Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Rich Fitzgerald, joins Larry Richert in the KDKA radio studio each Wednesday morning.
On this week’s show, Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning was on to talk about the Hookstown Fair and Big Knob Grange Fair. Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew dialed in to promote the Westmoreland County Fair.
View the full story at audacy.com.
The following the second installment of a first-person account from Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea regarding his recent bike trip from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh:
In my last article, I told of my bike trip starting in Washington DC and ultimately finishing 334 in Pittsburgh, PA using the C & O and GAP Trails. The goal of this series of articles is to highlight how bike trails reinvigorate the towns they traverse, and to promote our county’s own Armstrong Trails.
We left off in our last article finishing the day in Williamsport, MD completing 99 miles of the 334 mile bike trip.
We will now pick up the thread on day four.
Day four
July 25, the morning started with breakfast at the Waffle House next to the Williamsport Red Roof Inn.
After breakfast, it got real interesting, I agreed to do a live radio interview on 1020 KDKA AM and 100.1 FM hosted by Larry Richert and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) CEO, Rich Fitzgerald.
In our interview, I talked to Larry and Rich about the bike trip to that point, plus our plans for the upcoming day.
I also explained how the towns along the C & O Trail had truly benefitted from the trail, becoming conduits for business activity.
All in all, the interview went well.
This day would be an easy one for us, my wife, Kerry, daughter, Abby, and I, only had 24 miles on the itinerary to get from Williamsburg to Hancock, Md.
The C & O Trail again followed the old canal towpath with its familiar locks and aqueducts.
In places, the canal water was very green with algae; I truly hoped we did not have to purify this water in a pinch.
While biking, I received a call from my wife, Kerry who was a little behind us; she said she was stuck. I asked if she had an issue with her bike, a flat tire perhaps.
She said, “no, there’s a snake on the trail”.
I said, “just ride around it”. She said it was big enough to cross the entire width of the trail.
Eventually, the snake moved on and Kerry was able to proceed.
We arrived in Hancock, Mile Marker 124.1, relatively early in the day.
As we entered Hancock, we saw a large bike outfitter, C & O Bicycle, based right along the trail.
The business offered many services, and was a magnet for the passing bikers.
One of the services offered was a shuttle; Kerry and Abby opted to skip the 60 mile bike ride the next day and reserve a shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, Md., instead.
Being saddle sore, I purchased padded bike shorts and a Cloud 9 bike seat; the seat supposedly sported the widest girth available at the shop.
Extra real estate for this part of the body, in the form of a padded seat, is a good thing.
That night, we stayed at a Super 8 in Hancock.
Luckily, there were no hills getting to the hotel. We had dinner that night at the close by Potomac Grill on U.S. Route 522.
Day five
July 26, Kerry and Abby parted ways with me in the morning taking the shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, as I started my 60 plus mile bike trek to Cumberland on the C & O Trail.
The weather was perfect this morning with zero humidity and cool air.
The trail was perfect, albeit very remote, and I was moving along just enjoying the scenery.
That all changed in an instant when at about five miles into the ride, my back tire blew out.
Fortuitously, I broke down next to a picnic bench, if that is a consolation.
I easily took off the tire and changed the inner tube and re-inflated it.
The problem came when I tried to re-attach the back gear mechanism; I hope only the trees heard some of the expletives that I blurted out in the heat of the moment.
Right in the middle of wrangling with the chain, I received a call from my colleague, John Strate, who wanted to ask how the trip was going; I guess timing is everything.
I also received a call from my daughter, Abby who saw that I had not moved in almost an hour on her family locator.
She called to ensure I was alive and not in a ditch somewhere along the trail with buzzards circling over the carcass.
I finally got the bike all back together, though the wheel looked somewhat crooked.
It reminded me of the car repair scene in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie where Clark Griswold jumped the family truckster and had it repaired at the shady garage.
Since I was able to proceed, I made my way down the trail.
The big casualty in all of this were my hands and arms up to my elbows were completely black with bicycle grease.
When I came to one of the hand pumped water wells (non-potable water), I tried to pump the water and wash up.
Let me tell you, using the pump for this type of operation is a two person job.
This would have been quite comical to watch if it weren’t me.
I also realized I did not have any soap, so I tried using dirt as a substitute with no success.
Things got worse when I wiped the sweat from my face as I biked down the trail and the dirt and grease also transferred to my face as well.
Luckily, there are no pictures.
Nonetheless, I proceeded onward and the miles passed quickly as I biked toward Cumberland; it seemed like I was biking through a green tunnel at points, with views of the Potomac River appearing every once in a while through the rare breaks in the foliage.
Every so often, I heard the distant echoes of train whistles from across the Potomac River but was never able to see any actual trains.
I saw a beaver climb out of the canal and jump right back into the water after taking a look at me; I’ll try not to draw any conclusions here.
I saw hundreds of turtles basking in the sun on the various logs that came out of the green canal water; they all stuck their heads straight up in the air.
It seemed like the biggest turtle got the top spot on the log.
I guess everyone wants to be the top dog, or turtle in this case.
