NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR PROJECT AT PITTSBURGH AIR RESERVE STATION

Description: Interested parties are hereby notified that a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)/Draft Finding of No Practicable Alternative (FONPA) have been prepared for the Proposed Action described below.

Authority: This notice is being issued in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 United States Code 4321, et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA implementing regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508), the Air Force Environmental Impact Analysis Process (32 CFR Part 989), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Order 1050.1F, Environmental Impacts: Policies and Procedures, and Executive Order (EO) 11988, Floodplain Management, and Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management.
Proposed Action: The United States (U.S.) Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC; lead agency), with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acting as a Cooperating Agency, proposes to implement projects outlined in the Facilities Operations Capability and Utilization Survey (FOCUS) study at Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station (PARS). PARS currently lacks the infrastructure necessary to fully meet training requirements and conduct base operations. The Proposed Action would support the operational plans for the AFRC and the 911th Airlift Wing (AW). The Proposed Action involves 11 projects from the FOCUS study: (1) renovate Building (B) 226 for Consolidated Wing Training Facility; (2) demolish B208, B209, and B210 and construct parking; (3) demolish B403 and construct parking; (4) demolish B405 and construct a communications facility; (5) repair two storm drains and outfalls; (6) demolish B206; (7) construct a munitions access road; (8) construct a B414 hangar access road and parking; (9) construct a liquid oxygen (LOX) storage facility; (10) construct a LOX storage equipment shelter; and (11) construct aerospace ground equipment (AGE) covered storage. The AFRC is considering three alternatives: Alternative 1, the Preferred Alternative, which would implement the Proposed Action; Alternative 2, which is the same as Alternative 1 except that B403 and B405 would be renovated instead of demolished, and the communications facility and additional parking would not be constructed; and the No Action Alternative, which would not implement the Proposed Action but provides a comparative baseline for potential impacts as required under CEQ regulations.
The Draft EA evaluates the potential impacts on the environment from implementing the Proposed Action. The evaluation concludes there would be no significant impact, either individually or cumulatively, as a result of implementing the Proposed Action, which includes compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations, including consultation and permitting, and routine best management practices.
The Preferred Alternative would temporarily impact a small floodplain area during construction. A portion of the storm drains and outfalls to be repaired are located in the floodplain. Although no new structures would be built in the floodplain, repairing the existing structures would require construction equipment to work in the floodplain. If the storm drains and outfalls are not repaired, soil will erode from the surrounding area and the pipes will deteriorate, causing ground instability and increased infiltration of foreign objects into the storm drain system. Therefore, there is no practicable alternative to working in the floodplain.

Public Review: The Draft EA and Draft FONSI/FONPA will be available between December 2, 2024, and January 2, 2025, for a 30-day public comment period. The Draft EA and Draft FONSI/FONPA were published digitally on the PARS 911th AW website at https://www.pittsburgh.afrc.af.mil/. Printed copies of the Draft EA and Draft FONSI/FONPA are also available for public review at the Moon Township Public Library, 1700 Beaver Grade Road #100, Coraopolis, PA 15108.

Comments: The public may obtain information and submit comments on the Draft EA and Draft FONSI/FONPA during the review period via email to 1st Lt. Marjorie Schurr at marjorie.schurr@us.af.mil. Comments must be received by January 2, 2025.

There'll be a shootout at the racetrack corral Saturday which will pit three top local gunslingers against a hot newcomer from up north.

The event is the Pittsburgh Motor Speedway's Sport Compact Shootout, the biggest race of the year for Four Cylinder drivers in Southwest Pennsylvania.

The three locals are Susie Rudolph, Kyle Janas and Tyler Hollister. They've led the PPMS point race all year. Janas has won six features. They're all good drivers with good cars and good crews.

But they face a massive challenger in Oil City's Matt Urey. Urey is a star at Tri Cities and Lehrnerville Raceways. He drives a 2003 Honda Civic with a Ford Escort front end. After a wreck, he couldn't find another 2003 Civic, so he and his crew did the complex body work to fit the Escort bumper, grille, hood, fenders and even radiator onto the front of his Honda Civic.

The grill still displays the famous blue Ford oval (photo, left). Fans in the stands and rivals in the pits kept asking each other what kind of Escort that was, that they'd never seen an Escort with quite those body lines.

Then a month ago at Lehrnerville Urey blew the engine. So he installed a Honda Civic Type R 2.4L 315 Crate engine (photo above), which sells new for $6750. It's an engine not made for street use, since it needs high octane fuel and requires a lot of maintenance. But what it does exceedingly well is accelerate like a drag racer. This gives the driver a huge advantage coming out of starts, restarts, and into and out of the tight bends of quarter and half mile racetracks. It also allows a driver to spot an opening and quickly increase speed to dart into and through it.

Urey (photo, right) used these advantages to full effect when he came down to a recent PPMS Saturday. He won his heat and then the feature by simply pulling away from Janas and Rudolph on restarts and turns. They hung close but could never catch him.

As fans and other drivers found out what contraption they were seeing, they began calling it a FrankenHonda, since it was cobbled together with parts from various sources.

Urey is a consistent winner on the TriCities half mile and the Lehrnerville quarter mile, and won the Tri Cities 2023 Sport Compact points race. But he really likes PPMS.

"The track surface here is a lot smoother so the track is a lot faster," he told reporters. "I also like the wide straights and wide turns. You don't get hemmed in as much by slower cars."

One factor which remains to be seen is durability. An issue with small engines is over heating. PPMS is actually 5/8 of a mile, so is slightly bigger than the half miles at Tri Cities, Latrobe and Eriez (which is only 3/8 of a mile). A 20 lap race at PPMS is thus 12 miles. Whether these Honda Type R 2.41 315 hp Crate Engines can maintain high speeds and repeated bursts of acceleration for 12 miles in hot, humid weather without overheating is not certain. Urey is hoping for a cool September evening with no humidity so he doesn't have to find out. Rudolph, Rudolph and Hollister would love heat and humidity.

Very few people in the Western Hills know very much about Nazareth Prep. They drive past it along the Ohio River Boulevard on the way to Pirate or Steeler games on the North Shore. High school basketball fans know it for the ancient too small gym (photo, right) which doesn't meet WPIAL regulations and frustrates visiting teams every Winter. Coraopolis football fans know it because the school doesn't field its own team and instead sends interested boys across the river to play for Cornell High School.

But the school is more than a hilltop campus, an outdated gym or a source of football players. It's also an incredible opportunity for 100+ students and a century achievement for a Catholic Order known as The Sisters Of The Holy Family Of Nazareth. Founded in 1875, the Sisters today have missions in 14 nations. About 200 sisters are in the U.S. in six states. In 1886 a group of these Sisters arrived in Pittsburgh and set about serving the inner city as teachers, nurses and counselors.

Impressed by their piousness and hard work, Andrew Carnegie in 1897 either donated or sold for a minimal amount (depending on which source you read) a no longer used Summer home and hilltop acreage in Emsworth to Mother Frances Siedliska so the Nuns could escape the heat and noise of the city for a little rest and recovery in the cool, heavily forested hills overlooking the river. And they did use it, every Summer. (The photo at left is a historic one showing work being done on the house.)

During the Summer of 1900 nuns from St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in the Strip District showed up on their door with three children orphaned by a house fire. The Sisters took them in, and over the next 30 years many other orphans were brought to them. Their Summer home became the Orphan Asylum Of The Holy Family. In 1931 they changed the name to the Holy Family Institute.

The image of Mother Frances Siedliska gathering a young girl into the folds of her habit became a symbol of the Order. A statue of this image (photo, below) stands in the center of the Nazareth Prep campus.

