The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 2

2 Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 19, (976 Buildings Sale Holds Promise For Liberty Avenue The new owner, Matthew Weisberg, whose Matt's Store at 913 Liberty was destroyed by fire in 1974, said he wants to help that area of Liberty Avenue regain its "legitimacy." He said massage parlor operators will not find him a willing landlord. Weisberg will assume ownership of the buildings, containing 10 storerooms, in April when he purchases the property from Beynon Co. according to Warren Kimball of that firm. Weisberg says the area has received "bad publicity" from some news media over the massage parlors and porno theaters located within the 800 and 900 blocks.

"There are a lot of clean, honest, legitimate people there who get no publicity at all." he contends. And Weisberg ypiil i 4Tjij LL I1 Ifril" I 11 1 urn By SAM SPATTER Press Real Estate Editor The rebirth of upper Liberty Avenue in bowntown may be at hand. Eight older buildings three of them vacant in the 800 and 90C blocks of Liberty, have been purchased by a Downtown businessman who plans to upgrade most of the structures and sell off others to local investors. 1 1 uc 1 I II wiw. Some of the buildings in this upptr Libtrty Avznut block County Merges 10 -Pri Photo by Andy Itamo art oted for renovation.

Agencies rt if if 1 By THOMAS P. SNYDER The county commissioners today merged 10 agencies under a new Public Protection Department and appointed assistant city police superintendent James P. Curran to head it. Currari, who has been with the city police bureau since 1955, will get a salary of $28,935, He also is eligible for a city pension. Commissioner Thomas J.

Fqerster voted against the merged department, declaring there were questions which remain to be answered insofar as the interlocking of various functions. Foerster, however, voted for the appointment of Curran, praising his "integrity" and record with the Pittsburgh police. He also said he was encouraged after interviewing Curran yesterday that Curran agreed with his (Foerster's) position that county police should not get out of the criminal law enforcement area. The commissioners, sitting as a salary board, abolished the weights and Press Photo by Andy Stornei Porkirtj rufet were full of water en Mononjoheo Wharf today. Flood Water Drops, measures bureau, whose functions will be taken over by the consumer affairs bureau, one of the agencies merged into the nevdepartment.

Elimination of weights and measures Involves the discontinuance of 21 jobs, which were set up In the 1975 budget ati a cost of $213,269. Gordon L. Mulleneaux, administration director, estimated that three or four of the jobs in weights and measures were vacant. Foerster, who has been forced into a minority commissioner position by the. Democratic-Republican coalition of Jim Flaherty and Robert Peirce ob? jected to another level of police.

He indicated that the present setup where Police Superintendent Robert G. Kroner reports directly xto the rommis-sioners is adequate. Curran, who was in charge of the city police detective branch, -will be. over Kroner in the new departmental structure. Flaherty opposed Foerster's suggestion that the merger be delayed for a severest critics at times, praised the veteran jurist's mediation efforts.

"The judge is doing an excellent job," he said. The case went to trial last August, but the state charged in mid-September that Common Pleas Judge Silvestri Sil-vestri, who was presiding, was biased in favor of the steel firm. Although Ellenbogen refused to disqualify Silvestri, he retained jurisdiction and immediately began to seek "a mutual agreement." In 1972 the giant steel firm signed a consent decree in which it agreed to undertake steps over a number of years to reduce the 225 tons of pollution it daily spews into the air above the coke works. However, less than a year later, county and state air pollution agencies said he is investing $1 million in the project. This Includes both the cost of the properties and the renovation.

The properties are the Renshaw Building at 901-03, the Ewart Building at 921-25, a structure at 927 which houses a war surplus store, a vacant building at 929, the building housing Little Tony's Restaurant at 931, a structure at 933-35 which has Tydings electronics store, and a vacant building at 941, Also Included in the sale Is the old Palace Department store building at 820-24 Liberty, which has been vacant for many years. Weisberg said an agreement has been reached for the sale of the Palace Store to Leon Thorpe, who also owns the Baum Building next door. Thrope plans to renovate both structures. Also in the works is the demolition, under way, of fire-gutted property at 917-19 Liberty. Both the old Commonwealth and Matt's storerooms are being razed and he plans to build a new two- or three-story structure there.