I also saw a box turtle and a snake on the trail.
The next point of interest was the Paw Paw Tunnel at Mile Marker 155.2.
The incline on the C& O Trail increased as I got closer to the tunnel’s entrance.
Also present in this area were many tourists walking to and from the tunnel on either side of it.
The 3,118 foot long tunnel itself was very dark, with air cool wafting through it, with a rough walkway that paralleled the unseen canal below in the darkness.
Water dripped from the ceiling in places with the echoes amplified by the acoustics of the tunnel.
I used my I-phone’s flashlight app to guide my way through the tunnel.
I came upon a sign for the town of Oldtown, MD at Mile Marker 166.7; the town sort of reminded me of Templeton from Armstrong County.
Looking up the road into town, I saw a hand painted sign advertising food and drinks; I almost missed it.
I pedaled up to an old elementary school now turned restaurant/market and walked inside.
I am sure I looked very rough at this point with my grease stained face, arms and hands, plus not having shaved for a week.
The sweet older lady behind the counter did not even seem fazed one bit by my appearance as she took my food order (bless her soul).
I was finally able to clean up in the restroom while my food was being cooked.
The air conditioned room, coupled with being cleaned up and eating a good meal were like nirvana at this point.
Other bike packers came and left as I ate.
I relaxed for a while in the cool air.
With approximately 18 more miles to go to Cumberland, I got back on the trail. The C & O Trail still had its typical locks and aqueducts.
The scenery changed as I got closer to Cumberland with the trees opening up to sweeping views of the Potomac River, the city of Cumberland, and mountains in the distance.
Ironically, about five minutes out from my destination point for the day, the YouTube account on my iPhone spontaneously started, and randomly played the live version of Neil Diamond’s song “America”.
It seemed kind of fitting, so I cranked up the volume as I finished up the 184.4 mile C & O Trail portion of the trip.
Waiting on the trail at the C & O Terminus were my wife, Kerry and daughter, Abby. It was good seeing them.
I think they were taking bets on whether I would make it or not.
We walked into the Fairfield Inn which was right off the trail.
The hotel was fully equipped to accommodate bike packers.
The town of Cumberland appears to have fully embraced the C & O and Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trails.
From bike shops to restaurants, all the businesses around the trails appeared to cater to the cyclists.
There were many bike racks around town, and even bike lockers.
We later ate dinner at the Crabby Pig Restaurant.
Multiple folks kept recommending this restaurant as we biked up the C & O Trail.
We all had their specialty, crab cakes and lobster bisque soup.
Even with the padded bike shorts, I was reminded of my saddle soreness sitting on the hard wooden seats at the restaurant.
As we left the restaurant, a concert was playing in the park adjacent to the hotel.
We listened to it for a while in the waning evening sunlight and warm summer breeze.
Day six
July 27, Kerry and Abby drove back to Leechburg in the morning, as I started my journey on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail from Cumberland to Meyersdale, PA.
The trip out of Cumberland on the GAP Trail was literally uphill for the first 24 miles to the Eastern Continental Divide.
Cumberland is at 605 feet above sea level and the Eastern Continental Divide 2,392’ above sea level for a 1,787 feet elevation gain.
Without fail, folks on E-bikes asked if I were “ok” each time I got off my bike and walked for a few minutes here and there; I held back my sarcastic comments and just re-assured them I was good to go.
The first notable milestone on the GAP Trail was the Bone Cave at Mile Marker 4.0.
During the excavation of this section of railroad, 44 different types of mammal fossils were discovered, of which, 16% of them are now extinct.
A couple of the now extinct fossils found at the site were the Pleistocene cave bear and saber toothed tiger cat.
Some of these fossils are on exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.
Tourist used the adjacent railroad tracks by this section of the GAP Trail to take some type of pedal powered rail car back down the long hill.
Mile Marker 15.5 offered a trail access point into Frostburg, MD; the parking lot here overflowed with cars with bike racks.
The GAP Trail crossed the Mason Dixon line at Mile Marker 20.5.
The Mason Dixon Line is the pre-Civil War demarcation line between Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Many of folks here were snapping pictures of the marker.
The trail had a couple smaller tunnels, such as the Brush Tunnel and Borden Tunnel; but, the longest tunnel on the bike trip was the Big Savage Tunnel at 3,294.6 feet long.
Again, the tunnel seemed to draw a lot of tourists to it.
The trail close to the Continental Divide offered many sweeping views of the valleys and mountains in the distance under a cloudless sapphire blue sky.
Many large windmills could be seen churning on distant mountain tops.
I found all of this truly awe inspiring.
One of the main milestones for the day was crossing over the Eastern Continental Divide at Mile Marker 23.7.
The Eastern Continental Divide is the point where water east of it goes to the Atlantic Ocean and west of it flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
At this point, the GAP Trail was all downhill for the next eight miles to my stop for the night in Meyersdale, PA (Mile Marker 31.9).
This area of the GAP Trail had a boreal forest feel to it, with its thick canopy of Canadian hemlocks and rhododendrons lining the trail.
I pulled into Meyersdale relatively early for the day at about 12:30 p.m.