Today, the Holy Family Institute offers many services, not just to orphans but to all children and their families. They added various buildings to house these services until now the old Carnegie summer estate is a complete campus.

Among those services was the Holy Family Academy, a high school for grades 9-12. In 2017 it was renamed Nazareth College and Career Preparatory School, or Nazareth Prep.

Behind all of this is Sister Linda Yankoski, a dynamic leader who has been with Holy Family Institute since 1975. She graduated with honors from Pitt with a degree in Social Work, then earned a Masters degree from Notre Dame and a Doctorate from Duquesne. She is responsible for the entire far flung Holy Family Institute, which employs 250 people to provide every kind of family service imaginable.

She envisioned a school for inner city youth which would emphasize both advanced academic coursework and career preparation. But she faced three massive challenges. First, Emsworth is outside the city, so they would have to transport every student a significant distance. Second, many of their students would come to them with below grade level skills in one or more areas. And third, the kind of education they had in mind would be expensive, beyond the ability of students and their parents to pay.

The current Head of School is Dr. Stacy Tweedy, who holds both doctorate and law degrees. She has worked in Washington D.C., Boston and St. Louis.

To solve the first problem, Tweedy laughs, "The school created one of the most extensive bus systems in the state. Sometimes I think we're a bus company masquerading as a school." The problem was they couldn't just run large school buses on a point to point route. They had a few students here, a few students there, and a few students at another place. They needed a fleet of vans and small buses. Today, after 10 years in existence, they attract students from all over Pittsburgh plus Monroeville, Penn Hills, Aliquippa, Ambridge, Beaver, McKees Rocks, the North Hills, far up the Allegheny Valley and partway up the Monongahela Valley.

"We're a Regional School. That wasn't our original vision, but it's what we've become." However, that impressive transportation system is expensive.

To address the skill deficiencies of incoming students, they test every student very precisely. "It's not enough to say students are poor readers or poor in math. We find out exactly which reading skills they're weak in, which math skills they're weak in, and we attack those. So in the 9th and 10th grades, we're moving ahead, but we're also continually backfilling."

By the end of 10th grade, they try to bring every student not only up to grade level, but actually above grade level, because in 11th grade, the goal is to place students in Advanced Placement courses, especially in science and math.

All this remediation and advanced work is also expensive.

"So our per student cost is much higher than any other Catholic high school in the Pittsburgh area."

To both cover that cost and fulfill their career preparation goal, they came up with a brilliant idea.

Sister Yankoski and others work constantly enlisting the corporations in the Pittsburgh area to participate in a huge work study program. Partners include everyone from the Steelers, Giant Eagle and U.S. Steel to the Boy Scouts, FedEx and Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies.

Every student spends one full day a week interning at one of these partners. In exchange, the company pays their tuition.

At first, students simply observe, shadowing workers and performing entry level tasks like answering phones, filing or copying. By the second year, a student can perform more complex tasks, like creating spreadsheets or Power Point presentations, researching, conducting surveys or compiling data. The school still provides insurance, handles paperwork and administers required drug tests. Companies that contribute through Pennsylvania's Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program receive an income tax credit of up to 90%.

"Often the kids will spot things. They'll see where the computer program is doing something repetitive, or a company is duplicating entries in two different places. We've had CEOs come to us and say, 'the kid saved us $30,000,' or 'she came up with an idea we would never have thought of and we're using it." Some of the students have chosen to go on to college and major in the field they interned in. Often companies may decide they really like the student and will offer to pay for their college if they'll contract to come back and work during Summers and then work there full time after they graduate." At the very least, the students will have work experience on their resume and good letters of recommendation.

"By their junior and senior years, often our students are invited in to meetings and discussions. They actually get to sit there and watch ideas being proposed and decisions being made. It's an invaluable opportunity."

Back at school, the students are receiving a cutting edge education. At left Dr. Tweedy stands by a laser printer in the Fabricating Room ("Makers Room"). There are also 3D printers and other equipment. So students can design something, fabricate the parts, then build it from scratch.

Nazareth Prep has partnered with Notre Dame University (South Bend, Indiana). Nazareth Prep teachers attend Summer Institutes at Notre Dame to train them to teach Advanced Placement curriculum. Nazareth Prep students also have online access to the Notre Dame Center For STEM Education. AP classes allow students to tackle college level work and earn college credits while still in high school. Nazareth Prep also hosts Holy Family Institute Teaching Fellows, recent college graduates who teach at NP for two years while earning a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Duquesne University.

With all these advantages, it would seem most of the families in Pittsburgh would be trying to get their teenagers admitted to the school, that it would have 3,000 students, not just 110.

But, as Sister Linda (photo, right) explains, that is not the case. "It seems to me we're offering students a wonderful opportunity," she says. "But we're not for everybody. A lot of students and their families are not interested."

For starters, like most Catholic schools, NP requires students to wear uniforms. In warm weather, it's only a school polo shirt and dress slacks. In cold weather they wear school jackets. But there are no t shirts, torn jeans or low riders. And, according to which company students intern with, they have to dress appropriately. It may be a coat and tie, it may be a lab coat, it may be a medical gown, or it may be a buttondown shirt and khakis.

They have to attend every day and be out there on time to meet the bus. "What we do here doesn't work with students who come to school three days a week or show up late."

They also have to show respect. For parents, for teachers, for their fellow students, for themselves, and for the institution.

"We've been here 123 years. We have traditions, symbols, ceremonies and rituals. This is a wonderful place. They need to respect it."

New students go through a two week Orientation, during which much time is spent talking about proper classroom behavior.

"We don't have time for foolishness, for acting out, for disciplinary issues. At first we're very patient. We understand this can be a big change for some students. We try to love them and let them find their way. But they have to make progress. Within a reasonable time, they have to focus. We'll give them all the attention they need. They won't have to act out to get it."

Dr. Tweedy's doctorate is in History, so she makes sure the students are well grounded in History, Literature and the Humanities, that they understand the foundations of the modern world.

There's also a course in Religious Studies all four years.

"We're a Catholic institution. Of course we teach religion. We don't force the Catholic faith on anyone. They can be Baptist, Jewish, Muslim or whatever. In our course they'll study all the great religions. They'll study scriptural foundations, moral frameworks, and the important people in religion down through the ages, including Jesus Christ. But many kids and their parents don't want religion in school. They obviously would not be happy here."

They feed students a complete breakfast and lunch and a late afternoon snack. If students stay late for a sport or extracurricular activity they feed them dinner. And no one is allowed to order food brought in from off campus.

"We're working on proper nutrition here. We counsel students on diet. We want them to eat healthy."

Even though the school is in Emsworth, its motto is "The City Is Our Campus." Nazareth Prep students attend live theater downtown, use Duquesne University science labs for advanced experiments, visit the Science Center and Heinz History Center, and otherwise take advantage of every opportunity Pittsburgh offers. Seniors will take a field trip to Washington D.C.

Nazareth Prep lost many of its extracurricular activities during COVID and is still building back. It's hoping to restore Science Fair, Robotics, Speech, and others.

One girl won the city championship in Oratory and went on to Nationals before COVID shut down the program.

The school had a co-op program with Cornell for students interested in marching band, but when COVID slashed enrollment that connection was lost. Dr. Tweedy hopes to restore it as enrollment climbs back toward 150.

When they decided to establish a co-op program for boys interested in football, Cornell was a natural match, since Cornell Coach Ed Dawson began his career at Holy Family and they knew each other well.