The new facility will be offered for leasing because Weisberg intends to reestablishing his Matt's store in the Ewart Building "within the next 60 The sale ends speculation, which has existed for years, that the property was being purchased by Beynon for a Downtown firm which wanted to build a new multipurpose garage In that block. According to reports at that time, the garage was never built because high construction and interest costs made the complex unfeasible. The garage would have contained storerooms on the ground level, but its construction depended on selling "air-rights" on top of the building to another developer. And this failed to materialize. Kimball, whose firm managed the properties since the late 1960s when the purchases were made, said he was able to give tenants long-term leases because of the uncertainity of the garage development.

This forced many potential tenants to shy away from the buildings because tenants did not want to make major improvements. City Planning Director Robert noster said he hopes the property remains in single ownership so that a complete development plan can be worked out. "It is unfortunate that the new owner intends selling off some of this property since the advent of the new convention center on 10th Street makes' this site ideal for new development," he said. Earlier this week, Mayor Pete Flaherty also predicted the possible de-m i of porno houses adult only movies massage parlors and bookstands from the area once the tion Center is in business. He told the annual meeting of the Golden Triangle Association, "I think the market itself will drive them out as rents go up" since these facilities are low-rent operations.

Weisberg announced he would be glad to meet with city officials to discuss the area. McKeesport Tax Revived McKeesport has a new wage tax in the wake of council's vote to override the mayor's veto, but still doesn't have a new budget indicating how money will be spent this year. Last Friday, Mayor Thomas Fullard vetoed a 0.5 per cent wage tax increase. However, the council last night by a 5-2 vote overrode Fullard's veto. In a confusing bit of parliamentary maneuvering, council also scrapped a 1-mill real estate tax cut and reverted to the former property tax of 19 mills.

Fullard said after the meeting: "I don't know what we've got in the way of taxes or budget. We'll have to stumble along until council makes up its mind about a new budget Feb. 28." Clairton Coke Settlement Nears week so Foerster could study a more definite plan of organization. The tight budget position and the commissioners' efforts to avoid a tax increase made it necessary that immedi-a action be taken to eliminate unnecessary costs, Flaherty said. Mulleneaux pointed out that the merger would eliminate duplication of duties, especially in the weights and measures bureau.

The agencies lumped together in the new umbrella department include: police, fire marshal, fire chief, police and fire academies, building guards, consumer affairs (and weights and measures), service center and criminal justice planning. After the commissioners' meeting ended, Curran, 50, said he would proceed slowly in organizing the new department. He agreed with Flaherty that the police communications network at the county lever should be under one command rather than under four separate departments. charged the firm with 241 violations of the agreement and are seeking fines totaling $3 million. Both governmental units argue the firm could reduce its air pollution emissions.

U.S. Steel has countered it is doing its best to control pollution, and insists that the technology to trap the dirty abend clean It hasn't yet been developed. Located along the west bank of the Monongahela River about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh, the sprawling (one mile by three miles) plant has been baking coal into coke since 1916, and employs approximately 3,000 persons. And therein lies crux of the problem: How can pollution be tyduced at the coke works at no loss of jobs in the Mon Valley or exorbitant cost to the steel firm? The former Mrs. Myers, who has since remarried and is living in Sharps-ville, Mercer County, said last summer the funds had been used to support herself and her son and added that they were, in fact, insufficient for their support.

Her attorney, Harvey Robins, argued that since she had written authorization to receive the funds, she had no cause to account to Myers for any of them. She had received a general power of attorney from Myers before he reported for duty in South Vietnam in January 1967. He was shot down Aug. 9, 1967 while on a photo reconnaissance mission just north of the demilitarized zone. Freed in April 1973, Myers telephoned his wife from the Philippines.

She told him she wanted a divorce. Myers is now a fighter pilot instructor in Arizona. Damages Light rains in the upper Allegheny headwaters during the night sent rivers, and streams over their banks again in some lowland areas, but the flood County Acts To End Court Bail Agency The County Commissioners took the initial step today to abolish the Common Pleas Court bail bond agency. Republican Commissioner Robert N. Peirce Jr.

directed the Controller's Office to ascertain the moves necessary to discontinue financial support of the agency. Recently, the commissioners refused to approve an application to the Governor's Justice Commission for a 50 per cent grant to finance the bail bond function. The cost of operating the agency is approximately $240,000 annually. The deadlock over continuing the agency de-developed when the court failed to come up with a cost-cutting plan which the commissioners had requested. Gerard Massaro, county criminal justice planner, told the commissioners that he had conferred with the court as late' as yesterday and that "we're still miles apart." The Controller's Office is to report to the commissioners by next Thursday.