Adjacent to the GAP Trail in Meyersdale was a refurbished train station turned museum and tourist center.
The center had a lot of pictures and artifacts from the early railroad days.
The museum also had a room with a large miniature railroad train display.
The train station was a hub of activity for promoting Meyersdale tourism.
Volunteers fielded questions that ranged from the history of the area, to places to eat and stay.
I personally pre-reserved a room for the night at Yoder’s Bed and Breakfast.
Check-in at Yoder’s was very simple.
I talked at length with one of the co-owners of the B&B, a husband and wife team; he said the trail accounted for about 85% of their business which lasted from spring to fall with the winter months being slow.
With my wardrobe limited, I chose to eat at the Take Six Pizza & Subs restaurant versus the fancier White House restaurant in town.
This is where we will end this installment of the trail series.
The last installment will detail the GAP Trail from Meyersdale, PA to its terminus at Point State Park in Pittsburgh to include my guest riders on the last day.
Additionally, I will detail both the current state, and future plans for the bike trails in and around Armstrong County.
View the full article at leadertimes.com.
Politicians, environmentalists, engineers and outdoor enthusiasts gathered Friday to kayak through the Highland Park Lock and Dam, a nearly century-old structure on the Allegheny River. Employees with the Pittsburgh District Army Corps of Engineers were on hand to operate the system and answer questions.
“So as you’ll see as you go through, our infrastructure is getting a little bit older,” said the deputy chief of the Pittsburgh district’s operations, Greg Turko. “The locks that you’re about to go through were built in the ‘30s.
“So we’re going on about 95 years in operation.”
The second-largest inland port in the U.S., the Port of Pittsburgh is home to 17 locks and dams along the three major rivers that converge at Pittsburgh. Over the last decade, about 30 million tons of freight passed through the port each year — 70% of which was coal.
But as that industry declines, so does funding that supports maintenance of the infrastructure.
The port’s public relations manager Matthew Pavlosky also pointed out the number of registered recreational boaters in the Pittsburgh region is one of the largest in the United States.
To that end, Friends of the Riverfront, the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission along with other community partners hosted this “lock-through” kayak paddle.
“The economic impact and the quality of life impact of investing in our rivers and our locks and our dams is important,” said SPC’s executive director and former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. He said the paddling event is an important way to reorient decision makers with often overlooked logistical realities in the region they serve.
Once locked inside the gravity-powered Highland Park Lock (also known as Allegheny River’s Lock No. 2), Pennsylvania leaders, including Fitzgerald, state representative Mandy Steele, and state senator Lindsey Williams were collectively lowered in their kayaks about 12 feet.
Williams said she has ‘locked-through’ before with the Fish and Boat Commission, “but I’ve never done it in a kayak!”
Williams, who sits on the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, pointed out the lock hours of operation have been shortened. “Especially with the closing of the Cheswick power plant and the reduction in commercial traffic on the Allegheny River, we want to make sure that we don’t lose access so that people up here at the top of Allegheny County can get in their boats or their kayaks and go all the way down into the city, maybe catch a Pirates game or whatever.
“We want that access to continue to be available to everyone.”
“It’s kind of a little bucket list day,” said Kate Zidar, a board member with the Three Rivers Waterkeeper. Zidar said she came to experience the lock-through because it sounded like a fun, unique experience and because she wants to promote “swimmable, fishable water. That’s what we need.
“If you live on the river and you touch the water, it should never make you sick.”
All told, about 30 staff members from federal, state, and local representatives’ offices, as well as members of local nonprofits and businesses like Three Rivers Outdoor Company (which provided boats, gear and guidance), paddled together downstream to better understand the economic, environmental, and recreational importance of maintaining the locks and dams on the Allegheny River.
View the full story at wesa.fm.
Rich Fitzgerald, fresh from a two-hour kayak trip from Springdale to Harmar on the Allegheny River, reflected on the river’s importance for business and recreation.
“It’s important to the whole region,” said the former Allegheny County executive who became executive director of the 10-county Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission at the beginning of the year.
“It’s important for property values; it’s important for businesses. It’s important to the quality of life for residents because its navigable, safe, healthy.”
Fitzgerald was part of a group of about 30 elected officials and river advocates who participated in a kayak parade through Allegheny Lock No. 3 to show off the many uses of the river. The commission, along with Friends of the Riverfront, Port of Pittsburgh and others, is part of a coalition called Save the Allegheny River that was started to improve financing for the critical locks and dams that allow business and recreational traffic to flow smoothly on the river.
Matt Pavlosky, public relations manager for Port of Pittsburgh, said because of the high recreational use the river is “the lifeblood of our communities.” State Rep. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, said access and improvements are “absolutely crucial to these river towns.”
But advocates are concerned because freight movement on the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers has dropped from about 52 million tons 10 years ago to 20 to 24 million tons now, Pavlosky said, largely due to declines in the coal industry. On the Allegheny alone, tonnage averages between 750,000 and 2 million tons annually.