Cornell football has been involved with co-op programs for 20 years. First the school had a co-op arrangement with Sacred Heart. When OLSH decided to start its own football program, Cornell was left with too few boys, so entered a co-op program with Quaker Valley for four years. Finally Cornell strengthened its middle school program and sent enough boys up to field its own high school team. At that point Dawson and Holy Family reached their current co-op agreement.

Nazareth Prep graduates have gone on to Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne, Rutgers, Spellman, Morehouse, Rochester, Lake Erie, PTI and other colleges, many on full scholarships.

Nazareth Prep students score from 1000-1400 on the SAT. 1100 qualifies for almost all non Ivy League colleges.

But Sister Linda emphasizes that the school also pushes the Vocations. "You can go to a technical school for two years and come out earning more than a college graduate. There is absolutely nothing wrong with blue collar work. There are some very wealthy plumbers, electricians, and contractors out there. If we could send several of our graduates every year into those careers we'd all be quite happy."

Neither Sister Linda nor Dr. Tweedy envisions ever trying to grow to the size of the city's larger Catholic schools. "What we do here would not work with 2,000 students. 200 would be a perfect size."

Pat Walsh looked up from his Monday morning paper work and let his gaze drift around Snappy's Tap House, the hip, upscale bar on Mill Street. On tap were eight of his own Ciders, seven of his own Wines, and four kinds of Pensylvania craft Beers. Bottles of 12 more craft Beers were available. A beautiful bar runs from front to rear. And a garage door style front window can be opened to serve passersby on the sidewalk.

Walsh smiled when he thought of the long, winding path he took to get from a childhood on the shores of Lake Erie to become the owner of a winery, a cidery, and a bar.

It all started with a college internship in Germany. Pat Walsh was an Engineering major at Penn State and spent a semester's internship in Germany. While there, for the first time, he developed an appreciation for Beer. When he came home to Erie, he commandeered his brother's brewing kit and experimented with making his own beer. He was pretty satisfied with the results, but it was hard to obtain Malts and Hops, the raw ingredients.

However, his best friend, Bart Towell, was raising grapes on his family farm. In fact, the area around Erie boasts 30,000 acres of vineyards and 20 wineries, so grapes were plentiful. So Pat experimented with making wine. After several years, he had not only become pretty good at it, but had developed a personal love for wines. So in 2012 he and Bart founded Six Mile Cellars Winery, renovating an old barn to house the equipment.

"We're a boutique winery," Pat explains. "We can't match the big wineries in volume, but we can do something unique. They buy, in advance, a winery's entire output for a season. This means they get several different kinds of grapes, which they blend into their wines." Marsh and Towell could buy small batches, so they could just buy one specific kind of grape. If they chose well, it meant they could produce a "cleaner," or "purer" or more delicate flavor. So their wines became popular in the Erie area as very elegant.

The partners were out on the Towell farm inspecting the grapes one day when a huge snapping turtle waddled up to them. They adopted the animal, named it Snappy, and decided to make it their symbol. The wooden snapping turtle at left hangs on the Tap House wall today. Snappy himself roams free along the creek on the farm near Erie.

Pat's wife Angela is from Pittsburgh. On their visits to the city they dropped by various bars and noticed that they were selling Hard Ciders made by Arsenal Cider House in Lawrenceville. So in 2013 Pat began experimenting with making Cider.

The total Cider making process is shown in the chart below. The apples must be washed and sorted, then mashed to extract the juice. The juice is left in settling tanks for the sediment to drop out.

The juice is then transferred to a fermenting tank (photo below) where the Yeast is added and the mix left for a period of days to weeks. It is then poured into barrels, and left to age for some period of time. Finally it's bottled or placed in cans.

However, Walsh doesn't do this total process. He doesn't buy apples. Orchards do the washing, sorting, pressing and settling and Walsh buys the juice. He buys it from four orchards : Sorgels, Godfrey, Big Hill and Browns.

There's some chemistry involved in selection of juices. Walsh measures three factors : sugar, acidity and the fructose - glucose ratio. Then, of course, there's taste.

Orchards will have $100,000 invested in equipment to reduce the apples down to juice. That's how the industry operates. No major Cider producer buys apples and does it own juicing.

As a matter of fact, the biggest producers don't even buy juice. They buy concentrate and add water to reconstitute it back to juice.

"At first I treated Cider like Wine," Walsh recalls. "I filtered and clarified it like we did our wines. And we had to heat it to kill bacteria, like people do in the kitchen when canning. But then we switched to just pasteurizing it."

Orchards are like Vineyards. Big companies lease whole orchards in advance and take many kinds of apples to produce a blend. Walsh can buy juice from a particular kind of apple. He especially likes juices from Ida Red and the various Heritage apples.

"We've experimented with buying California and New York juices. But by Pennsylvania law, 70% of our Cider must be made from Pennsylvania juices."

Where he puts his unique stamp on his Ciders is in what he adds, which Yeast he uses, how long he ferments it, how long he ages it, and what containers he ages it in.

"Yeast is critical. Different beverages, even different flavors, require different Yeasts. We tried regular Wine Yeast, then tried Beer Yeast, then came back and tried a very specific White Wine Yeast. We found the White Wine Yeast worked ideally on our Ciders."

But it was in what they added that Walsh and Towell got creative. "One time, Bart said he was going to dump coffee grounds in and see what happened.I said, Well, that's just nuts. Nobody would possibly like that. But it turned out everyone liked it. So we tinkered with it and came up with one of our most popular flavors. Now some of the biggest Cideries in the country make a coffee based Cider."

They put some of their Ciders out for sale and they were immediately popular. "We found we couldn't make them fast enough. We really weren't set up for mass production like those big companies. Over the last several years we've become a lot more efficient."

That efficiency begins with an array of new stainless steel equipment. Behind Walsh in the photo above, on the right, is a mixing tank. This is where he creates flavor. The juice is poured in, and he adds whatever other ingredients a particular flavor calls for. There are small faucets at the bottom so he can continually sample the mix to make sure it has the taste he wants.

Then he pumps the mix over to the tank on the left for fermenting. To start the fermenting he adds Yeast. He buys his Yeast from a professional Yeast culturing company, which has an entire catalogue of different kinds of Yeast.

There are people who major in Yeast in college., It's a subdivision of Microbiology. Those people spend their days in labs developing new kinds of Yeasts. They're used in everything from Wine to Beer to Bourbon to Breadmaking.

Beyond the fermentation tank in the photo is a long line of other similar tanks. Walsh will have eight different flavors fermenting at once, each in its own tank.

The whole process of adding, fermenting, aging and bottling takes up to 10 weeks but there are only 3-4 days total labor involved. Most of the time, the Cider is sitting in fermentation or aging.

Directly in front of Walsh in the photo two frames up is a Chiller. Once the Cider is ready, it has to be kept chilled or it will continue fermenting.

Angela, above, is kneeling next to the Pasteurization equipment. Their Cider is heated to 160 degrees Fahrenheit and kept there for a period of time to kill all bacteria.

While all this is going on, Walsh is busy monitoring, as seen at left. He has an array of chemicals and equipment that looks like a college chemistry lab. At this point he becomes a Chemical Engineer for 30 minutes or so. He has to continually check for sugar content, acidity, fructose-glucose ratio, and other factors.

The aging process offers additional opportunity for creativity. Walsh buys used white oak barrels from Bourbon distillers and ages his Bourbon Bear Cider in those.

How long the Cider ages will affect both its taste and its alcohol content. He ages different batches different times, but the average is probably 10 weeks.

Obviously, all this equipment has to be kept spotlessly clean, so there's a lot of time spent in routine cleaning.

Once the Cider has aged, it's ready for sale. So it has to be packaged.

For use at Snappy's Tap House, or any other bar, he pumps the Cider into barrels. They can then pump it from the barrels into the taps at the bar, ready to be poured.