The agency was set up to provide a cheaper method of obtaining bonds by defendants than professional bondsmen. Health Permit Hike Hearing Scheduled A public hearing will be held by the County Health Department at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Courthouse Gold Room oil proposed increased permit fees. The new fees, doubling charges for most large concerns but reducing them for many small retailers, will yield an estimated $1 million more annually to the county. Trust Order Benefits Son Of Former POW By LAWRENCE WALSH Although no settlement is yet in sight, there were indications today that substantial progress is being made toward resolving the $3 million U.S.

Steel Corp. contempt of court case regarding air pollution at its Clairton Coke Works. That was the consensus of the.parties involved in the four-year-old case after lengthy meetings yesterday and Tuesday in the chambers of Common Pleas President Judge Henry Ellenbogen. The details of the meetings are being kept secret by the mutual consent of the participants. However, one source said the group "has gotten closer to a settlement, but we're not there yet." Other sources, all of whom declined to be identified, pointed out that the length of the sessions 10 hours Tuesday and six hours yesterday were a strong sign of progress.

Another daylong session has been set for Monday. "In terms of economic impact this is the most important case In the country right now," said one of the participants, County Commissioner Chairman Jim Flaherty. "And it's by far the toughest, most complex and interesting case I've ever negotiated." Another participant, Republican Commissioner Robert N. Peirce concurred, and added: "Before I became involved in this, I was told that U.S. Steel was doing everything it could to delay this thing and continue polluting, and that the county and state officials involved were a wild-eyed bunch of radical mentalists.

Nothing could be further from the truth. "Because of the magnitude of this problem, there is a genuine and sincere effort to resolve it by all the parties," he said. And one of Ellenbogen's The Pittsburgh Press A ScrlMi-Howori NwMMr Central oHIcm at 34 Boulevard of the Allies, burgh. Pa. lift).

Dally, tvn a week: Sunday, 50 cent a week. Mall in the firit ana second costal zones where there Is no carrier delivery: Dolly-one montti $3,75. one year $37.00. Sunday-one month $3.50, one year $31.00. Extra postage cost beyond secona zone, uany una dunoay secona.

closi bostage oold at Plttsburoh. Pa. Mall Subscription telephone (412) 363-1317. $407,000 waters downstream continued to recede slowly today. With National Weather Service officials predicting the worst to be ever in Western Pennsylvania, a spokesman for the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers here estimated damage along the Allegheny River flood path at $407,000. The early figures do not include the area around Parker, Armstrong County, where the business district was under three feet of water Tuesday. But the spokesman said damage there was not believed substantial. As the water level at The Point here continued to drop overnight, police re-opend the eastbound Janes of the 10th Street Bypass Downtown. The Parkway Underpass and the Monongahela River Parking Wharf remained under water, as well as portions of Clemente Park near Three Rivers Stadium on the North Side.

The Allegheny River crested at 23.4 feet at The Point late Tuesday night, 1.6 feet below flood stage, after spilling over into several river towns upstream. Water level here had dropped to 21.4 ieet this morning and continued to fall "very, very slowly," the weather service reported. The worst of last night's flooding occurred at Eldred in McKean County, where the Allegheny was expected to crest this afternoon 1VS feet above flood In Warren County, the Conewango Creek near Russell also spilled over its banks, and the Clarion River at Riig-way, Elk County, and at Cooksburg, Forest County, remained full from runoff of yesterday's rain. The weather service said the waters would recede as soon as the rains end, and are predicting just that for today. "It seems we are out of the woods now," a spokesman said.

Moderate flooding along the Ohio River yesterday was reported in Wells-burg, W.Va., and minor to moderate flooding around Wheeling. In Crawford County, French Creek near Meadville, reached flood stage yesterday but then began to recede. Farther east, residents downstream along the Susquehanna River were alerted for a possible sudden 10-foot rise in the river when an ice jam broke early this morning just above the Pennsylvania-New York border. dress the council, one man explained, "In order to avoid duplicity, I think my subject has been pretty well covered," and maybe he meant it that way. If not, the most refreshing words the hearing produced came from a prisoner who did address the council.