With locks around 90 years old and commercial use dropping, advocates are concerned that federal investment in the system will fall as well. That’s why they highlighted the river’s “other” use Friday and said they are pushing for a study to show how much the regional economy benefits from river recreational activities to convince federal officials to continue funding for river improvements.
Pat Fabian, chairman of the Armstrong County commissioners and the SPC board, said STAR is important to the future of river towns such as Freeport, Ford City and Kittanning in his county, as well as those communities closer to Pittsburgh. Many communities have brownfields along the river, and those won’t be redeveloped unless the river is open most hours of the day to move goods by water.
“If [STAR] does well, the communities like Cheswick and Freeport and Springdale will benefit greatly,” he said.
Trail expansion and recreation are improving along the Allegheny — state Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View, said she regularly hears from constituents who want river access — but improving conditions to move freight has been slow in coming. Upgrading the lock system will take “some big federal dollars,” she said, noting that the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill included $860 million for similar improvements on the upper Ohio River.
“We just need more dedicated sources of funding,” Pavlosky said.
View the full article at unionprogress.com.
On Friday, three regional organizations and two state agencies — Friends of the Riverfront (Friends), the Port of Pittsburgh Commission (Port of Pitt) and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC), along with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PA Fish and Boat) — jointly hosted an on-river outing for regional elected officials aimed at raising awareness around the Allegheny River’s economic and recreational impact on the region.
The on-river event, which consisted of invited attendees kayaking or riding on powered boats from Springdale borough to Harmar Township, while passing through the C.W Bill Young Lock (Lock 3), was an effort to demonstrate the potential for economic and recreational development on the river.
As the Allegheny River has had less commercial river traffic over the last few decades, the funding for needed infrastructure repairs and maintenance has also declined.
Most of the region’s locks, including the eight locks on the Allegheny, are well past their 50-year life span and some are approaching 100 years of service.
The locks on the Allegheny River see an average of about four million tons of activity per year, far lower than those on the Ohio and Monongahela.
As a result, locks on the Allegheny River are now considered “low use” or “low volume” facilities.
This status means that reductions in the hours of lock operation could occur.
A reduction in lock operation could mean watercraft might have to wait a significant amount of time to move between pools on the Allegheny River.
To address this, the Save The Allegheny River initiative, or STAR, was formed. The initiative counts SPC, Port of Pitt, Friends, the Allegheny Regional Development Corporation and many other community based organizations as members.
They have been working with federal legislators who are diligently working to support initiatives that benefit the region’s rivers.
The event featured several speakers, including Sen. Lindsey Williams, (38th district), Rep. Mandy Steele (33rd district), SPC Executive Director Rich Fitzgerald, Port of Pitt’s Public Relations Manager Matt Pavlosky and Friends’ Executive Director Kelsey Ripper.
Aside from the above, attendees included representatives from the office of Senator Bob Casey, State Representative Lindsay Powell (21st district) as well as from the office of Congresswoman Summer Lee (12th district), the office of Congressman Chris Deluzio (17th district), as well as many of boroughs and townships from across Allegheny County.
The Springdale to Harmar route highlighted an area that Friends of the Riverfront is currently developing as a new segment of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and Water Trail.
Running more than 35 miles, mostly along Allegheny County’s riverfronts, the Three Rivers Heritage Trail is estimated to have had an economic impact of $26.5 million in 2023.
Senator Lindsey Williams said, “a decrease in staffing of the locks along the Allegheny River would be absolutely devastating to our river communities and to every Pittsburgher who boats, kayaks, takes walks with their families, or recreates in any way along Pennsylvania’s River of the Year.” The senator added, “at a time when the economic impact of outdoor recreation is only rising, we must at minimum maintain current staffing levels. I’m happy to be a part of the Save the Allegheny River coalition and enjoyed spending time with my colleagues on the water this morning.”
“Protecting the Allegheny River is one of the most important pursuits today. This river is the key to economic opportunity for our river towns in the Valley, and today was a valuable opportunity to see what is at stake, and why we must all work together to ensure that the Save the Allegheny Initiative is successful,” said Representative Mandy Steele. “As Representative of the Allegheny Valley, these organizations have my full support.”
“This kayak paddle event is a perfect example of our region coming together to better understand the issues that impact our rivers,” said Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Rich Fitzgerald.
“We had state agencies, elected officials, lawmakers’ staff members, and community organizations all represented here today to not only experience kayaking firsthand through one of the locks, but to talk about the ways we can continue to work together to support initiatives that will preserve and enhance the vitality of our rivers,” he added.
Executive Director of the Port of Pittsburgh Mary Ann Bucci pointed out that anything that impacts the Allegheny will reduce the benefits our region derives from the entire river system.
“The Allegheny River is an integral part of the whole river system. Everyone needs to understand the system’s full benefits, which include drinking water, hydropower, and recreational boating. They’re all important to our region’s economic growth,” she said.
Bucci added, “the rivers are a transit system. Take the Allegheny away, it’s like breaking a highway apart — it isn’t going to work.”
Kelsey Ripper, executive director for Friends of the Riverfront, emphasized that access to the Allegheny River is crucial to Friends’ vision — and the region’s economic future.