But for sale directly to customers, he cans it (see photo at right). He subcontracts a company which specializes in bottling and canning for small producers like him. Originally, he hauled all the finished Ciders up to Erie so the company could can them on the same visit when they bottled his Wines. But now he brings the company down to Thorn Street.

He has a perfect side room which opens directly onto an old loading dock. He's going to remodel it into the canning room and let the company set their equipment up there. But he hasn't had time yet, so for now they just set up alongside the fermenting tanks.

Oddly enough, by Pennsylvania law, Cider is a kind of Wine. So it's covered by the same laws. But Six Mile Cellars is a small enough company, and Walsh is the only employee (wife Angela is considered to be the manager of The Tap House, not an employee of the Cidery or Winery), so he's exempt fron OSHA and certain other regulations. But health officials do come by periodically for inspections.

Walsh is still employed full time as an Electrical Engineer, so Six Mile Cellars is basically a very time consuming hobby.

But he uses that engineering background to configure his Cidery and Winery equipment in efficient and clever ways. There are some pieces of equipment which cost about $50,000. He has managed to design and build similar devices which work just as well or better for far less.

He has a former restroom he's converting to an office.

"Given time, we can make this into a pretty nice facility," he says. "But the buildings around us are other businesses, so there's a limit to how far we can develop here. We can't bring the public here for tours or anything."

With a new larger facility and lots of practice, they've become very efficient at making Cider. But they didn't have a distribution network set up. They needed a way to market their Ciders and Wines to the public. So they began thinking about creating a bar.

Angela, however, had some pretty strong opinions about that. She did not want to open a restaurant. And she did not want to open one of those dark, smoky, "old man bars" where aging mill workers gathered to drink Iron City Beer, eat Pickled Pigs Feet and Pickled Herring, and watch Steeler and Penguin games on TV.

With Brian Diggins having upgraded 50 or so apartments in downtown Cory and Robert Morris students renting local houses and apartments, the town has a new generation of young, hip, single white collar professionals who need somewhere to gather in the evenings. This population includes a high number of young single women, who work as flight attendants, teachers, nurses or IT specialists at Apple or Google.

They don't drink Iron City, smoke, or eat Pigs Feet or Herring. They like craft beers, wines, cheese and salads. And they don't like dark smoky cavernous bars.

So when Walsh leased an available Mill Street storefront, he called it a Tap House, not a Bar. The Turtle symbol is everywhere. The walls and ceiling are painted in light colors. Tables are light colored woods. The classic beers are nowhere to be found : no Iron City, Budweiser or Coors. There are no Vodkas, Bourbons, Gins or Rums.

But there are Sangrias, Moscatos, Chardonnays, Whites and Reds. There are Railbenders, Strawberry Wheats, Sidecars, Milk Stouts and Pilsners. There is the classic that launched it all : Old Snapper Cider. And there are Bourbon Cider, Rose Cider, Honey Badger, Sweater Weather Cider, Harvest Spice Cider, Blood Orange Cider and Sour Cherry Cider.

Walsh designed a Coraopolis banner, then working with the Coraopolis Community Development Corporation found an artist to paint it on the side of the building (see top photo).

He wanted a very special bar, a work of art that would be light colored and lively. So he searched around, found the wood near Oakdale, had it milled and sanded at a mill in Franklin, then hired local artisan Kelly Ulm to pour epoxy over it, seal it and buff it.

The whole process took three weekends. During the process Walsh and friends had to come along behind Ulm and heat the wood to drive any bubbles out. The result is the magnificent bar seen in the photo two frames up (lights are ceiling lights reflected).

Walsh installed a steel base to hold the bar and used stencils to apply the flower pattern seen in the photo above.

In the aftermath of COVID supply lines were slow, so Walsh and Angela roamed Cory's antique shops and bought all their wine glasses. So they have a wildly mis matched array of wine glasses but customers love them.

Angela didn't want a restaurant. But customers asked for at least "bar food" with a modern flair. So she offers a menu including a Charcuterie Board, Mediterranean Board, Goat Cheese Board, Ham & Gruyere Panini, Pear & Gouda Grilled Cheese, Kale Salad, and Stuffed Grape Leaves. However, with Segneri's and Rea's restaurants now closed, customers are asking for Soups and Entrees. Reluctantly, Walsh and Angela are seeking a chef. "And that's tough. Chefs are hard to find, and the big restaurants tend to grab them up."

After a decade Six Mile Cellars Winery, housed in the barn seen at left, is a stop on the Lake Erie Wine Trail. Bart tired of it and sold out to Walsh, who now leases the barn from Bart. Walsh is looking for a Mill Street or Fourth Avenue location for the Cidery so he can offer tours for interested patrons. Currently, he works Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Tap House and Thursdays and Fridays at the Cidery. Angela is the full time manager at the Tap House.

40% of Tap House sales are Ciders, 30% are Beers and 15% are Wines. Overall, 60% of sales regionwide are Wines and 40% Ciders. Walsh would like to expand state wide. But he needs to increase Cider production to 60,000 gallons a year. Meanwhile, he'd like to get his Ciders into local distributors Deramo's and Grogan's.

The Tap House is making a profit and growing steadily, but Walsh thinks it could grow more. "A lot of people still don't realize we're here," he says.

Oh, and Snappy? Their namesake Snapping Turtle still roams free on the farm outside Harbor Creek, unaware of his fame in Coraopolis. He has a 50 year lifespan so he'll be around for quite a while. Snappy munches happily on Fish, Crayfish, Frogs, Toads, Snakes, Birds, Rabbits, Groundhogs, Possum, small dogs and cats and anything else which carelessly wanders too close. He also snacks on Blackberries, Strawberries, Blueberries, Tomatoes, Peppers and Grapes, which is why he was in the vineyard in the first place.

"We just have to make sure not to go barefoot or wear sandals or open toed shoes," Walsh laughs. "Snappy is always hungry."

Michele Santicola has devoted considerable time and effort over several years to various community causes. She has worked in youth programs in Mooncrest, gone into the schools, and served on the Moon Township Board of Supervisors. Her work on behalf of children and lower income adults is why a large number of voters favor her in Tuesday's election.

Santicola has been spread pretty thin over the last year, running a campaign plus maintaining her law practice, making every meeting of the Moon Twp. Supervisors and continuing her work in the community. But she describes the campaign as a "wonderful learning experience," expanding her insight into what the voters want in a judge. "Regardless of income or education or job status, we are blessed with good people here, who all want to be treated fairly and listened to."

Her supporters point out that while both candidates are qualified, she is the only one who has served on both sides of the bench. She has worked as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor. She has sat as a judge, writing opinions. She has Grand Jury and Appeals Court experience. And recently she has that experience on the Board of Supervisors. "Now, hopefully, I can use all that experience to serve the people of this area," she says.

Max Feldman has been practicing law in the same 5th Avenue office for 27 years. And he figures on being in Coraopolis, either as District Judge or as an attorney, for the next 27. And that's why a large number of voters favor him in Tuesday's election.

The Coraopolis-Neville-Crescent-Moon judicial district has been without a judge of its own for two years. Every month, a different judge rotates in for that month's cases. The judges don't know the communities involved and do not hold night sessions or extra day sessions.

Feldman supporters worry that Michele Santicola will use the judgeship as a stepping stone to higher position and, once again, the district will be left with rotating out of district judges. They point to her winning a seat on the Moon Township Board of Supervisors, then immediately running for district judge. They point to her already investigating possible openings at the county level.

Feldman himself doesn't talk about these details. He's focused on a grass roots campaign, with lots of going house to house, knocking on doors, listening to voters, finding out what they worry about and what they want in a judge.

