. What's not fair about that? Times are tough right now for everyone. There are times when raises are justified and when they aren't. The time isn't ripe for raising salaries in the City of Pittsburgh government.

-City foreman Vincent Manzella has been charged with burglary, theft and calling in false alarms so firefighters would leave the house on a call so Manzella could steal from them to feed his drug habit. I believe in the innocent until proven guilty theory but if he is found guilty he needs fired from the department. How can you allow someone like that back in the ranks? He stole from his fellow brothers in fire. If he can steal from his own brothers then who's to say he never took anything from city residents?

-The most absurd part of all of this is the trial board system that the city fire department gets to use. When a firefighter is disciplined, the public safety director and the accused each choose the names of 25 firefighters of rank equal to, or higher than, the accused. The names are then placed in a box, and seven are drawn. Each party can remove two, leaving three to decide his/her case. What fireman is going to fire another fireman? Who wants to be blamed for firing a fellow fireman? This system is greatly flawed and it needs to be changed by the State Legislature.