Pittsburgh Dish

"I thought I got that one, too."

Read Trib reporter Jill King Greenwood's updated story today about Richard Poplawski's statement to Pittsburgh police and a detailed summary of the shotout

Cop killer debated his fate during shootout

During a hail of gunfire, Richard Poplawski pondered martyrdom vs. literary fame

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Jill King Greenwood filed this exclusive report today:

Investigators described Poplawski as callous during questioning and said he did not appear to be fazed by the incident, yawning several times. When told an officer he shot in the hand was alive, he said "Oh, I thought I got that one, too."

Poplawski told police he thought about letting SWAT team officers shoot him to death so he could "go out in a blaze of glory," but instead decided to surrender so he could go to prison and hopefully write a book one day, detectives said.

Read full story here.

North Side teen surrenders

18 year-old arrested following shooting, standoff

Pittsburgh police arrested Dominique Steele following a shooting on Federal Street Friday night. At 6 p.m. a Zone 1 officer spotted Steele shooting from a car then pointed the gun at the officer. Steele fled on foot toward a vacant building at 301 Federal Street. SWAT and negotiators responded along with a canine officer. He was spotted in a window on the West-North end of the building. 

Family members contacted Steele by cell phone and he claimed he was not in the building and refused to turn himself in. At 8:30 p.m he surrendered without incident.

He was charged with Aggravated Assault, Reckless Endangerment and possibly other charges.  

Cops corner suspected shooter

Police swarm Central North Side

At 5:30 Friday evening, Pittsburgh police had a young man face-down on the pavement in West Park, his hands cuffed behind his back. Police cars swarmed, particularly around the intersection of North Avenue and Federal Street. 

Sources said the massive police action was in response to a shooting on or around Federal. Nearly an hour after police first responded, they blocked off North between Arch and Federal. A second suspect in the shooting had holed up in an vacant building at the North/Federal intersection.

Police surrounded the building, A half-dozen officers faced the structure, guns drawn. A SWAT team vehicle then rolled up Redour Street. An officer on a bullhorn informed the barricaded suspect that, "We have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up."

He did not.

More to come as events warrant.

Pittsburgh is no longer boring

The cessation of mining activity causes Dish to make a pun in headline

Pittsburgh's Proportionally Big Dig is complete. The gigantic German-crafted digging-device-that-is-remarkably-phallic-but-what-else-would-you-expect-something-that-tunnels-under-the-ground-to-look-like-you-pervert emerged on the North Side (not the North Shore. Rivers do not have shores. They have banks. If the city's naming wizards decided to market the ballpark fun zone as the North Bank, Dish could have lived with it. Almost Parisian, dig? But "North Shore"? What fresh--but getting less so all the time--idiocy is this?) near PNC Park.

Anyway.

Sayeth the Port Authority of Allegheny County:

"Since mining of the second tunnel began on October 14, 2008, the TBM (tunnel boring machine) advanced about 34 feet per day working its way from the receiving pit located under Stanwix Street in Downtown Pittsburgh, under Fort Duquesne Boulevard, the Tenth Street Bypass, the Allegheny River and finally ending it's tunneling mission when it reached the launch pit located directly adjacent to PNC Park."

The whole fiasco, which will take The L'il Subway that Could from Downtown to the North Bank (see how much better that is?), ought to be done sometime in 2011. In contractor years, that means 2014. The cost? $1 billion. In contractor dollars, that's the GDP of Laos.

Fun fact: In 1904, Pittsburgh wanted to build a subway that went all the way to the East End.

Not so fun fact: That never happened, obviously. Enjoy your ride on that wheeled Petri Dish known as a Port Authority bus.

Open for boozeness

Huzzah, one of the oldest bars in the city has reopened after a months-long hiatus! Same wonderful staff offering a "temporary" menu of Middle Eastern fare and traditional bar food (the onion rings and nachos were quite yummy). Welcome back!

403 E. Ohio St.
North Side
(412) 231-0551

Photo by Frank Kownacki

Flower power

K.S. Kennedy Distinctive Floral, Gift and Gourmet up and running a day after fire destroys his business and apartment

Photos by Susan Meadowcroft and Emilia Boehm

Kerry Kennedy, proprietor of K.S. Kennedy Distinctive Floral, Gift and Gourmet is busy this morning filling a flower order for a funeral, a job he accepted prior to the Jan. 1, 2009, blaze that destroyed the building that housed his three-year-old North Side business and residence.

Kennedy, who escaped the fire with his dog, Lucy, also has his eyes on the future and is taking orders for new business at 412-322-ROSE and 1-888-322-ROSE (7676). For the time being, Kennedy is operating out of the Parador Inn, also on Western Avenue, just a block or so from the site of the devastating fire that also severely damaged the Modern Cafe, a venerable tavern.

Dish is told that Kennedy hopes to find a new space on the North Side for his business.

Fire destroys North Side businesses

Beloved floral shop, landmark bar burned on New Year's Day.

A group of concerned neighbors stood on the corner of Galveston and Western Avenue gazing the charred rubble that once was a cherished floral shop and the blown out windows of a historic bar.