Since it would not directly involve her job as a Magistrate, Santicola has not been following the impeachment hearings in W#ashington too closely, but she does point out that "the Constitution provides safeguards to make sure such a process follows the law. If the House votes Yes, the matter would go on to the Senate for trial. Mitch McConnell would be required by law to bring the matter to a vote. But the President is also guaranteed the right to confront and cross examine his accusers. There are checks and balances built in."

Even though the Western Hills are a long way from the southern border, Santicola knows illegal immigrants have found their way here and will be showing up in her courtroom. "It is the job of the judge to make sure every single person is treated fairly. We have to balance the demands of the law on one hand and the needs of the individual on the other. We have to keep reminding ourselves that immigrants have come here because they want a better, safer life and think we are the best place in the world to find it. They are, for the most part, good people who want the same things everyone else wants. Imagine being in a foreign country where you don't know the laws and don't speak or read the language. Are you intentionally breaking a law or are you confused and don't understand the law? A judge has to be very careful in these cases. Yes, of course, local residenrs have to be protected and everyone has to obey the laws. But compassion is also essential."

The Opioid Crisis may be the biggest challenge the legsl system faces.

"I love this town," he says. "I love this whole area. We have good people here. The vast majority of them just want to be respected, to be listened to, and to be treated fairly. As a Magistrate, it will be my job to make sure all those things are done. "

Feldman sees the disparity in the area. "But these are all Americans, all important people. No matter how big or small their house or apartment is, they all deserve equal treatment and respect under the law. The Magistrate has to be visible, be out and about the town and the area, be available to everyone who wants to talk to him. He has to know the community, know all its various neighborhoods, from Mooncrest to Glenwillard to Charlton Heights to Front River Road. And it's not always big court decisions. It may be little things. Helping people vote by absentee ballot, helping people get the kind of help they need from some government agency. A Magistrate is more than a courtroom judge."

Feldman has been too busy knocking on doors and campaigning to watch TV and keep up with the impeachment effort in Washington, but he does think it's important to follow the Constitution. "No matter who you are, the Constitution guarantees you the right to know the charges, to confront and cross examine your accuser, and to have your hearing in public, out in the open, where everyone can see what's going on. We can't have Justice without Due Process. Whether you're a laborer or President, you have to have your basic rights."

"Not only can we deal with this, but we must,": she declares emphatically., "The picture most people have of this whole Opioid situation is wrong. People think opioid addicts are homeless drifters living under bridges. But that's not true. We know that most people get addicted when they suffer an injury, either from sports or a traffic accident or on the job. We know that doctors, dentists, trainers, schools and coaches are all too willing to hand out or prescribe powerful medicines. We just had a doctor here convicted of selling opioids to anyone who came by. We have to educate patients to be reluctant to accept these drugs in the first place and to use them carefully when they are needed. We also have to educate parents. They need to be watching very carefully what medicines their children are prescribed. We assume kids coming from upper class homes cannot possibly be using opioids. That's not true. They suffer injuries or have teeth treated just like anyone else. And once you start taking these drugs for pain, you get addicted quickly."

"Now, in a courtroom, you don't just have the people who are dealing or trafficking these opioids. You have all sorts of other crimes like theft and assault that derive from opioids. So the whole legal system is affected."

She pauses for emphasis. "We've got to focus on treatment, not punishment. And we can't wait and try to deal with this in the courtroom. It's too late. We have to address this problem at the front end. We have to go into the schools, and then find ways to educate the adult population. This is where a Magistrate can really use the powers of the office. We can bring together agencies and programs to focus on this. We have to make this a priority. If we could solve this problem, we would lift a huge weight off not only the court system but the whole community."

Feldman supporters point to his arriving in Coraopolis with nothing and building his law practice from scratch. He's doing fine now, but at one point he had to watch each dollar carefully. So they believe he can identify with members of the community that find themselves struggling pay check to pay check.

Asked about illegal immigrants, Feldman explained that "the law must apply equally. The Magistrate takes an oath to administer the law blindly, impartially, and that's what I will do. But that does not require me to abandon common sense and compassion. An illegal immigrant still has the right to be heard, to be treated with respect, within the boundaries of the law."

Feldman shakes his head when the subject of Opioids comes up. "A great percentage of crimes that come before the Judge are directly or indirectly relate to opioid use. Yes, of course, we have dealers and traffickers and users. But also many thefts and assaults arise due to opioid use. And a teenager may come before the court on what may seem like an unrelated offense except his parents are opioid users so the kid is without supervision or adult guidance. So who's to blame, the kid or the parents? As a Judge, I would work closely with mental health and community service agencies. We must address this issue on all fronts, as a total community, without compromising public safety."

Feldman points to his 27 years of working long hours as proof he would be a hard working Judge. "I'm used to working evenings and weekends. The idea of night court so people don't have to take days off their job is not a problem to me. We have to make the court accessible. I will do whatever is needed to serve the community."

Long before he entered politics, Shawn Reed adopted Coraopolis as his hometown. Originally from McKeesport, Reed came to attend Robert Morris and fell in love with the place. His 100 year old house on Montour Street backs up to the forest of McCabes's Hollow. Deer, Raccoon, Possum, Rabbits and Groundhogs prowl his backyard. This is where Reed retreats from his busy days.

Much of his backyard is consumed by Cory's only Bocce Court. Bocce is an Italian bowling game. There was a court at a park where he grew up and he came to enjoy the gsme. Between local meetings and work travel, Reed doesn't have time for golf or other sports, so he plays Bocce. "There's a large Italian population here," he says. "We should have Bocce courts. Maybe we can install one in a local park."

His days are so busy because he basically has two full time jobs : Mayor of Coraopolis and Senior Vice President at True Sense Marketing. One day he's at the new Borough Building holding office hours, and the next day he's in New York or Los Angeles or somewhere in between. Reed majored in marketing at Geneva College and Robert Morris, and sees the world through a marketing perspective. As Mayor, he sees his job as marketing Coraopolis to the world. This week, on a beautiful Spring day, he paused to reflect on his first 15 months in office.

"I underestimated the slowness of government,:" he admits. "The wheels turn verrry slowly. In the business world, you can turn a project on a dime. In government, even in a small town like this, everything just takes time."

But he still rates his first 15 months as a success.

"You have to look at the first third of a political term as a time for planting seeds. You have to establish relationships, lay groundwork, build connections." He's been making the rounds of local businesses, the Cornell School, Police, Fire Department and various other agencies. "I explained that it's not my intent to do their jobs or tell them how to do their jobs but rather to understand how they do their jobs and continually ask how I can help them do their jobs. We are so lucky here. We have so many great and talented people who are working very hard to keep this town running smoothly." Reed is thrilled with the buzz about Coraopolis. "We get several calls a month from businesses interested in locating here. Just this week one of our old Victorian houses went on the market for $250,000. We have people interested in partnering with us on various projects. The word is out there that Coraopolis is a town on the rise, and people want to come here and be part of it."

Some projects are moving slowly. Reed had the idea of removing the parking meters. But he and a councilman learned that if they did, people would grab downtown parking spaces in the morning and stay parked there all day, so customers couldn't get to the small businesses. So the parking meters are still there. However, he and several councilmen are in talks with companies to replace the coin meters with new ones using credit csrds. "A lot of people don't even carry pocket change anymore."

His big priorities right now are to improve borough communications, and to establish committees led by residents, not council members. An Arts Committee just had its first meeting. "I've visited other small towns with murals on the sides of buildings. In some cases, the murals themselves have become attractions; people visit the towns just to see all the murals. There's no reason we can't do that here. I'm no artist, but we have artists here, and I believe they could come up with a plan to use art to beautify the town."