“We were founded to reconnect people to the rivers after decades of being separated from them by heavy industry. We have seen communities rebuild their relationships to the rivers and as a result, enjoy greatly expanded recreational opportunities that have themselves become a crucial part of southwestern Pennsylvania’s economic story.”
She added, “we’ve made so much progress, and any impact on the Allegheny’s infrastructure risks diminishing that.”
The Allegheny River drains more than 12,000 square miles, and runs for 325 miles.
In 2024, The Allegheny River was voted Pennsylvania’s River of the Year.
Friends of the Riverfront is a 501©3 dedicated to building and maintaining the Three Rivers Heritage Trail and Water Trail; the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission is a regional transportation and economic development organization; and the Port of Pittsburgh Commission was created to promote the commercial use and development of the inland waterway system.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is a state department tasked with maintaining and protecting state parks, managing state forest land, providing information on the state’s ecological and geologic resources, and establishing community conservation partnerships to benefit rivers, trails, greenways, local parks and recreation, regional heritage parks, open space, and natural areas.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent commission that protects, conserves, and enhances the Commonwealth’s aquatic resources and provides fishing and boating opportunities.
View the full article at leadertimes.com.
Advocates of the Allegheny River hope getting state and federal officials into the water will emphasize the need for more attention and funding for recreation and commercial use on the waterway.
Local, state and federal officials paddled kayaks Friday morning from the Springdale to Harmar marinas, through Lock 3 on the Allegheny River in Plum, in an effort to raise awareness of the river’s economic and recreational impacts in the region.
“We’re about embracing the rivers, building these trails, having the recreation of the kayaks and all the things we do,” said Rich Fitzgerald, executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and former Allegheny County executive. “We’ve got to make sure we continue to invest.”
The trip was coordinated by Friends of the Riverfront, the Southwestern Pennsylvania and Port of Pittsburgh commissions, and the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and its Fish and Boat Commission.
Matt Pavolsky, public relations manager for the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, said locks along the Allegheny River are now considered “low use” or “low volume” because of a decrease in commercial river traffic over the past few decades.
In turn, funding for infrastructure repairs and maintenance has declined.
Lock 3, in Plum’s Barking section, is nearly 100 years old. And locks on the Allegheny River average about 4 million tons of activity per year — a number “far lower” than those on the Ohio or Monongahela rivers, officials with Friends of the Riverfront said.
That’s where the increases in recreational use of the Allegheny come into play, officials said. Channeling the river’s recreational and economic impacts can make it more attractive for funding that would be a boon to river towns, Pavolsky said.
Friends of the Riverfront estimate the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, which runs more than 35 miles mostly along Allegheny County riverfronts, had a $26.5 million economic impact in 2023.
Allegheny County has the most boat registrations by county statewide, according to data from the Fish and Boat Commission. Westmoreland ranks eighth and Armstrong ranks 30th out of 67 counties.
“We’ve seen that expand, and we want to protect that use of the river,” said state Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View. Her district includes much of the Allegheny River valley, up to Harrison.
Keeping locks open for recreational boating has long been an uphill battle. An Armstrong County nonprofit group, Allegheny River Development Corporation, raises money and works with the Army Corps of Engineers to operate some of the river’s locks on weekends because cuts in federal funding for the Corps leaves it unable to staff those locks without outside help.
ARDC, Friends of the Riverfront, Port of Pittsburgh and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, among other organizations, formed a group called “Save the Allegheny River” to advocate for federal funding to benefit the future of the river.
Williams said a decrease in staffing of the locks would be devastating to the communities along the river.
Among the 50 people who participated in the two-hour kayak were Fitzgerald and Williams, state Rep. Mandy Steele, and staff representing state Rep. Lindsay Powell, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio and Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato.
“We had state agencies, elected officials, lawmakers’ staff members and community organizations all represented here today to not only experience kayaking firsthand through one of the locks, but to talk about the ways we can continue to work together to support initiatives that will preserve and enhance the vitality of our rivers,” Fitzgerald said.
Steele, D-Fox Chapel, said the event gave her a better understanding of the importance of keeping locks and dams open for recreational boating.
“The economies in the river towns are dependent on people being able to move up and down that river,” she said. “Seeing the locks up close and personal really gives you an understanding for how important they are.”
She said there is a lot of opportunity at the state level to drive funding to river towns for economic development and recreation. She pointed to recently awarded funding for regional riverfront plans in Cheswick and Tarentum.
Kelsey Ripper, executive director of Friends of the Riverfront, said access to the Allegheny River is crucial to the region’s economic future.
“We were founded to reconnect people to the rivers after decades of being separated from them by heavy industry,” she said. “We have seen communities rebuild their relationships to the rivers and, as a result, enjoy greatly expanded recreational opportunities that have, themselves, become a crucial part of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s economic story.”
View the full story at triblive.com.
Elected officials and their staff members paddled their way through Allegheny River Locks and Dams on Friday.
The event was organized by the Friends of the Riverfront, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and the Port of Pittsburgh.
