Historical arena to be demolished?

Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Pittsburgh city councilman Daniel Lavelle both want the Pittsburgh Civic Arena (now known as “Mellon Arena”) and all of the accompanying history to be destroyed.

Both men were quoted in an April 2010 article (“Ravenstahl: Mellon Arena must come down for redevelopment”) that can be read by clicking here.

Ravenstahl was quoted in that article as saying, “I believe that there is a better and higher reuse of that land than perhaps preserving that building. Now that may make some folks unhappy but I also think it’s the right thing to do for the future of this city.”

Lavelle was quoted in that same article as saying, “My personal opinion is that Mellon Arena must come down.”

It says on Wikipedia’s page about Mellon Arena that the “arena has hosted concerts for many famous artists, including The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Queen, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Fuel, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Ramones, Keith Urban, Bon Jovi, Brooks & Dunn, Hall & Oates, Johnny Cash, U2, KISS, Guns N’ Roses, Queen + Paul Rodgers, The Grateful Dead, Rush, Uriah Heep, Manfred Mann, Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Beastie Boys, Garth Brooks, ’N Sync, Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott, Tamia, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Honor Society, Jordan Sparks, Wonder Girls, Taylor Swift, High School Musical & American Idol Live!, among others.”

It also says on that Wikipedia page about Mellon Arena, “Sporting events including roller hockey, boxing matches including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson, Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson took place at the Arena. America’s first high school basketball All-Star game, The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic was held there annually between 1965 and 1992.[5] The University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University,[6] Pittsburgh Pipers, Pittsburgh Condors, and the Harlem Globetrotters hosted basketball games at the Arena. World TeamTennis and the Pittsburgh Spirit Major Indoor Soccer League team also hosted matches at the Arena.[1][7] The 1983 United States Figure Skating Championships and first and second round games of the 1997 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament were held at the Arena.[4]World Wrestling Entertainment has frequently been to the Arena over the years. WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown have taken place there. Six pay-per-views have also taken place at the Mellon Arena: SummerSlam (1995), King of the Ring (1998), WWE Unforgiven in 2001, No Way Out (2005), Armageddon (2007), and the final pay-per-view; WWE Bragging Rights in 2009. The final WWE event was Raw on May 10, 2010. The weigh-in of the 2005 Bassmaster Classic was held here. The final event was to be a Maxwell concert on July 10, 2010. However, the show was cancelled. On June 8, 2010, the arena’s management group, SMG, announced that James Taylor and Carol King’s Troubadour Reunion Concert stop will be the final musical act at Mellon Arena on June 26, 2010.”

Please read that page on Wikipedia about Mellon Arena and it’s incredible history by clicking here, and then sign my petition to save the arena from the wrecking ball by clicking here.

Pennsylvania senator exploiting tragedy!

It disgusts me that Pennsylvania senator Kim Ward wants to criminally exploit the tragedy that befell Jennifer Daugherty by violating the First Amendment rights of Americans in order to look tough on crime. Nobody should be surprised. Most of the Democrats in office claim to care about civil liberties, and most of the Republicans in office claim to care about small government, but both claims are only charades used for public relation purposes. Just to make this crystal clear, I’m sure I would probably report it if I saw something terrible going on, but it wouldn't be because of any unlawful laws proposed or passed by elected officials.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently published an article (titled “‘Jennifer’s Law’ would make it crime for witnesses not to report violence”) which can be read by clicking here.

Good eating at the Texas Roadhouse!

I went out to dinner with my folks this past Friday evening to celebrate the 7 year anniversary of donating a kidney to my mother. We went to the Texas Roadhouse in Morgantown, WV. Elly seated us, and Taylor served us. Both ladies were very friendly, efficient, and did an overall fantastic job. And my compliments go out to the cooks, because the food was absolutely delicious. Erica was the supervisor, and she had everything running as smoothly as possible. If you’re ever out on the town looking for some good food, I recommend that you stop by and give the Texas Roadhouse a try. More information about the store can be read by clicking here.