Regular website updates and a newsletter "let us control our own narrative." He is determined people in Cory need to know on a regular basis exactly what their government is doing.

He's been heartened by the number of people who have come forth to volunteer for various tasks but believes there are a lot more out there who could be drawn into working on one committee or another. "I'm a collaborative Mayor. I'm an enabler. Government is a participant sport. The more people we have working on projects, the better our town can become."

Reed is an enthusiastic supporter of Hollow Oak Trust's plans for local trails. He wants the Ohio Valley Trail from the Montour Trail to the Sewickley Bridge, the Coraopolis Trail up Thorn Run and McCabes run, and the Robin Hill Trail connecting Thorn Run to Montour Woods, to become realities. "People can use these trails for jogging, hiking, biking, nature study, any number of things. Studies show that people and businesses are attracted to towns with trail networks."

Reed took great pride in being one of the workers blazing a trail from Cornell School to McCabes Run and back up.

"These trails are going to happen. Never before have we designated borough woodlands for public use, AND made them accessible. That'll be another opportunity for local residents to volunteer for work crews. Laying a trail requires a lot of volunteer labor."

One thing he's proud of and intends to maintain is Cory's budget condition. The borough is solidly in the black. Statewide, 80% of all towns and townships are in the red. That, he mentions, is due to Ray McCutcheon. "He's a very frugal Borough Manager, one of the best around."

But Reed also thinks McCutcheon could use some help. "I would like to hire a combination grant writer, marketing specialist and communications manager. Some Council members are already in favor of this. Could this person pay for their own salary? Could they bring in enough grants and attract enough businesses that whatever we paid them was more than balanced by income? I'n hoping to move on this in the next six months." Long term, he would like to find some way to add more downtown parking and more green space.

He is disappointed with the disconnect between reality and what is said on social media. "We have people who take Facebook, Twitter and other sites much too seriously. I see businesses moving in, our Shade Tree Commission planting trees and setting out flowers, a committee staging a Halloween Festival, the Riverfront Park, trails and other projects moving right along, the train station in progress, our really progressive school system, all these great things happening every day, and then I go online and read dozens of negative comments. We've done millions of dollars in street and road work over the last few years and people are online complaining that their alley has potholes. It takes time to get around to every street and alley and it will take time for Riverfront Park to become a reality and so on, but the critics on social media want to paint a negative picture that is just not true."

This, he emphasizes, is another reason why the Borough needs its own Newsletter. "We have to let the people know the positive things that are happening. If we're silent, those negative voices will prevail." But he's optimistic. "This is a great job. How many people get to spend their time as the spokesman, the advocate, for a town as exciting, as promising, as Coraopolis? I feel very very blessed."

Evaluating candidates for District Judge is difficult because all three candidates are well qualified. But two qualities Max Feldman offers that separate him from the other two are Longevity and Business Background.

The Western Hills District Judgeship has been vacant for almost two years. To fill the void, the County has rotated other judges in every month. While the men rotating through have all been good judges, they have had different styles and backgrounds, so local rulings have been inconsistent. And since those judges have not been from this area, they have not always worked the entire day and not always worked five days a week.

Feldman promises to change that.

He's been in Coraopolis 30 years. He's run the same law practice in the same 5th Avenue building all that time, raised his family here, and represented local clients all that time.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm 56. I have no ambitions to become a Common Pleas Judge or State Superior Court Judge or anything else. If I'm elected, I'll be the Western Hills District Judge for the long term. I'll establish a consistency that's been missing here."

Feldman also promises to extend working hours. "We need late afternoon and evening hours. Adults in this community work, and most of them work during the daytime. Kids here go to school. A night court at least one evening a week would allow those people to take care of their legal issues without missing work or school. I've worked long hours ever since I opened this law practice, so working evenings is nothing new to me."

Feldman also feels his business background would be an asset. "We came here with $4000 and a baby on the way. A law practice is a small business, and we started this one from scrstch. We had to remodel the building. We have to maintain records, file taxes, supervice employees, do all the things any small business does. The District Judge, in addition to hearing cases, has to administer the court. It's like running a small business. You have to keep records, file reports, supervise employees, all the same tasks. My background better qualifies me to do those things than either of my opponents."

Feldman sees a Distridt Judge almost as a parent figure. "Sometimes you have to impose consequences, but other times you have to show compassion. We have repeat and violent offenders and they need dealt with. But for light offenses or first time offenders, sometimes community service is a better alternative."

He also sees Respect as a key component. "A District Judge has to earn the respect of the community. But he also has to respect the people who come before him, treat them professionally, listen to their side of things. Another important aspect of this is a District Judge has to respect the Police. We have good Police in this area. They work hard and sometimes risk their lives. When they bring a case to the Judge, they deserve to have that case taken seriously."

Fortunately, he sees the Western Hills as a great community. "This is a safe community. We have good Police and good people. The drug flow through here worries me, and I think a lot of the other activities, the thefts, vandalism, violent confrontations, and even traffic violations, stem from drugs most of the time. But for the most part, what we have are kids and adults who make poor decisions more than chronic offenders trying to get away with serious crime."

One issue people are asking candidates about this year is the location of District Court in the old Volante's Building. Feldman doesn't see that location as a problem. "It's central. There's plenty of parking. It's easy to get to. It's right on the bus line. Sure, we could use a larger facility, but there are a lot of communities who have a lot worse and would gladly trade with us."

Feldman's two sons both became lawyers and work at his firm. "Our family's solidly established in this community," he says proudly. "It took a while to build this practice, but we have a good paralegal and good legal assistants. If I move into the District Judgeship, my sons can take over the firm. It would be a way I could give back to the community."

The former Embassy Suites Hotel just off Coraopolis Heights Road and the Parkway West has undergone a year long renovation and will open in June as Tapestry Senior Living Moon Township.

The 224 apartments are already being rented even though the occupants will not move in for another six weeks. There are choices of basic units with one bedroom and slightly larger units with a den or a patio. (There are no more den units available.)

The facility will include a swimming pool, various recreation areas, and a full medical unit. A nurse will be available 24/7 and doctors will visit weekly.

Units begin at $5300 a month. That is all inclusive. Once a resident or their family pays the monthly rent, there are no other costs. For additional care, such as the Memory Care units, the cost is more.

Dining facilities are open from 7 am until 7 pm.

The photo here at left shows the restaurant, serving three meals a day. A pub serves drinks and light snacks. The coffee shop (photo below left) and grille serve everything from burgers to grilled cheese sandwiches to wraps to soups and salads. The restaurant includes side rooms for family visits or special occasions like birthdays and holidays.

The Moon Senior Connection Center, currently housed at Robin Hill, will move into Tapestry in June. Their facility and all their programs will be open to Tapestry residents.

A chapel, hair and nail salon, and movie theater are also included.

The Sewickley YMCA and Lifespan of Imperial will provide various exercise and recreational programs.

John Sciulli, Business Development Coordinator, emphasizes that Tapestry wants residents to remain as active as possible because that is the key to sustained good health.

Tapestry will host trips to movies, plays, concerts and other nearby attractions.

Tapestry requires its staff to be trained in TEEPA Snow technique for dimentia caregiving. Those residents are more carefully monitored 24 hours a day. A music therapy plan is available. Research has found that music can often unlock memories in Alzheimer's patients.

The Silver Sphere monitoring systemis also in effect for all residents. SS equips every room with infrared cameras which alert staff in the event of a fall or other mishap. Tapestry also equips every resident with a pendant (women usually wear them as a necklace, men as a wristwatch). They can press the pendant at any time 24/7 to summon a staff member to assistance.