Some of the elected officials that participated were:
Staff members from Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, Rep. Lindsay Powell, Sen. Bob Casey, Congressman Chris Deluzio, and Congresswoman Summer Lee were also there.
They began paddling downriver at 10:15 a.m. until they reached the Harmar Fish and Boat Launch.
Organizers said they wanted to show officials just how important maintaining the lock and dam system is to the local environment and economy.
View the full story at wpxi.com.
Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, Rich Fitzgerald, joins Larry Richert in the KDKA radio studio each Wednesday morning.
On this week’s show, Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning was on to talk about the Hookstown Fair and Big Knob Grange Fair. Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew dialed in to promote the Westmoreland County Fair.
View the full story at audacy.com.
The following is a first-person account from Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea regarding his recent bike trip from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh:
Shortly after I took office as Armstrong County Commissioner on Jan 2, 2024, I received the news of Armstrong Trails Executive Director Chris Ziegler’s plans to inaugurate a new 10-mile section of the Armstrong Trails from Schenley to Rosston on April 1st.
Moreover, Armstrong Trails had an old railroad bridge refurbished that crossed the Kiskiminetas River was also included in the project.
These two new additions (trail & bridge) now provide a contiguous trail corridor that stretches the entire length of Armstrong County (35 miles).
The northern end of Armstrong Trails in turn, connects to the Redbank Valley Trails which terminates another 42 miles further in Brookville creating a 91 contiguous mile bike trail corridor from Schenley to Brookville, with another 9 miles of trail added to it with the Sligo Spur.
Plans are currently in the works to add a five mile connector trail from the Hyde Park Walking Bridge in Leechburg to Schenley.
A flyover project in Westmoreland County will connect the Kiskiminetas River bridge in Schenley to the Tredway Trail adding an 8 mile trail corridor to Lower Burrell.
Furthermore, a trail corridor from the Tredway Trail to the Rt. 356 Bridge in Freeport will connect Armstrong Trails to the existing 22-mile Freeport to Butler Trail.
These interconnections from Schenley to Freeport will create a 126 mile trail corridor from Butler to Brookville via the Armstrong Trails.
The ultimate plan is to connect Pittsburgh to Lake Erie via Armstrong Trails.
I will talk more about these various efforts at the end this article series.
I then got to thinking, watch out now.
Pittsburgh has a bike trail that runs to Cumberland, MD, the Great Allegheny Passage or GAP Trail.
I further saw there was another bike trail that connected Cumberland, MD to Washington DC, the Chesapeake and Ohio (C & O) Canal Towpath Trail (a.k.a. C & O Trail).
To learn more, I researched my go to source for info of all things — YouTube.
I watched numerous videos of different folks who biked these trails; this looked like a lot of fun.
With that, I made the decision to bike from Washington DC back to Pittsburgh (334.1 miles).
I told my wife, Kerry, of my idea and she was not quite as enthusiastic as I was about it.
When I floated the idea by my 16 year old daughter, Abby, she looked at me like I had three heads, and asked “why we could not go to Myrtle Beach or somewhere else like normal families”.
The day, April 1st, came for the inauguration of the new Armstrong Trails segment.
On hand for the event were numerous dignitaries to include former Allegheny County Executive and current Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) CEO, Rich Fitzgerald.
I told Rich what I was thinking of doing, bike backing the C & O and GAP Trails; he said, “it was a good idea, and that he had done it four times already”.
Rich said “if I did the trek, he’d meet me on the last day to bike into Pittsburgh”.
After the formal ribbon cutting, Rich Fitzgerald, Chris Ziegler, my daughter, Abby and I did a short 10-mile bike ride up the new section of Armstrong Trails.
After seeing how well Rich and Chris moved on their bikes, I knew I needed to get in better shape, and quick, before taking on such an endeavor myself.
Fast forward to late July, the day had come to embark on our journey.
Kerry, Abby and I had done many practice runs up and down Armstrong Trails and were ready, at least we thought we were.
Also, my wife and daughter only wanted to do half of the trip.
Our plan had us driving to Cumberland, MD and staging our car for Kerry and Abby to do the C & O Trail only, and then drive back home to Leechburg.
I in turn, would do both trails (C & O & GAP Trails).
Day one
July 22 — We started our trek in earnest, having arrived in Cumberland, MD the night before to stage our car.
We took an AMTRAK Train from Cumberland, MD to Washington DC.
Our attendant at the Cumberland train station said we were lucky with the train being on time for 9:30 a.m.
The gentleman said he had a connection to Ford City after seeing my Divine Redeemer 5K Ford City t-shirt; he said his Dad had worked in Ford City at PPG for a while after being laid off from another plant – small world.
Even in coach, the seats on the train were nice and roomy.
Riding on the train gave a backyard view to America. Every so often, I could see snippets of C & O Trail across the Potomac River as we progressed toward Washington DC.
After the four hour train ride, we entered Union Station in Washington DC about 1:30 p.m.
We emerged from track level of the train station to the terminal level and were thrust into a sea of humanity; the place was packed with baggage laden passengers scurrying about.
After eating a quick lunch, we exited the nicely air conditioned Union Rail Station and thrust into the 90 plus degree oven outside.