Asked how he originally got in trouble, he answered, "If I woulda knew better, I woulda done better." No Ph.D. fcould improve on the directness and clarity of that sentence. The council chairman, Msgr. Charles Owen Rice, was interested in finding out whdt the convicts believed their salvation might have been. A lot of them said work "meaningful" work.

Not surprisingly, all were inclined to feel that society had pulled the rug from under their feet. One way society fails people, an inmate suggested, is by making heroes of (7 a si Ry jVr jColiimnist-al-large Common Pleas Judge Maurice Louik has ordered a trust fund set up in behalf of the son of a former North Vietnam prisoner of war. The judge acted in behalf of Glenn L. Myers Jr. The boy's father, who is in the Air Force, sued his former wife, LaVerne, in an effort to determine what she had done with more than $80,000 of his salary and allotments while he was held captive for 5'i years.

In her accounting, Myers' ex-wife disclosed she had $7,140 in a savings account and had received $7,524.70 from Social Security on behalf of their 9-year-old son. So, Louik ordered that the total $14,664.70 be deposited in a savings account in the Parkvale Savings Loan Association until the boy is 21, The judge indicated later the money and interest could be used for the boy's college education with the permission of the court. Prisons Breed Bureaucratese, Too The Family Circus Prisons, it is said, breed crime. The anti-social tendencies of one inmate rub off on another. Bad habits would seem to be contagious.

There was proof of this yesterday with a somewhat dffferent twist when the Allegheny Regional Planning Council of the Governor's Justice Commission (try to say that out loud without taking a breath) visited Western Penitentiary. The council interviewed 20 pHsoners and, almost to a they spouted bureaucratese. Obviously, they have been exposed to too many sociologists. Their vocabularies are so contaminated now that 20 years in solitary confinement with the works of Ernest Hemingway wouldn't help. They've heard them some big talk and adopted 'it.

Meaningfuls and rele-vants tripped off their tongues and there was also at least one dichotomy. They spoke of concepts and commitments, guidelines and educational levels. Positive programming was mentioned, Subtopics were introduced with the prefatory phrase, "Number one Crimes against the English language none of these in jail. The majority, it is safe to assume, entered gates of the prison with normal speech patterns. Some have even resisted corruption.

Bypassing his turn to ad- the John Dillingers and villains of the J. Edgar Hoovers. Now, there was an idea you would hardly expect a jallhouse to incubate. Somebody else suggested that rehabilitation is not the answer, meaning the rehabilitation of prisoners. Instead, rehabilitate society, he proposed.

Nobody advocated mandatory sentences. At the opposite pole, there was this advice: "'Get rid of the lock-'em-up, put-'em-in-jail syndrome that society is hung up on." The council's search for causes ended about where it began. "We can sit here day in and day out and never reach agreement on the causes," one prisoner said. But seemingly no bad deeds are committed for their own sake for the pure and simple pleasure of doing wrong. What more than a few inmates would really like to see, it was plain, is the decriminalization of crime.

It will never of course. As an ex-cop doing time for murder 4old the council, "Without punishment, millions of people in this country wouldn't have jobs. I'm talking about judges, police, penologists, psychiatrists, lawyers 'Decriminalizing crime would wreck the economy. i mmmmmmmmmMmmMmmmmmmmmmm It Happened Feb. 19 mmmzxmimmai By John Place mmmmmmma.

FIVE YEARS AGO The Flaherty administration announced a licensing system for news reporters and photographers in what was believed the first attempt to license news media in the U.S. A South Vietnamese foray in Laos against the Ho Chi Minh Trail took an increasingly heavy toll of American lives and aircraft. 10 YEARS AGO Secretary of State Dean Rusk challenged Senate critics of President Johnson's Vietnam policy to a new vote on the 1964 resolution under which he has been pursuing the war Trumbull Construction Co. of Clairton submitted an ap-, parent low bid of $534,143 for improvements to the Liberty Tubes. 25 YEARS AGO An Air National Guard fighter plane was identified as the one that struck a beacon light on a Mount Washington radio transmission tower Homestead's 12 borough councilmen began appearing before the state's special grand jury which was investigating conditions there.

I 50 YEARS AGO Albert Carelli, youthful member of the "blue bandana" gang of Pittsburgh, lost his second fight to keep out of Pennsylvania when an appeals court ordered him returned here from Cleveland 'Daddy does that Te, Fi, Fo, Fum part better." 1.