This is not Tapestry's first Assisted Living facility. The company already has facilities in Florida, Minnesota and Cleveland. It is planning more in New Jersey and Cincinnati. All are remodelled former hotels. But this one in Moon Township is the largest with capacity for 224 residents.

Sacred Heart's 2019 musical, Once Upon A Mattress, opens this weekend (March 1-2-3) in the OLSH Auditorium with performances at 7:30 Friday and Saturday and 2 pm Sunday afternoon. Admission is $12. The run will continue next Friday, Saturday and Sunday (March 8-9-10) at the same times.

Sacred Heart may be a small private academy but this is no small time program. In 20 years Director Dolores Manuel has built one of the strongest drama companies in all of western Pennsylvania. This is no idle claim. The facts back it up. 10 times during those 20 years OLSH has won awards in the prestigious Gene Kelly Musical Theater Festival. OLSH has already been invited back to the exclusive Edinboro University Fringe Drama Competition. Two years ago, at the Fringe competition, OLSH qualified five students to spend two weeks in Scotlsnd, where they performed a Thornton Wilder play.

Wednesday night, at a full scale dress rehearsal, Manuel watched critically as her 60 student cast put the play on before an empty auditorium

Once Upon A Mattress is a 1950s musical comedy set in medieval times. It features the efforts of a king and queen to find a suitable princess for their son, Dauntless. A long list of hopeful candidates have failed the tests dreamed up by the Wizard. Finally, the other son, Sir Studley, volunteers to go Beyond The Wall into the swamp kingdom of Woebegone to see if he can find an acceptable princess who could pass the test. Much to the horror of Queen Aggravain, he returns with Princess Winnifred, a free spirit who swims, drinks, lifts weights, and has no use for the Queen's stuffy protocol. Dauntless and Winnifred take an immediate liking to each other but the Queen and the Wizard try to devise a test the Princess cannot possibly pass.

Two subplots wind through the play. Sir Studley and Lady Larken have dallied and she is pregnant, but so far only they know. King Sextimus is mute so has to explain everything by pantomime. The claim is that he is mute because of a spell cast by an angry witch and the spell can only be broken when a mouse rises up and overcomes a hawk. But the suspicion grows that he is really mute because he has been cowed into submission by the domineering Queen.

While all this develops on stage, Manuel (photo below right, speaking to cast) takes notes. The lighting is not yet quite right. In a few scenes, actors forget their lines or cues. They ad lib and improvise smoothly so an audience not familiar with the play might not notice, but that needs correcting. A few scenes lag, the pacing slow. That will need tightening up.

By Friday everything will need to be perfect because in the audience will be four judges. As usual, OLSH is entered in the Gene Kelly Musical Theater Competition. This year 33 schools are entered. Across the region, the judges will be viewing plays. The ones they select will be invited to the Benedum Center the last week of May for the Finals.

The Gene Kelly awards were created in 1998 to honor Gene Kelly, the famous actor, dancer, singer, director and producer who was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Kelly graduated from Peabody HS and the University of Pittsburgh and began his stage career here before heading for Hollywood. Kelly is considerd the most important person in the history of American musical theater, and did everything he could to encourage Pittsburgh colleges and high schools to become involved in that field and develop their local talent.

In past years, OLSH has won Gene Kelly awards for Scenic Design, Costuming, Actress, Supporting Actress and Lighting. Manuel's company has been a finalist in Crew, Technical Support, Ensemble, Actor, Direction. Choreography and Best Overall Production.

This is no one woman production. Manuel has plenty of help. Daughter Kate is a Bucknell University graduate in Vocal Performance and handles the vocal coaching plus the artwork. Heather Taylor is in charge of the Choreography and Lighting. Michelle Nowakowski is responsible for Costuming and Music. Manuel designs the sets, but a committee of Dads builds them. Nowakowski, Allen Pontiere and Tracey Whorton anchor the orchestra, but all other members are students. "Every adult handles two or even three tasks," Manuel explains. "We don't have enough to let people specialize."

The orchestra is unique in several ways. In the tight OLSH Auditorium, there's no room out front. So the orchestra sits behind the stage and is heard but never seen. Because it is right behind the sets, it sits in total darkness (photo, above left), except for tiny lights right over each member's pages of music. No member of the orchestra can see on stage. So they listen for lines. When an actor or actress says a particular line, the orchestra begins a particular song.

The orchestra isn't the only group in the darkness. Further backstage, Rebecca Voss of the Stage Crew tracks scene changes and set movements in a flow book under a single desk light, as seen in the photo bottom center. Like all stage crews, Sacred Heart's is a tight team, headed by Ryan Parker and including Jacob Kanoza, Tiffany Ponticel and Matthew Shick. An old drama cliche says the Director conducts rehearsals and organizes everything, but once a performance begins, the stage crew runs it while the Director sits in the back of the audience and watches.

One advantage a stable, long term program like OLSH has is that students begin as freshmen and develop their skills over three years so as seniors they're ready to fill key roles, whether acting or singing or backstage. Alyssa Brinza (photo, left) is wonderful as the quirky, boisterous Princess Winnifred, who thinks Winnie sounds like a horse so prefers to be called Fred. Xavier Moskala plays a great King Sextimus, unable to talk so communicating with bizarre gestures. His birds and bees talk with son Dauntless, in which the King has to explain sex through pantomime using flower and bee imagery, is a classic, even though the two actors are still perfecting the pace. Sextimus flirting with all the handmaidens and chasing them around the sets adds a continual undertone to each scene. Sophia Blake is charming, sweet and gracious as Lady Larken (in pink in photo three frames up on the left), alternately romantic, frightened and angry. Margaret Matous makes a fine domineering Queen Aggravain (above right, cradling son Dauntless), overprotective of her clueless son, ferocious with her King, conniving against the Princess, and plotting with the Wizard. A strong supporting cast helps, especially Chapel Fauser as The Nightingale. She only appears once, brought in to serenade Winnifred to sleep. Fauser's screeching and yowling are one of the play's funniest scenes, but it takes real talent to sing as loudly as badly as she does while occasionally lapsing into legitimate music.

Even the army of handmaidens (photo, right) serving rhe court does a good job. While none of them are speaking roles, their constant knitting, floor scrubbing, errand running, and general bustling around help create the atmosphere of an operating castle, lending a rich background and filling the stage with color and motion. Presumably, from their ranks will come the lead actresses of two and three years in the future. The beautiful costumes were all designed and made by Michelle Nowakowski.

This is not a low budget production. There's a lot of high tech equipment backing up what happens on stage, as seen in the photos below. That's Manuel checking the twin screens at right and David Sykut manning the sound system at left.

Putting on a production of this level is not easy. Of 300 high schools in western Pennsylvania, only 33 even attempt it and about 20 consistently do it well. The OLSH performance looks like a typical college play. The lines are well inflected, the pacing usually snappy, the supporting tech flawless, and the voices impressive. It is definitely worth an evening.

Cornell Girls Basketball Starts Over

How do you rebuild a sports program from ground zero? Cornell High School has faced that challenge twice in the last four years. First, Coach Ed Dawson had to bring back football after the school had abandoned it for five seasons. He warned the School Board it would be a tough uphill struggle and they would need patience. Beginning with freshmen but forced to play a varsity schedule, his teams lost every game for two years by one sided scores. Gradually, his players developed the experience and skills needed. In 2018 they finally won half their games, and in 2019 they expect to contend for a playoff berth. All of that, and Cornell, Coraopolis and Neville Island had a century of championship football tradition.