From here, it did not take too long to get oriented and bike toward the Capitol Building.
We then went along the Washington Mall making our way to our next waypoint, the Lincoln Memorial.
The mall grounds were packed full of people.
Every practical open spot along the mall seemed to have a food truck, or some vendor of some type in it selling their wares.
I am amazed every time I see the Washington Monument and White House.
We stopped by the Lincoln Memorial, and got ice cream floats.
The Coca Cola float I had was absolutely amazing, though we all suffered brain freeze multiple times.
I think the extreme heat exasperated this condition a bit.
Numerous folks played volleyball just beside us as we ate, oblivious to the heat.
We then followed the Rock Creek Trail along the Tidal Basin to get the C & O Trail southern terminus.
Finding Mile Marker 0 of the C & O Trail was a challenge in and of itself.
After a few false leads, we finally found the infamous C & O Trail Mile 0 granite marker in Georgetown; the marker was well hidden behind the Thompson Boat Center.
The marker already had several folks queued up for their ceremonial pictures. We talked to a couple just ahead of us from Morgantown, WV; they said they had just finished a trip from Pittsburgh to Washington DC and thoroughly enjoyed it.
We finally got our turn for the money shot at the Mile 0 Marker and were on our way.
We then found out the C & O Trail was detoured shortly after getting under way.
The trip out Georgetown quickly turned from city sprawl to desolate countryside.
We did make a slight mistake in our navigational efforts and got off the C & O Trail inadvertently staying too long on the Capitol Crescent Trail.
Two miles off course, we finally realized we were on the wrong trail! We were lost and had to backtrack.
After our detour, we got back on track on the C & O Trail at about Mile Marker 6. The next 10.7 miles of the trail followed the actual C & O Canal Tow Path.
The canal in this section was in various states of repair/dis-repair.
Along the trail in this section was a replica canal boat.
On a bridge, close to the replica, I came upon a young couple standing face to face.
They had not noticed me as I biked toward them.
I watched as the young man dropped to his knee and handed something to the girl, presumably an engagement ring.
She hugged him, I can only assume she said “yes”. I just biked by — the thought did cross my mind of offering to take a picture, but I did not want to spoil the moment for them.
I suspect if the answer was “no” someone may have got pushed off of the bridge into the canal water.
Further up the trail at Mile Marker 14.1, we came upon the Great Falls.
This spectacular landmark was easily accessible from the C & O Trail.
I was amazed at the pure power of the Potomac River as it roared through Mather Gorge. Many tourists also enjoyed this remarkable view as well.
At about 8:30 p.m., way later than planned, we arrived at Lockhouse 21; I had reserved the Lockhouse ahead of time as our lodging arrangement for the night.
The two bedroom lockhouse was furnished in a circa 1910 time period; it had many historic pictures. The one picture that stood out was of a young woman in a bridal dress.
The lockhouse did not provide bedding or towels, so we planned ahead and brought them with us.
Day two
July 23 — We got up early to head out to our next destination, Brunswick, MD.
The C & O Trail continued to follow the canal.
Some of the canal pools contained water, others just mowed grass and others were just filled with debris and green algae filled water.
We stopped at White’s Ferry, MD excited to get a good meal about 20 miles into our day at Mile Marker 35.5.
Unfortunately, the eating establishment was closed on Sunday and Mondays; we ate salami sandwiches.
White’s Ferry was one of the last remaining cable operated ferries in the country when it recently went out of operation in 2020.
When in operation, the ferry connected the nearby Maryland towns along the Potomac River to Leesburg, VA.
Plans are currently in the works to reconstitute the old ferry at some point in the future.
We later rode across the Monocracy Aqueduct at Mile Marker 42.2.
This impressive stone structure was 516 feet long and carried the C & O Canal over a large stream.
We arrived at the town of Point of Rocks, MD, Mile Marker, 48.8 at about 2:00 p.m.
We walked our bikes up to the first eating establishment we saw, actually the only one, Big Belly’s restaurant. Luckily, it was open.
As we walked in, we must have looked like a bunch of poor souls because the young man behind the counter said for us each to “grab a bottle of water on the house”.
Maybe he was just afraid one of us would pass out right there.
The food, gyros and cheese fries, were very good.
The last 6 miles into Brunswick, MD were a breeze.
The hardest part of that day however, was the 1.7 mile hike up the steepest hill I have ever seen to the Travelodge Also, a key lesson we learned on the trail that day was the C & O Canal Trail management had discontinued its purification of the water wells on the trail. We had to ration water all day that day.
Day three
Tuesday, July 24, 2024. We started the day in Brunswick, MD eating at an oldies themed diner co-located with the Travelodge.
The old time diner played Elvis songs, had nostalgic furnishings and pictures but required one to scan in a QR code to both order and pay for the meals on line; only then was the food delivered by a waitress in a poodle skirt.
The use of QR codes and ordering on the internet sort of took away some of the old time nostalgia.
After breakfast, we went back down the hill back through Brunswick to the C & O Canal and proceeded northward.