Fire broke out at K.S. Kennedy Distinctive Floral, Gift and Gourmet at about 2:30 a.m. and ripped through the second floor where the owner, Kerry Kennedy, resides. Kennedy escaped unharmed. The blaze also gutted the adjacent Modern Cafe and caused water and smoke damage to Thomas and Thomas hair salon on the other side.

No major injuries were reported and firefighters battled the blaze for about three hours. Allegheny County arson dogs were on site this morning trying to determine the cause of the fire.

Many North Siders stop in to Kennedy's little shop for an espresso and chat. Kennedy is an ardent supporter of his community and North Side businesses. His often contributes to several charities and, just last week, offered to donate all the floral arrangements to the Shepherd Wellness Community HIV/AIDS benefit in March.

President-Elect Throws Great Party

Dish Chicago Correspondent Janet Paliatka reports from the City of the Big Shoulders

Blessed with unseasonably warm weather, about a quarter million people descended upon the Windy City's "front yard" to participate in President-elect Barack Obama's celebration as he became the first African-American to be voted in to the highest office in the United States.

Provided with three Jumbotrons broadcasting CNN and a seemingly endless supply of porta-potties, the exuberant crowd in Grant Park took on a festival atmosphere. Vendors hawking everything from T-shirts to trading cards strolled among the revelers, while the Second City gathered all of its resources to keep the evening joyful and safe.

On a mission to both heal the sins of his father, the infamous Richard J. Daley, and prove the city's worth, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley spared no expense or service to ensure that the evening went off without a hitch.  In 1968, Grant Park was the backdrop as Chicago police officers beat protesters at the Democratic National Convention while televised demonstrators chanted, "The whole world is watching!"  Forty years later, officers stood side-by-side with supporters as they watched CNN with rapt attention, cheering at every announcement of election returns in the Illinois Senator's favor.

This past June, the International Olympic Committee named Chicago as one of the four cities selected as finalists to host the 2016 Summer Games.  In order to win the bid over Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid, Daley needs to show the world that his city is equipped to handle the crowds and the unexpected.  His show last night did just that.

Ushered in on an overwhelming number of El trains and buses starting as early as 4:30 p.m., celebrators were siphoned across a security perimiter at Congress Parkway just east of Michigan Avenue.  Once through the cursory search, crowds separated into two groups: supporters who had received one of the coveted 65,000 tickets allowing them into the high-security perimeter; and those who were herded like giddy cattle into the northern part of the park.

Celebrators cheered in unison each time a state was named in Obama's favor, and booed just as strongly when Republican nominee Senator John McCain claimed his electoral college votes.  The crowd counted down in unison each time CNN's clock showed the waning seconds of the polls closing across the country.

Particularly loud cheers were reserved for the Democrat victories in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio, and exasperated jeers sprouted through the sea of people each time CNN touted its new "hologram" technology.   

At 10 p.m. CST, when the announcement of Obama's victory came, the crowd erupted.  Strangers hugged and congratulated each other, while others stood in stunned disbelief that this day had finally arrived.  Many wept.

A short time later, a respectful hush fell upon the elated when McCain appeared on the Jumbotron to humbly concede the election.  The crowd remained quiet until the Arizona Senator mentioned his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, when a surprisingly loud chorus of boos rose up, obliterating the audio of his speech. 

While the crowd waited for the newly minted President-elect to arrive, they sang along to Stevie Wonder and "Sweet Home Chicago" and kept chanting the catchphrases of his 22-month campaign.  When Obama finally took the stage, the chorus of "Yes we can!" changed to "Yes we did!".

With an echo reminicent of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in 1939, Obama's words rippled back and forth across the park.  Reaching out both to his supporters and his detractors, he prepared the crowd for the challenging road ahead, calling for a renewed sense of patriotism and volunteerism.

"Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."

Particularly stirring was his closing segment about 106-year-old Ann Nixon Cooper, the African-American woman born less than 40 years after the abolition of slavery, where he recapped our society's accomplishments over the past century with the refrain, "Yes we can".

The crowd remained jubilant and orderly as it dissipated after the acceptance speech.  Chicago police removed the barriers keeping them penned in, allowing revelers to stream out into the streets of downtown in continued peaceful celebration.

Yes, we did.

Watch Paliatka's video here.

Pittsburgh alive with voters

Dish correspondent Silvia Duarte reports from the field

Lines formed before the polls opened at 7 a.m. this morning all over the city, reports Silvia Duarte, a journalist from Guatemala who is traveling from polling place to polling place.

In Oakland, at both the Allegheny County Soldiers' Memorials and at Posvar Hall (the main campus polling place for the University of Pittsburgh), voters lined out the doors. A group of 100 volunteers from New York State arrived yesterday at Pitt to assist in helping voters with questions and concerns. Posvar has the largest number of registered voters of any precinct in the County. Election Protection volunteers reported jam ups caused by too few workers. The Judge of Elections at Posvar swore an Election Protection volunteer to serve as a poll worker. They also reported some computer glitches early on but were quickly resolved.

On the North Side, what is usually a sleepy polling place at the Methodist Church on Buena Vista Street, a line formed at the door before the poll opened. Long lines were also reported at West Park Court, a polling place where workers usually outnumber voters.