Now the school faces the same challenge in girls basketball. It history is much bleaker. After the WPIAL launched girls basketball, Cornell went two decades with no team. At all. Challenged by Title 9 advocates, they held tryouts and no girl showed up. When the school did find enough girls to field a team, they lost every game by embarassing scores. Finally Cornell hired Shawn Urbano of McKees Rocks. Urbano had been an assistant at several schools. He promised to build a program, but warned it would take several years.

He kept his promise. He went down to the grade school, recruited a dozen girls, and worked with them year round. When those girls reached ninth grade, suddenly Cornell reached not only the WPIAL Playoffs but the State Tournament for four straight years. They ranked #1 off and on, beat traditional power Quigley, upset Farrell, saw Daeja Quick named Player of the Year, and sent girls off to college.

Then Urbano left for the coaching job at 5A Canon McMillan, and the school discovered that all this success had concealed a glaring error. The one group of girls was the only group recruited and developed. Below the one group, no players had been developed. As those girls graduated, no one was left. Not one.

So another complete rebuilding job would be needed. This time, Cornell turned to Mark Bolla, who had previously coached at Langley and Canevin.

What Bolla inherited was no seniors, no juniors and no sophomores. He had a dozen very enthusiastic freshmen with little or no middle school experience. Below this group is another dozen eighth graders which WPIAL rules do not allow to play in high school.

Cornell considered cancelling the varsity season and playing a freshman schedule. But area schools no longer field freshman teams, and their sophomores play on JV teams which play only as preliminaries to varsities. So that was not an option. Bolla's freshmen were going to be fed to the wolves in one of the WPIAL's toughest sections.

Where to begin? "Talking about an offense or defense is silly," Bolla explains. "We don't have the basic skills. If we can't dribble, pass, catch, shoot or rebound, it doesn't matter what offense we play. We just need to work on fundamentals."

The differences in height, weight, age, strength and experience were also overwhelming. "When the girl guarding you is a foot taller, she just stands there watching you fake to the right, fake to the left, use your clever footwork, and then she swats your shot away. You set a screen and the opponent swats you out of the way. You can box someone off the boards and she reaches over you for the rebound."

Cornell's biggest problem has been getting the ball up the floor. "Every team we play presses us full court. They're too tall to pass over and have arms too long to pass around. We don't have the strong, clever dribblers to dribble around or through them."

Bolla also found his girls lack the arm strength. "We need lots of off season work with a heavy ball to build up our sttength so we can fire those quick, snappy passes and shoot a shot from 15 feet or further from the basket. We're throwing the ball at the basket more than we're shooting it."

He started back in October with 10 players. Nveah Lee was lost due to concussions, and Braelynn Weaver was lost to knee injuries. They were his best two girls. His third best player, Stefania Wiley, prefers to be a student manager.

"Playing before an audience doesn't bother me," Wiley says. "And the game pressure doesn't bother me. I just like the administrative side of it. I could be the best student manager in the WPIAL. I could go to a really big time college on a student manager scholarship. I like doing this."

So Bolla has a starting lineup of Angel Matukae, Karly DiVito, Jada Jenkins, Sophia Sicili and Heather Stephenson. Reserves are Lorraine Bourne and J.J. Robinson.

Bolla's assistant coach is Rachel Belhy, who played at Fort Cherry High School and Washington & Jefferson College. She works in real estate sales during the day.

While Bolla and Belhy have worked on fundamental skills and basketball instincts, they've also been working on fragile egos.

After all, how many times can you lose 76-2 and 72-5 before you get discouraged and quit?

"This is the most wonderful group of girls," Bolla says. "They never miss a practice, never complain, never get frustrated or angry. But we tell them every day not to consider these games. For the other team, they're games. For us, they're practices. We're practicing all this year in preparation for next year." And the girls do seem to have bought into this view.

Especially Matukae and DiVito, who have the bloodlines. Matukae's sister is Maya Goins, who was one of those girls Urbano coached. She played on those WPIAL and PIAA teams. She also played softball and was a cheerleader. DiVito's brother is Kaden, star point guard on Cornell's #1 varsity.

Matukae (#43 in three photos, including the one at right) paused after practice and talked about the year. "We're just paying our dues," she explains. "This is all going to pay off. Those big kids, they graduate. And we're getting a whole year of varsity experience. We'll work the whole off season. Next year, we should be a lot better. We may still lose. But we'll lose by a normal score. Then, again, girls will graduate, and we'll all be back. The day's going to come....."

Matukae tried to explain how far she's come since November. "I was so intimidated. I was afraid of contact. I didn't want to go in there. I got knocked around, knocked to the floor. Now, I'll drive in for a layup, or go after a rebound. One of those big girls, they want to knock me around, OK, bring it on."

"I used to think basketball was a noncontact sport. Wow, have I learned different. Those big girls knock us around the whole game and nothing gets called. So instead of waiting for an official to call a foul, I've learned we all just have to toughen up."

DiVito (#12 in the photo at left and below) nodded her head in agreement. "The game is finally slowing down," she described. "And I've learned to consider each possession a little game all by itself. They beat me once, twice, three times, OK, let's see how well I can do THIS time. Let's see if I can get the ball into the front court THIS time."

DiVito also tried to put into words how much different high school basktball was from grade school and middle school. "Everyone takes this so much more seriously. They're over there keeping statistics. Your scores and statistics are in the newspapers. People pay to come to the games. Everyone's always talking about which teams are going to make the playoffs. Fans are screaming at the refs. It's like WOW, this is a really big deal."

Her mother, who between the boys and girls' teams is often at games four nights a week, has tried to be encouraging at home. "It's been tough on Karly and it's even been tough on me. It hurts to sit here in the stands and watch her getting beat night after night. She's gotten down sometimes, but I keep telling her to see the long range. When they were freshmen, the Rochester girls never won a game. Now they're seniors, won the section and are ranked #1. One thing Karly has learned from Kaden is the value of hard work. In sports, nothing comes easy. But if you keep working, eventually you get your rewards."

Bolla used to get intense about winning, but this year he's taken a very low key approach. "What one thing can we focus on tonight? What did we learn tonight? What do we most need to work on for our next game?"

With the flood of eighth graders rising, he looks forward to having the numbers to run a real JV team and Varsity.

"It's quite possible some of those eighth graders might end up making the varsity, even starting on the varsity. We get 15 or 16 girls out here, everything will get a whole lot more interesting. We can have legitimate scrimmages. We can run competitive drills. We can have some depth if someone gets in foul trouble, or someone is sick or hurt."

In a century of school athletics, research has clearly shown that for small schools to be competitive, strong middle school programs and off season programs are essential. When it comes to girls, Cornell hasn't had either with any consistency. Bolla is determined to change that.

"We've got to get these girls off to a camp or two, and work with them here ourselves. During the season, all you have time to work on is the next opponent. It's during the offseason you work on fundamentals and on your shots and on building up your body. Girls don't like to get in the weightroom, but we're being outwrestled for rebounds and passes. We've got to get strong enough that when we get our hands on a rebound we can bring it in and pass it out to a teammate.

"The reason we need to get them off to camp is so they can hear someone beside me stressing the same fundamentals. After a while, kids tune out a teacher or coach or --- yes, even a parent. They've heard the same thing so many times they quit listening. But then when someone you don't know tells you that same thing suddenly you take it seriouosly.

"These girls also need to spend a week or two in an environment where everyone is devoted to basketball 24-7. They wake up talking about it, talk about it at breakfast, work on their game all morning, talk about it at lunch, work on their game all afternoon, talk about it at dinner, work on their game all evening, and go to bed talking about it. Our girls need to see how girls at other schools are so totally devoted to getting better."