Six miles into the trip, Mile Marker 60.7, we saw the sign for Harpers Ferry. We locked up our bikes and walked across the Potomac River on a foot bridge to the small West Virginia village.
Being the location for the Appalachian Trail headquarters, the town had a very good outdoor gear outfitter in it.
We were able to purchase a camel back for my daughter, as well as water purification tablets, if we needed them.
Being on bikes, we could not get too many souvenirs with space very limited.
I hope to pass back through Harpers Ferry again to learn more about the John Brown Rebellion, and also someday possibly as an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker.
After buying supplies, we then crossed back over the foot bridge into Maryland and kept heading north to our destination for the day, Williamsport, MD.
As before, the trail followed the canal towpath. At Mile Marker 69.4, we crossed the Antietam Creek aqueduct, not too far from this location was the famous Antietam Civil War battlefield.
At Mile Marker 85.6, we came upon the Big Slackwater. This piece of the trail followed a dammed up section of the Potomac River.
Back in the day, C & O Canal goers used the Potomac River proper versus a separate canal for this portion of their journey.
The elevated trail was paved and easy to traverse, though it was a bit toasty mid-day with no shade. This area of the C & O trail was completely refurbished to its current state in 2012 eliminating a long off-trail detour.
We arrived at Williamsport, MD, Mile Marker 99.4 about 4:00 p.m.
Again, we had to walk up hill over a mile to get to our hotel, the Red Roof Inn; what is so easy to get to in a car becomes much more daunting via bike after 44 miles of trail riding.
This is where we will end this installment of the three article series. The next installment will detail the C&O Trail from Williamsport, MD to Cumberland, MD plus a KDKA interview on the trail.
For additional info regarding Armstrong Trails, see their website: armstrongtrails.org/.
For questions or comments regarding this series of articles, feel free to reach out to Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea (Major – AF – Ret) at agshea@co.armstrong.pa.us.
Vie the full article at leadertimes.com.
Despite artificial intelligence rapidly changing the world, one sector has struggled to keep pace — healthcare. A symposium hosted at the University of Pittsburgh today by the Biotechnology Board discussed extensively how the sector can catch up.
Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Anantha Shekhar said that “the pace at which [AI] transforms consumer products versus healthcare is completely different” because of multiple reasons, including higher regulatory standards and data access.
Speaking on the topic of high regulatory standards, Dean of CMU’s Heinz College of Information Systems Ramayya Krishnan likened the development of healthcare technologies to stalled progress in the autonomous vehicle industry.
“We are terrible drivers, but we hold the technology to a very different standard,” Krishnan said. “Technology will find a way to improve the quality of the experience but society will set the standards.”
Shekhar also suggested that the healthcare field has been less likely to embrace AI because the technology is prone to error, referred to by the industry as hallucinations. Knowing how to adequately utilize the technology at scale will require broader education, and even still he suggested that some clinicians are unlikely to embrace the technology until it is further developed.
“You can use AI inappropriately and then blame AI for it doing the wrong thing but it isn’t AI’s fault that you used it incorrectly,” Shekhar said. “It’s ultimately the doctor who is going to be liable for everything, which is why adoption is so slow.”
The technology also presents a possibility for misinformation en masse – Biotechnology Board conference chair Rema Padman gave a presentation on how the internet has fundamentally changed how humans interact with health information and that a statistical majority of Americans lack proper medical literacy.
“How many of you in this room have accessed Youtube on health related topics? I see a lot of hands,” Padman said. “We know in this audience to also go to the Mayo Clinic and other various sites… but the lay person, how do they access this information?”
Padman suggested that those developing patient focused technological resources need to prioritize design and ease of accessibility.
On the development side, Krishnan said that technologies that don’t require FDA approval will be able to reach commercial scale quicker. He pointed to Abridge, a Downtown-based company that transcribes conversations between clinicians and patients and has secured sizable funding, as an example of this.
Ultimately, AI models are built on data, something that presents challenges for development access. One barrier is ensuring HIPPA compliance, for example GPT, one of the most used AI technologies, is not HIPPA compliant. But another problem Shekhar said is that “health records are a mess.” Different health systems utilize different methods for storing data and records, which presents issues towards scale.
But gathering the data isn’t the only problem — access to computational components and energy presents a hurdle, and former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald cautioned that as the Pittsburgh region grows as an AI hub, the area will require improved infrastructure to match energy demand.
“AI needs a heck of a lot of data and what data needs is a heck of a lot of electricity and energy,” said Fitzgerald, who is now the executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. “We need to make sure that we have a grid system that can provide the infrastructure for our region’s continued growth.”
But Fitzgerald and other policy makers also said that the region will need to improve its talent retention and attraction in the sector to remain competitive.
“What we lack here is branding,” Anand Rao, a distinguished professor of AI at CMU, said. “The work is phenomenal, but that’s not really known outside.”
Rao suggested that Pittsburgh should try a different message than Silicon Valley. He said that the Valley is “all in on the technology” but that Pittsburgh should focus its messaging less on the technology itself and more the applications of the technology.
View the full article at inno.bizj-production.com.