Asking Questions About This and That

A while ago, I wrote about Regis Possino, the California businessman behind the company that now owns The People's Building, Downtown. A reader (name withheld) writes:

His investments usually have a strong overseas connection. He's smart, experienced and very well-connected. It's unlikely that your city lawyers are a match for him. Make sure the city knows the score. Good luck. By the way, nice job covering the story.

A little birdie told the Almanac recently that city hall is well aware of Mr. Possino's controversial history. Possino's detractors allege that he's been linked to a number of companies involved in questionable trades, or which have been accused of artificially boosting their stock prices.

For instance, through a private investment banking firm called "Corporate Financial Enterprises, Inc." Possino owned 45 percent of a corporation called The Hartcourt Companies Inc. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission won a $1.2 million judgment against Hartcourt. The SEC alleges that Hartcourt officers issued a series of false and misleading press releases while Yang was selling stock into the market. During the period in which Hartcourt issued the press releases, its stock price rose from $1.27 to $4.50, a 254 (percent) increase."

Note that Mr. Possino is not named in any of the SEC filings, and he was not accused of wrong-doing. Also note that it's not illegal to invest in a company that doesn't make money --- sometimes, investments fail. I have no way of knowing if any of the allegations being made are true.

But I still think someone needs to be asking Mr. Possino some hard questions about his ownership of a Downtown landmark --- and I also think someone needs to be asking some hard questions of the former members of the city Redevelopment Authority who sold this local asset in the first place.

The hard question I'm asking, however, is of the local reporters (print and TV) who were so quick to run to Our Fair City when some clown microwaved a fake penis in a convenience store directly across the street from the People's Building.

How come you're not so quick to pick up on this story?

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The People's Building, by the way, is now completely empty. I will be interested to see how long it remains that way. Seeing this century-old skyscraper completely dark for the first-time ever is a depressing sight, and without occupants, it's only a matter of time before it starts to fall into disrepair.

Seeing some tenants --- or even just some efforts to renovate and market the building --- would go a long way toward instilling Mr. Possino's ownership group with credibility, and I would like nothing more than to see them succeed.

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In other news, I'm still tracking local gasoline prices at the Mon-Yough Gas Gauge, and you may have noticed that I'm now calculating a weekly average and posting it on the Almanac.

For the most part, I've been conducting my surveys on Saturdays. But news reports today indicate that gas prices are taking a sharp upward turn in Western Pennsylvania and could hit $2.50 by the end of the week.

Last night, stations in the city were selling gasoline for between $2.27 and $2.35, but this morning I saw two stations in West Mifflin had raised their prices to $2.45; consequently, this week's average is likely to be out of date by the time you read this.

In any event, your reports are still needed. Leave 'em in the comments section of the Gas Gauge or email me at jtthreey at dementia dot org (replace the word "three" with the numeral).

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In happier news, my former Standard Observer colleague Marge Wertz had a very nice Sunday magazine centerpiece in the Tribune-Review a few weeks ago that I've been remiss in not mentioning. Mea culpa.

Marge wrote a beautiful roundup of cultural, educational and civic opportunities in the city, with spotlights on Mon Valley Educational Consortium, McKeesport Little Theater, McKeesport Symphony Orchestra, and Carnegie Free Library of McKeesport, among other organizations. It's as nice a piece of coverage on the city as I've seen in a while.

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Also, I didn't realize that Mayor Brewster's seven-point action plan for the city is available for download from its website (PDF reader required) until I stumbled over it recently on my way to something else.

Highlights include economic development (Brewster cites two new businesses, Huckenstein Mechanical Services and Canady Technologies, which are locating in the RIDC Industrial Park, along with a new shopping center on the old Reliance Steel property); residential development (notably the houses being renovated in the Waters plan section, and development of the "Nottingham Estates" housing plan in the Eden Park area of the city); removal of 300 blighted homes and commercial structures; $3 million in infrastructure, including new sidewalks in the Third Ward and new sewage lines; and increased enforcement of narcotics laws.

City-based Coker Construction, which is building those houses in "Nottingham Estates," is now the seventh-largest minority-owned firm in the Pittsburgh region, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times. Coker and Nottingham Estates were the subject of a flattering write-up in the New Pittsburgh Courier not long ago.